‘Angry’ ex-coach pins Ko’s fall on her parents 

Tiger at Torrey – always a nice mid-January gift for PGA TOUR fans. Tiger Woods has won the Famers Insurance Open seven times (and won another tournament at Torrey Pines South in the summer of 2008. You may have heard about it). If he wins Farmers for an eighth time this week, he’ll break his tie with Sam Snead and hold the record for most career wins in TOUR history at 83. Plenty of notables hope to spoil the party, of course. RELATED: Tee times | Power Rankings | Tiger eying No. 83 THREE PLAYERS TO PONDER THE FLYOVER The 570-yard par-5 18th was not the easiest hole, via stroke average, at Torrey Pines South last year. But it did yield the most birdies of any hole, and it has a habit of producing dramatic moments. It can also bite players if they’re not careful. In 1975, Bruce Devlin made a 10 after finding the water – now called “Devlin’s Billabongâ€� in front of the green. In renovating the South course, Rees Jones regarded the slope to the water and also expanded the surface area in front of the green. LANDING ZONE Say hello to the second hardest hole on the PGA TOUR last season – the 505-yard par-4 12th at Torrey Pines South. A year ago, it played to a stroke average of 0.387 over par; the only hole more difficult was the par-4 ninth at Sheshan International, site of the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions, playing to a stroke average of 0.435 over par. At the 12th last year, nearly as many double bogeys (16) were made as birdies (22). Have to hit it straight; if you don’t find the fairway, you’re probably not going to make par on this brute of a hole. WEATHER CHECK From PGA TOUR meteorologist Stewart Williams: “Can’t rule out some patchy fog Thursday morning. Otherwise, off-shore flow will return Thursday through Saturday, providing partly to mostly sunny skies and warmer temperatures in the mid- to upper-60s. On-shore flow will return Saturday evening into Sunday as a trough of low pressure approaches Southern California. This will provide cooler temperatures Sunday and maybe the chance for a few light showers late Sunday night into early Monday morning.â€� For the latest weather news from San Diego, check out the PGA TOUR weather Hub. SOUND CHECK It always feels good to be back here. It’s one of my favorite venues on TOUR, South course, one of my favorite golf courses in the world. And extra special I guess after playing so well last year, me being defending champion BY THE NUMBERS 176 under – Total score to par by Tiger Woods at the Farmers Insurance Open. It’s his best combined score in relation to par at any event he’s played on the PGA TOUR. 16 – Consecutive cuts made by Collin Morikawa, tied for the second-longest active cuts made streak on TOUR. (Tommy Fleetwood has the active longest streak at 31.) 16 – Top-10 finishes by Rory McIlroy since the start of the 2018-19 season, most of any player. 30 – Starts, including this week, by Phil Mickelson at the Farmers Insurance Open. That’s the third most in tournament history. 604 under – Mickelson’s combined score to par in California, second-best of any player in the last 37 years. 7,765 – Scorecard yardage for the South course, which is 67 yards longer than 2019 when the course was listed as the longest on TOUR last season. SCATTERSHOTS South changes: Rees Jones was brought in to lead the renovations made to the South Course, which will host the 2021 U.S. Open. Among the changes: • Rebuilding all bunkers, leveling and re-grassing all tournament tees, and re-grassing approaches and green collars • Modifying fairway bunkers on holes 1, 4, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13 and 17 • Hole 4 – Tee and fairway shifted towards the cliffs; size of front greenside bunker reduced • Hole 9 – Bunker in second landing zone brought in to act as cross bunker; new collection area added behind the green • Hole 10 – New tournament tee added to provide yardage flexibility; fairway bunkers moved inward to create options. • Hole 13 – New bunkers added to beginning of fairway; approach extended down the hillside • Hole 17 – New tournament tee added along the cliff north of the existing tee; fairway and fairway bunkers shifted closer to the cliff • Hole 18 – Front of green expanded to recapture lost surface area. Rose post-Farmers: After winning at Torrey Pines last year, Justin Rose took a month off. In his 23 worldwide starts since, he’s failed to get back in the winner’s circle, dropping from world No. 1 at the time of his Farmers win to currently 8th. “I got into bad habits last year. I swung the club poorly,â€� Rose said of his last 12 months. “I took a month off after this tournament and that was essentially my offseason. Didn’t do a ton of work because it was my offseason. I felt like the decision behind that was to be fresh for the majors. It just didn’t play out very well, it didn’t work out very well. So I was kind of learning on the fly last year about how to approach the new schedule and it just didn’t work, and kind of paid for it a little bit I felt like all season long.â€� Day’s back: Two-time Farmers Insurance Open champion Jason Day is making his first start since having to withdraw from the Presidents Cup due to a sore back. It was a tough decision for the Australian — who would’ve been a key player for the International Team – but a necessary one. “Obviously it was quite disappointing to not be able to play in the Presidents Cup, especially also playing the Australian Open,â€� Day said. “I was actually looking forward to going down there and playing there. Every time I would watch the Presidents Cup coverage, I was angry. I had to go up to the barn to kind of either ride or do some sort of exercise to get some frustration out because I really wanted to be there. But the rehab that I needed to do, I needed some time off.â€�

Click here to read the full article…

CROMWELL, Conn. – There was a ride of roughly 700 miles ahead of them, but after some of the trappings that had punctuated this wildest journey of their lives, Zack and Courtney Sucher said Sunday evening they were going to enjoy the car time with daughters Hadley and Claire. Indeed, Courtney said the 9-to-10-hour drive from this bucolic town to Detroit’s Motown was going to feel like a sunset cruise compared to the stressful roller-coaster excursion their life has been of late. After all, it is easy to drive hundreds of miles with money in the bank and job security in the trunk, next to the golf clubs. You can float on your blessings. But to try and go from nowhere to somewhere on interest-free credit cards is a rough ride. You have to embrace faith. “I know with Zack, he doesn’t ever give up,� said Courtney. “He’s a true believer. I have faith in him, and I had faith in God that he would get him there.� Specifically, by “there�, Courtney Sucher didn’t mean Detroit Golf Club for this week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic. She meant to a place where you have peace of mind and the relief to know all your perseverance and trusts have been rewarded. It is a far more beautiful place than a golf course, no disrespect to venerable Detroit GC, which will host a PGA TOUR tournament for the first time. The peace of mind and relief are owed to the way the numbers fell in Sucher’s favor in a whirlwind of weekend golf at the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands. He arrived at the tournament on one of two exemptions extended to players on the Korn Ferry Tour list; that spot appreciated because Zack Sucher is also on a medical exemption dating back to 2017 and knew he had just two tournaments left to generate 347 FedExCup points. If Sucher didn’t get overwhelmed by the task of piling up that many FEC points in such a short amount of time, perhaps it’s because real life had hit hard. “Coming back from medical,� he said, “we had seven months with no income at all coming in two years ago. During that time, we had to take out some credit cards.� Not a recommended course of action, but in 2017, Sucher had missed the cut in 11 of 14 starts before opting for surgery. Doctors in Birmingham, Ala., where he and Courtney live, went into Zack’s left leg to repair extensive ligament and tendon damage, and while they were there they fixed some issues his bad knee, too. The recovery time kept him out the rest of 2017 and all of the next season. When he returned to golf in 2019, Sucher tackled the Korn Ferry Tour and produced a T-2, a T-4, and enough money to sit 32nd and assure himself status out there for this year and next. Then, the former University of Alabama-Birmingham standout set his sights on the PGA TOUR, where he knew he was a long-shot. Which is OK, because a long-shot with an inner belief, a supportive wife, and a small circle of friends is in position to script an intriguing story. And Craig Mullinax, for one, couldn’t wait to be part of it. “Zack is as good as gold, a really good man,� said Mullinax, whose nephew, Trey Mullinax, also plays on the PGA TOUR. “I got to know Zack about two-and-a-half years ago. We hang out at Shoal Creek a lot and when he asked me to caddie for him, I was excited for the chance.� By now, the particulars to the story have been well documented: How Sucher in Round 3 went from six in the lead to six behind playing competitor Chez Reavie, thanks in large part to a horrific meltdown of a three-hole stretch and a back-nine 41, and how he played those same nine holes in 5-under 30 Sunday to sprint into a tie for second behind Reavie, rake in 245 FedExCup points and put himself in position to secure a PGA TOUR card for the rest of this year and in 2019-20. Yes, you can cue up any of the underdog music you prefer, but amid the wild scene in the scoring area Sunday, Courtney Sucher and Mullinax stood to the side and sang the praises of their husband and friend, not words to a song. And they focused not on the blur of that back-nine 30, but on the darker moments that Zack had to navigate to get here. “At Wells Fargo, when he made that double-bogey (on the 13th hole in Round 2 to fall one outside the cut), he didn’t give up,� said Courtney. “He told me the eagle he made two holes later changed his whole perspective to this comeback.� That eagle got Sucher into weekend play, but more importantly, it ignited a confidence within. “He’s never doubted his ability to stay in it,� she said. As for Mullinax, he watched as his man bogeyed the 10th hole Saturday, then followed it with ugly double-bogeys at 11 and 12. “It was a huge moment, but at the 13th tee I told him, ‘Look, we’ve got to get together here and work to make pars to settle this thing,’ � said Mullinax, whose older brother (and Trey’s dad) is Chip Mullinax, a former NASCAR driver. “When a car spins out, you get it back in gear and get back into the race,� Mullinax said. And clearly Sucher understood, because he made six straight pars after that stunning third-round stretch at 10-11-12 and that went a long way toward vaulting him into Sunday’s spectacular finish. “I wasn’t sure how I would handle it this weekend,� said Sucher. “I’ve done it on the Korn Ferry Tour a few times, but this was (different). Crowd-wise, everything is 10 times bigger out here, so to be honest, it was so much fun.� To study the logistics of his status Sunday night was to deflect enthusiasm away from a story that deserved good cheer. Courtney choked back tears, Mullinax kept shaking his head, and the man of the hour, having acknowledged that the share of second was worth $636,000, was true to his embrace of simple means. “I know that like two months ago, we had credit-card debt, so I know we don’t have that anymore.� While he’s still shy by 77 FedExCup points of what he needs to satisfy his medical-exemption target, it’s almost irrelevant. Having earned 126-to-150 status, Sucher will be able to play more than two tournaments, if he chooses, and the likelihood of finishing within the top 125 (he’s currently 126th on just four starts) is very good. A story with so many layers of inspiration and warmth, though Zack Sucher – who only moments earlier had bumped fists with Bryson DeChambeau who smiled and let out with a “Hell, yeah� – stood in the scoring area and tried to absorb it all. “It’s huge for us. It’s exciting. It’s awesome. (but) you know, honestly, I can’t wrap my head around it,� he said. Which is OK. That’s what the long drive to Detroit was for.

