The three slots held by The Stronach Group granting berths in the company’s own Pegasus World Cup later this month at Gulfstream Park have been marketed to potential entrants without any costs attached.
Here are nine tidbits from the second round of the Sony Open at Waialae Country Club (par 70, 7,044 yards) in Honolulu that gamers can use tomorrow, this weekend or down the road. Be looking for the Emergency 9 shortly after the close of play of each round of the tournament. Pain or Gain These were the top five picked golfers in the PGA TOUR Fantasy One & Done presented by SERVPRO: It’s all to play for on the weekend as all of these fellas made the cut! We’ll see what moving day Saturday brings us as everyone is chasing Brian Harman on 13-under-par. Different Day, Different Dawg Brian Harman (Georgia Bulldogs) took the lead from fellow alum Chris Kirk as he backed his opening round 64 with 63 on Friday. Harman is blossoming into a force regardless of course. Last year he won at a difficult Eagle Point (par 72, 7,396 yards) and was T2 at the U.S. Open at Erin Hills (7,800 yards) so his game is translating on all tracks. While he’s not long, he can putt the dimples off the golf ball. He sits No. 1 in SG: Putting through 36 holes and leads by three. Georgia on My Mind Friday saw golfers with college ties to the state of Georgia get moving. Chris Kirk (Georgia Bulldogs) backed up his co-first round lead with 67 to sit three back … Former Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket Ollie Schniederjans fired 65 to finish the day T7 … Kevin Kisner was a great sport yesterday wearing an Alabama jersey on the walk up No. 17. The Golf Gods smiled today as he posted 64 and moved up 31 spots to T10 … The curious case of Harris English (Georgia Bulldogs) caught my eye last fall as he didn’t fire on courses he has in the past. He’s rallied this week on a course he loves and moved up 49 spots with 65, his lowest round since the FedEx St. Jude Classic last June … Stewart Cink (Georgia Tech) loaded up with 64 and moved up 62 spots to T16 … Hudson Swafford has three top-15 finishes in four trips to Waialae and his 66 on Friday moved him to T16. Remember Me? John Peterson won the 2011 NCAA championship at LSU. The following year he finished T4 at the U.S. Open at Olympic Club. He was on the path. Hand surgery forced him to miss the majority of the 2016 season. He has seven starts after this week to rack up 273.76 FedExCup points to meet the terms of his Major Medical Extension. The recent father (#NappyFactor) is making his first start since WD at the Web.com Tour Championship in October. He’s posted 66-64 and is T2. He tweeted today “too blessed to be stressed” and his game is reflecting that through two rounds. Check out all of the exemptions here: One is the Loneliest Number Tom Hoge is one of four players three back tied for second. He was selected by exactly one gamer in PGA TOUR Fantasy One & Done presented by SERVPRO. This is his third trip to Waialae and there’s something about this track that catches his eye. In 2015 he finished T71 but fired a second round 64. He has a pair of 65s this week and will look to eclipse his best finish on TOUR, T4 at Barracuda last August. Fort Knox Russell Knox racked up four birdies and an eagle with 13 pars to jump 53 spots to T12. After missing the cut in his first three trips he’s cashed T11 and T13 in two of his last three. Even the year he MC he still posted a 65. Opening 69-64 makes it four consecutive trips to Waialae recording 65 or lower. I’m writing that down for next year. I Can’t Si I feel like I write this every week but I cannot figure out Si Woo Kim. He opened the season with three events T44 or worse. His last three events have been solo third, MC and 10th last week on Maui. He’s the perfect guy for season-long games as his weekly volatility has me on a steady diet of Pepto Bismol. His 71 after opening with 67 saw him make the weekend on the number. Whew. History’s Mysteries Plenty of gamers RELY on course history in making their weekly selections. I have always suggested that it should be a PART of your formula. Perennial contenders Zach Johnson (T2) Jerry Kelly (T12) and Charles Howell, III (T28) did the business but recent champions Russell Henley, Jimmy Walker and Fabian Gomez all are heading home after Friday. Howell has too many rounds here in the 60s to count so I’m on board with him on Moving Day tomorrow to jump up into the top 10. Study Hall Patrick Rodgers withdrew on Friday citing the flu. Rodgers, who won 11 times at Stanford, has a new caddie on the bag this year as he looks for his first TOUR win … I learned during the telecast that Wesley Bryan is NOT carrying a driver this week nor is he going to until the Florida Swing. Well, something is working as he opened 68-66 and is currently T17. He said he had no confidence in hitting driver so he took it out of the bag. Stay tuned … The biggest jump of the day went to 2009 champion Ryan Palmer as his 64 moved him up a whopping 71 places after an opening round 71. He needs just 29.686 FedExCup in six starts to meet the terms of his Major Medical Exemption … Sangmoon Bae couldn’t back up his 66 yesterday as his 73 saw him slam the trunk.
