Rose runs away with Indonesian Masters title

As a former FBI special agent, AT&T Byron Nelson volunteer Charlie Tusa seems perfectly suited for his role as chairman of tournament security. Charlie and his committee, many of whom are also former FBI agents, work closely with the PGA TOUR security team and local police to help safeguard the grounds and check visitor credentials.   Charlie and several security committee members have volunteered at the tournament for the past 16 years. They return to the AT&T Byron Nelson each year for the chance to support the tournament’s charity, Momentous Institute, and contribute to the tournament’s success. Momentous Institute (formerly Salesmanship Club Youth and Family Centers) has been powered by the Salesmanship Club of Dallas, a service organization of more than 600 business and community leaders committed to transforming kids’ lives. Charlie is a longtime member of the Salesmanship Club. Volunteers like Charlie are sharing their motivations for volunteering at AT&T Byron Nelson as part of the #IVolunteerBecause initiative. This fun onsite experience features volunteers at select tournaments and is part of the 2019 PGA TOUR Volunteer Appreciation Program Sponsored by Myrbetriq® (mirabegron). Myrbetriq® (mirabegron) is a prescription medicine manufactured by Astellas Pharma US, Inc. Astellas first became a PGA TOUR sponsor in early 2013 and is proud to partner with the PGA TOUR as both organizations share a deep commitment to the power of volunteerism and recognize the powerful impact made by giving back in local communities. What’s your inspiration for volunteering in your community? Tag #IVolunteerBecause on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and share your story.

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The courses the PGA TOUR has visited the last two weeks have been absolute gems and the golf played on them, at least in some cases — think Si Woo Kim on Sunday at THE PLAYERS Championship — was nothing short of genius. And those who wanted a break from tightly mown fairways and coveted a different kind of gleaming white sand, the Atlantic Ocean loomed large, located less than a mile from both TPC Sawgrass and Eagle Point Golf Club in Wilmington, North Carolina. Ian Poulter was on Florida’s first coast Sunday morning, in fact, looking for shells and shark’s teeth with his four children. It was a great way to pass the time before his 2:10 p.m. tee time at THE PLAYERS where he made a spirited bid before tying for second. All of which got me thinking. What goes best with sunscreen, sand castles and flip-flops? That’s right, a good book. So here are some beach reads for you to pick up at your local library – with one caveat. While they’re all about golf and golfers, none are instructional. Remember, you are supposed to be soaking up the sun and having fun on the shore. Hopefully you’ll find at least one you enjoy. 18 Holes with Bing: Golf, Life, and Lessons from Dad by Nathaniel Crosby and John Strege This is a quick and enjoyable read about one of the world’s great entertainers and most fervent golfers. His son, Nathaniel, offers behind-the-scene looks at Bing and his famous friends, a diverse group that included, among others, comedians Bob Hope and Phil Silvers, actors James Garner and George C. Scott, President John F. Kennedy and the Duke of Windsor and legendary golfers Ben Hogan, Jackie Burke Jr., Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus. Beyond the A-List revelations, though, Nathaniel, who won the U.S. Amateur four years after his father died, details how his father launched and nurtured the tournament now known as the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and showcases their shared love of the game.   The Range Bucket List: The Golf Adventure of a Lifetime by James Dodson When the author was 13, he put together a list of things he wanted to do in golf. When he discovered his teenage musing in a trunk several years ago, Dodson decided to expand the list and eventually turned it into this book of essays. (Among the 13-year-old’s list already checked off? Living in Pinehurst, North Carolina and getting new clubs.) He gives the reader insight into the likes of Donald Trump before he became President and writer John Updike, as well as his long-time friend Arnold Palmer, with whom Dodson wrote “A Golfer’s Life.” He even writes about taking 13 strokes on a hole at St. Andrews – an “accomplishment” to which many of us can relate.  Golf’s Iron Horse: The Astonishing, Record-Breaking Life of Ralph Kennedy by John Sabino The subject of this book, released in February, is one of the game’s more interesting – albeit under-the-radar — characters. (He’s also the genesis of the only article about golf ever published in National Geographic.) Ralph Kennedy, who was a founding member of Winged Foot, played golf in all but two of the 50 states, nine Canadian provinces and more than 12 countries around the world. In over four decades, he teed it up at more than 3,100 courses and 8,500 times. Care to try to beat his record? Forget the beach, then. Arnie: The Life of Arnold Palmer by Tom Callahan Dozens of books have been written about the legendary golfer, and everyone probably has his or her favorite. This is the most recent, released in April, and given Palmer’s death last fall, it seemed only fitting to include on this list. Callahan, the noted Washington Post columnist, was a friend of Palmer’s for more than four decades and chronicled every phase of his career. At 352 pages, this book won’t be one of the quickest beach reads but for anyone who loved Palmer, it will be rewarding. Tommy’s Honour: The Extraordinary Story of Golf’s Founding Father and Son by Kevin Cook I am still eagerly waiting for the movie, which was released in April here in the United States, to come to my hometown. In the meantime, this book will shed some light on the two men who won eight of the first 12 Open Championships, including four in a row by Young Tom before his untimely death. Not only does the book explore the father-son relationship and the game both men love, it explains the social dynamics of the era. There is a bit of a love story, as well. Director Jason Connery, Sean’s son, told me that as soon as he read the book he knew he wanted to turn it into a movie. That’s a pretty good endorsement, don’t you think?

