Married Spieth hopes to spark bounce-back season at Sony Open in Hawaii

Alex Smalley was on the putting green at Sedgefield Country Club on July 24 when he heard the approaching sirens grow louder and louder. A fire truck stopped near the sprawling Victorian clubhouse to find out the quickest way to the sixth hole. An ambulance followed. But the emergency personnel were not able to save Jeff Womack, who had collapsed on the course on a hot, humid Saturday. Smalley is wearing the initials JW on his cap to honor the 50-year-old Womack, who died unexpectedly “doing what he loved, playing golf,” according to his obituary. The lumber salesman was a married father of two daughters. Smalley, who joined Sedgefield in 2020, had played golf with Womack several times. He remembers him walking whenever they played and had always felt his friend was in good health. “I think it was hard for the whole membership,” Smalley said. “Obviously (there were) a lot more guys that played with him for a lot longer than I’ve known him, but he just kind of lit up the room whenever he walked into one, just because he had a smile on his face. He knew everybody and was very friendly.” Smalley thought about putting the initials on his cap during last week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic. But he eventually decided that the Wyndham Championship would be a more appropriate week to honor his friend. The gesture was not lost on the many members and friends who have been in Smalley’s gallery during the first two rounds. “We all went to the first tee (on Thursday) to see Alex tee off and to see that JW on his hat just made me smile,” said Eric Ferguson, the director of golf at Sedgefield. “And Alex is just a wonderful young man and to honor Jeff this week is pretty special to us.” Smalley, who has a two-day total of 5 under and is just four behind the leaders, said he has thought about Womack several times during the first two rounds. “I had a couple good breaks yesterday and I kind of thought, just kind of said, thanks Womack,” Smalley said. “I feel like whenever you can play for something more than yourself you kind of forget about golf. “Golf’s just a game and although it is our job, it pales in comparison to some things in this world. And I think it does help a little bit.”

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A case of golfer whiplash for Justin Thomas

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SILVIS, Ill. — The last name is Schenk, which, of course, rings frighteningly close to that ugly never-to-be spoken S-word that equates to kryptonite for golfers. So why tempt the golf gods even more by naming your dog Bunker? “We kind of are,” Kourtney Schenk conceded while watching Adam, her childhood chum and husband of less than two years, put the finishing touches on a strong second round of 7-under 64 at TPC Deere Run. His eight-birdie, lone-bogey effort put the 29-year-old Indianan in prime position to contend on the weekend for a second straight John Deere Classic. “Maybe it’s working in our favor, though. “I want to name our next dog Bogey,” she declared, thumbing her nose at the gods of golf even more. Why not? If there are horses for courses, maybe Bunker is a hound for these grounds. Although the frisky young Golden Retriever stayed back at the hotel Friday morning to help family friends Jonas and Jamie Blixt miss their left-at-home Golden, Boone, a bit less in advance of Jonas’ afternoon tee time, Bunker was at Deere Run on Thursday afternoon while Adam worked his way around the course with an opening round of 67. Bunker also made the trip five hours north from the Schenk’s native Vincennes, Indiana, in 2019, when Adam, a sixth-year professional who played collegiately at Purdue, posted a T6 JDC finish that ranks as the best of his four years on the PGA TOUR. “Bunker is a good luck charm,” Kourtney said. Or maybe Deere Run is just a track that suits Adam’s game particularly well. Schenk, after all, grew up on a sod farms that provides turf grass to golf courses across southwestern Indiana, and is especially comfortable on the bentgrass fairways and greens endemic to Midwest golf courses. Friday, he took particularly advantage of firm morning fairways that added yards to his low-flighted drives. “Yeah, seems like it’s just ending up a little further for me this week,” said Schenk, who is averaging a fraction more than 300 yards off the tee through two rounds and, despite hitting only 18 of 28 fairways, ranks among this week’s midway leaders in strokes gained: off the tee. “I don’t think I hit it more solid, but I do launch it a little lower, so with it landing in the fairway and it rolling in the fairway, it’s tumbling out.” More than Deere Run’s lush bent fairways, Schenk is taking advantage of the course’s L-93 bentgrass greens. Through two rounds, he has gained more than five strokes on the field with his putter. He ended Friday’s round with 12 1/2 -foot downhiller for birdie at the 487-yard par-4 ninth that ranks among the most challenging holes on the course. “Yeah, the greens are so good here,” he said of a birdie roll that offset his lone bogey of the day. “The putter has been nice this whole week. It’s the best I’ve putted in a while, which is nice.” Schenk’s affinity for this event goes beyond Deere Run’s greens to John Deere green. Both he and his wife were raised on farms where Deere & Company equipment was the family brand. Yeah, it would be nice to do something special here. I could definitely use it with the season I’ve had so far,” said Schenk, who is looking to improve on a campaign with just three top 25 finishes and a current FedExCup ranking of 135. “If I could somehow have a chance to win on Sunday, that would be great, and to pull it off at the John Deere would be kind of ironic, I guess, growing up driving John Deere tractors. So that would be funny.” Even better with Bunker nearby. He accompanies the couple only to the handful of events within driving distance of Vincennes, so his presence makes the Deere a family event. “Bunker is our kid right now,” Courtney said. “Goldens are the best. I think I would have 10, if I could.” That’s a lot of golf god-defying names to concoct, though. Hazard? OB? Hosel Rocket? Quadruple? “Bring it on,” Kourtney said.

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