Most-Picked Players: BMW Championship

He doesn’t remember the street, only that he ran about 200 yards around the corner. In Nick Taylor’s hand was something he’ll never forget, though. The Olympic Torch. Taylor was one of an estimated12,000 Canadians who helped take the eternal flame that had been lit at Mount Olympus in Greece across his homeland in advance of the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver. The route took 106 days, and Taylor’s run lasted just minutes. “It went by really fast,â€� he says. But he carried the torch just five days before the opening ceremonies through his hometown of Abbotsford, which is about two hours from Vancouver. Some people walked. Taylor remembers jogging when he got his turn. “We were in kind of a shuttle bus,â€� he says. “There were maybe 4 or 5 different torchbearers and we all had our own torch. We only did about 200 meters and you passed it off and it keeps going. “There were a lot of family and friends there so it was pretty cool.â€� Taylor, who was playing golf at the University of Washington at the time, was nominated to carry the torch by an Abbotsford legislator. But as the run drew closer, there was a bit of a logistical issue – Taylor competed in a tournament in Hawaii the previous week. He was slated to get back to Seattle at 9:40 p.m. on Saturday and was scheduled to run at 7 a.m. on Sunday in Merritt, which was about 4 hours away. At the last minute, though, Taylor’s run was switched to his hometown, which was about two hours closer and the last stop of the day. “I still have the torch,â€� Taylor says. “It was not crazy heavy. I would say it was about 3 feet high, maybe 15 pounds. “You light it together with their torch and they just kind of diffuse yours and you’re done.â€� Taylor doesn’t remember quite how he found out he had been selected to carry the torch. In fact, he thinks he was more shocked that anything. “It was like, why me?â€� he says with a smile. “Whoever put my name in to suggest it, maybe they were a golf fan. The previous year I was the No. 1 amateur in the world. “For sure it had something to do with golf — not because I was a regular citizen.â€� And at the time, Taylor says he doesn’t think he realized the significance of what he did. But as another Winter Games has rolled around, he understands. “Looking back it was a really neat kind of accomplishment if you want to call it that or event that I’ve done,â€� he says. “So it’s cool looking back now. But at the time it was just a neat thing to do to have family and friends out there to watch it.â€� Taylor had to go back to classes in Seattle so he didn’t get to attend any of the events in Vancouver. But his girlfriend, Andie, who is now his wife, went, and friends were in Vancouver when the Canadian men’s hockey team beat the United States 3-2 in overtime to win gold. “They said it was unbelievable how many people were there,â€� Taylor says. Taylor, who is playing in the Genesis Open this week, plans to watch some of the Olympics this year. He was a snowboarder in high school and played hockey until he realized he was too small to make his NHL dreams come true. Golf has worked out pretty well, though, for the winner of the 2014 Sanderson Farms Championship. Taylor says it will be different this year since the NHL is not allowing its players to participate. But hockey is still big. “That’s what you grow up watching,â€� he says. “I feel like that, it doesn’t make or break the Canadian Olympics but hockey, when the hockey teams win gold … that’s what we take pride in with the No. 1 sport.â€�  And curling, he says, is a close second to hockey. Perhaps the Olympics least understood sport is “huge” back home but Taylor admits that he has never curled in his life. “I understand it enough,â€� he says. “It’s kind of like shuffleboard. but I couldn’t tell you the rules. I just know a lot of times the Canadian team is favored going into it.â€� Taylor says he still has the torch, as well as the silver track suit each participant got for the run. He’s sure his mother has put it somewhere safe but once he and his wife move out of their apartment and into a house he’ll be sure to find a place for the rare souvenir. The torch, which has its own stand, still has the charcoal in it from when the flame was lit. His name isn’t on the front or anything but the Vancouver symbol and Olympic rings are. “I’m not really one to show a bunch of stuff that I’ve accomplished,â€� he says. “But that’s a cool thing and I take a lot of pride in that. So I’ll display it somewhere. We’ll see.â€�

Click here to read the full article…

FACEBOOK WATCH: Morning Featured Groups | Afternoon Featured Holes As the first leg of the FedExCup Playoffs continues at THE NORTHERN TRUST, Facebook Watch will feature coverage of two Featured Groups. The coverage begins with Marc Leishman and Kevin Na who begin Round 3 at 7:40 a.m. ET. The pair made the cut on the number at even par and sit 10 shots off the lead held by Jamie Lovemark and Brooks Koepka. The second Featured Group of two-time FedExCup champion Tiger Woods and Ian Poulter tee off at 7:50 a.m ET. Woods was back in contention at the PGA Championship and will look to get the momentum rolling in the right direction. Ian Poulter, who won this season at the Houston Open, began the week 34th in the standings but currently projects to No. 41. A strong round on Moving Day could help secure his spot in the TOUR Championship. At 1 p.m. ET, the broadcast will transition to the Featured Holes portion. Coverage will start with the par-4 first hole and par-3 15th hole. Once play has completed at No. 1, coverage will pick up at the par-5 17th.

Click here to read the full article…

SILVIS, Ill. — Lucas Glover ended 10 years without a victory Sunday when he birdied five of his last seven holes for a 7-under 64 to win the John Deere Classic by two shots. RELATED: Leaderboard | Winner’s Bag: Lucas Glover, John Deere Classic Glover won for the fourth time in his career, the most recent in 2011 at Quail Hollow. He was among two dozen players separated by three shots on the rain-softened TPC Deere Run when the former U.S. Open champion went on a tear. It started with a 15-foot birdie putt on the par-3 12th hole. He hit his approach into 4 feet and 7 feet on the next two holes, and then flushed a 7-iron to 3 feet on the 15th hole to take the lead. Glover finished his run with a 12-foot birdie on the par-5 17th, and a 6-foot putt to save par from the bunker on the 18th that he figured would come in handy. It never got to that. No one could catch him. Glover kept it simple, with his game and his observations, saying he “ironed” it well and made a bunch of putts. That’s the recipe on a course with smooth greens and soft conditions. “They went in and I kept the pedal down,” Glover said when he finished at 19-under 265. “There’s a lot of birdies out there, a lot of great players coming in.” Kevin Na tried to make a run with three birdies in four holes until he was slowed by a bogey on the 15th and couldn’t make up enough ground. He shot a 68. Ryan Moore also closed with a 68 for a runner-up finish. Sebastian Munoz of Colombia, who started the final round with a one-shot lead, hit a shank from an awkward stance with the ball above his feet on the first hole. He made bogey and it was a sign of struggles to come. He closed with a 71 and tied for fourth, three shots back. “Took me three holes to readjust from that, and then did a good job from there,” Munoz said. Also finishing three shots behind were Adam Schenk (67), Luke List (68) and Scott Brown (69). Schenk had a one-shot lead with five holes to play as he sought his first PGA TOUR victory. But on the reachable par-4 14th hole, he went well right into a nasty lie in the thick, wet rough. He came up short of the green in more deep grass, chipped some 20 feet long and made bogey. Glover was playing alongside him and made another birdie for a two-shot swing. Glover kept going and Schenk had to settle for pars. The victory at the 50th edition of the John Deere Classic sends Glover back to the Masters, the PGA Championship and allows him to start next year in Maui for the Sentry Tournament of Champions, a place he hasn’t been in a decade. “It’s been a long 10 years. There’s been some struggles,” Glover said. “I knew it was in there. I had to clean up my brain a little bit and just hit some shots, just play golf. I never lost sight of believing I could do this and win again. It’s always nice to prove yourself right.” Glover already was in The Open Championship from having reached the TOUR Championship in 2019 (the 2020 Open was canceled by the pandemic). Moore earned the lone spot at Royal St. George’s, though it was unclear if he was going to take it.

Click here to read the full article…