Chris Stroud carries momentum into first round of PGA Championship

When the starter welcomes Parker Coody to the first round of the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, even ardent observers might not recall his berth in the Round of 16 at the 2019 U.S. Amateur, which he made with another Coody, his twin brother Pierceson. That's right. One-eighth of the players remaining at the historic Pinehurst Resort last year were Coodys. This year, Pierceson won the Western Amateur, considered by many to be the second-biggest prize in amateur golf, and Parker won one of the top collegiate events, the Southern Highlands Collegiate. That latter accomplishment came with a special perk: a sponsor exemption into this week's PGA TOUR event. But victories in prestigious amateur events earn the attention of only a small sliver of golf fans. If the Coody name sounds familiar, it is likely for another reason. A win that came almost 50 years ago, but that is commemorated annually with the Champions Dinner at Augusta National. It was in 1971 when their grandfather won the Masters Tournament. Charles Coody, a U.S. Air Force veteran from the small West Texas town of Stamford, beat Jack Nicklaus and Johnny Miller by two strokes that spring in Georgia. It was the last of three titles Charles won in a career that spanned 629 starts. Charles' grandson is now making his first. And Charles' son, Kyle, who played at Texas and a couple of times on the PGA TOUR, will caddie for his son at TPC Summerlin. "I want to play as well as I can and see where I stack up," Parker said from Austin. He knows the learning curve will be steep. "I think one of the things I try to work on is having zero expectations. There's nothing else I can do." What would Charles tell his grandson now, on the eve of his PGA TOUR debut? The same thing he told Parker's brother long ago, when the family was gathered for a wedding at Barton Creek, a big resort and private club in the hills west of Austin. Parker and Pierceson were on the driving range, and Pierceson was having a hard time, as boys learning the golf swing do. Charles thought about what to do. He thought even more carefully about how to do it. "I just went over and sat down with him and encouraged him," he said. He wasn't being a retired TOUR pro with sage advice. He was being a grandfather. "All you've got to do is believe in yourself," he told Pierceson that day. He would tell Parker the same thing now. Parker intends to represent his family with integrity this week, regardless of strokes lost or gained. He is conscious of the Coody legacy but not consumed by it. It's a lineage that dates back to 1950, when Charles watched the annual invitational at Colonial Country Club, now known as the Charles Schwab Challenge. He watched Sam Snead win and was immediately mesmerized. The experience changed his life. Charles, an only child, taught himself to play on a nine-hole course that had "more rocks than grass," he said last week from his home in Abilene, where he lives in retirement with his wife of 60 years, Lynette. "But I'm just so thankful it was there." He and Don Massengale of Jacksboro, Texas, formed the core of the freshman team at TCU in the fall of 1955. Charles enlisted in the military after college, joined the TOUR in 1963 and won all three of his titles in the span of seven years, from 1964 (the Dallas Open) to the Masters. Colonial was one of his favorite stops on the PGA TOUR, right up there with the Masters. He played it for 25 consecutive years and had his chances to win. He finished second there once. "I have four or five disappointments in my PGA TOUR career, and that was one of them," Charles said. Another disappointment: No spectators were allowed at the Colonial Collegiate Classic the last week of September, which means Charles and Lynette, whom the grandchildren call "Ditty," were unable to watch Parker and Pierceson play. The Longhorns finished second. Pierceson shot 66-74-69, good for second individually. So many seconds for the Coody clan at Colonial. Parker shot even par, including a final-round 67, and finished fifth, one shot behind his brother and just three behind the winner, Oklahoma's Logan McAllister. Charles turned 83 in July. He left professional golf in 2006. By then he had made 38 starts in the Masters. In his last appearance, he brought his 6-year-old grandsons as his caddies in the Par-3 Contest, when the old champions try to reclaim a little Augusta glory, one short iron and green slope at a time. The twins got white overalls, just like the grownups. It was quite a moment for the Coody family. That Thursday, their 69-year-old grandfather labored to an opening 89. He was a stroke under par after 15 holes in the second round. A knowing crowd gathered to watch him