Xander Schauffele won an Olympic gold medal he badly wanted by overcoming more pressure than he could have imagined Sunday.
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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – The PGA TOUR today announced an expanded 2019-20 Season schedule of 49 FedExCup tournaments, featuring a dramatically changed opening segment and several late-season adjustments to accommodate the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo. The schedule reflects a net increase of three tournaments over the current season. 11 of the 46 Regular Season events will be conducted in the opening portion of the schedule between September-November. This segment includes two new tournaments in The ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP in Japan and the Bermuda Championship, plus the return of A Military Tribute at the Greenbrier and the Houston Open following one-year absences due to their transition from 2018 mid-season dates. Later in the season, the TOUR will have an open week during the men’s Olympic competition (week of July 27-August 2) before resuming with the Wyndham Championship and three FedExCup Playoffs events. Several changes also have been made leading up to the Olympics, most notably: the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit moving one month earlier to late May; and the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational and Barracuda Championship shifting from late July to the first week of the month, exchanging dates with the 3M Open in Blaine, Minnesota. “After a very successful first year with our new schedule, we are thrilled to expand the number of events to 49 while maintaining a great flow from start-to-finish, allowing our fans to better engage and follow the TOUR throughout the season,� said PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan. “For the second year, we’re excited about kicking off the Season of Championships with THE PLAYERS in March, bookended by the FedExCup Playoffs in August, and the return of the Olympics in that window. As for the early-season portion of the schedule, our players grasp the importance of a strong start in the Race for the FedExCup and this has translated into growth and momentum for the events played in the fall.� With the PGA TOUR season now ending in August at the TOUR Championship, the 2019-20 season will open the week of September 9-15 with A Military Tribute at the Greenbrier. The Sanderson Farms Championship follows with its first-ever standalone date (September 16-22), before the TOUR moves on to the Safeway Open, Shriners Hospitals for Children Open and Houston Open. The TOUR then embarks on a three-tournament Asian swing, beginning October 14-20 with THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES at Jeju Island, Korea. The ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP debuts at Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club in Chiba Prefecture October 21-27, followed by the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions in Shanghai, China, the week of October 28-November 3, which also marks the debut of the Bermuda Championship at Port Royal Golf Club in Southampton. Following a week off, the TOUR continues the 2019 segment at the Mayakoba Golf Classic in Playa del Carmen, Mexico (November 11-17) before concluding with The RSM Classic. While that marks the end of FedExCup competition until the first week of January 2020, the 13th Presidents Cup returns to The Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Australia the week of December 9-15. It was there that the International Team claimed its lone victory over the U.S. Team in 1998. Once the TOUR resumes in January in Hawaii, the scheduling sequence remains unchanged from the current season until the Rocket Mortgage Classic’s move from the last week of June to May 25-31. The next four weeks remain the same before the move of the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational and Barracuda Championship to June-29-July 5 and the 3M Open to July 20-26, the week before the Olympic competition. Following the Olympic Games, the Regular Season wraps up at the Wyndham Championship (August 3-9), where not only the FedExCup Playoffs field will be finalized, but the added drama of the season-long Wyndham Rewards Top 10 will be determined. Introduced this season, the $10 million competition caps the Regular Season by rewarding the 10 leaders in FedExCup points, with $2 million going to the winner. Due to the off week for the Olympics, the FedExCup Playoffs will begin one week later and conclude the final week of August: THE NORTHERN TRUST August 10-16; BMW Championship August 17-23; and the TOUR Championship August 24-30. The FedExCup Playoffs wrap up the Season of Championships, which begins with THE PLAYERS Championship (March 9-15) and continues through the Masters Tournament (April 6-12); PGA Championship (May 11-17); U.S. Open (June 15-21); and The Open Championship (July 13-19). Several new or familiar venues are included during this stretch, beginning with the PGA Championship visiting TPC Harding Park in San Francisco, the U.S. Open returning to Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York, and The Open Championship going to Royal St. George’s Golf Club in Sandwich, England. Additionally, THE NORTHERN TRUST will be held for the first time in the Boston market at TPC Boston in Norton, Massachusetts, while the BMW Championship will visit Olympia Fields Country Club in suburban Chicago. About PGA TOUR By showcasing golf’s greatest players, the PGA TOUR engages, inspires and positively impacts our fans, partners and communities worldwide. The PGA TOUR co-sanctions more than 130 tournaments on the PGA TOUR, PGA TOUR Champions, Korn Ferry Tour, PGA TOUR Latinoamérica, Mackenzie Tour-PGA TOUR Canada and PGA TOUR Series-China. Members on the PGA TOUR represent the world’s best players, hailing from 27 countries (90 members are from outside the United States). Worldwide, PGA TOUR tournaments are broadcast to 226 countries and territories in 23 languages. Virtually all tournaments are organized as non-profit organizations to maximize charitable giving. In 2018, tournaments across all Tours generated a record $190 million for local and national charitable organizations, bringing the all-time total to $2.84 billion.
