Sober Chris Kirk reflects on what quarantine might have been

NAPLES, Fla. – Scores in the 50s aren’t unusual at the QBE Shootout at Tiburon Golf Club at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort. Temperatures in the 50s are. But they say there’s no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing, and Steve Stricker, of wintry Madison, Wisconsin, and O’Hair, from outside Philadelphia, where his four kids went sledding over the weekend, weren’t bothered by the sweater weather. They shot a best-ball 64 at Tiburon on Sunday, good enough for a two-shot win over Ireland’s Graeme McDowell and Shane Lowry. “I was pretty cold,� O’Hair said with a laugh. “Today was tough. The wind was really cold, it was a heavy wind, and it made for difficult conditions. But it warmed up for us.� The winners will split the $820,000 purse for the unofficial win. They fell two behind on the front nine but reeled off three straight birdies before making the turn. Stricker/O’Hair were still nursing a one-shot lead when O’Hair eagled the 17th hole, all but ending it. It was the second QBE Shootout title for each player, who had previously won the event with different partners. Stricker, who hadn’t played much golf owing to his Presidents Cup captaincy, got to Naples a week early to bang the rust off. That was nothing unusual, as he’s such a frequent visitor to these parts he rents a house and belongs to Naples National Golf Club. It was a family affair as Nicki Stricker caddied for her husband, while Jackie O’Hair (nickname: Jackie O) walked all 18 holes with Sean. Back in Pennsylvania, Jackie’s parents looked after the four kids, who are in seventh, fifth, second and first grades, and were delighted with the snowy weekend. “They’re probably ready for us to come home,� Jackie said with a laugh. OBSERVATIONS Z.J. HOPES TO GET BORING IN 2018 Zach Johnson is trying to get back his usual fairways-and-greens game that made him a 12-time PGA TOUR winner. “I’m just really trying to get back to being boring,� said Johnson, who was hitting fairways at a greater than 71 percent clip in 2015, the year he won The Open, but has dipped to 66 percent over the past two seasons. “Fairways, greens, make putts,� he said. “We study stats, and I’ve gotten off that a bit.� DAD TEAM FINISHES T4 Keegan Bradley and Brendan Steele, who won the QBE in 2011, shot 67 and finished T4 with Finau/Thompson and Daniel Berger/Gary Woodland (64). More importantly, Bradley and Steele were each playing in their first tournament as new fathers. Brendan’s daughter, Victoria, was born Oct. 26, while Keegan’s son, Logan, arrived Nov. 13. “We’ve definitely been comparing notes, for sure,� said Bradley, who with his wife, Jillian, drove to Naples from Jupiter, Fla., with Logan tucked securely in the back seat. “It feels a little different, but they’re so young now, they’re just sleeping all day. I look forward to when he’s running around a little bit.� Reminded that the PNC Father Son Challenge is next week in Orlando, Bradley laughed. “I was just thinking about that,� he said. “Maybe in 15 years.� Brendan’s wife, Anastasia, and Victoria did not make the flight from Irvine, Calif. THOMPSON SUCCESSFUL IN RETURN Lexi Thompson missed a two-foot putt to lose the LPGA’s season-ending CME Group Tour Championship at Tiburon Golf Club last month, but she was resilient and back for more at the QBE. The field’s biggest draw, Thompson and partner Tony Finau shot a final-round 66 to finish T4 despite the course being nearly 7,400 yards long and Thompson playing from the men’s tees. “Definitely tested my whole game overall,� she said. “The distance that these guys play, especially in this wind—I was hitting 4-irons, 6-irons, hybrids.� QUOTABLES “I had my sweater on for the first two holes today, and I made a couple bad swings and was like: sweater off.� – Graeme McDowell, one of the only players in the field who competed in shirtsleeves for most of the weekend. “Her game held up. I mean, it’s long for us.� – Brendan Steele on Lexi Thompson playing from the men’s tees at 7,382-yard Tiburon. SUPERLATIVES Low round: Zach Johnson and Charley Hoffman shot a 9-under 63 to finish 8th. Best Dressed (unofficial title): McDowell/Lowry, the only team who wore matching uniforms each day. Low temperature: After strong winds and spitting rain Saturday, the temperature was 49 degrees when players teed off Sunday. The cold affected scoring; the winning total of 26-under was a far cry from the tournament record of 34-under, set by Fred Couples and Raymond Floyd in 1990.

