John Daly diagnosed with bladder cancer

With a smiley-faced golf ball, smileytheball.org is raising money and awareness for children with cleft lip, cleft palate, and other craniofacial conditions. In support of the cause, a number of PGA TOUR players are getting involved. According to Dave McCracken, founder of smileytheball.org, there were about 100 players with Smiley the Ball hanging from their staff bags at the 2019 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open this fall in Las Vegas. In additions, players on other tours, including PGA TOUR Champions, have adopted Smiley the Ball on their bags. Proceeds from the golf balls, which come in various product options on the website, go directly to Shriners Hospitals for Children, according to McCracken. “We’ve got over 200 players now that are supporting the program,� McCracken told PGATOUR.COM. “A portion of the proceeds go directly to the Shriners Hospitals, and it goes directly to the cleft lip and cleft palate unit. So it’s a ball with a smile that’s benefitting children’s smiles.� McCracken says that he has two acquaintances who have children born with cleft lip, and that 1-in-600 children are born with cleft lip or cleft palate. In support of these children, McCracken started smileytheball.org about two years ago. “It’s one of those things when you look at the ball, you realize you did something that’s going to help a child out,� McCracken said. “It just doesn’t change [the child’s] life; cleft lip and palette is pretty serious. “When these surgeries are done for the children, it not only changes their life, but it also changes the lives of their families, friends, and extended beyond that. It’s something we’re very proud of.� Peter Malnati is one of the many players supporting the cause, and Shriners Hospitals holds a special place in his heart. “I’ve got Smiley the Ball with me this year, which is cool because I’m all about raising awareness and getting some attention for Shriners Hospitals,� Malnati said. “All the events on TOUR are pretty amazing … but this event is special to me because I have an older sister, who’s one of my best friends in the whole world and someone I really look up to a lot. When she was born, she had a clubbed foot. She was treated at the Shriners hospital in Greenville, South Carolina. One foot is a size and a half smaller than the other, but that didn’t stop her. She was a varsity letter winner at Duke University on the track team. Actually, I think she set a school record for the high jump at one point. “The treatment she had the Shriners played a big part in her life and the life that she lives. Shriners played a big part in that, so this event will always have a special place for me.� Each July is Cleft and Craniofacial Awareness Month, and so earlier this year, Shriners Hospitals for Children told the story of then nine-month-old Max, who had been treated by doctors in Boston after being diagnosed with a cleft. After a couple of surgeries, Max is happy and active, according to the website. “We loved his initial smile,� said one of his parents, “but Shriners gave us a whole new smile to fall in love with.� With the holiday season approaching, July doesn’t need to be the only time to think about children born with these conditions. Thanks to Smiley the Ball, golfers can make it a year-round awareness. For more information about cleft lip and cleft palate, click here.

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Here is a look at the four players who Monday qualified for The Honda Classic. The qualifier was held at Banyan Bay Resort and Golf in West Palm Beach, Florida. QUALIFIERS Hayden Buckley (66) Age: 23 College: University of Missouri Turned pro: 2018 PGA TOUR starts: 1 PGA TOUR earnings: $9,240 Twitter: @hbuckley13 Notes: Is a current Korn Ferry Tour member after finishing T83 at final stage but has not yet made a start on Korn Ferry this year … Made it to final stage of Q school after finishing sixth on OOM on Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada. He made 11 of 12 cuts including a win at the ATB Financial Open.  Had six top-10s … Has three career Korn Ferry Tour starts … Successfully Monday qualified into both the Panama Championship and Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail Championship with 64s last year on Korn Ferry Tour.  