Ian Poulter making most of second chance at THE PLAYERS Championship

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SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Play Yellow, a program benefitting Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals (CMN Hospitals), announced today its newest brand ambassador, two-time Masters champion and 12-time winner on the PGA TOUR, Bubba Watson. The TOUR superstar joins Jack and Barbara Nicklaus and fellow TOUR professionals in support of Play Yellow and its mission to bring the entire golf world together to help the 10 million kids treated at local CMN Hospitals each year. Bubba’s efforts for Play Yellow will primarily benefit his local CMN Hospital, Studer Family Children’s Hospital at Ascension Sacred Heart in Pensacola, Florida. “It’s been my family’s privilege to support Studer Family Children’s Hospital, and I’m excited to continue that support as a Play Yellow ambassador,” said Watson. “I have seen the tremendous impact the Studer Family Children’s Hospital has had in my hometown of Pensacola, and I look forward to helping Play Yellow expand its support for all the hospitals in the Children’s Miracle Network. Golf has a long history of supporting children’s hospitals, and I am honored to help Jack and Barbara in their effort to make a difference in the lives of children and families in need.” Watson, a resident of Pensacola who was born at Ascension Sacred Heart in Pensacola, and his wife, Angie, have made generous donations toward the construction of the new four-story children’s hospital, which opened in May 2019. To recognize the ongoing support of the Watson family, the entrance road to the new children’s hospital was officially named 1 Bubba Watson Drive. “Bubba Watson is one of the all-time greats at helping causes he cares about,” says Chad Phillips, SVP, Play Yellow. “We are thrilled to have another Masters Champion joining Jack with a passion for his home CMN Hospital, in Bubba’s case, Studer Family Children’s in Pensacola, Florida. Bubba will no doubt be an amazing ambassador for Play Yellow.” Launched in 2019 alongside Jack and Barbara Nicklaus and CMN Hospitals, Play Yellow strives to bring the entire golf world together and raise the critical funds needed by CMN Hospitals and the patients they serve. Like most nonprofits, children’s hospitals rely on donations. And because 37 million kids in the United States depend on public health insurance programs that don’t reimburse hospitals for the full cost of caring for these patients, the need for donations is even greater. Play Yellow brings golfers together for a good cause. Play Yellow was inspired by a family friend of Jack and Barbara Nicklaus named Craig Smith who was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma as a young teenager. As Craig battled cancer, Jack and Barbara looked to support him and his family. One way was for Jack to wear a shirt in Craig’s favorite color, yellow, which Craig said brought Jack luck from week to week. Over the years, Jack could be seen wearing yellow on tournament Sundays and major championship Sundays. Who can forget Sunday of the 1986 Masters Tournament when Jack wore a yellow shirt to honor Craig and went on to win his record sixth Green Jacket? Years later, Play Yellow was born. CMN Hospitals has raised more than $7 billion in unrestricted funds for 170 children’s hospitals across the United States and Canada. Changing kids’ health through children’s hospitals isn’t just about helping those in critical situations — it’s also about the research, preventative care, health and safety education that help build healthier communities. By improving medical treatments, equipment and facilities, children’s hospitals can not only address the most challenging health issues of our day, but also prevent and prepare for those to come. When we change kids’ health, we change the future — for all of us.

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Welcome to this week’s edition of the Stats Insider, where we’ll take a closer look at Nick Taylor’s win at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Just a reminder, ShotLink was only available for the two rounds at Pebble Beach this week. 1. STRIKE WHILE IRONS ARE HOT: Nick Taylor ranks in the top-25 of both driving accuracy and greens in regulation this season. That trend continued at Pebble Beach, where he was seventh in fairways hit (43 of 55, 78%) and third in greens hit (54 of 72, 75%). 2. ROLLING THE ROCK: Pebble Beach’s small, severly-sloped poa annua greens may be the hardest surfaces to putt on TOUR. Taylor didn’t have any problem with them. He made almost half his attempts between 10-20 feet in his two rounds at Pebble Beach. He gained nearly 6 strokes on the greens in just two rounds at Pebble Beach, ranking second in Strokes Gained: Putting. He didn’t hole a putt longer than 18 feet, but he made plenty of his mid-range attempts. He was 7 for 15 (47%) from 10-20 feet. Pebble Beach has the lowest make percentage of putts from both 10-15 feet and 15-20 feet this season. 3. PHIL’S TOP-10 STREAK: If Phil Mickelson had won, he would’ve set the PGA TOUR record for largest gap between first and last wins. His first win came on Jan. 10, 1991. Raymond Floyd currently holds that record. It was 28 years, 11 months, and 20 days between his wins in the 1963 St. Petersburg Open and 1992 Doral-Ryder Open. Mickelson’s third-place finish did give him 30 consecutive seasons with a top-10 finish. He’s the third player to accomplish that feat. Sam Snead had top-10s in 34 consecutive seasons, while Floyd had them in 32 straight years. 4. SPIETH’S SUNDAY SURGE: Much has been written about Jordan Spieth’s weekend struggles, but Sunday was a positive sign. His 67 was the low round of the day, vaulting him up 46 spots into a tie for ninth. Spieth led the field in both Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green and Strokes Gained: Approach. He gained +4.6 strokes with his approach play alone Sunday. That was his best Strokes Gained: Approach performance in three years, since the first round of the 2017 Sony Open in Hawaii. 5. RORY REACHES NO. 1: Rory McIlroy wasn’t in action but he still returned to No. 1 in the world ranking before this week’s Genesis Invitational. It’s the first McIlroy has been No. 1 since Sept. 19, 2015. That span of 1,605 days between stints at No. 1 is the longest in the world ranking’s history, and by a large margin.

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