Featured Groups: Bermuda Championship

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ST. ANDREWS, Scotland – PLAYERS champion Cameron Smith set an unofficial PGA TOUR putting record on the way to taking the halfway lead at the 150th Open Championship at St. Andrews. Smith made an incredible 253-feet of putts during the second round at the Old Course headlined by a 64-foot, four-inch eagle putt on the par-5 14th hole – a mark higher than ever seen before in one round on the PGA TOUR. The Australian shot an 8-under 64 on Friday that moved him to 13 under – two clear of Cameron Young and three ahead of Rory McIlroy and Viktor Hovland with 36 holes to play. The official TOUR record belongs to Brent Geiberger who made 240-feet, four-inches worth of putts in the first round of the 2005 Booz Allen Classic. At The Open Championship the TOUR’s ShotLink equipment is not used – instead statistics are the domain of the tournament hosting R&A. As such they are not seen as official TOUR stats. “Once it started breaking pretty good, about 10, 15 foot out, I thought it would have a chance,” Smith said of the eagle putt that sent his quest for a Claret Jug into overdrive. “It’s not really one that you’re trying to hole, you’re just trying to get a nice easy birdie, but nice of it to pop in the side there.” Smith is one of the better putters on the TOUR, coming into The Open Championship sitting 12th in Strokes Gained: Putting, first in putting average, fifth in one-putt percentage, fourth in putts per round and 11th in 3-Putt avoidance. At THE PLAYERS Championship in March, Smith one-putted eight of his last nine holes on the way to the biggest victory of his career to date. The now five-time TOUR winner set a Strokes Gained: Putting tournament record at +11.521 at TPC Sawgrass where he made 401-feet, 10-inches worth of putts for the week, slightly behind his personal best of 415-feet. This week at St. Andrews he’s needed just 28 putts in each of the first two rounds and although he also made putts from 47, 28 and 21-feet on the front nine on Friday, Smith said it was his lag-putting that was truly the key. “I had lots of good lag putting again, lots of good two-putts,” he said despite holing from outside six-feet on 10 of 18 holes. “I’m just basically looking at the hole and trying to see the ball just dropping in the front there. That’s always been the last thought of mine, is take a long, hard look at the hole and really feel the putt. I don’t take a practice stroke. I just get up there and really feel it.”

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DUBLIN, Ohio – World Golf Hall-of-Famer Phil Mickelson has announced he will likely forego a spot in the upcoming U.S. Open at Erin Hills in order to attend his daughter’s high school graduation in California, which is scheduled the same day as the tournament’s first round. Mickelson, a 42-time PGA TOUR winner, five-time major winner and six-time U.S. Open runner up, will almost certainly withdraw from the only major championship he has failed to win. Instead he will watch daughter Amanda graduate and give the commencement address at Pacific Ridge School in Carlsbad on June 15. She is set to enter Brown University in the fall. “My daughter is graduating and she’s the school president… and I’m going to be there,â€� Mickelson confirmed. “Unfortunately, it comes on the Thursday of the Open, around 10:00 in the morning Pacific. So, there’s just really no way to make it, no matter what the tee time is.â€� Mickelson said only a major weather delay or unforeseen circumstance with the graduation ceremony will see him in the field. The final spots in the field will be awarded after 36-hole qualifiers at sites across the country on Monday. “I didn’t want Mike Davis and the USGA to be caught off guard when they made their pairings for television on Wednesday, and I want the alternate to know that he most likely will be in and to prepare properly,â€� Mickelson added. “Mike and I both agree there’s no sense in doing it right now, you never know what might happen, maybe something comes up with the commencement, maybe something comes up with the weather. I don’t know what will happen, but it doesn’t look very good. It would have to be something unforeseen.

“I wanted to make sure that they had enough notice to accommodate it. So that’s why I’m saying something today. But it doesn’t look good for me playing. But I’m really excited about this moment in our family’s life.â€�
 Amanda was born shortly after the 1999 U.S. Open at Pinehurst, where Mickelson finished runner-up to Payne Stewart. He had claimed he would leave Pinehurst at any moment to be there for the birth, displaying a family-first attitude he continues today. The 46-year-old is running out of chances to complete the career grand slam, making the decision more difficult. He has three Masters wins plus one Open Championship and a PGA Championship on his resume. But no U.S. Open. “Obviously, it’s a tournament that I want to win the most, and the only way to win is if you play,â€� he said. “But this is one of those moments where you look back on life and you just don’t want to miss it. I’ll be really glad that I was there and present.â€� Mickelson, who has played in 26 U.S. Opens, was also runner up at the 2002, 2004, 2006, 2009 and 2013 events. He and wife Amy are the parents of Amanda (17), Sophia (15) and Evan (14), and Phil again left no doubt as to his priorities Saturday. He said Amanda would have supported his decision had he chosen to play the U.S. Open. “I’ll be able to play the next two years solidly before Sofia gets to graduate, hopefully,â€� he joked. “Amanda’s very supportive. She’s always been: ‘Dad, I know you love the Open.’ But it’s one of those things that you just show up. You just need to be there. It wasn’t really something that we discussed, because it really wasn’t much of a decision.â€�

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