Inaugural Billy Horschel APGA Tour Invitational presented by Cisco set to bring 18 top players to TPC Sawgrass

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ATLANTA - This has been a life-changing week for Rory McIlroy. It could be a historic one, as well. McIlroy and his wife, Erica, welcomed their first child, a daughter named Poppy, into the world Monday. With wife and baby safely at home, a rejuvenated McIlroy was able to find his form in time for the first round of the TOUR Championship. RELATED: Full leaderboard | Season unlike any other comes to thrilling finish at East Lake "Golf was the furthest thing from my mind the first few days this week," he said. "And then once we got home on Wednesday and everything was good and mom and baby were healthy, that sort of took a load off my mind, and that meant I could come here and somewhat focus on what I’m supposed to do." McIlroy is trying to become the first player to successfully defend the FedExCup and win the season-long title three times. He and Tiger Woods are the only two-time winners of the FedExCup. McIlroy started this week seven strokes behind FedExCup leader Dustin Johnson. His 64 matched the low round of the day, however, and allowed him to pick up three shots on the lead. McIlroy will start Saturday in fourth place, four shots behind Johnson and Jon Rahm. McIlroy started this season with six consecutive top 5s, including a win at the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions, but the 2019 FedExCup champion has struggled since the season resumed. His best finish in eight starts since the Return to Golf is T11. In his last five events, he's a combined 2 over par and has just one finish better than 30th (a T12 at last week's BMW Championship). He admits it has been hard to focus without fans on-site and his pregnant wife at home. His caddie, Harry Diamond, carried a phone on the course and McIlroy was prepared to leave immediately if Erica went into labor. He doesn't have to worry about that anymore. Many players say fatherhood helps their game because it changes their perspective, and McIlroy is no exception. He didn't touch a club this week until arriving at East Lake on Thursday. "Golf was sort of the furthest thing from my mind, and sometimes that’s a good thing just to decompress and get away from it," he said. McIlroy birdied his first hole Friday, hitting a 331-yard tee shot on the uphill first hole and knocking his 137-yard approach to 7 feet. He shot 30 on the back nine, including birdies on his final three holes. He birdied the par-5 18th after hitting a 366-yard tee shot through the fairway. It was reminiscent of his drive in the playoff here four years ago, which McIlroy won to earn his first FedExCup. Today was McIlroy's 25th round at East Lake. He matched his career-low score at the annual site of the TOUR Championship. He shot a final-round 64 in 2016, when he holed out on the 16th hole and then won a playoff with Ryan Moore and Kevin Chappell. Just like today, Johnson was the FedExCup leader and atop the TOUR Championship leaderboard on that fateful day four years ago. He shot a final-round 73, though, and lost his best chance to win the FedExCup. Thursday's 64 was McIlroy's best round since a first-round 63 at the Travelers Championship in late June. He hit 14 greens Friday, including every one on the back nine, and holed two putts apiece from 10-15 feet and 15-20 feet. "Whether I don’t feel like my game is in a good place or I’m not the favorite coming into a tournament, all that stuff, I feel like that’s when I usually play my best and I can play with a bit of freedom, and that’s what I did today," he said.

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Excel Sports Management already represents many of the world’s top golfers, including Tiger Woods and Justin Thomas. It just added the most famous player in college golf, as well. J.R. Smith, the former NBA star now attending North Carolina A&T, has signed with Excel to represent him in potential NIL deals on the course. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported the deal, citing Excel’s Lance Young. The NCAA’s new name, image and likeness legislation allows Smith to endorse products through things such as commercials and social media postings. Smith has six million followers on Instagram. He has drawn “significant” interest from equipment companies, clothing manufacturers and video game companies, Young told ESPN. Smith was drafted into the NBA out of high school in 2004. His 16-year career included two championships – in 2016 with the Cleveland Cavaliers and 2020 with the Los Angeles Lakers — and the 2013 Sixth Man of the Year Award. He is in his second semester at North Carolina A&T, an HBCU in Greensboro, North Carolina, where the avid golfer is a member of the men’s golf team. He made his competitive debut for the Aggies in October, shooting 83-78-79. “Golf is one of those games that has you feeling really high and or can bring you down to your knees and humble you,” Smith said in August. “And to have that feeling and knowing that all of the game’s pretty much on my own hands and I don’t have to worry about teammates to pass the ball and receiving passes and playing defense so, I can play my game and just have fun.” Smith has said that he wants to serve as a bridge to golf for underrepresented minority groups. He’s already had an impact at A&T. It was announced in December that the school’s golf teams have entered into an agreement with TaylorMade to receive equipment and accessories such as bags, gloves and hats. “We embrace the growth of golf at (historically black colleges and universities),” said TaylorMade program manager copyrighter Tony Starks. “We want to be a part of that. For TaylorMade, this is a perfect partnership as we strive toward broadening the sport of golf. “If it is to have sustained success at HBCUs, recruiting is pivotal. In a positive sense, we want to have a large impact through the visibility of our product with a school like North Carolina A&T. We hope to broaden the audience so that the public at large knows there is great golf played at HBCUs.”

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