Koepka named PGA Tour Player of the Year

GUYANCOURT, France – Team golf is a different animal. Passion lies in every one of the 24 players in this week’s Ryder Cup, yet it comes in different forms. There are the fire guys. The ones whose eyes roll in the back of their head with every birdie and whose fist pumps have the power of a Mike Tyson uppercut. And there are the ice guys. The cool, calm and collected assassins. The ones who can crush you without changing expression. Seemingly immune to nerves. For Europe the powder kegs ready to explode are led by veterans Ian Poulter and Sergio Garcia and include Rory McIlroy plus rookies Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton. Team USA counters with the likes of Captain America Patrick Reed, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Justin Thomas. On the ice side of things the Euros have current and former FedExCup champions Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson, plus Open Champion Francesco Molinari and Alex Noren. The U.S. looks to the likes of Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka here. So when you have such differing styles at each end of the spectrum, what is the best plan of attack when it comes to pairings for the crucial Fourball and Foursomes formats? Should you put two fire guys together and hope they get hot enough to scorch a trail toward a point or is that just opening you up to self-combustion? Are two ice guys too perfect to complement each other – will they just frustrate the passion out of their opponents with clinical precision? Or will the lack of fire bring a lull? Or is the best method a blend of both? A fire guy to lift the ice man and the ice man to calm the fire? “Those are personalities you want. You want to have a bit of everything on your team, and they can fit into every situation that you’re going out in,â€� European Captain Thomas Bjorn says. He’s been weighing up the merits of what balance will work best for him for months given his side particularly has quite a few players at the far ends of each spectrum. “It’s more about how they get on with each other and how their games match,â€� Bjorn counters. “There’s a lot of things that play into it. They all are very different, but some guys that are calm can deal with a guy that’s very fiery on the golf course, but some guys want to have it a little bit different and a similar type. “It’s about talking to them individually and not say, okay, you two do the same thing and then you play well together. That doesn’t always happen. It’s about talking to them individually and figuring out what they actually like to play with.â€� Team USA Captain Jim Furyk – a guy who would fit perfectly into the ice side – says it’s about a balance. “You look back to Luke Donald and Sergio García, the fiery and the stoic, and they made a great pairing together,â€� Furyk says. “I think as a captain, I like to talk to the guys throughout the year, do you like to play with someone who is fiery and pumps you up, or do you want someone who is a little bit quieter? “You try to get an idea of everyone, what makes them tick and what makes them play their best, and you try to pair those type of personalities together.â€� Fresh off his FedExCup victory, Justin Rose opened up on the subject. With a fire man in Poulter, Rose has a 4-1 record in the Foursome and Fourball formats in the Ryder Cup. With the quintessential iceman in Stenson he sports a 4-2 record. So Rose has had success with fire and ice. “I feel I can feed off both. But if anything the fire helps me,â€� Rose admitted. “Henrik has fire deep down though, he keeps it hidden. But the only thing with two of us like that, you can go flat sometimes, I’ve experienced that. So it is good to have options in the team room and we have plenty of those options this week.â€� Furyk is fundamentally against two of the same type together, saying you rarely see two fiery guys or two ice guys do great together. “You might not pair Bernhard Langer with himself because they are just even keel. You pair him with a guy that’s feisty, a Seve, and you kind of get the ham-and-egg effect of things,â€� Furyk said. “If Patrick (Reed) and Sergio (Garcia) were on the same team, there would be a lot of fire, I’ll say that. There would be a lot of passion for one grouping,â€� he added. “You don’t often see that.â€� Yet if practice pairings are anything to go by, Furyk could indeed send out a blazing pair with Woods, Reed, Thomas and Spieth potentially in a pod together. Woods and Reed, or even Woods and Thomas, would certainly bring a new level of intensity, rivaling what Reed and Jordan Spieth have come with in the past. On the European side, with two very fiery rookies in Rahm and Hatton, Bjorn has to decide how best to harness that. “I can play with anybody, but I believe I will play with somebody experienced,â€� Rahm says. “They are not going to put two rookies up on Friday morning. So I will be playing with somebody, either Stenson, Sergio, Rory, Rosey, Poulter, Fran, somebody who knows what’s going on and who can most likely keep me under control on a Friday morning. “I feel like I’m going to have electricity coming out of me, so you can imagine I might tee off with somebody who is a little more calm than me, which is not hard to do. “It’s like two players becoming one, so I think we feed off the best of each other. “It will help me, if I’m playing with somebody like Justin Rose, it will help me calm down a little bit and my emotion will maybe help pump him up a little bit. So I think it benefits both ways.â€� While Rahm admits he might need a calming influence, the European side is very cognizant of not changing a player’s natural demeanor. “There’s no point in trying to be something that you’re not,â€� Molinari says. “I’ll be the same me that I’ve always been, and we’ll see, if I get paired with someone that has a bit more flair, probably there will be a balance.â€� Hatton might be the wildcard in many senses of the word. Known as a hot head on the course when things don’t go his way the Englishman has admitted to needing to monitor his temper. He made a point to say he’s looking to stay more “level-headedâ€� in the heat of battle this week and “not turn into the Hulk.â€� But Bjorn wants the fire to stay. So he’s looking for someone to ride it with him. “I want him to be Tyrrell Hatton in everything that he does, so you’ve got to find somebody that deals with those things very well,â€� Bjorn says. “I’m not here to try and change any of those 12. They are here because of who they are and that’s what they have got to go with. It’s not my job to change Tyrrell. He will go out and play with the passion and heart he has.â€� However each team slices it, it will be fascinating to watch.

