Rough times ahead at Harding Park

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – In back-to-back groups Thursday afternoon, an amateur named Steve Green, and a two-time champion of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am named Brandt Snedeker were forced onto the beach to the left of the 18th hole at Pebble Beach Golf Links. Errant tee shots and mad scrambles led to an improbable par by Green and an all-world birdie by Snedeker. That they barely avoided the crashing waves in Stillwater Cove to stay dry and even get to their golf balls was a larger layer of good fortune. But like the rest of their competitors in this iconic tournament, they probably aren’t holding out too much hope for the days ahead, because the forecast is turbulent. Tee times for Friday’s second round have been pushed up to 7 a.m. local time, which means the first groups will be teeing off just as the sun rises. Heavy downpours are forecast to start late morning and, well, now is the time to embrace a positive attitude – and Roberto Castro is helping to set the tone. “It’s not going to prevent me from enjoying my favorite golf course in a tournament I love,� said Castro, who opened with a 4-under 68 to get into a share of 18th. He made those four birdies and 14 pars in relatively gentle conditions at Pebble Beach Golf Links and knows that everyone is now going to speculate about where in the three-course rota will it be worse Friday. Monterey Peninsula Country Club, which is probably the most exposed of the three courses? Spyglass Hills, which is longer and arguably the toughest of the three? Or Pebble Beach, which presents some severely challenging holes along the water and might offer the fiercest winds? “I don’t think it really matters,� said Castro, who will move over to MPCC Friday. “Monterey is probably tougher in worse weather, but it is wide open.� Instead of analyzing which course presents what sort of challenge, Castro prefers to put his arms around the mental challenge that awaits. “To me, tough conditions help me turn my brain off,� he said. “When I was in college and playing in the rain, I was more likely to play on instincts, no analysis.� Nick Watney, who shot 73 at Pebble Beach, always falls back on a memory of something he read as a kid, “how Tom Watson said it was all about attitude, that if you complain about it or fret about it, you were in trouble.� Watson was famous for playing well in adverse conditions and Watney said players need to think that way. Branden Grace, last week’s runner-up at the Waste Management Phoenix Open and a player who prides himself on an ability to handle tough conditions, opened with a 5-under 67 at Pebble Beach and approaches Friday’s round at MPCC with enthusiasm. “It’ll be on my mind, just grind, be patient, be patient.� No worries, either, about what to wear. “A shipment (of clothes) arrived yesterday,� laughed the South African. “I’m all stuffed up.� Castro said he’s prepared, too. “In both directions,� he laughed. “Yesterday I had two layers on and I was too hot. The next few days I’ll have enough clothes on to go skiing.�

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SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Play Yellow, a program benefitting Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals (CMN Hospitals), announced today its newest brand ambassador Peter Malnati, winner on the PGA TOUR of the 2016 Sanderson Farms Championship. Peter and his family join Jack and Barbara Nicklaus and fellow TOUR professionals in support of Play Yellow and its mission to bring the entire golf world together to help the 10 million kids treated at local CMN Hospitals each year. Peter explains, “My wife and I have had the wonderful opportunity to visit Children’s of Mississippi and interact with the patients many times. I’m thrilled to be able to support the hospital here, and Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals more broadly as a Play Yellow ambassador. CMN Hospitals treat more than 10 million children each year, and the Play Yellow initiative supports every one of them. To be even a small part of such a powerful mission is a great honor for us.” Since 2013, the Sanderson Farms Championship has raised more than $9.1 million that has gone towards the Children’s of Mississippi capital campaign. Last