Fowler wins Phoenix Open despite triple-bogey

November 29, 2022 – (Nassau, Bahamas and Orlando, Fla.): PGA TOUR stars Justin Thomas and Jon Rahm join Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy as golfers committed to play in the TGL, a new tech-infused golf league in partnership with the PGA TOUR that will begin play in 2024. The announcement was made by TMRW Sports co-founders Woods, McIlroy and founder and CEO Mike McCarley. “Justin and Jon are tremendous additions to join Tiger and Rory as the next PGA TOUR players announced as part of TGL. Both are major champions who have spent time as the number one player in the world and have represented their home countries in golf’s biggest team match-play events,” said McCarley. “They are well-respected among their peers as among the best players in the world and for the way they conduct themselves as professionals. World-class golfers, like Justin and Jon, are the cornerstones of TGL as we blend elements of the traditional game with a new, short-form format designed specifically for modern media consumption.” JUSTIN THOMAS: Thomas is a two-time major champion having won the PGA Championship in both 2017 and 2021. Owner of 15 PGA TOUR wins, Thomas spent five weeks atop the World Golf Rankings and was the 2016-17 PGA TOUR Player-of-the-Year, 2017 FedExCup Champion, and The Players 2021 Champion. A stalwart of U.S. Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup teams, his team golf success dates back to winning the 2013 NCAA Men’s Golf Championship with the University of Alabama in 2013. “Team golf events have always been highlights throughout my career, as the us vs them mentality fuels my competitive spirit,” said Thomas. “I am proud to be a foundational player of TGL and while I am eager to test my skills once the league launches, I am eager to be a voice alongside Tiger, Rory and Jon, in helping to shape the league, and help expand the audience for the sport I love.” JON RAHM: Rahm became the first Spanish golfer to win the U.S. Open with his triumph at Torrey Pines in 2021. Starting in July 2020, Rahm spent 43 weeks atop the World Golf Rankings, and has a total of 17 worldwide wins, including seven on the PGA TOUR. In addition, Rahm has played on two Ryder Cup teams (2018, 2021) and was the No. 1 golfer in the World Amateur Golf Ranking for a record 60 weeks. “As soon as I learned about TGL, I jumped at the opportunity to be a part of it,” said Rahm. “As an avid user of the latest tech in golf with launch monitors, simulators and virtual greens and my personal passion for gaming, I immediately recognized the potential for TGL to introduce golf to a broader global audience — especially younger fans. I’m proud to announce my commitment to compete and help shape the future of golf for the next generation.” About TGL: In August, following nearly two years of development, Woods, McIlroy, and McCarley announced the formation of TMRW Sports and TGL. TGL will showcase team competitions from a custom-built venue fusing advanced tech and live action in primetime on Monday nights. Woods and McIlroy are the first two golfers committed to compete, now joined by Thomas and Rahm, and the league’s inaugural season will kick off in 2024. TGL, the golf league of TMRW Sports, will feature: • Teams: Six teams of three PGA TOUR players in head-to-head, 18-hole match play; • Tech-Infused Venue: A first-of-its-kind venue for golf enabled by a data-rich, virtual course combined with a tech-infused, short-game complex; • Tech-Enabled Fan Experience: High-energy, greenside fan experience with every shot live within a 2-hour, primetime televised match; • Season: 15 regular season Monday night matches followed by semifinals and finals.

