Right now, Harold Varner III is focusing just on a golf tournament

CROMWELL, Conn. – Put yourself in Doug Ghim’s golf shoes. You’re 22 years old and about to turn pro. Your father Jeff – who introduced you to the game, built a hitting bay in the backyard because the family couldn’t afford a club membership, and remains the only swing coach you’ve ever had – also has been your caddie for many of your memorable golfing moments. That includes recent appearances at the Masters and U.S. Open, your only two PGA TOUR starts as an amateur. At Augusta National, you earned low amateur honors – giving you a seat inside Butler Cabin after the final round – and also made three eagles. Two of those were in the opening round, including an unlikely one at the par-4 18th. Jeff, in full sprint while wearing the traditional caddie jumpsuit, ran into your arms to celebrate. You couldn’t hug him enough times that week. You call it “an incredible rideâ€� you’ve enjoyed with your dad. “There is no person that works harder for me,â€� you add. The end result? You end your amateur days  No. 1 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings. But now you’ve reached the business portion of your golfing career. Time to see if your amateur success will translate against the world’s best pros. Time to make it on your own – and that means making tough decisions. So you sit down with your dad last week and make it official — he’s no longer on the bag. You need a professional caddie, someone who knows the ropes, knows the courses, can help you navigate life on the pro circuits. Father’s Day is looming, yet you worry about breaking your dad’s heart. “It was a difficult conversation last week,â€� Doug Ghim said this week while preparing for his first pro start at the Travelers Championship. “But my dad wants the best for me.â€� Dads usually do for their sons, especially someone as devoted as Jeff is to Doug. Sure, they’ve had their share of disagreements through the years; Doug told a story to the Golf Channel about a six-month period in which you two locked horns (how apropos that you’d end up attending the University of Texas). Doug blamed himself. “Puberty,â€� he said. On the Sunday before Masters week, Jeff lost the yardage book after practice. Someone was nice enough to find it and give it to lost and found. Jeff retrieved it the next day. Evidently, he had lost it in a restroom. How does that happen? “You kind of have to take your whole jumpsuit off,â€� Doug explained later that week. “It’s a onesie.â€� Having family on the bag may work for the world’s top-ranked player Dustin Johnson, who uses his brother Austin for his caddie. But Ghim’s not yet at that level. So he’s hired veteran Lance Bennett, the former long-time caddie for Matt Kuchar who has more recently caddied for Bill Haas and Daniel Berger. Bennett should be a big help as Ghim manages the early portion of his pro career, which will involve some sponsor’s exemptions until he can gain status. Doug called Bennett “a hot commodity in our industry. I just thought I need to take it.â€� Explained Ghim: “I just wanted to try having a professional caddie. Being out at the Masters and the U.S. Open, I got to see kind of what the caddie aspect was like. It’s kind of like a well-oiled machine, and I just figured that having that experience, not having status and never seeing the golf courses before, it was something that I at least needed to try. “I know that my dad will always be willing to take the call if I ever need him to be on the bag at any point. But Lance is great. He’s seen all these golf courses before. I think he had like an unreal 36 major championship streak for a bit. So he’s seen a lot and been around a lot of the guys.â€� That’s not to say Jeff Ghim won’t be around. He remains his son’s swing coach and is on-site this week at TPC River Highlands. In fact, as Ghim played a practice round Tuesday with Jordan Spieth – they paired up to play Ryan Palmer and Jack Campbell in a friendly match – Bennett was on the bag while Jeff walked with his son. Like any amateur turning pro, Doug Ghim knows he has a lot to learn about life on TOUR. Best ways to practice without wearing yourself out. Getting familiar with the courses. Managing travel. The final say now rests with him. It can be daunting. But it will also be fun. His future is bright. He’s seen what his friend Joaquin Niemann has done since turning pro earlier this year – three top 10s in his first six starts to earn special temporary membership through the rest of the season. Ghim would love similar results. It’s a business now. Even so, there will be times when Doug Ghim will miss having his dad inside the ropes. Last Friday at Shinnecock Hills, Doug and Jeff were on their 17th hole late in the second round. It was evident Doug would miss the cut and not be able to deliver the present he really wanted to give Jeff on Father’s Day – a Sunday round together at the U.S. Open. Doug began getting emotional. So did Jeff. They knew this would be their last round as player-caddie, at least for awhile As they began to play their final hole that day, Doug found the words to put it all in perspective. “I told him there are a lot of heroes that I got to meet that week, whether it was Tiger, Phil, Jason Day, Jordan Spieth,â€� he revealed this week. “But I wanted him to know that he’s always been my hero, and the person that I looked up to the most.â€� That certainly will not change just because Jeff Ghim won’t be lugging a heavy bag this week.

