PGA TOUR implementing new Integrity Program in 2018

Koepka’s “Brooks Knows� shoes feature White Sox black-and-gray colorways and pin stripes on their uppers. Additionally, the numbers “16� and “34� are written on the toe tags; 16 was one of Jackson’s baseball numbers, and 34 was his football number. The number 16 also happens to be how many touchdowns Jackson recorded in his NFL career. According to Koepka, he plans to wear the custom shoes throughout the week. “It’ll be fun, give a little tribute to him and hopefully can play well in them,� Koepka said Wednesday. As for Jackson’s golf game … does “Bo Know� golf? “’Bo Knows’� Koepka said. “It was fun to play with him. It was cool. Obviously he’s probably the greatest athlete ever, and it’s cool to meet him … he’s going to hit the ball if he connects with it, and he did quite a few times. It was impressive to watch him play.� MEDINAH, Ill. – Brooks Koepka, considered one of the best athletes in golf history, wore golf shoes on Wednesday as a tribute to a man considered one of the best overall athletes in history: Bo Jackson. Actually, Koepka and Jackson played as partners in the Wednesday pro-am at Medinah Country Club ahead of the 2019 BMW Championship. The  “Brooks Knows� slogan on Koepka’s shoes put a little twist on the popular “Bo Knows� marketing campaign, featuring Jackson, which started in 1989 for Nike cross-training shoes. Jackson was a multi-sport figure who won the Heisman Trophy playing college football and eventually played in both the NFL and Major League Baseball, sometimes in the same year. During Jackson’s career as a baseball player, he played on the Chicago White Sox in 1991 and 1993. Since Medinah Country Club, home of the 2019 BMW Championship, is about an hour away from the home stadium of the White Sox, Jackson played in the BMW Championship as somewhat of a local legend.

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MEMPHIS, Tenn. – When you talk about golf’s famous Class of 2011, you have to start with Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas, but there’s also FedEx St. Jude Classic defending champion Daniel Berger, and then of course there’s Sebastian Munoz. Wait. Who? The was the question at TPC Southwind as Munoz, a Colombian who played for the University of North Texas, shot 67 to tie for the lead at 9 under par halfway through the FedEx St. Jude. At 197th in the FedExCup standings and 373rd in the Official World Golf Ranking, Munoz was suddenly T1 with Chez Reavie (65) and Charl Schwartzel (66). “I’m super happy,� Munoz said. “I’m really proud of the way I played today. I had one mistake, but I think a pretty good bogey on 18, so I was just happy to be able to step it up.� These guys are good—that’s how the PGA TOUR slogan goes. But it could just as easily be: There are a lot of good guys. So many, in fact, that a few sometimes slip through the cracks. Who is Sebastian Munoz? HUMBLE BEGINNINGS Munoz, 24, is often asked to provide ID when entering PGA TOUR locker rooms. “It happens all the time,� he said with a smile. “I don’t mind.� The good thing is, he surprises people all the time, too. Consider Munoz’s zero-to-hero college career at North Texas, where the coach, Brad Stracke, discovered him through a Latin American recruiting service. “I’ll tell you the truth: The coach was the only one who sent me an airplane ticket to check it out,� Munoz said. “I did, and I was like, of course I’m going to go. I had fun that weekend, and they had a couple Latin players, Carlos Ortiz and Rodolfo Cazaubon. It felt right.� Alas, Munoz didn’t play his first two years, as Ortiz, who plays the Web.com Tour, and Cazaubon—PGA TOUR Latinoamerica, and Munoz’s Dallas housemate—took starring roles. “He wasn’t really into it,� Stracke says. “He was just there to study, and was just going through the motions with the golf. He was going to take over his parents’ business in Colombia. Then he saw Carlos Ortiz make it to the Web.com Tour and win, and it got him thinking. “We have these end-of-the-year meetings, and between his sophomore and junior years we sat down in my office. He said, ‘Coach, those other guys have graduated. This is my time. I’m going to play well. I’m going to carry the weight.’ I’m like, where is this coming from? He had hardly played. It’s cool when a kid says that and then comes out and does it.�      Munoz shot 71-63-69 to win the Jim River Intercollegiate and set a school record for 54 holes. He ditched his first name (Juan) for his middle name (Sebastian), necessitating new letters on his golf bag. He won the Conference USA individual championship as a senior, and shot 65 to beat his man and help North Texas win the team title over Alabama-Birmingham. A far cry from the guy who’d wandered aimlessly around Denton for two years, Munoz got a degree in business management, and turned pro. Last year he got a sponsor’s exemption to play in the Club Colombia Championship Presented by Claro, a Web.com Tour event, and he won to kick-start a pro career that had once looked like a pipe dream. JUST NEEDS MORE REPS For Munoz, who finished 22nd on last year’s Web.com Tour money list, the biggest challenge has not been learning courses but simply getting into tournaments. He got into the AT&T Byron Nelson (T50), but not the DEAN & DELUCA Invitational at Colonial. That one hurt a lot, what with being so close and yet so far in his adopted home state of Texas. “I just hid in my room,� he said. “I didn’t want to know anything about it.� Until Thursday, when Munoz shot a 6-under 64 in the first round of the FedEx St. Jude, he didn’t know much of anything about TPC Southwind, either. He’d never even played the front nine, but got tips over dinner from countryman Camilo Villegas, a four-time TOUR winner. It must have been some dinner. “I’ve been putting the ball in the fairway,� Munoz said, “and capitalizing on some putts.� As for his more famous fellow alumni of the Class of 2011, he’s not only never beaten them, he’s never even met them. That’s because Munoz sat the bench his first two years at North Texas, after which Spieth (Texas) and Thomas (Alabama) turned pro. Today, those guys already have fat bank accounts and work their way through endless autograph lines. Munoz? Yes, well. Maybe someday. Is it extra pressure, he was asked, to not get into many tournaments and therefor know he has to make the most of the ones he does get into? “Yeah, I mean, you can see it that way,� he said. “I just see it as opportunities.� At the FedEx St. Jude, Munoz is eying the biggest opportunity of his career.

