Arkansas’ Fassi wins Annika Award

GREENSBORO, N.C. – When the first round of official tournament play in the 2019 Wyndham Championship begins three weeks from today, three of the most heralded rookies in recent PGA TOUR history, Matthew Wolff, Collin Morikawa and Viktor Hovland, will be in the field. The 80th Wyndham Championship, which will determine the $10 Million Wyndham Rewards Top 10, is set for July 30-Aug. 4, 2019 at Sedgefield Country Club. All three of these future superstars accepted a Wyndham Championship sponsor’s exemptions earlier this year. Wolff, however, won last week’s 3M Open in dramatic fashion eagling the last hole to take a one-stroke win over Morikawa and Bryson DeChambeau who eagled the same hole moments earlier to take the lead.  Wolff, 20, played two seasons at Oklahoma State University before turning professional earlier this summer. While at Oklahoma State, he won NCAA championships in team competition (2018) and individual competition (2019). He won six times during his sophomore season and claimed the Fred Haskins Award as the nation’s most outstanding player.  Prior to Wolff, only Ben Crenshaw (1973) and Tiger Woods (1996) won an NCAA individual title and a PGA TOUR event in the same year. The Agoura Hills, Calif., native is the ninth-youngest winner in PGA TOUR history. With his win in the 3M Open in his fourth TOUR start, Wolff joined the PGA TOUR as a member through the 2020-’21 season and no longer needs the sponsor’s exemption he accepted.  Wolff finished tied for 19th in the 2015 AJGA Wyndham Invitational presented by BB&T and is the 87th Wyndham Invitational alumnus to earn PGA TOUR membership. Morikawa, who finished tied for second with DeChambeau at the 3M Open, earned 245 FedExCup points last weekend, and when added to the 89 he earned previously, totals 334 points giving him more points than earned by No. 150 in last season’s FedExCup point standings. With that milestone, Morikawa, 22, earned PGA TOUR special temporary membership meaning he can accept unlimited sponsor’s exemptions for the rest of the season as he works to earn PGA TOUR membership for next season which he will accomplish by earning at least as many points as No. 125 in this year’s FedExCup point standings. That number is currently 286. Morikawa played four seasons at the University of California where he was a three-time, first-team All-American. He was the Golfweek Men’s National Player of the Year in 2018 and was named Pac-12 Player of the Year this past season. The Los Angeles native was formerly No. 1 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings. He played the AJGA Wyndham Invitational in 2013 and ’14 finished tied for ninth and tied for 72nd.  Hovland, a native of Norway, also turned professional this summer after playing with Wolff at Oklahoma State University. He finished tied for 32nd at the Masters and was low amateur joining CBS Sports’ Jim Nantz and 2019 Masters champion Tiger Woods in Butler Cabin at Augusta National after the tournament. He finished tied for 12th as low amateur at the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach before turning professional. In his three professional starts, he finished tied for 54th at the Travelers Championship and tied for 13th at both the Rocket Mortgage Classic and the 3M Open. The 2018 U.S. Amateur Champion won the 2019 Ben Hogan Award as the nation’s top college golfer.  “What an amazing 3M Open we saw with Matt Wolff and Colin Marikawa dueling it out with Bryson DeChambeau,� tournament director Mark Brazil said. “We’ve known about Collin and Matt for quite a while since they played in the AJGA Wyndham Invitational and Wyndham Cup over the years. For Matt to win with Collin tying for second, and basically securing their cards for next year, was a lot of fun to watch. I think everyone got a good look at some of golf’s future.  “We gave Collin and Matt sponsor’s exemptions early in the year along with Viktor who was U.S. Amateur champion, low amateur at the Masters and low amateur at the U.S. Open so he has quite a resume as well. To have those three ‘young guns’ coming to the Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield, which two of them have played, is a great deal for the tournament and says a lot about what we’re trying to do with the young talent on the PGA TOUR.�

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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) – Rory McIlroy hopes his strong finish Friday at the season-ending DP World Tour Championship is a good sign. The top-ranked McIlroy, who leads the Race to Dubai standings, went birdie-birdie-eagle on this final three holes for a 4-under 68 that left him seven shots back of co-leaders Matt Fitzpatrick and Tyrrell Hatton. “It was nice to finish with a flourish there and put myself a little closer to the guys going into the weekend,” said McIlroy, who is bidding to be the DP World Tour’s leading player for the fourth time in his career. Fitzpatrick’s 67 puts him at 12-under 132 overall to not only share a three-shot lead with Hatton after two rounds but also keep him out in front in the Race to Dubai. “I’ve played two good rounds to start with to put myself in position,” the U.S. Open champion said. “Just keep doing more of the same and see where it gets me come Sunday.” Fitzpatrick would clinch a first Race to Dubai title with a third win at the DP World Tour Championship, provided McIlroy or Ryan Fox don’t finish the event in second. A second-place finish would also be good enough for Fitzpatrick if McIlroy finishes lower than seventh. Fitzpatrick had six birdies and a bogey at the 12th hole on the Earth Course, where he is a two-time winner. Hatton’s 67 included eight birdies and three bogeys. Fox, who is second in the points table to McIlroy, shot a 72 and was in 37th place after two rounds. McIlroy’s brilliant approach shot set up his eagle on the par-5 18th. He described his first 33 holes as “very mediocre golf” but said “something sort of clicked.” He’s not sure what. “I’m not sure, but whatever it is I need to bottle it for the weekend,” the Northern Irishman said. “You never know, that finish here on Friday could be key to something that happens over the next 36 holes.” McIlroy is trying to win the FedExCup and Race to Dubai in the same year for the first time, having won each event on three occasions. His last Race to Dubai title came in 2015, having also won it in 2012 and 2014.

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