Collin Morikawa, yet again, proved he is fast learner in winning The Open

Grammy winner Macklemore knows the right sounds when he hears them. So that crisp crack when the middle of his 5-iron hit his ball in late 2018 as he gave golf his attention for the first time was all it took. He was hooked. His ball though didn't hook. Well at least not on that occasion. "I randomly played one day after Thanksgiving in 2018 and hit a 5-iron out of the sand and I hit it pure and I have been very addicted ever since. I just want that feeling," the popular rapper said ahead of the AT&T Every Shot Counts Charity Challenge that precedes this year's AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. "I love that feeling of hitting a great shot. I love hitting a green in regulation, piping a drive. I love even just the ups and downs, the humility that the game brings, the swing of emotion, the mental fortitude that it takes, the patience, the spiritual practice of accepting whatever you just did and letting it go, the exercise, the camaraderie. I truly love everything about the sport." Between his incredible career and juggling life with two kids, Macklemore says he doesn't get to play as often as he would like but he jumped at the chance to be part of Wednesday's charity challenge. The COVID-19 pandemic has seen a forced change of this week's TOUR event with the "Am" part of the Pro-Am missing. But in lieu of this and the traditional pre-tournament charity events the AT&T Every Shot Counts Charity Challenge stands to raise more than $1.6 million for Monterey Peninsula Foundation charities. The five-hole match play challenge will be broadcast on PGA TOUR LIVE and Golf Channel from 3-5 p.m. PT with three teams of two celebrities. Each team will represent charities in the community targeting basic necessities with Macklemore joining actor Alfonso Ribeiro on Team Food Insecurity. Team Health Equity consists of actress Kathryn Newton and former Miss America and Golf Advisor Lifestyle Correspondent Kira K. Dixon and Team Education Insecurity has NFL star wide-receiver Larry Fitzgerald and actor, comedian and all-around entertainer Bill Murray. Jim Nantz will serve as host while San Francisco 49er's Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young will serve as official scorekeeper and Train's Pat Monahan will treat viewers to a musical performance. "I'm excited. Last year I think I was on TV three or four times. Every shot counting and being televised is slightly nerve wracking. But we're playing for some great causes and that's what it's all about, so we're going to have fun," Macklemore said. Macklemore and his work have long been associated with inclusion and equality. While not on the same scale as some of his bigger social pushes the artist hopes golf continues to open its doors to all walks of life. "The game is amazing. It’s not one of those sports that you can just pick up right away. It takes a little bit before you get that first dopamine hit of a great shot. But I think that in general we need more people playing. We need more accessibility. We need to really just open up the floodgates of kind of the old guard of what golf is and the exclusivity and make sure that all people can play, that courses are affordable, that equipment is readily available to those that need it, and we get youth out there enjoying this amazing sport," he said. Last year Macklemore partnered with Lanto Griffin in the tournament proper but was unable to make the cut, a goal of his for future years when things return to normal. Despite being out of the mix the musician says the week only spurred on his love of the game. "It was incredible. It was a phenomenal experience, bucket list, completely terrifying. I had no idea how to hit an iron all of a sudden," he laughed. "Shooting in the high 80s at home with some mild cheating with friends. Get down here, can’t improve your lie, you got to play it how it lands, man. That’s just a whole different sport. "All of a sudden I’m coming over the top. I’m slicing the ball. Jason Day’s trying to give me lessons on how to come from the inside. I don’t even speak that language. It was crazy. But it was literally Disneyland for a golfer like myself. I felt like I was a child, and this was the oasis and that’s exactly how it feels this year."

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MARATHON MONDAY AHEAD AT THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP Despite various weather delays across Thursday, Friday and Saturday competition, THE PLAYERS Championship made a 36-hole cut at 3:08 p.m. ET Sunday. Seventy-one players advanced to Round 3 at TPC Sawgrass’ Stadium Course at 2-over or better. From there began a day-and-a-half race to crown the 48th PLAYERS Championship winner. Anirban Lahiri holds pole position overnight, standing 9-under total with seven holes remaining in the third round. Tom Hoge and Harold Varner III each stand a stroke back, with nine holes to play in Round 3. Sebastian Munoz, Paul Casey and Sam Burns stand two strokes back. The third round will resume at 8 a.m. ET Monday, and the field will be re-paired for the final round. With consistent winds in the 15 mph range expected for Monday on the water-logged Pete Dye track, the possibilities are endless for THE PLAYERS’ first Monday finish since Fred Funk’s triumph in 2005. TOUR VOYAGES TO VALSPAR CHAMPIONSHIP After the wacky week at TPC Sawgrass concludes, the PGA TOUR will head to Palm Harbor, Florida, for the Valspar Championship. Innisbrook Resort (Copperhead) will once again serve as the host venue, and the field is impressive with the likes of Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Collin Morikawa, Xander Schauffele, Kevin Kisner, Jason Day, Tommy Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton, Viktor Hovland and Bubba Watson. Sam Burns returns as the defending champion, and 500 FedExCup points will go to the winner. WOODS INDUCTED INTO WORLD GOLF HALL OF FAME It was an emotional Wednesday evening last week as the new class of the World Golf Hall of Fame was inducted. Headlining the class was obviously Tiger Woods, who was introduced by his 14-year-old daughter Sam, who brought the crowd to its feet with her charisma, storytelling and emotional connection to her famous dad. Tiger also showed some rare emotion during his speech, focusing mainly on how he was raised, the challenges he faced as a junior, the lessons his mother and father taught him, and avoiding any references to his remarkable professional career and 15 majors. Also inducted were retired PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem, three-time U.S. Women’s Open champion Susie Maxwell Berning and the late Marion Hollins, a visionary who became the first woman to develop prominent golf courses. VIDEO OF THE WEEK MIC CHECK “This is as tough as golf as you’re ever going to play,” Keegan Bradley said after shooting a 1-under 71 on Saturday, which he called one of the best rounds of his life. BY THE NUMBERS 10 – Shane Lowry holed the 10th ace all-time on the iconic island green and had an epic celebration with the fans. 43 – Hours it took the group of Rory McIlroy, Collin Morikawa and Justin Thomas to finish their first round at THE PLAYERS. Here’s how they handled the delays. 82 – Number of feet (plus another six inches) traversed by Jason Day’s par putt on 14. The second longest PLAYERS putt ever made (since ShotLink began in 2003) and second longest of this season behind Graeme McDowell’s 88-footer at the WM Phoenix Open. 349 – Millions of dollars that UNICEF is requesting for relief in Ukraine. The golf community is stepping up through GolfersforUkraine.com, and more than $600,000 had been donated through the site by Tuesday of last week. COMCAST BUSINESS TOUR TOP 10 Note: Entering THE PLAYERS Championship The Comcast Business TOUR TOP 10 highlights and rewards the extraordinary level of play required to earn a spot in the TOP 10 at the conclusion of the FedExCup Regular Season as determined by the FedExCup standings. The competition recognizes and awards the most elite in golf.