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Saturday at The Honda Classic, the Bear Trap at PGA National awoke from hibernation. Even with the tee moved up to 154 yards at the 15th, where a hole location was cut a few paces off the right edge of the green, there were plenty of golf balls plunking into the water. On the par-4 16th, there were no birdies to be had. Not one. At the par-3 17th, there was one lone birdie yielded to Saturday's contestants. RELATED: Jones handles wind to regain lead | Affect of water balls on the Florida Spring Keegan Bradley was making a great early run on Saturday. He stepped to the 15th hole at 6 under on his round, and 8 under for the tournament, within earshot of the lead. But he rinsed his tee shot at the 15th, made double, and followed with a bogey at 16. He'd shoot 67. Denny McCarthy (74) was even par for his round and tied for third when he got to the tee at 15; when he walked through the tunnel from the 17th green to the 18th tee, he was 4 over, having rinsed his tee shot at 15 (double) and approach at 16 (he did well to make bogey). He tumbled to T18. The 15th hole featured more double bogeys (10) than birdies (8). In order of toughness in the third round, the Bear Trap holes would rank third, fourth and first, respectively, in difficulty. (The par-4 sixth hole ranked second). Leader Matt Jones said he really wasn't trying to hit the green at any of the Bear Trap holes. He played the holes in level par, getting up and down from short left of the green on 15 and 16, then making a beautiful bunker save for par from the left side at 17. "They’re not birdie holes at all," Jones said. "They’re just ‘Don’t-make-the-biggest-mistake' holes, and I managed to play them even par, which is great." J.B. Holmes, who enters Sunday in second place, three shots behind Jones, made birdie at 15 (one of only eight) but surrendered a shot to par at 16. Aaron Wise, who at one point Saturday possessed a six-shot lead, made bogeys at both of the par-3s in the Trap. His bogey on 15 cost him the lead. Sungjae Im, trying to join Jack Nicklaus as the Honda's only back-to-back champion, was 3 under on his round and making a nice move before plugging his tee shot in the left greenside bunker at 17. With water beyond the flagstick, he played well left, away from the hole, with his second, went long, and failed to get up and down. Double. Yes, Saturday was the day that Honda's feared Bear Trap stirred from its slumber. Which meant very little fun for those brave enough to take it on, but fun for those watching in person, and at home. Rest assured, the Bear Trap will have its say on Sunday. "Anything can happen coming down the stretch here in general, and especially with the holes playing all back into the wind it makes it that much tougher," Wise said. "... If you’re in the mix you’re going to have a chance coming down the stretch, because anything can happen." Anything, and everything. What more could we ask for?

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Have hope. It’s never too late to gain distance. Francesco Molinari proved that in his career-changing 2018 campaign. A drastic increase in driving distance helped the 35-year-old Italian have a dream season. He became the first player to win a major and go 5-0 in the Ryder Cup in the same year. He won his first PGA TOUR title and qualified for his first TOUR Championship, as well. Putting instructor Phil Kenyon and performance coach Dave Alred have received a lot of credit for Molinari’s success, and rightfully so. His 20-yard gain since 2015 — including a 10-yard increase since 2017 — was an underreported aspect of his rapid ascension into to the game’s elite ranks, though. Molinari is proof that the incremental impact of longer tee shots — though more difficult to observe than the effect of improved putting — adds up over the course of a tournament and a season. For many years, Molinari was known for his laser-straight tee shots. They helped him have a strong career. He was a two-time Ryder Cup participant and owned four victories on the European Tour, including the 2010 World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions, before this season. This week, Sheshan International is the site of Molinari’s 2018-19 debut. He arrives in Shanghai after nearly doubling his career victory total in a single season. He won The Open Championship and Quicken Loans National, as well as the European Tour’s flagship event, the BMW PGA Championship. He reached career-highs in the FedExCup (17th) and world ranking (5th). He went undefeated at Le Golf National after going winless in his first two Ryder Cups. Molinari and his longtime swing coach, Denis Pugh, started the search for extra yards several years ago. There were some obvious ways for Molinari to hit it farther, but such a change doesn’t come without risk. Several players have lost their way in the quest for extra yardage. Molinari changed his swing, his equipment and strategy. “My swing was very compact and very simple so it was probably easier for me than some other guys to find ways to get more swing speed and ball speed,â€� Molinari said. “It’s a very delicate work.