Koepka outduels McIlroy, wins first WGC title by 3 strokes

As a boy, Peter Thomson learned to play golf at the nine-hole Royal Park in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. For his 12th birthday, he received a 2-iron and began practicing constantly. A year later, he received another gift, this time a full set of clubs and a membership to Royal Park. His initial handicap was 20. Two years later, he won the club championship. From those early years, golf was at the center of Thomson’s life, and his club championship win was a harbinger of things to come, as Thomson did plenty of winning after that. Thomson, a prolific tournament champion who is best remembered for his five Open Championship victories and his work as a three-time International Team Presidents Cup captain, died June 20. He was 88. Born August 23, 1929 in Brunswick, Australia, Thomson became one of Australia’s first internationally-renowned golfers. However, he was much more than just a golfer. Thomson studied and earned a chemistry degree but elected to pursue a professional golf career instead of becoming a chemist. But Thomson was always a man with numerous interests. He developed an awareness in rehabilitating those suffering from drug addiction and was instrumental in opening the Melbourne Odyssey House. During his early days as a professional, he also wrote newspaper columns and articles for the Melbourne Age. In 1970, he joined John Harris and Michael Wolveridge to form South Pacific Golf, now known as Thomson Perrett. As an architect, Thomson and his team has worked on golf course design projects around the world, with most of the company’s focus on Australia and New Zealand, as well as all of Asia and, more recently, Europe. Yet it is Thomson’s success in The Open Championship that cemented his place in golf history. Thomson won the tournament in 1954 (at Royal Birkdale), 1955 (at St. Andrews), 1956 (at Royal Liverpool), 1958 (at Royal Lytham and St. Anne’s) and 1965 (again at Royal Birkdale). He is the only player post-19th century to win the Open three consecutive times. “Peter was a champion in every sense of the word, both on the course and in life. Many know him as a five-time Champion Golfer of the Year or as a three-time Captain of the Presidents Cup International Team,� said former PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem. “But he was also a great friend, father, grandfather and husband. He was golfing royalty, and our sport is a better one because of his presence. Our hearts are with his wife, Mary, and the entire Thomson family at this time as we remember the significant impact Peter made on us all.� Thomson won the national championships of 10 countries, including the New Zealand Open nine times. He captured 34 Australasian and 26 European Tour victories and competed on the PGA TOUR in 1953, 1954 and 1956. His first of 26 European Tour titles came at the 1954 News of the World Match Play Championship at St. Andrews. That same year, he teamed with Kel Nagle and won for Australia the World Cup played at Laval-Sur-Le Lac in Montreal, Canada. The duo won the World Cup again in 1959, a sweet victory for the team with it coming at Royal Melbourne Golf Club. In 1956, playing in just eight PGA TOUR tournaments, he won his lone TOUR title on U.S. soil, the Texas International, a tournament now known as the AT&T Byron Nelson. He also tied for fourth at the U.S. Open. Thomson enjoyed a successful playing career after turning 50, winning 11 tournaments. His finest season—and one of the best in PGA TOUR Champions history—came in 1985, when he won nine times, including half of the circuit’s first 10 events. He finished atop the money list that year. Thomson’s last tournament victory came at the 1988 British PGA Seniors Championship. Thomson was also instrumental in the growth of the Presidents Cup as an important, international, biennial event. He captained the International team in 1996, 1998 and 2000. It was the 1998 tournament where the International team broke through and defeated its United States counterpart for the first and only time, winning 20 ½ to 11 ½ at his beloved Royal Melbourne Golf Club, where Thomson had served as the club professional. In 1962, Thomson began a 32-year run as president of the Australian. In 1979 he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for his service to golf, and in 2001 he was made an Officer of the Order of Australia for his service to golf as a player and administrator, and to the community. In 1988, he received golf’s highest honor as he entered the World Golf Hall of Fame, inducted with Tom Watson and Bob Harlow. Thomson is survived by his wife, Mary, his son Andrew, and daughters Deirdre Baker, Pan Prendergast and Fiona Stanway, their spouses, 11 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Funeral services pending.

