Brooks Koepka confirms he will play Ryder Cup

Everyone associated with the game – players, media, fans – has his or her own memory of what went down that week in 1997 and what it meant to them. It remains one of those rare events where you can still remember where you were and what you were doing when it happened. Tiger Woods winning the Masters at age 21, and in record fashion. “In that win that week, he checked all the boxes,â€� Charles Howell III said. “He’s young, he hit it far, he hit it straight, he had a phenomenal short game. He did it all, and he did it on the biggest, hardest stage in the world. I think in time we’ll look back on that week as sort of a turning point for the professional game.â€� Ernie Els, who in later years would become a frequent major championship bridesmaid to Woods, said he remembered seeing Woods on the range after that roller-coaster opening-round 70 that began with the 40 on the front nine and ended with a 30 on the back, “and I could see the excitement and the joyâ€� in Woods’ face. “He knew he’d won the first hurdle,â€� Els said. “I think he knew then that it was over.â€� Nick Faldo, the defending champion who was paired with Woods in that opening round, knew it was over, too. “The way I analyzed it, he went out in 40, came back in 30 and we didn’t see him for dust for another 14 years,â€� Faldo said. “That was the start of Tiger and the start of his dominance. It was a special day. You go out in 40 and then you win by 12. That’s something pretty unique.â€� Faldo shot 75 that day and followed it with an 81 and missed the cut. Paul Azinger, an 11-time PGA TOUR winner with one major championship and now a TV analyst for NBC and FOX, was paired with Woods in the second round. He began the day one shot ahead of Woods and ended it six shots behind after Woods’ 66 to his 73. “I’d never seen Tiger actually make a full swing and hit a shot — driving range, golf course, nothing —maybe on TV,â€� Azinger recalled. “I said to my caddie on the second hole — there was a little bit of a wait — and I said, ‘You know, I’ve never seen this kid hit a shot. I’m going to watch this.’ I’d heard about how far he hits it. That ball left four feet underneath the top of the trees, which is miles high, never curved an inch, about five feet right of the trees. “It was the most beautiful, picturesque drive I had ever seen in my entire life. I just looked at my caddie and whispered to him, ‘Holy s—.’ That was all I could say. He hit 6- or 7-iron in there to the right of the green, was all ticked off, chunked his chip, took the club and slammed it in the bag, and it went straight to the bottom. It sounded like a drum. I can remember this buzz of the crowd. It was the most unique buzz. He then chipped in for birdie. He shot the easiest 66 that I’d ever seen. “I hit 3-wood, 8-iron to 13 and he hit 3-wood, pitching wedge. I hit driver, 8-iron into 15, he hit driver, pitching wedge. We were two clubs apart, which blew my mind that I was two clubs shorter than anybody on TOUR. I was like, ‘Really? Two clubs? Are you kidding me?’ One club is one thing, two clubs? You can’t defend against being two clubs shorter than somebody. You’re not going to beat that guy. “It intimidated me a little bit. That’s why I tried not to hit balls near Tiger on the practice range, because I wanted to feed my confidence.â€� Azinger said after that second round he’d played with Woods, he thought, “I don’t know how anybody’s going to beat that.â€� “I didn’t jump the gun and predict he would win,â€� Azinger said. “But in my head, I was thinking, ‘Jack [Nicklaus] was right saying that he’s going to win the Masters 10 times.’ I believe him. The bigger the event, the higher he’ll raise the bar. He’s Michael Jordan in long pants.â€� On Friday night, Colin Montgomerie, who was three shots behind Woods at the time, waxed poetic about the fact that the young Woods had never been in the position of taking a major championship lead into the weekend, and how everything changes on the weekend of a major. “The pressure is mounting,â€� Montgomerie said in what clearly was a public warning to Woods. “And I have a lot more experience in major championships.â€� Woods, in his book “The 1997 Masters: My Story,â€� revealed that Montgomerie’s words “definitely motivated me.â€� He shot 65 that Saturday to Montgomerie’s 74, and after the round, Montgomerie spoke as if he’d seen a ghost. “All I have to say is one brief comment today,â€� he told reporters. “There is no chance … we’re all human beings here … (and) there is no chance humanly possible that Tiger is going to lose this tournament. No way.â€� Montgomerie, surely rattled by the thumping he took from Woods on Saturday, shot 81 on Sunday. For Woods it was merely a coronation; playing with Italy’s Costantino Rocca, he shot 69 to win by a record 12 shots. Like millions around the world, Gary Woodland, then a teenager in Kansas, watched it all play out on TV and decided then and there he wanted to become a professional golfer. “That week changed everything for me,â€� Woodland said. It did for a lot of others, too.

