A Golden Bear, Tiger and a Mouse: Celebrating 50 years of Walt Disney World Golf

Tiger Woods tees it up for the first time since his momentous Masters triumph – and subsequent Presidential Medal of Freedom – as the PGA Championship raises the curtain on its new May date, with Bethpage Black serving as host. Brooks Koepka makes the first of his two major title defenses in 2019, seeking to become the PGA’s first back-to-back champion since Woods in 2006-07. Jordan Spieth, meantime, makes his third run at completing the career Grand Slam. FIELD NOTES: Phil Mickelson, runner-up at both U.S. Opens held at Bethpage Black (2002, 2009), is set for his 102nd major start since turning professional. … One spot in the field remains for the winner of this week’s AT&T Byron Nelson, if not already qualified. … The field includes 69 international players, representing 27 different nations. … All but two of the top 65 in the FedExCup standings have entered, missing only No. 59 Patrick Rodgers and No. 64 J.T. Poston. … The lineup also includes the top 20 finishers from the PGA Professional Championship earlier this month. FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 600 points. STORYLINES: Woods, with that elusive 15th major title finally in the bag, now goes after a 16th on a Bethpage Black layout where he won the 2002 U.S. Open. He has not hit a competitive shot since leaving Augusta, opting for rest instead of his usual start at Quail Hollow. … Koepka seeks a fourth major title in a 23-month span, coming off a runner-up finish to Woods at Augusta. He’s finished outside the top 15 in a major just once in that stretch. … A Spieth victory would make him just the sixth to accomplish the career Grand Slam, and second-youngest to do it after Woods. However, he’s still in search of his first top-20 finish of 2019. … With the move to May, the PGA Championship ventures outside the July-August window for just the second time in 70 years. The other came in 1971, played in February in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. … The top 60 in the world rankings after Sunday’s finish receive automatic berths into next month’s U.S. Open. No. 60 Sungjae Im is on the bubble; Emiliano Grillo (61st) and Chez Reavie (63rd) are trying to move in. COURSE: Bethpage State Park (Black), 7,432 yards, par 70. Taking its third bow on the major championship stage, the 1936 A.W. Tillinghast gem was a bit of a New York secret until the 2002 U.S. Open. Woods won that crown, posting the only under-par score of the tournament, and Lucas Glover captured a rain-soaked U.S. Open upon its return in 2009. Since then, the Black Course has become part of THE NORTHERN TRUST rotation with host duties in 2012 and ’16. A famous sign greets golfers near the first tee warning only “highly skilled� golfers should play the Black, and its reputation attracted pros such as Sam Snead, Gene Sarazen and Byron Nelson early on for a trial. Snead famously called it “an unfair test� after beating Nelson in a 1940 exhibition. The 2024 Ryder Cup will be contested at Bethpage Black. 72-HOLE RECORD: 264, Brooks Koepka (2018 at Bellerive CC). 18-HOLE RECORD: 63, Bruce Crampton (2nd round, 1975 at Firestone CC), Raymond Floyd (1st round, 1982 at Southern Hills), Gary Player (2nd round, 1984 at Shoal Creek), Michael Bradley (1st round, 1993 at Inverness), Vijay Singh (2nd round, 1993 at Inverness), Brad Faxon (4th round, 1995 at Riviera CC), José María Olazábal (3rd round, 2000 at Valhalla), Mark O’Meara (2nd round, 2001 at Atlanta AC), Thomas Bjorn (3rd round, 2005 at Baltusrol), Tiger Woods (2nd round, 2007 at Southern Hills), Steve Stricker (1st round, 2011 at Atlanta AC), Jason Dufner (2nd round, 2013 at Oak Hill), Hiroshi Iwata (2nd round, 2015 at Whistling Straits), Robert Streb (2nd round, 2016 at Baltusrol), Brooks Koepka (2nd round, 2018 at Bellerive), Charl Schwartzel (2nd round, 2018 at Bellerive). LAST YEAR: Koepka became a major champion for the third time in 14 months, posting a record-setting performance to hold off Woods’ electrifying Sunday at Bellerive. With cheers for the resurgent Woods ringing out across the terrain, Koepka took control with three straight birdies to end the front nine and added two more at Nos. 15 and 16 to open enough cushion. He finished with a 4-under-par 66, and his total of 264 matched Henrik Stenson’s week at the 2016 Open Championship. Paired with his two U.S. Open titles, Koepka became just the fifth man to capture three majors before the age of 30. Woods finished two shots back after a 64, his best final round in any major. HOW TO FOLLOW TELEVISION: Thursday, 1-7 p.m. ET (TNT). Friday, 1-7:30 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. (TNT), 2-7 p.m. (CBS). PGA TOUR LIVE: None. RADIO: Thursday-Friday, noon-8 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 1-7 p.m. (SiriusXM).

