Cink family combines for Safeway Open triumph

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Five things you may have missed amid the history-making excitement of Tiger Woods’ fifth Masters Tournament, 15th major, and 81st PGA TOUR victory. 1. The Masters juju was in full effect. When Woods won his historic first Masters title, in 1997, he played alongside Costantino Rocca in the final round. Rocca was arguably golf’s most prominent Italian touring professional until—Francesco Molinari, with whom Woods played in winning his fifth Masters on Sunday. While that was probably just a coincidence, nowhere is the Masters juju in greater effect than at the 12th hole, and once again there were strange, spooky happenings there. How could not one but four players in the last two threesomes find Rae’s Creek at the shortest par 3 on the course? Answer: the famous swirling winds at pretty-but-deadly Golden Bell.  “I played exactly how I wanted to play,â€� said Brooks Koepka, one of those who found the creek and double-bogeyed the hole on the way to a final-round 70 to finish 12 under, a shot back and in a three-way tie for second. “Didn’t really miss too many shots. Even the one on 12, I hit it exactly where I wanted to and the wind can kind of make you look stupid on that hole.â€� After ranking no harder than the 10th most difficult hole the first three days, the 12th was the hardest hole Sunday, with nine double bogeys and a 3.385 stroke average. 2. Woods hit the big shots in the clutch, but he got away with some. We can debate about whether or not this was the greatest comeback in sports history, but not whether, as usual, the win required a little luck. Because while Woods managed his game better than anyone and hit several terrific shots, he admitted he got away with some clunkers. “The tee shot at 11 was awful,â€� he said. He was talking about Sunday, but could have just as easily been talking about Saturday. Both times, though, he was far enough right to get lucky and be afforded a clear shot at the green—albeit a frighteningly narrow gap in the trees in the final round. (You couldn’t have drawn it any better with the ShotTracer.) Also, Woods got away with a left miss off the tee at the par-5 13th hole Saturday, his ball kicking out of the trees and into a playable spot in the grass. Golf is about not just great shots but also managing your misses, and with a little luck, Woods did that. Like many others, he never really figured out how to play the newly-lengthened, par-4 fifth hole, making bogey each day, but cited his 22 Masters starts as helping him get across the finish line. “It helps to be experienced,â€� he said, speaking of the devilish 12th hole, where everything changed. “That’s all I was concentrating on. Don’t be fooled. The other guys ended up short.â€� 3. It was age before beauty, but the kids are alright. Woods joked about the stress of trying to win causing his hair loss, but the reality is he was hardly the first person with male pattern baldness to slip on the green jacket. He was the second oldest Masters champion after Jack Nicklaus (46 in ’86) and the seventh player in his 40s to win. The others: Ben Crenshaw (43 in ’95), Gary Player (42 in ’78), Sam Snead (41 in ’54), Mark O’Meara (41 in ’98), and Ben Hogan (40 in ’53). What’s more, Woods broke the record of years between Masters victories (14, ’05-2019), previously held by Player (’61-’74). Bernhard Langer, 61, made the cut. Still, the kids and newcomers acquitted themselves well. Four amateurs made the cut, led by Oklahoma State’s Victor Hovland, who shot 72-71-71-71 to finish T32 and win low amateur. Meanwhile, newcomer Justin Harding of South Africa, a relatively unknown Presidents Cup hopeful, birdied the last hole to tie for 12th, which means he gets to come back next year. And while Xander Schauffele (68, T2) didn’t succeed in becoming the fifth straight first-time major winner at Augusta (Patrick Reed, Sergio Garcia, Danny Willett, Jordan Spieth), he led the field with 25 birdies and looks like a big-game hunter. Of course, we already knew that about Koepka, who has three victories and a T2 in his last eight majors. He also has made 19 consecutive cuts in the majors after missing his first two, at the 2012 U.S. Open and 2013 Open Championship. This marked his second T2 of this season (The Honda Classic), which he began by winning THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES.    4. Bryson’s ace was nearly a bookend, and he called it. In the course of shooting an opening-round 66, Bryson DeChambeau (70, T29) came within inches of making a hole-in-one on 16. He spoke afterward of never having made an ace. His disappointment lasted all of three days, though, because DeChambeau made one of two aces at 16 on Sunday, the other authored by Justin Thomas. “I knew back three years ago,â€� DeChambeau said after the final round, which he began with double-bogeys on 10 and 11. “I said to my caddie and to everyone in my camp, it was like, ‘I’m going to make a hole-in-one here one day, and sure enough it was my first one three years later.â€� 5. McIlroy and Spieth saw silver linings at T21 Jordan Spieth shot a front-nine 40 and an opening-round 75, but rallied with scores of 68-69-71. Not particularly memorable for a guy who won the tournament in 2015 and was in the mix to do the same in ’16 (T2) and ’18 (solo third), but Spieth is trying to crawl out of a long slump. “Positives,â€� he said, when asked what he took from the week. “I’m proud of kind of the progress I made, sticking to kind of the process,â€� he continued. “And I felt like I got to a position today that’s felt better than it’s been, tee to green, and even on the greens, in quite a while. So I’m just going to stick with it and hopefully get off to a little better start (at the RBC Heritage) next week, keep the consistency and have a chance to win.â€� Meanwhile, McIlroy, who won THE PLAYERS Championship last month and was going for the career Grand Slam at Augusta National, said he wasn’t far off but faulted his play on the par 4s. “And that’s just putting myself out of position off the tee,â€� he said after going 7 over on the par-4 holes for the week. “And then once you get yourself out of position it’s very hard to put yourself back in position. You miss greens, trying to get it up and down, you put pressure on yourself.  “So my driving accuracy wasn’t quite as good this week as it has been the last few weeks,â€� he added. “And that was probably the main reason why I didn’t contend this week.â€�

Click here to read the full article…

SHANGHAI, China — The PGA TOUR, the world’s premier membership organization for touring professional golfers, is once again partnering with the China Golf Association and is announcing the TOUR will operate PGA TOUR-China in 2018. The PGA TOUR-China schedule will consist of a full schedule of tournaments and will begin in spring 2018, with each event offering a prize purse of at least 1.5 million RMB, up from 1.2 million RMB in 2016. As is the case with all three PGA TOUR international developmental Tours, PGA TOUR-China will provide players a path to the PGA TOUR through the Web.com Tour, with the top-five money-winners at season’s end earning 2019 Web.com Tour membership. In addition, there will be at least 15 additional players who will have access to the latter stages of the Web.com Tour Qualifying Tournament. This past season, China’s Zecheng Dou and Xinjun Zhang became the first players from China to earn PGA TOUR cards after their strong 2017 Web.com Tour seasons, where Dou finished 17th on the money list and Zhang placed 21st. Australia’s Brett Drewitt PGA TOUR membership in 2016-17. “The essence of PGA TOUR-China is what the PGA TOUR offers, namely a world-class brand, global credibility and Web.com Tour access that gives players a path to the PGA TOUR. In addition, we’ve seen several players who have played in China move to the Web.com Tour and then advance to the PGA TOUR. It was thrilling to watch Zecheng Dou and Xinjun Zhang both realize their dreams by following this path all the way to the highest level of golf, the PGA TOUR,â€� said Ty Votaw, Executive Vice President of PGA TOUR Global Business Affairs. “We are excited to partner with the CGA in this endeavor going forward and appreciate the CGA and its cooperation, assistance and collaboration. We are playing a strong tournament schedule, with significant purse sizes. This will allow us to maintain in China what we’re already doing in Latin America and Canada, running PGA TOUR-quality Tours that allow players to continue improving their games.â€� Prior to the start of the 2018 regular season, PGA TOUR-China will hold Qualifying Tournaments at to-be-determined sites, for players from Mainland China and players from the rest of the world, respectively. As golf continues to grow, PGA TOUR-China expects to attract a truly international membership, with the majority of the players coming from Asia. “We believe PGA TOUR-China will weekly present outstanding competition played at strong golf courses throughout the country. Our 2018 season ensures that we’ll continue providing exceptional playing opportunities for our players,â€� said Greg Gilligan, Managing Director of PGA TOUR Greater China. “Sport is undergoing reform in China, and we think it is an important and positive reform. We are very pleased to be working in concert with the China Golf Association and are happy we are in a position to offer playing opportunities on a high-level Tour played to PGA TOUR standards, the same quality players and fans have come to expect. “We strongly feel PGA TOUR-China is good for golf in China and for Chinese and international players,â€� Gilligan continued. “We are very happy to again operate in 2018 and beyond.â€� Gilligan emphasized the Tour’s long-standing relationship with the China Golf Association and its contributions to the sport. “We have enjoyed our long-standing partnership with the CGA and are especially thrilled that it will continue as both entities seek to grow the game in China.