No longer a novelty

Tracy West was in her late 20s and working at a company called Pro Links Sports, which managed a half-dozen golf events, mostly on PGA TOUR Champions. Part of her job was to recruit players to appear at special events. During this time, she also went through a couple of pregnancies – and the senior golfers came to view her as something of a daughter figure. “In a way, it was easier for me to try and cajole them into playing in pro-ams and things like that,â€� West said. “They had to at least think about it a little more, probably, to say no to me than maybe one of the male tournament directors right away.â€� Now she’s the tournament director at this week’s Valspar Championship, and part of her job is again enticing players to participate in her event. The requests, though, are not always as easy. “Definitely not, because now I can be their mothers, right?â€� the soon-to-be 54-year-old said, laughing. Even so, West has found the TOUR players welcoming – albeit sometimes surprised early on when she approached them on the range to encourage them to play in Tampa or to show her appreciation once they were there. One such encounter in 2015 stands out. “I was going up on Tuesday afternoon to thank this prominent player for playing that week,â€� West recalled. “It was late on a Tuesday afternoon and his wife was on the putting green with him. She looked at me and was like, ‘Oh my God. A female tournament director. This is fantastic. This is awesome.’ “So, yeah it was probably a bit of a novelty — which isn’t that long ago.â€� In reality, what’s less of a novelty in each passing year is a PGA TOUR event run by a woman. West, who joined the Valspar Championship in 2014, is not the first female tournament director on TOUR; there were three before her. But she is the longest-serving of the seven currently in position and the list is growing on PGA TOUR Champions and the Web.com Tour, too. In addition, Alexandria (Alex) Baldwin was named in January to oversee the entire Web.com Tour – the first woman to lead one of the PGA TOUR’s six global Tours as president. And of the 27 events on that schedule, a third now have women as tournament directors. When PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan announced Baldwin’s appointment, he called it a “watershed moment for our organization.â€� In truth, though, it’s one the TOUR has been building toward for many years. Of the 800 or so employees at the TOUR, nearly half – 42 percent, to be exact – are female. And those women fill a variety of roles from sales and marketing to media officials and ShotLink coordinators to finance and accounting to digital producers and on-air talent to hospitality and child care. “I’ve never really been privy to an organization that has had such a focus on elevating women within the workplace,â€� said Allison Fillmore, in her second year as tournament director of the TOUR Championship, the FedExCup finale. “Jay Monahan has really taken this to another level and to see the moves that the TOUR is making towards really creating opportunities for women is amazing.â€� A concerted effort has been made to promote diversity. Of the new hires at the TOUR in 2018, 42 percent were women and more than 80 percent of the slate of candidates presented crossed gender, racial and ethnic lines. “Creating a diverse team at the PGA TOUR is not only the right thing to do, it’s also the smart thing to do,â€� Monahan said. “Given the global appeal of our sport, only by building an energetic mix of voices and perspectives will we be able to develop the best ideas, foster innovation and broaden the reach and impact of the TOUR.â€� The TOUR is focused on retaining that talent, as well as recruiting it. Employee resource groups, launched in 2017, focus on multicultural concerns, advancing women, generational aspects, life balance/working parents and military, veterans and first responders. “Jay’s incredibly passionate about our diversity and inclusion efforts and it’s exciting to see,â€� Baldwin said. “There’s some fantastic talent here at the TOUR and across the industry.â€� That push toward diversity extends to the TOUR’s 47 co-sanctioned events. And Julie Tyson, a senior vice president of the TOUR who has been the tournament director at THE NORTHERN TRUST since 2017, says the conversation around influx of women is gratifying. “What’s most exciting for me to see is the premise of this whole discussion,â€� she said. “It’s that there are women now filling nontraditional roles and in more significant roles where their voices and everyone’s voices can be heard. And I think that’s, that’s the thing that makes the TOUR. … “The more we can hear from more people and more viewpoints, the better the product.â€� Marci Doyle, who has worked with the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard for more than a decade and served as tournament director since 2015, sees a more inclusive environment overall. “I feel like not only the PGA TOUR, but sports in general, I think that there is more openness to say, let’s make sure that we’re … hiring the best person no matter what,â€� Doyle said. “Now I think they’re making sure that they’re going through that process and making sure there are females that are being considered that maybe they didn’t do in the past. “And when I say they, I mean all sports honestly. I think it is. I think it has opened some doors. That’s a good thing. West didn’t plan on getting into event management. After she got her MBA from Michigan State, she was handling economic forecasting and product management for a company in Grand Rapids. After joining the Junior Chamber of Commerce