Collin Morikawa shook off an early mistake Sunday to close with a 3-under 69 for a three-shot victory in the Workday Championship. Afterward, he paid tribute to Tiger Woods, his golf idol growing up.
Click here to read the full article…
| Want to read news about online gambling and the casino industry that is not sports betting specific? Make sure to visit Hypercasinos.com gambling news! |
“It’s hard enough to win one week in a row out here, let alone two.”
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – The season’s strongest field will face a new-look course in this year’s edition of THE PLAYERS Championship. THE PLAYERS Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass was renovated after last year’s tournament. The changes include a new drivable par-4 12th hole, a new hazard between Nos. 6 and 7 and subtle changes to several holes, including expanded greens and the removal of rough to promote creative recovery shots. The new 12th hole, where eagles are possible but a water hazard lurks left of the green, offers players another opportunity to be bold on the back nine. There are now three holes on that side where eagles are a real possibility (Nos. 11, 12 and 16). And then, of course, players must face the Island Green before tackling the challenging 18th hole. You can watch golf’s best players take on the new Stadium Course during PGA TOUR LIVE’s Featured Groups coverage on Thursday and Friday. This week’s Featured Groups include the top three players in the FedExCup standings, seven past winners of THE PLAYERS Championship and three former FedExCup champs. Featured Groups coverage will run from 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursday and Friday. Two morning Featured Groups are available to PGA TOUR LIVE subscribers, while a single afternoon Featured Group will be shown free of charge. Featured Groups also can be watched on Twitter from 7:30 a.m. to approximately 8:45 a.m. on Thursday and Friday. Featured Holes will run from 9 a.m. until 7 p.m. with coverage of the drivable par-4 12th and the island-green 17th. On Tuesday, PGA TOUR LIVE will show THE PLAYERS Championship’s Military Appreciation Concert with Sam Hunt from 6-8 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday. A PLAYERS preview show will be featured on Wednesday from 12-2 p.m. MORE: Tee times (Note: All times Eastern; FedExCup rankings in parentheses) THURSDAY MORNING Rickie Fowler (8), Henrik Stenson (79), Jason Day (104): Three past champions of THE PLAYERS are in this group, including the past two winners. Day won by four shots last year after shooting a course-record 63 in the first round, while Fowler won a dramatic playoff two years ago. Stenson, winner of the 2009 PLAYERS and the 2013 FedExCup, also is the reigning Open champion, shooting a final-round 63 last year at Royal Troon to win a memorable duel with Phil Mickelson. Fowler has finished no worse than 16th in his past six starts, including a win at The Honda Classic. Tee time: 8:16 a.m. off No. 10. Jordan Spieth (7), Hideki Matsuyama (3), Phil Mickelson (36): A former winner of THE PLAYERS, a former FedExCup champion and the No. 3 player in this season’s standings are part of this threesome. This is the 10-year anniversary of Mickelson’s win at THE PLAYERS Stadium Course. He has more missed cuts (8) than top-10s (3) at this event. Spieth, the 2015 FedExCup champion, won this season’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am; he finished T4 in his PLAYERS debut (2014), but has missed the cut in his past two appearances. Matsuyama, a two-time winner this season, played in the final group of last year’s PLAYERS, finishing seventh. This group also could serve as a Presidents Cup preview. Spieth and Mickelson rank third and 14th in the U.S. Team standings, while Matsuyama is second in the International Team standings. Tee time: 8:27 a.m. off No. 10. THURSDAY AFTERNOON Dustin Johnson (1), Justin Thomas (2), Rory McIlroy (48): This group features last year’s FedExCup champion and the top two players in this year’s standings. McIlroy won the FedExCup after a dramatic playoff with Ryan Moore at last year’s TOUR Championship. Johnson and Thomas each have three wins this season, but Johnson has a 296-point lead thanks to five top-three finishes in eight starts this season. He was runner-up on Sunday at the Wells Fargo Championship after winning his prior three starts. Johnson and Thomas also are the top two players in the U.S. Presidents Cup standings. McIlroy is making his first start since finishing seventh at the Masters. He got married during that hiatus. He has finished no worse than 12th in his past four PLAYERS starts after missing the cut in his first three tours around TPC Sawgrass. Tee time: 1:52 p.m. off No. 1 FRIDAY MORNING Sergio Garcia (13), Adam Scott (77), Matt Kuchar (47): Three former winners of THE PLAYERS Championship are in this group. Garcia, the 2008 winner at TPC Sawgrass, is making his first start since his emotional victory at the Masters Tournament. All three members of this group finished in the top 10 at the Masters. Kuchar, who made a hole-in-one on the 16th hole Sunday, finished fourth. He won the 2012 PLAYERS and was third at THE PLAYERS Stadium Course last year. Adam Scott, winner of the 2004 PLAYERS, finished ninth at Augusta National this year. He has missed just three cuts in 15 appearances at THE PLAYERS. Tee time: 8:16 a.m. off No. 10. Dustin Johnson (1), Justin Thomas (2), Rory McIlroy (48): McIlroy, the reigning FedExCup champion, plays alongside the top two players in the FedExCup standings. Both Johnson and Thomas have won three times this season. Johnson leads the FedExCup after posting three wins and a runner-up in his past four starts. Tee time: 8:27 a.m. off No. 10. FRIDAY AFTERNOON Jordan Spieth (7), Hideki Matsuyama (3), Phil Mickelson (36): A former winner of THE PLAYERS, a former FedExCup champion and the No. 3 player in this season’s standings are part of this threesome. Mickelson is celebrating the 10-year anniversary of his PLAYERS win. Spieth, who finished fourth in his PLAYERS debut in 2014, won the 2015 FedExCup. Matsuyama is a two-time winner this season. Tee time: 1:52 p.m. off No. 1.