Brian Harman’s 7-under 63 was the best round of the day and it put him in the 36-hole lead in Hawaii.
The Bucks were the team with the strong third quarter against the visiting Warriors, but the road team shut down Milwaukee down the stretch.
HONOLULU, Hawaii – Zach Johnson hopes Tiger Woods returns to his best if only to show the new young wave of stars on the PGA TOUR what he – and many others – had to deal with on a regular basis. Speaking just a few weeks before Woods will return at the Farmers Insurance Open, Johnson hoped the 79-time TOUR winner could show the likes of Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas just how incredible his game can be. “I’d love to have these young guys that are dominating the game have a piece, just one year of what we experienced,â€� Johnson said after moving into a tie for second at the Sony Open through 36 holes. “I’m not going to disregard the talent that is out here right now. I guess I look at it like this — you had the Hogans, the Sneads, Byron Nelsons, Palmer, and then Nicklaus and Watson. Then Greg Norman, Couples, Seve era, and then it pretty much went into Tiger and it was Tiger for a long, long time. “Now, who are you going to pick? Are you going to pick Jordan? Are you going to pick Justin? Are you going to pick Jason (Day)? Are you going to pick Rory (McIlroy)? There are four or five guys carrying the torch, but there was one for a long time.â€� Johnson thinks some vintage Woods performances are certainly possible despite the four back surgeries the 42-year-old has endured. “If he’s playing well and he’s healthy then there’s no individual in the world who amazes me more than him on the golf course,â€� he said. Woods is due to play Genesis Open after his debut at Torrey Pines. Â
Lance Stephenson had 16 points and 11 rebounds, Darren Collison scored 22 points and the Indiana Pacers rallied from a 22-point, first-half deficit to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 97-95 on Friday night.
HONOLULU, Hawaii – Former FedExCup champion Rory McIlroy has revealed he has a heart irregularity that he must monitor throughout his career but hopes it’s not a major issue. The 13-time PGA TOUR winner and four-time major winner made the stunning admission in an interview with The Telegraph but then clarified the seriousness on his Instagram account. McIlroy, who suffered from a rib injury for most of last season, is slated to return to the PGA TOUR at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February after playing in the Middle East on the European Tour. He has had nearly four months off. “The rib’s fine, no problems whatsoever – I had an MRI scan on my thoracic spine and all was OK,� McIlroy told the Telegraph. “But I’ve got a bit of an irregularity with my heart that I have to keep on top of. “I have a flat T-wave and I’ll have to get an echo [cardiogram] on my heart every six months and an MRI scan every year.� McIlroy, reacting to the news exploding across the golf community, took to his social media to quash alarm. “It’s really not that big of a deal and nothing to worry about, apart from getting an annual check up, like you should do anyway,� he said in part of his Instagram post. “I feel there’s been a big reaction to it in the media which there really shouldn’t be. I’m fit and healthy and can’t wait to get my 2018 season started in Abu Dhabi next week.� In the original newspaper interview McIlroy went on to explain the problem originated after falling ill in China a year-and-a-half ago. “I suffered a really bad viral infection in China 18 months ago and they told me that’s the reason that I have this thickening of my left ventricle and there’s a bit of scar tissue,� he told the paper. “For now, I just need to stay on top of it and have to stay fit. Hey, I was planning on doing that anyway.� The 2016 FedExCup champion will get a chance to test the strength of his heart with plans to play possibly six times in seven weeks on the PGA TOUR once he returns.
We’re still a couple of weeks from Tiger Woods’ season debut at the Farmers Insurance Open, and there’s plenty of speculation of how the 14-time major champion will fare at Torrey Pines and beyond. The feeling among most of the game’s current young stars is that they’d welcome playing against Woods at or near his best. “I’d love to have these young guys that are dominating the game have a piece, just one year of what we experienced,� said Zach Johnson following a 67 that has him near the top of the leader board going into the weekend at the Sony Open.
All winter long, we’ve yearned for a match to ignite baseball’s Hot Stove. Could the solution be something as customary as Friday’s exchange of salary arbitration figures? One Major League general manager predicted Friday evening that the industry would see “a few” notable signings over the next week. That would qualify as significant news in a tepid marketplace.
Rory McIlroy told The (London) Telegraph that he now has a heart irregularity after coming down with a viral infection while in China a year and a half ago, but he said later that the issue is “really not that big of a deal.”
