Keegan Bradley still confident game is trending up after squandering lead at Valspar Championship

The photo shows the golfer with his arm around his caddie. They’re both smiling. They should have been. Last year playing on PGA TOUR Series-China, the player, Malaysia’s Arie Irawan, and the caddie, his wife of three weeks, the former Marina Malek, traveled to Guilin, China, where Arie played well at that week’s tournament and was in contention before eventually settling for a tie for fourth. Although Marina knew very little about golf, she was ready for the challenge of caddying, she loved who she was working for that week and her “boss� was more than happy with her performance. “I’m so lucky I have my wife here this week,� Irawan said following his first round. “This is the first time Marina is traveling and caddying for me, and she’s also taking care of the food, so that makes it easy. It helps a lot having her out there. It just makes me more calm, and that’s why I didn’t make any bogeys today. She makes me happy.� That joy turned to sadness in a stunning way Sunday morning in Sanya, China, as Irawan never woke up, dying in his sleep in his hotel room as resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful. He was 28.   Irawan was in Sanya for another tournament, this time the Sanya Championship, the second event of the PGA TOUR Series-China season. Marina was back home in Malaysia. Irawan had missed the cut a week earlier in Chongqing and didn’t play well in Sanya, not qualifying for weekend play again. But since he was already in the resort city bordering the South China Sea, Irawan elected to stay on site in a hotel room he was sharing with fellow player Kevin Techakanokboon. His plan was to then travel to Haikou, about a 90-minute train ride on the north side of Hainan Island, for this week’s Haikou Championship. News of his death stunned everybody who knew Irawan, an international player who travelled all over the world playing golf. Out of deference and respect, Tour officials delayed the start of the Sanya Championship final round and then ultimately cancelled it after announcing Irawan’s death. “In the times I was with him or just around him, there was always a smile on his face—whether it was playing golf, him working out or just hanging out with friends. He always had a smile,� said Shotaro Ban, a Series member who was summoned to the scene early Sunday morning and performed CPR on Irawan before emergency personnel arrived. “I think anyone who met him or knew him realized he was an extremely genuine person. He didn’t have that much to stay, but he had a great heart, and his wife is just like him. Arie exemplified what it means to be a professional golfer, a husband and a friend in the true nature. I’m just devastated by this loss.� The PGA TOUR’s Todd Rhinehart recently returned to the United States after living in Malaysia and serving as the CIMB Classic Executive Director. He said it was in 2015 when Irawan became more than just an acquaintance. That year, the native Malaysian qualified for the tournament held in Kuala Lumpur. Irawan was one of three Malaysians in the field that week, the most in the tournament’s history. “He was 24 at the time and was anxious and nervous to be playing in his first PGA TOUR event,� Rhinehart recalled. “Over the years, I saw and talked to him at TPC Kuala Lumpur while he was practicing as well as competing in our national qualifier for the CIMB Classic. He was not only one of Malaysia’s most-talented golfers, he was also an incredible young man who served as a passionate ambassador for junior golf in the country.� It was in Malaysia where Irawan got his start in the game, taking up golf eight years after he was born on August 21, 1990, to Ahmad and Jeny Irawan. In 2006 and 2007, he finished runner-up at Faldo Series events in Malaysia, and as an 18-year-old, he won the Malaysian Amateur Stroke Play Championship. With those successes, he began to attract attention from U.S. college coaches interested in securing his services. Irawan elected to attend and play golf at the University of Tulsa in Oklahoma. While in college, Irawan earned four letters, was an Academic All-American his junior year and earned his degree in management information systems. Upon graduation, he returned to Malaysia to embark on a professional golf career.   “His death has been tough on all of us. Golf being such a tight-knit community, it really is a shock what has happened,� said veteran Benjamin Lein, who became friends with Irawan last year when he joined the Tour as a full member. In February and back in California before the start of the PGA TOUR Series-China season, Lein put together a foursome at Industry Hills Golf Club outside Los Angeles, inviting Irawan to join him and fellow Series member Gunn Charoenkul, as well as China’s Haotong Li, for a friendly game. “It just felt like no matter where in the world we were together, he was always the same, friendly, happy Arie,� Lein noted. Li agreed with that assessment. The 2014 PGA TOUR Series-China Player of the Year learned of Irawan’s death while preparing to play his final round at the Valero Texas Open in San Antonio. “I can’t believe it. He was such a nice guy, and I feel like it’s so unfair,� said Li, who met Irawan for the first time that week in California as Li was preparing for the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship the following week. “We had a great time playing. It was a really fun day, his wife was there and Gunn’s wife (Vichuda) was there, too. It was very comfortable. He was like an old friend even though I just met him. There’s nothing to say, really. It’s just so very sad. I couldn’t believe it when I read the news.