Andrew Landry enjoys maiden victory in 32nd PGA TOUR start

When Dylan Frittelli heard the news, he was more than a little impressed. John Deere, the company that sponsors the PGA TOUR event he won last year, had switched gears – quite literally — and started making face shields to protect healthcare workers along with all those iconic green tractors and all that heavy machinery at its flagship factory in Moline, Illinois. So far, John Deere has manufactured more than 200,000 of the shields and plans to double that number in the coming weeks. The first orders went to healthcare workers in areas where Deere employees live, but deliveries have now been made to more than a dozen states and Canadian provinces. “I think it’s awesome,â€� Frittelli says. “And technology-wise, I’m very interested. It’s cool — how did they figure out that they could do it and then cool in the sense that they’re obviously trying to help the cause and protect people and do what they can to speed up the containment and elimination of the virus.â€� Frittelli was in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, at THE PLAYERS Championship when the sports world abruptly shut down after an NBA player tested positive for the coronavirus. First, the TOUR announced its signature event would go on without spectators. Less than 12 hours later, it was canceled. Subsequent announcements, including the postponement of the first three major championships and the cancellation of the Open Championship, meant no tournaments until at least June 11 with the scheduled Charles Schwab Challenge. The first four events will be played without fans. The fifth is the John Deere Classic at TPC Deere Run, where Frittelli came from two strokes off the pace on Sunday and ended up winning by three after closing with a 64. The tournament is slated for its original July 9-12 dates and could be the first to host spectators, although health and safety issues will be evaluated before a final decision is made. Frittelli says this is the longest break from golf that he’s had since graduating from Texas in 2012 with a degree in geography. While mindful of the reason behind it, the well-traveled South African has made the most of the time he’s had at home. “I’ve enjoyed it to be honest,â€� says Frittelli, currently 50th in the FedExCup standings. “The beginning was a little tough, but after the first week my trainer was back in town and he’d built a gym in his garage. It made it way easier for me to relax and chill because I was actually burning calories and getting stronger in the gym and I had something to do for an hour to two hours a day. That helped a lot.â€� The 29-year-old didn’t start playing golf again until late April. He wanted the work he’d done in the weight room to settle in before working too much on the practice range. “And also, you swing a golf club, it does mess up your back and your neck and you do get out of alignment often,â€� Frittelli explains. “So, I just thought, hey, I’d rather be way more symmetrical and feel more consistent when I stay away from the golf. “So, I’ll balance a bit of that heavy lifting, do some recovery and be ready.â€� Frittelli also took time to decompress. He did some projects around the house, cleaning out closets and drawers and the garage, as well as adding some lights outside. Nothing particularly major — “just made sure the space I was in was a nice, happy, comfortable place,â€� he says. Always searching for that “edge and new techniquesâ€� that can help him with training and on the golf course, Frittelli read several performance-based books. But at the same time, he finished “Where The Crawdads Sing,â€� the best-selling novel by Delia Owens. And of course, there’s been some binge-watching. He knocked out “Tiger Kingâ€� on Netflix in a day and has also watched “WE ARE LAFC,â€� the 10-part all-access documentary series about the inaugural season of the Los Angeles Football Club. And a little “Brooklyn 99â€� for comic relief. “(The LAFC series) was really interesting,â€� he says. “Kind of a bit of research for me because the new Austin team is starting next season. They’ve already built most of the stadium now.â€� While restaurants were open for takeout and delivery in Austin, Frittelli has done most of the cooking for himself. He wants to eat healthy to make sure that the work he’s put in with his trainer to get bigger and stronger doesn’t go by the wayside. An air fryer is a key component of that process. Salmon and chicken are his go-to proteins while he gets his vegetables in salads and carbs from sweet potatoes, potatoes or rice. “Then tons of supplements, protein shakes and all kinds of added in things just to try and build some mass,â€� he says. Now that he’s back playing and practicing, Frittelli can often be found at UT Golf Club. His roommate, Toni Hakula, who was two years behind Frittelli at Texas, plays PGA TOUR LatinoAmerica, and they frequently play with another former Longhorn, Tayler Termeer, who now plays the mini-tours. Austin is home to a lot of other TOUR pros like Andrew Landry, Nick Watney and Sergio Garcia, though. PGA TOUR Champions is also well-represented with Mark Brooks, Omar Uresti, Tom Kite, Ben Crenshaw and Bob Estes also in the neighborhood. So, when the urge for competition strikes, there are lots of options. “That’ll be my main focus, just chatting to a few guys on TOUR that are here in town and just getting some money games, playing with them leading into that first event,â€� he says.

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As the pandemic hopefully continues to slow down the TOUR speeds up as it returns to the Tokyo suburbs for the first time since 2019 for the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP. The invitational field of 78 players will navigate Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club for the second time in three years. The debut event in 2019 was conquered in the wee hours of the morning in the States by Tiger Woods for career win No. 82. Sadly, Woods is still recovering from serious injuries from a February car crash and won’t be able to defend. The 2020 event was played at Sherwood Country Club in Los Angeles and won’t provide any angle for this year’s edition. Playing to Par-70 and 7,041 yards Narashino Country Club saw only nine players post 10-under or better during the maiden voyage. An interesting mix of FIVE Par-3 holes and THREE Par-5 holes is unusual for Par-70 track. So are having two greens on EVERY hole. Rob Bolton does an excellent job of explaining why that is the case. In the first edition the course played well over par (71.55) on Thursday before lift, clean and replace dropped the average after a deluge on Friday (68.31). Fairways will be difficult to find so approach and recovery shots will be the order of the week. The soft conditions of 2019, 10 inches of rain, won’t be replicated so it will be interesting how firm it will or will not play. First time contestants won’t have trusty green maps to rely on from the past edition and will have to learn on the fly. There were only 16 bogey-free rounds in the first edition. Summer Olympians returning to the Land of the Rising Sun will know some of the tricks to alleviate jet lag and culture shock. On the line is a purse of $9.95 million with the winner taking home $1.791 million plus 500 FedExCup points. Recent Event Winners 2019: Tiger Woods (-19, 261; not entered) KEY STAT LEADERS Top golfers in each statistic on the PGA TOUR (thru 2021 season) are listed only if they are scheduled to compete this week. Horses for Courses – 2019 ZOZO FINISHERS

