Augusta National to host women’s amateur tournament the week before the Masters Tournament

A familiar face toting an unfamiliar golf bag has emerged at Liberty National as Tiger Woods’ caddie Joe LaCava has jumped in to work for four-time PGA TOUR winner Patrick Cantlay. With Woods sidelined indefinitely due to leg injuries suffered in a car accident earlier this year and Cantlay’s regular looper Matt Minister out with COVID-19, the match was made on a temporary basis. LaCava – who also has had a guest appearance with his former boss Fred Couples on PGA TOUR Champions in June while Woods is in recovery – was able to drive down from Connecticut to help out at short notice. Cantlay is a member at Medalist Golf Club in South Florida, where he and Woods have formed a kinship. Woods was also Cantlay’s playing captain in the 2019 Presidents Cup. “He’s going to have to put up with a scrub caddie this week,” LaCava joked to Golf Digest. How long the pair work together is yet to be seen with Minister needing to get through COVID-19 protocols to return to the TOUR. Cantlay is certain of a place in the TOUR Championship thanks to an excellent Regular Season. He enters THE NORTHERN TRUST in third place in the FedExCup standings thanks to wins at THE ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP and the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday. Cantlay added a runner-up at The American Express and a T3 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-am. Cantlay has made it to East Lake on three previous occasions but is looking to best his career best FedExCup finish of 20th from 2018.

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PUNTA CANA, Dominican Republic — Ben Martin birdied six of the last eight holes for a 6-under 66 and the first-round lead Thursday in the PGA TOUR’s windy Corales Puntacana Championship. RELATED: LLeaderboard | WGC-Match Play Day 2 Match Recaps After opening his morning round with a bogey and making the turn in even par, Martin began the run with birdies on the par-3 11th and par-5 12th and added four straight on the par-5 14th, par-4 15th and 16th and par-3 17th. “On the back nine you want to take advantage of the par 5s and 15 because finishing on 16, 17, 18 is usually going to be into the wind and you really need to be in control of your golf ball,” Martin said. “So, if you can make a few birdies coming in and just kind of hold on and make a few pars, you feel like it’s a win.” The 34-year-old Martin has made only one other PGA TOUR start of this year, missing the cut this month in Puerto Rico with rounds of 78 and 70. He won the 2014 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open for his lone PGA TOUR title. Adam Schenk was a stroke back after a bogey-free round at Corales Golf Course. Winless on the PGA TOUR, he has missed seven cuts in his last nine starts. Graeme McDowell, the 2019 winner, was two strokes behind after a bogey-free 68. “All in all, really happy with that start,” McDowell said. “Felt comfortable on the golf course. My fifth time here, I’m starting to feel reasonably comfortable down here in the strong wind. Felt good on the greens, everything felt pretty solid, so look forward to getting back at it in the morning.” Hayden Buckley also was at 68 with Vaughn Taylor and Kiradech Aphibarnrat. “The winds are very interesting,” Buckley said. “I think there’s a lot of holes where it really helps you on, a lot of holes where you kind of just have to suck it up and make a par.” David Lingmerth was in the group at 69. “Extremely windy day out there,” Lingmerth said. “We were joking around a little bit. Obviously, the course is not similar at all, but it was almost like a British Open-type way of playing today. Just a lot of flighted shots and had to be a little creative.” Defending champion Joel Dahmen opened with a 71. Nicolai Hojgaard of Denmark, the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 77 in the world, had a double bogey on No. 17 in a 73. His twin brother, Rasmus, also shot 73. With the tournament being played opposite the WGC- Dell Technologies Match Play event in Austin, Texas, the winner will be exempt into the PGA Championship.

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