finish. He climbed the famous hill at No. 18 to a sincere greenside reception, the kind the patrons in Augusta unfailingly give to the end of a Masters career. "That's what the boys got to see," said Kyle, who caddied for his father in the competition rounds. The Coody twins drifted from golf a couple of years later. They took up football and other team sports. Kyle, meanwhile, had begun working with Chris Como, a young teaching professional at a driving range called Golden Bear Golf Center, and then later at Gleneagles Country Club in Plano, Texas. When Parker and Pierceson decided to concentrate solely on golf, Como was there to shape them. That was long before Como had clients such as Bryson DeChambeau and Tiger Woods, a television show on Golf Channel and the Living Room Lab — a house in the Dallas suburb of Frisco retrofitted with free weights, a squat rack, high-speed cameras, force plates and launch monitors. But Como still knew good golf stock when he saw it. Both boys were committed, driven and athletic. "There's no real limit of how good they can be," Como said. The brothers excelled at Plano West High School. Parker (the oldest, by 37 minutes) won the 2017 individual title in Class 6A - the largest classification in Texas high school golf. They had interest from the best programs in the country. Kyle, their father, had played for Texas from 1983 to 1987. But he encouraged them to make their own decisions. They did just that. Parker and Pierceson, the 14th- and 25th-ranked players in the Class of 2018, respectively, chose the Longhorns. The twins made an immediate impact in Austin. Parker played in four tournaments as a freshman. Pierceson played in six. Last year, the Coodys were part of the Texas team that beat a loaded Oklahoma State squad, with Matthew Wolff and Viktor Hovland, in a thrilling semifinal match of the NCAA Championship at Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Arkansas. "It's been everything that we've wanted," Pierceson said. Texas head coach John Fields noticed something right away about the twins. They reminded him of the Byrum brothers, Curt and Tom, who both won on the PGA TOUR. The Byrums were teammates with Fields at New Mexico. "They were tough," Fields said. They also pushed each other, like Parker and Pierceson do. And when one does well, the other seems to rise too. "They seem to kind of feed off each other and each other's success," Fields said. With his father on his bag and a wider audience watching, Parker is curious to see how he stacks up. He and Kyle have made a list of goals. One of them involves embracing the experience that both Parker and Pierceson hope to enjoy as a long, prosperous career. "When we turn pro," Parker said, "we'll have it all together." This week could have ramifications for Parker's pro career. Not only could it give him good exposure, but he can earn valuable points for PGA TOUR University. Unveiled earlier this year, that program ranks players based on results in collegiate and professional events during their final two years of college golf. Players in the top five of the rankings after their fourth season earn exempt status on the Korn Ferry Tour, while Nos. 6-15 receive starts on the PGA TOUR's international circuits. Back home in Abilene, their grandparents will follow his progress from afar. In the den in their home hangs a portrait of a tall, dark-haired man in a green jacket "who even walks with a drawl," Dan Jenkins wrote for Sports Illustrated after the 1971 Masters. Coody knows he was no Nicklaus or Miller. "I just play along in living black and white," he told Jenkins. He doesn't play at all anymore. Charles had hip surgery recently and just doesn't get around the way he used to. He suffered a stroke in 2018 that diminished his eyesight, so it's hard for him to follow a ball in the air. He's asked Kyle to text him Parker's score on every hole this week at TPC Summerlin. He imagines it'll help him feel like he's walking along, witnessing each little triumph and disappointment. He will, as he often does, remember with gratitude the bonds that golf has formed in his family. Golf gave him a way to spend time with his grandsons on terms everyone understood and no one took for granted. They've played so many rounds at Diamondback National, the public course in Abilene that Charles designed and owned, that he can track the progress of Parker and Pierceson through certain basic benchmarks: the first time he saw them record a par to take the honor on the next tee, the first time they outdrove him, the first time they beat him. "I have a lot of beautiful memories of playing with the boys," Charles said. More memories will be made this week as Parker takes the next step in his promising career and advances the family's legacy.

