Phil’s short game produces an all-timer at Pebble Beach

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For Cameron Champ, if it felt personal, it's because it was. After all, it was a place where he'd been going for as long as he could remember. There were photos of him up as a 10-year-old there. Someplace where an hour, sometimes two, could pass by just like that. It was home. So, when Champ, the Cameron Champ Foundation, and his partners at SAP made the decision to support Black-owned small businesses as part of a new initiative, who got the first call was an easy decision - it'd be to Chris Cannon, owner of Prostyle Barber Shop, in Champ's hometown of Sacramento, California. "During Black History Month this year, I wanted to do something a little different," Champ said. "For me, with the COVID situation, it's really hurting the small business owners all around the nation. ...I'm excited to be able to do it, especially with the first one hitting home to me." During each week of the month of February, in collaboration with the SAP Spotlight Black Businesses program, the two-time PGA TOUR winner will be supporting a select Black-owned small business by displaying their logo on his golf bag and golf ball, and bringing awareness to their business via his social media channels. SAP and SRS Distribution have given up their logo space on Champ's golf bag to help amplify these small businesses, and Srixon and PING have contributed the custom golf balls and golf bags. Additionally, for each tournament that Champ, 25, betters his 320-yard driving distance average during the month, SAP and the Cameron Champ Foundation will make a $10,000 donation to that week's featured business. The first to receive a $10,000 donation, you ask? Chris Cannon, of course. "Cameron and SAP's Spotlight Black Business initiative has been a blessing to me and Prostyle," Cannon said. "The hard work I've put into my business went unnoticed for a long time, but the initiative has shined a new light on me and my small business. "The pandemic almost closed our doors for good. The recognition and donation gave a well needed boost to the shop. It got the word out that we're open and ready for work." Three of Champ's four selections have been shared publicly thus far, each with a nod to his California roots. RÊVE Bistro in Lafayette, California - about an hour outside Champ's hometown - followed Prostyle Barber Shop. At The Genesis Invitational this week, the former Charlie Sifford Memorial Exemption recipient - since 2009, awarded by the tournament to a golfer representing a minority background and honoring the memory of Charlie Sifford, the first African American to compete on the modern-day PGA TOUR - went with the local flavor, choosing Jackfruit Café in Los Angeles. "This last year has been one of immense challenges for us personally and as restaurant owners," said Paul Magu-Lecugy, owner of RÊVE Bistro. "Keeping a positive attitude for our family, our guests, and our team as well as finding ways we could give back regardless of what we are dealing with has been the highest priority for us and kept us going. To be chosen by Cameron Champ...is humbling and such a huge blessing." For Champ, the blessings will continue on for another week. His impact on the racial equity and inclusion conversation, however, will last long beyond. "I'm super excited to be able to do this," Champ said, "just to show the support and love." To learn more about the Cameron Champ Foundation and its collaboration with the SAP Spotlight Black Businesses program, please click here.

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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Perhaps rumors about the demise of Jon Rahm’s putter were greatly exaggerated. The beloved Odyssey White Hot OG Rossie S prototype with which Rahm won last year’s U.S. Open was back in the bag Thursday after sitting on the bench for the past five rounds. “It just needed a timeout last week,” Rahm said Thursday after shooting 69 in the opening round of THE PLAYERS. He gained more than two strokes on the greens Thursday, rolling in three putts from outside 15 feet. Rahm’s short-game struggles have been a focal point this year, especially in contrast to his consistently exceptional ballstriking. He leads the TOUR in greens in regulation, Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee and Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green, ranks second in Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green and is fourth in driving distance. He sits outside the top 125 in both Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green and Strokes Gained: Putting, however. Rahm’s short game saved him on Thursday, however, a sharp contrast to the trend this year. “I would say it wasn’t my best day tee to green, maybe not my best day with the irons, but luckily short game was good,” he said. “Kind of reverse to what it’s been the last few months. I was able to post a score.” He is 15th in this season’s FedExCup standings, thanks to a runner-up finish at the Sentry Tournament of Championship and third-place finish at the Farmers Insurance Open. Rahm switched putters in the final round of last month’s The Genesis Invitational after watching too many putts slide by the edge of the hole. According to GolfWRX, who spoke to Odyssey tour rep Joe Toulon, Rahm’s stroke was getting a bit steep with the former Rossie putter and lifting too much off the putting surface. That was negatively impacting his release of the putter head. That’s why Rahm switched to an Odyssey White Hot OG #7S, a model that Rahm occasionally practices with at home. “His path looked very good with it, stayed lower to the ground during the backstroke, which allowed it to arc nicely and put him in a great position to release the putter through impact,” Toulon told GolfWRX. The Rossie is a rounder, mallet-style head, while the OG #7S has two protruding fangs. He told PGATOUR.COM that choosing between the two came down to this: He stood 40 feet from the hole, devoted one putt to each putter and said to himself, “Whichever one I make it with first, I’m going with.” “I was right in between the two of them,” Rahm told PGATOUR.COM last week. “I could have picked either/or when I did. Both of them felt great.” The persistent focus on his short game has frustrated the world No. 1, however, and it showed Thursday after another series of questions on the topic. “I had one bad month,” he said. “Why is everybody panicking? Perhaps Thursday was the start of things trending in the right direction.

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