He made cuts in both events with a best finish of T41 … Last year in the Honda Monday Qualifer shot a 66 and made birdie on three of four playoff holes but was still eliminated … On last hole this year, his approach into a par 5 hit a sprinkler head and bounded 30 yards over the green. He made a 3-footer for par … Was ranked as high as 34th in the World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR) while at Missouri … His high school golf team won three state finals in four years. Daniel Wetterich (66) Age: 23 College: Ohio State Turned pro: 2019 PGA TOUR starts: 0 PGA TOUR earnings: 0 Twitter: @WetterichDaniel Notes: Is a Korn Ferry Tour member this year after becoming one of the few players to make it thru Pre-qualifying, first, and second stage of Q school … Was medalist at Q school pre-q, finished third at first stage, T14 at second stage … He finished T90 at final stage … This will be his first career start on any PGA TOUR-sanctioned tour … Ranked as high as 166th in WAGR before turning pro … Was freshman of the year at Xavier University before transferring to Ohio State … Runner-up to NHL referee Garret Rank in the Western Amateur, losing 3 & 2 in finals … Named to All-Big Ten team in 2019, and had a scoring average of 72 … Has been staying at Walker Cup captain Nathaniel Crosby’s house for last week along with Alex Smalley while practicing at a nearby club to get ready for Monday qualifier … Brother David is also a pro golfer … Nephew of former Ryder Cup team member and PGA TOUR winner Brett Wetterich. Andrew McCain (66) Age: 25 College: University of Maryland Turned pro: 2017 PGA TOUR starts: 0 PGA TOUR earnings: 0 Twitter: @AndrewMcCain Notes: This will be his first career PGA TOUR start … Birdied four of his last seven holes to tie for medalist … Has two career Korn Ferry Tour starts, missing the cut in both … Was medalist at Mackenzie Tour Q school last year … Played all 12 Mackenzie Tour events, making six cuts, with six top-25s … Best finish was at the Bayview Place DC Bank Open presented by Times Colonist where he finished T18 … In 2018, he played 11 events on the Dakotas Tour, making nine cuts with four top-10s … Has won two Minnesota State Opens, one as an amateur, and one as a professional … Has played in six Minor League Golf Tour events in 2020 and has a win, a second, and a third. Arjun Atwal (67) Age: 46 College: Nassau Community College Turned Pro: 1995 PGA TOUR starts: 229 PGA TOUR earnings: $5,016,482 Twitter: @arjunatwal Notes: One of four players to win a PGA TOUR event after Monday qualifying when he won the 2010 Wyndham Championship … Won the Wyndham after opening with a 61 and hanging on to beat David Toms by one … Also became the first Indian-born player to win on the PGA TOUR … Earlier in the 2010 season, he lost his card after not earning enough money on a medical exemption … In 2005, he lost in a five-man playoff at the BellSouth Classic, won by Phil Mickelson … Last time he played a full schedule on the PGA TOUR was 2012 when he played 27 events and finished 171st in FedEx Cup points … Has three European Tour wins (all three were co-sanctioned events with Asian tour) … Also has five additional Asian Tour wins … In 2008, he won the Chattanooga Classic on the Korn Ferry Tour, beating Webb Simpson in a playoff … His last worldwide win came on the Asian Tour in 2014 at the Dubai Open. BUCKLEY Q&A A quick chat with Hayden Buckley after Monday qualifying at The Honda Classic: PGATOUR.COM: You weren’t heavily recruited out of high school, but ended up playing at an SEC school, can you tell us how that came about? HAYDEN BUCKLEY: “I really wasn’t recruited much out of high school; I just didn’t play well in some big junior events so not a lot of schools were interested. I wanted to stay local, but it was basically a few community colleges. I wanted to go bigger but honestly at that time don’t think I had the talent to go bigger. I had one DI offer and it wasn’t really much. My (swing) coach Chris Harder had played for Mark Leroux at Austin Peay and was coach at Missouri. Chris called him and he (Leroux) gave me a scholarship without ever seeing me hit a single shot. I mean, that was a life changer. He never saw me play golf, didn’t even know really what I looked like and gave me a chance. It’s rare now a days and it changed my life.� PGATOUR.COM: You were in the morning wave, so it’s a long wait once you post a score. Are you a scoreboard watcher or do you try to get away? BUCKLEY: “Today I went and had a beautiful lunch at Chic Fil A and hung out there trying to waste some time.  Then I went to a buddy’s house and we talked about my finish. [Hayden made an 8-footer on 17 for bogey and struggled for par on 18.] But after that, I just mentally prepared myself for a 6:30 p.m. playoff.  But trust me there was a lot of scoreboard watching.  Starting in the middle of the day, I refreshed it every couple of minutes for the next few hours. I mean, I looked at it a ton.  And you analyze everything. I saw some guys shot -3 (on the opening nine), but it was on back and knew the front was playing harder. You are just waiting for guys that are close to come in and you just never know what is going to happen.  I’ve been through some of these and learned that. I mean today is good example; last score was Andrew McCain. I mean those guys at 5 under had to be feeling great, then all of a sudden, they have to go right to a playoff.