Lewis and Schwab share lead at Turkish Airlines Open

Aaron Wise could be forgiven for thinking it would be easy.    He turned pro after winning the NCAA title as an Oregon sophomore. He made his pro debut in a major, the U.S. Open, and won two starts later, on the Mackenzie Tour-PGA TOUR Canada. A year later, he won on the Web.com Tour to earn his PGA TOUR card. He was just 21.   “I thought I could walk out here,� Wise said. “You quickly realize how good these players are.�   By late April, he stood 105th in the FedExCup standings. Forget the TOUR Championship or postseason awards. Just keeping his card was an uncertainty.   Then things dramatically changed. He challenged Jason Day on the back nine of the Wells Fargo Championship, forcing the former World No. 1 to birdie 16 and 17 for a two-shot win. Wise won in his next start, with an impressive ball-striking display at the AT&T Byron Nelson.   Those finishes vaulted him into contention for the Rookie of the Year Award. A strong finish clinched the award for the Californian. Playing against the strong fields that assemble for the TOUR’s season-ending events, Wise finished in the top 20 in four of his last six starts.   He accepted the Rookie of the Year Award Tuesday in Las Vegas, his adopted hometown since turning pro and the site of his 2018-19 debut. The Shriners Hospitals for Children Open will be Wise’s first start since the TOUR Championship.   He was one of three rookies to win last season, along with Satoshi Kodaira (RBC Heritage) and Austin Cook (The RSM Classic), but was the only one to make it to East Lake. He added his name to an elite list by doing so at such an early age.    Wise, 22, was the fifth-youngest to ever qualify for the elite, 30-man field. Only Tiger Woods, Jordan Spieth, Sergio Garcia and Si Woo Kim made it at an earlier age. Wise finished 24th in the FedExCup standings to fulfill a goal he set at the start of his rookie season.   “It seemed pretty seamless, but it’s been a lot of hard work and there have been a lot of tough times,� Wise said at this year’s TOUR Championship. “Times like this make it all worth it.� It seemed pretty seamless, but it’s been a lot of hard work and there have been a lot of tough times. Times like this make it all worth it. His early success belies meager beginnings. He was 3 years old when his family moved to Southern California from South Africa. The exchange rate decimated the family’s savings.   “My parents did well to keep food on the table,� Aaron said. “We didn’t have much.�   His mother, Karla, used to buy oversized shoes for Aaron to extend the time between purchases. He still wears a size 10.5 today even though his feet are a 9.5. The proper size felt too constricting to feet accustomed to more space.   “Being put in tough situations where I knew other people were getting better opportunities to succeed, it made me have to believe in myself,� Wise said. “I think it’s why I play so well under pressure. I believe in myself.�   Instead of being disheartened by a slow start to his rookie season, Wise committed himself to getting better.   “He doesn’t panic,� said his college coach, Casey Martin. “Emotionally, he’s very mature. He’s confident in his own skin.�   Wise knew that his iron game had to improve. His driver and putter have long been his strengths, but he was making too many bogeys from the middle of the fairway.   “I just wasn’t very good at it when I got out here,� he said. “With the way they tuck the pins out here and as firm and fast as the greens are, you can’t get up-and-down all the time.�   His improved iron play quickly paid dividends.   He hit 66 of 72 greens in his win at the AT&T Byron Nelson, the most by a TOUR winner since 1997. Wise also led the field in Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green, proving that his stats weren’t simply the result of the oversized fairways and greens at Trinity Forest.    In the FedExCup Playoffs, only five players hit a higher percentage of greens in regulation than Wise (75.7 percent). He was one of just 12 players with at least three top-20 finishes in the four Playoffs events. He doesn’t panic. Emotionally, he’s very mature. He’s confident in his own skin. Wise also overcame the unforeseen circumstances that come from traveling week-in and week-out. One such surprise struck just days after the Nelson, while he was still basking in the afterglow of his first victory.   In a span of a few days, he cracked two drivers at the Fort Worth Invitational. Without a third-string driver ready, he struggled to find one that he could trust in competition. That contributed to five straight missed cuts after his victory. Wise deemed it a frustrating “rookie mistake.�   “The driver has always been a strength of my game,� said Wise, who ranked 27th in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee last season. “As soon as I lost that, I felt like I wasn’t in position to make good scores on holes.�   It wasn’t until a two-week break before the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational that he could take the time to do in-depth driver testing. He quickly found success after finding a driver that fit.   He finished sixth at tree-lined Firestone Country Club, then challenged Bryson DeChambeau at THE NORTHERN TRUST before finishing fifth. Wise closed the season with a T16 at the BMW Championship and T15 at the TOUR Championship. His 68.8 scoring average in the Playoffs was the second-best ever by a rookie.   “It’s been a year of ups and downs,� Wise said. “The highs have been amazing, but there have been some lows. To finish it on a good note was a point of emphasis.�   And now he starts his sophomore campaign by hoisting a trophy.