in 1989, she volunteered at what was then-known as the Farmers American Classic, a Jaycee-run tournament on what is now PGA TOUR Champions. West worked in corporate hospitality and media and served on the executive committee. The behind-the-scenes work of putting on a golf tournament was intriguing. And the end result of money raised for charity made it seem that “life was more meaningful,â€� she says. A meeting with Hollis Cavner during the 1992 tournament eventually changed the course of her life. Cavner had been working for the USGA as director of operations for the 1990 and ’91 U.S. Opens. But he had just been hired to launch the inaugural Burnet Senior Classic in Minneapolis and needed an assistant tournament director. “We spent several hours together here and there during tournament week,â€� West says. “He called me the Monday after and said, ‘Do you want to make this a career?’ And I said, ‘Absolutely’ and my husband and I picked up and moved to Minnesota.â€� And so, Pro Links Sports was born. The company soon was managing several different events, and West helped hire and oversee the staffs. When Peter Mele left the BankBoston Classic to join the PGA TOUR, West took his position as tournament director and remained in that role for the next 10 years. The event eventually lost its corporate sponsor, and West faced a decision: Move her family to stay in the golf business or take another job. She opted to join the Red Sox Foundation and Massachusetts General Hospital as signature director of development for its Home Base program focused on healing the invisible wounds of post-9/11 veterans and their families. Six years later, Pro Links took over the management of the Valspar Championship. Once again Cavner came calling. “Listen, there’s going to be a change in management here,â€� he said. “You need to come back into golf.â€� While West didn’t originally set out to work in sports, Fillmore, Baldwin, Tyson and Doyle did. In high school, Baldwin took an inside sales job for the Volvo International tennis tournament in New Haven, Connecticut. As a political science major at Bates College, she researched internships in sports business and singled out the company she wanted to work for: IMG, the powerful sports agency. She sent a letter to the human resources department and was turned down. But she persisted – interrupting a short-term college trip to Europe to call IMG every time she arrived in a new city – and eventually an opening became available in the internal audit department in the Cleveland office. “I said, I’ll take it,â€� said Baldwin, who soon set about networking with as many people as she could. “It had absolutely nothing to do with my undergraduate degree or in any area of interest, but I wanted to get into the business, and I just needed to get a foot in the door.â€� The internship went well, as did college where she minored in Latin American studies. After Baldwin graduated from Bates, she worked for Madison Square Garden until a job opened up in IMG’s Cape Horn project, which supported the company’s Latin American business initiatives. From there Baldwin, who is fluent in Spanish, moved to Cleveland and the golf division, taking over Mark Steinberg’s clients on the LPGA Tour during his brief foray into basketball pre-Tiger Woods. She also spent 10 years at Fenway Sports Management, where she worked with Monahan, and later took jobs with Santander Bank in corporate sponsorships and CAA Sports. Baldwin joined the PGA TOUR in 2017 as Vice President of Corporate Partnerships. She says she “didn’t see it comingâ€� when Monahan asked her to lead the Web.com Tour but once she really thought about it, “It made a lot of sense. “It was not something I had expected, but it was something that, as I thought it through and really evaluated and really tried to understand how I could take on the role and how I could make an impact and make a difference, it suddenly felt like the pieces were there,â€� Baldwin said. Tyson went to Indiana and majored in communications with minors in business and psychology. She started out in media and advertising but had visions of being an agent. She thought the best path would be to work for a women’s sports organization. And she liked golf, so she took a job handling media production and sales for the LPGA. Urged on by Ty Votaw, the former LPGA commissioner who now is an Executive Vice President at the PGA TOUR, Tyson found her way to Ponte Vedra Beach in 2007, taking a job in account management and later working in business development. Tyson left what she jokingly calls the “mothershipâ€� in 2012 to run point on business development in the TOUR’s newly opened New York City office. The offer to become executive director of THE NORTHERN TRUST, which kicks off the FedExCup Playoffs, was something of a “really strange turn,â€� but like Baldwin, she came to understand that the move made sense. “It really does actually take all the things I’ve learned across my years of experience and blend them all together,â€� Tyson said. “And the cool part for me is you’re almost like running a small business with the backing of the PGA TOUR. “I’m like a franchisee, right? And so, it’s a little less scary when you’ve got the infrastructure of the PGA TOUR, but the freedom of being an entrepreneur.â€� Fillmore, who has a degree in sports management from Ohio University, was an elite athlete. She was a member of the U.S. National Junior Racquetball team and found herself at the Olympic training center at the age of 18. “I always wondered how I was afforded this opportunity,â€� she says. “I wanted to understand the business of sports and why things happen. So that’s kind of what drove me to really get into sports.