� PGATOUR.COM: You shot 66 last year at this Monday but lost in a playoff. Does that give you confidence coming back here or bring up some past frustrations? BUCKLEY: “Mostly confidence for sure, but the guys I played my practice round with asked if I had played here before. I told them yeah last year I shot 66, birdied three of the four playoff holes and was playing a mini-tour event the next day. I showed up this year and I know I’m a lot better (player) then I was last year, and I got into a playoff last year so that gives me a ton of confidence.� PGATOUR.COM: Of course, there is pressure at any Monday qualifier but at the end of day this is what you do for living. Compare the feeling here to a Korn Ferry Monday because you are a member there? BUCKLEY: “Like today at a PGA [TOUR] Monday, I really have nothing to lose; there are guys out there who need starts to keep cards and stuff. So not a ton of pressure, though I want to play well. But at the Korn Ferry Mondays, I have felt pressure for sure because I’m a member. I know that if I Monday and make a cut, I’m going to get starts through the season. I was 6 under through 12 at one of those Korn Ferry Mondays and it was early, you know? If I got in, my season would be all set. Now that I have status, I’ve told myself if I can get into an event before Mackenzie starts and if I can get 10 starts on Korn Ferry, I’m not going to Canada.  If I can’t get something done in 10 starts, that’s on me.� NOTES NOTABLE MISSES: Adam Svensson 67 (lost in playoff), Sam Saunders 70, Robert Allenby 71, Alex Cejka 72, Jonathan Byrd 73, John Senden 75 STRENGTH OF HONDA CLASSIC MONDAY Q FIELD Combined number of PGA TOUR starts: 5,612 Number of players with at least one PGA TOUR win: 12 Combined number of PGA TOUR wins: 23 Combined PGA TOUR earnings: More than $200 million Combined Korn Ferry Tour wins: 41 Players with most PGA TOUR wins in the field: Jonathan Byrd 5, Robert Allenby 4 (Allenby also has 4 European Tour wins along with 12 Australasian wins) COURSE INFO Banyan Creek Golf and Resort Par: 72 Yardage: 7,089 Rating: 76.1 Slope: 153 2019-2020 SEASON MONDAY QUALIFIER STATS Average Medalist score: 65.1 Average last qualifying spot score: 66.5 Total number of cuts made: 9 of 43 (21%) Most recent results (Puerto Rico Open): Will Gordon T20, Andrew Loupe MC, Carl Yuan MC, Justin Doeden MC Money earned: $311,028 Best finish: Garrett Osborn, T18, Sanderson Farms Championship UPCOMING MONDAY QUALIFIERS March 9: Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship, The Preserve at Ironhorse (Note: This Monday qualifier is held two weeks prior to event) March 16: Valspar Championship, Southern Hills Plantation NOTES FROM OTHER TOURS PGA TOUR Champions: Hugh Royer III, who less than two years ago faced 26 hours of surgery for cancer, Monday Qualified for the Colorguard Classic. His last start was on Korn Ferry Tour almost 20 years ago.

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The final of 50 events in the super-sized PGA TOUR season tees it up this week to determine the field of 125 for the FedExCup Playoffs. No more chances for conjecture, swing changes or “saving it for later” as the TOUR’s annual stop at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, NC, will determine who moves on and who heads home. This Donald Ross original was redone by Kris Spence in 2007 and the event was relocated here in 2008. The Wyndham Championship also moved to the final event on the TOUR calendar after the redesign. The end of the road pressure has been on the calendar since. RELATED: Power Rankings | Expert Picks There’s good news and bad news for the full field of 156. Sedgefield annually plays as one of the easiest courses on TOUR and always competes for the easiest Par-70. The good news is everyone knows what it will take to win this week: low scores/birdies/eagles. The bad news is everyone who needs is on the bubble hasn’t exactly been doing that lately and will need to find it immediately. The formula in a shootout, which seems like every event TOUR event the last month, remains the same. The more fairways and GIR that are found the more chances for birdie putts and no-sweat pars. Rounds in the 60s will trump everything as the math suggests better than 5-under each day is needed to win. Hard to do that with a 70 or worse over the four days. Only five rounds worse than 70 were posted last year in the top 27 players, TOTAL. Champion Bermuda greens sit at 6,000 square feet and pitch, in Ross style, back to front, so leaving the ball below the hole is key. One of the reason scoring is always low is they’re in perfect shape and the course only plays 7,131 yards. Throw in rough at not even three inches and a shootout is on the cards. How low do you have to go? Well, the last five winners posted either 21 or 22-under. Webb Simpson posted 21-under here in 2019 and didn’t win. So did Ollie Schniederjans in 2017. The highest winning score on the podium the last three seasons is 18-under, accomplished twice. The $1.157 winner’s portion (500 FedExCup) of