Citi keeps Thomas; money set for LGBTQ causes

As the PGA TOUR schedule nears a return to Southern California for its first U.S. mainland tournament of the new year, the player field for this month’s CareerBuilder Challenge is bolstered by the latest additions of 2012 and 2014 Masters champion Bubba Watson, World No. 24 and 2014 CareerBuilder Challenge winner Patrick Reed and Idyllwild, Calif. native and UC Riverside golf product Brendan Steele. This trio joins CareerBuilder Challenge ambassador and World Golf Hall of Famer Phil Mickelson – the tournament’s 2002 and 2004 winner and a three-time Masters champion, among his 42 PGA TOUR wins – and a blend of major champions, past event winners and rising stars competing for a $5.9 million purse and 500 FedExCup points at the Stadium and Nicklaus Tournament Courses at PGA WEST and La Quinta Country Club from Jan. 18-21. “Bubba is a fan favorite wherever he goes and we are thrilled to welcome him back to the CareerBuilder Challenge,â€� said Jeff Sanders, CareerBuilder Challenge Executive Director. “He is well known for his big drives, colorful personality and entertaining style. He’s a great addition to our strong player field.”  The long-hitting Watson brings his powerful, patented pink driver back to the CareerBuilder Challenge for the first time since 2011. A nine-time PGA TOUR winner, Watson previously played the CareerBuilder Challenge from 2007-11, and he was runner-up in 2010 after carding a five-round score of 29-under-par 331. Another pair of golfers who earlier committed to play in the 2018 CareerBuilder Challenge is the colorful John Daly (sponsor exemption) and World No. 4 Jon Rahm. Daly, the 1991 PGA Champion and 1995 Open Champion, will make his first event appearance since 2015. Rahm, from Spain and in his second full year on the PGA TOUR, is set to make his second start in the tournament as the highest-ranking golfer in the field. Reed currently stands as the second-highest ranked golfer in the CareerBuilder Challenge 2018 field. In 2014, the perennial U.S. Ryder Cup/Presidents Cup ace blitzed the CareerBuilder Challenge field with three consecutive rounds of 9-under-par 63 and a seven-shot lead after three rounds on the way to a winning score of 28-under 260. Other notable golfers who have stated their intent to play in the 2018 CareerBuilder Challenge include eight-time PGA TOUR winner and 2012 TOUR Championship winner Brandt Snedeker, 2010 and 2015 CareerBuilder Challenge winner and 2011 PGA TOUR FedExCup champion Bill Haas, 2016 CareerBuilder Challenge winner Jason Dufner and defending champion Hudson Swafford. 2003 CareerBuilder Challenge and Masters champion Mike Weir and 2017 CareerBuilder Challenge runner-up Adam Hadwin, creator of last year’s 59 during the tournament’s third round at La Quinta Country Club, lead the Canadian contingent at this month’s CareerBuilder Challenge. Hadwin became the ninth player to shoot a sub-60 round in PGA TOUR competition and is coming off of a career year on TOUR in which he won his only PGA TOUR event at the Valspar Championship in March. Steele already has a win under his belt in the 2017-18 PGA TOUR season as he repeated in Napa, Calif. as champion of the Safeway Open. At No. 45 in the Official World Golf Ranking, Steele is only two spots off of his career-best mark as he prepares for his homecoming at the CareerBuilder Challenge. World No. 26 and 2017 U.S. Presidents Cup golfer Kevin Kisner, World No. 27 and 2017 U.S. Open runner-up Brian Harman (T3 in the 2017 CareerBuilder Challenge) and World No. 34 Kevin Chappell round out one of the deeper fields in recent times at the CareerBuilder Challenge, annually the PGA TOUR’s first stop on its West Coast swing. Daily tickets to the CareerBuilder Challenge are only $30 and include admission to the golf tournament, Concert Series presented by H. N. and Frances C. Berger Foundation, and three on course greenside hospitality venues including the all-new 8,000 square foot Vons Fan Pavilion located on the 18th green. The CareerBuilder Challenge Concert Series presented by the H. N. and Frances C. Berger Foundation features two nights of rock and roll music with the popular Huey Lewis and the News on Friday, Jan. 19, followed by Goo Goo Dolls on Saturday, Jan. 20. The concerts will be held on the driving range at PGA WEST’s Stadium Course and are expected to start at 4:30 p.m. each day, following the conclusion of play. For more information on the CareerBuilder Challenge and CareerBuilder Challenge Concert Series presented by H. N. and Frances C. Berger Foundation and to purchase tickets, please visit www.CBChallenge.com.

