All eyes on DJ and Spieth at Masters

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Will Zalatoris said it was the toughest decision he’s had to make in his golf career. But he knew that his working relationship with his caddie, Ryan Goble, who had “basically been my best friend for the last three years,” Zalatoris said, had become stagnant. So, after the two finished off a 66 in the second round of the Wyndham Championship, Zalatoris told Goble he was fired. “Ryan’s a brother for life,” Zalatoris said Saturday. “We’ve kind of had a rough month together and it was starting to affect our relationship. I know guys say that when they split, but it really was. We were guys that we would love to have dinner together and hang out and … what was going on on the course was starting bleed off the course and that’s not what you want. “He’s an incredible friend, I love him to death, and I told him I had to do what’s best for me.” Zalatoris asked his short game and putting coach, Josh Gregory, to fill in on the weekend, and Saturday’s result was a second-straight 66. The former Wake Forest All-American finished minutes before the second rain delay and will start the final round at 7 under. Zalatoris plans to have Joel Stock, who has caddied for Ben Crane, Kevin Tway and Cameron Tringale, work for him during the FedExCup Playoffs and beyond. The decision Zalatoris made was not a hasty one. He said that both he and Goble had “kind of sensed it for a little bit” and the frustration had carried over for the last month. He characterized Goble as “one of the funniest guys I know.” Zalatoris, who has runner-up finishes in three of the nine majors he’s played, including two this year, also left the door open for a future reunion. “Nothing’s permanent and we’ll kind of see how everything goes from here,” he said. Gregory, the former SMU and Augusta University coach who is based in Dallas where Zalatoris lives, called Saturday “one of the coolest days of my coaching career.” He knew how difficult it was for Zalatoris to fire Goble and he said the goal on Saturday was simply to have fun. “I feel awful, but Ryan Goble was first class the way he handled it,” Gregory said. “He’s been there with Will when Will was ranked over 1,000 in the world and now, he’s a top-15 player in the world and going to trend upwards. “So, (Ryan) will be very successful in the future, and he will land a great job and things are going to be good. And it’s going to be a win-win for both of them.” Playing well Saturday was a bonus, Gregory said, although the round started with a double bogey on the second hole after “one of the worst shots I’ve ever seen him hit.” Eight birdies followed, along with just two bogeys, and Zalatoris has another chance to pick up his first PGA TOUR victory. “I would guess that the lead’s probably going to be 13 or 14, maybe even higher, so I’m going to have to put up a pretty low one tomorrow to win this,” said Zalatoris, who came to Greensboro ranked No. 11 in the FedExCup. “Pretty good momentum obviously going forward to the next few weeks in the Playoffs.” Zalatoris called Gregory Friday evening to ask him to caddie on the weekend. The 47-year-old said he was glad to fill in and even happier he’d lost some weight recently – “otherwise I don’t think I would have made it in the heat,” joked Gregory, who toted the bag for another one of his students, Henrik Norlander, earlier this year at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. Gregory said he hoped he was able to bring a smile to Zalatoris’ face on Saturday, along with some conviction and positivity – like when the Texan made double at No. 2 and his coach just said, “let’s go see how many bridies we can make.” “We’ve had an awesome few years, and this was a tough day, tough week for him,” Gregory said. “You heard in his interviews how much he loves Ryan, and their relationship was amazing. It was time. He needed to make a change and selfishly for me to be there for him and give him a hug and, and tell him I love him. Our goal this weekend was to have fun.”

