Chris Kirk takes leave of absence from PGA Tour for alcohol abuse, depression

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Most meaningful of all the text messages Hideki Matsuyama received last week was the one from Jason Day congratulating the Japanese star for his 61 in the final round at Firestone to win his second World Golf Championship. It read: “Congrats, mate. Unreal playing. See you next week.” Matsuyama looked just as unreal Friday at the PGA Championship, even before the storms arrived and took so much of the bite out of Quail Hollow. Starting with a 12-foot putt — the longest of his seven birdies in the second round — the 25-year-old Matsuyama ran off five birdies over six holes for a 7-under 64 that gave him a share of the lead with Kevin Kisner going into the weekend. Kisner faced tougher, faster conditions in the morning and holed a 50-foot eagle putt from short of the green on the par-5 seventh hole. When his round was over, Kisner had a five-shot lead over the players from his side of the draw, and it didn’t look like anyone would get near him. The storms arrived. Play was halted for nearly two hours. Quail Hollow looked vulnerable for the first time week. Among those who failed to take advantage was Jordan Spieth, who looks like he’ll have to wait another year to try to complete the career Grand Slam. Spieth made only one birdie — at No. 12, the fourth-toughest hole on the course — and shot 73 to fall 11 shots behind. “I kind of accept the fact that I’m essentially out of this tournament pending some form of crazy stuff the next couple of days,” Spieth said. Matsuyama and Kisner were at 8-under 134. Day is starting to look like the No. 1 player in the world he was for most of last year, playing a four-hole stretch around the turn in 5-under par, posting a 66 and finishing two shots out of the lead. Francesco Molinari also shot 64 and was three shots behind, along with Louis Oosthuizen (67). The second round was halted by darkness, leaving 26 players to finish Saturday morning. That included Chris Stroud, who was 5 under and had five holes remaining. Neither of the co-leaders has ever been atop the leaderboard in a major, and despite the difference in their pedigree, neither is afraid of the opportunity. Kisner, toughened by his time on the mini-tours, is a wizard around the greens and he is inspired by how he is hitting the ball. “I haven’t hit it this well this whole summer — a lot of average finishes,” Kisner said. “When I start hitting it the way I am now, I play well.” A major is all that keeps Matsuyama from being mentioned in the same class as Spieth, Rory McIlroy, Day and the rest of golf’s youngest stars. He isn’t willing to look that far ahead, and Matsuyama isn’t about to feel content about his game. He took only 23 putts and can’t explain why they seem to be going in except that he switched to a new putter last week. He often takes one hand off his club because he’s not happy with how he hit it, though the ball seems to find the fairway or settle close to the flag. He did pose over the 7-iron that covered the flag tucked behind a bunker on the par-3 17th, leaving him a 7-foot putt for his final birdie. Matsuyama called that his best shot of the day. As for the worst? “There were too many. I can’t count them all,” said the guy who shot 64. “Somehow, my worst shots were finding the fairway.” The rest of golf knows better. Matsuyama went on a torrid stretch last year when he won four times and was runner-up twice during a stretch of six tournaments. That included his first World Golf Championship at the HSBC Champions in Shanghai. He also won the Phoenix Open in a playoff earlier this year. After his victory last week in the Bridgestone Invitational, he might just be getting warmed up. “He’s on the range and he’s the last guy to leave. He’s always putting. He’s always doing something. He’s working hard,” Day said. “And I feel like he’s the hardest worker out here right now, just because he wants to win. And there’s no surprise that he’s obviously won last week and he’s up here again.” He will chase that first major on an entirely different golf course. McIlroy endured another bad stretch that sent him to a 72, leaving him 10 shots behind. He still thought he was in the game, with only Kisner appearing to run away from the field and the late starter facing a course that McIlroy figured would get only tougher. “These guys going out this afternoon, they break 70, they’ve done a hell of a job,” McIlroy said after a 73 that put him 10 shots back. A light rain began falling not long after McIlroy’s prediction. Then, the storms rolled in with heavy rain that drenched the course and forced a rain delay of 1 hour, 43 minutes. And when the second round resumed, it felt like an entirely different golf course. Shots left pitch marks on the green. The fairways became softer, and therefore looked wide, because they lost some of the roll. “The golf course could have been had,” U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka said after a 73 left him seven shots back. “And I didn’t take advantage of it.” He wasn’t alone. Dustin Johnson, the world’s No. 1 player, made only one birdie in a 74 and was 10 shots behind.

