12-year-old golf phenom signs with Cobra Puma

Amid talk that this might be the strongest U.S. team ever, Europe falls into an early 0-3 hole but roars back for a 17.5-10.5 victory over the U.S. at Le Golf National, the third-most lopsided U.S. loss ever in the Ryder Cup. Welcome to the Monday Finish, where the Americans ventured across the Atlantic with high hopes to end the losing streak that has seen them lose every Ryder Cup on foreign soil since 1993, but didn’t even come close to doing so despite looking like the better team on paper. FIVE OBSERVATIONS 1. This was a predictable result. There were problems for the U.S. even as they touched down in Paris. Although Tiger Woods had won the TOUR Championship at East Lake, Phil Mickelson looked out of sorts and finished last (30th). Bubba Watson finished 29th, Patrick Reed 28th and Brooks Koepka shot a second-round 78 and tied for 26th. Overall, the results were worrisome. Sure enough, Mickelson went 0-2 in France and was benched all day Saturday. Reed, the vocal MVP of the U.S. side that took down Europe in 2016, struggled after being split up from his usual partner, Jordan Spieth, and didn’t earn a point until the singles. Koepka played better but went 1-2-1, and the U.S. never looked fully comfortable with the course, where Europe came in having played a combined 236 tournament rounds compared to eight for the U.S. Justin Thomas (4-1-0), the best American player, had played the French Open this year; Koepka had played it during a stint in Europe early in his career. 2. This was an unpredictable result. Mere days after collecting the 80th win of his PGA TOUR career at the TOUR Championship, Woods went 0-4, the worst Ryder Cup performance of his career. Who saw that coming? After winning the first two stops in the FedExCup Playoffs, THE NORTHERN TRUST and the Dell Technologies Championship, Bryson DeChambeau went 0-3. Wait. Wasn’t he the hottest player in golf just a month ago? Patrick Reed didn’t win so much as a half point Friday and Saturday. OK, now that’s just borderline crazy. You could say that Europe was always going to win this Ryder Cup because, well, that’s what always happens in Europe. But the eye-opening seven-point winning margin was the result of a perfect storm. It was the smart/fortuitous pairing of Francesco Molinari and Tommy Fleetwood (Moli-wood went 4-0); Jim Furyk’s hotly debated decision to split up Patrick Reed and Jordan Spieth; the U.S. players’ wildness off the tee on the tight course; Mickelson coming into the week totally out of sorts; and Woods’ struggles on the greens, among other factors. In other words, the lopsided nature of this contest must be considered something of a fluke. 3. Momentum is everything. Still. The Europeans have the Ryder Cup in their blood and seem to have a visceral understanding of it in a way that the Americans don’t. One example: The Euros’ ability to harness momentum. The U.S. was on cruise control at the 2012 Ryder Cup at Medinah before Ian Poulter went on a crazy run of birdies and he and Rory McIlroy emerged with a crucial point for Europe. It set the stage for the wild European comeback in singles the next day. This time around the big swing came earlier, on Friday afternoon. Europe not only whitewashed the U.S., going 4-0, no match even reached the 17th hole. The Americans, who had gotten off to a 3-0 start in the morning, were immediately on their back foot, and they never recovered. “We just didn’t quite execute,� said Mickelson, who admitted this Ryder Cup may have been his last. 4. Europe’s team ethos paid off. Thorbjorn Olesen could have gotten down after losing his first match with struggling partner Rory McIlroy, but Olesen merely bided his time until Sunday, when he beat Spieth 5 and 4 to extinguish any embers of a U.S. comeback and run his Ryder record to 1-1. Jon Rahm could have sulked after starting his Ryder Cup career 0-2-0, but instead he went out and beat everyone’s golfing idol, Tiger Woods, in another important singles match Sunday. By the time it was over, every European had earned at least a point. Three Americans, meanwhile, went winless: Woods (0-4), Mickelson (0-2) and DeChambeau (0-3). 5. Hindsight is still undefeated. It seemed like four pretty easy decisions when it came time for U.S. Captain Jim Furyk to make his four picks, adding Woods, Mickelson, DeChambeau and Tony Finau. Somehow, though, Finau (2-1-0) was the only one to earn any points for the U.S. Mickelson looked lost, Woods tired and confused by the greens, and DeChambeau like the victim of circumstances and hot players for Europe. Meanwhile, European pick Sergio Garcia, who hadn’t shown much form all season, went 3-0-0 to become the winningest player in Ryder Cup history. Henrik Stenson, who has battled injuries but also got a pick from European Captain Thomas Bjorn, also went 3-0-0. Who could have predicted that? FIVE INSIGHTS 1. The U.S. struggled mightily off the tee Friday, finding the fairway or first cut just 57 percent of the time in the afternoon Foursomes compared to 74 percent for Europe. Not surprisingly, Europe won the session 4-0, taking a lead that that they would never relinquish. Mickelson, who came into the week ranked second to last on TOUR in Driving Accuracy, looked especially lost in trying to find the bowling alley-like fairways at Le Golf National. 2. The accuracy disparity only got worse. Saturday morning Four-balls saw the U.S. hit just 54 percent of fairways/first cut, while Europe was at 74 percent. In the afternoon Foursomes, where keeping it in play is especially crucial, the U.S. was at 67 percent, Europe at a telling 81 percent. Although the U.S. would miss several putts, their scattershot ways off the tees proved especially damaging to their chances while falling behind 10-6 in Foursomes and Four-balls. 3. Ian Poulter was not perfect, losing a couple of matches with partners McIlroy and Rahm, both times at the hands of the powerful U.S. team of Spieth and Thomas. But in beating Dustin Johnson, Poulter remained unbeaten in singles and ran his Ryder Cup record to 12-4-2. 4. Woods played better than his 0-4-0 record indicates, but he could be excused for feeling tired. After not playing a full schedule for years, he was competing for the seventh time in nine weeks. 5. Italy’s Francesco Molinari was the first European to emerge with a perfect 5-0-0 record, and the fourth overall, as Europe won for the seventh time in the last nine Ryder Cups. More good news for the top European point-earner: The 2022 Ryder Cup will be in Rome.

