Cameron Champ carries two PING 4-irons in his bag

Blue Bell, PA – Veteran pro golfer Marcus Manley shot a bogey-free round of 65 to seize the first-round lead at APGA Tour Valley Forge, the newly-minted professional golf tournament at Bluestone Country Club. It is the first event of the APGA Tour Farmers Insurance Fall Series and the first visit to the northeast for the circuit that has become a force driving greater diversity in the sport of golf. The players are competing for $25,000, including a $7,500 check to the winner. Another $15,000 in bonus money will be awarded to the top points earners in the Fall Series, which continues in Atlanta next month before culminating in Los Angeles in November. Manley registered six birdies on the par-71, 6,455-yard Bluestone Country Club course, never needing a putt of more than 10 feet during his six-under round. He birdied the first three holes, including a 22-foot chip-in on the second, and ended up with a four-stroke lead over Alec Martinez of Orland Park, Illinois. Martinez’s two-under 69 was the only sub-par round in fair conditions on the challenging layout. “I was in the right frame of mind at the outset. I decided not to force anything,” stated Manley, a Washington D.C. native now residing in Kissimmee, Florida. The longtime APGA Tour and minitour veteran, 37, has previous APGA Tour victories in Tampa and Maryland as part of a career dotted with Latinoamerica Tour experience, a Korn Ferry (Nationwide)Tour start and various qualifying school opportunities. He suffered a wrist injury along the way and worked in golf industry teaching and operations roles but is now back at it fulltime. “I love the game. The ultimate goal is still the PGA TOUR,” Manley continued. “Hoping I can keep the same mindset going tomorrow.” Patrick Newcomb of Jacksonville, Florida, and Trey Valentine of Melbourne, Florida, were in at even-par 71 with four players in a group at one over par, including Rovonta Young, of Huntsville, Alabama, winner of APGA Tour at World Golf Village earlier this year. Among the Philadelphia region players at the top end of the leaderboard were Zach Juhasz, of Bethlehem, who fired a two-over 73. Louis Kelly, the assistant pro at Metedeconk National Golf Club in Jackson Township, NJ, also shot a two-over 73. The Farmers Insurance Fall Series continues Oct.17-19 with the APGA Tour Farmers Insurance Atlanta Championship ($25,000 purse) at White Oak Golf Club at the Clubs of Peachtree City, near Atlanta, GA. The final event of the series and the 2021 season is Nov. 7-9, the APGA Tour Farmers Insurance Fall Series Finale ($30,000 purse), at Wilshire Country Club in Los Angeles. APGA Tour Valley Forge is hosted by the Valley Forge Tourism & Convention Board, which promotes the Montgomery County region’s 50-plus golf courses as part of its Monto Golf initiative. APGA Tour Valley Forge week kicked off Sunday with an Advocates Foundation Farmers Insurance Youth Program event at Walnut Lane Golf Club in Philadelphia, where The First Tee of Greater Philadelphia brought over 40 youths to interact with APGA Tour officials and players. The daylong schedule included golf clinic activities plus health and wellness discussions and raffle prizes for participants. Same day scoring detail for APGA Tour Valley Forge at www.bluegolf.com.