â€� “We are delighted to cooperate with the PGA TOUR again on this new tour. It not only provides a broader platform for Chinese players but also enriches the existing men’s professional golf tournaments in China,â€� said Xiaoning Zhang, President of the CGA. The PGA TOUR China Series began in 2014, five months after then-PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem and the CGA’s Zhang announced its formation at a press conference at the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions. It immediately added credibility in a country where golf is still a relatively young sport. In the three years of its existence, PGA TOUR China Series has sent players to the Web.com Tour and subsequently the PGA TOUR, with players also winning on the European Tour and performing well on the Asian Tour. PGA TOUR China Series immediately established itself as a high-quality golf tour, a place where up-and-coming players could hone and display their talent.    “PGA TOUR-China will certainly raise the competitive bar in China, giving Chinese players the opportunity to gauge their games against international players. The sport has already identified numerous outstanding golfers from China and throughout Asia and Australasia and facilitated their move to the global stage. Haotong Li, Zecheng Dou and Xinjun Zhang are perfect examples of that, as are Jeunghun Wang of South Korea and Brett Drewitt of Australia,â€� added Votaw. “We know there are more young players out there, and our anticipation is that PGA TOUR-China will create opportunities for these players to realize their dream of one day playing on the PGA TOUR.â€� In 2014, then 19-year-old Li won three tournaments in China and advanced to the Web.com Tour and held membership on that circuit before moving to the European Tour after winning the 2016 Volvo China Open. He represented China at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Brazil. Earlier this year, Li had the highest PGA TOUR finish by an alum when he was third at The Open Championship in England. Following in Li’s footsteps has been Dou, another 19-year-old from China, essentially doing the same thing. Dou, from Henan, won four 2016 PGA TOUR-China tournaments, earned Player of the Year honors moved on to the Web.com Tour. In July, at the Digital Ally Open outside Kansas City, 20-year-old Dou became the first player from China roots to win on the Web.com Tour. His three-stroke victory was worth enough money that secured him membership on the 2017-18 PGA TOUR. By virtue of his Web.com Tour money-list finish, Zhang also secured his PGA TOUR membership and both players played in the PGA TOUR’s season-opening event, the Safeway Open in California.  

Click here to read the full article…

BLAINE, MN – 3M Open tournament officials and the PGA TOUR announced today the creation of a televised, Wednesday, nine-hole charity exhibition at TPC Twin Cities from 2-4 p.m. CT. Paul Casey, Tommy Fleetwood, Matthew Wolff and Will Gordon will join forces in a nine-hole scramble format on the closing nine holes. In the spirit of community in the Twin Cities, which has had the dual challenges of a global pandemic and social unrest, the players will work together to score birdies and eagles for charity dollars that will support organizations committed to fighting social injustices in the Twin Cities. Some of these organizations will include Lake Street Council, Urban Ventures and YWCAs of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Birdies will be worth $50,000, eagles $100,000 and a hole-in-one $150,000. In addition, there will be five, on-course team Compass Bucks Challenges valued at $50,000 each. These challenges will include trivia questions and a skill challenge. The maximum contribution from the 3M Open Fund will be $825,000. Joining the PGA TOUR players will be American Actor Josh Duhamel and Minnesota Viking great Kyle Rudolph, who will walk with the players for conversation and commentary. The 3M Open Compass Challenge will be broadcast live on PGA TOUR LIVE and simulcast on Golf Channel, GolfTV and PGA TOUR social channels. The 3M Open has identified eight major charity partners for this year’s tournament: M Health Fairview University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital, Greater Twin Cities United Way, VEAP, Urban Ventures, Lake Street Council, YWCA of Minneapolis, YWCA of St. Paul and the Science Museum of Minnesota.

Click here to read the full article…