Even fellow Tour players are getting drawn in to the Tiger hype

How the field qualified for the Farmers Insurance Open as of 1/17/2020: Check here for updates. Winner – PGA/U.S. Open Championship Jason Day Jordan Spieth Jimmy Walker Gary Woodland Winner – THE PLAYERS Championship Rickie Fowler Rory McIlroy Winner – The Masters Patrick Reed Tiger Woods Winner – The Open Championship Francesco Molinari Winner – TOUR Championship (2017 & 2018) Xander Schauffele Winner – World Golf Championships Event Hideki Matsuyama Phil Mickelson Justin Rose Bubba Watson Winners of the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard & the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide (Last 3 Years) Jason Dufner Marc Leishman Tournament Winner in Past Two Seasons Keegan Bradley Cameron Champ Austin Cook Dylan Frittelli Brice Garnett Lanto Griffin Jim Herman J.B. Holmes Max Homa Billy Horschel Charles Howell III Sung Kang Patton Kizzire Russell Knox Satoshi Kodaira Troy Merritt Keith Mitchell Collin Morikawa Sebastián Muñoz Joaquin Niemann Ryan Palmer Cheng Tsung Pan Pat Perez Ted Potter, Jr. Jon Rahm Cameron Smith Brandt Snedeker Brendan Steele Martin Trainer Kevin Tway Matthew Wolff Career Money Exemption K.J. Choi Steve Stricker Sponsors Exemptions – Members not otherwise exempt Harris English Hunter Mahan Sponsors Exemptions – Unrestricted Stewart Cink Isaiah Salinda Justin Suh Brandon Wu PGA Club Professional Champion – 6 Events Alexander Beach PGA Section Champion\Player of the Year Michael Block Top 125 on Prior Season’s FedExCup Points List Tony Finau Jason Kokrak Sungjae Im Lucas Glover Rory Sabbatini Harold Varner III Byeong Hun An Joel Dahmen Wyndham Clark Emiliano Grillo Adam Schenk Danny Lee Kevin Streelman Jhonattan Vegas Charley Hoffman Chesson Hadley Matt Every Michael Thompson Matt Jones Luke List Roger Sloan Sam Burns Bud Cauley Nick Watney Mackenzie Hughes J.J. Spaun Talor Gooch Chris Stroud Kyle Stanley Patrick Rodgers Cameron Tringale Sam Ryder Kyoung-Hoon Lee Scott Stallings Denny McCarthy Scott Brown Carlos Ortiz Sepp Straka Aaron Baddeley Peter Malnati Martin Laird Top 125 (Prior Season Nonmember) Doc Redman Lucas Bjerregaard Major Medical Extension Bronson Burgoon Kevin Stadler Graham DeLaet Ben Martin Jamie Lovemark Grayson Murray John Huh Seung-Yul Noh Brandon Hagy Trey Mullinax Leading Points Winner from Korn Ferry Tour & KFT Finals Scottie Scheffler Top Finishers from Korn Ferry Tour Prior Season (reordered) Scott Harrington Tom Hoge Harry Higgs Xinjun Zhang Robby Shelton Zac Blair Richy Werenski Cameron Percy Fabián Gómez Henrik Norlander D.J. Trahan Hank Lebioda Robert Streb Maverick McNealy Beau Hossler Bo Hoag Matthew NeSmith Rob Oppenheim Kramer Hickok Joseph Bramlett Rafael Campos Chase Seiffert Mark Anderson Kristoffer Ventura Rhein Gibson Ben Taylor Tyler McCumber Chris Baker Michael Gligic Tim Wilkinson Sebastian Cappelen Doug Ghim Cameron Davis Ryan Brehm Michael Gellerman Nelson Ledesma Anirban Lahiri Vincent Whaley Vince Covello

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Admittedly, the scope of the event was beyond anything he had experienced. But it wasn’t until Greg Turner walked to the first tee for the opening match of the 1998 Presidents Cup in Melbourne that he understood just how different it all was. “From the clubhouse to the first tee, it was a long walk and here we were a pair of Kiwis marching through a throng of screaming Aussies. It was a maelstrom,� said Turner, side-by-side with countryman Frank Nobilo. “Kiwis hadn’t had that much support from Aussies since Gallipoli.� Aussies and Kiwis? Together with South Africans? For a common cause? Seriously? “We’re rugby countries,� Nobilo said. “It’s combative between us.� But in December of 1998, it was Three Musketeers-like, that “all-for-one-and-one-for-all� stuff which worked rather nicely. Indeed, if this year’s International Team needs inspiration for the upcoming task at hand against the heavily favored Americans at Royal Melbourne, players need only refer to what happened 21 years ago. In fact, perhaps this year’s International Team captain, Ernie Els, can regale them, for a little more than a year after winning a second U.S. Open, the 29-year-old South African in 1998 was a key component in a stunning performance. That year, the Presidents Cup was played outside the United States for the first time – and oh, how it traveled, all the way Down Under to Royal Melbourne. The majestic links in the famed Sandbelt region had been flavored by few Americans, but Els & Co. knew it well. “Like the back of my hand,� said Australia’s Craig Parry. He was then 32 “and I had first seen Royal Melbourne when I was 5. I loved everything about it and felt it was a great place for us.