Mitchell wins Honda Classic for first PGA Tour win

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Summertime rolls along and it’s back to birdies this week as the PGA TOUR returns to TPC Twin Cities for the second edition of the 3M Open. Nothing like another dose of temperatures in the 90s this week but at least the sweat equity will result in low scores in the suburb of Blaine, Minnesota. Matthew Wolff is back and will defend his maiden TOUR victory as he leads a field of 156 looking to grab their share of the $6.4 million purse ($1.152 winner) and add 500 FedExCup points to the ledger. The 20-year old broke onto the scene last year and pummeled the Par-71, 7,431 yards to the tune of 21-under in just his third start as a professional. The cherry on-top was his off-the-green putt for eagle on the final hole to secure the trophy. In the inaugural event the top 12 players were 16-under and the top 52 were all 10-under or better. There was a round of 62 (-9) posted in all four rounds and 44 bogey-free rounds. The course scoring average of 69.46 for the week suggests all comers are welcome. The 6,500 square foot Bentgrass greens will provide the largest targets yet since the restart. Prepped to run upwards of 13 feet on the Stimpmeter, those who hit it closest will have an easier time navigating. Although 72 bunkers and 27 water hazards sounds daunting, we’ve seen if the weather cooperates (read: no wind) these guys just fly right by and over. Only three inches or so of Bluegrass/fescue rough is on the menu this week so I’d expect another shootout again this time around. Tom Lehman and Steve Wenzloff have tuned up the prairie links at TPC Twin Cities after last year’s mid-summer feast. Check Rob Bolton’s Power Rankings linked below for the specific changes. RELATED: Power Rankings | Sleepers | Expert Picks 2019 3M Open: Top 25 (entered this week) 1 Matthew Wolff 5 Wyndham Clark 5 Carlos Ortiz 7 Sam Burns 7 Lucas Glover 7 Brian Harman 7 Troy Merritt 13 Fabian Gomez 15 Scott Brown 15 Scott Piercy 15 Roger Sloan 15 Shawn Stefani 23 Brice Garnett 23 Denny McCarthy 23 Tom Hoge 23 Arjun Atwal 23 Tony Finau 23 Charles Howell III 23 Johnson Wagner Recent Winner 2019: Matthew Wolff (-21) Eagle on the final hole to win as a sponsor’s exemption. … Fired 62 on Sunday to tie the 54-hole lead. … Led the field Strokes Gained: Tee to Green, second Strokes-Gained: Approach, third in Putting: Birdie or Better Percentage and co-led the field in Par-4 scoring. … Seven bogeys (T25) were cancelled out by 26 birdies and the final stroke for eagle. … Led the field in Par Breakers. … Only T62 scrambling. … Won NCAA individual title weeks before. Notables: Club “62” playing this week: Piercy (Round 1) and Glover (Round 4). … Brown and Burns led the field in Par-5 scoring (-10). … Wolff (-12) and Glover (-10) were the best two in Par-4 scoring. … Brooks Koepka 65th. … 85 players made the cut on 3-under. Key stat leaders Top golfers in each statistic on the 2019-2020 PGA TOUR are listed only if they are scheduled to compete this week. Greens in Regulation 4 Aaron Wise 5 Emiliano Grillo 7 Russell Henley 8 Will Gordon 10 Kyle Stanley 11 Harris English 15 Paul Casey 17 Josh Teater 18 Doc Redman 19 George McNeill 21 Matthew NeSmith 23 Cameron Percy 26 Brice Garnett Proximity 2 Johnson Wagner 5 Doc Redman 7 Jonathan Byrd 9 Vaughn Taylor 9 Tim Wilkinson 11 Russell Henley 13 Seamus Power 14 Emiliano Grillo 18 Chesson Hadley 18 Michael Gellerman 20 Robert Castro 20 Brian Harman 20 Ben Taylor 23 Jason Dufner 24 Ben Martin 24 Josh Teater Putting: Birdie or Better Percentage 3 Dominic Bozzelli 8 Seamus Power 13 Kristoffer Ventura 15 Tony Finau 16 Dustin Johnson 17 Bronson Burgoon 20 Charley Hoffman 24 Wyndham Clark 25 Chesson Hadley Rounds in the 60s 3 Harry Higgs 3 Lanto Griffin 3 Doc Redman 6 Carlos Ortiz 6 Patrick Rodgers 6 Henrik Norlander 15 Brian Harman 20 Adam Long 22 Kyoung-Hoon Lee 22 Talor Gooch 30 Adam Schenk 30 Tony Finau 30 Bubba Watson 30 Matthew NeSmith 30 Scott Stallings 30 Sebastian Munoz 37 Lucas Glover 37 Cameron Tringale 37 Harris English

