Park takes 1-shot lead over Monday qualifier on LPGA Tour

PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. – Bill Haas was involved in a car accident that killed the driver of his vehicle Tuesday night, but the 2012 Genesis Open champion escaped serious injury. He will withdraw from this week’s event to head back to his South Carolina home. A statement released by the PGA TOUR and Haas’ Players Group Management said: Last night in Pacific Palisades, California, Bill Haas was involved in a serious car accident in which the driver – a member of the family with whom Haas and his family were staying for the Genesis Open – was killed. While Bill escaped serious injuries and has been released from the hospital, he is understandably shaken up and – more importantly – his deepest condolences go out to the host family during this tragic and difficult time. Bill will withdraw from the Genesis Open and plans to head home to Greenville to recover.  He appreciates the support of friends, family and the golf world as a whole, and he has asked for privacy as he processes what has happened. According to Los Angeles Fire Department rescue reports, the accident happened in the 500 block of N. Chautauqua Blvd around 6:30 p.m. local time Tuesday. It was a two-car collision with a rollover, with the 35-year-old Haas a passenger in a car. He and the driver of the other car, a 50-year-old female, were transported to a local hospital, with fire department officials initially reporting both in serious condition. Footage from Los Angeles television station KTLA showed the car Haas was in, a Ferrari, mangled on the sidewalk. L.A. police department detective Jeff Fischer told KTLA that a third car – a Toyota SUV owned by actor Luke Wilson — was clipped by the Ferrari. The KTLA report noted that police were looking into the cause of the crash and that surveillance footage from a local private residence may provide clues. Bill’s father Jay Haas told the Golf Channel that his son was “very fortunate” to avoid serious harm. Bill Haas had been scheduled to tee off at 8:04 a.m. local time in Thursday’s first round at Riviera Country Club.  In addition to winning the Genesis Open, Haas has five other PGA TOUR wins and won the FedExCup title in 2011. He also played for his dad, who captained the U.S. to a win at the 2015 Presidents Cup.

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Risk/reward is always the name of the game in Las Vegas, and it’s no different at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open at TPC Summerlin. The Bobby Weed/Fuzzy Zoeller design in the desert features a driveable, par-4 15th and a par-5 16th that may be the last, best birdie opportunities. Rod Pampling made four birdies in his last six holes to become the surprise winner last year, picking up his first PGA TOUR title since the 2006 Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard. The Shriners has seen 10 first-time TOUR winners in the last 15 years, plus champions with Vegas ties such as Kevin Na (2011) and Ryan Moore (’12). The winner gets 500 FedExCup points. Among the other headliners: Newly minted Web.com Tour graduate Chesson Hadley, who has gotten off to a great start this season and sits at sixth in the FedExCup; Ryan Armour, 41, who is coming off his emotional maiden victory at the Sanderson Farms Championship and is ninth; and FedExCup No. 5 Tony Finau, who is close to home (Utah) but must adapt to the 15-hour difference between the Shriners and the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions (Shanghai, China). Maverick McNealy will tee it up on a sponsor exemption. Former UNLV golfer Charley Hoffman will be playing for a cause greater than himself, donating his winnings to survivors of the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival shooting. His Presidents Cup teammate Kevin Chappell is also in the field. And keep an eye on Patrick Cantlay, one of the big movers last season after playing his way from injury and career jeopardy all the way to the TOUR Championship. MORE SHRINERS: Field | Tee times | Power Rankings | Course | Past Results Here’s a look at this week’s featured groups (current FedExCup ranking in parentheses). All times ET: Webb Simpson (T-81), Smylie Kaufman (51), Rod Pampling (146): Three past champions, plenty of good mojo. Four years after his Vegas victory, Simpson is enjoying a career resurgence and one of six players in the field who made it all the way to last season’s TOUR Championship. He eventually finished 17th in the FedExCup. Kaufman, who won the Shriners two years ago, had an off year in 2017 but is trending upward after a tie for fourth at the Sanderson Farms. And Pampling is looking to recapture the magic that made him one of the biggest surprises of the last season when he won for the first time anywhere since the 2008 Australian Masters. Tee times: Rd. 1 – 3:25 p.m. 1st tee; Rd. 1 – 10:35 a.m. 10th tee. Bubba Watson (N/A), Graeme McDowell (T-156), Jimmy Walker (N/A): Three major champions who are coming off a down year hope to get the early jump on the 2017-’18 with a solid performance in the desert. Two-time Masters champion Watson will be playing Shriners event for first time since 2007, while Walker, who broke through with a life-changing win at the 2016 PGA Championship, hopes to bounce back from a lull triggered by his bout with Lyme Disease. Meanwhile, 2010 U.S. Open champion McDowell, 38, will perhaps find inspiration in the fact that he is coming up on another Ryder Cup year.   Tee times: Rd. 1 – 3:35 p.m. 1st tee; Rd. 1 – 10:45 a.m. 10th tee. Ryan Armour (9), Bryson DeChambeau (T-81), Billy Horschel (N/A_: Two of last season’s winners plus late-bloomer Armour, 41, who won by five at last week’s Sanderson Farms Championship in just the fifth tournament of the new season. Mad scientist DeChambeau is coming off a life-changing summer in which he won the John Deere Classic to punch his last-minute ticket to the Open Championship, while 2014 FedExCup champion Horschel got back in the game with a playoff victory over Jason Day at the AT&T Byron Nelson. Tee times: Rd. 1 – 10:35 a.m. 10th tee; Rd. 2 – 3:25 p.m. 1st tee. Charley Hoffman (N/A), Ryan Moore (T-81), Kevin Chappell (N/A): Hoffman, who attended UNLV, is coming off the best season of his career, a campaign that saw him finish 20th in the FedExCup and make his first Presidents Cup team at age 40. This week he is paired with fellow UNLV alumnus Moore and Presidents Cup partner Chappell. Hoffman and Chappell paired up for one win and one loss in the U.S. Team’s easy victory over the Internationals. Hoffman will donate 100 percent of his earnings to PGA TOUR Charities, which will donate the entirety to the Direct Impact Fund in support of those affected by the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival shooting. Tee times: Rd. 1 – 10:45 a.m. 10th tee; Rd. 2 – 3:35 p.m. 1st tee.

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