Austin Cook increases lead to 3 shots at Sea Island

The PGA TOUR returns to iconic Riviera Country Club for The Genesis Invitational. Tournament host Tiger Woods will be in attendance but won't play as he is still recovering from a back procedure last month. World No. 1 Dustin Johnson and defending champion Adam Scott are among the headliners. FIELD NOTES: Notables in the invitation-only field include major champions Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Collin Morikawa, and Francesco Molinari, plus world No. 2 Jon Rahm. ... After deciding not to tee it up at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Dustin Johnson, who won the 2017 Genesis, will be back in action at Riviera. ... Scott hasn't missed a cut this season and finished T10 in his last start at the Farmers Insurance Open... Other past winners at Riviera include J.B. Holmes, James Hahn, Charles Howell III, and Bubba Watson (twice a winner here). ... Tae Hoon Kim won The Genesis Championship in Korea last fall to secure a spot in The Genesis Invitational field for 2021... Two-time FedExCup winner Rory McIlroy looks to finally lift the trophy at Riviera after holding a piece of the lead Sunday a year ago only to fall to T5... The U.S. Amateur champion always gets a spot in The Genesis Invitational, so Tyler Strafaci will tee it up, as will the previous three U.S. Amateur winners: Andy Ogletree, Viktor Hovland, and Doc Redman. (Redman won the 2017 U.S. Amateur at Riviera.) ... In addition to reigning champ Johnson, FedExCup winners in the field include Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth, Brandt Snedeker, and Jim Furyk. FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 550 FedExCup points. COURSE: Designed by George C. Thomas Jr. and William P Bell, Riviera Country Club, par 71, 7,322 yards, has been a PGA TOUR staple for 57 years. A three-time major championship host (1948 U.S. Open and 1983/1995 PGA Championships), the club is perennially ranked in the top 100 in the world and is located just a block from Sunset Boulevard. It's a compact design with primary rough consisting of thick Kikuyu grass, a bunker in the middle of a green, and of course the iconic, driveable 10th. STORYLINES: Willie Mack III joins the list of Charlie Sifford Memorial Exemption recipients. Two other past Sifford Exemption recipients will be in the field: Harold Varner III and Cameron Champ. Mack III, an 11-time winner at Bethune-Cookman University, made his PGA TOUR debut at Torrey Pines when an exemption intended for Kamaiu Johnson opened up due to Johnson testing positive for COVID-19. The Sifford Exemption has been awarded yearly since 2009, with three recipients (Jeremiah Wooding, Varner III, and Joseph Bramlett) making the cut... There is one spot left in the field reserved for the winner of The Genesis Invitational Collegiate Showcase, Feb. 15. Three past collegiate showcase champions will be in the field for 2021: this year's winner plus Will Zalatoris (2015) and Scottie Scheffler (2018). ... Anyone who moves into the top 10 of the FedExCup standings (and not otherwise in the field) after The Genesis Invitational will earn a spot in the following week's World Golf Championships at The Concession. 72-HOLE RECORD: 264, Lanny Wadkins (1985). 18-HOLE RECORD: 61, George Archer (3rd round, 1983 at Rancho Park GC), Ted Tryba (3rd round, 1999 at Riviera CC). LAST TIME: On a difficult day for the overnight leaders, Scott - whose victory at Riviera 15 years ago was deemed unofficial as rain shortened the tournament to 36 holes - shot a 1-under 70 to top Sung Kang, Scott Brown, and Matt Kuchar by two shots. It was the Australian's 14th TOUR victory and 29th win worldwide. Five players had a share of the lead at some point Sunday, including McIlroy, who shot 2 over to finish T5 alongside Hideki Matsuyama, Bryson DeChambeau, Max Homa, and Joel Dahmen. Tournament host Woods finished 68th, last among those who made the cut. HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Thursday, 12 p.m.-2 p.m. (Golf Channel, PGA TOUR Live Freeview), 2 p.m.-6 p.m. (Golf Channel), 6 p.m.-8 p.m. (Golf Channel, PGA TOUR Live Freeview). Friday, 2 p.m.-6 p.m. (Golf Channel). Saturday, 1 p.m.-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3 p.m.-6 p.m. (CBS). Sunday, 1 p.m.-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3 p.m.-6:30 p.m. (CBS). PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday, 9:45 a.m.-8 p.m. (Featured Groups), Saturday, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. (Featured Groups), 3 p.m.-6 p.m. (Featured Holes). Sunday, 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m. (Featured Groups), 3 p.m.-6:30 p.m. (Featured Holes). Radio: Thursday-Friday, 12 p.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, 1 p.m.-6 p.m. Sunday, 1 p.m.-6:30 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio). TOURCast: Get shot-by-shot info in real time with shot tracks and video with TOURCast. TOUR Pulse: Get the PGA TOUR app to utilize TOUR Pulse, which provides users the ability to experience a mix of content, such as video highlights, written hole summaries and stat graphics on every player after every hole they complete.