â€� He also hit the gym. “I was more of a couch guy a few years ago,â€� he said. Augusta National’s eighth hole, an uphill par-5 with a large bunker looming on the right side of the fairway, provides a perfect illustration of Molinari’s transformation Long hitters can carry the hazard to reach the green in two. Molinari had to aim away from the bunker, then lay up. “This year, a couple days it was warm and a little down-breeze. I carried the bunker and I was able to hit 5-wood or 4-iron into the green,â€� he said. His T20 finish was one off his career-best at the Masters. He finished this season ranked seventh in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee (+0.72) and 52nd in driving distance (301.0 yards). Three years ago, he was 153rd in driving distance with an average measured drive of 281.6 yards. “It’s very important for mainly two reasons. One, it’s easier to play the golf course. … I can carry a few more bunkers every round on different courses. That means having a few more wedges into the greens and it has a ripple effect on the game,â€� Molinari said. “Confidence-wise, it’s simply good to see when you’re out there that you’re driving it past some guys and you’re not 50 behind some guys, you’re maybe only 20 yards behind.â€� Mark Broadie, the inventor of the Strokes Gained statistics, quantified the benefits of increased distance in his book “Every Shot Counts.â€� An extra 20 yards off the tee can be worth up to three strokes per tournament, he said. It’s the sum of small gains. The average PGA TOUR player takes 2.98 strokes to hole out from 160 yards. It’s 2.91 from 140 yards. That’s less than one-tenth of a stroke, but it can become significant over the course of 72 holes. The increased distance outweighs the increase in missed fairways, as well. Molinari also is hitting his irons farther, and with increased spin and a higher trajectory. Broadie keeps statistics for Molinari, as well as his brother, Edoardo, who won the 2009 World Cup with Francesco and teamed with him at the 2010 Ryder Cup. Edoardo was one of the first pros to apply Broadie’s Strokes Gained statistics to his own game. Francesco is gaining 1.9 more strokes per tournament with his tee shots than he was in 2015 (when adjusted for courses and field strength). “I was very impressed at the magnitude of his distance gain this year, especially after the large gain from 2015 to 2016,â€� Broadie said. Molinari did it with relatively little loss in accuracy. He still hits a relatively high number of fairways for a player of his length. That’s how he ranked eighth in total driving – the sum of a player’s ranking in driving distance and accuracy — last season. And his misses still aren’t far from the fairway. That allows him to be more aggressive with his club selection off the tee. Molinari said he’s started hitting driver more often to further capitalize on his length. His tee shots covered 64 percent of the yardage on par-4s and par-5s this season. That’s nearly 5 percent more than three seasons ago. He ranked 27th in that statistic in 2018 after ranking 168th (out of 184 players) in 2015. His compact swing offered room for improvement, as well. He now makes a bigger turn on the backswing to create more speed. He tries to feel his sternum turning as far and as high from the ball as possible. He lifts his left heel off the ground to increase his turn. TaylorMade’s Adrian Rietveld saw Molinari’s transformation first-hand. During one of their first testing sessions, in October 2016, Molinari’s clubhead speed averaged 107.1 mph and his ball speed was 158.5 mph. In February 2018, his clubhead speed was over 112 mph and ball speed was nearly 166 mph.  “He constantly spoke about how hard he was working with Denis Pugh on his swing and in the gym with his team,â€� Rietveld said. “Some days he would be just too (tired) from the strength work to produce long equipment sessions.â€� In May 2018, he was up to 114 and 169 mph. He was now carrying the ball nearly 290 yards, more than 25 yards longer than that October 2016 testing session. “Apart from my work with Justin Rose, I have never worked with a player as precise as Francesco,â€� Rietveld said. He watched Rose undergo a similar distance gain that helped him win the 2013 U.S. Open, then win the FedExCup and become No. 1 in the world ranking. In today’s game, players who gain speed can also gain trophies. Molinari has three from this season as proof.

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