International Team ready to shock the world

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Ever wonder what it’s like to have a putt to win the FedExCup, THE PLAYERS Championship, or a major? Or wanted to know how the body reacts to a putt to make a cut? Soon, you will be able to see such data from PGA TOUR players. WHOOP, the Official Fitness Wearable of the PGA TOUR, is launching the WHOOP Live for Charity initiative, which will highlight player biometric data during defining moments throughout the season. Players featured in WHOOP Live for Charity videos and social content will receive a $10,000 contribution to the charity of their choice on behalf of WHOOP and the TOUR. Fans can follow these moments at #WHOOPLIVE. “I really like looking (at my WHOOP data) after tournaments to see what my heart rate was like,” PLAYERS champion Justin Thomas says. “I can get a specific look and be like, ‘Why did it go from 110 to 140? What was going on?” The 2020 Sentry Tournament of Champions, which Thomas won in a three-way playoff over Xander Schauffele and Patrick Reed, provided a great example of what is possible under the WHOOP Live for Charity Initiative. According to WHOOP data, Thomas’ average heart rate during the final round at Kapalua was 114 beats per minute. It spiked at 154 bpm during the tournament’s stressful conclusion. The WHOOP Live for Charity content will sync highlights with illustrations of a player’s heart rate to deliver new content that provides fans further insight into the performances of the world’s best players. This photo of Thomas’ big birdie putt in his playoff with Collin Morikawa at the 2020 Workday Charity Open provides another example of how WHOOP data can illustrate how players’ biometric data changes during a tournament’s closing holes. Live heart rate is hardly the only metric WHOOP uses to help people personalize their workouts. WHOOP tracks metrics like heart rate variability (HRV), respiratory rate, sleep staging, and cardiovascular load to provide actionable insights around recovery, strain, and sleep. HRV measures the variance between heart beats to show if the body is ready to perform at optimal levels. “I started wearing WHOOP because I just wanted to know more about my body and myself and how I recover. I just wanted to optimize what I do,” said another former PLAYERS and FedExCup champion Rory McIlroy. “In this day and age in golf, with the technology that’s out there, everyone is closer together. The difference between the No. 1-ranked player in the world and the No. 100 is actually pretty small. I want to do everything I possibly can to get an advantage. For me, WHOOP is one of those things that can give me an advantage.” WHOOP lets players know if their body needs more rest or is ready to take on the day. It can also let them know if they’re getting the right type of sleep, and how factors like diet or other behaviors can impact the quality of their rest. And in recent times, it has even warned players that they may have been infected with COVID-19. “So much of what’s powerful about technology is it can connect everyone on this planet,” WHOOP CEO Will Ahmed told PGATOUR.COM. “And you have up-and-coming golfers and aspirational athletes who can look at their WHOOP data in comparison to the best golfers in the world and that makes the experience even better. “We formalized this partnership for two reasons. First is to improve player health and performance and provide as much data as we can to the players to help them understand their bodies. And the second is to produce WHOOP Live which will bring physiological data to fans. I think this is really innovative and first of its kind – the fact you will see heart rate and other data on top of replays and television broadcasts. It’s really exciting and it’s a formula that could be the future for sports broadly. When you see some of the highlights with that data on top you as a fan feel something, you feel a closer connection to the player and what they just experienced.” Last summer, upon the TOUR’s return to golf, more than 1,000 WHOOP Straps were distributed for players, caddies and other essential personnel at PGA TOUR, Korn Ferry Tour and PGA TOUR Champions events, with accompanying membership for health monitoring. “I don’t take it off, ever,” Thomas said. “More so at the beginning, learning what’s better for me and what helps me sleep and what helps me recover better. Now I’ve worn it long enough that I know. It’s just part of my life, I don’t even notice I have it on, but I still look at it every day. “It’s more diet and eating close to bed, what you’re eating, how that helps you sleep. It’s a lot of little things and experimenting. I’m willing to make sacrifices in my life if it makes me feel better, play better, perform better.” Thomas stresses that every person will have a different learning experience. For example, using melatonin to sleep can make him feel groggy but may be helpful to others. Thomas has also noticed his recovery is better when he drinks more water. “What works for Rory doesn’t work for me, what works for me doesn’t work for him, doesn’t work for you, doesn’t work for everybody,” Thomas said. “I wanted to figure out what was good for me, and if I’m going into the weekend of The Masters, the PLAYERS, or any other tournament, and I’m playing really well and I have a three-shot lead, I need to know what I need to do this afternoon, tonight, before bed to where I feel like I’m going to sleep my best. If you can control what you can control, at least it gives you a better probability for what you want to achieve.” Stewart Cink, who won this season’s Safeway Open at 47 years old, also is WHOOP a member. “I think most everybody out on TOUR is using WHOOP. There’s a couple of things that I might just pay closer attention to, like the recovery is important nowadays. I’m still trying to figure out exactly the best way for me to recover,” Cink says. “I mean it’s so much more than just getting the eight hours of sleep, it’s a little different and it’s pretty accurate. It’s a neat tool and I enjoy learning a little bit about myself and the way my body sort of physiologically goes through the day and recovers and exerts itself.”

