Leaderboard for MGM Resorts The Challenge: Japan Skins

When he was 18 years old, Tyrone Van Aswegen traveled more than 9,000 miles from his home in South Africa to the United States to play golf at Oklahoma City University. He became a three-time NAIA All-America, helped lead the Stars to four straight national titles and won the individual crown in 2002. He met his future wife, Cristin, there, too. While he played some in South Africa on the Sunshine Tour early in his pro career, Van Aswegen has made his home in the United States ever since he crossed the Atlantic Ocean as a teenager. So he decided to take the steps required to become an American citizen.  “I just felt like I was fully integrated,â€� Van Aswegen explained. “I know this is my home now. I just felt like it was the right time.â€� So on June 19, 2013, he stood with about 750 other people in San Diego’s Golden Hall, recited the Pledge of Allegiance and was sworn in as a naturalized U.S. citizen. “It was a very awesome day,â€� Van Aswegen remembered. He thinks there were at least 20 different countries represented in the roll call of America’s newest citizens that day. The largest group was from Mexico, then Iraq. He remembers a handful of other South Africans and even someone originally from Lithuania being sworn in. “I didn’t think there were going to be that many citizens,â€� Van Aswegen admitted. And the magnitude of the moment was not lost on any of them. “You get to celebrate with everybody there. It was a good day.â€�  Before starting the process, Van Aswegen, who had had his green card for five years, hired an immigration lawyer to make sure all his paperwork was in order. After his application was received, he had to go to the immigration office and take a citizenship test. Van Aswegen, who is playing this week in the Quicken Loans National near Washington, D.C., enlisted his wife’s aid as he studied the booklet that contained 100 possible questions about United States history and government. He would only be asked 10 and had to get six correct — but he wanted to leave nothing to chance.  “I had my wife randomly selecting questions,â€� Van Aswegen recalled. “It’s multiple choice, so you know, most of the time you can figure out what it is, but some of the dates were tricky.â€� Turns out, Van Aswegen didn’t need to worry. He got the first six questions the immigration officer asked him correct. Ditto for the quote about Columbus Day that he had to write down on paper. That said, it wasn’t all smooth sailing when he went to take the test. Van Aswegen remembered making a bit of a faux pas after he made it through the TSA-caliber security and entered the waiting room. “I’ll never forget I put my phone in between my legs when I sat down and then the guy called me,â€� he said. “So I got up and went through a secure door, walked like 60 yards to his office and when I go to his office I was like, uh sir, I forgot my phone in a waiting area.  “So he was like, he was kind of not in a good mood after that. But I did everything, I think pretty perfect. So it was OK.â€� The swearing-in ceremony in San Diego, where Van Aswegen and his wife lived at the time, came about a month later. When it was over, he applied for his U.S. passport to make things even more official.   “My family’s here and my life is here,â€� said Van Aswegen, who has now lived in the United States as long as he did in South Africa. “This is what I want to be.â€�    Van Aswegen, who tries to visit his family in Johannesburg at least once a year, has taken an active role in his new country. He missed the 2012 presidential election but was able to vote for the first time four years later. “It’s nice to be part of a society and to have a say,â€� Van Aswegen explained. He even remembers getting one of those “I Votedâ€� stickers at the polling place and sticking it on his shirt. A celebratory night out with friends followed.  “It was a proud moment,â€� Van Aswegen said. “I think we celebrated my voting more than celebrated getting my citizenship — not  because I wasn’t proud to be an American.  “But it was just the first time I’d ever voted and it was a cool experience.â€�

Click here to read the full article…

Scottie Scheffler recorded his first PGA TOUR victory Sunday at the WM Phoenix Open following a three-hole playoff against reigning FedExCup champion Patrick Cantlay. While the win should mostly be attributed to years of hard work, perseverance and raw talent, at least a sliver of credit must go to a putter change he made the week of the event. Scheffler hasn’t been one to change putters much throughout his career thus far, mostly opting for a Scotty Cameron Tour Rat 1 prototype putter. Heading into 2022, though, he wanted a slightly different look Back in December 2021, Scheffler took a trip to the famous Scotty Cameron Putter Studio in California to work with Scotty Cameron Tour Rep Brad Cloke. Before the trip to the studio, Scheffler had been experimenting with a Scotty Cameron Newport 2 Timeless putter at home — for those who may not know, Scotty Cameron’s Newport has a bit rounder and softer edges than its Newport 2 style. While Scheffler liked the slightly different look of his Newport 2 Timeless putter at home, he wanted to get something more dialed in. And there’s no better place to do it than Scotty’s studio, where the fitters can make custom adjustments to weighting, profile, look and materials. “He just wanted to switch things up a little bit and give himself a slightly different look heading into 2022,” Cloke said in a Titleist press release. “Prior to visiting us in the studio, he’d been messing around with an older Newport 2 Timeless he had at home. He’d added bunch of lead tape to the sole to try and get it to a similar swingweight as his Super Rat. He really liked the profile but the feel wasn’t exactly where he wanted it, so we went to work on building him a new setup with adjustable weighting.” Of course, custom putter builds don’t just happen overnight. Scheffler had to wait for his new putter to get made and delivered from the studio. So, for the first few events of 2022, Scheffler used the Newport 2 Timeless putter that he’d been experimenting with. His new Scotty Cameron Special Select Timeless Tourtype GSS prototype finally showed up the week prior to the WM Phoenix Open. It is 36.25 inches long and it has two 25-gram weights in the sole to get the weighting right for Scheffler’s stroke and feel preferences. The putter went right into play, and, obviously, it worked. Scheffler ranked second for the week in Stroked Gained: Putting (+6.49) and he made 44.7% of his birdie attempts. Illustrating how slim the margins are on the PGA TOUR, the new club helped Scheffler hole a couple crucial putts that helped him just make the cut at TPC Scottsdale. Scheffler advanced to the weekend with just a stroke to spare, thanks in part to a 35-foot birdie putt he made on his second-to-last hole Friday. “I kept telling (caddie Ted Scott) on Thursday and Friday I was scoring really poorly. I was playing fantastic golf, my swing felt great, short game felt good, putting felt good, everything felt really good and I was only 3 under,” Scheffler said in his pre-tournament press conference for this week’s Genesis Invitational. “I was really fighting the cut line on Friday afternoon. I had to make like a 6- or 7-footer on 7 for par to stay at 2 under, which was the cut line. Then I ended up making like a 40-footer for birdie on 8 to get to 3 under, and got up and down on 9 because I thought the cut line was going to be at 3 under.” Scheffler shot up the leaderboard with weekend rounds of 62-67 to claim his first TOUR title. Thanks to Cloke and his fitting efforts, Scheffler was able to find the right look, and Scheffler was able to capture his first career victory. Sometimes it’s the little things that can push golfers over that performance barrier. In terms of other putter changes, Adam Scott also switched putters recently. More on that change here.

Click here to read the full article…

Click here to read the full article…