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MEDINAH, Ill. – Justin Thomas had what he called the worst warm-up of his life, then shot 65 – with a tidy 24 putts – to tie the course record at Medinah and take the early first-round lead at the BMW Championship. Given that Thomas calls this a “weirdâ€� and “oddâ€� season, maybe that’s fitting. “I couldn’t hit the ball,â€� the 2017 FedExCup champion and Player of the Year said of his pre-round warm-up. “I had no idea what I was doing.â€� Related: Leaderboard | Projected FedExCup standings | Furyk flashes old form Thomas hit nine of 14 fairways and 12 greens in regulation, but was a perfect six-for-six in scrambling. His last hole was emblematic of his day, as his third shot from the greenside bunker clanked off the flagstick and left him a par putt of just over four feet, which he made. If he remains atop the leaderboard, Thomas is projected to jump to No. 1 in the FedExCup. If it seems like you haven’t heard much from Thomas lately, that’s because you haven’t. He has played well, coming in at 15th in the FedExCup. He just hasn’t won. Fair or not, that’s a glaring omission for a guy who won eight times in 2017 and ’18. The difference this season? A wrist injury that sidelined him for part of April and all of May. “Yeah, I mean, it’s been an odd season just because I’ve missed three tournaments,â€� Thomas said. “But the difference with this season is and any other season is I’d won. I’m playing every bit as good as I have any other year, that’s for sure.â€� Thomas racked up top-10 finishes in five of his first seven starts this season, but appeared to hurt his wrist hitting a tree at The Honda Classic, where he finished T30. More lackluster results followed before he shut it down after finishing T12 at the Masters Tournament. His right wrist, where at times he’s worn a brace, needed a break. After missing the PGA Championship and two other starts, he returned to the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide, but missed the cut. He also missed the cut at the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach but began to climb back at The Open Championship (T11), the World Golf Championships – FedEx St. Jude Invitational (T12) and THE NORTHERN TRUST (T12). He appeared to be as sharp as ever Thursday at Medinah, when concerns about his wrist took a back seat to concerns about his poor warm-up. “I didn’t know what it was going to do,â€� Thomas said. “I didn’t know how I was going to hit it, and my dad and Jimmy (Johnson, his caddie) and I just kind of said that we were going to have to guess out there and just try to find something. “I’ve had that happen plenty of times,â€� he added, “just not quite that extreme. I’m usually pretty good at finding my way around a golf course and finding something, but definitely didn’t expect that today.â€�

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With the rough up at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, Adam Scott used a calculated plan of attack to shoot a 4-under 68 that put him comfortably in the top 10 after the first day at Bay Hill. Instead of using the popular bomb-and-gouge approach, Scott went without a driver Thursday. The driver stayed in his locker, and the longest club in his bag was a 13.5-degree TSi2 fairway wood with a Graphite Design Tour AD-DI 9X shaft (more on the T-Series woods here). “The basic stats are you hit more fairways with a shorter club than you do a longer club, and a 3-wood you hit more fairways than a driver,” Scott said after his round. “I thought it was a premium on hitting fairways here this week. … It’s kind of hard to figure how I’m going to get (the driver) back in the bag for tomorrow. I want to. It’s inspiring to watch Rory (McIlroy) drive it, and I’d like to hit a couple. I’m going to hit a few on the range and see how it feels, but my game plan worked pretty good so far. It’s hard to criticize it.” Scott entered this week fresh off a T4 finish at The Genesis Invitational, where he used a 9-degree Titleist TSi4 driver. But he’s currently ranked 183rd in driving accuracy on the season, hitting just 52.7% of fairways. “I just don’t think anyone is particularly accurate with the driver, myself included,” Scott said. “Once you’re up at these ball speeds, it’s just hard to be relatively accurate. Rory (McIlroy) made it look great today. … (My driver) is far from terrible, but I have to say since the middle of last year the confidence is really improved with the driver. I just didn’t see the advantage with it (this week). I can get home on all the par-5s with the (13.5-degree wood). …I felt like I wasn’t really handicapping myself at all, even though I was watching a guy 50 yards in front of me.” How much distance is Scott really giving up? Well, his playing partner Rory McIlroy averaged 314 yards off the tee and hit 78.6% of the fairways on Thursday, while Scott averaged 276.7 yards and hit the short grass just half the time. Scott estimated that he gives up about 15 yards on average between his gamer driver and the 13.5-degree fairway wood. “Tomorrow it looks a bit windier and I’m going to have to have a serious think, because if it was into a stiff breeze on 18, maybe I’m handicapping myself,” Scott said. “You have to have your head in the right place to do stuff like this. Like if you miss a fairway anyway, you’re chipping out to the same spot whether it’s a 3-wood or a driver … and you have to get it up and down anyway.” Although Scott has admitted his accuracy is an issue with his driver, he asserts the no-driver-strategy was strictly based on the course setup (and windless conditions): “I’m not trying to get away from hitting a driver, I just really felt I’d only hit it a couple times here, and what was the benefit? Nothing. I’d still get home on the par 5s.”

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