Quiros tops Lombard in playoff for win in Italy

HONOLULU, Hawaii – Blayne Barber’s caddy Cory Gilmer is in an intensive care unit at a local Hawaiian hospital after collapsing and hitting his head in Waikiki last night. Gilmer was out some fellow caddies in downtown Waikiki after finishing dinner with Barber when he is said to have collapsed while sitting on a high-top chair, hitting his head hard on the ground in the process. He was rushed to hospital with swelling around the brain and has been unresponsive for the night and most of the morning. Barber rushed to Gilmer’s side as soon as he heard the news. “By the time I got there, he was unconscious, and the paramedics were there. Then I went to the hospital with him last night. And he’s pretty much just been unresponsive since then,â€� he explained. “He’s in the neurological ICU, a lot of bleeding and swelling in his brain. So, I went by this morning, and that was kind of the last update I had. He’s in pretty critical condition. His parents are flying in tomorrow.â€� To make matters worse Barber was caught up in the false alarm regarding a missile strike in Hawaii when he returned to the hospital in the morning, forcing him to head to lower ground. He returned to Waialae Country Club to play the third round with his brother Shayne on the bag, hoping the golf would take his mind off things. But the emotions got the better of him as he shot a 2-over 72 – dropping him to T68. Barber had considered withdrawing from the event but ultimately decided to play on given there was little he could do. “I’ve been gone from my kids and my wife for ten days, and between that happening to Cory and then just the emotions of facing your own mortality in that moment, it’s just been a heavy day for sure,â€� he said emotionally. “It certainly wiped me out. I was kind of out of it all day, just trying to push through and have something to concentrate on, but it was hard to focus on any of that. “I slept about three hours. That was about the hardest day of golf I’ve ever played.â€� Doctors were trying to contain the swelling medicinally overnight and had not yet taken a surgical route in his recovery. Barber said there was nothing he was aware of in Gilmer’s medical history that would be prone to him collapsing. “Seizures was mentioned (by some in attendance to the collapse), but as far as I know, he collapsed, and the head trauma is the issue,â€� Barber said. “We don’t know why he collapsed. I mean, he could have been dehydrated or any number of things. I don’t think there’s any necessarily clear answers at the moment.â€�

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Editor’s note: World Golf Hall of Fame member Davis Love III, who won THE PLAYERS Championship in 1992 and 2003, provides his thoughts on the tournament’s move next year back to March when the PGA TOUR reworks its 2018-19 playing schedule. THE PLAYERS Championship has always been close to my heart. My dad hosted the very first one in 1974 at Atlanta Country Club. I was 10 at the time and I always tell people that I sold lemonade at the first PLAYERS. So that was pretty cool. We moved to Sea Island, Georgia, a few years later and we came down to watch the tournament when it was played at Sawgrass Country Club. Then when the Stadium Course was first built at TPC Sawgrass, we got to go down and play it, which was pretty neat. It’s so amazing to come all that way from a little kid watching the first one to winning it – twice, even. I kind of count those as my majors, along with the PGA Championship, of course. I think people have realized with the buildup to THE PLAYERS and the strength of the field, that it’s a tough, tough tournament to win. Both my wins came when THE PLAYERS was played in March — just like it will be again next year. I think it’s great that our showcase event is moving back to March. I think it’s nice to be the first major of the season. It’s nice to be in its own slot. THE PLAYERS obviously belongs in that rotation as a major or the biggest non-major, if you will. So it’s nice to start with that in Florida. I liked the golf course better back in March, too. It can be blustery. It can be different weather. But I think the golf course plays better that time of year. It’ll be firm. The more you get into the heat of the summer, it seems to soften up a little bit, whether it’s the rain or humidity or whatever. For those of us who live in the area, we like the spring. March is when it starts warming up but it’s not humid, so it’s a good time of year to play golf. There’s so much buildup for the majors. It’s great for golf to have them all spread out now from March all the way to the FedExCup Playoffs. Every month has something really, really big. So I think it’s perfect. And THE PLAYERS is first, which I think is very good strategy. I also think it’s good for the PGA to get away from being jammed up with The Olympics and too close to the FedExCup Playoffs, so I think everything has its own space now. Scheduling is the hardest thing we ever had to deal with as members of the Policy Board. I think now they’ve got it kind of laid out for the future that the fans can really understand that we’re on the West Coast in January and February, and then in March the big ones, the majors, start and the FedExCup Playoffs are in their own month. We’re not up against football and so I think it’s all going to work great. We’ll have a great Florida swing leading up to THE PLAYERS. I’m happy with it being back in March. I think it’s going to be great. The players are all excited about it, too. I can tell you that without hesitation. The players are excited about THE PLAYERS moving back to March.

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