Reid returning as Solheim vice captain for Europe

AUGUSTA, Georgia – Taighan Chea was trawling through Netflix five years ago and came across “The Short Game” – a golf documentary that highlights the junior game. He might have only been four years old… but he was hooked. Now at nine, he’s achieved something many can only dream of. He’s competed, and won, at Augusta National Golf Club. “It feels like I won the Masters,” the fourth grader from Shelton View Elementary School in Bothell, Washington said after taking out the Boys 7-9 age group in the Drive, Chip and Putt Championship. He’d already placed third in the drive portion and second in the chipping when he was sent to Augusta National Golf Club’s famous 18th green. After a decent effort in his 30-foot putt attempt he stood over the infamous 15-footer that Adam Scott drained to get into a playoff in 2013 before winning his green jacket. “It felt like it was to win, and I just had to make it,” Chea said. And make it he did, getting his own version of the famous Augusta roars. “I learned from the other kids that it was bleeding left so I aimed two balls right. It was the best feeling ever to see it go in.” Chea is no stranger to good golf – he once made a hole-in-one during the IMG Junior Worlds – but this was his new stand out moment. He hopes he can check off one more dream. Seeing Tiger Woods play, and win, at Augusta National. Now in its fifth installment the Drive, Chip and Putt Championship continues to thrive as a joint initiative from the Masters Tournament, the United States Golf Association and the PGA of America. Points were awarded in each individual skill category (Drive, Chip and Putt), with the winner receiving 10 points, second 9 points, third 8 points and so on. The player with the most points following all three competitions was declared the overall winner of the age group. In the drive portion, the better of two scores was used for the score. Each golfer then took two chips with the cumulative distance from the hole totaled to determine the score. Players then moved to Augusta National’s 18th green where they had two putts – from 15 and 30 feet – with the cumulative distance from the hole totaled to determine the score. At daybreak the 80 finalists found their way down Magnolia Lane in awe of the famous drive entering Augusta National Golf Club before getting into competition. Scott admitted he enjoyed seeing them warm up and then produce their best. “It is pretty impressive. I saw three kids in a row who were right on plane and it was pretty awesome to see them ripping it like that,” he grinned. “What’s not to like about it? Kids getting to play out here for the day. It is pretty amazing,” the 2013 Masters champion added. “It’s done a lot of good so far and the momentum of this having a positive effect on junior golf, so I am all for that.” Scott was on hand to give 14-year-old Katherine Schuster her trophy after she was able to better her performance from 2015 where she was third overall at Augusta. Making the 30-foot putt certainly helped although she admitted to getting the shakes “like nobody’s business” and had to remind herself how to breathe calmly. “It’s like putting on tile,” she said of the green speeds. “To win where the best people that ever played the game of golf have won, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player… it’s amazing. It means a lot. I am really excited to have won it.” Some records were also broken. Conrad Chisman, a 13-year-old from Stanwood, Wash., became the first player to make both the 30-foot and 15-foot putts. He’ll never forget those cheers. Champions were crowned in 7-9, 10-11, 12-13 and 14-15 age groups in boys and girls. The winners were: 7-9, Chea and Ella June Hannant (Pikeville, N.C.); 10-11, Tip Price (Greenville, S.C.) and three-time Finals participant Vanessa Borovilos (Toronto); 12-13, PJ Maybank (Cheboygan, Mich.) and Sara Im; 14-15, Brendan Valdes (Orlando) and Schuster (Kill Devil Hills, N.C.).

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Tiger Woods’ Masters win is sure to change the landscape of golf betting. Is there now value on the field? How many majors will Woods win this year? Our experts debate.

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The International Golf Federation and International Olympic Committee are adjusting the qualifying system for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games to accommodate the new dates of competition in 2021. In light of the one-year delay, athletes now will accumulate Olympic Golf Rankings (OGR) points through a period ending on June 21, 2021, for the men, and June 28, 2012, for the women, the organizations announced Wednesday. The fields for both men and women will remain the same, consisting of 60 players. The new dates for the Tokyo Games are July 23-Aug. 8, 2021. Although exact dates for the golf competition have not been released, if this year’s scheduling structure carries over, then the men’s competition next year would be held July 29-Aug. 1, with the women’s competition held Aug. 4-7. Kasumigaseki Country Club is the scheduled venue. The OGR is based on the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) for men and the Women’s World Golf Rankings (WWGR). On March 20, the Governing Boards of the OWGR and WWGR determined the rankings would be suspended due to the Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. An announcement about the resumption of each respective ranking will be made in due course. The IGF’s announcement of the revision followed the IOC’s decision to postpone the Olympic Games and its subsequent release of the revised principles for Olympic qualification on April 2, 2020, that included the relaxation of the maximum two-year period and amendments to the qualification deadlines. The IGF revised the dates within the current qualification system to reflect these new dates and submitted the revised version to the IOC Qualification taskforce for approval. “Having received from the IOC confirmation of the dates for when the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games will be held and the qualification principles, the fairest and most equitable way to determine the qualifying athletes was to align the previous qualification system with these new dates,� said Antony Scanlon, IGF Executive Director. “We are pleased that the IOC swiftly approved these changes to provide clarity on this important area. The IGF will continue to work closely with the IOC and Tokyo 2020 to address the other areas that the postponement of the Games affects our sport and our athletes, to develop the necessary plans to resolve these. We remain fully committed to providing safe and fair golf competitions and a memorable experience for our athletes when these Olympic Games are held in 2021.� The OGR is calculated as follows: Each tournament earns a strength-of-field rating that determines how many ranking points will be awarded to top finishers. Points are awarded to players based on their finish positions in each event, with performances in stronger-field events earning more points in accordance with a points distribution table approved by the IGF. With the revision, ranking points for each player accumulate over a multi-year rolling period with the points awarded in the most recent 13-week period weighted at 100 percent of their original value. After the initial 13-week period, points are devalued by 1.1 percent for each of the next 91 weeks (during which the ranking was not suspended) before they drop entirely off the player’s record. Each player is then ranked according to his/her average number of points, which is determined by dividing the total number of ranking points she/he has earned by the number of tournaments in which she/he has played during that period. There is a minimum divisor of 35 events for the women’s OGR while for the men’s OGR, there is a minimum divisor of 40 events and a maximum divisor of 52 events. In the event of ties at any of the 60 starting positions, the ties will be broken by the following criteria, in order: • Total Official World Golf Ranking points earned in the most recent 52-week period, ending with the Olympic Golf Ranking as of June 21, 2021, for the men and June 28, 2021, for the women. • Total Official World Golf Ranking points earned in the most recent 13-week period, ending with the Olympic Golf Ranking as of June 21, 2021, for the men, June 28, 2021, for the women. The top 15 players at the end of the qualifying period will be eligible for the Olympics, with a limit of four players from a given country. Beyond the top 15, players will be eligible based on the world rankings, with a maximum of two eligible players from each country that does not already have two or more players among the top 15. The host country will be guaranteed a spot, as will each of the five continental regions. Based on the latest rankings prior to the suspension of the OWGR, the only country to qualify more than two players was the United States, with Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas, Patrick Cantlay and Patrick Reed all ranked inside the top 15. After 112 years, golf returned as an Olympic sport four years ago at Rio de Janeiro, with Great Britain’s Justin Rose (gold), Sweden’s Henrik Stenson (silver) and USA’s Matt Kuchar (bronze) winning medals in the men’s competition, while Korea’s Inbee Park (gold), New Zealand’s Lydia Ko (silver) and China’s Shanshan Feng (bronze) won medals in the women’s competition.

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