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SAN FRANCISCO – Just how rough is rough supposed to be? For some at the PGA Championship this week it is going to be a rough time indeed as officials have tried to protect the shorter TPC Harding Park from the power of the modern day player. RELATED: Tee times | Nine things to know: TPC Harding Park | Tiger not concerned about lack of reps For the thousands of everyday golfers who make the trek around this public gem the natural defenses are cold temperatures and fog that combine to make the ball travel shorter distances in the air and on the ground and the cypress trees that line and shape the routing. The rough is usually a minor inconvenience. But not so this week. Officially the mix of Poa, Bent and Rye grass that flanks the pristine (and narrow) fairways will be three and a half inches long to start the 102nd PGA Championship. But from the first tee shot on they may not touch it at all. The official line is it will be “cut as needed.” Traditionally Harding Park has been a happy hunting ground for the bombers. At the 2005 World Golf Championship – American Express Championship Tiger Woods would battle John Daly for the title in a playoff. At the WGC – Dell Technologies Match Play in 2015 Rory McIlroy played Gary Woodland in the final. In those weeks the rough was not as lush as it is now. At 7,251 yards this is the shortest PGA Championship since 2013 when Oak Hill measured out at 7,163 yards. There are a mix of shorter and longer par 4s this week as they play it to a par 70 leaving players with the decision of just bombing away as far as they can and hoping any miss into the long stuff is nullified by being able to use a short iron or wedge, or to dial back a little and ensure accuracy. The prevailing talk around the course during the practice rounds is there will be a big element of luck when it comes to lies in the rough. It is patchy, meaning within a foot or less you could get lucky and have the ball sit up or you could find your ball buried. Ian Poulter gave a nice tutorial on his Twitter feed. Tony Finau explained after his first look. “It’s about a 50/50 chance as far as the lie. I’ve had two lies yesterday on Hole 12 that were three feet apart. One I could easily get a 7-iron on and the other one I was just trying to hack out 40, 50 yards,” Finau said. “It’s almost luck of the draw when you hit it in the rough. I think you’re going to see some guys get fortunate and hit it on to the green and I think you’ll see some guys hack it out and not hit it anywhere.” Louis Oosthuizen was spotted on the par-4 ninth, a 505-yard brute usually played as a par-5 for the public, trying his luck from the rough in practice. He had a few cracks at it with a fairway wood and at best could only trundle it down the fairway with a flight common to us weekend warriors who top their fairway woods, from great lies, more often than not. “There will be plenty of times where guys will not be able to reach the green. They will probably be able to give it enough of a go to get close-ish, but that’s usually where you get in a right mess when you try to force it to go for it,” six-time major winner now CBS analyst Sir Nick Faldo said. “That only comes to discipline of when to go for it from the rough and when to really lay up and take your medicine. It’s narrow; narrow with firm greens, that’s as good as it gets.” Woods knows all about discipline on this track from not just his professional success but also his amateur and college career. “It’s not as long numbers-wise, but the ball never goes very far here. It plays very long, even though it’s short on numbers,” 82-time PGA TOUR winner Woods says. “This golf course in particular, the big holes are big and the shorter holes are small. It can be misleading. They have; pinched in the fairways a little bit and the rough is thick; it’s lush. With this marine layer here and the way it’s going to be the rest of the week, the rough is only going to get thicker, so it’s going to put a premium on getting the ball in play.” So Woods says it’s about getting it in play. Long and straight will always work. But Bryson DeChambeau, who has taken golf by storm with his new hulked up frame and 400 yard drives has other ideas. “This golf course suits a bomber if