Mickelson beats everyone but the dark at Pebble

PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico – It wasn’t easy, but you can’t argue with the results. Matt Kuchar survived some shaky play down the stretch and rattled in a par putt from just inside three feet on 18 to shoot a final-round 69 for a one-stroke victory over Danny Lee (65) at the Mayakoba Golf Classic on Sunday. J.J. Spaun (66) and Richy Werenski (67) tied for third, three back. “It feels extra sweet having kind of had to suffer through a year of not playing great in 2018,â€� said Kuchar, whose last victory before today came at the 2014 RBC Heritage in Hilton Head, South Carolina. “Being four years removed since my last victory I realize how difficult it is to win on the PGA TOUR.â€� With the win, Kuchar earned a spot in a handful of prestigious tournaments, first on the calendar being the Sentry Tournament of Champions in January. With his regular caddie, John Wood, at a reunion, Kuchar won with a club caddie, David “Toucanâ€� Ortiz, who had been assigned to him by the tournament director. Ortiz, a father of two from Playa del Carmen who caddies every day at El Camaleon Golf Club, was in tears as he accepted congratulations and rolled up the flag on 18 as a souvenir. Although he went into Sunday with a four-shot lead, and kept a nice cushion for much of the day, Kuchar bogeyed the 14th and 15th holes, missing putts inside 10 and 5 feet, respectively, to make it close. With Lee on his heels, he closed with three pars to win. The last one might have been the hardest. With mud on the back of his ball, which sat on the front fringe, he wasn’t sure how hard to hit it. He guessed mostly right, and the ball rolled to a stop nearly three feet short. It was a straight putt, but felt like a very long three feet.     “I certainly made it exciting coming in,â€� said Kuchar, who moves to fifth in the FedExCup. “It wasn’t the finish I was hoping for; I would have liked to have been able to five- or six-putt that final green. Winning out here is so difficult. The strength of field every week is awfully good.â€� This week marked a return to form for a player who was used to being in the upper echelon but had fallen off. Kuchar was 76th in the FedExCup last season after being in the top 20 for eight straight years. He missed cuts, which he said was “not in my vocabularyâ€� and “extremely frustrating.â€� He missed the TOUR Championship. He turned 40. All of which led to some big questions. Could he win in his 40s, like Fred Funk, the 2007 winner here? Could he reel off multiple wins, like Vijay Singh? Could he reach 10 or even 15, or was all of that wishful thinking? Kuchar imagined hoisting more trophies, but also couldn’t be sure he wasn’t done winning. “I’ve thought the other side,â€� he said. “I’ve thought, man, kids are getting younger and stronger and it’s more and more challenging for a guy that plays my style of golf to win and win multiple times.â€� He came to Mayakoba without knowing exactly where his game was. He’d worked hard with his instructor, Chris O’Connell, leading into his only other start of this season, the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in Las Vegas, but finished T57. He was hitting the ball well, but not scoring. He did both in Mexico, where he stayed in a casita on the beach with his wife, Sybi, and their two sons, Cameron, 11, and Carson, 9. Kuchar shot 64-64-65 over the first three rounds, leaving no doubt as to the state of his game. Even with his relatively ho-hum 69 on Sunday he broke the tournament record at 22-under and broke a win drought of four and a half years. It was also his best 72-hole score on TOUR. After wiggling in that final three-footer, he hugged his caddie, Ortiz, tossed his putter to the turf and embraced his sons. He kissed Sybi, who caddied for four holes in the first round after Kuchar’s playing partner Zach Johnson lost his caddie, Damon Green, to illness (heat). The family savored the moment together. “My kids have now gotten into it,â€� Kuchar said. “And so we do a lot of kind of family afternoon time on the golf course. It’s really been kind of one of those great, you know, father-son and even the whole family, even Sybi will come along and we’ll cram four people in a cart and just go out and play nine holes or six holes or four holes, whatever we have time for. “I’ve really enjoyed those sessions,â€� he added. “My life has evolved. I used to only go out and be by myself or with a competitive match, and now having some kids to bring along, it’s really been rewarding. Fun times for me on the golf course.â€� He still wants to win a major, and to play on the U.S. Presidents Cup next year. He even spoke of potentially reeling off multiple victories in 2019. First, though, Kuchar was headed to this week’s Australian Open, followed by the World Cup. His season of frustration, the doubts about his future, the existential angst of a milestone birthday—all of it had been wiped away. “Turns out,â€� Kuchar said, “forty may be the new twenty.â€�

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Just 15 minutes outside the heart of Playa del Carmen, Mexico, is a proud place where young hearts and minds are nurtured and developed. At first a source of hope, those who rise through the K’iin Beh School end up with purpose and an educated intent. That’s good news not just for the Playa del Carmen community, but the worldwide community, too. In Mayan, the term K’iin Beh translates to “the way of the sun.” What began with 20 preschool children in its first year in operation in 2011, Ki’in Beh has ballooned into a thriving, yet humble, organization today, effectively growing the hearts and minds of more than 400 students—now all the way into high school. A bilingual non-profit school established for local Cristo Ray community children in Playa del Carmen, K’iin Beh focuses not only on providing a solid education to local children, but more importantly, it instills in the students strong principles and values. On Tuesday of last week’s World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba, upwards of 60 students, mostly 10th and 11th graders, had the opportunity to meet with executives and staff members from World Wide Technology. Each representative headed a table of students, with whom they spoke together on a number of topics, from creating their own core values, to what a résumé is, and how to create one. By all accounts, the program was comprehensive, lively and interactive. Among those in attendance Tuesday was Bob Ferrell, Executive Vice President, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and Public Sector Strategy at World Wide Technology. Ferrell is a retired three-star General who once served at the Pentagon as the Army Central Intelligence Officer. The session was led by Ashley Harris, Manager, Community Outreach and Employee Engagement for World Wide Technology and also included Juanita Logan (Area VP, Global Corporate Development), John Crawford (Senior Director of Engineering, Global Enterprise Sales, North Central) and Cari Wilber (Area VP, Marketing). “What a treat and honor it was to spend time with the K’iin Beh students and community,” Logan said. “It was a time of discovery, learning, discussion and dreaming about the future of these bright, young students. The students learned about and met with World Wide Technology leaders who share their same skills and values and are real life examples of what is possible. In addition to getting to know the students, World Wide Technology learned about the Día de los Muertos tradition and enjoyed watching the PGA TOUR players engage the children in a fun golf activity. “These students are our future leaders and we are excited to be a small part of growing a future-ready K’iin Beh community.” On Wednesday, PGA TOUR and PGA TOUR Latinoamerica players Marty Dou, Harry Hall, Matti Schmid, Enrique Marin Santander and Armando Favela visited the school to experience the impact of the mission for themselves. “The best part of the week for me was the K’iin Beh school visit World Wide Technology set up for us,” said PGA TOUR Latinoamerica player Armando Favela, who was making his fifth start in the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba. “We went to the school to learn about a very awesome project. We visited with kids from kindergarten all the way up to high school. They had just opened the high school a day before, so it was inspiring to see what Mayakoba, World Wide Technology and their team are doing for the community.” What is most important about the foundation are the 51 educational professionals, led by Director Raquel Mitre, who foster and promote a culture based on respect and honesty, as well as teach proper values to the students in preparation for them to become the future leaders of the community. “Honestly, it was eye-opening, a great experience,” Favela added. “All the players had a lot of fun with the golf activities. But, most importantly, we saw the smiles of the kids. It was amazing. Raquel, the principal of the school, welcomed us with open arms and kindness. It was a great morning, which I won’t forget for a while.” Ferrell was enamored with the day. He signed autographs, took countless video and photos, and even captured a selfie with all five of the professional golfers and then the gathered students. More impactful, Ferrell and other executives participated in Día de Muertos (Day of The Dead) ceremonies, where students educated their visitors about the importance to the Mexican culture of this Nov. 1-2 tribute to loved ones lost. “K’iin Beh’s mission to help students believe in themselves, their skills and capacities to become successful human beings with positive values and future leaders of their community aligns perfectly with our aspiration of making the world a better place for all,” Ferrell said. With 120 students in 2015, ranging from kindergarten to sixth grade, the school found itself with poor facilities and minimal resources. About