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – The blood was pumping in his ears as he felt the eyes of the world drill into him. Somewhere in the distance, he heard laughter. Russell Knox had been climbing the leaderboard when he hit his tee shot in the water at the par-3 17th in the third round of THE PLAYERS Championship last year. Then he hit a second one in the drink, and a third. He finally made a 9. The gaffe sent him spiraling out of contention, from 8 under and tied for fifth place to 2 under and — well, it didn’t matter anymore. “The green felt like it was the size of a quarter,” he said afterward. Whatever else you want to say about THE PLAYERS — best field in golf, toughest tournament to win — it is also a theater of human frailty. One minute you’re in contention, the next you’re in a YouTube video. Knox agonized. Then he shrugged. Finally, he laughed. “I’d just thrown myself out of the tournament, so it was either react the way I did or be miserable in front of the local fans,” he says now. “I took the ‘make fun of myself’ approach.” His sense of humor helped, but so did the fact that he wasn’t alone. Not hardly. On Friday, Anirban Lahiri came to the 18th hole at even par and about to make the cut. He promptly pumped three balls in the water and made a 10 to miss by a mile. A single lapse at THE PLAYERS can escalate into utter chaos anytime, but especially on the weekend, when the cameras and other distractions multiply, and hazards (and the $1.89 million winner’s check) loom larger. This year there’s even more treachery on the back nine: water left of the short par-4 12th, where some will try to drive the green, which tilts toward the trouble — as if there isn’t already enough of it on this confounding Pete Dye course. ‘Wall of death’ In the third round in 2011, Graeme McDowell took a three-shot lead to the 18th hole. With a par to close out his round, which was being completed Sunday morning due to weather delays, he would add a sparkling 66 to early rounds of 67-69. Then it all went wrong. “I hit it about a yard in the right rough,” McDowell says. “The pin was in that middle-right spot and I couldn’t get to it, so I pitched my ball right on the front edge of the green, right where you’re supposed to, and there’s this wall of death there, this tier, and it went across the green and in the water and I made double. It’s still one of the worst breaks of my career. “I went from being three ahead to one ahead,” McDowell adds. “An hour and a half, two hours later I came out so deflated for the last round and had a really bad day.” McDowell shot a final-round 79 to finish T-33. Rory McIlroy says he learned the hard way to curb his aggressive instincts, missing the cut at TPC Sawgrass in his first three starts in 2009, 2010 and 2012. “I’ve definitely limited the amount of drivers I’ve hit,” McIlroy says, noting that the Stadium Course features several pinch points at 300 yards. Although his driving has historically set him apart, he adds, he’s had to come to terms with “hitting the ball in the same positions as everyone else off the tee and then trying to beat them in from there. It’s that sort of golf course.” McIlroy’s results since he accepted that fact: T-8, T-6, T-8, T-12. He also made the cut this week and hopes to chase down the leaders on the weekend. “You have to plot your way around,” says Chez Reavie, who shot 68-72 in the first two rounds this week and is in contention to win on the PGA TOUR for the first time since the 2008 RBC Canadian Open. “You can miss by two yards and it kicks down and you’ve got no chance. The biggest thing is when you’re in trouble, just hit the shot to get you out of trouble instead of trying the miracle shot. Just take your bogey.” Of course that is easier said than done, especially at the 17th hole, where there’s no place to miss on its island green. Of those who have played the 17th at least eight times, just five of the 146 players in this PLAYERS field came into the week having never missed it: Graham DeLaet (16 of 16), Daniel Summerhays (14), Scott Brown (12), David Lingmerth (8) and Reavie (8). DeLaet increased his streak to 18 after the first two rounds; alas, he missed the cut. Think of 17, though, and you probably don’t think of those names. Instead, you recall the fates of Len Mattiace (8 in 1998), Sean O’Hair (7 in 2007) and Sergio Garcia (7 in 2013), all of whom wrecked their title chances there in the final round. Or Knox, who suffered his memorable disaster in the penultimate round last year. Sometimes tragic, always expensive, their wipeouts at the slickest turn on the track were above all unforgettable. As a rule, the closer the player is to the lead — and the closer he is to the finish line — the faster and more indelibly it goes into PLAYERS lore if he crashes. Bob Tway was four off the lead when he made a record 12 on the hole in the third round in 2005. It was a hole to forget, but it could have been worse. He could have been playing the final round, in the lead, with every deep breath and nervous fidget being broadcast around the globe. ‘There’s no bailout’ In the board game Scrabble, it is said that two-letter words are “the glue of the game.” Similarly, short putts are “the glue of the game” for players trying to keep it together under extreme pressure, says 1999 PLAYERS champion and