Jordan Spieth follows 61 with a closing 72 at Waste Management Phoenix Open

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – Aaron Wise beat Brooks Koepka by two shots in the final round of THE NORTHERN TRUST during last season’s FedExCup Playoffs but walked off the course knowing he needed to adapt to compete with the PGA TOUR Player of the Year. Neither had won the opening Playoff (Wise was fifth, Koepka eighth) but Wise had paid particular attention to Koepka’s ability to hit mid-irons out of the rough and on to the greens during their pairing. The former college star knew there was no way he could do that with his slight frame and if he was to continue his winning habits, he felt he might need to change things up. As a result Wise has since put on 20 pounds of muscle. It was an interesting choice given he had already won the NCAA Championship with Oregon and had trophies from the Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada, the Web.com Tour and the PGA TOUR. He is the reigning PGA TOUR Rookie of The Year thanks mainly to his win at the AT&T Byron Nelson last year. So far this season Wise is 101st in the FedExCup with his lone top-10 coming last November at the Mayakoba Golf Classic. Stats suggest it is not getting used to his new frame that is the problem, unless the extra muscle has him hammering putts a little too hard. While ranked 16th on TOUR in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee Wise is 176th in Strokes Gained: Putting. But on Thursday at the U.S. Open Wise produced his best opening round of the year. He shot a 5-under 66 at Pebble Beach to join a four-way tie for second, just one behind Justin Rose and gained 4.36 strokes on the greens in the round, ranked fourth in the field. “It was solid, it was nice to get my putter going. That’s kind of what’s been missing this whole year for me in a way. And today I was able to putt well,â€� Wise said. “Just really matching line and speed. I don’t think it is stroke-related at all. It’s just reading the putt correctly and hitting it with the appropriate speed and just been doing a lot of drills to emphasize that and it seems to be working.â€� But back to Koepka, the man who has won four of his last eight majors. Wise has built up a friendship with him. And is still trying to learn from him. They played a practice round together this week where Wise was once again keenly observing. “Something I can take away from him is just his calmness,â€� Wise said. “He’s literally the calmest person in the world. It’s just a calming influence and I can kind of just take away his mentality towards these (events), and the fact that he really slows things down and calms things down even more and that works well for him.â€� Just like Koepka Wise isn’t short on confidence. He expects more than he has delivered thus far this season but knows there is still time. He hopes that patience is rewarded. “Winning is kind of a habit,â€� he explains. “The only way you know you can do it is if you actually do it and put yourself in those situations over and over again. And winning last year… just makes you hungrier and makes you want to get there more. “I haven’t had exactly the best year yet but we still have two majors left and a WGC event and the Playoffs. There are still some big events ahead of me and I don’t need to kind of rush and think that this year is over almost already.â€�

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When he isn’t dropping dimes and draining three-pointers on the court, Steph Curry can be found launching 300-yard drives and dropping long-range putts on the course. Curry has a strong passion for the game of golf and the skill to match. His swing is as smooth as his jump shot and a peek at his current USGA handicap shows the two-time NBA MVP carrying an index of just 0.2. He also fired back-to-back 74s at the Korn Ferry Tour’s 2017 Ellie Mae Classic and shot an opening-round 71 at the event the following year. Now, Steph is taking his love for the game a step further. He has teamed up with Under Armour to drop his own SC30 Range Unlimited Golf Collection. The 14-piece, head-to-toe capsule fuses Curry’s unique style with the brand’s top-shelf apparel and footwear technologies. Polos in the collection feature Under Armour’s breakthrough Iso-Chill technology. Perfect for those warm, humid days, Iso-Chill fabric is constructed with a cooling yarn that works to keep the body cool even as the mercury begins to climb. “You want to be able to make bold statements with some loud prints… it still has the performance technology with Iso-Chill that makes you feel cool out there on the course,� said Curry. “There is always a performance element to making athletes better and that is what we do at Under Armour, so blending those two perspectives was what made this capsule different from anything else you’ve seen.� As we head into the fall months, packing an extra layer in the bag will soon become a necessity. Steph’s collection gives golfers two options to take on the elements with the Range Unlimited Storm Hoodie and Wind Jacket. Both repel water and block autumn’s harsh winds without sacrificing breathability. Not to mention, they look as good off the course as on it. Curry never hits the hardwood without his signature shoes and now he doesn’t have to stroll to the first tee without them, either. With the Curry 6 SL, Under Armour created a golf-specific version of Steph’s latest on-court kicks. The sleek, black and white shoe combines a full-knit upper with a spikeless version of the brand’s Rotational Resistance outsole. To further personalize the shoe, the heel and tongue feature Curry’s SC30 and three-finger logos, respectively. From a style standpoint, the Range Unlimited Collection finds itself on trend with slim-fitting polos and pants that have plenty of stretch. The aggressively tapered trousers beg to be cropped just above the ankle and the polos are designed to be worn close to the skin. All of the pieces can be easily mixed and matched to form cohesive looks from top to bottom.  “I wanted to try to blend my personality, my joy, my style off the court into a golf capsule – when you look good, you feel good and you play good golf,� explained Steph. Florals are in full bloom on the course these days and the prints in the Range Unlimited Collection allow golfers to dial up their looks with bold and colorful patterns or make a more subtle play with tonal designs. The showcase piece in the capsule is the Iso-Chill Printed Polo with bright green palm fronds and white and pink flowers set against a black background. The tropical print is also found on crew socks created in collaboration with Stance and the logo on the white trucker snapback. The Range Unlimited Collection is now available in limited quantities. Polos start at $80, outerwear $95-$100, pants $80, hats $30, and the Curry 6 Golf SL retails for $160.

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Tiger won a little more than $2 million by claiming his fifth green jacket. That’s only the beginning of the money conversation.

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