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As the PGA TOUR heads to California for the third week of the 2019-20 Regular Season, Thursday-Friday featured groupings for the Safeway Open have been released, with a number of stars making their respective PGA TOUR season debuts including Justin Thomas, Patrick Cantlay, Adam Scott, Hideki Matsuyama and Bryson DeChambeau. RELATED: Tee times | Power Rankings | Course, field preview To watch the featured groupings on Thursday-Friday, fans in the United States can tune into the Golf Channel telecast (2-6 p.m. PST on Thursday, 3-6 p.m. PST on Friday). Additionally, PGA TOUR LIVE, the PGA TOUR’s Over-The-Top subscription service, has expanded its coverage to the fall and will broadcast Thursday-Friday at all domestic PGA TOUR events during the fall portion of the 2019-20 schedule. PGA TOUR LIVE can be viewed via subscription on NBC Sports Gold (www.nbcsports.com/pgatour) and Amazon Prime Video Channels (amazon.com/video/pgatourlive). FEATURED GROUPS (ALL TIMES LOCAL) Justin Thomas, Brandt Snedeker, Jim Furyk Thursday, 12:35 p.m. (No. 1); Friday, 7:50 a.m. (No. 10) • 2010 FedExCup champion Furyk making first-ever start at the Safeway Open • 2012 FedExCup champion Snedeker held the 54-hole lead at the 2018 Safeway Open and finished runner-up to Kevin Tway in a playoff • 2017 FedExCup champion Thomas finished T3 (2015) and T8 (2016) in his last two Safeway Open starts Phil Mickelson, Collin Morikawa, Patrick Cantlay Thursday, 12:45 p.m. (No. 1); Friday, 8 a.m. (No. 10) • 44-time winner Mickelson, who won 2019 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, is looking to extend his record streak of 12 consecutive U.S. Presidents Cup Team appearances • Fresh off an All-America career at Cal, Morikawa won the 2019 Barracuda Championship in his sixth professional start • Cantlay captured the 2019 Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide and played his way onto the 2019 U.S. Presidents Cup Team   Kevin Tway, Bryson DeChambeau, Francesco Molinari Thursday, 7:50 a.m. (No. 10); Friday, 12:35 p.m. (No. 10) • Defending champion Tway finished 31st in the final FedExCup standings, just missing out on his first trip to the TOUR Championship • DeChambeau, winner of the 2018 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, was one of six fall winners last season to qualify for the TOUR Championship; member of the 2019 U.S. Presidents Cup Team • Molinari, who captured the 2019 Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard, will make his first-ever start at the Safeway Open Adam Scott, Hideki Matsuyama, Sebastian Munoz Thursday, 8 a.m. (No. 10); Friday, 12:45 p.m. (No. 10) • Scott is set to make his ninth consecutive Presidents Cup appearance for the International Team as the event returns to Melbourne in December • Matsuyama, poised for his fourth Presidents Cup, looks to return to the winner’s circle after a winless 2018-19 campaign • Colombia native Munoz captured last week’s Sanderson Farms Championship and sits No. 1 in the FedExCup standings HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Thursday 5 p.m.-9 p.m. ET; Friday 6 p.m. – 9 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday-Sunday, 6 p.m.-9 p.m. ET (Golf Channel) PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday, 10 a.m.-9 p.m. ET (Featured Groups) Radio: Thursday-Friday, 3 p.m.-9 p.m. ET. Saturday-Sunday, 4 p.m.-9 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio).

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There was plenty of starpower on display Thursday at TPC Sawgrass for the first round of THE PLAYERS. The afternoon pairing of Tiger Woods, Rickie Fowler, and Phil Mickelson drew the biggest crowds, but they didn’t provide them with much to cheer about. All three players have work to do tomorrow if they would like to secure a tee time on the weekend: Woods (Even par, 71 percent made cut probability), Fowler (2 over par, 42 percent), and Mickelson (7 over par, 2 percent). Here is how their respective cut probabilities evolved throughout the day: TPC Sawgrass is best known for its water-filled finishing three holes. It is a great stretch of golf in part due to the wide variance in outcomes it can produce. This variance (or, at least one side of it) was on full display today during the finish to Hideki Matsuyama’s round. Matsuyama arrived at the 16th tee 1 over par and, according to our model, with about a 50 percent chance of making the cut. Three holes later he was 7 over par, and now has just a 2 percent chance of making it to the weekend. In a single hole (the par-3 17th), Matsuyama’s cut probability fell from 33 percent to just 1 percent thanks to a quintuple bogey 8. Heading into Friday’s play, there are 85 players at Even par or better (T69th position). Our model is projecting tomorrow’s cutline as follows (as usual, assuming that the course plays to a scoring average similar to Thursday’s): Even par: 61 percent 1 under par: 38 percent 1 over par: 1 percent A final note from Thursday’s play: TPC Sawgrass played decidedly more difficult for the afternoon group of players than it did for the morning wave. This final graphic details the hole-specific differences in scoring averages between the morning and afternoon. Perhaps not surprisingly, the island green 17th hole played the most different between the two waves, playing 0.4 strokes more difficult in the afternoon. NOTE: These reports are based off the live predictive model run by @DataGolf. The model provides live “Make Cut�, “Top 20�, “Top 5�, and “Win� probabilities every 5 minutes from the opening tee shot to the final putt of every PGA TOUR event. Briefly, the model takes account of the current form of each golfer as well as the difficulty of their remaining holes, and probabilities are calculated from 10K simulations. To follow live finish probabilities throughout the remainder of the THE PLAYERS Championship, or to see how each golfer’s probabilities have evolved from the start of the event to the current time, click here for the model’s home page.

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