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HAMILTON, Ontario – When Mackenzie Hughes was 14, he caddied during a practice round at the 2004 RBC Canadian Open and was fortunate enough to walk with a group that also included Mike Weir. The day was amazing for Hughes … but not so much for the player whose bag he was carrying. “I just remember that day picking (Weir’s) brain the entire time but being the worst caddie of all time,â€� Hughes recalled with a laugh. “I had no idea where my golfer was. I was just like, ‘Mike Weir is over here, I’m going to walk over here.’ “It was the best day ever for me.â€� Weir would go on that week to lose in a playoff to Vijay Singh, coming ever so close to become the first Canadian since Pat Fletcher in 1954) to win his country’s national open. Still, Weir was at the height of his popularity and success in Canada. He had been ranked No. 3 in the world and inspired a generation of Canadian golfers to pick up the sport, thinking that if a small guy from a small town could beat the world’s best, why couldn’t they? RELATED: Power Rankings | Expert Picks | Conners on home turf in Canada | Tee times Fast-forward 15 years, and Hughes is still standing next to Weir asking questions – this time as a peer, a fellow winner on the PGA TOUR. Hughes, who captured The RSM Classic in 2016, is part of a contingent of Canadians who are finding success on the PGA TOUR, and beyond, at an unprecedented clip. Currently, there are 10 Canadians with TOUR membership, the most since 1970 when records were kept. Eight of those players are active most weeks: Hughes, Corey Conners, Adam Hadwin, Nick Taylor, Roger Sloan, David Hearn, Ben Silverman and Adam Svensson. The other two are Graham DeLaet, who is on a Major Medical exemption following microdiscectomy surgery and hopes to return later this year; and Weir, who has played mostly on the Web.com Tour this season (next May he turns 50 and will eligible for PGA TOUR Champions). Of the active Canadians, five are inside the top 125 of the FedExCup standings; only Australia (six) has more among the non-U.S. members. Conners and Hadwin are in the top 20 of the International Team standings for this year’s Presidents Cup and hope to make a big push down the stretch this season. And this week, 25 Canadians are scheduled to play at Hamilton Golf and Country Club, a healthy showing that includes established TOUR pros, up-and-comers and the country’s only major winner, as Weir makes his fourth TOUR start of the season. He’ll play the first two rounds at Hamilton with countrymen Taylor and Hearn. All in all … “Canadian golf is probably in the best place it’s been, ever, on the female and male side,â€� Hughes said. “It’s really cool to be a part of it, to be one of those guys who has a chance to compete and to win on the PGA TOUR.â€� There’s been a robust group of Canadians who have won TOUR-sanctioned events in the last five years, and that doesn’t include everything Brooke Henderson has done on the LPGA Tour. Just 21, she’s already won eight times. Her win total is tied for the most ever (with Weir, for one) LPGA or PGA TOUR titles by a Canadian. A sampling of the recent success: Hughes, Conners (2019), Hadwin (2017), and Taylor (2014) have all won on the PGA TOUR. Sloan (2014), Silverman (2017), Svensson (2018), and Michael Gligic (2019) have all won on the Web.com Tour – along with Hadwin in 2014 (twice) and Hughes in 2016 – and all will be in the field this week at the RBC Canadian Open. Not bad for a nation whose golf season is only about six months long – and that’s being generous. Some of the biggest names on the PGA TOUR, including 2017 FedExCup champion Justin Thomas, has recognized the success of the Canadians. Thomas, playing the Canadian Open for the first time (in fact, he had never been to Canada before this week) knows Conners from living near each other in Jupiter, Florida. He said Tuesday he was impressed at Conners’ mettle as he came down the stretch to win his first TOUR event. Conners “flushes it,â€� according to Thomas. Canadians are everywhere on TOUR, said Thomas. “There’s a lot of great past and a lot of great history,â€� Thomas said. “It seems like it’s only getting better and better each year.â€� Much of the recent Canadian success can be pined on Golf Canada and its national and developmental team program. It’s unique; even the United States doesn’t have something like it. The provincial organizations help identify star players – Canada has produced Drive, Chip, and Putt National Champions in two different age groups the last two years, for example – and they get recruited into a program that helps with on-course coaching and off-course development. Jeff Thompson, the Chief Sport Officer for Golf Canada – akin to the United States Golf Association – said with a laugh that “unfortunatelyâ€� other countries are starting to pick up on the developmental program idea that started 15 years ago. “We can see it at international events. Those players from countries like Scotland, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, and Denmark are getting better,â€� he said. But not everyone was part of the team. Silverman was never part of the program. Hearn attended a few camps at the beginning of his career but wasn’t as involved as some others. Raw talent will always be the thing that separates the “pretty goodâ€� from the “really special.