Reed Masters win no surprise, nor McIlroy’s putting meltdown

DUBLIN, Ohio – If this were a normal year, which is certainly isn’t, Dylan Frittelli would have been defending his title at the John Deere Classic this week. Instead, the 30-year-old South African found himself making headlines at another PGA TOUR golf tournament in a totally different city when he teed off with Nick Watney and Denny McCarthy on Thursday in the first round of the Workday Charity Open. Frittelli, Watney and McCarthy had tested positive for the coronavirus, the highly infectious respiratory disease that forced the TOUR to shut down in March and the John Deere Classic to be canceled last month. All three had quarantined for 10 days and had no symptoms but continued to test positive. On Wednesday the TOUR updated its protocols to so that a player or caddie who tested positive with symptoms and continues to test positive can return to competition as long as 72 hours have passed since recovery – which is defined as resolution of fever without the use of medication and improved respiratory symptoms. In addition, 10 days must have passed since those symptoms appeared. (Click here for full details) The clarification of the TOUR policy is in concert with the “Return to Work” guidelines of the CDC and was done in consultation with the TOUR’s medical adviser, Dr. Tom Hospel and other infectious disease experts. So Frittelli, Watney and McCarthy played together in the final group of the morning wave on Thursday at Muirfield Village. Frittelli and McCarthy each shot 73 while Watney, who was 2 under when he made the turn, finished with a 77. Frittelli described himself as “super happy” to be playing golf again. He originally tested positive in Hartford, Connecticut, during the Travelers Championship. He quarantined there for six days and spent next four in isolation at his agent’s house in New York. “It’s been pretty boring the last five or six days just sitting around doing nothing,” Frittelli said. “It was fun to get out there. Obviously, a few hoops to jump through yesterday. It was a little tricky situation that went on. “But that’s fine; life is full of surprises, so we’ll move on from there and hopefully get everything cemented in the coming weeks.” Frittelli, who said he felt “totally better” after the fourth day of quarantine, tested positive twice this week – taking a saliva test on Monday and another with a nasal swab on Tuesday. He wasn’t surprised. He said his doctor had told him that he might continue to return positive tests for up to a month. “I’ve got a friend in Japan who chatted to me, he said, dude, I’ve been testing for 28 days, I still haven’t got a negative,” Frittelli said. “I knew that was a possibility.” He didn’t know about the 10-day cycle of the virus, and the “Return to Work” guidelines that covered repeated positive tests without symptoms, though. “I still thought it had to come along with a negative test according to the TOUR, but obviously the TOUR is trying to monitor things as they move, and scientists and biologists are still figuring stuff out today, so this stuff is going to change all the time, and I’m glad the TOUR have kept their finger on the pulse,” Frittelli said. Frittelli said his symptoms were minor. On the Sunday night after he was originally tested in Hartford, he had some nasal congestion and some minor muscle aches for an hour or so. He also had two headaches in three days that lasted for 20 or 30 minutes each. “I did feel a little lethargic and slow, but that’s normally the case when I don’t work out or I don’t get outside or I’m not busy,” he said. Like Watney, Frittelli did lose his sense of smell about five days into his bout with COVID-19. “I was just eating regular plain meals and then all of a sudden I took some Vicks VapoRub and smelled it and I got a little burn in the nasal cavity, but I didn’t smell the menthol and I was like, that’s weird,” he said. “I was like, OK, this is the final piece of the puzzle that confirms that I had it. “But that subsequently has come back. Yesterday I finally started tasting food and smell seems to be back right now.” Frittelli, Watney and McCarthy are not allowed inside the Muirfield Village clubhouse and gym and the physical therapy trailers. But they do have a room underneath the old pro shop where the three of them can eat and “chill out together,” Frittelli said. The only negative is that he can’t work with his physiotherapist, who works with other TOUR pros. “I just drove straight in this morning actually,” Frittelli said. “I stretched at home. I ate breakfast in my hotel room and then straight to the parking lot and felt like Walter Hagen, just walked straight on to the driving range.” While Frittelli admitted the isolation made him feel a bit like an outcast, he understands the reasons. He said he hasn’t had much contact with other players but that many of the ones he’s talked to were “intrigued” by what he had experienced. “They were all asking me questions, hey, what’s going on, how did it happen, and I just explained,” Frittelli said. “I told them the truth, I told them what happened, and I tried to give them my best biology lesson that I could.” While he’ll have to wait another year for his John Deere Classic title defense, Frittelli has decided he is the “defending tournament week champion” at Muirfield Village. “I’m defending this time frame, I guess,” he said. “But no, I’m not getting any similar vibes to Silvis, Illinois, to be honest, but hopefully I can play well tomorrow and see some more golf hopefully.”

