Leaderboard: Round 1 of Genesis Open

SILVIS, Ill. — A lot happened while Morgan Hoffmann spent more than two years in the Costa Rican jungle, in search of his own holistic cure to the rare form of muscular dystrophy that threatened to end a once-promising career in professional golf. News of significant changes to the Rules of Golf didn’t reach him. Now back in the game, feeling good and eager to use his platform to share news of a new way back to health, Hoffmann is familiar with most of the major changes handed down by the United States Golf Association in 2019. Putting with the flagstick in the hole? Sensible enough. Legally grounding a club in a hazard? “Interesting,” he said with some skepticism. Taking a drop from knee-high? “Weird,” Hoffmann said. Until Thursday morning, however, Hoffmann was unaware that accidentally deflecting your own ball in the course of a shot no longer constitutes a one-shot penalty, per Rule 11.1. So when his hack at a ball plugged in a green side bunker at TPC Deere Run’s par-3 16th struck the lip, flew upward, then backward and bounced off the brim of his cap back into the sand, Hoffman assumed he was hitting 4 on his next shot. After nearly holing his next attempt, he was understandably happy to discover he’d tapped in to save bogey. “It makes sense that it’s not a penalty; I was happy it wasn’t,” he said after being so informed by playing partners Cameron Champ and Cam Davis. “It was an absurd lie and I was happy to get away with bogey.” Hoffman is playing in the John Deere Classic after receiving a sponsor’s exemption just two days earlier, when three-time Deere winner Steve Stricker withdrew. Replacing one of the Deere’s perennial favorites meant that Hoffmann also earned a spot in one of the featured groups on ESPN+, so every one of his shots was streamed on PGA TOUR LIVE. Hoffmann posted a 1-over opening round on Thursday and will have to rally Friday afternoon to make the cut. But he’s done that here before. In 2013, Hoffmann played his first 19 holes of the tournament in 4 over. “I played the next 17 holes in something crazy to make the cut,” he remembered. Hoffmann tied for 17th that year and shared third three years later. “Good memories to rally on this course,” he said. With a medical extension having expired at last week’s Travelers Championship and no additional PGA TOUR starts currently scheduled, Hoffmann will need a serious rally to find his way back to full TOUR status sometime soon. At worst, he’s exempt into the second stage of Q-School for having made a combined 100 cuts on the PGA TOUR and Korn Ferry Tour. Yet, having seemingly conquered his health challenge in unorthodox fashion in the wilds of Costa Rica, Hoffmann is content to take each day as it comes. “My perspective on life has changed so much,” he said. “lt’s just beautiful to be back out here.”

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PONTE VEDRA, Fla. - The PGA TOUR announced today that Fortinet, a global leader in broad, integrated and automated cybersecurity solutions, will become the title sponsor of PGA TOUR's Napa tournament, to be named the Fortinet Championship. The six-year agreement begins as the kickoff event of the 2021-22 FedExCup Regular Season at Silverado Resort and Spa, Sept. 13-19, 2021. The Fortinet Championship dates to 2007, with the event moving from CordeValle Golf Club in San Martin to Silverado Resort and Spa in Napa in 2014. With its present location, the event has been the TOUR's season-opening event each season since 2014, with the exception of the 2019-20 season. "We are thrilled to welcome Fortinet to the PGA TOUR family with the Fortinet Championship leading off the 2021-22 FedExCup Regular Season in September," said Tyler Dennis, PGA TOUR President. "Napa is an extremely popular stop for our players, their families and our fans. We look forward to having Fortinet help grow the event to maximize charitable impact for the Napa Valley community." Net proceeds from the Fortinet Championship will benefit non-profit organizations in the areas of STEM, women and minorities in technology, as well as veterans reskilling programs. "Fortinet is excited to partner with the PGA TOUR as both our organizations are committed to trust and creating exceptional experiences - ensuring players and customers are set up for success to overcome even the most trying conditions and challenges," said John Maddison, EVP of Products and CMO at Fortinet. "This partnership will benefit our community, customers and local nonprofit organizations. We look forward to hosting the Fortinet Championship in Napa." Fortinet's mission is to make possible a digital world that organizations can always trust by protecting edges, data and content, people, devices and systems. Fortinet delivers the most innovative, highest-performing network security fabric to secure and simplify organizations' IT infrastructures. Fortinet is a leading global provider of network security and SD-WAN, switching and wireless access, network access control, authentication, public and private cloud security, endpoint security, and AI-driven advanced threat protection solutions for carriers, data centers, enterprises, and distributed offices. Silverado Resort and Spa hosted the PGA TOUR from 1968-80 before returning in 2014. The venue has produced a prestigious list of winners including Jack Nicklaus (1969), Tom Watson (1978), Ben Crenshaw (1980) and Johnny Miller (1974-75). In addition, Silverado was a PGA TOUR Champions venue from 1989-2002. All four rounds of the Fortinet Championship will be televised on Golf Channel, featuring a 156-player field, 500 FedExCup points and a $7 million purse. Stewart Cink, the winner of the 2009 Open Championship and a member of four U.S. Presidents Cup teams and five U.S. Ryder Cup teams, is expected to defend his 2020 title.

