Stephen Curry is expanding his Underrated brand into golf by launching a series of five tournaments in conjunction with the American Junior Golf Association. Competitors will ultimately vie for the “Curry Cup.”
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Quick 9: Why Mickelson’s Cup influence will be more important off course
SYDNEY, Australia – There are probably plenty out there wondering why is Jordan Spieth in Australia this week instead of enjoying a Thanksgiving feast in Texas. Why would a player of his stature fly halfway around the world to play in the Australian Open – an event with a fraction of the purse he usually plays for? And why would he do it for now a fourth year in a row? The first time, Spieth was convinced by his Australian-born swing coach Cameron McCormick (who will caddie for him this week) to check out the wonders of down under. Those who had won the Stonehaven Cup before also helped sway the young Texan who has a keen sense of golf history. Any tournament that boasts Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Peter Thomson, Tom Watson, Greg Norman, Adam Scott and Rory McIlroy among countless others as victors is certainly worth adding your name to. From there, a love affair has grown, and while Spieth was always destined for greatness, the former FedExCup champion and three-time major winner has always attributed Australia for helping to shape his stratospheric rise in golf. Over the past three years, Spieth has finished 1-2-1 in the event and is once again the tournament favorite. In 2014, Spieth headed to The Australian Golf Club as a one-time PGA TOUR winner who was starting to get a reputation as a non-closer. He’d come off a season with eight top-10s on TOUR but zero victories. His lone win, the 2013 John Deere Classic, had been helped out by a holed bunker shot that, quite frankly, was lucky to go in and not shoot through towards a potential watery grave. It had some questioning him. Questions Spieth didn’t like, but questions he took and answered astutely. And then he put together a ridiculously sublime final-round 8-under 63 at in brutally tough conditions to obliterate the field and win by six shots. A week later he won the Hero World Challenge. A few months after, the Valspar Championship. Then the Masters and U.S. Open on the way to a five-win season. In the lead up to what would be his first major win at Augusta National, Spieth said this: “The Australian Open may have been the most important tournament that I’ve ever played in because at the time, it had been maybe a year and a half since winning the John Deere in that playoff where I kind of squeaked in, luckily. “Going there to an elite field with the world No.1 player (Rory McIlroy at the time) and obviously with the local favorite Adam (Scott) and with a venue like The Australian, to put myself in a position and just have a level of patience that I had not had when I was in contention prior to that was important.â€� He had realized he was trying too hard during the Regular Season. With the chatter getting louder about his abilities, he was wanting it too much and when things started to slide, he couldn’t arrest it. “But in Australia, we didn’t let anything get to us; the roars in front, the scoreboard changes, and I shot arguably the best round I’ve ever played when tied for the lead,â€� he added. “It was a huge, huge boost for me and it allowed me to close the tournament, close it the right way and feel comfortable with the lead when I had it the next week and since then.â€� In fact, he’s now won nine of the last 10 times he’s held the 54-hole lead on the PGA TOUR, with the only hiccup being his infamous 2016 Sunday crash at Augusta. Funnily enough, it was the bombardment of questioning he faced after that victory that led him to one of the most historic finishes of all time earlier this year at The Open. With his round and tournament slipping away after a wild tee shot on the 13th hole led to a dramatic drop and ultimately a bogey, Spieth went back to his bank. He thought a little of winning in Australia. He thought more of losing in Augusta. “You can’t help but have your mind wander,â€� Spieth said this week. “How is this going to affect the next year? Am I going to be questioned about this and my ability to close in big events again, even though I shouldn’t have been questioned in the first placed by a couple of bad swings - I felt that. “That comes into play in my mind, and I was almost just so angry at the way that year went after that Masters – the constant questioning even though I had a pretty successful season – that I just refused to go through it again. “I’m going to do everything in my will power, don’t care about how I’m hitting it, how I’m putting it, just do not allow yourself to lose this event and I was able to pull off the shots necessary.â€� Those shots saw him finish birdie, eagle, birdie, birdie, par to win by three. With the Presidents Cup in 2019 slated for Australia, the likelihood is the Australian Open will take the slot the week before. As such, the chances of some of the biggest stars in golf playing it along with Spieth, are very high. “I would certainly encourage players to come play next year and right before in ’19 when we’re over here,â€� Spieth advocates. “It can only help in my mind and they’re going to love it. The guys still talk about the last President’s Cup in Melbourne, the veterans, just how great of a time it was.â€� But until they get down under to join him, Spieth will try to continue riding the momentum into the new season. Chances are pretty high he will. SPIETH’S AUSSIE MOMENTUM 1. Won 2014 Australian Open – Then won 5 PGA TOUR events, including two majors, the FedExCup and PGA TOUR Player of the Year in 2015. 2. Second Place in 2015 Australian Open – Then won 2 PGA TOUR events in 2016. 3. Won 2016 Australian Open – Then won 3 PGA TOUR events including a major.