Click here to read the full article…

HAYWARD, Calif. — Stephen Curry missed the cut Friday night against professional golfers on the Web.com Tour. But not before leaving some of golf’s best players impressed that a two-time MVP for the Golden State Warriors could enter their arena and look respectable. Curry opened with a 4-over 74 on the TPC Stonebrae and needed a career round to stay for the weekend. He shot a 74 again on Friday to finish tied for 148th. He missed the cut by 11 shots. Curry bogeyed two of the first three holes on Friday and shot a 39 on his opening nine. He made five straight pars and birdied No. 14 before playing the final three holes at 1-over with two bogeys and a birdie on 17. No matter. “That was awesome what he did yesterday,” said 2015 FedExCup winner Jordan on Friday at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. “I think he certainly beat most everybody’s expectations, but I don’t think that really surprised him. It was pretty cool — really cool — to see. You see him fist-pumping out there, and just him talking about how nervous he was when he heard his name called, it just makes us feel a little better when sometimes some of the stuff he does looks like a robot.” Stanford alum Andrew Yun shot a 62 on Friday and finished two rounds at 8-under 127. Fellow American Brandon Harkins is two shots back after rounds of 64 and 65. One of the highlights for Curry in the opening round was a long birdie putt and telling his caddie to “Go get that” from the cup. That was the famous line Spieth said to his caddie at Royal Birkdale two weeks ago after a 50-foot eagle putt to take the lead. “To be honest, I think it’s pretty special for a two-time MVP to be able to shoot 74 at a pro event and beat other pros,” former PGA champion Jason Day said. No one expected very much out of Curry, who last year played in the pro-am at the PGA TOUR’s season opener in Napa, California. The field included players who have competed in majors this year, and seven players who have won on the PGA TOUR. The question in some corners was how high his score would be. “I was asked if I thought he was going to break 80, and that’s the hand grenade question,” Paul Casey said. “But 4 over is really good. It’s a lot of pressure, and he exceeded my expectations.” Zach Johnson, a two-time major champion, said he has a friend who knows Curry and said he was a good player. The score in the first round was enough to make a believer out of Johnson. “Clearly, he is,” Johnson said. “I don’t know that golf course. Someone said they shoot pretty low there often, but it doesn’t matter. You’ve still got to put the ball in the hole. First round as an amateur in a professional tournament? That’s pretty good.” Johnson vaguely recalled the time Jerry Rice, the Hall of Fame receiver for the San Francisco 49ers, played in the tournament. Rice shot 90. “He’s a good athlete. They’re both good athletes,” Johnson said. “I’m not going to be playing for the 49ers.”