that time, K’iin Beh had also been asked to move off the land they were temporarily using. The school would be closing. When another plot of land was donated to the school, construction was initiated. The school, though, had no money to move forward with the project. But, with donations, such as those from the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba, K’iin Beh is able to now invest in new facilities, fund classrooms and supplies, and support staff at the school. “Our main goal is to continue providing bilingual education to the children based on values and with the purpose of them creating their own futures and to contribute to a better future for this community and Mexico,” said Ricardo Moreno, Regional Director of Talent and Culture. World Wide Technology is proud to send a portion of the tournament’s proceeds to K’iin Beh, which will use the money to support its mission of providing high quality education to underprivileged children, strengthen self-esteem by instilling human and civil values, and teach children to live with goals and leadership. Under Mitre’s leadership, K’iin Beh offers full-time, bilingual education for over 400 students. To help broaden the global landscape of the children’s minds, half the classes are taught in English, half in Spanish. “That’s why we’re excited about our support of K’iin Beh, a bilingual non-profit school in the Riviera Maya for children from marginalized areas, as part of our work with the PGA TOUR as title sponsor of the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba,” Ferrell said. K’iin Beh is a licensed, nonprofit foundation, which bases tuition on the specific economic situation of each family. Every child, though, will receive some form of scholarship. Because of that scholarship-based enrollment, K’iin Beh accepts students from every economic background. “Hopefully, the project continues to grow and inspire more kids each year to go to school, to get educated and to know that there’s people here in Playa del Carmen that want them to succeed in life,” added Favela. At first a source of hope, K’iin Beh does, indeed, produce stars, driven by determination to rise and shine, just like the sun. If you would like to donate, or learn more about donating, visit the K’iin Beh School donation page here: https://www.kiinbeh.org/donate.

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WILMINGTON, N.C. – Francesco Molinari resumed pole position while FedExCup leader Dustin Johnson barely made the cut as players completed their second rounds at the weather-delayed Wells Fargo Championship at Eagle Point Golf Club early Saturday morning. Molinari went 1 under for his seven holes, bogeying his last — the difficult, par-4 ninth — to card an even-par 72. He was at 6 under, one ahead of Billy Hurley III (69), Seamus Power (71), who finished Friday, and John Peterson, who played his last six holes in even par Saturday. “I managed to stay patient, just keep doing my thing,” Molinari said. “Holed a couple of nice putts, 17 and 18 last night, and then played well at the restart this morning. So, obviously, I’m pleased with where I am at the moment.” MORE: Live leaderboard | Third-round tee times | Weather Hub Rookie Jon Rahm, who is fourth in the FedExCup standings and finished his second-round 71 on Friday, was part of a large group of eight players at 4 under par, just two back. The 68 players who hadn’t completed their second rounds were in position by 7:30 a.m. and the horn blew to resume play in calm, cool conditions—much more benign than the day before. Although the attendance at Eagle Point has been robust, most people were still pouring their coffee and buttering their toast as Johnson stood on the 14th tee to resume his second round in the early-morning chill. He made a routine par, his birdie putt barely sliding by the cup, and birdied the par-3 15th hole. At that point he was 1 under par and going in the right direction. Over the next two holes, however, Johnson seemed to show the rust accumulated since he hurt his lower back falling down a flight of stairs the Wednesday of Masters week. Johnson blew his drive way right and bogeyed 16, and badly hooked his wedge approach to bogey 17, too. When he failed to birdie the par-5 finisher, Johnson could take comfort only in the fact that he had 36 more holes to figure it out as he goes for his fourth victory in his last four starts. His second-round 75 left him at 1 over, just good enough to make the cut, and ended his streak of 13 straight rounds of even par or better in stroke-play tournaments. He was seven behind. Adam Scott also barely made the cut at 1 over par. Phil Mickelson, who was disappointed in his double-bogey finish Friday to shoot 72, is at 1 under par overall and five off the lead. He is making his 20th PGA TOUR start in North Carolina, where he has never won. There are 43 players under par and within five of the lead going into the last 36 holes.

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