� “Being on the road away from family is tough, especially numerous weeks at a time. It’s always nice to have someone who points out the positive in every situation to keep us going,� Lein added. “That’s what Arie did. He was a selfless friend who always made everyone else around him better in different ways. I never was able to thank him for that, but he will forever be close to my heart.� Like many golfers playing at the PGA TOUR China-Series level, Irawan had his ups and downs, the two missed cuts to begin the season certainly disappointing. His best season as a professional came in 2015 when he won two Asian Developmental Tour tournaments—the PGM Sime Darby Harvard Championship and the ICTSI Eagle Ridge Invitational. A shoulder injury from a motorcycle accident curtailed his momentum in 2016. He was out of action from March until mid-August that season, and he had since struggled to regain the form he showed in 2015. “We ran into each other and talked for 10 minutes about the status of his game while I was still in Malaysia,� Rinehart added. “He was very excited about the upcoming season on the China Series and was hoping to have a great year to qualify for the Web.com Tour as he had spent some time in California with his swing coach and enjoyed his time there. “I can’t believe he’s gone,� Rhinehart continued. “My thoughts are about him and my prayers are with his family during this incredibly tough time.� Perhaps Techakanokboon said it best when he described his close friend. “Arie had a lot of experience and was wise beyond his years. He really carried himself as a professional all the time. I’m going to miss him.�

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Davis Love III remembers Jordan Spieth “bopping into the team room” at the 2013 Presidents Cup, sporting a T-shirt and shorts, and quickly turning his attention to ping pong. Love’s wife Robin was unfamiliar with the precocious Spieth, just 20 years old at the time. “Robin said, ‘Who is that kid?’” Love recalled this week. “I go, ‘That’s the future of our team right there.’” He was right. Spieth has yet to turn 30 but is the most-experienced member of this year’s U.S. Presidents Cup team and his partnership with childhood friend Justin Thomas, already successful before this year, has now become historic. Spieth and Thomas won all four of their matches this week, becoming the first American pair since Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker in 2009 to go 4-0-0 (and just the third overall). On Saturday, Spieth and Thomas beat Sungjae Im and Corey Conners in morning Foursomes, 4 and 3, before a Spieth chip-in ended their match with Hideki Matsuyama and Taylor Pendrith by the same 4-and-3 margin. “I rode my horse today for sure, and I feel like it’s just one of those things where if one’s off, the other one’s on and vice versa,” Thomas said. “Man, it’s a great quality, and I really hope we keep it up because it doesn’t get any more fun than this out here.” As the International Team rallied for victories in Saturday’s final three matches to claw within 11-7 entering Sunday Singles, it was the U.S. Team’s cornerstone duo that provided the crucial point to avoid being shut out in afternoon Four-ball and keep a significant cushion. The International Team would need its best Singles performance in this tournament’s history just to tie the Americans. No team has ever scored 8.5 points in Singles, the amount needed for the U.S. to win outright. RELATED: Saturday match recaps | Tom Kim gives International Team a spark Thomas hit it within 5 feet on the 15th hole in their afternoon match – the same hole that is used as the Wells Fargo Championship’s closing hole – before Spieth chipped in for a birdie that the International’s had an opportunity to match. Taylor Pendrith missed an 8-footer that would have extended the match, however. “I was thinking Justin’s got birdie, but I may as well try and not wait for him. It’s straight up the hill,” Spieth said. “That hole location where I was is about the easiest spot if you’re going to miss the green. I just came out right on line and went in with a little speed, but with the pin out, it went right in the middle. … I thought we were going to need a birdie just to go to the next hole.” Thomas and Spieth have been friends long enough, and so successful as a team, that no one is concerned with stealing the spotlight. After Pendrith’s putt lipped out, a beaming Thomas motioned his hands in Spieth’s direction, encouraging the crowd to shower Spieth with applause. On the youngest U.S. Team in Presidents Cup history, the 29-year-olds Spieth and Thomas are unquestioned veterans. Spieth now holds a career 12-5-1 record in Presidents Cup competition, with Thomas now 10-2-2. They carry respect, and they back it up. “I think there are certain guys on the team who have played a lot in these team events,” said world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler early in the week. “I look at Jordan and JT as those guys. They’re the longest tenured … there are certain guys where their voice holds a lot of weight.” Spieth and Thomas relish the leadership role and the pairing. Following Friday’s Four-ball victory against Adam Scott and Cam Davis, Thomas was asked how he handles Spieth’s trademark brand of scrambling golf. A troublesome spot akin to an 18-handicapper leads to recovery theatrics and a head scratch. Time and again. On Thursday, Spieth hooked a drive on 15 that landed in the creek running alongside the fairway and inexplicably bounced out; the duo won the hole with a par. The next day, Spieth’s approach on 15 bounced off rocks in the creek and caromed into light rough over the green. He saved par and tied the hole. “That was nothing,” Thomas quipped Friday evening. “It’s not even, like, remotely close to some Jordan Spieth golf I’ve seen before. Anything and everything he does on the golf course does not surprise me. I’ve seen crazier, that’s for sure.” The end of Saturday’s match is yet another example.

