Viktor Hovland makes hole-in-one on TPC Sawgrass’ eighth hole

NAPA, Calif. – It’s been a big week for Hawaii so far in California. Hawaii native Jon Oda, a Monday qualifier, shot a second-round 66 to reach 8 under halfway through the Safeway Open at Silverado. That was one off the lead with the afternoon wave still playing. On Oda’s bag this week is fellow Hawaiian Dean Wilson, who enjoyed a long PGA TOUR career that peaked with his victory at the 2006 International.  “Dean’s been awesome,� said Oda, 23, who played for UNLV before turning pro in 2017. “He’s someone I look up to, someone I bounce ideas off of. We have a good time, just laugh a bunch.� RELATED: Tee times | Equipment gallery: Safeway Open Wilson, who racked up 21 top-10 finishes and nearly $9 million on TOUR, had just attended a fundraiser for his alma mater, BYU, on Monday when he and Oda got to texting. Oda, who plays on the Korn Ferry Tour, had Monday-qualified for the Safeway. He needed a caddie. They agreed that Wilson would spend Tuesday at home while Oda played his practice rounds, and fly to Northern California on Wednesday. “I always go back and forth to Vegas and play a lot of golf with him there,� said Wilson, who now lives in San Diego. “I admire so much about him. He’s very mature. He’s got control of his game. He has good knowledge of the golf swing, good knowledge of what makes the ball go, and he’s got a lot of experience in how to play great golf, so being around him is a pleasure.� Oda is no stranger to the TOUR. He got seven starts two seasons ago, when he finished T3 after Monday-qualifying for the Barracuda Championship. He also finished eighth at the Mayakoba Golf Classic, and T11 at the Wyndham Championship. He’s just never quite gotten comfortable. Until now. Oda and Wilson played together for the first time at a tournament at Mid-Pacific Country Club on Oahu. Oda was about 15, while Wilson was winding down his TOUR career. “Every time I played back in Hawaii, I’d play in the state opens or the section events, I’d ask the guys to pair me with the good amateurs,� Wilson said. Oda fit the bill. “He’s got it,� Wilson said. Oda smiled when asked about their big brother, little brother relationship. “Everyone knows him,� Oda said. “He’s just cracking jokes with the guys on the green, and all the caddies recognize him. It’s kind of a cool dynamic out here. We talked about what he’s done in the past. I always ask him, ‘What would you do on this shot?’� Wilson said he’s learning from Oda, too. “He doesn’t need any help; you just need a buddy out there,� Wilson said. “We just walk around and keep it chill. I just want everything to be as easy it can be for him. For him to play really good, what really helps is just being comfortable. And maybe having me around helps with that. I just tell him he’s as good as everybody out here, because he is.�  

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Matthew Wolff, Collin Morikawa and Bryson DeChambeau are tied for the lead at 15 under after three rounds of the inaugural 3M Open, with Wolff and Morikawa both looking for their first PGA Tour victory.

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Marc Leishman doesn’t have an office with four walls, where one might hang his kid’s art project. But tapping into infinite kid-wisdom, his oldest, Harvey, 6, came up with a solution: Why not scrawl the art directly on what passes for Leishman’s office, his enormous golf bag? This was in early 2017, and Leishman wasn’t thrilled. “At the beginning, I’m kind of like, ‘No,’â€� Leishman said after shooting 65 for a five-shot win at the CIMB Classic at TPC Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. “Then I was like, ‘Yeah, write your name on my bag,’ so he wrote his name. Then my other son (Ollie, 5) wanted to write his name. “So now every golf bag that I have, they write their name on it and they love doing it,â€� Leishman added. “They see it on TV. And then every time I look at my golf bag, I think of them doing that or I think of my kids and that’s never a bad thing to think of your kids. Yeah, that’s a pretty cool thing that they do, and it will keep happening.â€� Leishman, who was solo in Malaysia as wife Audrey looked after the kids back home in Virginia Beach, Virginia, said he was hitting it every which way on the driving range. He kept at it, though, and figured something out with his driver as he recorded scores of 68-62-67-65. His 26-under total tied the CIMB record at TPC Kuala Lumpur, and left him well clear of T2s Emiliano Grillo (66), Chesson Hadley (66) and Bronson Burgoon (68). Two-time CIMB winner and 2017 FedExCup champion Justin Thomas shot a final-round 64 to tie for fifth. Now the TOUR heads to THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES at Jeju Island, Korea, where Thomas beat Leishman in a sudden-death playoff last year. It’s helpful, sometimes, to view the TOUR as one long story with lots of similar themes. Last week, Kevin Tway, son of eight-time TOUR winner Bob, got his first win at the Safeway Open as Dad watched through tears on TV. The CIMB was also, in its way, about fatherhood. In April, 2015, Leishman’s wife, Audrey, nearly died from a combination of sepsis, toxic-shock syndrome (TSS), acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), and pneumonia. She was in a coma for five days and given a 5 percent chance at survival. Marc was nearly a single father, but Audrey not only survived, she also gave the couple a daughter, Eva, 1. Audrey and Marc started the Begin Again Foundation to support survivors of sepsis, TSS and ARDS. “I won’t say it made golf less important, but it made me realize that golf’s not life or death,â€� Leishman said from the CIMB, where he saluted his family’s willingness to forgo sleep in order to watch him win on TV. “We’ve been through that and that’s not fun. “Yes, I want to win trophies and lucky enough today to be leaving with one, which my kids will be very happy about, by the way,â€� Leishman added, “but if I wasn’t to walk away the winner today, that’s all right, too. As long as I give it my best shot, that’s what it’s all about.â€� The CIMB was not life or death for Audrey and the kids, either, but it was still tense. Marc was tied for the 54-hole lead with Gary Woodland (71, T5) and potential Presidents Cup teammate Shubhankar Sharma (72, T10). Not surprisingly in Asia, Sharma, of India, was the fan favorite. Audrey took the boys to a theme park Saturday in order to think about something else. That night, she organized her schedule around the late telecast. After napping from 9 p.m. to midnight, she turned on the TV as Leishman birdied four of his first five holes while his playing partners struggled. He cruised from there, and she woke up Harvey to watch the last putt at 3 a.m. A year and a half ago, before Leishman won the 2017 Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, and the BMW Championship, Harvey put the pressure on. He’d seen Jason Day’s kids, Dash and Lucy, scamper onto the 18th green to celebrate Dad’s victories, and wondered aloud why he and Ollie weren’t doing the same to greet their own dad. Then came Bay Hill and Conway Farms, and the Leishman family celebrated. Last season saw Marc notch two runner-up finishes but no wins as he still made it all the way to the 30-man TOUR Championship. He must have sensed a win was imminent, though, because prior to the CIMB he booked the family plane tickets from Australia to Maui at the end of this year. “I just booked them for Maui thinking that I’ll either be playing in the (Sentry Tournament of Champions) or we’ll go for a vacation there,â€� Leishman said. “Now I’ll be playing a golf tournament.â€� (He tied for seventh at last year’s Sentry TOC, despite a third-round 76.) “I know Audrey will be very excited, as my kids will be,â€� Leishman added. “Hawaii’s an awesome spot, that’s one of my favorite places in the whole world. To be able to play two weeks there at two of my favorite golf tournaments is certainly something to look forward to.â€� Before he left Kuala Lumpur, Leishman pocketed a few toy airplanes to bring home to the kids, a gift of tournament sponsor Malaysia Airlines. Miniature airplanes? A trip to Maui? A fourth TOUR win? Yep, Marc Leishman banked some major Dad points even from half a world away.

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