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Phil Mickelson has gone nine months since he finished among the top 20, and it looks as though that streak is about to end at the Wells Fargo Championship. RELATED: Leaderboard | Rickie Fowler solid in return The 50-year-old Mickelson kept his focus Thursday at Quail Hollow and blistered the course for a 7-under 64 to build a two-shot lead after the opening round. All but one of his eight birdies was longer than about 5 feet. Mickelson ran off five birdies in a six-hole stretch around the turn. He closed with two birdies and a superb par save on the par-4 ninth for his best score since a 63 in the second round of the Travelers Championship last June. Lefty missed the cut last week in the Valspar Championship and said he was concerned about losing concentration and dropping shots during stretches of a round. That wasn’t an issue at Quail Hollow, a course he loves for its mixture of birdie holes and tough par holes. “The biggest thing for me was I was able to say in the present and focus on each shot,” Mickelson said. “My mind has been prone to wander.” K.H. Lee had a 66 in the morning, while Innisbrook runner-up Keegan Bradley had a 66 in the afternoon. The group at 67 included former U.S. Open champion Gary Woodland, Tommy Fleetwood and Keith Mitchell, who reached 6 under until a sloppy double bogey on the long par-3 sixth hole and closed with a bogey. Still, Mitchell was 15 shots better than his previous round, an 82 on Sunday at Innisbrook. Mickelson attributed most of the fun to his grouping of everyman Joel Dahmen (68) and old-soul Lanto Griffin, who struggled to a 75 as he tries to secure a spot in the U.S. Open. Dahmen had tweeted that a round with Mickelson was on his bucket list and that he looked forward to see how his game would stack up against the best on the PGA TOUR Champions. Mickelson has won twice on the senior circuit since turning 50 last summer. “He’s a great guy,” Dahmen said. “He’s so full of … information, would be a good way to put it. I poked him a little bit, and he played awesome. I was trying not to get my butt kicked too bad.” Mostly, though, this was Phil looking like the old Phil. His lone bogey came on No. 11, his second hole of the afternoon round. His longest birdie putt was 15 feet on the 341-yard 14th, reachable off the tee but tough to get it close to the back right pin. Mickelson got up-and-down from a bunker on the par-5 15th hole. From there, he barely missed with his irons. It started with an approach into 5 feet on No. 16. After a par save from right of the green on the par-3 17th, Mickelson hit into 3 feet on the 18th, 5 feet on the 507-yard first hole. He finished out his round with a long two-putt birdie on the par-5 seventh, and a beautiful pitch to 5 feet with the pin on an upper shelf. Quail Hollow wasn’t easy for some of the other stars. Rory McIlroy, a two-time winners at the Wells Fargo, opened with a 72 as he tries to make it to the weekend for the first time since Bay Hill two months ago. U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau birdied two of his last three holes for a 70. DeChambeau was going along fine until a big drive found a bunker, and he sent his next shot out-of-bounds to the right, leading to double bogey. Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele each shot 72. Jon Rahm had eight bogeys in his first tournament since the Masters and shot 76. Justin Thomas held his own with a 69 in the morning. Mickelson said he has been doing some mental exercises, though maybe he should have just asked the TOUR earlier to put him with Dahmen and Griffin. Dahmen said some of the discussions inside the ropes were different from other players. “We got in some dopamine talk, frontal lobe and dopamine, and then the units of it, which I was actually impressed with,” Dahmen said. “Then he hit a 6-iron to 3 feet, so he must have had his dopamine correct on that one.” Mickelson is No. 115 in the world and still not eligible for the U.S. Open. His last victory was more than two years ago at Pebble Beach. His last good opportunity to win was at the World Golf Championship in Tennessee last summer. “There’s nothing physically holding me back from playing at a high level, but you cannot make mistakes at this level,” he said. “The guys out here are just so good, and I’ve been making a lot of errors, just simply not being mentally sharp.”

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