November, Children’s of Mississippi celebrated the grand opening of the Kathy and Joe Sanderson Tower (joining the existing Batson Tower), an expansion with top-of-the-line equipment that will help to treat more than 180,000 sick children each year. The Sanderson Farms Championship raises money for Mississippi’s only children’s hospital, Children’s of Mississippi. Last year, the Championship raised $1.45 million – the most money raised in the history of the tournament. “We are proud to have Peter Malnati and his family join Play Yellow,” says Chad Phillips, SVP, Play Yellow. “Peter will be a force for good for the golf community that supports Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. We are excited to have his passion and drive to change kids’ health to change the future.” Launched in 2019 alongside Jack and Barbara Nicklaus and CMN Hospitals, Play Yellow strives to bring the entire golf world together and raise the critical funds needed by CMN Hospitals and the patients they serve. Like most nonprofits, children’s hospitals rely on donations. More kids need the specialized care that children’s hospitals provide than can afford it, creating a significant funding gap that donations help close allowing CMN Hospitals to put necessary dollars toward advancing and improving research, care, and treatments. Play Yellow brings golfers together for a good cause. Play Yellow was inspired by a family friend of Jack and Barbara Nicklaus named Craig Smith who was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma as a young teenager. As Craig battled cancer, Jack and Barbara looked to support him and his family. One way was for Jack to wear a shirt in Craig’s favorite color, yellow, which Craig said brought Jack luck from week to week. Over the years, Jack could be seen wearing yellow on tournament Sundays and major championship Sundays. Who can forget Sunday of the 1986 Masters Tournament when Jack wore a yellow shirt to honor Craig and went on to win his record sixth Green Jacket? Years later, Play Yellow was born. CMN Hospitals has raised more than $7 billion in unrestricted funds for 170 children’s hospitals across the United States and Canada. Changing kids’ health through children’s hospitals isn’t just about helping those in critical situations — it’s also about the research, preventative care, health and safety education that help build healthier communities. By improving medical treatments, equipment and facilities, children’s hospitals can not only address the most challenging health issues of our day, but also prevent and prepare for those to come. When we change kids’ health, we change the future — for all of us. About Play Yellow Play Yellow, a program benefitting Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, launched alongside Jack and Barbara Nicklaus, brings together the golf community to help the 10 million kids treated at Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals every year. Inspired by Jack’s family friend Craig, who was diagnosed with childhood cancer, and his lucky color yellow, Play Yellow engages golfers in raising critical funds for children’s hospitals. Through special events like Family Golf Day, local tournaments, corporate partners, and Play Yellow Sundays on the PGA TOUR, Play Yellow helps change kids’ health and change the future. For more information, visit playyellow.org and follow on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. About Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals® raises funds for 170 children’s hospitals that support the health of 10 million kids each year across the U.S. and Canada. Donations go to local hospitals to fund critical life-saving treatments and healthcare services, along with innovative research, vital pediatric medical equipment, child life services that put kids’ and families’ minds at ease during difficult hospital stays and financial assistance for families who could not otherwise afford these health services. When we improve the health of all children and allow them the opportunity to reach their full potential, we also improve our communities for years to come. Together, we can change kids’ health. Together, we can change the future. To learn about Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals and your local children’s hospital, visit cmnhospitals.org.

