Nicklaus planning renovation of Muirfield Village after 2020 Memorial

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. — Scott Harrington enjoyed his long-awaited debut as a PGA TOUR member. In his 17th year as a professional, the 38-year-old rookie shot a 6-under 64 on Thursday, leaving him two strokes behind first-round leader Robby Shelton in the A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier. With all 21 tour rookies and other Korn Ferry Tour graduates in the field, the first round of the PGA TOUR’s season opener in West Virginia was a chance for the new guys and journeymen to make an impression. Especially for Harrington. “I always did think I was going to get here,” Harrington said. “Even though I’m 38 years old, I feel like I’m every bit as capable of winning out here as any 22 year old. Yeah, age is just a number.” Harrington turned pro in 2003 and played in four PGA TOUR events over the next 12 years. He took time off last year to be with his wife, Jenn, who was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The disease is now in remission. He locked up his first PGA TOUR card with a runner-up finish last month at a Korn Ferry event in his hometown of Portland, Oregon. In his debut Thursday, Harrington hit just nine fairways and 12 greens in regulation but made four birdies in a five-hole stretch around the turn. “It was a lot of fun,” Harrington said. “I’ll certainly remember this one for sure. I’ll remember it even more if I can put a few more good ones together.” Shelton made eight starts on tour as a non-member in 2016-17. He has his TOUR card for the first time after winning two Korn Ferry events in May. “I’m fired up,” Shelton said. “Last night it was tough to sleep. I’ve been waiting for this moment all season.” Starting on the back nine on the Old White TPC, the 24-year-old Shelton made the turn at 3 under and birdied Nos. 1-3. The 8-under 62 is his lowest score on TOUR. Defending champion Kevin Na, Lanto Griffin, Mark Hubbard and Zack Sucher matched Harrington at 64. Na’s putter won last year’s tournament. On Thursday, his approach shots got him onto the first page of the leaderboard. He had four birdies over his final six holes. Three of his back-nine birdies were putts of under 10 feet. “I have a lot of good memories here and I’m excited to be back defending,” Na said. “Nice to see my picture up on the wall and have my own defending champion locker. It’s pretty cool.” Hubbard, who won once in 23 Korn Ferry Tour events last season, had a bogey-free round and is looking for his first top-10 finish since joining the PGA TOUR in 2015. “Finishing 40th every week isn’t fun. Grinding to make cuts isn’t fun,” Hubbard said. “I feel like I needed to go back and get that experience and learn how to win again, and this time around I think I’ll find myself in the mix a lot more.” Brian Harman, Sung Kang, Harold Varner III and Jimmy Walker topped the group at 65. Hank Lebioda birdied seven of his first 11 holes in a 67. Bryson DeChambeau had a 68. Former Marshall player Davey Jude shot 70, two months after his father and caddie, David, was among seven people killed in a helicopter accident in the Bahamas.

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The next generation of Titleist’s Pro V1 and Pro V1x golf balls made its debut on Monday in Las Vegas at the Shriners Hospitals for Children. This week marks the beginning of Titleist’s TOUR seeding and validation process, which brings an end to the two-year development cycle and allows players to test the finished prototypes for the first time. “Earning final validation from the best players in the world ensures that new products are faithful to the Titleist brand promise of innovation, performance, consistency and quality excellence,” Titleist said in a release. Titleist typically uses the event at TPC Summerlin, as well as the next few stops on the TOUR schedule, to gather feedback on both models and fit players before they move from the prototype stage to retail offerings in late January. Since Pro V1 was first introduced in 2000, the ball has gone from one model to two (Pro V1and Pro V1x) over the last 18 years and has undergone some significant changes along the way to becoming the most played ball in golf. A total of 13 players in the 2016 Shriners field put prototypes in play for the first time, including Jimmy Walker, Charles Howell III and Charley Hoffmann. John Huh (Pro V1) and Cameron Smith (Pro V1x) produced top-10 showings with the new balls. Titleist typically waits until the official launch to provide details, but it’s possible player feedback could come out in the coming days regarding the differences between the soon-to-be-released balls and their predecessors. Due to the success of both balls, it’s safe to assume Pro V1 will remain a three-piece multilayer and Pro V1x a four-piece multilayer. BUY EQUIPMENT HERE: PGA TOUR Superstore