� Exactly how great could never have been envisioned, but Els, who went 3-1-1, would confirm that 21 years later, the International Team’s lone win in 12 editions of the Presidents Cup still ignites an infinite measure of respect. “I have a photo of our winning team, smiling and celebrating. It’s up in the bar of my house,� said Parry, the enthusiasm in his voice unmistakable. “One of the best memories of my life.� What often reverberates when the 1998 Presidents Cup is brought up is not praise for the late Peter Thomson’s captaincy or the brilliant play of a rookie from Japan, Shigeki Maruyama, or the dynamic Australian tandem of Greg Norman and Steve Elkington. No, you often get dismissals because the Americans had to travel just before Christmas (the competition was held Dec. 11-13) and it was their off-season, so most of the team was rusty. In fact, Tiger Woods, who went 2-3 that week as the No. 1 player in the world, will be playing captain this time around and told his team he doesn’t want a repeat of ’98. “We weren’t ready to play,� he told them, “and we got beat pretty badly.� Excuses flavored red, white and blue tried to explain the 3-1/2 to 1-1/2 deficit the Americans faced after the opening foursomes or the 7-3 hole they dug themselves on Day 1. It was pretty much over after the Internationals won the morning foursomes on Day 2, 4-1/2 to 1/2, and what got the blame was the schedule-maker, or the lack of American enthusiasm, or even Jack Nicklaus’ captaincy. Rarely are the Internationals given credit. Disrespectful, no? “It did have the elements of a perfect storm,� Nobilo said. “We were desperate for a win and we nearly had won in 1996 (a one-point U.S. win) when we really came together. So, we felt confident in 1998. Maybe they helped us, certainly the course helped us, but we truly had a great team chemistry that year. Such a cool experience.� Unlike Nicklaus, who was hand-delivered the world’s top four-ranked players – Woods, Mark O’Meara, David Duval, Davis Love III – and five others in the top 20, Thomson had the proverbial top-heavy squad. Els (No. 5), Nick Price (6), Vijay Singh (9), Elkington (16) and Norman (18) were established world-class players, but from there, it was a pair of unheralded Aussies (Stuart Appleby, Parry), two unknown entities from Japan (Maruyama and Naomichi “Joe� Ozaki), and from a country of very few golf courses, Paraguay, came Carlos Franco. Oh, and to round out the team, Thomson – a legend in Australia – chose a couple of Kiwis, Nobilo and Turner. It was a move that unsettled many golf fans Down Under, Aussies and New Zealanders being bitter enemies. “But Peter probably liked the fact that Frank and I had played a lot of Dunhill Cups together,� said Turner, a four-time European Tour winner. “Give him credit. He probably felt it was about the team, not the individuals.� Banded together, the International Team consisted of seven players ranked outside the top 30 in the OWGR, with four outside the top 50. Five of the 12 players had not won anywhere that season. On the flip side, each of the 12 Americans had won that year on the PGA TOUR (O’Meara capturing two majors, Lee Janzen one). No wonder Thomson described the U.S. as “the mightiest team ever assembled.� The National Sportsbook of Australia agreed, making Nicklaus’ team overwhelming favorites. A $1 wager would only return $1.40. Parry insists that he was among 12 people in Australia that week who thought the Presidents Cup would be competitive. “The Americans were better – on paper. But we were better on grass,� he said. Better in ways that could never have been imagined and to a degree that was inexplicable. Maybe there was something to the whispers that circulated that week, that the Americans were not quite a cohesive unit. Even Nicklaus conceded to reporters that players had approached him Wednesday night, voicing concerns about being in the dark about the pairings and not having a say in the process. How much that played into the outcome is difficult to say. But when the competition ended, the American head-shaking began in earnest. “The whole picture of this thing is hard to believe. We are in a state of shock,� said Mark Calcavecchia, after playing Turner to a halve in a singles match that was rendered meaningless. So overwhelming was the International’s 20-1/2 to 11-1/2 drubbing that it was virtually clinched in the first few singles games. If there was an indelible image of the ’98 Presidents Cup, likely it was the radiant smile seemingly cemented on the new face. Maruyama would win the first of his three PGA TOUR tournaments two years later, but back then he was just 29 and barely known outside of his native Japan. That he was embraced by Aussies and Kiwis, South Africans and even a Paraguayan, said it all about captain Thomson’s team. “He was infectious the minute we got together,� Nobilo recalled of the man who would be nicknamed “The Smiling Assassin.