Oh, Nelly! Korda flirts with 59 to build 4-shot Olympic lead

Click here to read the full article…

Multiple courses lay claim to the title of “Hogan’s Alley,” but few can rival the role that Colonial Country Club played in the legend’s career. Not only did Hogan win five times at Colonial, which will host this week’s Fort Worth Invitational, but the course’s founder, Marvin Leonard, was a mentor and father figure who helped Hogan get his golf career off the ground after his hardscrabble upbringing. Hogan passed away more than two decades ago, but he still plays a large role in the PGA TOUR’s annual stop at Colonial Country Club. A 7-foot statue of him eyeing another solidly-struck shot overlooks the course. The clubhouse is full of memorabilia from his historic career. Hogan was so dominant at Colonial that sportswriters dubbed the tournament “Hogan’s Benefitâ€� and the “Colonial National Second-Place Invitational.â€� He won the first two editions of what was then the Colonial Invitational in 1946 and ’47, and was runner-up in 1948. He went back-to-back again in 1952 and ’53. Hogan won his last PGA TOUR title at Colonial in 1959, at the age of 46. Hogan first met Leonard while caddying as a boy at nearby Glen Garden Country Club. Hogan had lost his father, Chester, to suicide and Leonard had four daughters, but no sons. Leonard founded Colonial in 1936 because of his desire to bring bentgrass greens to the area. Leonard also funded Hogan’s early, and unsuccessful, attempts at the TOUR, as well as his foray into the equipment business. Hogan was known for his secretive nature, but he gave one of the most revealing interviews of his life for the telecast of the 1983 tournament at Colonial. The sit-down with Ken Venturi came 30 years after Hogan became the first man to win three majors in a single season. The conversation provided unforgettable insight into Hogan’s legendary career. It has been cited in multiple books on the 64-time PGA TOUR winner, including “Hogan” by Curt Sampson and “American Triumvirate,” James Dodson’s book about Hogan, Byron Nelson and Sam Snead. Here are some of Hogan’s highlights from this 35-year-old conversation between two World Golf Hall of Famers: Ben Hogan won at Colonial in 1946, ’47, ’52, ’53 and ’59. (Submitted photo) On the satisfaction of improving: “Well, I had to. I had such a lousy golf swing starting in. … Improving is the greatest satisfaction anyone could ever get. And the fellow that’s shooting 90, if he can cut it down to 87, he’s pleased. You’ll see him out on the golf course the next day. And a fellow that shoots 70, if he can shoot 69, he’s just as pleased, and he’ll be back the next day. It brings him back, and it keeps him enthused all the time. And it’s the greatest pleasure in the whole world.” On his legendary work ethic:  “Very few times in my life have I laid off maybe two to three days, and it seemed like it took me a month to three months to get back those three days when I took a rest. It’s a tough situation. I had to practice and play all the time. I told you before my swing wasn’t the best in the world and I knew it wasn’t. And then I thought, well, the only way I can win is just to outwork these fellas. “After I won a couple of tournaments, I noticed these folks were practicing longer, and I don’t know why that was. But they had to stay with me, and if it had been 12 hours during the day, I would have been out there 12 hours because I enjoyed it.â€� Fighting a hook early in his career: “I was hooking so badly, that I couldn’t get a 4-wood off of the ground. I had to use iron clubs all the time. Of course, I said to myself, you can’t play this way. … You’re going to have to train yourself to be able to get the ball in flight and hit a high shot when you want to, or a low shot. But for heaven’s sake, you have to get rid of this hook. Because a left-to-right dogleg, I couldn’t play it at all if it had any trees on the right side. I didn’t have room to start my hook out there, and I just couldn’t play it at all.â€� His career’s humble beginnings: “I went to the West Coast on a tour in 1932. … I left here with $75 in my pocket to go to the West Coast. Would you try that today? “And the first tournament was Pasadena. I didn’t get any money there. I was always last if I got in the money at all. I was a terrible player. And after New Orleans, I wasn’t in the money and I was broke. I had to come home. So I spent five years compiling $1,400. And in the meantime, Valerie and I had gotten married. I told her I’d like to go back on the TOUR. She said, I knew you had this in mind the whole time.’ She said, ‘Well, if that’s what you want to do, we’ll do it.’â€� On the tournament that kept his career alive: “We were driving to Oakland, California and Valerie said, ‘Do you know how much money we have?’ And I said, ‘Yes, I know, we have $86 left out of the $1400.’ So she said, ‘Well, what are we going to do?’ And I said, ‘Valerie, we made a deal to spend $1,400. We have $86 left and we’re going to Oakland. “I was driving a maroon Buick. I had a fairly early starting time. I left the hotel after breakfast, went across the street and my car, the two rear wheels are sitting on the rocks. They’d even taken the jack. So I came back to the hotel and bummed a ride with somebody. I can’t remember who. I got to the course and it was late and I couldn’t hit any practice balls because I’d be disqualified. … So I played and I won $385. That’s the biggest check I’ve ever seen in my life.â€� On growing up poor in Texas: “My family wasn’t rich. They were poor. I feel sorry for rich kids now, I really do, because they’re never going to have the opportunity I had because I knew tough things. I can handle tough things; they can’t. Every day that I progressed was a joy for me and I recognized it every day. I don’t think that I could have done what I’ve done if I hadn’t had the tough days to begin with.â€� On course management: “After a fellow learns how to hit a golf ball — that’s all there is left. Management is 70, 75 percent of the game after you learn how to propel a golf ball. And if you don’t know how to manage a golf game, you can’t play. “What is required of this shot? What is required of the next shot? Where do you want to try to place the ball, on the right side of the fairway or the left side of the fairway. … And it’s where you tee up on the tee between the tee markers. … You see golfers just tee up in the same place every time. It’s the worst thing in the world. They don’t give themselves any margin.â€� On making his lone Open Championship appearance in 1953: “Walter Hagen and Tommy Armour called me on the telephone and said, ‘You can’t complete your career unless you go to Scotland and compete in the British Open. I thanked them, (but) I still had no inclination to go over there at all. “Anyway, I won the Masters and I won the U.S. Open that year, and I sent my entry in to the British Open. The PGA Championship was in conflict with the British Open, and I’d played in the PGA several times. So I thought, ‘Well, these fellows have asked me to do this. I think I’ll oblige them.’ So I went over there and luckily enough, I had a good turn and won the tournament. And I’m delighted that I did.â€� On his loss at the 1960 U.S. Open: “You mention that shot on the 71st hole (at Cherry Hills). I find myself waking up at night thinking of that shot. Right today. How many years ago has that been? That was 23 years ago and there isn’t a month that goes by that that doesn’t cut my guts out. “I didn’t miss the shot. I just didn’t hit it far enough. It hit just short of the green and bounced on the green. … I put so much spin on it, I just sucked it right back in the water.â€� On the state of the game in 1983: “In my opinion, these fellows that are playing now are better players than we were. I am delighted that they are because if they weren’t better, than we were then I would feel like I never contributed anything to the game. (The courses) are in better condition now because people know how to take care of grasses more than they did long time ago. They get better lies and things like that. I think the equipment is much better, at least ours is. The golf balls are better. These fellows started in high school playing golf, they went through college playing golf. They had a lot of competition in college and in high school. And then when they played amateur golf, they had a lot of competition. Well I never had any competition at all, until I turned pro, and I found out the first day that I shouldn’t even be there. So they’ve got a leg up, which is fine, and I am delighted.â€�

Click here to read the full article…

SAN ANTONIO, Texas - He's back. After enduring a winless streak that stretched nearly four years, to the 2017 Open Championship, Jordan Spieth birdies two of his first three holes to get his nose out front, finally hits some fairways - 10 of 14, his best of the week - and cards a final-round 66 to win the Valero Texas Open by two over Charley Hoffman (66) and four over Matt Wallace (70). Here are five things you may have missed from the Valero Texas Open.. 1. Spieth slump officially over. "I probably didn’t feel like I needed this win," Spieth said after an emotional 18th hole embrace with his wife Annie Verret. "I felt like other people needed this win." OK. But maybe everyone needed it. Whatever the case, Spieth, who could do no wrong early in his career - especially in his FedExCup winning season in 2015 - broke a drought that went back 82 starts. He started to tear up on the 18th green, especially when wife Annie came running toward him for a celebratory hug and kiss. The win was the first since they've been married. "There's peaks and valleys in this sport," Spieth said, "but I never expected to go this long." His slump was even more painful for the spotlight he was under, the result of his staggering early successes that vaulted him to No. 1 in the world. He dutifully answered all the questions thrown at him even though, as he said Sunday, it seemed sort of unfair that no one kept asking Hoffman or Wallace or 95 percent of the other players on TOUR why they hadn't won in a while. The superstars, of course, are in a class all their own, and Spieth and his caddie Michael Greller tried to use that fact to their advantage in the final round at TPC San Antonio. "Michael did a great job today of telling me - he was like, ‘Look, Matt and Charley, these guys are playing for a lot more than you’re playing for. Whatever you’re feeling, they’re feeling more. Charley’s trying to get in next week, Matt’s trying to get a job, you know, TOUR card. These guys have a lot more to play for than you, and we’re trying to make progress for (the Masters) next week.'" The mind game worked well enough; Spieth, whose victories have often been a roller-coaster ride, held steady on the back nine. It was the fifth time in his last six stroke-play starts - starting with a T4 in Phoenix in February - that he has been in the top 10 through 36 holes. And he continued to say he's pleased with the improvements, but still not totally satisfied, recalling the old quote attributed to O. Henry on New York City: "It'll be a great place if they ever finish it." Said Spieth, who will be amongst the favorites at the Masters Tournament this week, "I really didn't have great control of the ball this weekend at all." Case in point: He finished T78 in driving accuracy for the week - out of 78 players who made the cut. He moves to 10-for-19 with the 54-hole lead/co-lead in his TOUR career. He also joins Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas as the only players to have won 12 or more times before turning 28. For more on Spieth, click here. 2. Hoffman back in his element. Charley Hoffman, who shot a final-round 66 to finish solo second, was back in his element at the Valero. Since 2006, he led everyone in the field in top-five finishes (six), top-10s (six), top-25s (11), cuts made (15) and score to par (99 under). He won the 2016 Valero. With that kind of pedigree, it was no great surprise Saturday when the four-time TOUR winner Hoffman, 44, played the final seven holes in 6 under par as he shot 65 to reach 10 under par. He would go into the final round just two back of Spieth and Wallace and would keep the heat on the winner until the end. Needing an eagle at the par-5 finishing hole, Hoffman made par. "It fits my eye," he said of the Oaks Course at TPC San Antonio. "You’ve got to shape tee shots. You’ve got to be in certain spots hitting iron shots into the green." Although he chipped in for birdie at the 13th hole, he couldn't produce quite enough fireworks to scare the leader, settling for pars on three of the last four holes. "Yeah, I’ve lost golf tournaments, I’ve won golf tournaments," said Hoffman, who moved from 54th to 27th in the FedExCup, "but today Jordan won the golf tournament."" 