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The first time Adam Hadwin met Mike Weir was not at a junior clinic or Canadian amateur event – when an up-and-coming star would usually connect with a country’s legend – but while they were sitting out a fog delay. It was 2013 at the Farmers Insurance Open and Hadwin had Monday-qualified. It was just the eighth PGA TOUR start of his fledgling pro career, and the first of three that season. By shooting 66-74 in the first two rounds at Torrey Pines, he was one shot ahead of Weir. Both made the cut but were well off the lead, as they were in the first two groups on Saturday. Due to the weather, the pair of Canadians had to keep retreating off the course. It was the perfect opportunity for them to finally meet and chat. Hadwin was in the midst of an up-and-down year on the Korn Ferry Tour and he’d go on to finish 74th on the money list, just barely earning his TOUR card again for the next season. Although Hadwin says he can’t remember exactly what was said that morning – he would eventually shoot 69 before withdrawing after feeling a twinge in his wrist, while Weir shot 73-76 to finish T-68 — perhaps the good vibes of meeting Canada’s winningest PGA TOUR golfer was the spark he needed. The next season, Hadwin won twice on the Korn Ferry Tour, gained his card and has been a fixture ever since. Hadwin, from Abbotsford, British Columbia, and Weir, from Brights Grove, Ontario, had never crossed paths before then. Hadwin knew of Weir of course, and respected what Weir had done for golf in Canada and the state of the game after his three wins in 2003, including the Masters. “He was playing some good golf for such a long time,â€� Hadwin said, “but I didn’t really know anything about him.â€� Being from different sides of the country – Abbotsford is roughly 2,500 miles from Brights Grove — and with Weir and Hadwin’s schedules being totally opposite at that time, there wasn’t much of an opportunity to become friendly. But after Hadwin himself qualified for the Masters in 2017 and made the International Presidents Cup team, a connection was made. The Presidents Cup continues to be the catalyst for their growing relationship. Just like in 2017 at Liberty National, Hadwin will play and Weir will be an assistant captain for the Internationals next month at Royal Melbourne. “As we’ve gotten closer to the Presidents Cup, we’ve texted a little more, been in touch some more. I’m a big advocate for all the Canadian guys, and will be for Adam especially that week,â€� Weir said. Every time Weir played the Presidents Cup, he was the lone Canadian. It was easy, he recalls now, to feel out of the pack. He looked around the team room and saw multiple Australians or South Africans having their own bonds. The Canadian contingent now is small, but mighty. Hadwin had to rely on a captain’s pick this year after making the team on merit in 2017. The team nearly had two Canadians, Weir noted, as he was pushing for Corey Conners to make the squad as well. Weir says he was hoping International Captain Ernie Els would have chosen both Corey Conners and Hadwin for this year’s team – it would have been the first time two Canadians would have made it. While Conners should be a stalwart for Presidents Cups in the future, (“He didn’t get the call this time but his game is certainly capable,â€� Weir explained.) Hadwin’s short-game skill and his year of experience eventually won him the spot. Weir was part of Nick Price’s staff at Liberty National and Els pegged him, alongside K.J. Choi, Geoff Ogilvy and Trevor Immelman, to join the team at Royal Melbourne. “We have great players in Canada. Adam, when it was on the line, played well when he needed to and had some good finishes,â€� Weir said. “That was important to Ernie – that our guys were playing well at the right time. He proved that he earned his spot on the team.â€� There have been just three Canadians to play the Presidents Cup, and Hadwin and Weir are the only two to play more than once (Graham DeLaet in 2013 is the other). Hadwin admits that it’s a “pretty incredibleâ€� feeling to be part of such a small group. “To represent that group on the international stage and represent golf in Canada as a whole is really special and something I take a lot of pride in,â€� he said. Hadwin says he’ll be more comfortable going into the Presidents Cup this time around, and some of that comfort can be attributed to his Presidents Cup connection to Weir – who knows a thing or two about representing golf in Canada on a big stage. Hadwin first leaned on Weir for specific advice when he qualified for the Masters after his maiden PGA TOUR victory at the Valspar Championship in 2017. Hadwin said Weir was very helpful in showing him around the spots at Augusta National and how the Masters week works. Weir was also there for him with any support he might need or questions he needed answered when Hadwin made his Presidents Cup debut later that year. Hadwin expects it to be more of the same this December. Hadwin had no preconceived notions of Weir or how he operated prior to them getting closer in 2017. Instead he found a helpful countryman, and a Canadian icon that did a “terrificâ€� job as an assistant captain in New York. Two years ago, Weir said he tried to make sure he brought Hadwin a level of confidence he needed to play well. Weir wanted to clear Hadwin’s path so then he could just concentrate on golf. Weir brings with him a myriad of experiences guys like Hadwin can lean on. He played in five Presidents Cups and complied a 13-9-2 record. In his five appearances, he never had a losing record. His 1-up win against Tiger Woods in Singles at the 2007 Presidents Cup at Royal Montreal remains one of the top golfing highlights on Canadian soil. And, perhaps one day, those experiences will lead him to the captain’s seat. “If that opportunity comes up, I’d love that. I would be phenomenal. The Presidents Cup has been a big part of my career – some of my greatest memories in golf have come from it,â€� Weir said. And he’s got a supporter in Hadwin, who said Weir, from a personality standpoint and getting along with players, would “absolutelyâ€� make a good captain. But Weir potentially getting called on as captain is in the future. Both men acknowledge it’ll be a stern test in the present for the Internationals to take down the mighty Americans in December. The team will have a Canadian playing and a Canadian as an assistant captain once again, and their bond will grow over the biennial competition. Such is the spirit of the Presidents Cup. But they want to win, too. Hadwin says it’ll be on him to ask Weir a few more questions this time around – the conversations will pick up now that the fall portion of the PGA TOUR schedule has concluded – but he feels confident in how his game would travel to Royal Melbourne. “I think it could really suit my game,â€� Hadwin said of the course. The 31-year-old has had some success playing in Australia before, finishing T11 and T4 at the 2016 and 2018 ISPS Handa World Cup of Golf, respectively, at two Australian sand belt layouts. “This could be a pretty good opportunity for a guy with my type of game to do some damage.â€� And he’s got the support of his countryman once again this year. They’ll have their own growing bond, thanks to the Presidents Cup. “I’ll be on his side,â€� Weir said of his connection to Hadwin, “and whatever he needs, we’ll do the best we can to have him in a position to succeed.â€�

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Despite a valiant final-round effort from Tiger Woods, Brooks Koepka held on to win his third career major by claiming the PGA Championship on Sunday.

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