A moment of silence that speaks volumes

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JACKSON, Miss. – Ryan Armour arrived at Aronimink Golf Club’s first tee last month for a round with a familiar opponent. “It’s about time,â€� the man said to Armour. He wasn’t late. It was a reference to the decades that had passed between their rounds together. That other player was Tiger Woods. Armour and Woods are forever linked by their meeting in the final of the 1993 U.S. Junior Amateur (I don’t need to tell you who won). They played together just one other time, at a college tournament, in the quarter-century between their meeting at Oregon’s Waverley Country Club and the third round of this year’s BMW Championship. Woods was two weeks away from winning his 80th PGA TOUR title. Armour finally got his first victory earlier in the season, at the Sanderson Farms Championship. Armour is back at the Country Club of Jackson this week to defend that maiden title. He arrived after an intercontinental commute from South Korea, where he competed in THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES. The spots in two of the PGA TOUR’s limited-field events in Asia, where the paychecks and FedExCup points are guaranteed, were among the myriad rewards that came from Armour’s career-changing season. He finished 49th in last year’s FedExCup after his Sanderson win and runner-up finish at the Quicken Loans National. He was in the top 30 of the FedExCup standings as late as July and began the Playoffs ranked 39th. He advanced past the first Playoffs event for the first time in his career, making it to the BMW Championship before bowing out. “There were a lot of firsts,â€� Armour said. He took his family to Maui for the Sentry Tournament of Champions. He played the first two majors of his career, The Open Championship and PGA Championship. Then he started this season with trips to Malaysia for the CIMB Classic (T33) and South Korea for THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES (T29). This week’s jet lag may be the only negative effect of his newfound success. Armour woke up shortly after midnight Wednesday. He headed to the hotel gym two-and-a-half hours later, after it became obvious that he wasn’t headed back to sleep, knocking out a six-mile run on the treadmill. Only three men – Armour, Brian Stuard and Sungjae Im, the Web.com Tour Player of the Year – made the trip from South Korea to the Deep South. Armour wasn’t going to miss his first title defense. Not after waiting 41 years to lift a trophy on the PGA TOUR. “You put a lot of work in, as all of us do, and to finally reap the benefits of all that hard work and sacrifice that your wife and kids give up, not just yourself, it’s definitely gratifying,â€� he said. He shot 19-under 269 at the Country Club of Jackson to finish five shots ahead of Chesson Hadley, who was the top player on last year’s Web.com Tour. Armour made it look easy. He started Sunday with a five-shot lead, then birdied three of the first seven holes en route to a final-round 68. His path to the winner’s circle was anything but. He’d played just four seasons on TOUR before last year, finishing in the top 10 just four times. He’d considered quitting the game, especially when his trademark accuracy left him in 2012 and 2013. “I really didn’t know what I was doing, I mean, golf-wise,â€� he said. “I was hitting it so poorly. For me to start driving it off line, I mean, I can’t compete if I drive it off line.â€� Instead of hanging it up, he told instructor Jason Carbone to implement any changes necessary to make him better. Three years later, Armour won on the Web.com Tour for his first victory in a PGA TOUR-sanctioned event. It came a month before his 40th birthday. “There was no light switch,â€� Armour said. “I wish I could think of this one time that something happened, but it really was a process of just being fed up with being average and going to my teacher and putting all the kind of faith in him. Saying, ‘Hey, make me better. If you want me to do something that’s going to take time, I’ll give you that time.’â€� He translated that Web.com Tour victory into a PGA TOUR card for the 2016-17 season. He finished 159th in the FedExCup, then regained his card via the Web.com Tour Finals. He finished second in the Nationwide Children’s Hospital at the same Ohio State University Golf Club where he played his college golf. He won in Mississippi just a few weeks later. His career hasn’t been the same since.