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Brooks Koepka appears to open the door with a lackluster front nine, then slams it shut with a 29 on the back for a final-round 64 and a four-shot victory over Gary Woodland (63) at THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES. Welcome to the Monday Finish, where Koepka, fresh off being named Player of the Year last season, began the new season in fitting fashion with his fifth PGA TOUR victory, this one propelling him to the No. 1 world ranking. FIVE OBSERVATIONS 1. Koepka uses all 18 holes. Jack Nicklaus, who surprised Koepka with his Player of the Year trophy recently, was a master at biding his time and trusting that even if he didn’t start well, the birdies would come. Koepka took a page from that book in winning THE CJ CUP, where he bogeyed two of the first four holes and was caught at the turn by a surging Woodland (6-under 30 on the front nine). Koepka’s response, a blazing, 7-under 29 on the back, left no unanswered questions. “I’m not somebody that’s going to panic if things go the wrong way, pretty sure everybody can tell that,â€� Koepka said after hitting the after-burners to win. “I just kind of hang in there, wait for my holes, I know I’m going to have some good looks and when I do, you’ve got to capitalize on them.â€� 2. It was hard to find fault with Woodland’s 11 birdies in the final round. His first round, though, was a 1-over 73 that immediately set him on his heels. Right away, Woodland was five off the lead (Chez Reavie) and two behind eventual winner Koepka. “Thursday was so tough,â€� said Woodland, whose most recent victory came at last season’s Waste Management Phoenix Open. “But the last couple days I really had it going.â€� This wasn’t the first time Koepka and Woodland have clashed. They were paired together in the third round of the PGA Championship at Bellerive, with Koepka (66, on the way to his second W last season) getting the better of Woodland (71, T6) then, as well. “Brooks with the lead, not much fazes him,â€� Woodland said, “so you knew you had to make a lot of birdies and I made lot today, but I was just too far behind.â€� 3. The first round was all about survival. Players were caught off guard by the cold weather, with Scott Piercy (a lined hat, with ear flaps) among those who scrambled to buy warmer gear. How hard was it? There were no bogey-free rounds Thursday, but 21 the rest of the way. The first-round stroke average of 73.269 was by far the highest of the week, and in fact the course got easier each day, with the field average down to 69.410 by Sunday’s final round. 4. Ryan Palmer won’t soon forget the final round for many reasons, one of them personal. The Texan birdied his final seven holes for a tournament-record 62, and did not make a bogey, but he played with a heavy heart. Palmer wore a late friend’s initials on his cap, and tapped his chest and pointed to the sky after making his final birdie of the day on 18. “Yeah, we lost a good friend of ours,â€� Palmer said. “A lifelong friend, Dan Callahan, passed away earlier this week, fight with cancer he’s been fighting the last year and a half or so. Then the last couple weeks we knew he was going down that road and he went into hospice about a week ago and it was Monday or Tuesday we found out he passed. “His funeral’s Friday back in Florida,â€� Palmer continued, “and they’re going to have something back in Amarillo where we all grew up here in a couple weeks, I think. That’s the DC that you see on my hat. Yeah, he’s going to be missed.â€� 5. Only one player took home the trophy, but several players walked away from Nine Bridges whistling a happy tune. The 568-yard, par-5 18th hole gave up final-round eagles to Koepka, Chez Reavie, Cam Smith, Adam Scott, Keith Mitchel, Danny Willett, Kevin Chappell, Brice Garnett, Brian Stuard, Brian Gay, Hyungjoon Lee. The finisher gave up 11 eagles total, compared to just five on the rest of the course combined, and was so easy that Palmer said he’d like to have a do-over after merely making a birdie. FIVE INSIGHTS 1. Koepka’s victory marked the second consecutive year in which the reigning PGA TOUR Player of the Year won THE CJ CUP. Justin Thomas won last year. Koepka was T42 in fairways hit (73.2 percent), T23 in Greens in Regulation (77.8 percent), and T5 in Putts (1.60). 2. In moving to 3rd in the FedExCup and No. 1 in the world, Koepka proved not only one of the hottest players on TOUR (he’s won three times in his last 11 starts) but also one of the most well-traveled. He now has 12 professional victories in seven different countries. 3. Koepka and runner-up Woodland each made two bogeys, but struggled or flat-lined in different places on the course. The result: Their best-ball score Sunday was 14-under 58. 4. Ryan Palmer’s seven straight birdies from holes 12-18 made him the 18th different player to post seven straight birdies on TOUR since the start of 2012. The last player to make eight straight was Chris Stroud in the second round of the 2011 OHL Classic at Mayakoba. Two players, Kiradech Aphibarnrat and Lanto Griffin, made seven straight last season.  5. Kevin Tway (T52) gave up FedExCup pole position to Marc Leishman (66, T18). Justin Rose, the newly-minted FedExCup champion, did not play but starts his TOUR season this week at the World Golf Championship-HSBC Champions, where he won a year ago.

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