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The 3M Open drops at a time when none of the most notable in its field is playing its best. It’s also not a replicate of the Mexico Open at Vidanta that had an overwhelming favorite in Jon Rahm to deliver on the most challenging task – victory. Of course, this is also golf, so it’s not to say that any of the short list of names that the most casual of fans might know won’t be holding the trophy at TPC Twin Cities on Sunday, but the more knowledgeable among us have reasons to be skeptical. PointsBet always is open for business, but toying with the possibilities in PGA TOUR Pick ‘Em Live this week extends an enhanced experience throughout the chaos of the uncertainty. For gamers of a certain age, it’s like any of the Choose Your Own Adventure books that were so popular 25-40 years ago. We all begin on page 1 and none of us ever takes the same path. Embrace the process because your choices just might lead you to the promised land. Register for PGA TOUR Pick ‘Em Live here and monitor Rob’s and Glass’ progress as Influencers. For a broader explanation of the format and FAQs, click here. TOURNAMENT TO WIN Glass … Harry Higgs (+20000) As I noted in Horses for Courses, all three winners of the 3M Open opened at +12500, so starting on the fringes and working back is, again, the angle this week. Higgs has admitted he needs to put it gear as he looks to build on his T11 last week near Lake Tahoe. If lightning is NOT caught in a bottle, I’ll shake the dice again as the week moves on. Rob … Brice Garnett (+12500) I bettered Glass at St. Andrews but I deferred this week’s opening kickoff because his narrative deserves top billing. The 3M Open is a platinum opportunity for us. The extremely gradual rise on the outrights board eliminates everyone at +6000 and shorter until the 36-hole cut falls. Keep scrolling. I’ll also stick with the trend at TPC Twin Cities. Garnett has made very little noise all season, but he’s fresh off a T16 at the Barracuda Championship where he was the only golfer in the top 30 to lose point – one point to be exact – in the final round. When he’s on, it’s all about piling up scoring opportunities, and that’s the ticket this week. He’s 3-for-3 in this tournament with a pair of top 25s and a scoring average of 68.25. TOP 10 Rob … Cole Hammer (+2000) I’ll retake the honor here, thank you. So, even though PointsBet had a market for top 10s ahead of the finale of The Open Championship, the bet didn’t unlock on this page, so I was stuck with Joohyung Kim and his T47. That’s the common experience for the Top 20 bet where I will continue to play it safer, but now it’s fair to wonder if it’s going to happen again in this lane. (I was up until 2:00 a.m. PT on Sunday when the 2-balls were uploaded.) All of that is to say that, while I want to see what the kid can do, he’ll be on a pitch count. Former University of Texas teammate Pierceson Coody already is a winner on the Korn Ferry Tour, but Hammer beat Coody on the KFT last week, T7-MC, so he arrives with some momentum into Minnesota. He’s one of my Sleepers. As bananas as it seems for Hammer to convert on this target, consider that Matthew Wolff also has just turned pro before he broke through for victory in the inaugural 3M Open in 2019. Glass … Austin Cook (+1500) Thankfully I have an early alarm bell on Saturday for TRAVEL SPORTS so I should find the sweet spot to reload, if necessary. Cook has snapped off five paydays in his last five events and can get the putter hot on command. It doesn’t hurt that he’s 14th in fairways hit with tough short grass to find. TOP 20 Glass … Scott Gutschewski (+600) Sometimes you need a map and a compass when searching for value. I’m going to start with a guy who picked up his first top five on TOUR last week. Let’s find hot, stay hot and maybe get hotter! Rob … Cole Hammer (+900) Keeping it simple in piggybacking the Top 10. When courses aren’t terribly difficult, the inexperienced have a better chance to contend, and I’m relying on his strong week in Illinois as a springboard. ROUND 1 LEADER Rob … Adam Svensson (+6000) This likely is the first time that the No. 1 in my Power Rankings goes out in the first threesome of the day, so that prevents me from overthinking it. (Despite rumors, there’s no truth that I arranged this.) By the time I’m awake and alert, he’ll be on his inward side, so I won’t hesitate to pivot. Thursday will present the age-old debate about whether you want your charge to go out on the easier side when the wind is down and come home on the harder when it freshens, or the opposite. Relative to par, the back nine of TPC Twin Cities is easier, but that’s in part because two of the three par 5s on the course are Nos. 12 and 18. Svensson begins on No. 1. Conventional wisdom suggests that you want your guy on the easier side when the breezes are up, but this course isn’t challenging enough to make a significant difference. My philosophy always has been to tilt toward playing the easier side when the wind lays down because he’s more likely to go lower in the meantime and hang on (at worst) on the rest. Sure, some will prove that wrong, but you’ll get a subset of guys on the opposite side of the course also disobeying the intent. Either way, commit to your shot and learn from it. Glass … Sungjae Im (+3300) Fairways, greens and putts for birdies. I’m riding a simple formula with a guy who, when he’s in the mood, has no problem racking up par breakers. Tee 10 at 7:23 a.m. CT doesn’t hurt my angle. It also gives me all morning/afternoon to jump to a hotter horse. If necessary. NOTE: While Glass and Rob typically stick with their selections as detailed in Pick ‘Em Preview, they are allowed the right to make changes at any time.

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