How one golf company went from making head covers to masks

MELBOURNE, Australia – The International Team continues to roll at Royal Melbourne. Foursomes has usually been a session dominated by the United States, but the International Team looks like it will increase the 4-1 lead it took after the first day. Stay here for updates after each match finishes. PRESIDENTS CUP: Scoring | Quiz: Which team should you support? DAY 2 FOURSOMES MATCH 1: INTERNATIONAL WINS, 3 and 2 Louis Oosthuizen/Adam Scott (International) def. Dustin Johnson/Matt Kuchar (U.S.) Holes won: International 6, U.S. 3 Holes led: U.S. 8, International 6 Recap: Kuchar got the U.S. Team on the board by holing a 13-foot birdie putt on the first hole. He made a 20-footer on No. 5 to give his team a 2-up lead. The United States was still 2 up after seven holes, but it didn’t win another hole the rest of the match. The International Team won three of the next four holes, taking the lead with Scott’s 8-foot birdie putt on 11. The International team tacked on wins at 13 and 14. Scott and Oosthuizen are both 2-0 this week. MATCH 2: U.S. WINS, 1 UP Patrick Cantlay/Xander Schauffele (U.S.) def. Adam Hadwin/Joaquin Niemann (International) Holes won: U.S. 6, International 5 Holes led: International 6, U.S. 3 Recap: Cantlay holed a big putt for the United States, sinking a 14-footer for birdie on 18 to give his team its first win of the session. It was Cantlay and Schauffele’s first lead since the 11th hole. The Internationals had the early lead, winning the first hole after Niemann hit his approach to 8 feet. The International Team was still 1 up after eight holes, but the U.S. birdied 9 to square the match at the turn. The International Team took a 1-up lead with a birdie at the par-3 14th, where Niemann hit his tee shot to 5 feet, but they couldn’t keep it. The U.S. birdied the next hole, though, and added another at 18. MATCH 3: INTERNATIONAL WINS, 3 and 2 Abraham Ancer/Marc Leishman (International) def. Patrick Reed/Webb Simpson (U.S.) Holes won: International 7, U.S. 4 Holes led: International 13, U.S. 1 Recap: Simpson stiffed his approach shot at No. 1 for an opening birdie. The Internationals won the next two holes, though, and were still 1 up after seven holes. Ancer holed a 40-footer on 8 to give his team a 2-up lead. The U.S. won the next after Simpson stiffed another approach, but Ancer holed a 10-foot birdie putt to win the 10th. The Internatioanls added wins at Nos. 12 and 14 to take a 4-up lead and guarantee at least a half-point. They closed it out on the 16th hole. Reed is now 1-5 in his last six matches in the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup, and Reed-Simpson is 0-2 as a team this week.

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SANDWICH, England – A 13-year-old Brooks Koepka fell in love with links golf on a trip around the 2003 Open Championship at Royal St. George’s – even though he slept through the winning putt from champion Ben Curtis. The eight-time PGA TOUR winner and four-time major champ was flooded with fond memories from a golf trip of a lifetime during his childhood as he returned in preparation for the 149th Open Championship. “We got the opportunity to come over here and play St. Andrews, Carnoustie, (and) come watch the final round of The Open. Me, my mom and my little brother, we came over a couple days early from when the whole thing was going to start, and just got to play links golf. I thought it was so much fun. That’s kind of when I fell in love with it,” Koepka said. Koepka and his fellow touring pro brother Chase were able to have an exchange with idol Tiger Woods during The Open, but when it came to being present at the finish, Brooks, like Woods that year, came up a little short. As longshot Curtis made his last-ditch par putt to get in the clubhouse at 1 under and Dane Thomas Bjorn was coughing up a lead to hand the American the Claret Jug, Koepka was earning the ire of his mother. “I remember my brother at the time, he thought it was so cool. Tiger was playing on 13 and my brother had said something and Tiger said something back to him, and we thought it was the coolest thing at the time,” Koepka grinned. “It’s kind of funny, I think with about three holes left… I ended up falling asleep right in the little pavilion to the right of 18 and didn’t even see the finish. I remember getting yelled at by my mom. ‘I didn’t bring you over here to fall asleep’ kind of deal. But it was fun. We enjoyed the whole trip, and it was a cool family trip.” With the reminiscing done Koepka’s attention turned to the tournament at hand. He arrives with three top-5 finishes on the PGA TOUR in his last four starts, including a runner-up at the PGA Championship and a tie for fourth at the U.S. Open. With three top-10s in his last four Open Championship starts, Koepka looks like a huge threat as he looks to chalk up a third leg of a career Grand Slam. Ironically, he says his success in the majors may have hurt his Open Championship efforts in the past. “I probably haven’t played my best over here. I think over the last couple years — I don’t want to say it’s been a distraction, but I’ve won the PGA or the U.S. Open before, and I’ve enjoyed those weeks after a little too much,” he said. “Maybe I always don’t have the best of prep coming into this. But I feel good … coming off a couple good finishes. Felt like I was playing well. I’m pretty excited for this week. It’s a major, so I’ll be up for it, and excited to play. “I’ve always enjoyed playing links golf. I think it takes a lot of creativity and imagination. In the States a lot of times you just throw it up high in the air and the ball is going to stop, where (here) you’ve really got to pay attention where the ball is going to bounce into the green. You might have 50 yards but you’ve got about six clubs you could play. I think that’s fun. It brings out the creative side. It’s fun. I love it.” This week it might just love him back.

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ATLANTA – Paul Casey’s plan from 248 yards away at the par-5 18th Friday at the TOUR Championship was to use 4-iron. Land it 234 yards and let it run toward the pin. A fan wearing a red shirt standing behind the green was a perfect aiming target. He then made his swing. Solid contact. Casey kept track of the ball flight. All good. “It couldn’t have been any better-looking,� he said. But after his ball one-hopped over the green into the primary rough, Casey wondered: Had caddie John McLaren given him the wrong yardage? McLaren – nicknamed Johnny Longsocks – put his hand over his mouth, biting his tongue. He had no words. Casey then looked down at his club and realized what happened. Casey had mistakenly pulled the 3-iron out of his bag instead of the 4. “Because, you know, we’re not playing for much this week and it’s not important,� Casey said later, laughing at himself. Related: Leaderboard | Who is most likely to win the TOUR Championship? | Rookie of the Year voters face interesting dilemma The Englishman ended up with par to finish with a 67 and a two-day total of 9 under in the new Starting Strokes format. That leaves him in solo fifth, just four shots off the lead heading into the weekend at East Lake, and gives him a great opportunity to make a run at his first FedExCup title. Of course, he hopes pulling the wrong club doesn’t come back to haunt him. “It’s all on me,� Casey said. “It’s 100 percent. I hold my head.� It’s not the first time it’s happened to the Englishman this year. He said there was one other tournament in which he pulled the 3 instead of the 4. There’s a perfectly reasonable explanation. “My 3-iron and 4-iron, they’re actually the same head,� Casey said. “One is bent stronger than the other. Clearly, I can’t tell the difference when I put them down. One’s got a little 4 on it, and the 3’s got nothing on it.� With his ball hanging slightly left on a downslope, he couldn’t tell the difference between the length and the lie. All he knew is that he thought the shot, once struck, was on target. “To hit what was not an easy long iron from 248 yards exactly at the gentleman I was aiming at in the red shirt,� Casey said, “I was pretty proud of myself.� Until he looked down his club. Whoops. “It’s criminal isn’t it?� Casey said to a group of reporters. “And you can have fun writing about it. “You’re welcome.�  

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