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The seventh of 24 contributing events for PGA TOUR Champions One & Done presented by SERVPRO is this week’s Mitsubishi Electric Classic. It begins on Friday. Scroll for tournament notes and 21 notables from the field of 78 in Duluth, Georgia. As gamers, we are compelled to pigeonhole golfers into a finite set of bins. It helps keep all of our thoughts organized and it’s time-effective. However, correlation is primarily an exercise in making broad strokes and taking shortcuts. In reality, every golfer is unique with a profile as it pertains to all of the known variables every time he competes. This brings us to Luke Donald at the RBC Heritage. For one, as rapidly as you want to connect dots between fellow 40somethings/Englishmen Paul Casey and Ian Poulter, both of whom recent winners of PGA TOUR events, and even World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship winner Phil Mickelson, also a contemporary, none of them possessed the kind of epic course history at the sites of their titles as Donald has at Harbour Town Golf Links. It’s a relevant narrative to carry a casual conversation, but it’s an improper fantasy angle. It also disregards Donald’s extended poor form upon arrival for his 10th consecutive appearance (and 13th overall) on Hilton Head Island. Each of the other three guys had been performing with some degree of promise in advance of their victories. Yet, Donald, who sits 196th in the Official World Golf Ranking and surrendered the title of “low Luke” to Luke List (currently 67th) at the conclusion of 2017, shapes up strongest among the foursome in consumer confidence entering their respective tournaments. There isn’t a better test to determine if, when you paint your broad strokes, you prefer course history over recent form. And it’s not so much the logic, it’s the comfort level after you’ve pulled the trigger. If you have gamer’s remorse, well, there you go. Just as he was last year, Donald is my pick. If you don’t like it, ask yourself if you’re stereotyping for whatever motivation. My fantasy Rule No. 3 is to remain fluid. In his case, if you haven’t already, it means to open your mind to the creation of a new category (for you) for which Donald is the only member. He’s an extreme and he exists. It’s not like he’s suddenly forgotten how to play golf. He’s remained busy and he’s not injured. Perhaps best of all, he’s yet to reach paydirt. Despite that manifesto, if I was pacing my little league, I’d stick with the chalk of Matt Kuchar. Indeed, Donald is for gamers in pursuit since front-runners won’t trust him because of the absence of good form. Remember, good form is why front-runners are front-runners. If you’re chasing and still can’t trust Donald, Cameron Smith and Tyrrell Hatton present as meaty options who are still solidifying their value in our world. Both check boxes of previous experience and relative success at Harbour Town along with a strong upswing in form. Because of the breadth of the field, two-man gamers should take the position of striking with a pair of primaries instead of the usual 1-2 punch. My Power Rankings is littered with an array of options. For the sake of time and space, lean on Future Possibilities below for all notables and schedule accordingly. FUTURE POSSIBILITIES  NOTE: Select golfers committed to the tournament are listed alphabetically. Future tournaments are sorted chronologically and reflect previous success on the courses on which the tournaments will be held in 2017-18. The numerical values in parentheses represent the order of relative confidence of where to use each golfer if multiple sites are listed (e.g. 1 for strongest, 2 for next-strongest and so on). To present weighted confidence in real time, numerical values will not change all season no matter how many tournament remain listed for each golfer. All are pending golfer commitment. Paul Casey … Travelers (4); WGC-Bridgestone (5); Dell Technologies (2); TOUR Championship (3) Kevin Chappell … Valero (1; defending); St. Jude (5); WGC-Bridgestone (2); Dell Technologies (3) Luke Donald … Heritage (1) Jason Dufner … Fort Worth (2); Memorial (3; defending); U.S. Open (4); Wyndham (6); TOUR Championship (7) Jim Furyk … Heritage (1); Memorial (7); U.S. Open (8); Canadian (3); WGC-Bridgestone (2); THE NORTHERN TRUST (9); TOUR Championship (4) Bill Haas … Wyndham (2) Brian Harman … Fort Worth (4); John Deere (3) Charley Hoffman … Heritage (7); Houston (5); Valero (1); Fort Worth (4); Travelers (2); Canadian (3) Billy Horschel … Valero (3); St. Jude (1); TOUR Championship (4) Dustin Johnson … Memorial (12); St. Jude (8); U.S. Open (13); Canadian (10); WGC-Bridgestone (14); PGA Championship (9); Dell Technologies (11); TOUR Championship (6) Zach Johnson … Fort Worth (2); John Deere (1); Open Championship (5); WGC-Bridgestone (6); TOUR Championship (8) Chris