â€� Her background included stints at NASCAR, in minor league hockey and with the Sacramento Kings, Atlanta Falcons — where she was the only female hired with nine other sales reps — and the Atlanta Dream. She has found that the expertise gained by working in a variety of sports is “very transferrable.â€� “With working on a singular event and NASCAR, they are very similar setup to how a PGA TOUR event is set outside of the build,â€� Fillmore said. Doyle, whose father and brother both played Major League Baseball, got a degree in business management from Florida. Her internships were always in athletics, and her first two jobs were with sports agencies in Washington, D.C., and Chicago. A job in sales and marketing at Golf Channel brought Doyle to Orlando. When a friend mentioned a similar position was open with the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Doyle initially dismissed it. But after interviewing with Roy and Amy Saunders, Arnold Palmer’s daughter, Doyle was intrigued. She liked that it was a family business like her father’s long-running baseball camp. She realized the Arnold Palmer Invitational is more than a PGA TOUR event, it’s an iconic brand and she wanted to help preserve Palmer’s legacy. “I was perfectly happy in my role, but when the family comes to you and says, we’d like for you to do this, I was honored,â€� said Doyle, who added tournament director to her duties four years ago. “How could I say no?â€� She sees the legendary Palmer as an innovator off the golf course just as he was a force inside the ropes. Adding a woman to his team as tournament director was just another example to the way he thought outside the box. “He was ahead of his time in marketing and the advertising that he did with Hertz and Pennzoil back when no one else was doing it,â€� Doyle said. “He started all that and once again as he always was and there he was in his eighties and to put a female tournament director position was pretty darn big deal.â€� As accomplished and qualified as these women are, there have been challenges as they moved up the ladder. Finding the proverbial seat at the table doesn’t necessarily mean that everyone wants to have dinner with you once you sit down to eat. “Any female, if they’re telling you that they’ve always felt accepted, I think they’re probably either not being honest with you or themselves,â€� Tyson said. “I have four older brothers and so I have never felt like I needed to work harder to be accepted. So, I’m sort of used to being in environments with a lot of guys. “And so, it just never dawned on me for a lot of the time. And having been in sales, I hear ‘no’ a lot. And that’s just part of my DNA is when I hear ‘no,’ it’s an invitation for yes somewhere down the road. And so a lot of those challenges I sort of looked at as opportunities to sort of change someone’s thinking. “That may sound sort of Pollyannaish, but it’s worked for me.â€� Baldwin espouses a similar approach. While she’s never thought it was “necessarily a gender sort of thing whether or not I was accepted,â€� there were situations where she acknowledges feeling a stance she took or a comment she made was marginalized. Baldwin wasn’t one to back down, though. “If what I said in that moment I knew was the best thing for the business, I’m not just stopping at that moment,â€� she said. “… If I know that’s the best thing for our business, I’m not giving up.â€� Fillmore, on the other hand, experienced more blatant discrimination. She was denied a promotion at a previous job after being “basically told (it was) because I was a female.â€� But she decided to turn the situation into a positive. “I looked that was an opportunity for me to say, OK, you know what, I’ve done really well for this organization and if you’re not willing to take a chance on me to move me to the next level, I am going to try to find somebody else that does,â€� she said. “So, I moved on, actually got so much of a better job and was probably one of the best experiences in my life. Everything happens for a reason.â€� After she made the move to golf in 2018 after eight years in NASCAR, though, Fillmore knows there were some who might have questioned the TOUR’s choice in leadership. But she took time to listen and learn from the people she would be working with – particularly on the operational side since her background was in sales – and feels those concerns have gone away. “I just sat down and talked to people about their experiences, what worked, what didn’t, and then put together a plan,â€� Fillmore explained. “At the beginning, I am sure there were doubters – and people came up to me and told me that they were a doubter at first. But I think after the first year and seeing how the tournament ran last year and the success that we’ve received, I think, I’m hoping, that all those doubts have been put to rest.â€� So, can we officially eliminate the qualifier “femaleâ€� when talking about these tournament directors? They certainly hope enough progress has been made. “I just want to be looked at as someone who’s providing talent and a great opportunity to enjoy our sport and bringing new vision to it,â€� Tyson said.  “At the same time, I think you don’t want to be complacent about that kind of progress. “Creating a level playing field is really all I think anybody wants.â€�

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Veritex Bank Championship
Type: Winner - Status: OPEN
S H Kim+1800
Hank Lebioda+2000
Johnny Keefer+2000
Alistair Docherty+2500
Kensei Hirata+2500
Neal Shipley+2500
Rick Lamb+2500
Trey Winstead+2500
