Day: September 19, 2022

PGA TOUR and Autograph to create NFT platform allowing fans to own moments of golf historyPGA TOUR and Autograph to create NFT platform allowing fans to own moments of golf history

September 19, 2022September 19, 2022| 10:45

The PGA TOUR and Autograph, the web3 brand co-founded by Tom Brady, today announce a long-term deal to create a comprehensive “digital collectibles” NFT platform, revolutionizing golf fandom by allowing fans to celebrate their love of the game by owning a token of its storied history. The PGA TOUR will work with Autograph to create a digital collectibles platform that pulls from TOUR competition video, data, imagery and other competition-related components. Golf fans will have the opportunity to own and collect NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) featuring the best PGA TOUR golfers in the world as well as some of their favorite moments from the archives and the current FedExCup Season. Additionally, collectors will have a chance to earn rewards with a wide range of utility, including access to exclusive digital, in-person and onsite experiences, along with other program benefits. “The PGA TOUR is excited to work with Autograph to offer digital collectibles that highlight the most talented golfers in the world and their role in the sport’s history,” said Len Brown, PGA TOUR Chief Legal Officer, and EVP, Licensing. “The TOUR is continuously looking for innovative ways to engage fans to bring them closer to the game and their favorite players, so we’re thrilled to start building the future of golf fandom with the Autograph team.” “We are thrilled to expand our roster of iconic partners with the addition of the PGA TOUR as our first professional league,” said Richard Rosenblatt, co-founder and co-chairman of the board at Autograph. “Over the last year, we have defined the future of fandom by leveraging NFT technology to bring fans closer to the icons they love across sports, music and entertainment and each other. We look forward to unlocking new potential and offering our community exclusive access to the PGA TOUR team through this partnership.” “I’m very excited to be a part of this next chapter with Autograph and the PGA TOUR,” said Tiger Woods, who sits on Autograph’s Board of Advisors. “Enhancing the golf world with NFTs will create a connection between us as players and the fans.” The TOUR’s exclusive NFT Digital Collectibles platform with Autograph will launch in early 2023. To learn more and sign up for news and updates, visit autograph.io/pgatour.

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Jockey Club Derby DayJockey Club Derby Day

September 19, 2022September 19, 2022| 1:50

Saturday at the Belmont at the Big A meet, favorite Nations Pride won the $1 million Caesars Jockey Club Derby Invitational (G3) by 6 1/4 lengths over The Grey Wizard the Classic Causeway and set a new track record. Also on the card, favorite McKulick won the Jockey Club Oaks Invitational (G3) by a half length, also setting a new track record. Get the results, charts, and photos here.

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Max Homa wins wild Fortinet ChampionshipMax Homa wins wild Fortinet Championship

September 19, 2022September 19, 2022| 1:41

NAPA, Calif. – After a long, slow slog in the rain, everything changed in an instant. Max Homa pitched in from 33 feet, Danny Willett three-putted from 3 1/2, and it was over. With the stunning birdie-bogey exchange at the par-5 finishing hole at Silverado Resort & Spa, Homa had successfully defended his Fortinet Championship title. “That was crazy,” he said after a final-round 68 that netted his fifth PGA TOUR victory by a shot over Willett and three shots over rookie Taylor Montgomery (64). “I still don’t really know what happened. It was one of those weekends you just had to hang around.” Homa has now won three times in just over a year and will head into this week’s Presidents Cup at Quail Hollow Club as arguably the fastest rising player on the U.S. Team. His wife, Lacey, who is expecting the couple’s first child, a boy, in early November, followed the action despite the weather. Although this was the fifth win for Homa and caddie Joe Greiner, it was the first witnessed by Greiner’s fiancé, Mayla. All were planning on boarding a private jet that would arrive in Charlotte, North Carolina, in the dark early Tuesday morning. For most of Sunday afternoon at soggy Silverado it looked like Homa would finish second. He had hit his second shot into the front bunker on 18 when Willett knocked his approach tight. It looked like Willett, who finished third at the 2015 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, would have another indelible memory of playing great in Northern California. Then everything changed. “It was probably the most unexpected finish,” said Greiner. “As a caddie you’re always expecting the unexpected, but once Danny hit his approach to three or four feet, I felt our chances of making the bunker shot were pretty low. I just told (Homa) to hit it on the green and make the putt to at least make him have to make it to win.” Willett, 34, was closing in on his first TOUR title since the 2016 Masters. Once his opponent’s third shot from the bunker didn’t reach the green, the tournament looked over. “The sand was a little wet,” said Greiner, “and he didn’t have much green to work with. He was doing his best to spin it as much as he could and just came underneath it a bit.” Said Homa, “I kind of had to assume he was going to make it and I kind of went for the hero bunker shot and didn’t quite catch it.” No matter, he chipped in from 33 feet, nearly taking off Greiner’s hand with a high-five as the fans erupted. Willett smiled, then unraveled. “I hit it obviously far too hard,” he said of his birdie try, which flew by the hole and left him a longer putt for par, from 4 feet, 8 inches. “And on the way back … I thought it was straighter. Again, yeah, just ended up tailing off and missing left. “Yeah, disappointing way to finish,” he continued, “but you know, first out of the season, like I said, to be in contention, things are in a good place. Yeah, we’ll live to fight another day.” Justin Lower (73, T4) took a one-shot lead into Sunday, but it came down to Homa and Willett on the back nine. Homa would have been the favorite, coming off a career-best, two-win season and advancing to the TOUR Championship first the first time, where he tied for 5th. But while he briefly pulled even with birdies on 9, 10 and 11, he never led until 18. Tee times were moved up due to the forecast, and rain brought relief to drought-stricken Northern California. It also brought Homa and Willett to the forefront. Homa won the Wells Fargo Championship in May at rain plagued TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm. Willett smiled at the mention of bad weather. He had a three-shot lead through eight but made a three-putt bogey at the ninth as Lower and Homa each birdied to cut the lead to one. Homa and Willett pulled away with more birdies and Lower fell off the pace. A shot behind with five, four, three, two, one hole remaining, Homa told himself that the moment he tried to force the issue would be the moment he played his way out of contention. His coach, Mark Blackburn, preached patience all week. Greiner preached patience all day. And it paid off, albeit in a way no one could have expected. After he won the 2021 Fortinet, Homa admitted he sometimes had a hard time with self-belief. This year, though, upon noting he was the pre-tournament favorite, he was good with it. “Oddly, it felt OK,” he said. “It didn’t feel like too much pressure.” Added Greiner before they all headed to the airport, “That’s part of mine and Mark’s deal is to tell him how good he is, and the day he believes it he might not even need us at all.”

