Golf tournament ends with cops, controversy, possible fistfight

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - Rory McIlroy had a forgettable finish at the Farmers Insurance Open, his final-round 73 dropping him into a tie for 16th place. Still, he was having trouble moving on after a Rules incident from the 18th hole in Saturday's third round. McIlroy's ball veered into the right rough, and when he got to it, he saw that the ball was embedded. He took relief, but when he later watched videotape of the shot, it was clear that it had bounced once, so it hadn't embedded in its own pitch mark. So how, then, had it embedded? “I was sort of questioning myself on Sunday,” McIlroy said Wednesday from TPC Scottsdale, where he will be making his first career start at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. “Did I do the right thing? Did I play by the Rules? Did I see something that wasn’t there? "It was a bit of a rough Sunday night," he continued. "I just started to doubt myself a little bit, which is not like me.” As it turned out, McIlroy said, the PGA TOUR got an email Monday that explained it: A volunteer confessed to having stepped on the ball. "The TOUR got an email on Monday from a volunteer saying that he didn’t tell me at the time and he should have, but he stepped on the ball to find it," McIlroy said. "... I guess at the end of the day I almost took the wrong relief because I should have taken relief for a stepped-on ball, which means you can place it instead of drop it. At the time I didn’t have that information." The incident received additional scrutiny because eventual winner Patrick Reed also had taken embedded-ball relief earlier in the round at the par-4 10th hole. Rules officials stressed that both McIlroy and Reed took proper relief. "I at least felt better about my actions knowing I did the right thing, that I did take relief for a ball that was embedded or stepped on," McIlroy said. "So it sort was nice that that came to light, because I was questioning myself on Sunday a little bit. It’s funny how these things all work out at the end."

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AUGUSTA, Ga. — They started the week sharing an unexpected — and then highly discussed and over-analyzed — nine-hole practice round. They’ll finish seeking positive vibes and updating course notebooks. The one thing Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson won’t do Sunday afternoon at the Masters is slip on another Green Jacket. Their performances in the first three rounds will leave them as curious bystanders when the back-nine drama heats up at Augusta National. Woods, the four-time Masters champ, will start the final round at 4 over after shooting an even-par 72 on Saturday. Three-time winner Mickelson, at 7 over after a 2-over 74, will tee off even earlier in the morning. He may be done before the final group tees off. Given that Woods was the betting favorite entering this week and Mickelson was riding huge momentum after his recent World Golf Championships win in Mexico, being non-factors is definitely surprising. And disappointing. “I don’t have it,” Mickelson said. “It’s frustrating being out there. But it’s still Augusta. I’m trying to make due. But it’s just frustrating to be out there playing when you know you don’t have a chance.” Woods said his goal now is to finish at even par, maybe even in red numbers. He’ll need to shoot a 68 on Sunday to avoid finishing over par for just the third time since his last Masters win in 2005. “I wish this week would’ve been a little bit better,” Woods said. “Hopefully tomorrow I can shoot something, get me to even par or even in the red. I think that will be a good goal tomorrow and hopefully I can get it done.” What Woods hasn’t been able to do is figure out his faulty iron play. Distance control has been an issue, especially in the second round when he hit several approaches over the green. He’s found places this week at Augusta National that he’s never previously visited. As a result, he hasn’t given himself many makeable birdie putts, the strain on his putter leaving him mostly in a defensive posture. Woods called his iron play “scratchy this week” — lthough he finally hit the 12th green on Saturday after finding Rae’s Creek the first two days. “I just haven’t gotten it done,” Woods said. “I feel like I’m driving it better than I have all year, but I’m not capitalizing on it. And when I did miss, I missed in the wrong spots. My swing’s just off with my irons just at the wrong time.” As a result, he also has failed to take advantage of the four pars at Augusta National, the holes he’s eaten up in his 20 previous visits. Woods had entered this week a cumulative 150 under on the par 5s, but he’s just 1 under on those holes through three rounds. “I’m hitting so many good putts; they’re just not going in,” Woods said. “But I’m not hitting it close enough. I’m not getting up there and not taking advantage of the par 5s. Consequently, a good round is even par.” As for Mickelson, his week was summed up by his second shot on the opening hole Saturday. After his tee shot sailed into the trees down the right side, his ball rested on the pine straw. He tried to hit from under some branches but failed to connect on his first swing. “I hit the trunk on the downswing and just whiffed it,” Mickelson explained. “And punched out and made triple. I’ve made a lot of triples lately.” In fact, he’s suffered a triple bogey in each of the last two rounds — it’s the sixth time in any major he’s had two triples in a week. Three of those have been at the Masters (2012, 2014 and this week). A bogey on the ensuing hole had Mickelson reeling, but he managed to shoot 2 under for the final 16 holes. In the process, he picked up a few tips on the course. “It’s Augusta; you always learn some things,” Mickelson said. “I was taking some notes — there were some new pins there. So I’m kind of doing preparation for next year, I guess.” At least Mickelson won’t go away empty-handed this week. Thanks to his eagle at the par-5 eighth — set up by a driver off the deck to 9 feet — he is assured of a pair of crystal glasses awarded for any eagle at the Masters. “Every now and then I’ll hit a shot like that and it makes it fun,” Mickelson said of his second shot. “The nice thing is I’ll get some crystal out of it. It wasn’t a total loss.”