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HOUSTON - The sun had set but Anthony Rector was one of several people in line at Houston's Memorial Park. It is one of the largest recreational areas in the country, offering jogging and cycling trails, tennis courts and baseball fields, but on this Tuesday evening, people were waiting to use the large metal machine that dispenses balls for Memorial Park's lighted driving range. All 80 hitting stalls on the range's two-story structure were occupied. Rector learned the game at Memorial Park when he was about 7, taking lessons from his grandfather, Freddie Murrell. A cook and a caddie at local country clubs, Murrell, like many Houstonians, played his golf at Memorial Park. The course hosts some 60,000 rounds per year thanks to its affordability, accessibility and convenient location just a few miles from downtown. "He used to tell me about Jimmy Demaret and all those guys," Rector said. "He used to caddie for a lot of those guys. He gave me some clubs and we cut them down a little bit. He taught me how to navigate the course. Even though I didn't have the power, he wanted to stress that I build a good swing." Memorial Park, the new host course for this week's Vivint Houston Open, is one of just two municipal courses on this season's schedule, along with San Diego's Torrey Pines (Farmers Insurance Open). That Southern California course is known for its scenic clifftop vistas, but Memorial Park showcases the city skyline, a testament to its location in the midst of this metropolis. At 1,500 acres, it's almost double the size of New York City's Central Park. Approximately 4 million Houstonians visit each year. Some of the park's jogging trails ring the course, undoubtedly providing some people their first glimpse of the game. Renovated by architect Tom Doak, the course is hosting a PGA TOUR event for the first time since 1963 and will bring the tournament from the suburbs back to the city center. The $34 million renovation, which was funded by the Astros Golf Foundation, also included the two-story driving range, a First Tee facility and short course, plus a STEM learning facility. It still brings the old regulars. Rector played baseball for coach Ray Knoblauch, father of future MLB All-Star Chuck Knoblauch, at local powerhouse Bellaire High School. Chuck was the team's bat boy. After high school, Rector accepted a baseball scholarship at Fresno State. He stayed in California for four decades but recently returned to Texas to be near his aging mother. On this Tuesday evening at Memorial Park, he was back where he learned the game decades earlier. A lot had changed, but so much has remained the same. As one local put it, the refurbished course remains the "heart and soul" of Houston golf. That much was evident on a recent visit. Players in collared shirts pounded golf balls with well-timed swings, the bags of their college and high school teams sitting just a few feet behind them. Some clipped phones to the driving range's metal railing so they could film their action and analyze it. Others wore tank tops and T-shirts as they took the timid swings of a novice golfer and well-meaning friends offered advice. A man watched two young boys hit balls as a third sat nearby, reading a book. A mother on her laptop squeezed in some work while her child took a group lesson on the putting green. "Most everybody who plays golf in the city of Houston comes through here," said Memorial Park regular Ray Anderson. Indeed, one report named Houston the most diverse city in America, and however you choose to measure diversity, the golfers at Memorial Park represent a wide spectrum. They always have. "That diversity just flows onto the course," said Steve Trautwein, another Memorial Park regular. "You never knew who you were going to be paired with. Lawyers, doctors, professors. You get plumbers, landscapers, grandfathers and grandsons, mothers and daughters. It's a muni. It's accessible. It doesn't have that exclusivity that golf gets a bad name for." Weekday greens fees are just $30, while seniors and juniors play for $15 and $10, respectively. The peak rate is $38. Players used to arrive at 2 a.m. on weekends to put their name on a list for one of the early tee times, which were doled out on a first-come, first-served basis. "If you were here at 2:05, you were the fourth group out. (The tee times) would be gone by 2:30," said Anderson. Who are the players? Everyone and anyone. Demaret, a World Golf Hall of Famer and three-time Masters champion, grew up as one of nine kids in a poor family. He caddied at Memorial Park as a kid. Dave Marr, winner of the 1965 PGA Championship, got his start at Memorial Park, as well. They weren't the only big names to pass through, however. "All of the touring pros, sports writers, gamblers and celebrities seemed to make Memorial their first stop when they hit Houston," Bernie Riviere wrote in the book, "Memories of Memorial." Demaret, Byron Nelson, Bob Hope and Bing Crosby played a fundraiser there during World War II. Major winners Tommy Bolt and Jackie Burke were often at Memorial Park, as well. Even today, NBA Hall of Famer Clyde Drexler can be seen at Memorial Park, as well as Houston Astros players like Alex Bregman and Josh Reddick. The everyday players are the lifeblood of the course, however. Back in the day, it was characters like Red Nose, Pie Face, Judge Peyton, Skippy Green, Runt Young and Spiz Berg, a saxophone player who was missing part of his index finger. Legend has it that a TOUR player, after being beaten soundly by some of the locals, called his partner for the next day's match to give this warning: "I've got a saxophone player, a garbage man and a carpenter playing me and these guys are amateurs in name only." TOUR pros may be playing Memorial Park this week, but the course belongs to the people of Houston.

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