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SOUTHAMPTON, Bermuda — Seamus Power did enough right and left all the mistakes to PGA TOUR rookie Ben Griffin on Sunday to win the Butterfield Bermuda Championship for his second TOUR title. Power took the lead for good with a 25-foot birdie putt at the 14th. A bogey on the final hole gave the Irishman a 1-under 70 and a one-shot victory over Thomas Detry, who earlier had holed a bunker shot on the 18th for birdie and a 67. But it was Griffin who had the best chance. Just more than a year after Griffin was working as a loan officer, he had a shot at winning on the PGA TOUR and going to the Masters. He started the back nine at Port Royal with back-to-back birdies, putting him at 5 under for the day and with a two-shot lead over Power. And then it all fell apart. Griffin bogeyed four straight holes, followed by a double bogey on the par-3 16th that effectively ended his chances. The turning point came at the 14th when Griffin hooked his tee shot, had to take a penalty drop and make his third straight bogey, while Power holed his birdie putt for a two-shot swing and his first lead of the day. Both made bogey on the 15th. Griffin hit a hard draw into a strong wind that went into the hazard above the Atlantic Ocean, leading to another penalty drop and another missed putt for a double bogey. “This course was always going to be a tale of two sides,” Power said. “I knew it was going to be hard coming in and it was. I’m delighted to get it done.” Power won last year at the Barbasol Championship in Kentucky, held the same week as The Open Championship. This victory moves him to No. 32 in the world. He came into Bermuda at No. 48, the highest-ranked player in the field. After making four straight bogeys and then a double bogey, Griffin used iron off the tee on the par-5 17th and watched it run through the fairway and into the water. He took his third penalty drop in four holes, though at least managed a par. Power went just over the green and chipped to 3 feet for birdie, giving him a two-shot lead over Detry and room for error playing the last hole. “It was a fun week. I hate to finish the tournament the way I did,” said Griffin, who shot 72 and tied for third with Patrick Rodgers (65) and Kevin Yu (67). “As I gain more experience, I’m going to get more comfortable.” Griffin and Power were tied going into the final round, and it was Griffin who seized control early with four birdies in the opening six holes. He looked like a winner when he rolled in birdie putts on the 10th and 11th to extend his lead to two shots. But he missed a 6-foot par putt on the 12th, and he missed a 4-foot par putt on the next hole, and it only got tougher from there. Aaron Baddeley, who got in as a Monday qualifier, was in the mix until a pair of late bogeys. He still tied for sixth and was among those who earned spots next week in Mexico for finishing in the top 10. Tennessee freshman Caleb Surratt shot a 64 to make the cut. He followed that with an 85 in the third round, only to improve by 20 shots with a 65 on Sunday.

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