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MEXICO CITY – Justin Thomas felt tired in the legs as he stood up to begin preparations for the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship on Tuesday morning. He wasn’t worried. He’s not worried about losing a four-shot lead and finishing second to J.B. Holmes at the weather-interrupted Genesis Open last weekend, either, in case you were wondering. “It will bother me the rest of my life, 100 percent it will,â€� Thomas said at Club de Golf Chapultepec. “There are tournaments I didn’t win my rookie year that still bother me and that was a lot worse than that, so I’m sure that will bother me. But in terms of being over it, it’s done with.â€� Was he angry? No. “More shocked and upset,â€� he said. All those bogeys, the final-round 75, let his pursuers back in it, and Holmes (70) took advantage. They were among those forced to play 34 holes on Sunday, when gusts reached north of 30 mph. It caught up to Thomas on the greens, as he three-putted the 10th and 14th holes and four-putted the 13th. It was, to his point, a shocking result, what with Thomas having closed out six of eight tournaments in which he had at least a share of the 54-hole lead. “I feel like I know what I did,â€� he said. “I just didn’t — I played well, I just didn’t make the putts and I just made the mistakes that in the past that I usually don’t do when I’m playing with a lead.â€� Now it’s time to turn the page. Thomas has flirted with winning in Mexico. He was T5 two years ago, his week highlighted by a hole-in-one. And he lost to Phil Mickelson in extra holes last year, but not before hitting the shot of the tournament, a hole-out from the fairway on the last hole of regulation. He planned on only nine holes Tuesday, followed by rest and treatment for his legs, then maybe nine more Wednesday. The course has not changed, even if the sunny, 80-degree weather has. Thomas will take it after a dreary West Coast Swing punctuated by cold, wet and windy L.A. “Last week was one of the most bizarre weeks I’ve been a part of,â€� he said. “You don’t know what day it is, you don’t know what round you’re in, and it was a lot.â€� The scenery, the altitude, the newly allowed short pants in practice rounds (Thomas was not partaking Tuesday), the presence of Tiger Woods for the first time — all of these things will help him forget last week. Asked if he thinks more about his losses or his wins, Thomas said, “I hate to lose more than I like to win, if that answers the question.â€� He allowed there have been players whose careers might be derailed by a tough loss like the one he suffered at the Genesis. “But I would like to think I’m a little bit stronger than that,â€� he said, “that this isn’t going to have an impact on my career.â€� Given that Thomas, 25, already has nine TOUR wins, has won the FedExCup and a major, and has played in the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup, that seems very, very possible. Losing a late lead? Hey, it happens. “There’s a chance I could win this week,â€� he said, “and nobody would talk about it ever again.â€�

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HOUSTON — When devastating Hurricane Harvey and the resulting floods hit the Houston and Southeast Texas area this fall, World Golf Hall of Famer Mark O’Meara didn’t have to turn on the TV or check the Internet to see the destruction. All he had to do was go a half-mile down from his Houston home to see the flooding in person. “When it first happened, I didn’t know what to do,â€� O’Meara said. “With a storm this big, the healing and hope won’t happen overnight, but this will certainly help.â€� That’s why O’Meara joined more than a dozen PGA TOUR players — including event organizers and Houston residents Chris Stroud and Bobby Gates — to hold the Texas-sized Hurricane Harvey Relief charity tournament at Bluejack National Golf Club on Tuesday, with the goal to raise $1 million. With the PGA TOUR and players over-arching goal to serve as a charity conduit to help others, along with the Lone Star theme of “Everything is Bigger in Texas,â€� the two-day celebration that included a dinner and charity auction turned out to be quite a celebration of help and hope, surpassing the financial goal with $1.2 million raised. Stroud, who has been calling on his professional golfing friends to help for more than two months, said the devastation in his hometown served as the perfect reminder of people in need after his most successful seasons in 12 years as a PGA TOUR pro. “It was a huge reality check,â€� said Stroud, who collected his first PGA TOUR win in 2017 and earned more than $2 million in prize money. “The first thing I thought of when the hurricane hit was this could have been me or somebody in our family.â€� “The great thing is we can use our platform to raise money for our community. God has given us a talent and a platform to help others and this is our chance to do this for neighbors and friends.â€� Among players taking part in the day-long event at the first Tiger Woods-designed course in the U.S. were World Golf Hall of Fame member and former Masters winner Ben Crenshaw, PGA Championship winner Jimmy Walker, U.S. Open winner Hale Irwin, Ryder Cup veteran Patrick Reed and dozens of other players from the PGA TOUR and PGA TOUR Champions along with the LPGA, all with a strong Texas connection. The Houston Golf Association, which operates the Houston Open, along with Bluejack National management also stepped forward to help. “’I’m very proud to be a Texan. We had great friends who were in danger here,â€� Colleyville’s Ryan Palmer said. “With the chance to give back to fellow Texans, we have great friends, great events and great players to help out. “I want to see the impact of my work and what my work is doing. With the event being this close to home, I was happy to help. It was a no-brainer.â€� Fort Worth’s J.J. Henry said the outpouring of support for the Hurricane Harvey relief was part of the TOUR’s ongoing efforts to help others through a wide variety of charity programs. “I’m not sure everyone knows that the TOUR gives more money away to charity than all the other pro sports combined,â€� Henry said. “As Texas pro golfers, we are willing to do what we can to help out. It’s just the TOUR family coming together and being willing to help out.â€� “My wife grew up in Houston and while this didn’t affect our life personally, it really hit home with some of the people we know. The reality hit home, what can we do and what needs to be done here?â€� Along with some of his fellow TOUR competitors pitching in to help out at the Bluejack National course, Stroud also called on his good friend, Houston Astros owner Jim Crane, to come in and aid the cause. At Monday night’s pro-am pairings party, Crane delivered the Astros World Series Trophy, which was on prominent display for photos and visits. He also donated his private jet for a foursome to fly to his golf course in Florida, The Floridian, and brought a signed Astros Jersey from American League MVP winner Jose Altuve, which was one of the more coveted items in the silent auction. There was a wide variety of autographed memorabilia donated from the various golfers in the field along with a unique package with a two-person lesson and lunch with Bluejack course designer Woods. The silent and live auction raised nearly $600,000 — including $210,000 for the unique lesson and lunch with Woods. While the news cycle has moved on to other disasters and other stories, Stroud, who grew up in the Port Arthur area, went to school at Lamar University in Beaumont and now lives in North Houston, said the need is still great for many in his home area. “I know people who lost everything, who couldn’t afford basic needs. We were fortunate, but not everybody was,â€� he said. “I want to be able to look myself in the mirror and see what I am doing to help,â€� Palmer added. While the chore of collecting all the money could take weeks, and Stroud is preparing for his 2018 playing schedule, he said he’s already looking forward to the day when the money raised can be distributed to those in his area who can best use it. “My ultimate goal is to write 40 checks for $25,000 each to those who need it most,â€� he said. “I know there will be tears from people who receive them and I will be one of the ones crying as well.â€�

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AUGUSTA, Ga. – Tiger Woods got off to a bad start but averted disaster. After making four bogeys in his first five holes Friday, the five-time Masters champion steadied himself to sign for a 74 and is nine off the lead, tied for 19th place going into the weekend. “Well, it was windy,” Woods said. “It was swirling. Balls were oscillating on the greens. We got a couple of bad gusts. I hit a couple of bad shots. I hit a decent shot at 4 that ended up down in a divot, and it was just like – there were so many things that were not going my way. “It was partly the conditions,” he added, “and partly me.” Woods, 46, is making his first official PGA TOUR start in a year and a half, since his career was slowed by a fifth back surgery and nearly ended by a single-car accident in Los Angeles. He said surgeons contemplated amputating his right leg, which is a constant source of pain. Although he has walked with a limp at Augusta National, he’s still here. He easily made the cut for the 22nd straight time, which is one shy of the record held by Fred Couples and Gary Player. “It was a good fight,” Woods said. “I got back in the ball game.” And with a fused back and a weakened right leg, no less. After stumbling out of the gate, he told his caddie, Joe LaCava, that the goal was to get back to even par for the round. Woods had a chance after hitting a series of more characteristic shots, none better than his approach to kick-in range at the par-4 10th hole. But he failed to get up and down at the 15th hole and missed another birdie attempt from roughly 12 feet at the 16th. Still, the way he looked at it, he was just four shots out of second place. He also noted his excitement for the forecast Saturday – cold, windy – which could shake up the leaderboard. “I haven’t played a lot of tournaments of late,” Woods said, “so it’s been a little bit rusty, but I’m starting to come around. I felt good about how I fought back today and got myself – I could have easily kicked myself out of the tournament today, but I kept myself in it.” Joaquin Niemann (74, 1 under total), who played with Woods for the first two days, was impressed. “I think today, he hit it way better than yesterday,” Niemann said. “He looked great – amazing tee shots, some amazing iron shots. On 10 today, he was amazing. So, yeah, he’s still got it.”

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