Matsuyama WDs after testing positive for COVID

PUNTA CANA, Domincan Republic – Jhonattan Vegas has lots of reasons to celebrate these days, both on the golf course and off. Vegas – who shot a 3-under-par 69 Thursday in the first round of the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship and was just a few shots back of the early lead – and his wife announced via a video on Instagram just days before the tournament began they were expecting their second child (a boy). This, just a week after the three-time TOUR winner rocked the golf world with his across-the-green putt on the par-3 17th at TPC Sawgrass during THE PLAYERS Championship, en route to a T-3 – his best finish on TOUR since THE NORTHERN TRUST in August 2017. At 69 feet, 7 inches, Vegas’ long birdie putt on the island green was the longest in PLAYERS history. He admitted he didn’t realize how loud it was until after he watched the replays. “I was so tuned into the moment, to the putt,â€� he said. It was such an unreal moment, pretty much, that happened there at 17, that I didn’t notice people. I didn’t notice how loud it was.â€� Vegas said his result at THE PLAYERS two weeks ago gave him the confidence he needs – and made a big difference in his game – as he looks ahead to the Presidents Cup later this year. He said making the International Team captained by Ernie Els is his biggest goal for 2019. “It’s been on the radar since I got done in New York that Sunday,â€� he said. Vegas has made four of his last five cuts – and three straight – with both of his top-10’s on the season occurring in that span. He kept that momentum going Thursday in Punta Cana and was 3-under through his first seven holes. He made bogey on the par-3 9th before birdied the long par-5 12th. He had a short birdie try on the par-4 18th but it just slid by. Still, Vegas said he was pleased with his effort on the much harder back nine. “The back nine is really hard here… five holes on the back nine you’re just really happy to make pars (on). I tried to manage a birdie or two on the other ones. That’s kind of how the course is going to play all week,â€� he said. “The front nine, you have more gettable holes, which we did early, and played solid on the back and it’s a decent score.â€� But as Vegas looks to the second round in Punta Cana, he can’t help but be excited at the prospect of being a father for the second time. He says his daughter, who’s three, is already excited to be a big sister. He said, with a proud-papa smile, she’s already thinking about giving her baby brother a bottle and singing him a song if he cries. Vegas comes from a family of all boys, and although he said he would have been thrilled with another girl, he said he can’t wait to be the father of his own son. “I’ve had such an amazing experience with my daughter, but I think the boys are fun, too,â€� said Vegas. “We can push them more and kind of be athletes like we were when we were a kid, so it’s a way to live childhood through them.â€�

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Phil Mickelson will play on the PGA TOUR Champions after he turns 50 this June. The only question is how long after he turns 50. For now, Mickelson said as he met with reporters at The American Express tournament in Palm Desert on Wednesday, he wants to keep battling younger players on the PGA TOUR.  “I haven’t thought too much about it,â€� said Mickelson, who won TOUR events the last two years but suffered a marked drop-off after capturing the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am early last season. “And I won’t until I see how the first six months of this year go, because I’ve had this, I’ve had kind of a lot of great things happen that lead me to be encouraged about the year and I’m curious to see how the first six months go. RELATED:  What you need to know for The American Express | Power Rankings “It’s nice to have the option to move over to another tour,â€� he added, “but it’s also nice to have the challenge of competing out here.â€� Mickelson this year steps into the host role of The American Express, a tournament he has won twice and nearly won last year, but what he’s equally excited about is his new diet and fitness regimen that has seen him shed pounds and add clubhead speed. He is curious to see how his new lease on life translates on the scorecard. “When I stop hitting bombs, I’ll play the Champions Tour,â€� he said, “but I’m hitting some crazy bombs right now. No, I still have speed, I still, there’s no reason I couldn’t play out here. “I hit the ball every bit as far,â€� he added. “Usually as guys get in their 40s they regress; I had a five, six mile an hour club head speed increase last year. A little bit of commitment in the gym, a little bit of work ethic and all of a sudden there’s no reason that physically I can’t do today what I did 15, 20 years ago. In fact I’m doing more.â€� Mickelson has enjoyed great success in California, where he is a cumulative 601 under par in TOUR events since 1983, which trails only Fred Couples. “There’s a chance that if I do what I expect then I may end up competing for years out here,â€� Mickelson said. “And there’s a chance that maybe I am misguided in my thinking and that I should move over. But a lot will be decided or seen in the first six months, because I feel like I’m ready to play.â€�

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