Brendan Steele leads by one at ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP

Click here to read the full article…

Matt Corrado's colorful graphic art hangs in galleries. He's also painted everything from a wooden chair he found by the side of the road that now sits in his office to automobiles and motorcycles and basketballs. Right now, he's even painting big metal Greek statue. The lifelong Washington Capitals fan also worked with his hometown team on a mural prior to the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs. And he live-painted a moveable wall for the Baltimore Ravens that lives at M & T Bank Stadium and has become a popular selfie spot. "It's something that I particularly enjoy, that crossover of sports and art," Corrado says. His artwork has never appeared on a golf bag, though. That is, until this week at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. About three months ago, the Washington, D.C.-based artist was asked to design the bag that Jordan Spieth's caddie, Michael Greller, will carry in the tournament. It's the kickoff to a promotion with AT&T, the three-time major champion's long-time sponsor. AT&T owns the branding rights to Spieth's bag. In the past, it's been used to spotlight HBO Max and the "Wonder Woman" movie. This week, though, the bag Corrado created launches a contest where fans compete to design the one Spieth will carry at the AT&T Byron Nelson in May. Fans can create and submit their designs on a web-based app starting Thursday. The five finalists will be selected and flown to Fort Worth, Texas where the winning bag will be unveiled. "If you're entering the contest, I'd say take Matt's lead and really have some fun with it," Spieth says. "There are so many chances to get creative with a blank golf bag and create something that is going to stand out." Corrado's certainly does. The colors are bright - predominantly blues, reds and greens - and the pop art style on each panel of the bag is distinctive. As expected golf clubs, balls and a green figure into the design but there is much more. "One of the things that was challenging, but cool was they wanted it to be specific to Pebble Beach, which was fun," Corrado says. The artist has played golf most of his life, but he has never been to the Monterrey Peninsula. His parents had taken a trip to Pebble Beach about five years ago, though, so he picked his mom's brain and made sure landmarks like the Lone Cypress were included in his creation. "And just the natural beauty — looking at the pictures and everything - I kind of was inspired to use some of the colors and the waves and the water and kind of that California feel," he says. "I think that was probably the most challenging part was just making sure we got the elements in and to make sure that it tells the story and is specific to Pebble Beach." Corrado also researched Spieth, who turned pro midway through his sophomore year at Texas and won the John Deere Classic two weeks before his 20th birthday. He won his first two majors two years later and added a third in 2017. And in an interesting coincidence, Corrado found that one of the signature features in his art could be used to tell Spieth's story, as well. "There's an element that I use a lot in my artwork — I use these hands," he says. "They’re kind of like these classic cartoon hands. And I use the hands doing like kind of a rock-on kind of hands, and it looks like horns or something. "And Jordan, he went to the University of Texas, the Hook-’em-Horns hands, which is the same thing. So, I put that element in there, because I thought, well, this is cool because I already do this in my artwork. And it also is kind of a nod to his time at Texas." The detail was not lost on the 11-time PGA TOUR champion who tied for fourth last week at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. "Matt's design is awesome," Spieth said. "I really love the bold style and am excited it's going to stand out on the course. It feels personal, too, with the Hook ‘em Horns and the iconic Pebble Beach lone Cyprus tree." Corrado always knew he wanted to be an artist, and he studied at the Rhode Island School of Design, graduating in 2005 with a BFA in illustration. He's developed a distinctive pop art style that is driven by the things that influenced him as a kid - skateboarding and comic books and graffiti, among them. "Those are kind of like some of the core elements that I feel like inspired my art as I was growing up and as I was kind of developing a style," Corrado says. "But I also really enjoy graphic design and clean, bold design stuff. "So, I try to kind of pull some of those things in consciously and subconsciously, I think to kind of create a style and a visual language that can be traced back to me, too. Part of it is just a branding thing where you want your work to be recognizable and consistent in some capacity. So, it’s kind of a combination of those things." Corrado said the opportunity to design Spieth's bag came out of the blue, a cold-call of an email, essentially. And he was immediately excited to participate in the project. "I’ve done a lot of murals and I’ve done a lot of canvases and paintings and stuff like that," he says. "But there’s something really cool that I always enjoy about actually putting artwork on like tangible products, things that people use and functional. … "And it’s also a challenge to try to like figure out how to apply artwork to something like a golf bag. It’s just not it’s not something you see a lot, you know? So yeah, I thought it was really cool and kind of would be an exciting challenge and a good opportunity." The payoff comes this week when Corrado will see the bag on national television at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, a tournament Spieth won in 2017. "I hope I get to see the bag out there and I hope Jordan does well," he says. "He usually competes pretty well in that tournament. I have some friends and stuff who will be watching too — they’ll be watching anyways, but it will be fun to have them maybe see my bag pop up, too, if it gets shown on the coverage. I’ll definitely be watching to check it out." And one of Spieth's fans will have a similar experience May 13-16 at the AT&T Byron Nelson.