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Five of the top six in the FedExCup standings will tee it up at the Travelers Championship, led by No.1 Scottie Scheffler. Harris English returns to defend his title from 2021, which he won in an eight-hole playoff over Kramer Hickok. FIELD NOTES: English is back in action after making the cut at the U.S. Open. He was on the shelf from January until the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday as he recovered from hip surgery… Scottie Scheffler, who was contending at the U.S. Open at The Country Club, will look to extend his substantial lead in the FedExCup and Official World Golf Ranking… Sam Burns, ranked second in the FedExCup, is also set to tee it up… Others in the field include 2022 PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas, last season’s FedExCup champion Patrick Cantlay, and Rory McIlroy, who is playing his fourth week in a row on TOUR… Cantlay shot a 60 at TPC River Highlands in 2011 as an amateur… Jordan Spieth, who won the Travelers in 2017, was a late entry Friday afternoon… University of Texas standout Cole Hammer will make his TOUR debut as a professional… Other young stars at the Travelers will include Ben James, Michael Thorbjornsen, and Haskins Award winner Chris Gotterup… Others in the field include four-time major winner Brooks Koepka, Rickie Fowler, Xander Schauffele and U.S. Open gate-crasher Joel Dahmen. FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 FedExCup points. COURSE: TPC River Highlands, par 70, 6,852 yards. One of the TOUR’s shortest courses yields low scores but still presents a tricky challenge to the game’s best. This marks the 70th anniversary of the Travelers Championship, with TPC River Highlands being a TOUR venue for 39 years. Bobby Weed was the last architect to work on an upgrade of the Connecticut course with TOUR players Howard Twitty and Roger Matlbie as consultants. The key stretch comes as golfers play around a four-acre lake on No’s 15 through 17. TPC River Highlands was where Jim Furyk fired the TOUR’s lowest round, a 58 in 2016. STORYLINES: This is the first year since before the COVID-19 pandemic that the Travelers will have full attendance… There is plenty of firepower in the field at TPC River Highlands, with six of the world’s top 10 teeing it up… The Travelers has become a jumping-off point for many of the game’s bright young stars. This year is set to be no different with James, Thorbjornsen, Gotterup, and Hammer in the field. Past exemptions have gone to Sahith Theegala, John Pak, and Collin Morikawa, among others… Each champion at the Travelers since 2016 has played the U.S. Open the week prior. English finished third at Torrey Pines a year ago before winning at TPC River Highlands… The Travelers has gone into extra holes 25 times, with last year’s eight-hole playoff being the longest. 72-HOLE RECORD: 258, Kenny Perry (2009) 18-HOLE RECORD: 58, Jim Furyk (4th round, 2016). LAST TIME: Harris English emerged from the second-longest playoff in TOUR history to claim the 2021 Travelers. After both English and Kramer Hickok birdied the 72nd hole in regulation the duo went back-and-forth for seven holes before English finally birdied the eighth extra hole from 5 feet. Hickok had missed a 36-footer just prior. It was English’s second win of the season. Hickok’s runner-up was his best career result on the PGA TOUR. Marc Leishman finished third, Abraham Ancer fourth, and five golfers finished T5, among them Kevin Kisner, who shot Sunday’s low round, 63. HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Thursday-Friday, 3 p.m.-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday-Sunday, 1 p.m.-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3 p.m.-6 p.m. (CBS) For outside of the U.S., click here for GOLFTV powered by the PGA TOUR PGA TOUR LIVE PGA TOUR Live is available exclusively on ESPN+ • Main Feed: primary tournament-coverage featuring the best action from across the course • Marquee Group: new “marquee group” showcasing every shot from each player in the group • Featured Groups: traditional PGA TOUR LIVE coverage of two concurrent featured groups • Featured Holes: a combination of par-3s and iconic or pivotal holes

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DUBLIN, Ohio – The iconic TV comedy “I Love Lucy” had recently ended; the iconic musical show “American Bandstand” was just beginning. The Soviet Union would soon launch Sputnik, the earth’s first artificial satellite. And locally, a blond teenaged golfer named Jack Nicklaus had just graduated from Upper Arlington High School and spent that June in nearby Toledo, where he shot two rounds of 80 and missed the cut in his first U.S. Open appearance. He would do better in future years. It was August of 1957. It was also the last time two different PGA TOUR events were contested at the same course in consecutive weeks. World Golf Hall of Famer Roberto De Vicenzo won the All-America Open at the Tam O’Shanter Golf Club in Niles, Illinois. A week later, Dick Mayer captured the World Championship of Golf on the same course. Now, 63 years later, one course