the $6.4 million total purse will go a long way to determining final FedExCup positioning for next week. Recent Event Winner Stats Recent Winners 2020 – Jim Herman (-21, 259) Posted 63 on Sunday to win by a shot. … Trailed by four after 54 holes. … Third round 61 boosted him from T36 to T5. … 63-61 weekend ties lowest 36 holes for a winner on TOUR. … Picks up third win at age 42 in 192nd event. … Played the Par-5 5th hole in SIX-UNDER for the week. … Holed 440 feet of putts. … Third winner in four years to hit the top three in GIR (1st). … Fifth consecutive winner top five (T4) SG: Approach the Green. … Made three eagles (T1) on the week. … Wins for the second consecutive season on TOUR…. Made only two of eight cuts entering the week with best being T33. … First visit to Sedgefield since T18 in 2015. Notables in the field this week: Co 36-hole and solo 54-hole leader Si Woo Kim (T3) was 18-under before and after 54 holes. … Kevin Kisner (T3), on his preferred surface of Bermuda, posted 64-65-64 the final three rounds. … Doc Redman (T3) led the field in fairways hit (49/56). … Nothing worse than 66 for 2011 champ Webb Simpson (T3) as he picks up his fourth consecutive podium. … Zach Johnson (T7) matched Herman’s 61 for lowest round of the week. … Harold Varner III (T7) shared the first round lead with 62. … Russell Henley (T9) was third in GIR and T8 Fairways. … Sungjae Im (T9) backed up his T6 on debut in 2019. … Denny McCarthy (T9) rolled in 25 birdies. … 2013 champ Patrick Reed (T9) added his first top 10 since his maiden TOUR win. … Defending champ JT Poston (MC) shouldn’t feel too bad as nobody has defended this title. … Lift, clean and replace was used all four rounds. … Herman joined Johnson and Shane Lowry (T23; not entered this week) as players entering the top 125 and qualifying for the FedExCup Playoffs. … Record for most outside to inside the top 125 at Sedgefield is five players (multiple times). … Top 30 players 10-under or better. … 28 bogey-free rounds. … Cut was 3-under 137. … 68.779 scoring average. 2019 – JT Poston (22-under, 258) Ties the tournament record on 22-under as he won by a shot. … Closed with 62, tying the tournament’s lowest final round. … First winner on TOUR since 1974 to win an event with NO BOGEYS on the card. … First TOUR victory at age 26 in his 77th start. … Joins Webb Simpson, Patrick Reed and Si Woo Kim as first-time winners here. … Becomes third North Carolina native to win since 2008. … First podium on TOUR. … Entered the week T29-MC-T11-MC on TOUR. … Previous two events here MC and T50. Notables in the field this week: Webb Simpson (2nd) led the field in Fairways. … Byeong-Hun An (3rd) led or co-led after every round thru 54 holes and was bogey free until Sunday. … 2016 champ Si Woo Kim (5th) added another podium to his record here. … Brice Garnett (T6) was the only player in the top 21 to post a round of 70 in the final round. … Brian Harman (T6) enjoyed his first top 10 since T3 here in 2013. … Sungjae Im (T6) opened with 62 on his debut. … Jason Kokrak (T6) closed 16-under after opening with 70. … Rory Sabbatini (T6) picked up his third top 10 here in his last seven starts. … Defending champion Brandt Snedeker (T39) was 10-under. … Adam Svensson (T31; not entered) posted 61, low round of the week. … Lift, clean and replace used in Rounds 1 and 2 as three inches of rain was in the forecast for the first two days. … Top 47 players 10-under or better. … 41 bogey-free rounds. … 68.175 scoring average. 2018 – Brandt Snedeker (21-under, 259) Shot a final round 65 to win by three and claim is second title at this EVENT (2007, Forest Oaks Country Club). … At the time posted the 10th 59 in PGATOUR history as he opened 11-under. … Wire-to-wire winner as he led by four after 18 and two after 36 holes. … Due to weather, he played 29 holes on Sunday. … Garners win No. 9 on TOUR in his 306th start at age 37. … Picked up his third top five in five years at Sedgefield. … Entered the week with two top 10 finishes in his last four TOUR events. … Has not won since. Notables in the field this week: CT Pan (T2) circled 25 birdies. … Webb Simpson (T2) closed with 62, tying the tournament record. … Brian Gay (T6) signed for 63-62 in the middle but 70 and 69 bookends slowed him. … 2009 winner Ryan Moore (T6) added his third top 10 paycheck. … Ryan Armour (T8) was T4 GIR and T10 Fairways. … Nick Taylor (T8) opened with 65 and closed with 63. … Defending champion Henrik Stenson (T20) posted 13-under. … ZERO players in the top 23 had rounds ABOVE 70. … There were just three rounds above 70 for the top 40 players. … 40 players were 10-under or better. … 29 bogey-free rounds. … 69.399 scoring average. Key stat leaders Top golfers in each statistic on the 2020-2021 PGA TOUR are listed only if they are scheduled to compete this week. Horses for Courses Top golfers entered this week and other exceptions

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