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AUSTIN, Texas – He was the last guy in the field. He wasn’t supposed to win. But despite being seeded 64th out of 64, or maybe because of it, Maverick McNealy made six birdies and thumped 14th-seeded Joaquin Niemann 8 and 6. The result made a perverse kind of sense at the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play. High seed? Low? Medium? Please. The numbers next to the names don’t matter. Or maybe they do. First-round matches Wednesday reminded us sometimes it’s easier to play as the underdog. “I loved the way I executed today,” said McNealy, who before Wednesday hadn’t played match play since the 2017 Walker Cup, where he went 4-0. “This is a good tournament; you don’t have to beat the whole field. You just have to beat the man in front of you.” Or beat him by a lot. McNealy/Niemann was easily the most lopsided match Wednesday, and far from the only victory for the guys whose seeds were deep in the double digits. Keith Mitchell (62) birdied three of the last six holes to tie Patrick Cantlay (4). English journeyman Richard Bland (54) salvaged a par-filled tie with Bryson DeChambeau (9). The seeds, which loosely mirror the Official World Golf Ranking, provide a framework by which we sometimes calibrate our amazement. But past results have told us that – all together now – anyone can beat anyone on any given day. That explains how Nick O’Hern beat Tiger Woods not once but twice in this tournament, and how another Australian, Peter O’Malley, the 64th seed, beat top-seeded Woods in 2002, perhaps the biggest upset in tournament history. Match play is fickle, and this event is darn near impossible to predict. But for a three-year stretch when this tournament played out as many expected, we forgot that. Top-seeded Rory McIlroy won it all in the first year of pool play, in 2015. No. 2 seed Jason Day won it the next year, and top-seed Dustin Johnson hoisted the trophy in 2017. All seemed orderly enough. Since then, however, the lower seeds have inherited the earth. Kevin Kisner, seeded 48th, won in 2019. After the pandemic wiped out the tournament in 2020, Billy Horschel, seeded 32nd, won last year. Low seeds have a history of success in this event, but it seemed particularly surprising that the average seed of the eight quarterfinalists was 32.75 last year, when lower-seeded players won more than half of the matches. “It seems like both of them, anything is going to happen,” said Scottie Scheffler, when asked to compare seeding for this tournament versus the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. “I would say it’s probably more likely for the 64 guy to beat the 1 guy in golf than it is in basketball.” You can say that again. Scheffler was seeded 30th last year but finished second. Already a two-time winner this season, he was seeded fifth this time and beat Ian Poulter (59th) 2 and 1. That match, at least, wound up being true to its seeds. Plenty others did not. Soon after the McNealy/Niemann match ended came another upset, at least on paper. Luke List, seeded 53rd, had defeated sixth-seeded Justin Thomas 3 and 2. List has one PGA TOUR victory, at the Farmers Insurance Open earlier this season. Thomas, who was coming off a T3 at the Valspar Championship, is a former world No. 1 with 14 TOUR wins. He beat List in a playoff at The Honda Classic four years ago. “I’m definitely the underdog,” said List, who never trailed, closing out the upset with a two-putt birdie at the par-5 16th hole. “Justin’s a great player and he played well last week, and he’s gotten the better of me in the past, so I wanted to get one on him.” The upsets kept coming. Alex Noren, seeded 50th, eeked out a 1-up victory over 10 seed Louis Ooshuizen. “I played this course in college, stroke play, and I didn’t like it because I didn’t play so good here,” Noren said after taking control of the match with two birdies and an eagle in the first five holes. “But then in match play I think it’s a great course.” Lucas Herbert (39) birdied the first three holes and beat Tony Finau (18), 4 and 3. “We played a lot of match play in Australia growing up,” Herbert said. Sergio Garcia (43) beat Jason Kokrak (22), 4 and 3. Si Woo Kim (48) beat Daniel Berger (17), 2 up. Were brackets busted? Not entirely, but they were a bit banged up. Thomas was a trendy pick to win it all in Austin – 71.8 percent of brackets had him emerging from Group 6 to the single-elimination phase – and while he still could, his path has narrowed. Only .6 percent of brackets had List coming out of Group 6. Just 5.87 percent of brackets had McNealy surviving group play, and while rolling terrain at Austin Country Club resembles the back nine at Stanford Golf Course, where he played collegiately, the big question coming into this week was whether McNealy would get to play it. When he flew to Texas on Sunday, he was keeping one eye on the Valspar Championship. He knew that if the tournament was won by Sam Burns, there was a chance Burns might WD from Austin. That’s what happened, opening the door for McNealy, who got the news while watching his brother Colt’s adult-league hockey game on Monday night. “I got the call that I was in, and five minutes after that he was on the ice when his team scored with 15 seconds on the clock to win 2 to 1,” McNealy said. “It was a good five minutes there.” What transpired Wednesday was more like a good three hours. McNealy told himself to take it one step at a time, focus on the match at hand, the shot in front of him. But if he keeps playing like this, it may not be long before he claims his first TOUR win. He could play his way into the upcoming Masters Tournament. He could soon be, gulp, the favorite in these matches. Not that anyone would want that.

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