Zecheng Dou+2500
Seungtaek Lee+2800
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Zurich Classic of New Orleans
Type: Winner - Status: OPEN
Rory McIlroy / Shane Lowry+350
Collin Morikawa / Kurt Kitayama+1400
Billy Horschel / Tom Hoge+1800
J.T. Poston / Keith Mitchell+1800
Thomas Detry / Robert MacIntyre+2000
Wyndham Clark / Taylor Moore+2000
Nicolai Hojgaard / Rasmus Hojgaard+2200
Aaron Rai / Sahith Theegala+2500
Ben Griffin / Andrew Novak+2800
Nico Echavarria / Max Greyserman+2800
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Tournament Match-Ups - R. McIlroy / S. Lowry vs C. Morikawa / K. Kitayama
Type: Tournament Match-Ups - Status: OPEN
Rory McIlroy / Shane Lowry-210
Collin Morikawa / Kurt Kitayama+160
Tournament Match-Ups - J.T. Poston / K. Mitchell vs T. Detry / R. MacIntyre
Type: Tournament Match-Ups - Status: OPEN
J.T. Poston / Keith Mitchell-130
Thomas Detry / Robert MacIntyre+100
Tournament Match-Ups - J. Svensson / N. Norgaard vs R. Fox / G. Higgo
Type: Tournament Match-Ups - Status: OPEN
Ryan Fox / Garrick Higgo-125
Jesper Svensson / Niklas Norgaard-105
Tournament Match-Ups - N. Hojgaard / R. Hojgaard vs N. Echavarria / M. Greyserman
Type: Tournament Match-Ups - Status: OPEN
Nicolai Hojgaard / Rasmus Hojgaard-130
Nico Echavarria / Max Greyserman+100
Tournament Match-Ups - M. Fitzpatrick / A. Fitzpatrick vs S. Stevens / M. McGreevy
Type: Tournament Match-Ups - Status: OPEN
Sam Stevens / Max McGreevy-120
Matt Fitzpatrick / Alex Fitzpatrick-110
Tournament Match-Ups - W. Clark / T. Moore vs B. Horschel / T. Hoge
Type: Tournament Match-Ups - Status: OPEN
Billy Horschel / Tom Hoge-130
Wyndham Clark / Taylor Moore+100
Tournament Match-Ups - N. Taylor / A. Hadwin vs B. Garnett / S. Straka
Type: Tournament Match-Ups - Status: OPEN
Nick Taylor / Adam Hadwin-120
Brice Garnett / Sepp Straka-110
Tournament Match-Ups - A. Rai / S. Theegala vs B. Griffin / A. Novak
Type: Tournament Match-Ups - Status: OPEN
Aaron Rai / Sahith Theegala-120
Ben Griffin / Andrew Novak-110
Tournament Match-Ups - J. Highsmith / A. Tosti vs A. Smalley / J. Bramlett
Type: Tournament Match-Ups - Status: OPEN
Joe Highsmith / Alejandro Tosti-130
Alex Smalley / Joseph Bramlett+100
Tournament Match-Ups - A. Bhatia / C. Young vs M. Wallace / T. Olesen
Type: Tournament Match-Ups - Status: OPEN
Akshay Bhatia / Carson Young-120
Matt Wallace / Thorbjorn Olesen-110
1st Round Match Up - Gerard / Walker vs Hoey / Ryder
Type: 1st Round Match Up - Status: OPEN
Gerard / Walker-110
Hoey / Ryder-110
1st Round 2 Ball - Fishburn / Blair v Byrd / Hadley
Type: 1st Round 2 Ball - Status: OPEN
Fishburn / Blair-140
Byrd / Hadley+115
1st Round 2 Ball - Hoey / Ryder v Smalley / Bramlett
Type: 1st Round 2 Ball - Status: OPEN
Hoey / Ryder-115
Smalley / Bramlett-105
1st Round Match Up - McIlroy / Lowry vs Poston / Mitchell
Type: 1st Round Match Up - Status: OPEN
McIlroy / Lowry-180
Poston / Mitchell+150
1st Round 2 Ball - Streb / Merritt v Ramey / Lower
Type: 1st Round 2 Ball - Status: OPEN
Ramey / Lower-155
Streb / Merritt+130
1st Round 2 Ball - Poston / Mitchell v Gerard / Walker
Type: 1st Round 2 Ball - Status: OPEN
Poston / Mitchell-145
Gerard / Walker+120
The Chevron Championship
Type: Winner - Status: OPEN
Jeeno Thitikul+900
Nelly Korda+1000
Lydia Ko+1400
A Lim Kim+2000
Jin Young Ko+2000
Angel Yin+2500
Charley Hull+2500
Haeran Ryu+2500
Lauren Coughlin+2500
Minjee Lee+2500
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1st Round 2 Ball - Kohles / Kizzire v Hubbard / Brehm
Type: 1st Round 2 Ball - Status: OPEN
Hubbard / Brehm-110
Kohles / Kizzire-110
1st Round 2 Ball - Pavon / Perez v Bezuidenhout / Van Rooyen
Type: 1st Round 2 Ball - Status: OPEN
Bezuidenhout / Van Rooyen-115
Pavon / Perez-105
1st Round Match Up - Garnett / Straka vs Davis / Svensson
Type: 1st Round Match Up - Status: OPEN
Garnett / Straka-130
Davis / Svensson+110
1st Round 2 Ball - Straka / Garnett v Hardy / Riley
Type: 1st Round 2 Ball - Status: OPEN
Straka / Garnett-130
Hardy / Riley+110
1st Round 2 Ball - Thorbjornsen / Vilips v R. Hojgaard / N. Hojgaard
Type: 1st Round 2 Ball - Status: OPEN
R. Hojgaard / N. Hojgaard-130
Thorbjornsen / Vilips+110
1st Round Match Up - Rai / Theegala vs Horschel / Hoge
Type: 1st Round Match Up - Status: OPEN
Horschel / Hoge-110
Rai / Theegala-110
1st Round 2 Ball - Malnati / Knox v Davis / Svensson
Type: 1st Round 2 Ball - Status: OPEN
Davis / Svensson-155
Malnati / Knox+130
1st Round 2 Ball - Hoge / Horschel v Lowry / McIlroy
Type: 1st Round 2 Ball - Status: OPEN
Lowry v McIlroy-180
Hoge / Horschel+150
1st Round 2 Ball - Hodges / Dufner v Snedeker / Reavie
Type: 1st Round 2 Ball - Status: OPEN
Hodges / Dufner-125
Snedeker / Reavie+105
1st Round 2 Ball - Theegala / Rai v Bhatia / Car Young
Type: 1st Round 2 Ball - Status: OPEN
Theegala / Rai-125
Bhatia / Car Young+105
1st Round 3 Balls - J. Thitikul / H. Ryu / Y. Tseng
Type: 1st Round 3 Balls - Status: OPEN
Jeeno Thitikul-140
Haeran Ryu+150
Yani Tseng+850
1st Round 2 Ball - Shelton / Mullinax v Pak / Montgomery
Type: 1st Round 2 Ball - Status: OPEN
Shelton / Mullinax-125
Pak / Montgomery+105
1st Round 2 Ball - F. Capan III / Knapp v Cole / Saunders
Type: 1st Round 2 Ball - Status: OPEN
F. Capan III / Knapp-130
Cole / Saunders+110
1st Round 3 Balls - J.Y. Ko / Y. Saso / B. Henderson
Type: 1st Round 3 Balls - Status: OPEN
Jin Young Ko+115
Brooke Henderson+175
Yuka Saso+275
1st Round 3 Balls - A. Yin / G. Lopez / M. Sagstrom
Type: 1st Round 3 Balls - Status: OPEN
Angel Yin+125
Gaby Lopez+185
Madelene Sagstrom+230
1st Round Match Up - McGreevy / Stevens vs Hisatsune / Kanaya
Type: 1st Round Match Up - Status: OPEN
McGreevy / Stevens-115
Hisatsune / Kanaya-105