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HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – He is back on the PGA TOUR for the first time since November 2019, back among friends, back in golf which has “always been something that I love.” But when Morgan Hoffmann is asked why he’s back at age 32, the answer hits on all angles of a story that pulls at the heartstrings and introduces worlds of wellness and holistic health that are not the norm. Some players return to the Korn Ferry Tour or a former coach to rediscover secrets to the game; Hoffmann in 2018 spent time in Nepal and for most of the last two years has resided in Costa Rica “with a drive for health” his main goal. “It is,” said Luke Donald, who played a Tuesday practice round with Hoffmann at the RBC Heritage, “a fascinating story, isn’t it?” Indeed, it is. Diagnosed with facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) in 2017, Hoffmann wanted answers and was told nothing could be done. He refused to accept that and explored worlds that were available to him, so long as he had an open mind. Oh, did he ever. Nepal is where he went to cleanse himself. But the move to Costa Rica for Hoffmann and his wife, Chelsea, to live among “healers” unlocked ways to treat his muscular dystrophy and to reassess so many other aspects of his world. Hoffmann appreciates that people who embrace Western medicine will perhaps be lost to know what he’s embarked upon, but part of his mission to return to the PGA TOUR is to educate people. He has started a foundation and wants to build a wellness center in Costa Rica. “A lot of people call some of the things that I’ve embarked upon as hallucinogenic, but the way I see them is so much different,” said Hoffmann. “I think it’s like a backdoor or side door to different dimensions or different planes. I don’t really have it down yet; I’m still questioning and trying to figure it all out.” His journey from the PGA TOUR to Nepal to Costa Rica and back to the PGA TOUR was recently reported thoroughly and beautifully in Golf Digest by Dan Rapaport. Hoffmann said he received “amazing positive feedback.” But he laughs, too, because his journey “can be deemed as crazy, but I think that’s kind of what most people see me as anyway.” Donald, who got to know Hoffmann years ago and has stayed in touch, finds nothing crazy about the story. Rather, Donald admires how in Hoffmann’s quest to cleanse himself physically and mentally, important lessons have been learned. “I think everyone is excited to see the progress he’s made with the knowledge he’s gained and the self-belief he has,” said Donald. “He’s content. We always think we need material to be happy, but I think he’s learned that less is more.” While Hoffmann reported that he felt fine, that he was back to working out diligently, that his pectorals “are coming back from the atrophy, which is huge and very, very exciting,” Donald saw that himself and came away impressed. “We didn’t talk too much about his illness,” said Donald. “But he has figured out how to heal his mental self. He looks good. It doesn’t look anything has been degenerative.” The golf component to Hoffmann’s story is one of long odds. Playing in the RBC Heritage on one of three remaining starts on a medical extension, he must accumulate 238.42 FedExCup points to maintain full status, which he held in his most recent full season as a pro, 2017-18. Now he’s spent the majority of the past two years living in Costa Rica, where hitting wedges on the beach with his dog, Yama, a 4-year-old Doberman, can’t be considered prime prep work for the PGA TOUR. Plus, Hoffmann reported that he broke his shoulder and two ribs in a motorcycle accident in his driveway in Costa Rica and “it’s been a really tough rehab.” Still, he’s been working on his physical fitness and most recently was at the Ohoopee Match Club in Cobbtown, Georgia, “for the last 10 days or so.” He reports that “the swing speed is getting back slowly” and that being at Harbour Town Golf Links brings him back to being a 12-year-old. That’s because Hoffmann, who grew up in Wyckoff, New Jersey, attended the IJGA Academy with Gary Gilchrist on Dafauskie Island, “and we would come over here to Harbour Town to play on weekends.” It’s a homecoming, of sorts, on two fronts. A return to an area where he spent some of his formative years and to a community of PGA TOUR brethren. Which invites the question: What does Morgan Hoffmann expect of himself this week? “Some smiles,” he said. “Some golf on a beautiful course. That’s really about it. I’ve been practicing hard and my game actually feels pretty solid. “My clubs are dialed in, so I feel good. I don’t really know. Obviously, you come to tournaments to win, and I’ve never done that before (on TOUR), so might as well shoot for the stars, right?” In a way, he already has done that in an inspiring way.

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