3. Wallace has eyes on America. Matt Wallace, a four-time winner on the European Tour, is a global player whose FedExCup finish last season (134th) gets him into some tournaments, but not all. The Englishman got a sponsor's exemption into the Valero and made the most of it with a final-round 70 and a solo third. Although he putted poorly Sunday, especially on the front nine, it was the best career finish on TOUR for Wallace, who finished T3 at the 2019 PGA Championship. It was also a major step up this season; his best heading into the Valero was a T18 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard. Now he's aiming to get into more tournaments on TOUR, an objective that will be more easily met if he can crack the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking (he was 60th going into the Valero). "It’s difficult with COVID at the moment," Wallace said. "A lot of the players on the PGA TOUR are playing a lot and it doesn’t drop down to where it used to drop down with my category being just outside the Top‑125. Obviously playing here off an invite, which I’m very grateful for, and a couple other invites I’ve had through top‑50 in the world. Just slipped outside of that at the moment. "So hopefully I can take care of that and then the schedule will clear up," he added. "Whenever I get a chance to play in Europe, I’ll take that if it works on the schedule, but popping back and forth for me just doesn’t seem right. ... It’s looking likely that I’ll be over here for the foreseeable future for now." 4. Stadler: ‘I've been in a deep, dark hole.' Asked how he remains upbeat amid his slump, Kevin Stadler didn't mince words. "I don’t at all," he said, laughing, after signing for a second-round 70 to get to 5 under par, four back halfway through the Valero. "I fight like hell to do that." He would fall back with a final-round 76 to finish T54, which was disappointing, but it didn't change the fact that he had made the cut for just the second time in his last 24 starts on TOUR. The oldest son of 1982 Masters champion and 13-time TOUR winner Craig Stadler, Kevin had enjoyed a steady upward trajectory since his days at USC. He won the Colorado Open and on the Korn Ferry Tour (four times) before his breakout win at the 2014 Waste Management Phoenix Open. That got him into the Masters, where he finished T8. It's his most recent top-10 finish. A broken bone in his left hand started Stadler's swoon in 2015, and although it healed - he now says he's 100% healthy - bad habits took over. His confidence suffered. Last season, playing on a Major Medical Extension, he missed 10 cuts in 10 starts with just one round in the 60s. Stadler's T77 at the Farmers Insurance Open in January offered a glimmer of hope. At TPC San Antonio, he said, he still missed fairways, but not by a lot, and he has always liked hard courses. "I’ve been in a deep, dark hole for quite a while now and just been clawing away trying to get it back," he said. "I know what I’m capable of if I can make it happen. It’s just been a long, long time. It’s been extremely difficult, but just trying to plug away and make it work again." At least he's got more time to do so. Due to COVID 19, players on medical extensions last season were allowed to negate starts made from the beginning of the 2019-20 season through the 2020 Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard. Stadler had missed nine of nine cuts in that span.t. 5. Van Rooyen finally clicking. South Africa's Erik van Rooyen, who shot a final-round 71 to finish T14 at the Valero, was until recently having a season to forget. He shot an opening-round 76 and withdrew with back pain at the Masters in November. Then, after the holidays, came missed the cuts at the Sony Open in Hawaii, Farmers Insurance Open and Waste Management Phoenix Open. Coming into the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play, where van Rooyen was the 62nd seed, his best result was a T20 at the Vivint Houston Open. But he found something in Austin, getting out of group play before losing to Jon Rahm in the round of 16. Van Rooyen's T9 finish was his best result this season. "Yeah, the start of the year was nothing to write home about, that’s for sure," he said from The Oaks Course at TPC San Antonio. "I don’t know. I think I’m - everything’s just ticking rather nicely. "... You can get kind of hard on yourself sometimes, but you’ve got to stay patient, you know, and trust yourself, trust the process," he continued. "It’s so cliche, but it’s the truth." COMCAST BUSINESS TOUR TOP 10

Click here to read the full article…