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Hudson Swafford remembers when it really hit home. He was 12 years old. Maybe 13. But he distinctly remembers his father giving  his mother Jean a pendant with the number 10 spelled out in diamonds.   “And I was like, well, what’s that for?â€� Swafford recalls. His parents told him that the pendant symbolized Jean’s 10-year anniversary of being free from breast cancer. “And I was like, oh, that’s, that’s amazing,â€� Swafford says. “I mean, it was incredible. So that was big for me because I kind of understood.â€� Swafford knew what cancer was. Friends of his parents had died from the disease. But since he was just 2 years old when his mother was diagnosed, he didn’t remember the worst of times. Jean Swafford underwent radiation and chemotherapy. Her son says she lost her hair and it grew back even curlier than before. Fortunately, though, the cancer was caught early and she’s closing in on 30 years of survival. “I can’t really remember what diagnosis she had — but she also had melanoma when she was coming out of college,â€� Swafford says. “So she actually beat cancer twice, which is pretty incredible. “It’s definitely something, I’ll always be very grateful for. And she was kind of the one that pushed me to do anything that I wanted to do.â€� Like play golf. And Swafford is one of many men on TOUR with women in their lives who have had breast cancer. Wives, mothers, sisters, friends — all have battled the disease, and October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Swafford and his wife Katherine, who is president of the PGA TOUR Wives Association, support charities that help fund breast cancer research, as well as the cancer community as a whole. Katherine is on the Victory Board of the American Cancer Society in their home of St. Simon’s Island, Georgia, and is working on the organization’s 50th anniversary gala for next year. “It’s near and dear to our family,â€� Swafford explains. When he was a toddler, Swafford says, he made his mother’s life “even more miserable.â€� Of course, he didn’t know what she was going through and he was a kid. He wanted to play. “I would get out and run away from her and make her chase me around,â€� he remembers. “(I was) always wanting to throw the ball or just be outside and be active. I didn’t know why at the time, well, what was going on or know why she didn’t want to play. … “Later on life, obviously, it was explained to me and I could comprehend it. It’s definitely kind of eye-opening that she fought through it and, and it really hadn’t slowed her down, you know?â€� While the 31-year-old didn’t want to make his mother “relive those kind of miserable days,â€� Swafford says that once he got older he talked with her about her battle. “She was great about it. She’s a pretty happy-go-lucky person; (she) talks too much anyway,â€� he says, chuckling. “But no, she was great.  Told me all about her chemo, which she had to go through and how she was throwing up, trying to chase me around. “I’m just running out of energy and (she) just needed somebody to help her. It was tough at the time. But she said I was just kind of the one that kind of pushed her, helped push her through things.â€� So at the same time, having an active 2-year-old like Hudson may have helped Jean Swafford fight the disease.    “She always just said I was kind of her energy and would keep her moving,â€� Swafford says. And thirty years later, the 2017 CareerBuilder Challenge champion is still giving his mother plenty of support.  

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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla., and HOUSTON, Texas – United Airlines and the PGA TOUR today announced a multi-year extension of their official marketing relationship that designates United as the “Official Airline of the PGA TOUR, PGA TOUR Champions and Korn Ferry Tour” through 2025. This partnership renewal will also extend the commitment to annually award 55 golf teams at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) with more than half a million dollars in grants, divided equally among the schools, to fund travel for golf tournaments and recruiting efforts. Over the multi-year extension, United will award a total of $1.5 million in grants to these institutions. “On behalf of the PGA TOUR, I’m grateful to our longtime partner United Airlines for their continued support of our players and Tour as well as HBCU golf programs across the country,” said Executive Vice President, Corporate Partnerships Brian Oliver. “Partnering with a global leader like United has allowed us to make significant steps towards diversifying the landscape of competitive golf and enhancing the overall student-athlete experience.” Developed in early 2021 by the TOUR’s HBCU task force, the HBCU grant program aims to leverage the TOUR’s partner network in order to offset the financial burdens many HBCU golf programs face. Student athletes from across the country will also have access to mentorship and career coaching from United employees. “We are immensely proud to continue our work with the PGA TOUR to help remove barriers for collegiate athletes at HBCUs so that they can be given the same opportunities to fulfill their potential and pursue their dreams,” said Jennifer Entenman, United’s Managing Director of Global Sponsorship and Inclusive Partnerships. “United is committed to driving racial equity and inclusion and we have seen the profound impact these grants have on the communities we serve.” Through 2025, each school will receive $10,000 in travel credits, enabling more than 250 student-athletes, coaches and their equipment to fly United to compete in high-profile tournaments that may have been previously out of reach because of limited travel budgets. “Even in the short time that I’ve been at Prairie View A&M, United has saved us a tremendous amount of time and money just to be able to have access to go to George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston to fly,” said Prairie View A&M Golf Coach Mesha Levister. “Just to reduce costs of travel helps tremendously because now we can use those funds to give them a better experience as a student athlete and a college golfer.” United’s travel grants through the PGA TOUR’s HBCU Grant Program will serve 55 current golf programs offered at HBCUs, including:

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