Sometimes patience goes a long way, and things can be worth the wait. Just ask Kevin Na, who has produced plenty of highlights between victories on the PGA TOUR, but finally produced those that matter most: Winning ones. Welcome to the Monday Finish, where Na said yeah on the greens at The Old White TPC over the weekend to streak away Sunday for a dominant win. FIVE OBSERVATIONS 1. Good things come to those who wait. When Kevin Na won the 2011 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, the prevailing thought was it would not be his last victory. Most pundits might not have said he’d win an epic number of tournaments, but the majority expected Na to make his presence felt in the winner’s circle again. The confidence of that happening dwindled with each passing missed opportunity and throughout a period where Na just could not pull the trigger on his swing. He had six runner up results since his Las Vegas triumph leading into this week. But after a less than stellar opening round, where he gave up nearly two strokes on the field in putting, Na found his groove. His performance on the greens on the weekend was first class. His Sunday efforts on the way to a 6-under 64 and a five-shot win showed a calmness in the moment he’d been missing. Saturday he made 124 feet, seven inches of putts. Sunday it was 143 feet, eight inches. See more about his putting stats below. Six birdies in seven holes set up the win. And a clutch par putt on the 12th, after his only bogey the hole before, showed he was ready. Much maligned at times for his pace of play or above mentioned “yips� Na always kept a positive attitude. And sported an infectious smile. His 16 at the Texas Open a few years back will always be the stuff of legend… but it is great to see him add a different set of highlights. 2. Phil Mickelson never really troubled those near the top of the leaderboard all week, but it didn’t stop him from dominating some headlines. Mickelson revealed a high stakes exhibition match against long-time rival Tiger Woods is in the works and had initially been mooted for the recently passed July 3 date. If it does happen, it’s sure to bring plenty of attention. It might be a decade or so after almost everyone wanted to see them head to head, but that’s okay. Now older and wiser, the pair could really add to the theatre of it all with plenty of barbs back and forth. It’s a watch this space scenario for sure. 3. He’s a familiar name with eight PGA TOUR wins, but Brandt Snedeker has been noticeably absent from regular contention this season as he returns from last year’s sternum injury. Sneds was one of those players you could always count on finding his way in and around the lead, but this reboot has been a tester on his patience as the great play hasn’t come as easy as often. But his steady perseverance started to bear fruit and now he has second top-10 finish from his last four starts. A tie for sixth at FedEx St. Jude Classic and his third place this week after a sublime Sunday 64 have Snedeker moving in the right direction to return to the FedExCup Playoffs. The 2012 FedExCup champion missed them last season with the injury. But an important move up to 84th this week — and booking a place in the Open Championship with his finish — has given him some breathing space and a platform from which to make further moves. 4. Sunday might have belonged to Na, but it was also significant to dig a little deeper and see how a bunch of players dealt with the furnace of pressure as they look to take their own dreams to another level. First there was Kelly Kraft and Harold Varner III, who held the 54-hole lead as they looked to secure their first wins on the PGA TOUR. They will certainly learn from the experience. Kraft hit the ball beautifully off the tee but couldn’t quite dial in his approach and putting game on Sunday. As each putt missed he saw Na just streak further and further away. But to his credit, he stayed solid enough to be runner up. Varner’s putter was also cold on Sunday and his tee game was also not quite up to scratch in terms of pushing for a win. But while it was clear he didn’t have his best stuff, Varner didn’t give up and ultimately finished in a tie for fifth. He shared that place with Sam Saunders, among others. Saunders was another with a chance for his first win, particularly with the good vibes of using Arnold Palmer’s old putter, but a Sunday 70 was all he could put together. Joel Dahmen had a chance to win but also failed to go low Sunday. But he put his experience of playing with Tiger Woods at the Quicken Loans National to immediate use, finishing with his first top-10 of the season. The tie for fifth is a career best finish on TOUR and just his second career top-10. And then there was John Peterson. Playing on his last start of a Major Medical exemption, Peterson needed a very high finish to get his TOUR card back. He needed a fairly high one for conditional status. Otherwise he would retire and move into real estate. After making a final hole birdie on Friday to make the cut on the number, he made his push all weekend and closed with a 66 to push into a tie for 13th. It meant a nervous wait. And in the end, it wasn’t the outcome he hoped for finishing an agonizing 0.58 points shy of the mark. If Peterson really is done with professional golf we wish him well in his new endeavors. 5. Bring on Joaquin Niemann. The youngster from Chile once again showed his mettle on Sunday. He could have mailed it in on Sunday after a disappointing third round sent him spiraling out of serious contention. But knowing every non-member FedExCup equivalent point is critical in his quest to join the PGA TOUR next season, the 19-year-old was outstanding on Sunday. His bogey-free 64 took him all the way into a tie for fifth and moved him to 414 non-member points. That would put him at 100th place on the list this season, seemingly locking up a place in the top 125 with just six weeks remaining. We are going to see a lot more of this guy. FIVE INSIGHTS 1. Na ranked inside the top 10 in Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green (8th), Strokes Gained: Around- the-Green (4th) and Strokes Gained: Putting (2nd), marking just the second winner this season to rank inside the top 10 in all three of these Strokes Gained categories (Dustin Johnson, Sentry TOC). 2. Almost half (42 percent) of Na’s total strokes gained for the week were a result of his putting performance, gaining +1.772 strokes per round in Strokes Gained: Putting. In the last two rounds Na outperformed the field by +6.91 total strokes on the greens, compared to +0.19 in the first two rounds. 3. Na made five birdies in his opening nine holes of the final round, posting a 29. He’s just the fifth PGA TOUR winner in the ShotLink era to record an opening nine-hole score under 30. Na ranked inside the top four in several key putting statistics leading the field in Putts Per Round (26.50) and One-Putt Percentage (50%). He made three putts from outside 25 feet, tying Francesco Molinari (Quicken Loans National) and Webb Simpson (THE PLAYERS Championship) for the most Total One Putts from this distance by a winner this season. 4. Kraft (2nd), Snedeker (T3), Jason Kokrak (T3) and Austin Cook (T5) earned a berth into the 2018 Open Championship at Carnoustie. The leading four players who finished in the top 12 and ties not already exempt earned spots into the field. Cook received the invite for being the highest-ranked player in the Official World Golf Ranking of those who finished T5. 5. The big FedExCup movers this week included some critical moves with Playoff ramifications: Na — from 58th to 18th; Kraft — from 119th to 59th; Kokrak — from 95th to 64th; Snedeker — from 115th to 84th; Joel Dahmen — 126th to 108th; Saunders — 132nd to 113th and Varner — 139th to 123rd.