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CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA – Wells Fargo, the PGA TOUR and tournament host organization Champions for Education announced today that Wells Fargo has extended its sponsorship of the Wells Fargo Championship through 2024 after signing a five-year extension. The announcement was made today by leaders from Wells Fargo, the PGA TOUR and Champions for Education. Quail Hollow Club, home to the Wells Fargo Championship since its PGA TOUR debut in 2003, will continue to host the event. “Since 2003, the Wells Fargo Championship has established itself as a premier event in the sports-rich city of Charlotte, with a supportive fan base, outstanding host venue and highly engaged title sponsor,� said PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan. “It also continues to impact the community through the charitable efforts of Champions for Education, for which Wells Fargo has played a major role. The Wells Fargo Championship is a favorite stop among our players, and we are excited to announce that this relationship will continue for an additional five years.� The 2018 Wells Fargo Championship generated more than $1.5 million for Charlotte-area charitable organizations, raising the tournament’s all-time total to $22 million. “The Wells Fargo Championship is one of the most engaging expressions of our brand, and we’re thrilled to continue to delight golf fans, Wells Fargo team members, PGA TOUR players and the greater Charlotte community with our sponsorship of this event,� said Jamie Moldafsky, Chief Marketing Officer of Wells Fargo. “We’re especially proud of the positive impact we are able to generate in the greater Charlotte community in support of organizations including the Championship’s three primary beneficiaries: The First Tee of Greater Charlotte, Levine Children’s Hospital and Teach for America.� Jason Day returns as defending champion, winning last year by two strokes over Aaron Wise and Nick Watney. It was his 12th career PGA TOUR victory. “The Wells Fargo Championship is an important part of the fabric of the community and today’s announcement allows us to continue to support our charitable efforts,� said Wells Fargo Championship Tournament Director Gary Sobba. “It is also an exciting time for our 2,300 volunteers—many of whom are Wells Fargo team members. We are fortunate that our tournament has become a popular spring tradition for PGA TOUR players, our partners and fans throughout the Carolinas.� Quail Hollow Club President Johnny Harris said, “Today’s announcement is special for Quail Hollow Club members and staff. From the beginning, our goal was to create an exciting environment for the players, patrons, and partners as we gather to celebrate the game of golf and incorporate the tremendous support of the community. We are so honored by the success of this annual event and are grateful for all who have helped us along the way. We have been fortunate to host the best players in the world and are looking forward to welcoming them back for years to come.� Because of the Presidents Cup at Quail Hollow Club in 2021, the event will move for one year to TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm in Washington, D.C. Known for its natural rolling terrain and Scottish-style bunkering, this well-regarded venue has played host to past PGA TOUR events.

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