Golf Channel analyst David Duval. “Probably the 14th,” Duval says, when asked if there was a hole where he felt he was on the verge of potentially falling apart. “I was struggling. I don’t remember what all happened on every shot, but I ended up making like a 5-footer for bogey. I’m over it, I’m basically like, If you want to win this tournament, you’ve got to make this putt. “And you have to make them through the week. You can’t let the 4- and 5-footers get away from you here because you have a lot of them — for birdie, for par and for bogey. If you miss one or two for the week, that’d be about it. After that, you’re not going to win.” Adam Scott remembers the 10-foot bogey putt that won him THE PLAYERS in 2004. “You’ve got to manage yourself so well at Sawgrass, whether you’re playing good, bad or indifferent, because there are a lot of big numbers that can happen,” says Scott, who is within reach of the lead entering Saturday at 2 under (70-72). “You’ve got to play very smart, play within yourself the last two or three holes. It’s brutal through there because there’s no bail-out.” In 2004, Scott, then 23, led by as many as five shots in the final round. Then, playing well ahead of Scott, Padraig Harrington finished with six 3s to shoot 66. “All of a sudden,” Scott says, “my cruising around with a four-shot lead became two.” He bogeyed 14 and missed the green at 15, his ball nestling into a grassy hole left of the green, but he chipped it tight to save par. “A huge relief,” he says. Alas, the relief was short-lived. For all of the publicity 17 has gotten over the years, 18 is arguably harder. Water beckons on the tee shot, and for players who hit dry land but wind up in the right rough, water beckons again on the second shot. Scott hit what he calls “a beautiful 2-iron off the tee, which was way forward back then, and had about 200 yards in to that back pin.” He tried to chase a 6-iron onto the green and came over the top of it, his ball splashing down in the water as the crowd gasped. Now he looked like he was headed for a final-hole double-bogey to tie Harrington at 11-under 277, forcing a playoff. “At those times,” Scott says, “you’ve got to somehow think to yourself, wow, if somebody gave me a chip and a putt to win THE PLAYERS, I’d be pretty chuffed with that.” He gathered himself, remembered to breathe, and from 39 yards got up and down for bogey to win. For the weekend leaders at THE PLAYERS Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass, where watery doom lurks at every turn, the highest form of living can be simply refusing to die.
Editor’s note: Ernie Els has been writing a blog in 2017 and this is his most recent installment. For more information on the World Golf Hall of Famer, visit www.ernieels.com. Before we get on and discuss this week’s tournament on the PGA TOUR, there are a few other items of news that deserve a mention. First of all, big congrats to Jason Dufner at The Memorial. It’s good to see him back in the winner’s circle. Needless to say, it was disappointing to not be able to play at Muirfield Village in what is one of my favourite tournaments of the year, but Liezl and I were attending the school graduation ceremony for our daughter Samantha. Those type of occasions happen only once in a lifetime and no parent wants to miss that. It was a special day. We then all enjoyed a nice weekend at home together. On Monday morning we had a captains’ visit to Liberty National Golf Club, which as you’ll know is the venue for this year’s Presidents Cup. There was some serious business to discuss – specifically, how we go about winning back the trophy after way too long now! But it was also a fun day and great to spend some time with the guys. Of course, Nick and me go way back and it’s an honor that he named me as one of his captains’ assistants. It’s a role that I’m keen to embrace 100 percent. I do think it’s going to be an unreal Presidents Cup. I mean, to be at Liberty National with those wonderful views of the financial district and the rest of Manhattan, it’s such a unique venue, and the energy that comes out of that place is just crazy. I think it’s going to be a terrific week. So, let’s return to the ‘day job’ and this week’s FedEx St. Jude Classic at TPC Southwind in Memphis. You’d be right in saying this is the final tune-up for the U.S. Open, but this is also undoubtedly a fine tournament in its own right. I’m looking forward to teeing it up here and trying to build further on some of my recent good play at the AT&T Byron Nelson and the BMW PGA Championship over in the UK. Let’s see how we go. It will actually be only my third appearance in the FedEx St. Jude Classic, having made my debut back in 1995 when it was played the week after the U.S. Open, not the week before as it is now. I played here last year also. It’s an historic tournament going back over half a century and it has a great sponsor that is obviously hugely committed to golf here in the U.S. As with every tournament these days on the PGA TOUR, there’s a strong charitable ethos. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital helps find cures for children with cancer and other life-threatening diseases and over the years this tournament has helped raise more than $33 million for the cause. You have to applaud that. Follow me on Twitter @TheBig_Easy.
