Berger shines early, wins 2nd straight St. Jude

Tony Romo bogeyed the first six holes and shot a 10-over 82 on Friday to finish last in his PGA Tour debut.

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Former Presidents Cup International team member Graham DeLaet will undergo another procedure on his ailing back, keeping the Canadian Olympian away from the PGA TOUR for an undetermined amount of time. DeLaet, 39, announced on Twitter he would be undergoing a Radiofrequency Ablation (RFA) procedure on his lower back. The goal of the procedure is to alleviate the chronic pain he has been dealing with for the past few years. "I am very hopeful that this will give me the day-to-day relief to enjoy more quality time with my family and friends," he said. "I am also hopeful it will enable me to put in the time needed to practice again and get back to the PGA TOUR. "It's definitely been a frustrating few years." The native of Weyburn, Saskatchewan (a town of about 10,000 people about an hour north of the U.S. border) has suffered a myriad of injuries over the last few seasons but was in the midst of returning to the TOUR via a Major Medical Exemption. DeLaet was a bright light for the International Team at the 2013 Presidents Cup - where he went 3-1-1 and delivered some final-hole dramatics alongside Jason Day and against Jordan Spieth - finished 8th in the FedExCup that same year, his career-high. He first earned his PGA TOUR card in 2010. DeLaet played five tournaments in 2019-20, making two cuts. He's since played five tournaments in 2021 but missed four cuts and withdrew from the Vivant Houston Open, citing his back as the culprit. "I've been through this now so many times over the past 10 years and all the warning signs were there for me to shut it down and take care of my body," said DeLaet at the time. DeLaet flashed some brilliance at the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship in 2020, shooting a second-round 64 - his lowest TOUR round since a matching 64 at the Travelers Championship in 2017. In that season he notched six top-10 finishes - but has been away from the TOUR for the better part of two years. He withdrew from THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES in late October of 2018 and did not play the whole of 2019. DeLaet failed to get relief from a steam-cell treatment in December 2017 claiming at the time it "has not helped regenerate my L4-L5 disc and in fact has gotten worse since the procedure." The hirsute star ended up having an L4-L5 microdiscectomy surgery in 2018, his second such procedure after an earlier one in 2011. DeLaet was non-committal about a timeline to return to the TOUR. While he's been recovering DeLaet appeared on the Canadian broadcast of the Masters in November as an analyst and has become prolific with his barbecue on social media while placing focus on being an attentive father to his now 5-year-old twins Roscoe and Lyla.

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ATLANTA – PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan on Tuesday stressed the importance of showing respect as he addressed inappropriate comments at select TOUR events this summer. Speaking before the start of the season-ending TOUR Championship at East Lake, Monahan said that with the ongoing pandemic and pent-up demand fans have in rare instances crossed the line. And he reminded that there will be consequences, as expressly stated in the fans’ code of conduct. “The barometer that we are all using is the word ‘respect,’” he said, “and to me, when you hear ‘Brooksie’ yelled or you hear any expression yelled, the question is, is that respectful or disrespectful? That has been going on for an extended period of time. To me, at this point, it’s disrespectful, and that’s kind of behavior that we’re not going to tolerate going forward.” Sudden-death playoffs have decided the last four tournaments, and with the tension high and every fan following one group, some of the comments from the gallery have gone too far. Harris English, who played in the last group of the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational with Bryson DeChambeau, was one of a handful of players to voice concerns. “It just sucks that that’s out there right now,” English said. Asked on Tuesday about fan comments, world No. 1 Jon Rahm, who goes into the TOUR Championship as the third seed, expressed disbelief at some of what he has heard. “I can’t in good conscience say what some people have said,” he said. “I don’t know what goes through somebody’s mind to say something like that. I don’t know. Some bad things. “But I got to say,” he added, “that is 1 percent of all the public out there.” Stewart Cink, a two-time winner this season who is making his first TOUR Championship start since 2009, said fans may feel emboldened by the anonymity afforded by large crowds. “Those fans that yell probably wouldn’t be quick to say those same things in a one-on-one situation,” he said. “So it’s more about just getting the laugh out of your buddies and it comes at the expense, to a certain extent, of the player that it’s directed to.” According to the fans’ code of conduct, as explicitly stated to ticketholders: “The PGA TOUR is committed to fostering an inclusive environment where individuals of all backgrounds are treated with respect for the benefit of the health, safety, and welfare of all.” Expounding on that, Monahan said, “Comments or gestures that undermine the inclusive and welcoming nature of the game will not be tolerated, nor will any harassment of players, caddies, volunteers, officials, staff, or other spectators.” The penalty for doing so will be expulsion and loss of credential or ticket. “Now, I would ask our fans, again, the very best fans in the world, to take a moment and think about what it means to be a golf fan and to enjoy a PGA TOUR tournament,” he said. “We’re going to be leaders in this space. We’re going to show everyone how easy it is to enjoy yourself at an event while also respecting the athletes in the field of play and the fans around you, many of whom are families with young kids who have a chance to be lifetime fans of the game themselves. Quite honestly, we should expect nothing less from each other, whether we’re at a golf tournament or elsewhere in life.”

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