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Editor’s note: In a non-coronavirus world, Bill Self might have been coaching in Monday’s NCAA championship final while Gary Woodland definitely would’ve been prepping for his eighth Masters start. But with March Madness canceled and the Masters postponed, both are now staying at home like the rest of us. Helen Ross reports on the unique connection between the Jayhawks head coach and the former Kansas golfer. The Waste Management Phoenix Open earlier this year admittedly wasn’t one of Gary Woodland’s best. Over the course of four rounds, he hit seven balls in the water and another landed out-of-bounds. A day after the tournament concluded, though, Woodland was in Allen Fieldhouse to watch his beloved Kansas Jayhawks take on Texas. That tie for 40th at TPC Scottsdale was the last thing on his mind. That is, until he ran into Kansas coach Bill Self, who couldn’t resist reminding Woodland of all the errant shots. “He knows everything I do,â€� the reigning U.S. Open champion says with a chuckle. “He’s on ShotTracker every day. So, if I’m messing up, there’s usually a text coming my way. … I flew home the next day for a basketball game and that’s the first thing he says. “So he keeps up on me. He’s hard on me, so I need to make sure I play well, so I don’t hear from him.â€� Actually, Woodland enjoys hearing from Self, who left Illinois and took over the Kansas program in 2003, which the same year Woodland transferred and started playing golf for the Jayhawks. If he’d had his druthers, though, Woodland would have loved to play basketball at KU. And he did. Once. Only, it was an exhibition game at Allen Fieldhouse and Woodland, a freshman, was playing for NCAA Division II powerhouse Washburn University. Suffice it to say, the Ichabods were no match for the Jayhawks, who were ranked No. 1 in the country at the time. Ditto for the 6-foot-1 Woodland, who was guarding Kirk Hinrich, who went on to play 15 seasons in the NBA. “(It was) like, OK, I need to find something else, because this ain’t gonna work,â€� recalls Woodland, who went on to average 6 points and make 38 of 120 shots from three-point range that season. Golf was the fallback plan. When he was an undergrad, Woodland used to see Self around campus and remembers being somewhat intimidated. “Especially when I was in school, you see him walking down the hallway, you kind of say ‘Hi,’ and put your head down and move on,â€� Woodland says. “But he’s such a down-to-earth guy. He’s such a good guy and loves to have a good time, loves to talk. “And so now that I know him, he’s a text message or phone call away all the time.â€� The friendship blossomed when the two ran into each other at a movie theater shortly after Woodland, who remains a die-hard Jayhawk fan, graduated in 2007 with a degree in sociology. “He said, ‘Hey, I want to play golf with you before you leave town,’â€� Woodland recalls. “So, that was really the first conversation I really ever had with them. We went out and played golf together and we became good friends since then. “He’s been a great person for me, too, if I need advice. He’s somebody I can call, and he tells me how it is. He treats me, I would say, like one of his players, no sugar-coating anything. So, he’s a good person to have.â€� For his part, Self – whose Jayhawks were ranked No. 1 when the NCAA canceled this year’s tournament due to the coronavirus pandemic — says he’s enjoyed watching the way Woodland’s golf game has evolved. “I don’t know enough about golf to text specifics,â€� Self says. “I’m following because he can be two different players to me. He can be unbelievably consistent where he’s making a ton of pars. And then when he gets hot, he can make as many birdies as anybody. “But with that, he can also have as many doubles as anybody, too. So, he used to just hit it a mile, and now that he doesn’t hit it quite as far, he’s certainly scoring better because he’s hitting more greens because he’s playing out of the fairway more.â€� Self, who says he is about a 10 handicap, has been playing golf since he was in junior high school. Ball-striking used to be the best part of his game, but the coach says he isn’t sure what his strength is any more. “He’s actually pretty good.,â€� Woodland says. “He’s getting better. He hits it a long way. He’s not as good as he thinks he is, but he loves it. He has a great time. It’s a little hard, he’s got so many camps during the summer, but we definitely sneak out every year, which is fun.â€� And when the two play, Woodland gives Self a stroke a hole. “But he thinks he’s a lot better than that,â€� Woodland says with a grin. “I just do it just to be nice.â€� “I’m not competitive with him at all,â€� Self acknowledges. “I’m a competitor, I’m competitive, but not with him. And that’s a whole different level.â€� The Kansas coach is well- aware of Woodland’s basketball past, though. He was all-state in high school and a member of two state championship teams. Long-range shooting was one of Woodland’s fortes. Not that the 35-year-old golfer and the 57-year-old coach will be playing a game of H-O-R-S-E any time soon. “I do know he can shoot but at my age, I gave up playing pickup 15 years ago,â€� Self says.

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Eddie Pepperell says he had a little too much to drink the night before his final round at the Open Championship.

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