1st Round 2 Ball - Hisatsune / Kanaya v B. Taylor / Skinns
Type: 1st Round 2 Ball - Status: OPEN
Hisatsune / Kanaya-145
B. Taylor / Skinns+120
1st Round 2 Ball - Stevens / McGreevy v Sigg / Kisner
Type: 1st Round 2 Ball - Status: OPEN
Stevens / McGreevy-160
Sigg / Kisner+135
1st Round 3 Balls - N. Korda / L. Vu / P. Tavatanakit
Type: 1st Round 3 Balls - Status: OPEN
Nelly Korda+110
Lilia Vu+200
Patty Tavatanakit+250
1st Round 3 Balls - C. Hull / L. Grant / S. Lewis
Type: 1st Round 3 Balls - Status: OPEN
Charley Hull-110
Linn Grant+160
Stacy Lewis+450
1st Round 2 Ball - Dickson / Crowe v Hoshino / Onishi
Type: Including Tie - Status: OPEN
Dickson / Crowe+120
Hoshino / Onishi+110
Tie+500
1st Round 2 Ball - Peterson / Rosenmuller v Roy / Cone
Type: Including Tie - Status: OPEN
Peterson / Rosenmueller+120
Roy / Cone+110
Tie+500
1st Round 2 Ball - Canter / Smith v Salinda / Velo
Type: Including Tie - Status: OPEN
Canter / Smith-110
Salinda / Velo+145
Tie+500
1st Round 2 Ball - Ventura / Rozner v Widing / Fisk
Type: Including Tie - Status: OPEN
Ventura / Rozner+115
Widing / Fisk+115
Tie+500
1st Round Match Up - Cauley / Tway vs Valimaki / Silverman
Type: 1st Round Match Up - Status: OPEN
Cauley / Tway-115
Valimaki / Silverman-105
1st Round Match Up - Ghim / C. Kim vs Hossler / Putnam
Type: 1st Round Match Up - Status: OPEN
Ghim / C. Kim-120
Hossler / Putnam+100
1st Round 2 Ball - Cauley / Tway v Ghim / C. Kim
Type: Including Tie - Status: OPEN
Cauley / Tway+125
Ghim / C. Kim+105
Tie+500
1st Round 2 Ball - Champ / Griffin v Hossler / Putnam
Type: Including Tie - Status: OPEN
Champ / Griffin+130
Hossler / Putnam+105
Tie+500
1st Round 2 Ball - Haas / Laird v Lipsky / D. Wu
Type: Including Tie - Status: OPEN
Haas / Laird+140
Lipsky / D. Wu-105
Tie+500
1st Round 2 Ball - Phillips / Bridgeman v Valimaki / Silverman
Type: Including Tie - Status: OPEN
Bridgeman / Phillips+105
Valimaki / Silverman+125
Tie+500
1st Round Match Up - Vegas / Yu vs Duncan / Schenk
Type: 1st Round Match Up - Status: OPEN
Vegas / Yu-135
Duncan / Schenk+115
1st Round 2 Ball - Duncan / Schenk v List / Norlander
Type: Including Tie - Status: OPEN
List / Norlander+105
Schenk / Duncan+125
Tie+500
1st Round 2 Ball - Higgs / Dahmen v Novak / Griffin
Type: Including Tie - Status: OPEN
Higgs / Dahmen+160
Novak / Griffin-120
Tie+500
1st Round Match Up - M. Fitzpatrick / A. Fitpatrick vs Echavarria / Greyserman
Type: 1st Round Match Up - Status: OPEN
Echavarria / Greyserman-120
M. Fitzpatrick / A. Fitpatrick+100
1st Round 2 Ball - Echavarria / Greyserman v Vegas / Yu
Type: Including Tie - Status: OPEN
Greyserman / Echavarria+105
Vegas / Yu+130
Tie+500
1st Round 2 Ball - Moore / Clark v Morikawa / Kitayama
Type: Including Tie - Status: OPEN
Kitayama / Morikawa+105
Moore / Clark+130
Tie+500
1st Round Match Up - Fox / Higgo vs Detry / MacIntyre
Type: 1st Round Match Up - Status: OPEN
Detry / MacIntyre-120
Fox / Higgo+100
1st Round 2 Ball - Detry / MacIntyre v M. Fitzpatrick / A. Fitzpatrick
Type: Including Tie - Status: OPEN
A. Fitzpatrick / M. Fitzpatrick+150
Detry / MacIntyre-110
Tie+500
1st Round 2 Ball - Johnson / Palmer v SW. Kim / Bae
Type: Including Tie - Status: OPEN
Johnson / Palmer+135
SW Kim / Bae+100
Tie+500
1st Round 3 Balls - C. Boutier / A.L. Kim / M. Khang
Type: 1st Round 3 Balls - Status: OPEN
A Lim Kim+140
Celine Boutier+175
Megan Khang+220
1st Round 3 Balls - H. Green / L. Coughlin / N. Hataoka
Type: 1st Round 3 Balls - Status: OPEN
Lauren Coughlin+165
Nasa Hataoka+170
Hannah Green+190
1st Round 2 Ball - Fox / Higgo v N. Taylor / Hadwin
Type: Including Tie - Status: OPEN
Fox / Higgo+115
N. Taylor / Hadwin+115
Tie+500
1st Round 2 Ball - Watney / Hoffman v Villegas / Donald
Type: Including Tie - Status: OPEN
Villegas / Donald+140
Watney / Hoffman-105
Tie+500
1st Round 3 Balls - A. Furue / L. Ko / A. Yang
Type: 1st Round 3 Balls - Status: OPEN
Lydia Ko+115
Ayaka Furue+165
Amy Yang+300
1st Round 2 Ball - Cummins / Gotterup v McCarty / Andersen
Type: Including Tie - Status: OPEN
Cummins / Gotterup-105
McCarty / Andersen+140
Tie+500
1st Round 2 Ball - Tosti / Highsmith v Wallace / Owen
Type: Including Tie - Status: OPEN
Olesen / Wallace+110
Tosti / Highsmith+120
Tie+500
1st Round 2 Ball - Gordon / Riedel v Meissner / Goodwin
Type: Including Tie - Status: OPEN
Gordon / Riedel+130
Meissner / Goodwin+105
Tie+500
1st Round 2 Ball - Lashley / Springer v Whaley / Albertson
Type: Including Tie - Status: OPEN
Lashley / Springer+100
Whaley / Albertson+135
Tie+500
1st Round 2 Ball - Chandler / NeSmith v J. Paul / Y. Paul
Type: Including Tie - Status: OPEN
Chandler / NeSmith+160
J. Paul / Y. Paul-120
Tie+500
1st Round 2 Ball - J. Svensson / Norgaard v Thornberry / Buckley
Type: Including Tie - Status: OPEN
Svensson / Norgaard-140
Thornberry / Buckley+190
Tie+500
1st Round 2 Ball - Del Solar / Manassero v Ayora / Del Rey
Type: Including Tie - Status: OPEN
Ayora / Del Rey+110
Del Solar / Manassero+120
Tie+500
1st Round 2 Ball - Mouw / Castillo v Suber / Coody
Type: Including Tie - Status: OPEN
Mouw / Castillo+115
Suber / Coody+115
Tie+500
Mitsubishi Electric Classic
Type: Winner - Status: OPEN
Steven Alker+700
Stewart Cink+700
Padraig Harrington+800
Ernie Els+1200
Miguel Angel Jimenez+1400
Alex Cejka+2000
Bernhard Langer+2000
K J Choi+2000
Retief Goosen+2000
Stephen Ames+2000
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Major Specials 2025
Type: To Win A Major 2025 - Status: OPEN
Scottie Scheffler+160
Bryson DeChambeau+350
Xander Schauffele+350
Ludvig Aberg+400
Collin Morikawa+450
Jon Rahm+450
Justin Thomas+550
Brooks Koepka+700
Viktor Hovland+700
Hideki Matsuyama+800
