Ernie Els puts faith in rookies, youth movement for International Team

HONOLULU, Hawaii – Rory Sabbatini says his decision to become a Slovakian citizen is to support his wife and stepson and to further the sport of golf in the small nation, not to chase an Olympic dream. The South African born six-time PGA TOUR winner now has both American and Slovakian citizenship as he supports his wife Tina’s family wish to further golf in her home nation. Tina’s cousin Rastislav Antala is the Vice President of the Slovak Golf Association and harbors a passion for youth golf. He saw an opportunity to use Sabbatini as the new face of the sport given Petr Valasek is the next highest ranked player from the country at 1930th in the world. It had been previously reported the decision was to give Sabbatini an easier path to the 2020 Olympic Games in Japan. Only two players for each nation can qualify (up to four if they are inside the top 15 in the world) with the field capped at 60. At the moment the 60th player would be Jose de Jesus Rodriguez from Mexico who sits 330th in the world. Sabbatini, who currently ranks 201st in the world, is now sitting in the 49th slot for the Olympics. “This decision was never made to play in the Olympics. This decision was made to one support my wife and stepson, getting my citizenship, and two to open the door for golf development in Slovakia,� Sabbatini said at the Sony Open in Hawaii. “The Olympics or anything else was never the focus of it. I actually didn’t even know I’d be eligible for the Olympics. I thought you had to be in the top 200 in the world and at that point I was like 450th. “The added benefit is her cousin is the director of golf development in Slovakia we thought this is an opportunity to bring more kids into the game of golf because they really haven’t had exposure on a international stage to have someone to follow in golf. “This is an opportunity to maybe open the door to getting some interest among young kids and maybe getting the government involved to start supporting a program for development.� When he tees it up at the Sony Open in Hawaii tomorrow for the 21st straight year, Sabbatini will be the first Slovakian to play on the PGA TOUR. The 42-year-old is twice a runner up at Waialae Country Club but hasn’t won on TOUR since 2011. While he says the Olympics is not a driving factor, he would indeed play in Japan if he qualified. “If I started to perform and was able to qualify for Olympics great, so be it,� he said. “If things happen to fall the way that would be fantastic. Golf being back in the Olympics is a great advantage for golf all over the world. I just truly hope that we can get the program to really develop in Slovakia and if the Olympics would happen to boost it that would be fantastic.�

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PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico – When you’re hot you’re hot. After a victory last week at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship, Seamus Power kept his fine play going this week at the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba, firing an 8-under 63 in the third round to move into the top five on the leaderboard. “Confidence is a huge thing in golf, and especially in wind and a course like this, sometimes you’re lining up down like a hazard line or something like that and you’ve got to hit it with some confidence. I think after the win last week, one, you’re playing a little freer I think and two, your confidence is high, feeling good about your game,” said Power. The round was highlighted by an ace on the par-3 8th, an eagle just three holes later on the par-4 11th, and then a hole-out birdie from a greenside bunker on the par-4 14th. He knocked a gap wedge in for the hole-in-one from 138 yards and a lob wedge in for the eagle. With a bashful laugh, Power said it was his 14th ace, his last on TOUR in 2019 at THE PLAYERS Championship. Funnily enough, Power didn’t feel like he was putting it that well on Saturday. No matter. “It was one of those days, I was burning the edges all over the place with putts so it’s kind of weird a couple of wedge shots went in,” said Power with a smile. “That’s golf sometimes and hopefully I can get some of the putts to drop tomorrow.” Power attributes his solid run to the five-week break he took after the TOUR Championship. It was time, he said, for a mental and physical re-set. “It’s just a lot of tournaments. Last season I feel I played a lot of tournaments,” said Power. “At the start of the year like the Match Play I wouldn’t have been in, or any of the four majors. So, for me adding those to the schedule as it was going along was a little tricky because, you know, there’s a lot of other courses you like and all that. “So, I feel like I probably overplayed a little bit, so that five weeks was huge just to… get the fun back into the game, just to get the energy level back up and that desire to be just out there like on the golf course. So, I was able to do that and, as I said, I feel great right now.” With a fine start to the PGA TOUR season, Power said he’s got eyes on some big-picture goals, including being part of the Ryder Cup team next year in Italy. “I mean, that’s going to be huge,” said Power. “Obviously that’s a long ways away, but… that’s going to hopefully be the reward at the end of a lot of good golf.” Power wasn’t the only one to make an ace on Saturday. Greyson Sigg, fresh off his colorful Friday effort, had a hole-in-one of his own on No. 10. Joel Dahmen, meanwhile, nearly jarred his tee ball with a driver on the par-4 17th. He finished birdie-eagle-birdie to shoot a 5-under 66, after his tee shot on the penultimate hole – measured at 300 yards in the third round – landed just two feet away. He finished birdie-eagle-birdie to shoot a 5-under 66 after his tee shot from 300 yards on the penultimate hole landed just two feet away.

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The first round of the John Deere Classic takes place on Thursday from TPC Deere Run. Here’s how to follow all the action. Round 1 leaderboard Round 1 tee times HOW TO FOLLOW TELEVISION: Thursday-Friday, 4-7 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday-Sunday, 1-2:45 p.m. (GC), 3-6 p.m. (CBS). PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday, 8 a.m.-7 p.m. ET (featured groups). Saturday-Sunday, 9:30 a.m.-3 p.m. (featured groups), 3-6 p.m. (featured holes). International subscribers (via GOLF.tv): Thursday-Friday, 12:00 to 23:00 GMT. Saturday-Sunday, 13:30 to 22:00. RADIO: Thursday-Friday, 1-7 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, 1-6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com). FEATURED GROUPS (ALL TIMES EASTERN) Cameron Champ, Daniel Berger, Joel Dahmen Thursday: 8:30 a.m. ET (No. 10); Friday: 1:40 p.m. ET (No. 1) Matthew Wolff, Charles Howell III, Kevin Tway Thursday: 8:40 a.m. ET (No. 10); Friday: 1:50 p.m. ET (No. 1) Nate Lashley, Jhonattan Vegas, Ryan Palmer Thursday: 1:40 p.m. ET (No. 1); Friday: 8:30 a.m. ET (No. 10) Michael Kim, Zach Johnson, Brian Harman Thursday: 1:50 p.m. ET (No. 1); Friday: 8:40 a.m. ET (No. 10) MUST READS Power Rankings Expert Picks How Joel Dahmen overcame mental, physical struggles Choi set for second PGA TOUR start

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