Click here to read the full article…

Round 1 of the Travelers Championship takes place Thursday from TPC River Highlands in Connecticut. The star-studded field includes defending champion Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Patrick Reed, Patrick Cantlay, Rickie Fowler and Phil Mickelson. Here’s everything you need to know to follow the action, including Featured Groups for PGA TOUR LIVE. Leaderboard Full tee times HOW TO FOLLOW (All times ET) Television: Thursday-Friday, 3 p.m.-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday-Sunday, 1 p.m.-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3 p.m.-6 p.m. (CBS). PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday 6:45 a.m.-6 p.m. ET (Featured Groups), Saturday-Sunday 8 a.m.-3 p.m. ET (Featured Groups). Saturday-Sunday 3 p.m.-6 p.m. ET (Featured Holes). Radio: Thursday-Friday, 12 p.m.-6 p.m. Saturday-Sunday 1 p.m.-6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio). TOURCast: Get shot-by-shot info in real time with shot tracks and video with TOURCast. TOUR Pulse: Get the PGA TOUR app to utilize TOUR Pulse, which provides users the ability to experience a mix of content, such as video highlights, written hole summaries and stat graphics on every player after every hole they complete. FEATURED GROUPS Phil Mickelson, Paul Casey, Bubba Watson (tee times) Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Tony Finau (tee times) Garrick Higgo, Patrick Cantlay, Marc Leishman (tee times) Stewart Cink, Bryson DeChambeau, Patrick Reed (tee times) MUST READS Power Rankings Expert Picks The First Look How Bubba gave back to Pensacola Who Monday qualified?

Click here to read the full article…