Click here to read the full article…

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – His father gave him the golf part. Cameron Smith would go out with dad, Des, on weekends at Wantima Golf Club, first beating the old man when he was 12. RELATED: Final leaderboard | What’s in Smith’s bag? How he came by the toughness part, though, is harder to pinpoint. “I think both sides of my family, my mum and my dad’s side,” Smith said after making 10 birdies and staving off disaster on 18 to shoot 66 and win THE PLAYERS Championship on Monday. “Both have – just both mentally strong. They’re working-class people who have had to work their whole life to live basically, and yeah, I guess that’s just kind of what I grew up in. Which means? Sharon Smith, Cameron’s mother, smiled from under her beige broad brim hat. “My father rode bulls,” she said as she walked the soggy back nine at the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass. “My mum made him choose, and he was smart. He picked her.” Strict constructionists will tell you it was Smith who grabbed this PLAYERS by the collar with five birdies in his first six holes and limited the damage of a wayward driver late on the back nine. But he brought a lot of people, those who came before him, along for the ride en route to his fifth PGA TOUR win. And it’s only when you get to know one of them, his maternal grandfather, that his seemingly preternatural toughness starts to make sense. Working class? John Hilliar, who will turn 83 next month, was the second-to-last of 13 kids growing up in Kempsey, New South Wales. The area is known for its national parks and farmland, and the Hilliar family made their living off the latter, milking cows and running cattle. “It was not a big house,” Sharon said. “They would fight for a bed after dinner.” Although Hilliar picked up golf recreationally, and Sharon expected her dad was almost certainly watching Smith from Brisbane on Monday, glued to the TV set, the sport that would make his grandson famous would have meant nothing to him then. The prospect of whether you used an interlocking or overlapping grip was immaterial next to whether you’d fixed the fence. “He has hard-working hands,” his daughter said. “They’ve done just about everything.” Sharon Smith stepped carefully around the soft areas on the course, careful to take the high ground. She said more than once that Cameron was a product of his father’s side, too. Cameron has settled in Ponte Vedra Beach, and he hadn’t seen Sharon or his little sister, Mel, in over two years. Late last month they made the long journey from Brisbane to Jacksonville. They were to meet him in baggage claim, but Cameron came as far toward the gate as security would allow. “Mel started crying first,” Sharon said. “Then I started crying.” And Cameron? “He had a bit of a giggle. He’s like me. He likes to keep things light.” It wasn’t until after Smith had salted away the tournament, the result becoming official only when Lahiri failed to birdie the 18th hole, that Smith blinked back tears, his voice breaking. “It’s just really nice to have them here,” he said. “It’s nice to give Mom a hug, and – yeah.” The three have been palling around, making up for lost time. Along with Smith’s agent, Bud Martin, they flew to Tampa last week to catch a hockey game between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Pittsburgh Penguins. They sailed around on Smith’s boat, ordering takeout from a popular restaurant just up the Intracoastal. They ventured as far south as St. Augustine. Cameron gets a kick out of the stories about his grandfather, but his toughness is a product of more than that. Generations he never even knew. The ethos of being a Queenslander. Also, he’s not always so tough. It’s not an accident that his first two individual victories on TOUR, at the Sony Open in Hawaii and the Sentry Tournament Champions, both came in Hawaii, Sharon said. “He likes Hawaii because it’s closest to home,” she said. “It’s only 10 hours.” At the start of his TOUR career, Smith suffered from acute homesickness. He tried to base himself in Australia, then, upon moving to Northeast Florida, kept flying home. He finally had to accept that it was just too far, and set about making a life for himself here, leaning on friends like Aron Price, himself an Aussie touring professional before turning to real estate. But Smith held fast to his working-class roots. He’s so tough, in part, because it’s his connection to home. “I think it’s probably just never give up,” he said. “I grew up watching rugby league and watching the Queenslanders come from behind, and even when it got gritty they’d somehow manage to win. I think that’s kind of instilled in all of us.” Said his pal Price, “He thinks head-to-head he’s got the wood on everyone.” That could mean world No. 1 Jon Rahm, whom Smith held off with a record-breaking performance at the Sentry Tournament of Champions in January. Or it could mean Justin Thomas, whom Smith beat in singles at the 2019 Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne. “He thinks back to a time when he beat them,” Price said. “His self-belief is everything. I play a lot of golf with him. Even if he’s playing s— he’ll birdie the last three holes and take all your money. I don’t know where he gets it. His dad? Queenslanders are tough.” Sharon and Mel Smith will head back home on Friday. They wiped away tears, indulged the TV cameras. Cameron held them close, along with his girlfriend, Shanel Naoum. Cameron was bear-hugged by his friend and right-hand man, Jack Wilkosz, who was in tears. They shared the moment with Jack’s mom, also named Sharon, and her fiancé, and Cameron’s agent. It was Tuesday morning in Brisbane, where, one might imagine, an old man with working hands pointed the remote and clicked off the TV. His golfing grandson, rawhide-tough, had fought hard and prevailed. Cameron Smith would sleep well Monday night, in a bed of his own.

Click here to read the full article…