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CROMWELL, Conn. – Given that the world’s greatest minds have enough on their plate with timeless mysteries such as Dark Matter, the Voynich Manuscript, Phaistos Disc and Gilligan’s Island, we won’t saddle them with this final-round wonderment about TPC River Highlands. We will, however, ask 2012 Travelers Championship winner Marc Leishman to try and unravel this: Why do 54-hole leaders stumble so frequently here at TPC River Highlands and open the door to come-from-behind wins? “It’s one of those courses where you feel like you should shoot 65 every single time you play – and you don’t,” said Leishman. “But someone does.” RELATED: Full leaderboard | No lead safe at Travelers Championship | How Bubba helped revitalize Pensacola Leishman is a proud member of the “someone does” fraternity, a guy who nine years ago was tied for 20th and six shots off the lead when he arrived at TPC River Highlands that Sunday morning. Was he thinking he could win? “No,” he said. “I knew I could go low, and I was hoping I would go low. I shot the type of score I was thinking about (8-under 62) but thought it would be a top five.” Shockingly, Leishman’s sizzler kicked open the door to the winner’s circle for the first time on the PGA TOUR. All these years later, it is a warm and pleasant memory and, understandably, he’s become a staple here. Still, he was surprised to hear that the 54-hole co-leaders that year – Brian Davis and Roland Thatcher – are part of another Travelers Championship brotherhood: Third-round leaders who struggle to break par on Sunday. In the last 11 Travelers Championships (2010-2020), only three 54-hole leaders – Chez Reavie in 2019; Jordan Spieth in 2017; Freddie Jacobson in 2011 – held on and won. More perplexing, there have been a total of 14 players who’ve held at least a share of the 54-hole lead in that period and only four have broken par on Sunday. Jacobson burned it up 10 years ago, a 66, and Reavie held on to win with a 69. Brian Harman (in 2015) and Graham DeLaet (in 2013) both finished with 69s but did not win. An array of other quality names with the 54-hole lead – Brendon Todd last year, Paul Casey in 2018, Daniel Berger in 2016, Ryan Moore in 2015, way back to Justin Rose in 2010 – failed to break par on Sunday and let victory slip away. Riddle us why? “It’s just hard to have the lead (at TPC River Highlands),” said Leishman, “because you feel like you should be making birdie on every hole, but if you start trying to birdie every hole, you can get yourself in really bad spots.” All of which introduces us to the 2021 Travelers Championship, which was enveloped in a blanket of warm familiarity in Saturday’s third round. That’s because there were plenty of birdie bursts early and midway in the rounds to enable six different players (Jason Day, Bubba Watson, Harris English, Brice Garnett, Russell Henley, Kramer Hickok) to get into at least a share of the lead, but a series of hiccups late that created a creaking noise that was loud and emphatic. It was a door being opened to a great many pursuers, which is another way of saying that Sunday has the potential to be the latest in a long line of wild and improbable finishes. Of the storylines that will gather the attention Sunday, most flavorful to many will be Bubba Watson’s pursuit of a fourth Travelers Championship. His love of TPC River Highlands was tested on a roller-coaster back nine – bogeys at 11, 14 and 16 countered by birdies at 15 and 17 – and brought the final-round picture into focus. Tied for the lead at 10-under 200 with Hickok, Watson is trying to return to the winner’s circle for the first time since he prevailed right here in 2018. That would seem like a massive drought, but not when put up against Hickock, the 29-year-old who is yet another former University of Texas (Class of ’15) standout in pursuit of his first win. Of course, Watson is trying to win for the first time here as a co-leader; his three triumphs came from six off the lead (2010), one back (2015), and six behind (2018). Not that he was thinking of anything but the solo lead when he lined up a 5-foot birdie putt on 18, only he slipped it wide. No worries, he’s in contention – again. But the rich plots are elsewhere, too. There is Day, who started atop the leaderboard, but gingerly limped off the 18th hole after his only bogey of the day dropped him back to 9-under. He, too, hasn’t won since 2018 and the back remains a sore spot for the 33-year-old former world No. 1 now ranked 71st. There is Henley, who played beautifully for three rounds at last week’s U.S. Open, and is right back at it this week, tied with Aussies Cameron Smith and Day at 9-under. There is one of the season’s best stories, the rejuvenated English, who is tied with Garnett and K.H. Lee at 8-under. There is the defending champion, Dustin Johnson, and the explosiveness of Bryson DeChambeau, two of eight players who are tied at 7-under. And there, down in the nine-way tie for 17th, is none other than Leishman. Yeah, yeah, he’s got 16 players ahead of him, and he’s four off the lead, and he’s only had three quiet days of 69-66-69. But . . . well, the history has been discussed and you know he’ll be swept onto the grounds Sunday with memories of 2012. “It’s a really fun course, but it goes quick,” said Leishman. “You’re on the 15th tee when it feels like you’ve only played six holes.” And what makes it even more fun is this: You can be a handful of strokes behind, then be handed the trophy.

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