â€� And right now, Canada is going through a special time in professional golf – with more in the pipeline. Jared du Toit, for example, played in the final group of the 2016 RBC Canadian Open as an amateur. There are a handful of Canadian amateurs this week, including three who are part of Golf Canada’s national squad – Joey Savoie of Quebec, Josh Whalen of Ontario, and Chris Crisologo of B.C. (last year’s Low Amateur at the Canadian Open). “Those amateurs can really play,â€� said Gligic, on track to earn his PGA TOUR card for next season. “You’ve seen Mackenzie Hughes and Corey Conners climb those (amateur) ranks and now they’re PGA TOUR winners. I’m pretty confident those amateurs will do well. They’ve played well in the past and they’re all good players and you can expect them to do good things.â€� Last year, Gligic was the Canada Life Canadian Player of the Year on the Mackenzie Tour-PGA TOUR Canada – another example of how development has been impacted on Canadian soil. The Tour, brought under the PGA TOUR umbrella in 2013, has produced such notable alums as both Conners and Hughes (the 2013 Player of the Year) along with helping to groom non-Canadian stars such as TOUR Rookie of the Year Aaron Wise, Tony Finau, and others. Most weeks on the Mackenzie Tour, you’ll see Canadian amateurs and professionals mixing it up with some of the biggest names in golf who are just getting their careers off the ground. This week will showcase the impact of Canadian golf at the highest level. “We used to feel that it would be nice to see a Canadian on the leaderboard,â€� Thompson said, “but it’s changed now, where we expect it.â€�

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KAPALUA, Hawaii – Justin Thomas hits 2020 craving more. Much more. More than the FedExCup he’s won. More than the four weeks he spent at world No. 1. More than being one of just 10 players to shoot a sub 60 round on TOUR. More than the 11 PGA TOUR wins, including a major championship, that sit on his resume at just 26 years of age. The drive behind Thomas remains stronger than ever despite past success. There is no resting on laurels. Quite the opposite. A pesky wrist injury last season helped take a win “droughtâ€� to just over a year before he connected in the FedExCup Playoffs with a BMW Championship triumph. His previous 11 starts prior to the win had been devoid of a top 10 – the longest such drought of his entire PGA TOUR career – including his amateur starts. RELATED: Power Rankings | Top 30 Players to Watch: Justin Thomas But the victory in Chicago reasserted Thomas as a class above most. He then opened 2019-20 with a T4 at the Safeway Open before winning the THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES. Adding a T17 at THE ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP in Japan means he enters the Sentry Tournament of Champions at Kapalua this week sitting fifth in the FedExCup. “I’m disappointed I haven’t achieved more to be honest until this far. I shouldn’t say disappointed… but I feel like I could have and should have won a lot more tournaments and definitely should have contended and won some more majors,â€� an honest Thomas said from Maui. The 2017 FedExCup champion won at Kapalua that same year and was third here 12 months ago. It makes sense that he hopes to continue his rise back up where fond memories are in abundance. His competitive fire is so strong it can sometimes be mistaken for a chip on his shoulder. With other players taking a bigger share of the spotlight in the last year one might think Thomas is driven to prove any doubters – or even those who may have slightly forgotten about his incredible talents – wrong. Not so. “All the motivation I need to get to No. 1 in the world is in myself. I don’t need to try to prove anybody wrong. I don’t need to do it because people said I can’t. Because I want to be there is big enough motivation for me,â€� he explains. “I wouldn’t say anybody slept on me last year. I didn’t play very well to start the year, and I hadn’t won at all, and I dropped five to ten in the world rankings, so there’s a lot of people that were playing better than me and winning more tournaments. “I could have had a pity party and asked for more attention, but I definitely didn’t deserve anything special. I hadn’t done what I had the year before and definitely not two years before that. I tried to stay patient, and I was glad to see it kind of come back to how it felt like it should have been at the end of the year.â€�

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