Kirk … Valero (4); PLAYERS (3); Fort Worth (2) Kevin Kisner … Heritage (4); Fort Worth (1; defending); Memorial (5); Wyndham (6) Russell Knox … Heritage (2); PLAYERS (8); Dell Technologies (7) Matt Kuchar … Heritage (1); Valero (10); PLAYERS (11); Fort Worth (6); Memorial (2); Canadian (3); WGC-Bridgestone (7); THE NORTHERN TRUST (9) Martin Laird … Valero (7); Barracuda (1) Marc Leishman … Fort Worth (7); Memorial (5); Travelers (2); Open Championship (1) Graeme McDowell … Heritage (4); WGC-Bridgestone (3) William McGirt … Heritage (1); Memorial (4) Francesco Molinari … PLAYERS (2) Ryan Moore … Travelers (2); John Deere (3); TOUR Championship (6) Kevin Na … Heritage (6); Memorial (10); John Deere (9); Wyndham (3); THE NORTHERN TRUST (11) Ryan Palmer … Valero (1); Fort Worth (2); St. Jude (6) Scott Piercy … John Deere (6) Charl Schwartzel … Memorial (4); U.S. Open (5); Open Championship (6); WGC-Bridgestone (2) Webb Simpson … Wells Fargo (7); Fort Worth (4); Travelers (8); Greenbrier (5); Wyndham (1) Brandt Snedeker … Heritage (10); Fort Worth (11); U.S. Open (5); Travelers (6); Canadian (3); Wyndham (4) Kevin Streelman … Wells Fargo (3); Memorial (1); Travelers (2) CHAMPIONS ONE & DONE Mitsubishi Electric Classic Now in its sixth edition, each has been contested at TPC Sugarloaf, former home of the AT&T Classic on the PGA TOUR from 1997-2008. The course is a stock par 72 tipping at 7,179 yards. Stephen Ames is defending his first title on the PGA TOUR Champions. His 15-under 201 is the tournament record. All five prior champions of the Mitsubishi Electric Classic are scheduled to play. Since winning the inaugural event in 2013, Bernhard Langer has added a trio of runner-up finishes. Scott McCarron is the only winner of the TOUR stop at TPC Sugarloaf who is competing this week. He prevailed in both 1997 and 2001, but he’s yet to pick one off as a senior. Total prize money of $1.8 million hasn’t changed since the tournament’s inception. The winner will pocket $270,000. FUTURE POSSIBILITIES NOTE: Select golfers committed to the tournament are listed alphabetically. Future tournaments are sorted chronologically and reflect previous success on the courses on which the tournaments will be held in 2018. The numerical values in parentheses represent the order of relative confidence of where to use each golfer if multiple sites are listed (e.g. 1 for strongest, 2 for next-strongest and so on). To present weighted confidence in real time, numerical values will not change all season no matter how many tournament remain listed for each golfer. All are pending golfer commitment. Stephen Ames … Mitsubishi Electric Classic (1; defending); Insperity (4); Principal (8); U.S. Senior Open (6); Boeing (2); Shaw (7) Billy Andrade … Mitsubishi Electric Classic (5); Bass Pro Shops (4) Joe Durant … Bass Pro Shops (5); Insperity (15); Principal (2); American Family (8); U.S. Senior Open (7); SENIOR PLAYERS (1); 3M (6); DICK’S (12); Boeing (10); Shaw (11); PURE (3); SAS (13) David Frost … Mitsubishi Electric Classic (6); Bass Pro Shops (3); U.S. Senior Open (4); 3M (7); Boeing (5); Shaw (8); PURE (1) Fred Funk … Mitsubishi Electric Classic (4); Bass Pro Shops (1); Regions Tradition (3); Boeing (6); PURE (5) Doug Garwood … SAS (1) Paul Goydos … Mitsubishi Electric Classic (6); Bass Pro Shops (2); Insperity (7); 3M (1; defending); DICK’S (3); SAS (5) Lee Janzen … U.S. Senior Open (2) Miguel Angel Jiménez … Mitsubishi Electric Classic (2); Insperity (13); Senior PGA (6); Principal (10); U.S. Senior Open (5); SENIOR PLAYERS (3); Senior Open Championship (4); 3M (9); Shaw (7); SAS (12) Jerry Kelly … Boeing (1; defending); Shaw (5); PURE (2); SAS (4) Bernhard Langer … Usable everywhere. Defending five titles. Billy Mayfair … Boeing (2); PURE (1) Scott McCarron … Regions Tradition (2); Senior PGA (11); Principal (1); SENIOR PLAYERS (3; defending); Senior Open Championship (10); DICK’S (4; defending); Shaw (5; defending); PURE (8) Colin Montgomerie … Mitsubishi Electric Classic (5); Senior PGA (1); U.S. Senior Open (6); SENIOR PLAYERS (2); Senior Open Championship (10); Shaw (4); PURE (7); SAS (3; defending) Tom Pernice, Jr. … Principal Charity (2); Shaw (3); SAS (5) Gene Sauers … Insperity (7); Regions Tradition (3); U.S. Senior Open (5); SENIOR PLAYERS (6); Boeing (1) Vijay Singh … Bass Pro Shops (4; defending); Senior PGA (3); U.S. Senior Open (2); Shaw (5); SAS (1) Kevin Sutherland … Usable everywhere. David Toms … Regions Tradition (3); Boeing (2); SAS (4) Kirk Triplett … Insperity (2); Regions Tradition (6); American Family (5); SENIOR PLAYERS (1); Shaw (4) Duffy Waldorf … Bass Pro Shops (2); Insperity (4); Principal (6); Shaw (5)

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With four wins this season, including the FedEx Cup, Patrick Cantlay was voted PGA Tour player of the year.

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