Click here to read the full article…

Tiger and Charlie Woods will tee it up once again at the PNC Championship this weekend at the Ritz-Carlton GC in Orlando, Florida. This will be their third consecutive appearance at the tournament, which has become one of the marquee events of the fall season. Related: The First Look: PNC Championship While some like to refer to this section of the golf calendar as the “silly season,” there is nothing silly about Tiger Woods teeing it up at this stage of his career, regardless of the context. As many witnessed during the most recent edition of Capital One’s The Match, whenever and wherever Tiger appears on a golf course, it becomes must-see entertainment. This weekend at the PNC Championship alongside his son is poised to be no different. There won’t be any FedExCup points up for grabs, or any OWGR ranking to fight over. Just some of the biggest names in the sport playing golf with their family around the holidays. This event reminds so many of us why we love the game. In preparation for the PNC Championship, we collected some of the most iconic moments over the last two years from Team Woods. Charlie flushes 5-iron off the tee to card Team Woods’ 11th consecutive birdie Team Woods entered the final round of the 2021 PNC Championship tied for fifth, three shots off the lead. While most fans were happy to just see Tiger back on a golf course, the Woods duo were over the simple pomp and circumstance of their mere presence. They were there to win. What followed was a display of superb scramble golf from Charlie and Tiger that included a run of 11 straight birdies starting at the sixth and extending through No. 17. The run was highlighted by Charlie striping a 5-iron to 4 feet on the par-3 17th, tying the lead with John Daly and his college-aged son John Daly II heading to 18. Charlie dropped the putt for the solo birdie, marking 11 straight circles for Team Woods, a tournament record. Charlie hits the iconic walk-in and putter raise It took just four holes into the first round of the 2021 PNC for the moxie of the younger Woods to be on full display for the world. Taking a page out of Tiger’s book of signature celebrations, Charlie walked in a lengthy birdie putt and raised his putter to the sky just like his father has done in some of the biggest moments in the history of golf. That wasn’t the only statement putt from the younger Woods, as he drained a birdie on the par-3 eighth and promptly tossed his marker at dear old dad. Charlie displays trash-talk prowess with clever response to Mike Thomas Tiger Woods isn’t one of the more outspoken figures in golf, but certainly knows how to dish out some clever trash talk. This gamesmanship isn’t lost on son Charlie, who delivered the perfect needle to the team of Justin Thomas and dad Mike Thomas at the 2020 PNC. Mike Thomas, a PGA professional who specializes in coaching junior golfers and has worked with Charlie in the past, left a note for the younger Woods in the middle of the fairway during the pro-am the day before the first round. “Charlie drove one through the fairway and my dad was playing in front of them and he’d hit it into the trees,” Justin Thomas explained. “My dad wrote on a piece of paper ‘draw hole’ and put it under his ball. In typical Woods fashion, he kept the piece of paper, and when my dad hit it in the bunker, he put the exact same piece of paper behind his ball.” Some gall for an 11-year-old to call out a seasoned PGA professional, in front of the TV cameras no less. One could suppose that’s just the natural confidence instilled in someone growing up with an 82-time TOUR winner as a dad. “For some reason, Charlie just always wants to beat me, it doesn’t matter what it is. Although he’s never beaten me in golf or a putting contest, he still talks trash just like his dad. It will be fun,” said Justin Thomas. “We’ll have that inner tournament within a tournament, trying to shut his little mouth up, but it will be fun.” Tiger outdrives Justin Thomas Following the shocking news of Tiger Woods’ car accident in February 2021, questions began to surface asking if the 15-time major champion would ever be able to compete, or even play golf, again. After intense surgery, talks of amputation, and eventually being bedridden to his Florida home for three months, Tiger returned to golf alongside his son at the 2021 PNC Championship. Tiger’s game was limited. A noticeable limp and stiffness in the swing were apparent from the first tee shot. Justin Thomas, playing alongside Team Woods, was determined that a 45-year-old, hobbled Tiger would not outdrive him. That changed on the 11th hole. “I hit it pretty good and as soon as his ball took that big bounce, we looked at each other and I was like, ‘If it’s going to happen, it’s going to be this one because I think it just launched.’ And yeah, that was a shot to the ego,” Thomas said with a smile. Team Woods would go on to birdie the hole, but it was in that moment off the tee that Tiger showed he just might still have what it takes to compete. “It’s pretty amazing, isn’t it?” Nick Faldo said. “To go from fearing that you can’t use your foot to standing, he’s gone through every stage and ticking every box with sheer hard work and amazing determination. Maybe this was a goal. This was a great goal for him to come and play with his boy.” The mannerisms One of the biggest catalysts in the public’s growing interest in Charlie Woods was a video put together following the 2020 PNC Championship, super cutting the similarities in movements and mannerisms between father and son. Where most people share some common traits with their parents, few get to display those characteristics through a shared sport in front of the television cameras. Those who have watched Tiger play over the last three decades were quick to see the eerily similar quirks Charlie has picked up from his dad. The swing. The fist pump. The quick grab of the tee. It’s all there.

Click here to read the full article…