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HONOLULU — Hideki Matsuyama made up a five-shot deficit on the back nine and then won the Sony Open in Hawaii in a playoff with one of the best shots he never saw, a 3-wood into the sun to 3 feet for an eagle to beat Russell Henley on Sunday. RELATED: Full leaderboard | Winner’s Bag: Hideki Matsuyama, Sony Open in Hawaii The eighth career PGA TOUR victory for Matsuyama tied him with K.J. Choi for most TOUR victories by an Asian-born player. “I got on a roll,” said Matsuyama, who shot 31 on the back nine while Henley made eight pars and a bogey. “I’m glad it came out this way.” Matsuyama hammered a driver on the par-5 18th in regulation to set up a two-putt birdie for a 7-under 63 and got into a playoff when Henley missed a 10-foot birdie putt and closed with 65. Back to the 18th for the sudden-death playoff, Matsuyama this time hit 3-wood off the tee with Henley in a fairway bunker. That left him another 3-wood, and he immediately held up his hand to shield the sun and search for the ball. He didn’t need to see it. One of the larger Sunday galleries at Waialae erupted with cheers as the ball landed about 10 feet in front of the back pin and rolled out to 3 feet for the eagle. Henley, after having to lay up out of the sand, sent his lob wedge from 85 yards bounding over the green and he made bogey. At that point, it didn’t matter. Matsuyama tapped in his putt for his second win this season. Both times, he finished with an eagle, only he needed this shot. His eagle at the ZOZO Championship in Japan gave him a five-shot victory. Matsuyama knew his Sony Open history. It was where Isao Aoki became the first Japanese player to win on the PGA TOUR in 1983 when he holed out from the fairway for eagle. “To follow him up, I’m over the moon,” Matsuyama said. They finished at 23-under 257. Matsuyama had his 13th consecutive round in the 60s dating to the final day at THE CJ CUP at Summit in Las Vegas. Kevin Kisner (64) and Seamus Power of Ireland (65) tied for third, four shots behind. This was a two-man race all along, even if it looked to be a runaway at the turn. Matsuyama made a pair of early birdies to get within one shot, and he had a big gallery by Honolulu standards, many of them yelling, “Su-go-i!” after his two birdies — Japanese for “great.” Henley held his nerve. He kept the lead by making a 10-foot par putt after going well long on at No. 5. That appeared to free him, for Henley went on a tear from there — a tap-in birdie, an 8-foot birdie, a 3-foot birdie and then an approach to 3 feet for eagle on the par-5 ninth. Matsuyama three-putted for par and suddenly was five shots behind. So much for coasting home. The first sign of a struggle for Henley was a wedge that he pulled 30 feet left of the flag on No. 10. Matsuyama started the back nine with a birdie, and then a two-shot swing followed on the par-3 11th when Henley went left into a bunker for bogey and Matsuyama holed a 12-foot birdie. Henley saved two big pars, including an 8-footer on No. 13, and Matsuyama shaved another shot off the lead with a 20-foot birdie on the 15th. That set up the big finish. Matsuyama nearly swung out of his shoes on the drive at No. 18 in regulation, the longest of the day, though his second shot was still 55 feet short and it required one of his better lag putts of the week. Henley’s birdie putt for the win rippled over the right edge of the cup. It was the fifth time Henley had at least a share of the 54-hole lead and failed to convert dating to his first win to start his rookie season at the Sony Open in 2013.

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ELKHORN, Neb. – Andrew Kozan enjoyed an extended victory lap after an unlikely victory at last week’s Utah Championship presented by Zions Bank. Kozan and his wife Caylin made a 935-mile drive from Salt Lake City to Omaha for this week’s Pinnacle Bank Championship presented by Aetna, for an attempt at becoming the Korn Ferry Tour’s first multiple winner this season. Having suffered a skid of 11 consecutive missed cuts into Utah, Kozan had been planning out his strategy for First Stage of Q-School. Now he’s chasing his first PGA TOUR card. Kozan, 23, opened the Pinnacle Bank Championship in 4-under 67, a strong start at The Club at Indian Creek, a par-71 track measuring 7,721 yards. No player fared better than 66 in the morning wave. “I had never met him until today, and what I just watched was pretty damn good golf,” said playing partner Paul Haley II, who stands No. 2 on the Korn Ferry Tour Regular Season Eligibility Points List and has safely cemented a PGA TOUR return. “He hit the ball great, putted well, got up and down a bunch … I was impressed with his game for sure.” After his string off 11 consecutive missed cuts, Kozan had fallen outside the top 150 on the standings. With just two events remaining in the Regular Season, his prospects of finishing top-75 to qualify for the Korn Ferry Tour Finals looked bleak, let alone having a chance at earning a place in Sunday afternoon’s TOUR card ceremony in Nebraska. For a few months, Kozan struggled to bring all areas of the game together. Sometimes the driver might be off. Other times, the approach game, or chipping, or putting. “Three of the four would be great,” Kozan said. “And the one that wasn’t there would cost me.” It coalesced in Utah. Refreshed after a well-timed off-week where he barely touched a club, Kozan entered the final round at Oakridge CC in 13th place. He carded 8-under 63 and took the trophy with a one-stroke win over three players at 21 under. Kozan fulfilled the various winner’s obligations in Utah, then hit the road with his wife. They stopped at a Hampton Inn somewhere in southern Wyoming, then slept from 1 a.m. until 7 a.m. They completed the remaining nine hours of the journey to Omaha on Monday. “We drove ‘til we got tired,” explained Kozan. “We had a rental car the week before. Didn’t know if I was playing in this event until maybe Tuesday of last week; I wasn’t sure if I was going to be in (the field) or not. By then, by the time we looked for decent flights, it was a thousand bucks a ticket, so we might as well save two grand and drive over there. It wasn’t too bad. It was a cool, scenic drive.” From uncertainty of whether he would qualify for the Pinnacle Bank Championship on his number, to a reasonable chance at a PGA TOUR card, Kozan has seen an appreciative quick turn in fortunes. This week, the Florida native needs a two-way T3 at minimum for a chance at a TOUR card. The operative word, though: chance. It’s all he could ask. “It’s great, and it’s frustrating,” remarked Kozan of life in professional golf. “And that’s why we keep coming back.”

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