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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – There are days when Jan Auger watches Kamaiu Johnson play golf and finds it difficult not to cry. Friday at THE PLAYERS Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass during the inaugural Billy Horschel APGA Tour Invitational presented by Cisco was one of those mornings. Auger, general manager of two golf courses for the City of Tallahassee, frequently reflects to her chance meeting years ago with Johnson. As does he, and both are grateful the universe put them together. Johnson was a 12-year-old who already had dropped out of middle school in the small town of Madison. He did not have a father figure in his life, and had no direction. He was swinging a stick like a golf club, walking on the fringes near the fourth hole of Hilaman Golf Course, where Auger works, imitating the golfers he would see each day outside the two-bedroom unit he shared with his grandmother and six others. Auger could have told Johnson that he was trespassing. She easily could have sent him on his way. Who knows how his life would have turned out but for a random act of kindness? She made him an offer from the heart. She sent him to the clubhouse, fetched a 9-iron and gave him a bucket of balls to hit. From there, Johnson was hooked. The club let him play for $1 a day, and it changed his life. Completely. Today, Johnson, 28, is a professional golfer, a man who rises each day chasing a dream. He started his own foundation (My My Foundation) to help introduce inner-city minority youths to golf. Johnson opened with a 1-under 71 on Friday, two shots behind leader Willie Mack III. “He’s like my son,” Auger said as she watched Johnson play the back nine. Johnson lives in Orlando now, but the two talk or text most every day. “It’s emotional for me to watch him. I told him last week, we’re going to come and see you play, and I don’t care if you shoot wide receiver (high) numbers. I just love watching you play.” This week at TPC Sawgrass, Johnson is competing among a select field of minority golfers (17 professionals and 15-year-old amateur Awesome Burnett comprise the field) in a two-day shootout, playing an event organized by Horschel, his management team and his generous sponsors under the umbrella of the 11-year-old Advocates Pro Golf Association Tour. The APGA was formed to try to make golf more diversified, and to provide playing opportunities that would help to develop Black golfers and other minority players to reach higher levels. Ken Bentley, a retired Nestle USA executive who serves as the unsalaried director of the APGA, once said that when he looks into his crystal ball, he sees “America out on the golf course. That’s our goal.” Horschel, 34, is a successful PGA TOUR professional, a six-time winner with $28.2 million in career earnings who remembers his own humble lower-middle-class beginnings. He wasn’t always able to afford the junior tournaments he wanted to play. He acknowledges how financially challenging the game can be, and he is passionate about giving back. Know this: He doesn’t attach his name to any venture without diving in fully. Horschel said he wants to see more minorities playing on the PGA TOUR in five or 10 years, and for that to happen, young golfers will need role models in order to make golf their choice. All efforts with his new tournament are aimed to help create those role models. “These are the guys who are going to reach kids in the inner cities, to reach kids that have a different background than what mine is, of my skin color, and how I grew up,” Horschel said. “These players are how the game is going to be, and that’s how the game is going to grow.” Horschel has been hanging around with players at TPC Sawgrass the last few days. He played in the pro-am and sat with players at lunch on Friday, answering their questions. He plans to work with a few on the practice tee. He is making sure that players will leave one of America’s iconic courses with more than just the memories of birdies and bogeys and how they performed on TPC Sawgrass’ famed island 17th. There was a pro-am for players to network with business executives on Thursday, and a business roundtable that featured big corporate hitters such as CEOs Jeff Dailey (Farmers Insurance) and Chuck Robbins (Cisco). Players rotated to different tables during dinner. This week is all about connections. The golf is a great opportunity, too: Experience one of the best tests on the PGA TOUR each year, where all the great players have competed, and play for an $80,000 purse that includes a winner’s check of $25,000. “We’re fortunate to be able to play pro-ams (on the PGA TOUR),” Horschel said. “You connect with sponsors and other people in the corporate world, and if you’re able to create relationships and grow them organically, then these people are going to want to help you with your dream of chasing the PGA TOUR. “Maybe they’ll sponsor you. If that dream (to play) doesn’t come to fruition, those people who you have met, who you have created this relationship with, more than likely are going to be there to help you if you need to figure out that next path in life.” Willie Mack III, who made the cut in his two most recent summer PGA TOUR starts (Rocket Mortgage Classic and John Deere Classic), shot 3-under 69 on Friday to take the tournament