Dustin Johnson leaves PGA Tour to play in LIV

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Since he won the Barracuda Championship in a playoff on Sunday, Chris Stroud has received 1,400 text messages, 55 voicemails and another 100 or so emails. And he has replied to every single one. “I’m a big believer in that,â€� Stroud said. “I told a few guys after golf is gone and done for me, all you have left is people and the relationships you have. I care more about people than I do about my golf. I was raised that way. I’m grateful. I’m grateful to have a chance to play on the TOUR and stay healthy.â€� The victory, which was the first of Stroud’s career, enabled him to jump 68 spots on the FedExCup list to 76th to secure his playing privileges for two more years. He’s also headed to Maui in January to play in the SBS Tournament of Champions for the first time. The win also prompted another change in travel plans – landing him in the PGA Championship. And he made the most of the opportunity, shooting a 68 that left him one stroke off the lead held jointly by Thorbjorn Olesen and Kevin Kisner. “Today was one of the easiest rounds,â€� Stroud said. “Obviously I’m playing well. I’m swinging it nicely and putting it well. That has a lot to do with it. It’s a deep confidence that I have.â€� Stroud says his caddie was instrumental in Sunday’s victory and played a big role in Thursday’s round, which was the only bogey-free one of the day. Whenever Stroud starts talking about golf these days, his caddie switches the subject. “We talk about science,â€� Stroud said. “We talk about spirituality, baseball, football, Texans, Houston Astros. Anything to keep my mind off golf. As soon as I hit it, I’m talking about something else. If I say something he goes, hey, hey, hey, we don’t care about golf. “It’s just an experiment we tried last week and it absolutely worked.â€� Stroud, who had been on the road for five weeks, had actually planned to go home to Houston this week to see his wife and their two daughters. Next week he was headed to Greensboro to play in the Wyndham Championship. Instead, he and his caddie drove 2 hours from Reno, Nevada, to Sacramento on Sunday night and bought two first-class tickets to Charlotte. He got in late Monday night and slept until about 11 a.m. “I couldn’t tell what time it was,â€� he said. “Open the curtains and it’s bright. I went to bed at like 2.â€� As nice as the texts and emails and phone messages were, Stroud’s parents flew to North Carolina on Wednesday to surprise him. “We had our celebration dinner last night, just us three,â€� the Texan said. “It was a dream. When I was 9 years old, I knew I wanted to be on the PGA TOUR. I got into college, I was 17, 18 years old. I knew I had a chance to be really good and get on the TOUR. “When I got out here, obviously my dream was to win and be as good as I can. It’s at least a 20-year dream come true.â€� At the same time, Stroud admits that he had gotten to the point where he could accept that he’d had a solid career – regardless of what happened. Of course, he wanted to win but he finally realized that he was getting in his own way. “About six months ago I said you know what, I’ve had 10 years of good runs out here,â€� Stroud said. “I’ve played well. I don’t care if I win anymore. I want to win but I can’t let that be on my shoulders all the time. I’m not going to worry about it. “I’m going to play the best I can and let’s just ride this out. I don’t know if I’m good enough. I don’t know if I’m good enough to win or keep my card. And since I surrendered to that, it’s like all of a sudden things got — the weight is off my shoulders. “All these people have told me this for years. To actually do that, I had to get to the bottom to figure that out. I literally just said you know what I’m done. I’m just going to do the best I can and have as much fun as I can. “All of a sudden it falls in my lap.â€�

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HONOLULU – Nearly four years removed from storming home to win a bronze medal at the 2016 Olympic Games, Matt Kuchar still carries the spoils around everywhere he goes. In a sock. Kuchar, who defends his Sony Open in Hawaii title this week, revealed the bronze medal he won on the back of a final round 63 in Rio is with him, in his backpack, wherever he travels. To stop scratches he keeps it in an old sock. RELATED: Why Todd might be the prohibitive favorite at Waialae | TOUR players rally to Australian bushfire relief cause | Power Rankings But it comes out of its cocoon often, particularly through the many airport security screenings the nine-time PGA TOUR winner frequents. “It hadn’t found a home anywhere other than my backpack. It’s easy to travel with … and just been fun to show off,â€� Kuchar said. “In airport screenings I always take it out. They see this big metal blob and always take it out so I always bring it out and it’s in a sock and even though I’ve put the sock out open in a bin, the screener always grabs a hold of it, pulls it out, and (their) eyes kind of bug out. “It’s a similar reaction over and over again. Just kind of bug out. Is this real? What’s it for? They start showing it off to their friends. (And I’m like) Hey, I got to catch a flight now,â€� he laughed. With 2020 being an Olympic year Kuchar would love to return and represent the USA once more. But each nation gets just two slots for the golf competition, with the exception of players inside the top 15 in the world. A country can have up to four if all of those players are inside the top 15. The U.S. is the only nation who currently has four players inside the top 15. Kuchar is currently 24th in the world with 12 other Americans ahead of him on the list. The qualification period for Japan ends on June 22. If things ended now the U.S. representatives would be Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson and Patrick Cantlay. Next up ahead of Kuchar would be Tiger Woods, Xander Schauffele, Patrick Reed, Webb Simpson, Gary Woodland, Bryson DeChambeau, Tony Finau and Rickie Fowler. But the difficulty won’t stop Kuchar chasing a place in the team. “I’m hugely proud to have been part of an Olympics, to be able to call myself an Olympian,â€� Kuchar said. “And I’m hugely proud to be a medalist at an Olympics. It’s definitely a goal of mine to be part of the Olympics in 2020 in Japan. I’m still amazed at the scale, the scope of just what the Olympics means to people, how big the Olympics is. “It’s a tough one to be a part of Team USA. You think of the chance of qualifying. It’s a hard team to be a part of. (But) It’s a big goal of mine. I would be disappointed if I didn’t make it, but I understand how challenging it is at the same time.â€� In 2016, Kuchar started the final round four shots out of third place in Rio. While he was unable to reel in eventual gold medalist Justin Rose or silver medal winner Henrik Stenson, Kuchar still felt like a winner given his achievement. “That was an incredible run. It felt Olympian. Looking back it ranks hugely high just to be able to finish so strong,â€� he added. “To be able to go ahead and know exactly the situation and come through and have a great round was amazing. To think there is that big cut off between third and fourth. It’s either you medal or you don’t. Medaling is winning in essence, and that was certainly one of my great final rounds.â€� Kuchar also spoke glowingly of the experience away from competition. While he didn’t stay in the athletes village due to the fact he brought his wife with him, they did get to other events as spectators. And did he connect with any other athletes? “I did become friends with Jack Sock actually. He’s the tennis player. We saw their bronze medal match. He played with Steve Johnson, and Daniel Berger’s dad was the coach,â€� Kuchar said. “We sat in the players box with Jay Berger and they won bronze. They came over just in huge celebratory fashion and Jack and I traded shirts. I got an Olympic tennis shirt for one of my Olympic golf shirts.â€� Jack. Sock. Naturally.

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SAN ANTONIO — This week, Rory McIlroy begins another quest for the Masters Tournament, the elusive major championship he hasn’t yet won. His preparation began at home in Florida. He skipped the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play and “played some good rounds and got some good practice in,” he said Tuesday at the Valero Texas Open. Now he intends to work on his distance control, short putts, finesse shots around the greens and, if he can, putting himself under the duress of competition on a Sunday afternoon. “It’s a really good guide to see where my game is,” McIlroy said, “especially if you’re having to his shots under pressure to try to win a golf tournament. That’s when things start to stand out.” McIlroy has stood out here. He’s made one other start at the Valero Texas Open. He finished in second in 2013, then went on to tie for 25th at the Masters. He arrived in Texas late Tuesday after spending two days in Georgia. “It was good to be there, good to see the place,” he said of Augusta National, which he said he played twice. “At least coming into this event and playing this week, I don’t feel like there’s a rush to get there next week and cram. I feel like I’ve already done most of my work.” The course he faces this week in Texas — the Oaks Course at TPC San Antonio — resembles Augusta National in small but significant ways. “I think the runoffs around the greens, the undulations on the greens, some of the shots you face if you do miss (a green),” McIlroy said. “And some of the bunkering around this course, the bunkers are pretty deep around the greensides.” McIlroy has never finished better than fourth at the Masters, the last major he needs for the career Grand Slam. He entered the Valero Texas Open with modest momentum, including a win last fall at THE CJ CUP @SUMMIT in Las Vegas, a tie for 10th at The Genesis Invitational and a share of 13th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard in 2022. He tied for 33rd in his last start, THE PLAYERS Championship. He seemed unconcerned with his driving and approach play after a nine-hole pro-am Tuesday morning. “Off the tee feels really good. Iron play is feeling good,” he said. “For the most part, my game feels good, so it was just a case of just continuing to do what I’ve been doing over the last couple of weeks.” He said he was in a far better place than he was at this time last year, when he missed the cut at the Masters for the first time in his 13 starts. “I’m way more comfortable with my game,” he said. “I’m happy with where everything is. Everything seems like it’s a lot more settled.”

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