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They met dignitaries, received rings, got semi-famous. But Solomon Dobbs' wild ride as a member of the Charles R. Drew Charter School squad that won the Georgia Class A boys' golf championship in 2019 - the first all-Black high school team and first public school in Atlanta to do so - is over. Dobbs has moved on. He now plays on the golf team at Morehouse College in Atlanta, where he earned a 3.7 grade-point average last semester. Because of the pandemic, he lives at home and takes his classes on Zoom. But at least three days a week he gets in his Hyundai Elantra and drives to Drew Charter's home course, East Lake's Charlie Yates Golf Course, a nine-hole Rees Jones design, where he practices amongst his old coaches and teammates. Because it's never really over. "They're my family," says Dobbs, 18. If you need a break from the chaos and the fear, from the torrent of tragedies, from polling figures brought to you at all hours because, you know, Nov. 3, then behold Dobbs and Drew Charter. Something is definitely going right here. This marks the 20th playing of the TOUR Championship at East Lake, Bobby Jones' old stomping grounds and the centerpiece of a comprehensive community revitalization in Southeast Atlanta. Support from the TOUR Championship reached $3.5 million last year - a tournament record - which went to the East Lake Foundation, Grove Park Foundation, Purpose Built Schools Atlanta and the First Tee of Metro Atlanta. The East Lake Foundation, in turn, supports Drew Charter, which is churning out citizen golfers like Dobbs. Golf continues to be the catalyst for it all. Or is it family? Sarai Dobbs, Solomon's little sister, is a rising senior who is expected to challenge for the No. 1 spot on Drew's girls team in the spring. She hit the ceremonial first tee shot at the TOUR Championship in 2017, while Solomon did it twice (2016, 2018). "I did better the second time," he says. "The first time I couldn't see the ball." Sarai, too, admits she was nervous. "People are there watching, you're on TV, you can get anxious and overwhelmed, but I was really excited to hit it." She striped it down the middle. Their parents, Tobar, managing partner of a real estate equity firm, and Leslie, a human resources manager for a digital company, have watched in awe and delight. Neither comes from a golf family, but when they enrolled their kids at Drew Charter, a cradle-to-college school (pre-K through 12th grade) where golf is taught in P.E. by instructors from The First Tee, it didn't matter. "Having our children attend Charles R. Drew Charter School was probably one of the best decisions my wife and I have ever made," Tobar says, "because it's had such a tremendous impact on them and their education. Of course, golf has been a focal point of that. The leadership at Drew has been absolutely phenomenal at creating an educational model, and having them participate in that educational community has been a godsend for them and our entire family." Solomon continues to be connected to the TOUR Championship. Thursday afternoon, the day before the tournament begins, he will join Jakari Harris, another Atlanta junior golf product who recently graduated from Hampton University, an HBCU in Virginia; TOUR pros Zach Johnson and Ryan Palmer; plus two celebrity guests for a closest-to-the-pin contest in the Golf With A Purpose Charity Challenge at East Lake. His long-term goal is to return to Drew as the golf coach. Joe Weems, the current coach, welcomes it. "One of the great things about coaching," says Weems, 47, "is teaching others to coach." He talks with pride about "the pipeline" - the team's Cook brothers (Jalon and Matthew), Leonard brothers (Marcus and Myron), and McCrary siblings (Christopher and Jordan). And the Dobbs family, of course. And others. Upperclassmen. Underclassmen. Varsity. J.V. Middle-school prospects. Like any family, Drew golf alumni keep in touch and share their successes. Anthony Ford, formerly the Eagles' No. 1 player, is at North Carolina A&T on a golf scholarship. Connor Mason, another player from the 2019 state championship team, plays for the College of Wooster. Treveon McCrary is vying for a spot on Savannah State's team. Simone Obelton, the first female golfer to represent Drew at state, will graduate from Tuskegee as an engineer. This year's girls team, with Sarai Dobbs, Hailey Fisher, Adia Barnes and Shelby Ross, may be Drew's best shot at a state title, assuming the season happens. Weems' biggest regret from last season - canceled, alas, due to the pandemic - was that the girls didn't get a chance to compete. "Sarai has been our No. 1 for a long time," he says. "She's been our rock. She's been really a great leader, but we like to move it around and give all our kids a chance to lead. Last year Hailey was captain, and Sarai supported her. There's a lot of kids who look up to Sarai and she knows that." The success of the golf program has been contagious, with Drew adding a J.V. program last year. Athletic Director Tracy Edwards - a former basketball player at Georgia who was teammates with Angie Ball, Bubba Watson's wife - tried the sport and is now hopelessly addicted. "I've set some future goals for myself to be competitive, thanks to the kids," Edwards says. "My best was 108, so I'm still taking notes and trying to find the right clubs and different things. "It's humbling and full of life lessons," she adds. "It's a good game to learn." As for the chaos and fear in America, and tragedies that seem to roll in like the tides, Edwards and others at Drew Charter are acutely aware of what's happening in the wider world. They know the names Jacob Blake, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others. When will it end? "The only way we will stamp out racism in this country is through unity," Tobar says. "Each one of us must stand up to racial injustice wherever, and whenever, it is encountered. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said it best: ‘Injustice anywhere, is injustice everywhere.' We are human beings. We can calculate the speed of light, and we can colonize outer space. Surely we can rid this country of its racist tendencies, traits, and habits, but only if the will to do it exists." Drew Charter had peaceful protests after Floyd's death, underlining the school's commitment to equality for all people and bringing closure to systemic racism and oppression. "We want to be a beacon of hope for our community," Weems says. "A model of excellence where we break all of those stereotypes that people might have about African American golfers. Be the best, show integrity, and when faced with racism make sure to fight it in a positive way." Being excellent means continuing to practice hard, work out in the off-season, eat right - the team's second-year strength and conditioning coach sees to that. It means keeping family close even while widening the circle to help nearby high schools that might be less golf-savvy. And it means support for alumni like Solomon so that he can help others coming up through the pipeline. The family is thriving, the connections growing ever stronger. Two decades into the partnership between the TOUR Championship and East Lake, there's so much going right.

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