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Here are nine tidbits from the third round of the Sony Open at Waialae Country Club (par 70, 7,044 yards) in Honolulu that gamers can use tomorrow, this weekend or down the road. Be looking for the Emergency 9 shortly after the close of play of each round of the tournament. Tom Cruising After 65-64-64 and 16-under-par, Tom Hoge looks like he’s on cruise control. Don’t tell him that six of the seven closest players on the leaderboard have already done what he’s trying to do for the first time tomorrow: win. History is not on his side as only Jerry Kelly and Russell Henley have made the Sony Open their maiden victories on TOUR since 2000. He’ll have some confident players breathing down his neck and I’m interested to see how he reacts. Patton Marching Hoge’s Friday-Saturday total of 129 is impressive but Patton Kizzire is one shot better. One shot is all that separates the OHL Classic winner from the fella trying to close his first deal. Kizzire had to face and beat Rickie Fowler at Riviera Maya for his first TOUR win so he’ll be up for the fight tomorrow. For Hoge, his strength has been approaching the green (first) while Kizzire has putted the greens best. He’s made 21 birdies through 54 holes, the most on the week. Moving Day Movers The low round of the day went to Webb Simpson as his 63 moved him up 39 spots to T9. Simpson has now made nine consecutive cuts at Waialae but he’s never finished better than T9…Chez Reavie has taken multiple swings at Waialae and finally figured out how to hit the top 10 as he closed with 61 (T8) last year. His 65 Saturday moved him up 27 spots to T21 and another low one on Sunday might see him sneak in the back door again…Austin Cook also carded 65 on Saturday and moved up 35 spots to T28. Moving Day Shakers Gamers riding Hudson Swafford after his 66 on Friday saw a vicious swing as his 73 today dropped him 42 spots to T59…One of the most popular picks in PGA TOUR Fantasy One & Done presented by SERVPRO and PGA TOUR Fantasy One & Done presented by SERVPRO, Marc Leishman’s 71 saw him plummet 33 spots to T50. Last week Leishman struggled on Saturday as well before rallying on Sunday to hit the top 10. Breathe people!…A couple of players on Major Medical Exemptions caught my eye yesterday as John Peterson and Ryan Palmer both shot 64. Peterson began the day T2 and wound up T40 after 74 while Palmer’s 71 knocked him out of the top 20 to T56. This is all part of getting back into TOUR shape and hardly a surprise. Crack the Back Door Yesterday on the telecast those who were watching heard Jordan Spieth voice his displeasure as he lamented his two weeks of poor putting. He’s not wrong as he checks in at No. 63 in SG: Putting after three rounds. His ball-striking has kept him alive this week and is currently T28 after his best round in three with 66. History buffs will point out he closed 63 last year and finished third. I’m leaving him on my bench tomorrow as I haven’t burned his start yet. I’d rather use him for an entire event and cash all four rounds of points rather than trying to catch another 63. Cameron’s Dollars Australian Cameron Smith keeps forcing himself into our world this winter so we should start paying attention. After kicking off the new TOUR season T5 at CIMB Classic followed by third at THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES, he went back to his native Australia to cash fourth at his national open while backing that up with winning the Australian PGA. This was his 10th round at Waialae and his ninth under par as his 66 moved him to eighth place. I Heart Rory It was revealed that Rory McIlroy has been dealing with a heart ailment that has hurt his preparation and tournament golf. In fantasy golf, knowledge is power and knowing why McIlroy wasn’t playing well is very helpful. His talent is unquestioned and Ben Everill’s article will help put season-long and weekly gamers at ease. I’m on board without question moving forward. Reality Bites This morning, the people of Hawaii were awoken by buzzing or ringing cell phones alerting them of a possible ballistic missile attack. While the message suggested THIS IS NOT A DRILL, thankfully for all involved, it was. It took 38 minutes to rectify the situation and confirm that there was NOT a missile attack heading toward the Hawaiian Islands. Talk about wake-up calls…Remember, professional golfers aren’t robots; they’re people with families and emotions like the rest of us. I bet they all are hoping for a “normal” day tomorrow. Everyone, minus perhaps Tom Hoge, should sleep well tonight. Study Hall Tony Finau racked up an ace this afternoon but his 67 moved him only to T40…Saturday had to be an incredibly tough day for Blayne Barber. He learned that his caddy and great friend was in the hospital after a fall on Friday night and we all know how Saturday morning started. Barber shot 72 and is currently T70…Ian Poulter tweeted that he’ll be playing Abu Dhabi, Dubai and then Waste Management Phoenix open in consecutive weeks to open his 2018 season…On this day in history in 1933, Augusta National Golf Club opened.

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