you can hit it straight … I’d say it’s pretty straightforward to be honest with you and there’s not really too much to it if you could just keep it in the fairway out here this week,” DeChambeau stated. “But as the rough stands right now I think the risk is definitely worth the reward. if you do hit it into the rough I still think you can get to the front of the green and from the front edge on these greens you can kind of get to any pin. So for me as of right now I’m going to be hitting it up there as far as I can and hopefully wedging it close and making some putts this week.” Dissecting the course then becomes the when and where you might rev things up and when you might step back. “There’s a lot of long irons into these par 4s … I hit three long irons on the back nine and obviously it’s a little cooler, a little windy. But still at the same time if you’re in that rough, there’s no chance you’re hitting 4- or 5-iron into these greens,” two-time defending champion Brooks Koepka says. “You have to drive it well and put it into the fairway. The rough out here is pretty thick. You can get some pretty juicy lies and not advance it very far. But it all depends. Is it going to be wet? I think it will be, especially in the mornings, so it could be quite tough to control your distance, spin, things like that. But I don’t think it’s overly bad right now. Come Sunday it might be different. Might grow two inches, who knows, an inch. Anything could make a big difference.” You can comfortably claim the first hole is open slather at just 371 yards and dead straight. The second has more meat at 449 and a slight curve to the right but still invites a bomb. The fourth is the first par-5 and it turns sharply to the left meaning cutting the corner means taking on cypress trees. “It’s going to be a test, with the overhang of these cypress trees there may be a couple lost balls here; cut a corner and ball hangs up there, that could happen very easily here and has happened and I’m sure will this week as well,” Woods adds. Adam Scott, who with Woods is one of just three to have played in 2005, 2015 and the 2009 Presidents Cup at the course, adds it’s not just the hungry branches to watch out for. “Those trunks can be thick and there’s plenty of them. If you get a deep lie behind one you won’t have an angle to the green. You need to factor that in also,” Scott says. The fifth is another straight and short hole at 417 yards but those trees are framing both sides. Six, at 459 yards has a little protection from a dogleg to the left, seven is just 322 yards. But the ninth is tough as Oosthuizen would attest. Finau tried to wind up here in practice despite the dangers and saw his ball sail way left. His reload split the fairway though and was very long. “I am going to open up a little bit more this week. This golf course allows to you do that. Last week, not so much. But this golf course is a big course. I have seen a few holes where I can go ahead and give it extra and try and attack this golf course that way,” Finau says. “Distance is a big key this week, and we talked about the rough, you’ve got to hit the fairways. But if I am going to miss a fairway, I want to miss it as far up as I can to give myself a chance to still hit the green.” The 10th is a par-5 allowing for aggressiveness off the tee, the 12th at 485 yards might ask for some conservation. The 13th is 468 yards and has a turn to the right before the green comes back in on the left. A miss to the left off the tee here would spell trouble with OB, rough and tree issues. From that point comes the lake holes as Lake Merced frames the left side of the run home. The 14th at 461 yards invites a whack, as might the 403-yard 15th. The 16th is just 331 yards but the cypress trees wait on the right and the penalty area sits left. Finally 18 brings a forced carry over the water on the 466-yard finisher that turns sharp left after the tee shot. “Here’s a tip,” an anonymous caddie said while mapping the course. “Watch a lot of guys aim near or at the fairway bunkers on a bunch of holes knowing a good shot will find the fairway but a slightly off one with find the sand instead of the rough. The bunkers will be helping players this week. They won’t be the hazard.” When that’s the case things are rough indeed.