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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – PGA TOUR and CJ Group officials today announced that THE CJ CUP will be contested at Congaree Golf Club in Ridgeland, South Carolina, the week of Oct. 17-23, 2022. The tournament name will be changed to THE CJ CUP in South Carolina. The tournament was launched as Korea’s first official PGA TOUR tournament in 2017 and was played for three consecutive years at Nine Bridges on Jeju Island before being relocated to the U.S. due to the challenges of COVID-19. This will be the first time THE CJ CUP will be played in the Southeast region of the U.S. following the staging of the tournament in Las Vegas, first at Shadow Creek Golf Course in 2020 and The Summit Club last year. “Thanks to the tremendous commitment from CJ Group, the PGA TOUR is thrilled to bring THE CJ CUP in South Carolina to the United States this October,” said Christian Hardy, the PGA TOUR’s Senior Vice President, International. “This event has provided a great platform on which to showcase golf’s top Korean players, and we are confident that Congaree will once again serve as a fantastic venue for hosting one of the TOUR’s premier tournaments.” THE CJ CUP in South Carolina will feature a 78-man field comprised of five players designated by the Korea Professional Golfers’ Association (KPGA), as well as the top-3 available players of Korean nationality from the Official World Golf Ranking as part of CJ Group’s vision to support the development of professional golf in Korea. The remainder of the field will be made up of the leading players from the 2021-22 FedExCup points list and sponsor exemptions. There will be no 36-hole cut. “We are excited to host THE CJ CUP at Congaree this October. Over the last five years, our tournament has established itself on the PGA TOUR through the caliber of champions who have emerged, and we are also proud the tournament has been well received by players, thanks especially to our bibigo chefs who help deliver an amazing dining experience on site,” said Wookho Kyeong, Chief Marketing Officer of CJ Group. “We look forward to engaging with our fans in a new region and celebrating another fantastic week of golf.” Congaree, a Tom Fazio design, is located about an hour northwest of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. The club, which debuted at No. 39 in Golf Digest’s America’s 100 Greatest Golf Courses last May, hosted the PGA TOUR’s Palmetto Championship at Congaree in June of 2021, won by South African Garrick Higgo. The course was built to challenge the world’s top golfers and has earned widespread praise among PGA TOUR players. Congaree was founded with a philanthropic mission to positively impact the lives of young people through the game of golf. The Congaree Foundation supports a number of educational and vocational initiatives within its local community and internationally through the Congaree Global Golf Initiative. Instead of members, the club invites “ambassadors” to join who are passionate about supporting Congaree Foundation’s philanthropic programs and becoming personally involved through a shared devotion to the game and giving their time to mentorship opportunities. “It’s a privilege to welcome THE CJ CUP to South Carolina and Congaree. From day one, our steadfast belief has been that Congaree can be a conduit to make a difference in the lives of young people locally and around the world,” said Dan Friedkin, founder of Congaree. “In addition to providing a significant economic impact for the state, THE CJ CUP will enable Congaree Foundation to give back to youth in the Lowcountry and beyond in even more meaningful ways.” THE CJ CUP in South Carolina will be held in partnership with The State of South Carolina, which also supported the Palmetto Championship. With more than 300 courses and an annual economic impact in the billions, golf is one of the most important markets in South Carolina’s tourism industry. THE CJ CUP in South Carolina joins the list of other significant tournaments in South Carolina in 2022, including the annual RBC Heritage on Hilton Head Island, and the Korn Ferry Tour’s BMW Charity Pro-Am presented by SYNNEX Corporation in Greenville. “In 2021, South Carolina caught the eye of the golf world by hosting three highly successful tournaments in the PGA Championship at the Ocean Course, the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links, and the Palmetto Championship at Congaree Golf Club,” said South Carolina Governor, Henry McMaster. “This success, coupled with the rapidly growing popularity of golf in our state, has made South Carolina a top destination for major golf events. We look forward to continuing to grow this reputation with THE CJ CUP in South Carolina and beyond.” Tickets, volunteer opportunities and additional tournament news regarding THE CJ CUP in South Carolina will be released soon. For more information on the event, please visit PGATOUR.COM.

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