will again host TOUR events in consecutive weeks, this time at Nicklaus’ famed Muirfield Village Golf Club. The brand-new Workday Charity Open is making a one-time appearance this week, while Nicklaus’ annual Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide takes center stage next week as soon as the final putt drops this Sunday. The quirk in the schedule came after the John Deere Classic was a last-minute, COVID-19 cancelation and the week prior to the Memorial became available. Workday stepped up and with Nicklaus’ blessing, there are consecutive events at the same course for just the 12th time in TOUR history. One of the goals, of course, is to provide the players in both fields distinctive challenges each week. Steve Rintoul is among the TOUR rules officials charged with setting up Muirfield Village so that the playing experience at the Workday Charity Open isn’t exactly the same as at the Memorial. Slower green speeds and shorter rough will help differentiate the course from the one that morphs into one of the TOUR’s most demanding layouts next week. “If we didn’t make the changes that we’ve made, especially with the green speeds, it’d be very challenging,” Rintoul said. “And I think everybody realizes that no one wants to come here and play eight days of extremely, extremely high green speeds and having holes be in the same places for eight days straight of competition. “I just don’t think anyone would really enjoy that. I think people are used to seeing that for the Memorial. That’s what Mr. Nicklaus wants, and that’s what we’re going to choose for Memorial. So, you know, the fun part of it, he said, OK, given that, what can we do for Workday?” The TOUR and the staff at Muirfield Village only had a month to prepare for the consecutive events. Tournament Director Gary Young said the Memorial never left anyone’s mind as the plan for delivering a very competitive Workday Charity Open was put into place. And he was most grateful for the buy-in from Nicklaus. “In the meeting, he just listened to what we were looking at doing,” Young said. “He listened to a group that pitched the idea to him, and he just said, if it’s good for golf, let’s do it. … And I was really impressed with that because one way or another, it will have an impact on the Memorial week — whether it’s more divots in the landing areas; it’s a 156-player field right before 120 player field. “It’s bound to have a little wear and tear on the golf course, and he was willing to do it. So it just speaks volumes about him.” The greens this week will run between 11-1/2 and 12 in the Stimpmeter as compared to 13 or 14 during the Memorial. Slower speeds on Muirfield Village’s slopey greens produce more potential pin placements – and with the possible exception of holes Nos. 4, 9 and 11. The variety might surprise the fans. “When we maintain the greens around at 11-1/2, it now allows us to go to some areas that we don’t traditionally go to for the Memorial,” Young said. “The Memorial, when the greens get 13-plus, we have to be very careful about where we put the hole location and we are somewhat limited in the amount of hole locations we have when the greens get that fast. “We have to really seek those level areas where a ball will settle to.” Using a wider variety of pin placements this week will help eliminate wear and tear – ball marks, foot traffic, hole plugs – around those tender greens where scoring is paramount. The field for the Workday Charity Open is a full-field 156 players while the Memorial invites 120. “I think we have a really good plan,” Rintoul said. “And I think having the green speeds be subtly 2 to 2-1/2 feet slower on a Stimpmeter is really going to open up a lot of opportunities for us to give the guys a different look. “And I think that’s what our guys want. I don’t think I want to feel like they’re playing the same place every day. Everything’s going to be a little bit newer to them than the old memory bank of ‘I remember how this putt used to break.’ Well, that’s going to kind of go out the window with Workday because maybe the hole is going to go somewhere where they’ve never seen it before.” Justin Thomas, who has two top-10s in six starts at the Memorial, fully expects pin positions and tees this week he’s never seen at Muirfield Village. But he doesn’t plan to “overpractice or overdo” his preparation for the Workday Charity Open “At the end of the day, I would hope that myself — and I’m sure the other guys feel the same way — can adjust, and that’s what these preparation days are for, to get used to the speed of the greens and try to use that a little bit once we get on the course,” he said. “But I’m sure there will be times many guys and myself maybe from time to time — hopefully not too often — where you’re looking at past putts.” Ken Tackett will set the pins on the back nine for each of the two tournaments. Rintoul, who has worked the Memorial for the past two decades, says having Tackett perform double duty is a smart decision. “When he puts a hole in the ground Thursday at Workday, he’s going to be thinking about what he’s going to do the following week during the Memorial,” Rintoul said. “So, he’s kind of managing his own space, let’s say, with those greens back there on the back nine.” Another way to vary the look and feel of the Workday Charity Open is to use a variety of teeing areas. There are a collection of strong par 4s on the course – Nos. 