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PGA Championship 2025
Type: Winner - Status: OPEN
Rory McIlroy+500
Scottie Scheffler+500
Bryson DeChambeau+1400
Ludvig Aberg+1400
Xander Schauffele+1400
Jon Rahm+1800
Justin Thomas+1800
Collin Morikawa+2000
Brooks Koepka+2500
Viktor Hovland+2500
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US Open 2025
Type: Winner - Status: OPEN
Rory McIlroy+500
Scottie Scheffler+500
Bryson DeChambeau+1200
Xander Schauffele+1200
Jon Rahm+1400
Ludvig Aberg+1400
Collin Morikawa+1600
Brooks Koepka+1800
Justin Thomas+2000
Viktor Hovland+2000
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The Open 2025
Type: Winner - Status: OPEN
Rory McIlroy+500
Scottie Scheffler+550
Xander Schauffele+1100
Ludvig Aberg+1400
Collin Morikawa+1600
Jon Rahm+1600
Bryson DeChambeau+2000
Shane Lowry+2500
Tommy Fleetwood+2500
Tyrrell Hatton+2500
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Ryder Cup 2025
Type: Winner - Status: OPEN
USA-150
Europe+140
Tie+1200

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WiretoWire: Scheffler wins in Austin, Ramey closes at CoralesWiretoWire: Scheffler wins in Austin, Ramey closes at Corales

SCHEFFLER GETS REDEMPTION AT WGC-DELL MATCH PLAY, MOVES TO WORLD NO. 1 For the better part of two years, Scottie Scheffler held a prominent spot in the conversation of best player yet to win on the PGA TOUR. Pundits opined that once the 25-year-old University of Texas alum hoisted one trophy, more would follow. They were not wrong. Scheffler followed his breakthrough TOUR title at the WM Phoenix Open on Super Bowl Sunday with another win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard earlier this month. He arrived at this week’s World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play as the FedExCup leader and with redemption on his mind, as he fell to Billy Horschel in the 2021 championship match at Austin CC. The group stage wasn’t easy on Scheffler; after compiling a 2-1 record, he needed six extra holes against Matt Fitzpatrick to advance to the Round of 16. From there, though, it was full throttle. The New Jersey native extracted revenge against Horschel with a 1-up win in the Round of 16, then followed with a 3-and-2 triumph over Seamus Power in a Saturday afternoon Quarterfinal. Scheffler took down Dustin Johnson in a Sunday morning Semifinal matchup, and he polished off a sparkling week with a 4-and-3 victory over 2019 Match Play champion Kevin Kisner in Sunday afternoon’s Final, highlighted by a bunker hole-out birdie to tie the par-5 12th hole and maintain momentum. Scheffler closed out the match with a two-putt par on No. 15. He accrues 550 FedExCup points to extend his lead in the season-long standings, and he moves to No. 1 on the Official World Golf Ranking. Mississippi native Chad Ramey earned his first TOUR title at the Corales Puntacana Championship, recording four birdies in his final six holes Sunday at Corales GC for a 17-under total and one-stroke victory over Alex Smalley and Ben Martin. Ramey, who learned the game at a nine-hole public course in his hometown of Fulton, Mississippi, entered the week at No. 120 on the FedExCup standings and now moves to No. 34, earning 300 points for his efforts in the Dominican Republic. From thoughts of perhaps grinding this summer to keep his card, the TOUR rookie is suddenly exempt through 2023-24, and he earns a spot in the 2023 Sentry Tournament of Champions and THE PLAYERS Championship. TOUR HEADS TO TPC SAN ANTONIO FOR VALERO TEXAS OPEN It’s the 100th anniversary of the Valero Texas Open and the big-time milestone will feature a big-time field led by former FedExCup champions Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth. Spieth is also the defending champion at TPC San Antonio. His win here last season marked his first victory on TOUR since 2017. McIlroy will tee it up the week prior to the Masters for the first time in eight years. McIlroy finished second behind Martin Laird at this event in 2013. Bryson DeChambeau is set to play the Valero Texas Open for the first time since 2017, when he missed the cut. Twenty golfers who are in the Masters field are playing at TPC San Antonio. TPC San Antonio plays host to the Valero Texas Open for the 13th time. Featuring just 100 feet of elevation, the Oaks Course boasts a traditional design that balances wider fairways with narrower tree-lined fairways for strategic options to the greens. If the winner of the Valero Texas Open is not yet qualified for the Masters, he will earn the final spot in the field. Spieth is looking to become the first back-to-back Valero Texas Open winner since Zach Johnson in 2008-09. The winner will pocket 500 FedExCup. VIDEO OF THE WEEK MIC CHECK “Even when I lost my card in 2018, I always kind of thought one year doesn’t make you a bad player, you don’t become a bad player overnight. Not when you’ve played on the European Tour for 15-plus years.” – Richard Bland on never doubting himself as he made his way into the knockout stage of the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play. BY THE NUMBERS 22 – It took Will Zalatoris 22 holes to defeat Kevin Na in the Round of 16 on Saturday. 4 – Consecutive seasons that the final match in Austin featured two Americans. 63 – Final round score for Trevor Werbylo to get into a playoff and win the Lake Charles Championship. COMCAST BUSINESS TOUR TOP 10 The Comcast Business TOUR TOP 10 highlights and rewards the extraordinary level of play required to earn a spot in the TOP 10 at the conclusion of the FedExCup Regular Season as determined by the FedExCup standings. The competition recognizes and awards the most elite in golf.

