McIlroy returning from another injury at Wisconsin major

PGATOUR.COM: This year marks the sixth year of the Morgan Stanley Eagles for Impact Challenge – can you tell us a little more about this initiative and First Tee, your new charitable partner? Alice Milligan: Morgan Stanley has a longstanding commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion and providing the next generation of diverse youth with the tools they need to succeed. When we became a Proud Partner of THE PLAYERS, we developed the Eagles for Impact Challenge which has allowed us to celebrate great golf shots while giving back. Inspired by Morgan Stanley’s Institute for Inclusion – which was launched in June of 2020 to accelerate an integrated diversity, equity and inclusion strategy driving change within our firm and beyond – we have focused our Eagles for Impact initiative on increasing representation through access and education. The Eagles for Impact initiative now lives within our broader campaign platform, Everyone Deserves a Shot. The campaign strategy is centered on the idea that a more inclusive and representative society starts with increasing education opportunities and opening doors for the next generation. This year, we have teamed up with First Tee, a youth development organization that shares our goal of growing access to the game. PGATOUR.COM: Given the new focus of Eagles for Impact, can you share details about the program and how your donations will support First Tee’s mission? Alice Milligan: For every eagle made throughout the tournament, Morgan Stanley will donate to First Tee to help support the recruitment, development and retention of diverse coaches. These dollars will directly support First Tee in providing continued training for diverse coaches so all participants can see and learn from representative role models. Coaches are the backbone of First Tee programming – they help create character-building experiences to prepare kids for any challenges they may face, and First Tee continues to make it a priority for their coaches to represent all current and future participants. To date, Morgan Stanley has donated over $1.2 million through the Eagles for Impact program. We’re looking forward to counting eagles again this year to further our impact. PGATOUR.COM: Are there any on-site events this year that you’re particularly excited about? Alice Milligan: Yes, Morgan Stanley will host a special event at THE PLAYERS on Tuesday, March 8th with First Tee. During the event, we will host 20 young women from First Tee-North Florida, where they’ll have the opportunity to hear from a variety of industry experts on their career journeys, walk the TPC Sawgrass course and view the practice rounds. Their final stop will be at the Morgan Stanley Eagles for Impact venue, where they’ll be the first to play three special putting greens they helped us design for fans to enjoy during the tournament and pick up exclusive Morgan Stanley swag. PGATOUR.COM: Can you tell us a little more about the firm’s broader efforts in the diversity and inclusion space? Alice Milligan: Commit to diversity and inclusion is the firm’s fifth core value – it is a key area of focus for our employees and our clients. Most recently, Morgan Stanley announced the Institute for Inclusion’s Equity in Education and Career Consortium. In collaboration with partner organizations, this initiative will support high school and college students to achieve stronger career and financial outcomes. Funded by an initial commitment of $20 million, EECC helps address systemic inequities in education and career outcomes for young adults from low-to-moderate income backgrounds with a focus on ethnically diverse students. Other key initiatives include the HBCU Scholars Program, which provides 60 four-year full ride scholarships at Howard Harvard, Morehouse College and Spelman College, over a 5-year period. In 2021, the Firm announced the first cohort of 12 students selected for the scholarship at each school and we’ll be announcing our second cohort this summer. Finally, The JumpStart Initiative, which was created in partnership with LEAD (Lead, Education and Development), a non-profit that works with high-potential youth from diverse backgrounds, develop their professional knowledge, find mentors and gain access to educational resources that might otherwise be out of reach.

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OAKVILLE, Ont. – Matt Kuchar was the victim of Jordan Spieth doing Jordan Spieth-type things Sunday at The Open Championship, losing to the 23-year-old by three shots after bogeying the 72nd hole of the championship. But you wouldn’t know it to see him early this week at the RBC Canadian Open. Kuchar, ever affable, has been smiling that classic Kuchar smile, signing every autograph thrust upon him, and acknowledging the early-week cheers of ‘Kuuuuuch.’  And, of course, he’s been putting in some prep work for this year’s Canadian Open, a tournament he’s been feasting on the last few years, notching four straight top-10 finishes. However, he admitted Wednesday this week has a new set of challenges. “It is one of the great things about the game of golf… it’s pretty easy to leave the past the past when Thursday gets here. It’s a whole new week and no one cares what you did last week. It’s a fresh start,â€� he said. There was a buzz the first few days of the RBC Canadian Open week at Glen Abbey about the performance of Spieth, not so much the crumbling of Kuchar. “Matt Kuchar didn’t lose the tournament, Jordan won it,â€� said Jack Nicklaus, who was on site Tuesday as part of the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame induction ceremony for this year. Nicklaus said he and Kuchar saw each other earlier in the week and they chatted about his result. Certainly Nicklaus knows what it’s like to fall just short at majors (despite his 18 victories, he also was runner-up or tied for second 19 times), and he said he and Kuchar chatted about his result. “He just ran into a buzzsaw the last few holes. That’s what it amounted to,â€� said Nicklaus. Kuchar holds no hard feelings to Spieth for how things shook out Sunday, and he accepted he just got beat by one of the best players in the world. “I did all I could last week and I had one guy out play me,â€� said Kuchar. “To win a major championship… it’s really exciting. To be so close and not win the event is a little bittersweet but I’m definitely going to take as many positives as possible. Our goal when we start playing as a little kid is to etch our names into those trophies, but playing against the best in the world, you realize it’s a challenging task.â€� And if you ask any other TOUR pro about what happened Sunday, they’d said that Spieth just has something not a lot of TOUR pros have. “Jordan has something special, man,â€� said Graham DeLaet. “Everybody knows it but nobody knows what it is, and he’s got it. He’s got that ‘it’ factor that special athletes in every sport, generationally, have.â€� Ian Poulter, who is playing his first RBC Canadian Open, said he saw Kuchar Tuesday and congratulated him on a great finish. But, he said second place at the Open Championship is a bit of a bittersweet feeling. “Remarkable from Jordan. Obviously you feel a bit sorry for Matt,â€� said Poulter. “Matt would have thought at that time, had he finished 2-under for the last five, perhaps he could have been holding the (Claret) Jug, but as it turned out, Jordan did his thing.â€� It’s a new week though, and Kuchar has refocused himself on the task at hand, especially considering Glen Abbey is playing – after record rainfall in the Greater Toronto Area in 2017 – much different than in year’s past. He’s looking for his first win on TOUR since 2014, but is feeling good returning to a place he’s had success before. “I’ve enjoyed coming to Glen Abbey, I enjoy the course and I feel like I can manage my way around it pretty well,â€� he said. “It’s great to carry any momentum you can, but when you peg the tee into the ground Thursday, it doesn’t matter what you did last week. Everyone starts at even par and you need to make the most out of this week that you can.â€� 

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Instead of a card, Koepka got dad the Open trophy

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