lead. Johnson, Troy Taylor II and APGA rookie Mahindra Lutchman, who recently graduated from Florida A&M University, will start Saturday’s final round two shots back. Kevin Hall is one of the APGA’s more seasoned players at age 38, and has been with the APGA since the start. When the tour began, there were three events on public courses and total purses of $40,000. Hall shot 73 on Friday. Ten days earlier, a closing 63 at TPC John Deere in Silvis, Ill., lifted him to his first APGA victory since 2018. Why still chase the dream? “Every morning I have fire in my belly,” he said. “What can I do today to get better? When I win, this game just pulls me back in.” Hall is a huge inspiration and terrific role model. He is deaf, and answers questions through his saintly mom, Jackie, who translates a writer’s questions into sign language. Hall is a great barometer to measure how golf is doing as the sport tries to better diversify its playing field. He marvels at the quality of venues on this season’s schedule, which include courses that play host to big-time events. The APGA is at the home of THE PLAYERS this week, and earlier competed at Valhalla, site of four PGA Championships a Ryder Cup. “To have a tournament at TPC Sawgrass … five, six, seven years ago, I never thought this would happen,” Hall said. “All 18 of us that are here are very blessed to have Billy and his sponsors do this.” Mack, 32, from Flint, Mich., has seen momentum in his game this summer growing with each new opportunity. After missing the cut in his first two PGA TOUR starts, he played solidly for three rounds at the Korn Ferry Tour’s BMW Charity Pro-Am, shooting 66 in the third round, and played on the weekend at the PGA TOUR’s Rocket Mortgage Classic and John Deere Classic. How different can life be in the big leagues? At the Rocket Mortgage, Mack tied for 71st and collected $15,000. It’s nice to have some money in the bank. In order to keep his dream alive, Mack has slept in his car when finances were tight. “I was excited when I heard about this event, not only for me, but for everybody else,” Mack said. “To play for that kind of money, and to play in this environment, it’s really special.” For Mack, with each start at a big tournament, big venue, the lights do not seem to feel so bright, and the stage is not nearly as intimidating. His next step when the APGA season wraps up will be Korn Ferry Q-School, which can be a path to the PGA TOUR. It’s just golf,” Mack said, smiling. “I’ve talked to Billy a lot, and Rickie (Fowler), played with them a couple of times. I feel I have the game, I just have to get those opportunities. When I do, I just need to play well, and to have fun.” Fun wasn’t really on the radar on Friday for Awesome Burnett. He is a 15-year-old from Flower Mound, Texas, who doesn’t yet have his learner’s permit. On Friday, on an incredibly difficult test of golf, he struggled off the tee with the driver. For a player out of position, the Stadium Course can less forgiving than an IRS audit. Burnett is a nice story though, a player to watch, and he has a long runway ahead as he takes his own journey in golf. He and his parents, Brittany and Mark (Awesome’s caddie this week), are immersed in the game. (“Even our family dog plays with golf balls,” Brittany says, laughing.) Already their son has made most every sports fans’ All-Name team. Awesome Burnett? It’s, well, awesome. There is purpose in the name. Said Brittany, “I tell him all the time, you have a chance to wake up in the morning and be Awesome.” She and Mark also have a 13-year-old daughter named Amazing. Brittany smiles. “I tell her, ‘When you go to bed, you’re Amazing. And you’ll be Amazing when you wake up. You have no choice.’ So when Awesome is having some troubles on the course, I just tell him, ‘Go out and be Awesome. Be you.’” Awesome shot 89 on Friday, losing a couple sleeves of balls in Stadium Course penalty areas. He hung tough, holing a beautiful pitch for birdie at 14 and hitting it onto the green at No. 17. It’s golf, and he is very, very young. He dealt with a neck injury earlier this year, and a growth spurt has pushed Awesome to nearly 6 feet to carry his 122 pounds. He’ll add muscle. He is getting used to swinging with his new body. Before Wednesday, he’d only seen the Stadium Course when he played video games at home. And despite a tough day, he was a happy kid at the end of it. “I’ve been having a great time,” Awesome said. “It lets me see a lot of different things, meet people, and see what has to be improved in my game.” Playing alongside him was Johnson, who offered encouragement when he could. Johnson has had his share of tough days, too. Johnson knows Awesome Burnett and others like him represent the future of golf. Johnson could only imagine trying to take on such a difficult test of golf at age 15. “Fifteen,” Johnson said, pausing, thinking, looking back. “Kind of reminds me of how I was stepping out on the PGA TOUR this year.” With that, he smiled. Fortunately, with opportunities such as this one so graciously hosted by Billy Horschel, things will only get better. Johnson finds himself in a pretty good place these days. “He is such a good person,” Auger says as she stands in the shadows on a hot day and watches Johnson play. “Kamaiu could have gone down the wrong road, and he knows that. Golf saved him.”

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