� Parry was perhaps the one player who needed no introduction. He had played a lot in Japan and “I knew Shigeki was a very, very good player. He was quite aggressive, but it’s not easy to play Royal Melbourne that way.� Thomson saw Parry as Maruyama’s foursomes partner and the man affectionately called “Popeye� didn’t hesitate. “I knew a little Japanese and I guided him around.� Parry is being modest, at least according to Maruyama. “Craig Parry helped me a lot and covered my mistakes,� said Maruyama, who splits his time now between Los Angeles and Japan and keeps close tabs on his only child, Sean, now a sophomore on the golf team at UCLA. Sean was born 18 months after his father’s 1998 heroics at Royal Melbourne and was just three months old when Shigeki played in the 2000 Presidents Cup. But they have been united at two Presidents Cups since then – in 2013 at Muirfield Village, when Sean attended and helped as interpreter for his father, who served as an assistant to captain Price; then, in 2017 when Shigeki attended to watch his son play in the Junior Presidents Cup in New Jersey. Still, it was that week in Melbourne 21 years ago that remains unforgettable, and Shigeki heaped praise on his Aussie friend. “I believed I could contribute a little bit, but our victory is 90 percent thanks to him,� he said. If the Parry-Maruyama win in foursomes over Janzen and Scott Hoch in that first session opened eyes, what they did the next day was stunning – a 1-up victory over Woods and Fred Couples. Throw in a pair of four-ball wins alongside his countryman, Ozaki, and a singles decision over John Huston, and Maruyama registered what established an International Team record, 5-0 perfection. (That was matched in 2015 by Branden Grace.) Parry’s willingness to take Maruyama wasn’t the only example of what helped draw the team together. While Thomson was committed to the teams of Norman and Elkington (3-0-1), Els and Singh (2-1-0), and Nobilo-Turner (2-1-0), Price and Parry raised their hands to partner with Franco, who might have been the biggest outsider on the team, a Paraguayan who played in Japan and had never been to Australia. “We are so many different nations, different cultures, it’s sometimes difficult,� Nobilo said. “But that week was different, and we discovered that Carlos was a character. On our bus rides to and from the course, he started the karaoke. It takes someone to break the ice.� Franco was 0-2-1 that week, but his mates easily covered him. The Internationals won each of the four team sessions, split in singles, 6-6, and simply gave the home crowd an excessive amount to cheer about. That it started from an opening game that featured a pair of Kiwis was improbable, to say the least. “I mean, fair to say we weren’t raging favorites,� laughed Turner, who saw it as a good thing he and Nobilo were taking on O’Meara and Duval. “In some ways, it unburdened us. They were Nos. 1 and 3 in the world. The public probably thought we had 1-in-20 chance of winning.� How that opening game played out proved to be an omen for the International Team. The 40-foot putt Nobilo made at the first hole got the crowd into it and it only got better. Clinging to a 1-hole lead at 17, Nobilo slipped home a twisting 3-footer to get a halve. Then, at 18, with O’Meara having stuff his approach to 6 feet, Turner – urged by Nobilo to hit 6-iron and not 7-iron – landed his shot more than 40 feet from the hole. “Well, you better make the putt,� Turner said to Nobilo. Guess what? His fellow Kiwi did, thanks to a quirk of fate. Nobilo said his caddie, Anthony “Antman� Knight, insisted he knew the line, having had this putt when he caddied for Wayne Riley, who won the 1991 Australian Open at Royal Melbourne with a 40-footer on the last hole. “No doubt in his mind,� said Nobilo, so why not? He trusted Knight and because he did, “the crowd went absolutely nuts – and it’s unusual to get the Aussies behind the Kiwis.� That birdie roll fell and stunned the O’Meara-Duval team. What followed was the first of three wins by the Elkington-Norman team and it was if the wrapper was off the crowd’s belief that maybe, just maybe, the Internationals could hang in there. There was credit to spread up and down the lineup, said Nobilo, but a good dose of it had to go to Elkington. Elkington in his prime was a premier ball-striker, an immense talent. Most of all, “he was totally invested in the Presidents Cup,� Nobilo said. “He got it. He was the one who fired the team up on the bus ride in the morning. He wasn’t just into his game, he was to everyone else on the team what a cornerman is to a boxer.� So, when it was over, and the International Team had sent recorded a resounding victory, Elkington understandably took great joy. “We creamed them,� he said to reporters. No one can say he was wrong.

