Stephen Curry to play Web.com Tour’s Ellie Mae Classic

Home favorite Adri Arnaus won a six-hole playoff to beat Oliver Bekker at the Catalunya Championship and claim his first European tour win on Sunday.

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Tiger Woods memorabilia continues to be a hot seller this year. The latest example came Sunday, after a Scotty Cameron signed by Woods sold at auction for more than $300,000. The signed Scotty Cameron ‘Red Dot’ Newport 2 is the same model Woods used to win 14 of his 15 majors. This putter is said to have been made as a backup for Woods’ gamer before being signed by him at a 2005 fundraiser for the Tiger Woods Learning Center and auctioned off. Woods usually tested the backups to ensure they were to his liking but confirming that he used them is difficult because he did so in private. The signature ensures that Woods handled this putter, however. Before being auctioned this year, it was owned for the past 17 years by the same person who bought it at that 2005 fundraiser. The putter sold for $328,577, just a few months after the set of irons purported to be used by Woods in the famous Tiger Slam of 2000-01 went for more than $5 million. Four backup putters belonging to Woods have been sold at auction before this one, and this signed Cameron fell just short of the highest bid for any of those clubs. Another Woods backup sold in August 2021 for $393,000. The first one sold in 2015 for $29,000, according to Golf Digest, and another sold three years later for $44,000. In 2020, another Woods backup fetched $154,928. “The golf collecting industry has traditionally lagged behind other sports. But that’s been changing in a big way as collectors race to acquire the best Tiger Woods items,” said Ryan Carey, owner of Golden Ague Auctions, which hosted the bidding. “Over the past year, Tiger Woods has become his own collecting category. Collectors are starting to treat him and collect him like other GOATs – Michael Jordan, Tom Brady and Mickey Mantle.” This auction, which closed Sunday, also included another Scotty Cameron putter made for Woods ($86,525) and a wedge used by Woods ($39,816). Arnold Palmer’s “Old Faithful” putter was the auction’s second-costliest item, going for $126,680, followed by the Woods putter and Dwight Eisenhower’s clubs, which went for $59,731. Items from the auction can be viewed here.

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Danny Lee … He’s coming off a T20 at the RBC Canadian Open, which was his fourth top 20 of the season, but he hasn’t connected top 20s in 13 months. It’s a dry spell that’s projected to end this week as the Kiwi recorded top-15 finishes in the last two editions of the Travelers Championship with consecutive 10-under 270s. Toss in a T25 in his previous visit in 2015 and his scoring average in his last 12 competitive rounds at TPC River Highlands is 67.75. Aaron Baddeley … The Aussie has been among the most loyal to the tournament since he joined the PGA TOUR in 2003. In 13 appearances, he’s survived nine cuts, the best a solo fourth in 2014. While he missed last year’s cut after appearing in Sleepers, that comfort level will greet an uptick in form this season, so there’s even more reason to be hopeful. Saddled with the pressure of conditional status, he’s answered with a pair of top fives among six top 25s to lock up his card for 2019-20. What hasn’t changed is his strength with the shortest clubs in his bag. One of the best of his generation on the greens, he ranks ninth in strokes gained: putting and fourth in scrambling. Anirban Lahiri … Like Badds, the native of India competed in last week’s U.S. Open. As of Monday, exactly one-third of the field of 156 at the Travelers Championship made the trip from Pebble Beach. Unlike Badds, Lahiri has shifted it into reverse this season. With only one top 25 in individual competition, he’s 169th in the FedExCup standings. With his pressure to perform as the finish line nears, he can tap into the feels of a T17 in 2017 and a T9 last year at TPC River Highlands. His scoring average in those eight rounds is 67.75. Sebastian Muñoz … The 26-year-old from Colombia is faring much better in his second spin with a PGA TOUR card than his rookie season of 2016-17, but he’s proven twice on the Web.com Tour that he’s capable by finishing inside the top 25 on the money list in both of his full seasons. Currently 117th in the FedExCup with four top 25s, including in his last two starts. Placed T10 at Trinity Forest where he ranked 10th in strokes gained: putting, and then posted a T11 at Hamilton G&CC where he finished T11 in greens hit and 18th in strokes gained: putting. In between, he kept warm on the Web with a T7 at the REX Hospital Open (T3 in GIR). José de Jesús Rodríguez … There hasn’t been a lot to celebrate this season for the 38-year-old rookie from Mexico, but he’s one week removed from a career-best T14 at the RBC Canadian Open. That followed a T21 at the Web.com Tour’s REX Hospital Open. He’ll need a strong week tee to green, but TPC River Highlands is the shortest course on the PGA TOUR that serves as a singular host. That suggests that his fantastic putting can be a game-changer. Currently 36th on TOUR in strokes gained: putting and 11th in conversion percentage inside 10 feet. NOTE: Sleeper is a relative term, so Rob uses unofficial criteria to determine who qualifies. Each of the following usually is determined to be ineligible for this weekly staple: Winners of the tournament on the current host course; winners in the same season; recent major champions; top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking; recent participants of team competitions.

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