Click here to read the full article…

Legendary golf architect Pete Dye died Thursday at age 94 but leaves an undeniable stamp on the game. As the news filtered through the golf fraternity TOUR players and others who have been touched by his contribution to the world begun reflecting on the World Golf Hall of Famer’s legacy en masse. RELATED: Pete Dye passes away at age 94 “We are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Pete Dye, a true friend of the PGA TOUR and one of the most important course architects of this or any generation. A 2008 inductee into the World Golf Hall of Fame, Pete’s influence is far-reaching, leaving a global imprint on both the amateur and professional games. He designed some of the best known golf courses in the world, though none more recognizable than THE PLAYERS Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass. It was here that Pete masterfully brought Commissioner Deane Beman’s revolutionary stadium golf concept to life, melding Deane’s vision with a brilliantly designed course that is celebrated annually as one of the game’s great strategic courses during THE PLAYERS Championship. Pete, though, was always quick to credit his beloved wife, Alice, with his success, including the concept for his most famous hole, the 17th island green at TPC Sawgrass. Together, Pete and Alice made a formidable team in golf and life, and with sons Perry and P.B., themselves successful course architects, they are recognized as one of the most accomplished families in golf. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the entire Dye family.â€� – PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan “He leaves a huge footprint on the game. One of my best experiences with Pete was playing Whistling Straits one of the first times we went there and I was lucky enough he walked nine holes with me in a practice round and I would ask him, “Mr. Dye why would you put that bunker right there… what were you thinking?â€� and he would look at me and said dryly, “just to piss you off, that’s the only reason.â€� He was a good man who obviously loved golf and just a wonderful course designer who knew how to make difficult golf courses. If you were going to play well around his places you couldn’t fake it and it’s a sad loss for golf. His footprint was at all of his places, undeniably and not a lot of designers can say that. And boy you knew it was going to be tough.â€� – Charles Howell III “Pete and Alice Dye are royalty in golf, no question. My mother was friends with Alice and always enjoyed talking with Pete every chance I could get. I love TPC Sawgrass and my parents were members at The Honors Course which I think is one of his best of all time. He revolutionized golf, changed it, and made it better. We are all lucky to have had him. If you look at the history of golf I’m not sure there is a bigger change in architecture than when Pete Dye came along. It was the most radical change and it was a great change. He is timeless. They’ll be copying him till the end of time.â€� – Jerry Kelly “You can’t mistake a Pete Dye. You knew it was his as soon as you played it. He had a different set of rules when he built golf courses and every single one he built was tough. He built TPC Sawgrass and helped build THE PLAYERS, and Whistling Straits, plus so many golf courses that are amazing. It is sad to lose someone who meant so much to not just the game of golf but to so many of its players as well. I had so many good experiences with him, I learnt a lot from him and he was clearly a very smart man. He will be missed.â€� – Vijay Singh “There’s fingerprints (of influence), and if Pete Dye doesn’t have one of the biggest, certainly in the last 50 years, I don’t know who would rival that. I was fortunate enough to play with him at Hilton Head, one of his gems, in the Pro-Am. It was me and Mr. Dye, Mr. Finchem, and I believe there was another executive of the TOUR. I believe Mr. Dye shot 78 or 79 that day in the Pro-Am and this was within the last 10-12 years for sure. Just hearing the stories, you know, what he did with this hole and that… it was awesome. It was just fantastic to see a golf artist on his canvas he made. Very special. Condolences to his family obviously. He’s a legend.â€� – Zach Johnson “He was an icon when it comes to golf course design. He was a guy who really made you uncomfortable the whole round. And he did it visually. He’d always make you think. He’s one of those guys that you respected him because he built some great golf courses but in the midst of playing them, you hated his guts.â€� – Brandt Snedeker

