Pro golfer Tadd Fujikawa announces he is gay

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SOUTHPORT, England – News and notes from Thursday’s first round at The Open Championship. Jordan Spieth and Brooks Koepka were early clubhouse leaders after 5-unders 65 at Royal Birkdale. Rust? What rust? It’s four weeks later. It’s a different course, a different country, heck, even a different continent. Last month had wide fairways; this week, the fairways are tight. And yet, Brooks Koepka turned Thursday into essentially his fifth round at Erin Hills. After tying the all-time lowest winning score at the U.S. Open (16 under) in mid-June, Koepka kept the hot hand with an opening 65 that included a hole-out for eagle from a bad lie in a greenside bunker at the 17th. Though he didn’t swing a club for more than two weeks after winning his first major, Koepka picked up right where we last saw him when he shot 67 on the final day at Erin Hills. “Just fun to get back playing again,â€� Koepka said. “… After taking four weeks off, it’s kind of nice to get back inside the ropes and finally get those competitive juices flowing.â€� Success after a lengthy layoff is nothing new for Koepka. Prior to his first PGA TOUR victory at the 2015 Waste Management Phoenix Open, he had taken nearly a month off. Instead of getting rusty, he finds the downtime necessary to stay fresh and avoid the week-to-week mental grind. “If I start playing four or five weeks in a row, everything just seems to get nonchalant,â€� he said. “… You get to be in the routine and get used to it. And it just doesn’t seem like I’m fully ready to play. If you take some time off and kind of recharge mentally, physically, I feel like I’m in really good shape right now, even with that time off mentally.â€� So what did he do during this most recent break? He went to Las Vegas with a few friends – and evidently had a great time, since he deftly avoided providing details. (“It was funâ€� was as much as he wanted to offer.) He returned home on July 1, missing the gym more than missing his clubs. It wasn’t until the next week that he got back on the course, playing a fun match with his manager Blake Smith. He gave Smith 13 strokes – and his manager needed just 10 to win. If Koepka maintains his current major form, getting strokes may be the only way the rest of the field can beat him. In his last 12 major starts, he has five top-10 finishes (including his win) and five other top-25 finishes. “Look at all the majors that I’ve played … the record has been pretty good,â€� Koepka said. “Anytime you put something on the line like that, I get up for it.â€� It’s a tie game for Justin Justin Thomas is used to wearing a tie. He wore one every day while attending high school at St. Xavier in Louisville, Kentucky. He wore one during his Walker Cup days. So for Thomas, it was no big deal to wear one as part of his apparel script this week at Royal Birkdale. Yet he figured it would be a conversation starter for everyone else. “Obviously knew it was going to get a lot of publicity,â€� he said. “… But I didn’t come here to dress well. I came here to try to play some good golf. And I guess that just happened.â€� Indeed it did. Thanks to an eagle at 17, Thomas finished with a flourish, carding a 3-under 67. Just like four weeks ago at Erin Hills, Thomas appears ready to contend in another major. In that third round at the U.S. Open, Thomas tied a major record by shooting 63 that left him one shot off the lead and put him in Sunday’s final pairing. But he followed with a disappointing 75 and a tie for ninth. Still, it’s easy for him to shake off the high score and concentrate on his third-round performance. “I can think of 63 shots that come to mind before Sunday,â€� Thomas said. “Yeah, Sunday is definitely not something I’m taking from that week. I’m taking the experience of Sunday and the fact that I was there to start the day on Sunday.â€� As for the tie? It will stay hidden inside the closet for the rest of the week.  Spieth’s key adjustment The par-4 sixth hole, which faces toward the south, has been the most difficult the last two times Royal Birkdale has hosted the Open. It just so happens that the driving range faces in the same direction. Jordan Spieth used that to his advantage Thursday. Facing an approach shot that was 192 yards to the front of the green and 215 to the pin, Spieth opted for his 4-iron. Normally, he hits that upwards of 225 yards on the range back home in Dallas, Texas. But during his warm-up session Thursday, Spieth’s coach Cameron McCormick brought the TrackMan to calculate how much Spieth would need to adjust his yardage calculations in Thursday’s 55-degree weather. They figured the cooler temperatures resulted in a 10-15 yard reduction. Throw in the wind conditions, and it’s another 20-30 yards. Thanks to the adjustments, Spieth ripped his 4-iron and set up a two-putt par during his bogey-free round of 65. “Because I knew how far balls were carrying from our session this morning, I was able to know how far that ball would carry and then I can trust that,â€� Spieth said. “And that’s the most important thing, because you feel like you’re hitting so much club. You feel like you’re going to fly the world. And then it goes on the front green and I’m 60 feet away. I mis-hit it, it was a good club to get close to the hole. “I thought that was really well done by Cameron, because I didn’t even ask him to. He just brought it out and said, ‘Let’s figure this out, so you know at least when you’re coming into the wind what true effect it’s having.’ And it’s more an effect than anywhere I’ve experienced in the States.â€� Poulter back on track A year ago, Ian Poulter was part of Sky Sports’ broadcast team at Royal Troon. He did not like it. It wasn’t because he doesn’t like to talk. But he’d rather have been swinging a club than holding a microphone. Unfortunately, a foot injury kept the Englishman from making his 15th consecutive start in his national Open. This year, he had to qualify for the Open. Fortunately, one of the venues was his hometown course in Woburn. In front of several thousand fans, Poulter posted a score and then had to sweat out a 45-minute wait before securing one of the three spots that advanced to Royal Birkdale. “I certainly felt a bit of pressure — pressure to obviously make sure I take one of those three spots,â€� Poulter said. Now he’s back at Royal Birkdale. The last time he played here, he shot 69 in the final round in 2008 to finish solo second behind Padraig Harrington. It felt like old times on Thursday, as he shot a 3-under 67. The winds on Thursday were different than in the practice sessions, but Poulter was ready. It was the same kind of wind he played in nine years ago in the final round. On Wednesday night, he took out his old yardage book and adjusted his gameplan. “I almost played a round of golf last night in my head,â€� Poulter said, “and I had a lower score in my head last night than I did today. But don’t we all?â€� Two months ago, Poulter tied for second at THE PLAYERS Championship, his best result on TOUR in nearly four years. He followed that by making six more cuts on his worldwide schedule, including a tie for ninth last week at the Scottish Open. Apparently, he’s found his groove. “THE PLAYERS Championship was a big week for me,â€� he said. “I think that was a huge turning point. And I’m definitely a freer player on the golf course. I can be more aggressive. I can hit more of the shots that I’m kind of visualizing.â€� More playing. Less talking. Poulter is fine with that.

