Major questions: What’s next for Tiger, Phil and the rest of golf?

The PGA TOUR and WHOOP, the human performance company, announced a multi-year partnership naming WHOOP as the "Official Fitness Wearable of the PGA TOUR and PGA TOUR Champions" and a "Sponsor of PGA TOUR Active." To activate the partnership, WHOOP and the TOUR will implement a WHOOP Live for Charity initiative to highlight player biometric data and heart rate during defining moments throughout the season with those real-time metrics integrated into video content. Featured players 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 beginning in 2021. "We are excited to grow our partnership with WHOOP and utilize their health technology to optimize the way our athletes train, recover and sleep," said Brian Oliver, PGA TOUR Executive Vice President of Corporate Partnerships. "Our athletes understand the importance of maintaining their health to ensure peak competitive performance, career longevity and overall well-being. The WHOOP Strap will help our athletes unlock actionable insights via physiological data to help them understand and prepare their bodies for competition. We're eager to begin a first-of-its-kind activation at the TOUR that will incorporate player biometric data with defining moments from the golf course to create fascinating content for fans." This summer upon the TOUR's return to golf over 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. WHOOP collects physiological data that helps an individual optimize workouts, recovery and sleep - and can identify changes in respiratory rate with industry-leading third party validated accuracy. This official partnership is a natural evolution from the collaborative efforts to find new solutions to support TOUR athletes at all levels. "WHOOP has organically grown amongst the world's best golfers for years and we are proud to take our relationship with the PGA TOUR and all athletes to the next level," said Will Ahmed, WHOOP Founder & CEO. "This partnership is particularly new and innovative in that it will bring heart rate and other engaging physiological metrics directly into the fan experience." WHOOP will activate and create custom content within PGA TOUR Active (www.pgatour.com/active), a new TOUR initiative highlighting health, fitness and lifestyles of professional golfers, where fans get an inside look into the techniques and activities helping the best players in the world perform at their peak. Throughout the partnership, PGA TOUR, PGA TOUR Champions and Korn Ferry Tour players and trainers will receive the latest products and technology from WHOOP to assist in monitoring their health. WHOOP will have an amplified onsite presence at all PGA TOUR events to provide VIP support and incorporate that technology with training and recovery staff on the PGA TOUR's state-of-the-art Player Performance Centers that travel to PGA TOUR and PGA TOUR Champions events and bring state-of-the-art fitness equipment and care to its athletes throughout the season.

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Demonstrating its commitment to growing and diversifying the game of golf, PGA TOUR University and the APGA Tour announced today a new program to help top Black golfers transition from the collegiate game into the professional ranks. The new APGA Collegiate Ranking identifies five players from Division I, II or III programs - including HBCUs - and exempts them into summer events on the APGA Tour as well as the Pre-Qualifying Stage of the Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament that same year starting in 2021. The announcement comes as part of the PGA TOUR's commitment to racial equity and inclusion. As part of the plan announced at THE TOUR Championship, the TOUR is pledging at least $100 million over the next 10 years to support nonprofit organizations whose services directly address the inequities and disparities that affect African-American citizens as well as underrepresented and underserved populations in the communities in which tournaments are conducted. The APGA Collegiate Ranking will ease the financial costs associated with playing developmental tours as well as application fees for the Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament. Eligible players for the APGA Collegiate Ranking are Black NCAA Division I, II or III golfers who exhaust a minimum of four collegiate years. "The APGA Tour has created a great platform for diverse competition in our sport, and we're excited to further the PGA TOUR's support of those efforts with today's announcement," said Korn Ferry Tour President Alex Baldwin. "The APGA Collegiate Ranking will deliver a tremendous avenue for more Black golfers to pursue their TOUR dreams after the conclusion of their college careers." The top five players from the APGA Collegiate Ranking will earn the following benefits for the current season once they turn professional after completion of their collegiate career: • APGA Tour membership • Entry into all remaining APGA Tour events • Travel costs associated with each APGA Tour event • Exemption into the Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament • Pre-Qualifying Stage unless otherwise exempt into another Stage The inaugural APGA Collegiate Ranking released in conjunction with the announcement highlights the top five players in the current standings, with Florida A&M University players taking four of the spots. Mulbe Dillard (1), Mahindra Lutchman (3), Ethan Mangum (4) and Cameron Riley (5) lead the Rattlers in the top five rankings, while Michigan State's Andrew Walker debuted at No. 2 on the list. "Today's APGA Collegiate Ranking announcement is a tremendous step forward for these dedicated student-athletes looking to establish a career in professional golf," offered Ken Bentley, co-founder and CEO of the APGA Tour. "Young Black players across all divisions of NCAA golf - including HBCUs - have been the most important talent resource for the APGA Tour since we launched in 2010, and this program will provide incentive for top college players to seize an incredible opportunity." The APGA Collegiate Ranking uses the Golfstat adjusted scoring average as the ranking measurement, specifically designed to capture the top players positioned to qualify for APGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament access. This ranking list will be updated periodically throughout the 2020-21 NCAA men's golf season. For more information on the APGA Collegiate Ranking or the APGA Tour, please visit APGATour.org.

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SHANGHAI (AP) – Rory McIlroy spun a wedge down to 3 feet for birdie on his final hole for a clean card at a 5-under 67, giving him a one-shot lead over Louis Oosthuizen on a Saturday of big runs and ugly collapses at the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions. Oosthuizen opened with five straight birdies and closed with two birdies in his last three holes for a 65. RELATED: Leaderboard | Fitzpatrick seeking elusive first TOUR win | Oosthuizen an anxious rugby fan in China McIlroy sits at 15-under 201 as he goes for his fourth victory of the calendar year and his first win a season after he won the FedExCup for the second time and was named PGA TOUR Player of the Year. Haotong Li of China had a robust crowd going early with five birdies through six holes to take the lead, only to shoot 42 on the back nine for a 74 that knocked him out of contention.

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