One year ago, our family experienced a terrible thing. At the same time, we ended up having a wonderful experience. Those two sentences only make sense because of Nationwide Children’s Hospital. In late-May 2019, we were in Ohio so I could play in the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide. The Monday after the tournament, there was a U.S. Open qualifier at Scioto Country Club and Brookside Golf and Country Club. I didn’t play well at the Memorial, missing the cut, and that left me with a couple of days to get ready for the 36-hole qualifying tournament. On Monday morning, my wife, Soyoung, took me to the course, while our son, Eugene stayed at the hotel with his grandmother, my mother-in-law. At the golf course, I received a phone call from my wife who was telling me that our son had fallen off the bed and was hurt. I really didn’t think it was anything too serious. But when Soyoung told me they had gone to the hospital in an ambulance, I immediately withdrew from the tournament and left the course, heading straight to Nationwide Children’s Hospital. There, doctors told us Eugene had suffered a concussion and a fracture on his temporal bone that was causing spinal fluid to leak. It was a really dangerous situation. Doctors believe that when Eugene was falling off the bed, he landed at an odd angle, hitting right on the spot that caused all the problems. It was really a fluke. We basically moved into the hospital, and Soyoung and I probably didn’t eat anything for the first 48 hours. We slept very little, if at all. I kept looking at Eugene’s heart monitor because sometimes it can go up and down like crazy, so I stared at it and couldn’t fall asleep. We both had a hard time watching Eugene struggling. There was our child in real trouble. We felt helpless. The biggest problem was doctors couldn’t control and stop the fluid leak. They eventually decided surgery was the best option. After more than a week—eight days—as doctors were getting ready to perform the procedure, the leaking finally stopped. Very quickly, Eugene started acting normally. A couple of days later, doctors discharged Eugene, and we were free to go home. One problem. We couldn’t fly because the pressure inside an airplane was dangerous and could cause Eugene’s spine to start again leaking fluid. Our next choice? Drive 15 hours from Columbus to our home in Dallas. Knowing we didn’t want to do the drive in one day, we mapped out where children’s hospitals were on our route home—just in case. All along, we felt if we could get back home, everything would be OK, and Eugene would continue to improve. It took us three days to travel home, but we did arrive in Texas with no issues, and we were so thankful to be home safely. Of course, what happened was incredibly serious, but fortunately, Eugene’s accident occurred not far from one of the biggest and best children’s hospitals in the world. The staff at Nationwide Children’s Hospital couldn’t have been nicer. The doctors and nurses were professional and kind in every way. When Soyoung and Eugene arrived at the hospital, everyone was so attentive. Before the day was over, 10 doctors had come to Eugene’s room and checked on him. It was so scary, but everybody did what they could to put my wife at ease. They did the same for me after I got there. The whole episode is not something I enjoy remembering, but the care Eugene received brings back a flood of good memories. Eugene does have some hearing loss in his left ear because of nerve damage associated with his fall. Other than that, though, he’s doing well and is happy. The accident, though, isn’t far from my mind, and I will often check on Eugene to see how he is doing. He’s just a normal little boy, he’s so active, he climbs up to everywhere and he jumps around. He also doesn’t remember anything about what happened. While you can’t tell anything was ever wrong, I still get kind of scared of what could happen to him. If he could suffer such a major injury falling from a bed, imagine what could happen when he’s doing regular kid stuff. I do call my wife a lot to make sure he’s doing well, and we do keep an eye on him. Today, we’re extraordinarily grateful he’s recovered, and we know he will have a long and happy life. We have Nationwide Children’s Hospital to thank for that.
