Sleeper Picks: Mayakoba Golf Classic

NBA star Stephen Curry has already impacted the golf community in various ways. In 2019, Curry partnered with Howard University to launch and financially support the school’s first Division I golf program for a six-year period. The previous year, he had donated $25,000 to support longtime pro Scott Harrington and his wife Jenn in her battle with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Curry announced his latest initiative Thursday afternoon, aiming to provide aspiring college golfers a more accessible path to their dreams. The UNDERRATED Golf Tour, an AJGA-accredited junior tour, will hold five events this summer at highly acclaimed courses across the United States. The Tour will be free of charge for players, including travel, lodging and meals. Players will compete for a season-long “Curry Cup.” The UNDERRATED Golf Tour is an extension of Curry’s UNDERRATED brand, established in 2019 with a mission “to empower underrated and underrepresented individuals all over the world.” The brand was founded with a focus on basketball, with Thursday’s announcement extending its efforts to golf. “Everybody knows I love the game of golf, and I couldn’t be more excited to extend this love to the best young players around the country,” Curry said in a video released Thursday. “Less than 2% of golfers are people of color, and our Tour provides a platform of equity, access and opportunity for girls and boys who want to play and compete with the current best players on the AJGA.” The UNDERRATED Golf Tour will debut at Cog Hill GC in Chicago, June 21-23, with stops in Phoenix (Wickenburg Ranch), Houston (GC of Houston) and Tampa (Innisbrook’s Copperhead) leading to the Tour Championship at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco, August 28-30. Cog Hill (BMW Championship), Golf Club of Houston (Hewlett Packard Enterprise Houston Open), Innisbrook Report’s Copperhead Course (Valspar Championship) and TPC Harding Park (PGA Championship, Presidents Cup, WGC-Dell Technologies Championship) are all either current or former TOUR venues. For more information and to register for UNDERRATED Golf events, click here.

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LA QUINTA, Calif. - Phil Mickelson teed it up Friday at The American Express for his 2,201st career PGA TOUR round. For the first time in his TOUR career, he carded 18 consecutive pars. Mickelson, 50, posted a second-round, even-par 72 at PGA West (Pete Dye Stadium Course) to follow an opening-round, 2-over 74 at the Nicklaus Tournament Course. The tournament host finished seven strokes outside the cut line. "For that to be the first time, it's really shocking," said Mickelson of stringing 18 pars for the first time on TOUR. "Surprising, because I really try to hit fairways and centers of the greens and just make easy pars. "Looking at the scores, you're going to say, ‘Gosh, you played 2-over par, pretty easy courses, pretty poor start.' But I feel like there were a lot of good things to take from the week, even though the scorecard's not going to show it." Making his first TOUR start since the Masters in November, Mickelson hit 13 of 18 greens Friday but failed to convert on numerous birdie looks. The artist known as ‘Phil the Thrill,' though, also saved par in heroic fashion on multiple occasions, en route to becoming the first player to card 18 pars in a round at PGA West (Pete Dye Stadium) since 2016. His second shot on the par-5 fifth found the water. He dropped 76 yards away, wedged to 16 feet and drained the putt. After finding a greenside bunker with his approach on the par-4 12th, his third shot held up in the fringe, 15 feet short. He saved par once again. One of Mickelson's best birdie looks came at the par-4 18th, his final hole of the day. After a 197-yard approach to 9 feet, though, his birdie putt slid by. He nailed the 4-foot comebacker to polish off a scorecard unlike any he has authored in a nearly three-decade professional career. Mickelson will regroup and head to his hometown of San Diego for next week's Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines. "I'm driving the ball well; I'm hitting a lot of good shots," Mickelson said. "My putting needs some work, but I have been putting well for a long period of time, so I don't feel as though it's going to require a lot of effort. "If you look at the scorecard, it's pathetic. I'm not denying that. But I think that it's a little bit closer than it looks."

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Phil Mickelson just won the PGA Championship, becoming the oldest major champion ever. But there remains one missing piece: He has never won the U.S. Open. He’s come close often, only to watch someone else hold the trophy.

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