Charl Schwartzel, Louis Oosthuizen ‘dovetailed well’ to take lead at Zurich Classic of New Orleans

It’s not like Morgan Hoffmann could just go to the drugstore and get a prescription filled and he’d suddenly feel better. Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy doesn’t work that way. There’s no known cure for the progressive neuromuscular disorder that the PGA TOUR veteran has. For five years, Hoffmann had consulted more than two dozen different doctors in an effort to find out why his right pectoral muscle seemed to be deteriorating. He could tell his swing speed had decreased and he could see the atrophy in his chest when he looked in the mirror. In December of 2016, Hoffmann received the life-altering diagnosis of FSHD, which primarily affects the muscles of the face, chest, shoulders and upper arms. There is no treatment to halt or reverse the progression of the disease that reportedly affects one in 15,000-20,000 adults in the United States. Hoffmann eventually went public a year later, writing a first-person essay in The Players Tribune that touched on not only the diagnosis but also his desire to raise awareness of the disease and continue his long-time mission to promote health and wellness for kids in need. “All the doctors in the U.S. told me there was no cure and pretty much (said) good luck,â€� Hoffmann recalls. “… That’s pretty unfortunate to hear what the doctors had to say, but I don’t believe that.â€� So, Hoffmann, who is playing in this week’s Sanderson Farms Championship, decided to take control of his body and his health. One of the first things he did was go to Nepal for four months to undergo a series of herbal and holistic treatments. Hoffmann actually had been to Nepal before. He and one of his Oklahoma State teammates, Sean Einhaus, whose mother is from Kathmandu, had played 108 holes to raise money to send some computers to a school that his family had built there. Several years later, Hoffmann got to see the technology put to use. This trip was different, though. The actual treatment lasted for 90 days. He’d stretch out on a bed each morning, and therapists would rub herbs and plants mixed with water on him. The mixture would dry and soak into his body, then at night he could finally shower. The next day, they’d do it all again. “I just laid there,â€� Hoffmann remembers. “I kind of like learned the language a little bit. I had a translator and he kind of taught me a bit every day. That was cool.â€� Hoffmann thinks the treatments slowed the progression of the disease. He has also adopted an alkaline diet – eating only fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds – that proponents feel can rid a person’s body of acids that promotes disease and increases inflammation. “I just take it day by day,â€� Hoffmann says. “My muscles aren’t as fast as they used to be, and my energy is pretty good. I think my diet has a lot to do with it.â€� Hoffmann also has established a foundation to raise money to build a health and wellness center, likely in Florida, where people can learn about everything from nutrition to meditation. Two fundraising pro-ams in the span of 14 months have raised a phenomenal total of nearly $2.6 million. “We’re not raising money for research because you don’t know where it goes exactly,â€� Hoffmann says. “… We’re going to just build a health and wellness center and try to educate people on how to eat properly and make sure that they can alkalize their body and get rid of disease that way.â€� As far as golf is concerned, Hoffmann is playing this season on a major medical extension. He has six more events, counting this week’s Sanderson Farms Championship, to earn 232.40 FedExCup points so he can retain his TOUR card. Last week, Hoffmann opened A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier with rounds of 66 and 65 but shot a pair of 71s on the weekend and ended up tied for 31st. He says he has worked on getting his legs more active in his swing, and he’s excited to see some speed coming back. Most importantly, his attitude is positive. He is not stressing out about whether he can fulfill the requirements of his medical extension. He knows there are more important things in life. “I don’t see it as pressure anymore because it’s just golf and it’s something that I love and I’m just trying to have fun,â€� Hoffmann says. “I’m trying to enjoy the process.â€�

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When Georgia coach Chris Haack goes to check on his guys at The RSM Classic he’ll have his work cut out for him. In total, 11 of Haack’s former players make their livings on the PGA TOUR, with Bubba Watson the only former Bulldog not in the field for this week’s RSM. There are no slouches in this bunch, either, with 10 making the FedExCup Playoffs last summer. Nine have won, with Watson (12), Harris English (4), Kevin Kisner (4), Chris Kirk (4), Russell Henley (3), Brendon Todd (3), Brian Harman (2), Hudson Swafford (2) and Keith Mitchell (1) combining for 35 TOUR titles. The next in line? None other than Haack’s future son-in-law Greyson Sigg. The 26-year-old Augusta, Georgia native is a rookie on TOUR after winning twice on the Korn Ferry Tour last season. He says it’s not hard to figure out why the Georgia contingent continues to grow and thrive: At Georgia, unless a player finished in the top 10 in the event prior, they’re in the qualifying mix for the next event. “We had to earn it when we were in school,” Sigg said, “and you got to earn it today. Nothing’s given to you in this game, and that’s how Haacker treated us in school. Some coaches don’t like it, but I think it’s genius. You learn to find yourself and what you like to do at a young age, so when you come out of college, you’re ready to go do a Monday qualifier and (used to) having to shoot 8 under to get through. “I think that’s a big deal,” he continued. “There’s a reason why there’s that many Georgia guys on TOUR.” Beyond that, Haack sees one similarity between a lot of his players – the consistency in their demeanors. They shake off the bad shots quickly, one of the things Haack stresses at Georgia. Sigg listened well. “They don’t get too high and low,” Haack said. “And that’s something we’ve always preached and tried to get them to do, but he was already pretty good at it.” Sigg’s fiancée Katie Haack said what you see is what you get with the affable and laid back Sigg, whom fellow Georgia product Sepp Straka describes as one of the funniest people he knows. Not that he’s totally immune from nerves. “The only time I’ve ever seen him rattled was when he proposed,” Katie said with a laugh. In fact, there were two other times, said Georgia Associate Head Coach Jim Douglas. “The two times he was here that he got to a tournament and the ball was not drawing,” Douglas said. “Talk about freaking someone out; he’d never seen the ball go straight.” Douglas laughed. “He was literally freaked out. But he woke up the next day and it was back to his normal draw.” Keith Mitchell jokes that Sigg rolls out of bed “hitting a 5-yard draw” and that his “natural game is perfect.” Douglas disagrees. He said Sigg’s shot shape is more like a 2- or 3-yard draw. Either way, it was that consistency and ball-striking prowess that caught Haack’s eye. He said Sigg’s demeanor reminds him of other former UGA standouts, but the ball-striking and stature remind him most of Harman. Both are on the small side, but are nevertheless ball-striking machines with a beautiful natural draw. Both are plenty long, and routinely hit 16 or 17 greens in regulation per round. Both could sometimes get too aggressive with the flat stick when they were juniors and had to become better lag putters through college and into their professional careers. “One of the things I liked about him was he had a really good solid, repeatable swing,” Haack said of Sigg. “His swing never changed. It was always very compact. He wasn’t very tall, but he could really pound it out there pretty good, and he always hit the same shot. I remember thinking I liked that, but I also remember seeing him many times thinking that boy is going to have to learn how to putt to get to the next level.” Douglas says Sigg’s speed on the greens got better over the years. Putting contests on the Georgia practice green with his teammates Straka and Mookie Demoss paid dividends, and Sigg never tinkered with the short, compact motion that he developed at Augusta Country Club, right next door to Augusta National. Sigg’s dad, David, got him started in the game, taking him and his older brother, William, who went on to play at Presbyterian College, with him when he’d go play with their grandfather. Eventually Greyson graduated from playing in bunkers to hitting shots himself, and was as young as 5 when he began to wow spectators on the range. When he was 7, his dad asked Tommy Bradley, then the head pro at Augusta Country Club, if he should consider lengthening that action. But Sigg didn’t change much; his swing today is mostly unchanged. “I asked the head pro if Greyson should maybe try to take it a little bit further because it was almost Jon Rahm like short,” David said. “Tommy said, ‘Don’t touch it! Don’t do nothing! Leave him alone!’” Greyson was 10 when he started working with Augusta CC’s Gary Cressend, who still coaches him today. “His swing was always short,” David said, “but he could always pop it back then. He’s just always been an unbelievable ball striker for his age.” While his motion was honed at his home club, Sigg’s desire to play professionally was honed across the fence at Augusta National, where his mom, Karen, works as an executive assistant to the chairman. Every spring break week, his family would get Masters tickets, and Greyson and William watched the world’s best compete for a Green Jacket. Greyson liked Tiger best, but in 2004, with Phil Mickelson on his way to his first title, the lefty handed him a ball on back-to-back days, both times on the walk between the sixth green and seventh tee. Seventeen years later, Sigg would play with Mickelson in the final round of the 2021 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. Now a PGA TOUR member, he is hoping to join his future father-in-law’s pack of Georgia alums with a TOUR win and earn a spot in his big hometown event. It’s part of the reason the hyper-competitive rookie doesn’t get too caught up in the texts congratulating him on his fine play. (He’s made four of six cuts and is 86th in the FedExCup.) The stage is bigger, but his goal is the same as it was on the Korn Ferry Tour: Win. “This is what I want to do,” Sigg said, “and so happy to finally be here on TOUR and look forward to staying here for many years, but I haven’t been playing great. Making a lot of cuts and everyone keeps texting me great playing when I finish 30th, but I’m not exactly pleased with it and know what I need to do to get better. I’m looking to finish off the fall with a bang and get a nice finish here.”

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