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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Marking the culmination of a long-term strategic planning process designed to best serve fans through traditional broadcast, Over-the-Top streaming (OTT) and emerging technologies, the PGA TOUR today announced its new nine-year domestic media rights portfolio for 2022-2030. “Following a comprehensive process of studying the market, talking to all interested parties and analyzing our various options, we’re excited to announce that we have entered into new agreements with our existing partners ViacomCBS and Comcast/NBC Sports Group, while establishing a new long-term relationship with Disney and ESPN+,� said PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan. “We were extremely pleased with the interest we received from the market – both with incumbents and other media companies – and are excited that our current partners shared our vision for the future, and we are equally excited to be back in business with Disney and ESPN+.  These new deals will be a major win for our fans, bringing an elevated commitment from all three partners to help us expand and innovate our content and its delivery.� Financial details will not be disclosed, but Monahan continued, “The nine-year deals will put us in a position to significantly increase player earnings, deliver more value to our tournaments and sponsors, and ultimately allow us to continue to grow our charitable footprint. Additionally, we are now able to reinvest in our sport in a way never before possible, including production, personnel and technology, and are well positioned to best serve and grow our fanbase in the years to come.� Broadcast & Cable Television CBS and NBC will maintain weekend coverage of most FedExCup tournaments, with CBS averaging 19 events and NBC eight events each season through the life of the agreements. Under the new schedule, one network will televise all three FedExCup Playoffs events each year, starting with NBC in 2022 and generally alternating with CBS, creating powerful, three-week coverage of the conclusion of the race for the FedExCup. NBC Sports Group also will continue as the TOUR’s cable partner, with GOLF Channel providing all early-round coverage and early weekend coverage of every FedExCup event each season, along with PGA TOUR Champions and the Korn Ferry Tour. Further strengthening the ties, the TOUR and NBC Sports will expand their collaborative content and programming relationship. Another central component of the new agreements will see the PGA TOUR assume responsibility of the onsite production area and technical infrastructure each week, enabling the TOUR to more efficiently aggregate, distribute and develop content for its various platforms worldwide. CBS and NBC will still use their own production and announce teams, led by their producers, directors and production personnel. Additionally, the TOUR and its media partners will collaborate on creating more sponsorship and marketing opportunities, inside and outside PGA TOUR golf coverage, including access to the vast resources of ViacomCBS, Comcast/NBC Sports Group and Disney and ESPN+. “We’re excited to extend NBC Sports’ historic partnership with the PGA TOUR as its foundational media partner.  We will continue to utilize our extensive platforms to showcase golf with unparalleled live tournament coverage, comprehensive news and high-quality content. Golf is a part of NBCUniversal’s DNA across our broadcast, cable, streaming and digital properties – nowhere more so than GOLF Channel,� said Pete Bevacqua, President, NBC Sports Group. “With more live golf coverage than all other U.S. media companies combined, our relationship with the PGA TOUR also includes THE PLAYERS and Presidents Cup, as well as elevating the PGA TOUR Champions, Korn Ferry TOUR and LPGA Tour via our world-class coverage.� “Extending our successful long-standing relationship with the PGA TOUR was a top priority, and we are thrilled to add nine more years to this terrific partnership,� said Sean McManus, Chairman, CBS Sports. “As the PGA TOUR’s primary broadcast network, we are excited to showcase over two-thirds of all broadcast network coverage of the PGA TOUR, expand our schedule with all three FedExCup Playoffs events in alternate years, and to increase our use of PGA TOUR content across all CBS Sports platforms, with even more expansive content exclusivity.  For over 60 years the PGA TOUR, its tournaments and sponsors have been outstanding partners. We look forward to many more years of growth and success together.