Shriners Hospitals for Children Extends Tournament Sponsorship

RIO GRANDE, Puerto Rico — Ryan Brehm closed birdie-eagle for a 5-under 67 and the second-round lead Friday in the Puerto Rico Open. Brehm is making his final start on a minor medical extension and needs to win or finish second alone to retain status. He is the only player in the field bogey-free through 36 holes. “It would be wrong to say you don’t think about it, but realistically, since the beginning of this year we’ve just been trying to improve every day, every week,” Brehm said. “As long as we can do that, if we can take something away from each round, each situation, put some pressure on myself, we’re going to learn from it. Just enjoy the process of doing that really and we’re doing that.” Brehm birdied the par-4 17th and made a 30-footer for eagle on the par-5 18th to get to 11-under 133 at Grand Reserve. “It was kind of boring until the end,” said Brehm, winless on the PGA TOUR. “I feel like I had to scramble quite a bit, had some difficult up-and-downs, got them up-and-down, made a few good putts for par, kept the momentum going and finished birdie-eagle, Made a bomb on the last hole. You add it up, it’s pretty good.” Max McGreevy (64), Satoshi Kodaira (66) and Michael Kim (69) were a stroke back. Callum Tarren (65) was 9 under. Kim shared the first-round lead after a 65. Since winning the John Deere Classic in 2018, he has made only 15 cuts in 75 starts on the PGA TOUR, including one stretch of 25 consecutive events without making it to the weekend. He was No. 75 in the world when he won and now is at No. 1,030. “Obviously, it wasn’t as clean as yesterday, but got a few birdies to drop on the front nine,” Kim said. “Overall, satisfied with the round.” University of Oklahoma senior Chris Gotterup was 8 under after his second straight 68. Making his PGA TOUR debut, he won the Puerto Rico Classic collegiate event two weeks ago at Grand Reserve. “I’m just very comfortable on this course,” Gotterup said. “The par 5s are perfect for me and I can take advantage of it when I can. And when I’m out of position, I just try to keep it in play.” Puerto Rico native Rafa Campos shot a 68 to get to 6 under. “Overall, really happy with the round today,” Campos said. “Didn’t really hit the ball that well, but I’m really happy with how the ball rolled on the greens.” The event is being played opposite the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard in Orlando, Florida. The winner will receive a two-year exemption and gets in the PGA Championship.

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MELBOURNE, Australia – International Presidents Cup captain Ernie Els is hopeful a new world order is upon us for the 2019 Presidents Cup in Melbourne after several changes have been afforded to his team. Speaking at the announcement of Geoff Ogilvy as his first captain’s assistant for the biennial match up against the U.S. team Els believes things are on track for a turnaround after a huge run of American dominance. A year ago the U.S. team were comprehensive winners in New Jersey to the tune of 19-11, taking their record to 9-1-1 over the Internationals in the competition. But with their recent defeat in the Ryder Cup to Europe Els feels the door might be opening to finally wrestle back the ascendency come December 11-14, 2019. Changes he has already overseen in meetings with U.S. captain Tiger Woods and PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan include a new one-year points selection policy, rather than the old two-year system, ensuring his top eight automatic places are taken by players in form. Of course this means he now has four captains picks instead of the previous two, once again allowing flexibility into his lineup. Els has also been given more say in the golf course setup as the home team, and also gets to choose the order of play. Even catering has been changed, with Els given more flexibility to ensure all cultures and tastes in his side are looked after. “It feels a lot more positive. I spoke with Tiger in the room with Jay Monahan, just the three of us, and we went through a lot of stuff,â€� Els said. “I can now play a guy once before Sunday, which was never the case; a guy almost had to play every session. Tiger didn’t like that much, but I got it through eventually. I feel it’s a lot fairer and I think we’ve got a good shot at it now.â€� Els was also very vocal on the need to create a cauldron like atmosphere at Royal Melbourne and implored the local Australian fans to step up much like they did in 1998 when the lone International Team victory was secured. Having seen the intimidation like thunder clap in Paris a few months ago, Els wants something similar. “We really want the crowd behind us this time,â€� Els said. “I know our play will dictate the noise of the crowd, but if we can get them from that first shot, I know how intimidating it can be. “It’s going to be a feeling of when or if we lift the trophy, it’s for the Australian people. The Australian people are pulling us over the line. “We want to respect our visiting team, but we want to, at the end of the day, win and beat them and win the Cup back.â€� Els expects huge competition for spots on his team and signaled his captains picks are open to anyone who shows form and a hunger to be part of the squad. “I’m not going to have any problem having a motivated team next year,â€� he said. “I like spending time with them. I’m still playing a bit, so I’m going to play a lot with them and we’ll have a lot of meetings, a lot of talks and I’ll keep them exactly in the loop where I’m at, so I’ll really look forward to take them out to the first tee.â€�

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CARNOUSTIE, Scotland – Winning the Claret Jug is fun, especially when you produce the kind of amazing, frenetic finish he did last year at Royal Birkdale. But giving back the Claret Jug a year later during a pre-tournament ceremony that included a short drive in a futuristic concept vehicle, followed by a quick presentation while standing on the first tee? Kind of a drag. Or as Jordan Spieth put it, “It wasn’t an enjoyable experience.â€� Not that he’s complaining. It’s the price that must be paid for winning The Open Championship, a price Spieth would gladly pay every year if necessary. “The traditions of The Open are very special, even if you’re on the wrong end of that one,â€� he said. But while waiting there on Carnoustie’s first tee Monday in front of the curiosity seekers and tournament officials, it finally hit home that his reign as Champion Golfer of the Year is over. He had expected the transfer of the Claret Jug to be a simple behind-the-scenes process in the players’ parking lot after he pulled the black case from his car. He didn’t expect pomp and circumstance. “Because of that, it actually hit me harder,â€� Spieth said. “I was like, man, this was in my possession. I took it to all the places that allowed me to get to where I am today. My family was able to take it around. Members of the team were able to take it. “It’s the coolest trophy that our sport has to offer, so having to return that was certainly difficult. Kind of hit me a little bit there on the tee box.â€� Of course, he hopes it’s only a temporary loss of title. But that’s when another reality may factor in – his 52 weeks spent as Open champion also means it’s been 52 weeks since his last victory. It’s his longest calendar drought since he turned pro. In that time, he’s played 24 events worldwide — 22 of those on the PGA TOUR, with eight top 10s, including a couple of runner-up finishes in the FedExCup Playoffs last year. Mostly, though, it’s been a year of frustration, especially in 2018 due to struggles with his putter (he enters this week ranked 175th on TOUR in Strokes Gained: Putting). He’s been playing, in his words, “cut-line golf,â€� and his schedule has been a heavy one that drained him of energy. So getting away from the game for a few weeks has been nice. He followed his last start at the U.S. Open with a trip to Seattle to be with his sister Ellie, who participated in the Special Olympics USA Games. He also visited his caddie Michael Greller, who lives in the area. They went out to Chambers Bay, site of Spieth’s 2015 U.S. Open win, and relived some moments while walking the 18th hole. Spieth then went to Cabo San Lucas on a vacation with friends, much like last year (you may recall the photo of Spieth with other A-listers such as Michael Phelps, Michael Jordan, Russell Wilson and Fred Couples). They played a little bit of golf, nothing serious. Only last week did he get back to the grind of preparing for competitive action. “Nice to kind of have that itch to get back,â€� he said. “It was nice to kind of start from scratch, almost like wet concrete with parts of my game.â€� He’s hoping the reboot — along with a firm and fast Carnoustie course that expects to play different than most others in the Open rota do – will be the jumpstart he needs. “Coming to an Open Championship requires a lot of feel and imagination, and I think that’s what I needed a bit of in my game,â€� Spieth said. “I’d gotten very technical and very into making everything perfect instead of kind of the way I normally play. “This week kind of provides that opportunity where you don’t know how far the ball is necessarily going to go off the tee. You need to play the spots, and then you have to use your imagination from there – hold the ball, ride the wind, a lot of different scenarios based on where pins are and the distance that you have.â€� If this week comes down to a matter of making decisions, then Spieth can draw on good vibes from a year ago at Royal Birkdale. It was his decision to play from the driving range after his wayward tee shot at the 13th hole, and when all is said and done, it may go down as the best decision of his career. Spieth reviewed that decision on Monday, recalling that he overruled Greller, who was “pretty adamantâ€� about hitting a second tee shot. Instead, Spieth went through the process of exploring the scenarios afforded him. He opted to take an unplayable lie so he could go in line with the hole as far back as necessary. He asked if the driving range was out of bounds. It wasn’t, so he eventually an appropriate spot (after a free drop to avoid some trailers), and the yardage was close enough to reach the green. His ability to salvage a bogey completely shifted his mood, as he followed by playing the next four holes in 5 under to pull away from Matt Kuchar. “I looked like a different person – demeanor, player, everything,â€� Spieth said. Perhaps he’ll be a different player this week than the recent form he’s shown. That’ll would require improved putting, a bit more consistency off the tee, and not overthinking his decisions. He’s confident about getting back to a winning groove – but if it happens at Carnoustie, he’d rather it not be as dramatic as a year ago. “Even though it was so special the way it happened, that was more special for the writing and the story,â€� Spieth said about last year. “For me, I would’ve been more proud if I had made no bogeys and three birdies – and that would be the goal of what to do next time.â€�

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