Click here to read the full article…

NAPLES, Fla. — Gary Woodland and Charley Hoffman shot an 8-under 64 in modified alternate-shot play Saturday for a share of the lead in the QBE Shootout. Woodland and Hoffman birdied the final three holes to match the teams of Emiliano Grillo-Graeme McDowell and Brian Harman-Patton Kizzire at 19-under 125, with a better-ball round left at Tiburon Golf Club. Grillo-McDowell and Harman-Kizzire, tied for lead with Bryson DeChambeau and Kevin Na at 59 after the first-round scramble, each shot 66. Na and DeChambeau were a stroke back after a 67. Luke List and Charles Howell III shot 66 to get to 17 under, and LPGA Tour player Lexi Thompson and Tony Finau were another stroke back after a 67. Defending champions Steve Stricker and Sean’ O’Hair were 15 under after a 67. NOTES Graeme McDowell/Emiliano Grillo (125/-19)  Birdies came at Nos. 2, 6, 8, and five-consecutive on Nos. 10-14. They took bogey at the par-4 third and par-4 15th  McDowell is making his seventh start in the QBE Shootout, with runner-up finishes in 2017 (Shane Lowry) and 2010 (Darren Clarke). Grillo is making his first start in the QBE Shootout  In five starts this season on the PGA TOUR, Grillo has collected three top-15 finishes, highlighted by a T2 at the CIMB Classic  In his most recent start this season on TOUR, McDowell finished T11 at The RSM Classic  The second-round lead/co-lead at the QBE Shootout has held up 17 of 29 times. The last 36-hole leaders/co-leaders to hold on for the win was Steve Stricker and Sean O’Hair last year  Eleven players have won the QBE Shootout in their first attempt: Mark O’Meara (1989), Curtis Strange (1989), Fred Couples (1990), Scott McCarron (1997), Hank Kuehne (2003), Rod Pampling (2006), Woody Austin (2007), Keegan Bradley (2011), Brendan Steele (2011), Harris English (2013) and Cameron Tringale (2014) Gary Woodland/Charley Hoffman (125/-19)  Team made birdies at 6-8, 10, 14 and 16-18 for an 8-under 64, the low round of the day  The lowest score in Modified Alternate Shot belongs to the 1990 team of Fred Couples and Raymond Floyd (57)  Woodland is making his fifth-consecutive start in the QBE Shootout, with last year’s T4 finish with Brendan Steele his best showing  Woodland is coming off a 2017-18 PGA TOUR Season which included a victory at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, his third career TOUR title. So far this season, he has amassed three top-10 finishes in five starts, highlighted by a solo-second at THE CJ CUP @ NINE Bridges  Hoffman is making his fourth start in the QBE Shootout, with T3s in 2015 (Daniel Berger) and 2016 (Billy Horschel) his best showings.  Horschel and Woodland are playing together for the second year (2016/T3) Patton Kizzire/Brian Harman (125/-19)  Birdies came at Nos. 6, 7, 10, 13, 15 and 17. A bogey at the par-3 eighth was offset in part by an eagle-3 at No. 14  While Kizzire is making his first QBE Shootout Start, Harman is making his second (w/ Pat Perez in 2017/T3) On the strength of PGA TOUR wins at the 2017 Mayakoba Golf Classic and 2018 Sony Open in Hawaii, Kizzire finished the 2017-18 season ranked 30th in the FedExCup standings Harman amassed a career-best eight top-10 finishes in 2017-18, good for a 48th-place finish in the FedExCup standings  In four starts this season, Kizzire’s best showing is T15 in his adopted hometown of Sea Island, GA at The RSM Classic. Harman, a Saint Simon’s Island, GA resident, also secured his best finish in four starts at The RSM Classic (T32) Miscellaneous Notes  With a win this week, Stricker and O’Hair would become the third team to successfully defend their QBE Shootout title; Brad Faxon/Scott McCarron (2000, 2001) and Jeff Sluman/Hank Kuehne (2003, 2004)  Founded by World Golf Hall of Fame Member Greg Norman in 1989, this week’s QBE Shootout marks the 30th playing of the event.  Tiburon Golf Club at The Ritz-Carlton Resort in Naples, Fla. has now been home to the QBE Shootout for 18 consecutive years (2001).  The 12 two-person teams were selected on the following criteria:  Defending champions  The top 12 available players from the 2017-18 FedExCup points list  10 special exemptions (a minimum of four come from the top 40 on the PGA TOUR career money list)  Competitors in the 2018 QBE Shootout have combined for 90 victories (80 on the PGA TOUR and 10 by Lexi Thompson on the LPGA).  Ten of the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking are in this week’s QBE Shootout, highlighted by Bryson DeChambeau at No. 5.  Players making their first start in the QBE Shootout: Cameron Champ (with Kevin Kisner), Kevin Na (with Bryson DeChambeau), Andrew Landry (with Luke Donald), Emiliano Grillo (with Graeme McDowell), Luke List (with Charles Howell III), Patton Kizzire (with Brian Harman) and Harold Varner III (with Bubba Watson).  Two former FedExCup champions are among the 24-player field: Brandt Snedeker (2012) and Billy Horschel (2014). Snedeker celebrated his 38th birthday during Saturday’s second round.

Click here to read the full article…