� PGA TOUR LIVE on ESPN+ For the first time, the TOUR’s digital rights were negotiated concurrently with its linear offering and will have a new, exciting, direct-to-consumer home: ESPN+.  As a result of the new agreement, PGA TOUR LIVE – the TOUR’s subscription video service that was launched in 2015 – will live exclusively on ESPN+ beginning in 2022 and will be dramatically expanded to include multiple live content channels nearly every week of the FedExCup season. Jimmy Pitaro, President, ESPN and co-Chairman, Disney Media Networks said, “We are looking forward to working with the PGA TOUR to bring current and future golf fans the next generation of TOUR coverage. ESPN+ will offer golf fans unprecedented access and storytelling at an incredible value on the industry’s leading sports streaming platform.� Rick Anderson, Chief Media Officer, PGA TOUR added, “The relationship with Disney and ESPN+ gives the TOUR the opportunity to expand and diversify audiences, and the TOUR and ESPN will work together to bring new and unique content to our fans.� ESPN+, the leading sports streaming service from Disney’s Direct-to-Consumer and International (DTCI) segment and ESPN, has grown quickly to reach 7.6 million subscribers (as of February 3, 2020) and the new relationship will provide a significant growth opportunity for PGA TOUR content via ESPN+’s digital reach, innovative platform and young and diverse audience.  PGA TOUR LIVE on ESPN+ will bring fans more access to the 30,000-plus golf shots hit each week on the PGA TOUR by delivering more than 4,000 hours of live streaming coverage annually.  PGA TOUR LIVE on ESPN+ will include live coverage from 36 tournaments – from the TOUR’s Hawaii events in January all the way through the year – with at least 28 events having four full days of coverage, with four simultaneous live feeds each day. PGA TOUR LIVE on ESPN+ will also feature on-demand replays of PGA TOUR events, original golf programs, edited speed round recaps and more. All of this will be available to ESPN+ subscribers as part of the base subscription, alongside more than 12,000 other live sporting events, an unmatched lineup of studio programs, original series and documentaries, along with a library of other, on-demand programming.  ESPN+ is available through the ESPN App, (on mobile and connected devices), ESPN.com or ESPNplus.com.  It is also available as part of a bundle offer that gives subscribers access to Disney+, Hulu (ad-supported), and ESPN+ at a discounted price. LPGA As part of its Strategic Alliance with the LPGA, the PGA TOUR also successfully negotiated rights agreements that will see the LPGA Tour continue as anchor programming on GOLF Channel, along with expanded exposure for LPGA Tour events on NBC and CBS each year, beyond the U.S. Women’s Open, KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and AIG Women’s British Open, which are already on network. Specifically, the TOUR secured the long-term extension of the LPGA/GOLF Channel partnership (2022-2030) with ancillary programming, including a season preview, season review and Road to the CME Group Tour Championship.  In addition, GOLF Channel will provide dedicated programming for the Symetra Tour each year, as well as enhanced marketing and promotional assets and expanded benefits for LPGA sponsors. As part of the agreement, the LPGA maintains control of all of its media rights outside the United States and receives expanded digital content rights. “This agreement is an important milestone in the strategic partnership between the LPGA and the PGA TOUR and a great example of the collaboration happening among golf’s biggest stakeholders,� said LPGA Tour Commissioner Mike Whan. “Thanks to the enhanced agreement with GOLF Channel and increased network coverage on NBC and CBS, more viewers in the U.S. and around the globe will experience the quality and diversity of the LPGA Tour. This gives us a domestic broadcast partner to help deliver another decade of unprecedented growth and provides a foundation that will springboard the women’s game into the future.� “The LPGA is a very important industry partner, and we are proud that our strategic alliance has enabled these results,� said Monahan.  “I’m so impressed with Mike Whan’s leadership and the world-class talent of the LPGA’s athletes, and it’s exciting to know that when fans want to watch professional golf at the highest level, they are going to see both Tours on the same platforms – with the same partners – for the foreseeable future.� Evolution Media Capital, a division of Creative Artists Agency (CAA), served as the media advisor to PGA TOUR.

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