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ALBANY, Bahamas – The carpeted staging in the Hero World Challenge media tent has a table and three microphones, three black chairs, and a red motorcycle. It’s about a foot off the ground. Tiger Woods stepped off it without pause or concern Tuesday, landing on his right leg. Still, he’s not getting overconfident. “I don’t foresee this leg ever being what it used to be,” he said as he sat next to Hero MotoCorp Chairman and CEO Pawan Munjal and answered reporters’ questions for about 35 minutes. It was the first press conference for Woods since his harrowing single-car accident in L.A. on Feb. 23. Surgeons inserted a rod into his right tibia, which had multiple fractures, and screws and pins into his right foot and ankle. Amputation, he said Tuesday, was a distinct possibility in the early stages. He wore a cast, then a boot, then a sleeve. He spent three weeks in the hospital, then three months in a hospital bed at home in South Florida. “It’s hard to explain how difficult that’s been, being immobile for three months,” he said, and especially so for a guy who was so used to spending a good deal of time outside. “I’m lucky to be alive but also to still have the limb,” he added. “Those are two crucial things.” A big moment, he added, was when he could first go outside and feel the sun on his face. The days of him playing a fulltime schedule are over, he said. Assuming the leg continues to get better, he added, he hopes to make limited competitive starts, like Ben Hogan after his own near-fatal car accident. Grateful for what he’s been spared, and what he can still do, Woods, who dressed in black slacks and a black camo shirt, sounded at peace with this career paradigm shift. The rub: He can still contend and maybe even win despite getting only limited starts. “I know the recipe for it,” he said. “I’ve just got to get comfortable doing it.” To be sure, comebacks have defined his career. When Woods won the 2018 TOUR Championship, he broke a five-year win drought. When he won the 2019 Masters Tournament, after four operations on his back, including a career-threatening fusion surgery, it was his first major in over a decade. When he won the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP in Japan later that year it was after making bogeys on his first three holes. Then he went 3-0-0 as playing captain of the victorious U.S. Presidents Cup Team. Defying expectations is what he does, but that magical late-career stretch took a toll in 2020. Perhaps understandably, Woods looked tired. He hit three balls in the water and made a 10, the highest score of his career, at the par-3 12th hole at the (November) 2020 Masters. He and Charlie stole the show at the (father-son) PNC Championship in Orlando almost exactly a year ago, but it turned out his back was hurting again, necessitating a fifth surgery, a microdiscectomy to remove a disc fragment that gave him nerve pain. He hosted but did not play The Genesis Invitational. Then came the accident. Hogan came back from a head-on with a bus. Woods won the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines with stress fractures and a torn ACL in his left knee. But now? Even he can’t say for sure. He had the big talk with his family, asking for their blessing in this next comeback, if the right leg behaves. They gave the green light. “Maybe one day it’ll be good enough where I can get out here and compete against these guys,” Woods said of his right leg. Nine days ago, he posted a three-second video of himself hitting balls on the range, and that brief glimpse of his swing – the perfect tempo, crisp contact, bacon-strip divot – sent fans into a tizzy. But what of his speed? It wasn’t there in his lackluster 2020, and after the accident it will be even harder to get it back. He admits the right leg tires easily and doesn’t hit the ball as far. He jokes about needing to play from the forward tees. He’ll turn 46 next month. Could he play in the 150th edition of The Open Championship at St. Andrews next July? He allowed that he certainly wants to. He’s a two-time Open champion there, and loves the course. “Physically, hopefully I can,” he said. “I’ve got to get there first.” No matter what, he can still host the Hero, where Collin Morikawa could take over world No. 1 with another win. He can host the Genesis, text members of the U.S. Ryder Cup Team, attend his kids’ sports events – soccer games for daughter Sam, tournaments for son Charlie. And to be sure, his accomplishments will forever stand alone, just as they are. Five Masters, four PGA Championships, three U.S. Opens, three Open Championships, 15 major titles in all, three behind Jack Nicklaus. Two PLAYERS Championships, two FedExCups, 106 worldwide wins. Six USGA national championships before turning pro, two Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year awards, three AP Male Athlete of the Year awards. It will be 25 years next April since his ’97 Masters win. The Tiger Slam in 2001 made him the first to hold all four men’s professional majors at the same time. Gary Koch’s “Better than most” call as Woods won his first PLAYERS will live forever. And we’ll never forget Woods sobbing on Steve Williams’ shoulder after winning the 2006 Open; dodging fans in the 18th fairway at the 2018 TOUR Championship at East Lake; hugging Charlie after his 2019 Masters win. Will there be more? Woods, who admitted to feeling pain in his legs and back as he answered questions, sounded fine, either way. There are eight new players in the field for this year’s Hero, and he said he’s looking forward to seeing how they do. He’s happy to be back amongst friends like Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth this week. “I miss the jabbing, the needling, catching up with the guys,” he said. “There’s only so much you can do on text.” In other words, he’ll be mixing it up with the best in the world one way or another. That, jarring as it may seem, is the paradigm shift. Tiger has made it. Can we?

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