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THE OVERVIEW By Ben Everill, PGATOUR.COM He’s built like a human hat rack; he plays like a human highlight film. The 6-foot-4, 160-pound Hadley won twice on the Web.com Tour last season, then opened eyes in his return to the PGA TOUR with three top-five finishes in his first three starts in the fall. He left the fall events at No. 8 in FedExCup points while moving up 42 spots in the world rankings, looking a lot like the superstar who burst onto the TOUR with a victory at the 2014 Puerto Rico Open. “That’s my thing, for me only,â€� Hadley said when asked how he reignited his career at the Sanderson Farms Championship, where he finished second to Ryan Armour. “I’m not looking to help anybody else, if that doesn’t come across cross as selfish or arrogant. I’ve just kind of found something that works for me. Hopefully I can remember it and keep doing it.â€� TOP 30 PLAYERS TO WATCH IN 2018: We’ll countdown our list with one new player each day in December. Click here for the published players. MORE: Top 30 explanation and schedule Low-key off the course, where he unwinds with wood-working and crossword puzzles, Hadley makes must-see moments on it. He won with style at last season’s LECOM Health Challenge and Albertsons Boise Open presented by Kraft Nabisco, the latter by shooting a final-round 65 to complete the biggest comeback win in the event’s 28-year history. And he went down swinging at three other tournaments, two of which he lost in wild sudden-death playoffs. A proven closer, Hadley, 30, now looks readier than ever to compete, and win, at the game’s highest level. Click here to follow Ben on Twitter FEDEXCUP 2017-18 position: 8 Playoff appearances: 2 TOUR Championship appearances: 0 Best result: 49th (2014) BY THE NUMBERS INSIGHTS FROM OUR INSIDERS TOUR INSIDER by Ben Everill He’s on this list for a reason — most of us around the PGA TOUR expect Hadley to enter the winner’s circle this season. Clearly a cut above last year on the Web.com Tour, Hadley’s confidence has returned after it went missing for a few seasons. After winning the Puerto Rico Open in 2014, the sky appeared the limit; instead he lost his card two years later. The learning curve appears to have worked — he’s already got three top three finishes this fall. He’s here to stay this time. Click here to follow Ben on Twitter  FANTAY INSIDER by Rob Bolton This is already a different time and space from when he paced the Web.com Tour in combined earnings in 2013. Now 30 years of age and a father of two, he’s made no secret of how fortunate he knows he is to climb back to the big leagues. With a lights-out fall already paving his way to the Playoffs, the next challenge will be how to sustain and parlay his 2017 Web.Com Tour Player of the Year award into the next big thing. With renewed perspective and experience that includes both success and humility, gamers are advised to invest in him time and again. Click here to follow Rob on Twitter EQUIPMENT INSIDER by Jonathan Wall Plays a fairly stock setup with 13 Titleist clubs. 917D3 driver has 10.5 degrees of loft. Carries a 718 T-MB 3-iron instead of a traditional long iron. Has four-degree loft gaps between his gap wedge (52), sand wedge (56) and lob wedge (60). Only non-Titleist club in the bag is an Odyssey White Hot 2-Ball putter.  Click here to follow Jonathan on Twitter STYLE INSIDER by Greg Monteforte Colorful preppy looks have been Chesson’s go-tos since arriving on TOUR. His recent move to Peter Millar’s luxurious threads will provide him with a style upgrade for 2018. Opting for tailored shirts with a slimmer cut would be a good New Year’s resolution for Hadley.  Click here to follow Greg on Twitter

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