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, 10, 13, 17 and 18 – along with the 527-yard par-5 fifth that likely will see no changes in that regard. Look for the par-4 14th hole to be drivable at least once, though, and probably twice, during the Workday Charity Open, just as it was during a Four-Ball session at the 2013 Presidents Cup. The par 3s – Nos. 4, 8, 12 and 16 – offer possibilities for variety, as well. The forward tees likely will be used at least once at No. 4, while the back two tees at No. 16 will be utilized. (Young also noted an intriguing hole location at the fourth. “We have struggled to get a hole location on the right side of that green at all in the past,” he said. “There’s a hole location that’s about 10 paces on to the green, six from the right, that would be a very interesting hole location. I think we’ll be able to achieve that during week one.”) Meanwhile, the eighth hole has a new tee that is 20 yards longer for the TOUR to use at both tournaments. The signature 12th hole is a picturesque par 3 over water that conjures up thoughts of the 12th at Augusta National. The teeing ground is a kidney-shaped area and the usual championship tee for the Memorial is to the right, making the hole play to its full length. “We’ve made a commitment to Mr. Nicklaus about creating some different angles using some of the tees that we haven’t used during the Memorial,” Young said. “… So that will give us different angles on par 3s. “We’ll have a lot of variety both weeks, but we feel like we can really protect and maintain the championship conditions that the Memorial has always provided — the deeper rough, the faster greens. The Workday Charity Open, you’re just going to see the rough be a little bit less. So, we’ll slowly grow the rough into the Memorial week.” The par-5 seventh could be an exciting one, as well. Look for tournament officials to move up the tee on the 563-yarder to make it reachable at least one day on the weekend. The 15th, a 529-yard par 5, features a dramatic new tee that Nicklaus is still tinkering with, according to Rintoul. Both the traditional championship tee and the new one will be utilized over the course of both tournaments. “When they come back next year, the fairway is actually going to be lowered about eight feet,” Rintoul said. “Right now, the players are driving the ball into a pretty steep up-slope, which may generate some talk in itself this week. Next year, you will come back and that up-slope is going to be softened quite a bit. “We’re going to have the opportunity to play both of these. So, we’ll probably bounce back and forward on that hole quite a bit. I would say out of eight days, you may see four or five days on the new tee; the rest on the other tee. It’s very reachable from the old Memorial tee (but) from the new championship tee, it’s a lot less likely.” Complicating the task of the rules officials and greenskeepers is the oppressive heat that has blanketed central Ohio the last few days and sent heat indexes into the triple digits. The temperatures won’t moderate until the weekend — and then the 90s return again the middle of next week. “We have to kind of babysit things a little bit with the heat, stress and drought and the amount of traffic that the golf course is going to see this week with 156 players,” Rintoul said. To aid in the course’s recovery, Muirfield Village was closed on Monday and will be closed again next Monday. Since there are no pro-ams either week – the Memorial announced this week that it will be played without spectators, reversing the original plan – players should have ample time for practice rounds after the grounds crew does its work. “(It lets) them get out inside the ropes and do what they need to do with divot repair, ball-mark repair, watering, chemical applications to prevent disease and fungus,” Rintoul said. The rough was topped out Monday for the Workday Charity Open at 3-1/2 inches. While the heat has tempered its growth – and required water – Rintoul said the rough likely will be cut only once more before the end of the Memorial on July 19. “We still like to have the weekend of Memorial play with some pretty beefy rough,” he said. Young said he expects the scoring to be several strokes lower the week of the Workday Charity Open. He’s grateful for the way Muirfield Village’s course superintendent, Chad Mark, has embraced the two-week marathon. “He understands what the expectations are for week two and how do we slowly push the golf course week one, without it peaking and starting to maybe go a little bit backwards,” Young said. “We’ve got to control that. We have to make sure that we have those championship conditions. “So the agronomy team has their own challenges ahead of them, but we’ve got the best in the business working on it.”

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