Click here to read the full article…

Click here to read the full article…

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — At some point, the green must come into view. It’s the flag lolling on the breeze or the sun glinting off the pin, but you can see it way down there in the distance, and so you move ever forward toward something meaningful. That was the message the PGA TOUR conveyed in announcing its newly rejiggered 2020 schedule, and that was the message TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan underlined as he spoke Friday to CNN, ABC World News Tonight and Good Morning America, The Dan Patrick Show, the TODAY Show, CNBC, and NBC’s Lunch Talk Live with Mike Tirico. Monahan addressed interviewers from a makeshift set in THE PLAYERS Championship media room foyer at the TOUR’s Headquarters. In a sign of the times, there was dais, no satellite truck, no teams of producers or A/V experts. Instead, he sat on a stool and spoke into an open laptop or via phone. It was a partly cloudy day, some golfers playing TPC Sawgrass outside, everyone adhering to social distancing protocols. “People were starving for inspiration,â€� Monahan said as he addressed the lineup of shows. “Golf provides that, and sports provide that. We’ve been working day and night with local, city, state and federal officials to determine the right sequence to come back in the safest and most responsible way possible for players, caddies and constituents.â€� Feedback has been positive, no surprise. Players had buy-in; Monahan estimated there have been 10 conference calls with the PGA TOUR Policy Board and Player Advisory Council. If the new schedule holds, the Charles Schwab Challenge, June 11-14, will restart a condensed season that now will feature 36 tournaments instead of the original 49, the first four of which (at minimum) will be played without fans. That’s uncharted territory for the TOUR. Of course the COVID-19 crisis could have other ideas. Testing will play an important role; Monahan said he expects to have protocols in place by the time play resumes. Given how the ground has shifted over the last two months, though, it’s hard to predict where we’ll be in June. “We’re going to have an open mind,â€� he said. Since the cancellation of THE PLAYERS Championship on March 12, and suspension of the season, players have given online cooking shows (Anirban Lahiri), delved into gaming (Bryson DeChambeau and others), and played left-handed golf (Justin Thomas, Rickie Fowler, Brooks Koepka). Several contributed to a video for PGA TOUR fans. They just haven’t played tournament golf. Fans, meanwhile, have sought refuge in old tournament telecasts, and everyone has wondered where and when they’ll get their next haircut. Now, after daily meetings of the TOUR’s crisis-management team, plus coordination with the PGA of America, Augusta National Golf Club, the USGA, The R&A, the European Tour and the LPGA, there’s actual live golf scheduled for the not-too-distant future. That, in itself, is reason for optimism. “I love that the @pgatour put something out there,â€� FedExCup No. 2 Justin Thomas wrote, in part, on Instagram. “If it happens or not is an unknown since everyone’s safety remains the top priority, but to have them put the effort to show us a plan is great. “I’d rather have something to look forward to,â€� he added, “understanding it may change, than look back and say, ‘Wow I wish we would have had a plan if things got better.’â€� Golf could lead the way back; the TOUR is the first major sports organization to announce its planned return. That’s perhaps no surprise; as Monahan pointed out in making the media rounds, “Our sport lends itself more than any other sport to social distancing.â€� Several interviewers asked him about being part of the Presidential Council to reopen the country, to which Monahan said, “It’s an honor to be invited to be part of it. There aren’t too many times when people come together within and outside of our industry to problem-solve.â€� To understand what was required of golf’s governing bodies, consider that the RBC Heritage – originally scheduled for this week – is now where the U.S. Open used to be, June 18-21. The U.S. Open at Winged Foot is now scheduled for Sept. 17-20, which technically will be the second event of the 2020-21 (wraparound) FedExCup season. The Masters, which would have crowned its champion last Sunday, is slated for Nov. 12-15, after the Houston Open (at least that looks familiar) and before The RSM Classic (not familiar). The PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park, which went from August to May for the first time last season, was bumped back to August (6-9) again. And that’s just for starters. Every season is a jigsaw puzzle, but the coronavirus pandemic tipped the table over so that exactly half the pieces were dislodged and dangling by a thread. (Scribes were already preparing their mid-season reports.) Restoring order was – and remains – complicated. What’s more, Monahan added, the TOUR has 93 players from 28 countries and territories to take into consideration. Of those, 25 players – plus approximately 35 caddies – are currently outside the United States, with travel restrictions and border closures to consider as players determine their ability to play the Charles Schwab Challenge and beyond. That’s a lot of moving parts, and June 11 is a long way off. Things could change yet again. “This will be something we will continue to have to monitor, market to market,â€� Monahan said. “If change is called for, then we have to be open to change as it relates to health and safety.â€� Medical professionals. Testing protocols. Local, state and federal guidelines and regulations. Travel restrictions. The governing bodies. Individual tournaments. Broadcast partners. More than 3,000 charities. Other than that, there’s not much to think about. But the green is starting to come into view, the flag is waving in the distance, and that matters whether or not we have the exact yardage right.

Click here to read the full article…