Tiger Woods pictured at a Michaels because he’s such a Dad now

Click here to read the full article…

The Monday qualifiers for this week’s PGA TOUR event include an Air Force veteran and an alumnus of nearby UNLV. Tom Whitney, a 2010 graduate of the Air Force Academy, shot 63 on Monday at Boulder Creek Golf Club to earn medalist honors. He finished one shot ahead of Ryan Hogue. Andres Gonzales and Jim Knous fired 65 to grab the final two spots in the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, which begins Thursday at TPC Summerlin. Whitney, 28, served as an Air Force officer from 2010-14 and is now pursuing a professional golf career. He finished 89th on this year’s Web.com Tour money list, posting one top-10 in 15 starts. He is making his PGA TOUR debut. This week’s qualifiers undoubtedly will be inspired by the performance of Scott Strohmeyer at last week’s Sanderson Farms Championship. Strohmeyer, who was making his PGA TOUR debut, finished T4 after advancing through both the Thursday and Monday qualifiers. Strohmeyer’s top-10 finish earned him a start this week at TPC Summerlin. He also earned 68 non-member FedExCup points; last season it took 365 points to finish 125th in the FedExCup standings and 82 points to qualify for the Web.com Tour Finals. Last season, none of the 95 players who Monday qualified for an event finished in the top 10. Strohmeyer’s finish is believed to be the best by a qualifier since Jason Allred finished T3 at the 2014 Genesis Open. Allred was the odd man out in Monday’s qualifier, losing a 3-for-2 playoff with Knous and Gonzales, who played at UNLV. Gonzales, 34, finished 158th in last season’s FedExCup, posting just two top-25s in 24 starts. One of those top-25s came after he Monday qualified for the Shell Houston Open (T23); it was one of just four top-25 finishes by a Monday qualifier last season. Gonzales, a two-time winner on the Web.com Tour, failed to regain his card at the recent Web.com Tour Finals, missing the cut in three of four events. He graduated from UNLV in 2006 with a degree in journalism. Knous, 27, will be making his second PGA TOUR start. He also Monday qualified for last season’s Waste Management Phoenix Open, where he missed the cut by two shots (70-73). Knous, who graduated from the Colorado School of Mines in 2012 with a degree in civil engineering, finished 94th on the 2017 Web.com Tour money list. Hogue made his only other PGA TOUR appearance at the 2003 Waste Management Phoenix Open (MC). He also played two Web.com Tour events in 1999, missing the cut in both. Sanderson Farms Championship qualifiers T4. Scott Strohmeyer, 72-67-68-71 T53. David Skinns, 70-73-74-71 T68. Grady Brame Jr., 72-67-75-77 MC. Nyasha Mauchaza, 72-73 2017-18 Monday qualifiers Qualifiers: 8 Made cut: 3 Top-10s: 1 Top-25s: 1 Average qualifying score: 66.6 Average tournament score*: 72.2  

Click here to read the full article…

The PGA TOUR heads to Bermuda for the third Butterfield Bermuda Championship. Brian Gay returns to defend his title – his first PGA TOUR triumph since 2013 – while a mix of major champions, TOUR winners, and up-and-coming stars round out the field. FIELD NOTES: Masters winners Patrick Reed and Danny Willett are set to tee it up in Bermuda… Matt Fitzpatrick – fresh off his second Ryder Cup start and recent European Tour victory at Valderrama – is in the field… Ryder Cup assistant captains Graeme McDowell and Luke Donald are heading to Bermuda. McDowell competed in the Grand Slam of Golf here, an event that pitted the year’s four major winners against each other, as did Lucas Glover and Jason Dufner, who also are in this week’s field… Plenty of graduates from the Korn Ferry Tour are in the field looking for some early-season success on the FedExCup standings. Some notables include Stephan Jaeger and Joseph Bramlett, who were the leading points winners from the Regular Season and Korn Ferry Tour Finals, respectively, and Mito Pereira, who earned a three-win promotion in 2021… Sponsor exemptions include 2021 Walker Cup teammates Austin Eckroat and John Pak, who have since turned pro, and Texas Tech’s Ludvig Aberg, the world’s third-ranked amateur. Pak was the No. 1 player in this year’s PGA TOUR University rankings and swept college golf’s player of the year honors, winning the Haskins, Hogan and Nicklaus awards. Eckroat finished third in the PGA TOUR U rankings and parlayed the Korn Ferry Tour status that he earned into two top-15s in three starts. By virtue of finishing in the top five of PGA TOUR University, they are exempt into the final stage of Korn Ferry Tour Q-School, which will be held Nov. 4-7 in Savannah, Georgia. FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 FedExCup points. COURSE: Port Royal GC in Southampton, Bermuda, par 71, 6,828 yards. Designed by Robert Trent Jones, Port Royal is the longest course on the island. At under 7,000 yards, though, it demands tight shot-making and straight driving. The course, which hosted the Grand Slam of Golf from 2009-14, underwent a $14.5-million renovation just over a decade ago to prepare for the TOUR’s arrival. STORYLINES: Port Royal GC in Southampton, Bermuda, par 71, 6,828 yards. Designed by Robert Trent Jones, Port Royal is the longest course on the island. At under 7,000 yards, though, it demands tight shot-making and straight driving. The course, which hosted the Grand Slam of Golf from 2009-14, underwent a $14.5-million renovation just over a decade ago to prepare for the TOUR’s arrival. 72-HOLE RECORD: 260, Brendon Todd (2019) 18-HOLE RECORD: 62, Scottie Scheffler (first round, 2019), Brendon Todd (fourth round, 2019). LAST TIME: Brian Gay, then 48 years old, won on the PGA TOUR for the first time since 2013, defeating Wyndham Clark in a playoff. Gay, who had made 169 starts on TOUR since his previous victory – and had eyes on joining PGA TOUR Champions come 2022 – fired a closing 64 (capped off with a birdie on the 72nd hole). He birdied the first playoff hole and won for the fifth time on TOUR. He became the oldest TOUR winner since Davis Love III at the 2015 Wyndham Championship in the process and built off a T3 results at the Bermuda Championship the year prior. Clark’s runner-up result was his best career finish on the PGA TOUR. Ollie Schniederjans, Stewart Cink, Matt Jones, Doc Redman, and Denny McCarthy – whose 8-under 63 in the final round was the round of the week – rounded out the top five. HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Thursday-Friday, 1:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday-Sunday, 1 p.m.-4 p.m. (Golf Channel) Radio: Thursday-Friday, 11 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio).

Click here to read the full article…