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The news that changes everythingThe news that changes everything

Ryan Palmer had been checking his smart phone all day, sneaking glances between shots during the RBC Canadian Open Pro-Am last year to see if his wife Jennifer had called. She was back home in Texas, waiting for the results of a biopsy. A mammogram the previous week had uncovered an abnormality that doctors felt warranted a closer examination. Not until that evening, when Ryan was having dinner with his caddie James Edmondson and some friends, did Jennifer finally reach him. He stepped outside the restaurant to take the call. The news was not good. Jennifer had stage 2A invasive ductal carcinoma. “It just hits you in the gut,â€� Ryan recalls, the memory clearly still fresh. Ryan’s fellow PGA TOUR pro, Stewart Cink, also knows what it’s like to get that sucker punch. Only he was at home in Atlanta after forgetting to commit to the Zurich Classic last year, his first such gaffe in 20 years on TOUR. His wife Lisa delivered the news to him in person. “Absolutely, without a shadow of a doubt, that was God’s hand,â€� Lisa now says. She had gone in for a follow-up appointment early that week. She hadn’t felt a lump in her breast. She just thought something wasn’t “right.â€� The doctors agreed – in fact, Lisa had a mammogram, ultrasound and biopsy all in one day. “She told me afterwards that the mood in there was really serious and somber and not very upbeat at all,â€� Stewart said. The next day, the phone rang. Stewart and Lisa were meeting with the staff of their charitable foundation. This time, it was Lisa who stepped outside. Within seconds, Stewart followed her onto the front porch. Lisa had written some things in a notebook, and then she looked up at her husband, clutching the phone to her chest. “She said, I want to know my grandchildren,â€� Stewart recalls. “And there was not a lot more for her to say. I knew what that meant.â€� Lisa, who had led an extremely healthy lifestyle, has stage 4 invasive ductal carcinoma. The cancer had spread to her lymph nodes and was metastatic. With those two diagnoses, life for the Cinks and Palmers has changed forever. Stewart and Lisa met in high school. He was going out with a girl she played softball with – “He dated a lot of my friends, actually, which was interesting,â€� Lisa says – and the two eventually ended up in a class together where they became better acquainted. Their friendship blossomed into romance at Georgia Tech, and the two married at age 20. They have one son, Connor, who was born while the couple was still in college, and another Reagan, who is two years younger. Stewart and Lisa are empty nesters now. Connor graduated from Clemson last year while Reagan has followed in his parents’ footsteps and attends Georgia Tech. He’ll be a junior in the fall. “Do the math – we’ve been married over half our lives,â€� says Stewart, who’s now 43, as is his wife. “I feel like she’s been my soulmate before we ever met in 10th grade. She’s been part of me since birth, I feel like.â€� Ryan and Jennifer also met in high school in their hometown of Amarillo. But it wasn’t until the summer before her senior year at Texas A&M — Ryan was a year behind — that they began dating. “I saw him out at a party or something, and then he called me and said, hey, let’s go have dinner and play some golf,â€� Jennifer remembers. “I’m actually a terrible golfer, so I mainly just sat in the cart but that’s pretty much how it all began.â€� Jennifer was first attracted to Ryan’s smile – “He just lights up a room,â€� she says – and his positive attitude. He didn’t dwell on a bad round. He didn’t blame it on his clubs, either. Ryan was motivated, too. “It was never an option for him not to be a professional,â€� she says. “You know what I’m saying? That was his goal.â€� Jennifer had goals of her own, too, though. She graduated from A&M in 1998 and went to dental school, getting her degree in 2003. She practiced in Colleyville, a Dallas-Fort Worth suburb, for a while and still keeps her license current. Ryan finally got his TOUR card for the 2004 campaign, and he asked Jennifer to come to Pebble Beach with him. The couple married in June of that year. “After that week, he just said, ‘hey, do you want to try this full time?’â€� she remembers. “We didn’t really know what the future was going to hold golf-wise. So, we basically took a leap of faith.â€� Although they are similar in age, Stewart and Ryan were at different stages of life last year when their wives were diagnosed with cancer three months apart. While the Cinks’ boys are grown and living on their own, Jennifer and Ryan have two young children. Mason is 10, a huge hockey fan, while Madelyn turns 8 in August. After Ryan got that life-changing phone call from Jennifer, he wanted to come home immediately. She convinced him to stay in Canada, though. After all, there was nothing he could do; it wasn’t like she was having surgery the next day, and RBC, after all, is one of Ryan’s sponsors. It just hits you in the gut. The couple went to the PGA Championship where Ryan finished 42nd and then returned home where Jennifer had a lumpectomy. A week later, while Ryan was playing The Barclays (now called THE NORTHERN TRUST), they got the news that the cancer, already invasive in the breast, had spread into the lymph nodes. So Jennifer started chemotherapy on Sept. 19, the week after Ryan was eliminated from the FedExCup Playoffs at the BMW Championship despite a tie for fourth at Crooked Stick. It was also his 40th birthday. “He still got to have a fun little party the weekend before,â€� Jennifer says. “We had it in the works for several months so we went ahead and had the party.â€� Had Ryan made it to the TOUR Championship, Jennifer said she likely would have waited to start the chemo. At that point, though, Ryan announced on the Ryan Palmer Foundation Facebook page that he was taking time off to be with Jennifer and their kids. “He has a lot of family and friends and supporters who follow that so he just felt like that would be a good way for us to get prayer,â€� Jennifer says. Ryan did not play on TOUR again for four months, returning to competition at the Sony Open in Hawaii earlier this year. Mr. Mom did a “fabulousâ€� job, Jennifer says. He got the kids ready in the morning, often making Mason’s favorite, an omelet, for breakfast and took the kids to school. Although friends put together a meal train three nights a week, Ryan was more than happy to throw a few steaks on the grill, which is his specialty. While he did take time to play some golf, hoping to stay sharp for his return, Ryan also pitched in and did some light housework, helping Jennifer’s mom — who lives nearby — keep things tidy when the chemo took its toll. Turns out he’s a rare bird who actually likes to do laundry, too. “That’s what I needed to do,â€� Ryan says. “I was blessed that I was able to stay home the whole time.â€� “There were times when I said just go play this week, you should go get some competitive rounds in and he said, no, this is where I need to be, this is where I want to be,â€� adds Jennifer. “… It was something he really wanted to do for our family.â€� Stewart and Lisa had been looking forward to this time in their lives. With both sons essentially on their own, the couple was planning to travel the world as Stewart, the 2009 Open Championship winner, played golf. Turns out, that’s exactly what they’ve done, although always on Lisa’s schedule. “There’s not a lot I want to do without her,â€� Cink says. The first week of chemo – she had nine rounds administered through a port in her chest – is usually the worst. The second was a “maybe,â€� Stewart says, and by the third, Lisa usually felt like her old self. The first treatment was May 9, 2016. Three weeks later – “We kind of went to three-week months,â€� Stewart notes – he decided to play at the DEAN & DELUCA Invitational. Lisa had friends visiting in Atlanta and family, including the boys, nearby. So he went to Fort Worth by himself. He shot rounds of 72-75 and missed the cut. “I learned really fast that I wasn’t ready to be out there,â€� says Stewart, who purposely arrived on Wednesday so he could avoid some of the inevitable, albeit well-meaning, questions from his peers. He admits both he and Lisa were “emotionally wrecked.