73 gets McGill U.S. Senior Women’s Open crown

After a quick, five-month break, the Masters is back. Our panel, in a strange twist, found some things to agree on, like the possibility that Jordan Spieth might be ready to break through, that the patrons will impact this tournament and more.

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PONTE VEDRA, Fla. - The PGA TOUR announced today that Fortinet, a global leader in broad, integrated and automated cybersecurity solutions, will become the title sponsor of PGA TOUR's Napa tournament, to be named the Fortinet Championship. The six-year agreement begins as the kickoff event of the 2021-22 FedExCup Regular Season at Silverado Resort and Spa, Sept. 13-19, 2021. The Fortinet Championship dates to 2007, with the event moving from CordeValle Golf Club in San Martin to Silverado Resort and Spa in Napa in 2014. With its present location, the event has been the TOUR's season-opening event each season since 2014, with the exception of the 2019-20 season. "We are thrilled to welcome Fortinet to the PGA TOUR family with the Fortinet Championship leading off the 2021-22 FedExCup Regular Season in September," said Tyler Dennis, PGA TOUR President. "Napa is an extremely popular stop for our players, their families and our fans. We look forward to having Fortinet help grow the event to maximize charitable impact for the Napa Valley community." Net proceeds from the Fortinet Championship will benefit non-profit organizations in the areas of STEM, women and minorities in technology, as well as veterans reskilling programs. "Fortinet is excited to partner with the PGA TOUR as both our organizations are committed to trust and creating exceptional experiences - ensuring players and customers are set up for success to overcome even the most trying conditions and challenges," said John Maddison, EVP of Products and CMO at Fortinet. "This partnership will benefit our community, customers and local nonprofit organizations. We look forward to hosting the Fortinet Championship in Napa." Fortinet's mission is to make possible a digital world that organizations can always trust by protecting edges, data and content, people, devices and systems. Fortinet delivers the most innovative, highest-performing network security fabric to secure and simplify organizations' IT infrastructures. Fortinet is a leading global provider of network security and SD-WAN, switching and wireless access, network access control, authentication, public and private cloud security, endpoint security, and AI-driven advanced threat protection solutions for carriers, data centers, enterprises, and distributed offices. Silverado Resort and Spa hosted the PGA TOUR from 1968-80 before returning in 2014. The venue has produced a prestigious list of winners including Jack Nicklaus (1969), Tom Watson (1978), Ben Crenshaw (1980) and Johnny Miller (1974-75). In addition, Silverado was a PGA TOUR Champions venue from 1989-2002. All four rounds of the Fortinet Championship will be televised on Golf Channel, featuring a 156-player field, 500 FedExCup points and a $7 million purse. Stewart Cink, the winner of the 2009 Open Championship and a member of four U.S. Presidents Cup teams and five U.S. Ryder Cup teams, is expected to defend his 2020 title.

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LA QUINTA, Calif. — Patrick Cantlay shot a 10-under 62 in perfect weather and turf conditions Thursday at La Quinta Country Club for a share of the first-round lead with rookie Lee Hodges in The American Express. RELATED: Full leaderboard | Get to know Sahith Theegala in 10 stories Cantlay played the first seven holes in 7 under, making an eagle on the par-5 sixth and five birdies. The FedExCup champion added birdies on Nos. 11-13, two of them par 5s, and closed with five straight pars. “I got off to a roll at the start and kind of made a bunch of putts and then I kind of lagged on the way coming in,” Cantlay said. “But I was happy with everything. I thought I did everything well and it’s a golf course I really like. It’s in perfect shape and so, if you get the ball rolling on line, it should go in.” Cantlay won the BMW Championship and TOUR Championship in his final two starts last year and opened this year with a fourth-place finish two weeks ago in Hawaii at the Sentry Tournament of Champions. Last year in the desert, the 29-year-old former UCLA player closed with a Stadium Course-record 61 to finish a shot behind winner Si Woo Kim. “I grew up a couple hours away, so there are a bunch of friendly faces in the crowd and so it’s really fun,” Cantlay said. “It’s the best part of what I do is when you get on a roll like that and you’re making a bunch of birdies.” Hodges made a memorable debut in the event. The former Alabama star played the back nine at La Quinta in 7-under 29, eagling the par-5 fifth and making five birdies. “It’s one of my favorite golf courses I’ve ever played, to be honest,” Hodges said. “I played it I guess three times now and it’s spectacular. It’s like hitting off of mats half the time. It’s just in perfect shape. You get rewarded for good shots out here, which I like that. Good golf gets rewarded.” Cameron Young and K.H. Lee were tied for third at 64. Young played at La Quinta, and Lee on the Stadium Course. Brandt Snedeker was at 65 with Joseph Bramlett, Greyson Sigg, Sam Ryder, Danny Lee, Tom Hoge, Wyndham Clark and Seamus Power. Snedeker and Clark played at La Quinta, Bramlett and Ryder at the Stadium Course, and Lee, Hoge, Power and Sigg at the Nicklaus Tournament Course. The players who opened at La Quinta will play the Nicklaus Tournament Course on Friday and the adjacent Stadium Course on the weekend, with strong wind expected Saturday. Top-ranked Jon Rahm and Graeme McDowell were in the group at 66, both playing at La Quinta. “I liked the score and the weather,” Rahm said. “It’s always a very enjoyable walk out here. La Quinta Country Club it’s a great golf course. It’s always in pristine shape, one of the best we play all year shape-wise.” McDowell played the event only once before, missing the cut in 2003. “I think my caddie and I are both looking at each other wondering why it’s taken us so long to get here,” McDowell said. “Obviously, the weather is perfect and these golf courses are so well presented.” Harry Higgs had a hole-in-one on the par-3 15th at La Quinta in a 66. He used a 5-iron on the 199-yard hole. Tournament host Phil Mickelson was tied for last in the 156-player field after a 78 at La Quinta. He made a quintuple-bogey 9 on the par-4 eighth after hitting two drives out of bounds right.

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