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TRUCKEE, Calif. — Emiliano Grillo had an early eagle in a 17-point round in smoky conditions Friday to take the second-round lead in the Barracuda Championship, the only PGA TOUR event that uses the modified Stableford scoring system. RELATED: Full leaderboard | Harris English maintains lead after 36 holes at WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational Players receive eight points for an albatross, five for eagle, two for birdie and zero for par. A point is subtracted for a bogey, and three points are taken away for a double bogey or worse. Grillo, the 28-year-old Argentine player who won the 2016 Frys.com Open for his lone PGA TOUR title, had a 29-point total on Tahoe Mountain Club’s Old Greenwood Course. “Left a lot of putts short today,” Grillo said. “It could have been really good out there. Hit the ball well. Kept the ball in the fairway. Gave myself chances for eagles on the par 5s, which is kind of the key for this format.” Adam Schenk was two points back after a 19-point day. He eagled the par-5 sixth. “Just really have been driving the ball really well the last couple of days,” Schenk said. “Make a few putts, hit a few wedge shots close. Take care of the par 5s. It’s definitely out there for you.” First-round lead Joel Dahmen was three points back at 26 after a 10-point round. Andrew Putnam, Scott Piercy and Scott Harrington had 25 points, with Piercy 144th and Harrington 176th in the race for FedExCup Playoff spots and PGA TOUR cards. “I feel like my game’s pretty good right now,” Piercy said. “Putter feels good. I feel like I’ve got control of my golf swing. Equipment’s right. I’ve got to go put it together.” The smoke from wildfires made it difficult to see balls in flight. “You couldn’t really see the ball in the air very well,” Piercy said. “But you could see it take off and some holes you could see it land and roll. But the nice thing was the wind stayed down because it was down in the morning.” Grillo scored nine points on the first three holes, birdieing the par-4 first, making the eagle on the par-5 second and adding a birdie on the par-3 third. “It was super cold in the morning,” said Grillo, 49th in the FedExCup standings. “Just trying to hit it as long as you can. Trying to stay warm. And I was able to start with … like nine points. That was key. When you are going off on a good day you want to start good the next round. And I was able to do that today.” He added birdies on the par-5 sixth, par-4 eighth, par-5 12th and par-4 16th. The winner will earn a spot in the PGA Championship next year but not the Masters because the event is being played opposite a World Golf Championships — the FedEx St. Jude Invitational in Memphis, Tennessee. Defending Richy Werenski was tied for 10th with 19 points. The top 125 in the FedExCup standings after the Wyndham Championship next week will earn spots in the Playoff opener at Liberty National. No. 129 Cameron Percy had a 13-point day to move into a tie for 12th with 18 points. No. 122 Scott Stallings was tied for 45th with 12 points. No. 126 Patrick Rodgers and No. 127 Camilo Villegas made the cut on the number with 10 points. No. 121 Matt Kuchar and No. 124 Nate Lashley missed the cut. The three Olympians in the field — Mito Pereira of Chile, Rafael Campos of Puerto Rico and Thomas Pieters of Belgium — played together the first two rounds. Pieters had 12 points, while Pereira and Campos missed the cut.

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