â€� Two weeks later, though, Lisa felt well enough to go with her husband to the FedEx St. Jude Classic. The change of scene was good for them both, and Lisa has made new friends as well as connected with the old. “I just don’t think the house would be a good place to be for a long, long time when you’re going through something like this,â€� Stewart says. “Those four walls start to close pretty fast.â€� In an interview with PGA TOUR Entertainment for a special on the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston where her doctors are based, Lisa said she wasn’t surprised her husband put his golf on hold to focus on her. “That’s who he is, and it’s the relationship we’ve been blessed with,â€� Lisa explained. “And of course, it meant everything to me. I don’t know how people do it alone.â€� The weeks at home allowed Stewart to go with Lisa to her various appointments and treatments. Understanding what is about to happen gives him some semblance of control. “Sometimes when she’s emotional, it’s hard to hear correctly, decipher what the doctor is saying,â€� Stewart explains. “So my role is to take down notes and ask questions and get facts straight so that later on, when she sort of takes deep breaths and can understand it, we can have a conversation and I can kind of spit it back the right way.â€� Lisa says her husband was a great “filterâ€� for what he calls a “firehose of information.â€� She was told not to Google treatments or symptoms, which she thinks is great advice. “But he was so good about hearing the information, researching the information, and giving it to me as I asked or he thought I needed it,â€� she says. Long walks through the old neighborhood near the Rice University campus helped the couple “sort through all this immense amount of terrible information we were getting,â€� Lisa says. Also helpful was mindless entertainment like the shows on HGTV that they both like to watch, and the family and friends who gathered in Houston to lend support. “We had every stool, bench, chair (occupied),â€� she says. A year later, as the couple lives with the disease, Stewart has become the de facto spokesman for the family. There are many times when he feels helpless — “Hence, the faith,â€� Stewart says, adding that he has a list of Bible verses to rely on – and he finds it therapeutic to talk about Lisa’s situation. “It makes me feel like you care about it, for one thing,â€� Stewart says. “That’s a good feeling. You find that when you’re discussing it, you’re not thinking about the future, you kind of talk about what you already know. “It kind of keeps me a little bit grounded in the present.â€� Like Lisa, Jennifer had chemo, six rounds in her case, once every three weeks. Ryan and her friend, Jennifer Hill, who came up from San Antonio, went to every treatment. They weren’t just there for moral support, though – the two had a mission. So that she wouldn’t lose her long dark hair, Jennifer opted to use cold caps to try to cool the scalp during the chemotherapy. It wasn’t that she was vain. She was worried about Mason. “Mason got a little upset thinking about it,â€� Ryan says. “She did the hair preservation for him. So, that was pretty special.â€� The caps are housed in dry ice and cooled to between minus-15 to minus-40 degrees below zero, measured by an infrared thermometer. The caps have to be handled with gloves and changed every 30 minutes – for eight hours straight. That’s where Ryan and Hill came in. “They had to knead them with their hands to make sure all the gel was evenly distributed, and get them to the right temperature,â€� Jennifer says. “Then they’d have a timer and they’d take that one off and put the new one on.â€� It worked. With the exception of a few bald spots under her hair, Jennifer says you’d never know she was a breast cancer survivor. Most importantly, Mason was reassured. No matter how weak or nauseous Jennifer felt while undergoing the chemo or radiation, she got up and got dressed every day. She even made sure she put makeup on. “If you can, you want to try and be as normal as possible for your kids,â€� she said. “You don’t want them to feel like you’re sick. It’s just a difficult subject for a 7-year-old and a 10-year-old to grasp. “My son wanted very concrete answers. He wanted it to be black and white, not gray, and so when we couldn’t give him an exact reason as to why I had it, it was very hard for him.â€� Ryan was amazed at his wife’s strength. “She did more things than I could imagine her doing,â€� he says. And he was glad he could be there to reassure the kids. “In case they had questions, we were there to talk about it together,â€� he adds. “Of course, their fears were the worst. Obviously, Mason’s was. But the main thing is just letting them know nothing is going to happen. “Don’t think the worst because it’s going to be OK.â€� Last fall, Jennifer was able to go with Ryan and their families to see him inducted into the Texas A&M Sports Hall of Fame. She also took a three-day trip to New York City after Christmas and before her final chemo treatment on January 3. “It was kind of like a let’s celebrate that we’re through this one step,â€� Jennifer says. “(It was) a lot of walking, but I kept up with it.â€� When Stewart didn’t qualify for the FedExCup Playoffs last year, he and Lisa went to Switzerland on a busman’s holiday of sorts when he played in a European Tour event. “And I could not believe that in the middle of chemo, I’m getting to go to Switzerland and see this beautiful, just breathtaking place,â€� Lisa said. “And meet these kind, wonderful people that we got to meet and it was such a blessing.â€� Stewart and Ryan played together at the CareerBuilder Challenge and picked each other’s brains about life with cancer. Their wives have been in contact, too, texting prayers and positive thoughts. “I think they’ve been great for each other,â€� Ryan said. And at times, the support the couples have felt from friends on the PGA TOUR has been overwhelming. Flowers, cards, texts and phone calls have helped make the journey easier. Meagan Laird, Martin’s wife, who lives in Scottsdale, Arizona, even arranged dinners for the Palmer’s meal train. “She’s doing all this from out of town,â€� Jennifer says. “Isn’t that crazy?â€� Zach Johnson’s wife, Kim, had a quilt made with a small pocket in the back where friends of Stewart and Lisa left spiritual messages. Lisa took the quilt with her to PET scans and was able to “know that these people have prayed for me.â€� And when Lisa went out to Memphis, her first tournament since being diagnosed, the PGA TOUR Wives Association had a special surprise at their annual event at the St. Jude Children’s Hospital. The kids at the hospital had made cards and posters for her. “I just couldn’t imagine why these children, there are having to suffer, they’re pouring out love on me,â€� Lisa says. “And it was such a gift and it was such an encouragement to know how strong these children were. “It gave me a lot of encouragement that I can do this, too.â€� There has been good news of late. Jennifer’s latest mammogram was clear, Ryan reported, and her treatments, which included radiation, will be done in August. Stewart wrote this in his blog on May 8: Amen! PET scan results looked good again today, basically unchanged from the past two, from November and February. Lisa is now in what the doctor called “sustained remission.â€� Cink and Palmer are in the field this week at Colonial. After an emotionally draining year for both men, their wives and their families, a few hours on the golf course each day now offers a chance to step back into their old lives. Their thoughts, however, will never stray far from Lisa and Jennifer and the battle against the toughest of foes.

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