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Max Homa defends title in wild finish at Fortinet ChampionshipMax Homa defends title in wild finish at Fortinet Championship

September 19, 2022September 19, 2022| 0:26

NAPA, Calif. — Max Homa chipped in from nearly 33 feet for birdie on the closing hole, then watched as Danny Willett shockingly three-putted from inside 4 feet on Sunday to give Homa his second straight title at the Fortinet Championship. Homa high-fived his caddie when his ball hit the flagstick and dropped. His previous shot from a nearby bunker came up short of the green at the par-5 18th hole. Willett, meanwhile, had a one-shot lead at the rain-soaked PGA TOUR season opener and stuffed his third shot to 3 feet, 7 inches. He rammed his first putt 4 feet, 8 inches by, then missed the comebacker to hand Homa his fifth victory on TOUR. “Them things happen. Luckily we’ve been in a good position all week and then unfortunate things happen when you feel like you need them most,” said Willett, who’s winless in the United States since he took advantage of Jordan Spieth’s collapse to win the 2016 Masters. Homa closed with a 4-under 66 for a total of 16-under 272 and now heads to Charlotte, North Carolina, as a captain’s pick for the Presidents Cup with three wins in the past 12 months. Willett shot 69. Taylor Montgomery was alone in third at 13 under after a closing 64. The leaders had their tee times pushed up by nearly four hours in an effort to get the round in before the North course at Silverado Resort & Spa became completely unplayable. Greens that had been hard and fast earlier in the week from the sun and wind were suddenly quite the opposite, slow and soft from all the water. Justin Lower held a one-stroke lead going into the final day while chasing his first title after years of struggles just to secure his TOUR card. The 33-year-old American wound up tied for fourth with Byeong Hun An at 12 under after shooting a 1-over 73. Willett birdied three holes on the front nine to take a three-stroke lead, only to miss a short par putt on the par-5 ninth as Lower birdied to pull back within a stroke. Homa and Willett began the day one shot back of Lower. All three players birdied the par-4 10th. On the par-4 14th, Willett made a miraculous birdie. His tee shot landed behind a tree, and then he whipped the ball around it to the back side of the fringe before sinking a 5-foot putt. On the front nine, Willett birdied Nos. 1, 4 and 8 — making a 7-footer for birdie on the par-4 eighth while Lower made bogey. The 34-year-old Willett, from Sheffield, England, stayed loose, laughed with his caddie and smiled between holes in far from ideal conditions in California’s famous wine country: wind and heavy rain the first three holes, a brief respite, then more rain. He regularly toweled off his clubs, wiped off his shoes before putting and took on and off his black sleeveless vest. The weather made for an intimate gallery of umbrella-holding diehards willing to brave the elements. “It’s what I came to California for,” Willett cracked with a grin in the early going of his final round.

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