The First Look: A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier

HONOLULU (AP) — Different islands, vastly different golf courses, same good play from Brian Harman. One week after Harman shared the 36-hole lead at Kapalua, he ran off three-straight birdies and closed with a 15-foot eagle putt for a 7-under 63 and a three-shot lead going into the weekend at the Sony Open. Harman was at 13-under 127, and no one could catch him on Friday afternoon. Chris Kirk, who shared the 18-hole lead with Harman, opened by pitching in from 25 yards for eagle on No. 10. He ended his day by driving into the canal on the easy par-5 ninth and making bogey for a 67. Kirk was three behind along with Zach Johnson (67), John Peterson (64), Tom Hoge (65) and PGA TOUR rookie Talor Gooch. Except for the tropical warmth, the two golf courses on the Hawaii swing are nothing alike. The Plantation Course at Kapalua was built on the side of the mountain on the west tip of Maui and features fairways that can stretch nearly 90 yards wide and big slopes in the greens. Waialae is at sea level — waist-high hedges along the 16th and 17th holes and behind the 11th green are all that separate grass from the beach — with smaller, flatter greens and fairways framed by trees. “The biggest elevation change here is from the walk down from the hotel,” Harman said. “I’ve always kind of felt like as long as there’s fairways and greens and holes to putt it, then I’m going to be fine.” The Georgia native is playing just as well on Oahu as he did on Maui. He surged ahead in the morning with two quick birdies on the back nine, made the turn in 32 and ran off three-straight birdies early on the front nine. After making his only bogey from a bunker on the par-3 seventh, Harman hit 7-iron from 172 yards to 15 feet on No. 9 for a closing eagle. It’s all just golf to him. “I’m making putts, but I’m also putting myself in position to make those putts,” he said. “I’m getting a bunch of looks. I’m not making everything I’m looking at, but I’m hitting a lot of good putts and made a few. I’m just going to show up tomorrow and try to hit the first tee shot best you can and go from there.” On another glorious day of sunshine and good scoring conditions, Johnson had a nine-hole stretch of eight pars and a bogey until a strong finish. He birdied the par-3 seventh and closed with an eagle to salvage a 67. Defending champion Justin Thomas was closer to the cut line than the lead until he made a trio of 8-foot putts — two for birdies, one for eagle — to close out a 67. He is seven shots behind. Jordan Spieth made the longest putt of his PGA TOUR career — just over 90 feet on No. 5 — but didn’t give himself many good looks. Spieth birdied the last hole for a 68 and is 10 shots behind. “I didn’t think I had enough club,” Spieth said of his long putt. “I considered hitting a lob wedge because I had something like 30 yards to the hole into the breeze.” The putt looked good all the way, though it had some pace. There was some debate among his two playing partners, Xander Schauffele and Daniel Berger, along with caddie Michael Greller on what would have happened had the ball not slammed into the back of the cup. “Xander said it was 4 or 5 feet by. Michael said 6,” Spieth said. “Berger said off the green.” Schauffele birdied his last four holes and was among those at 8-under 132, five shots behind. The cut was at 2-under 138. Harman still looks back to a key tournament last year. He played the Zurich Classic, a two-man team event, with Johnson Wagner and used Wagner’s Titleist golf ball during the alternate-shot portion. Harman put one in his bag the following week at the Wells Fargo Championship and won. The change wasn’t so much about distance as the way he was able to control the trajectory of the ball, especially in the wind. “The wind doesn’t seem to take it as much,” he said. “That’s just a personal thing for me. I feel like I did when I was a kid again. I felt like I was a better ball-striker when I was a kid. … I’m starting to get some of those feelings back.” Harman played in the final group last week and tied for third, though no one was about to catch Dustin Johnson. Peterson is playing on a medical extension because of hand surgery, and he has eight tournaments to make $375,165 (or earn 274 FedExCup points) to keep a full card the rest of the year. He doesn’t sound overly worried, which is not to suggest he’s overconfident. He has a 3-month-old son, one reason he decided to take the entire fall off before resuming his bid to keep his card. “If my attitude is good, I’m going to play good,” he said. “I’ve never been in a better spot lifestyle-wise than I am right now, so that probably has a lot to do with it. I’ve got eight events to make $350,000. If I do, great. If I don’t, who cares? I’m just out here free-wheeling.

Click here to read the full article…

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Daniel Berger was playing some of the best golf that no one noticed. Three months away because of the COVID-19 pandemic didn’t slow his momentum, and he made it pay off Sunday with a victory at Colonial. The PGA TOUR made a healthy return to golf at the Charles Schwab Challenge. Berger saved par from behind the 17th green on the first playoff hole and won when Collin Morikawa missed a 3-foot par putt. Berger closed with a 4-under 66, his 28th consecutive round at par or better dating to Oct. 11 at the Houston Open. Even over the final hour, a half-dozen players were still in the mix. All that was missing was the sound and energy of a gallery, with the PGA TOUR not allowing spectators for the opening five events in its return. Berger won for the third time — all victories during this week on the calendar, just not in circumstances like this. It was the first PGA TOUR event since March 12 when the spread of the new coronavirus shut down golf and other sports. From no positive tests to a dynamic finish at history-rich Colonial, PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan sized up the week by saying, “This has been a phenomenal start to our return.” Morikawa has been equally steady. Since graduating from Cal a year ago, he has won and made every cut, a streak now at 21 events, the longest streak by a newcomer since Tiger Woods. He took a share of the lead with a 50-foot putt on the 14th hole. It was the short ones that hurt. Morikawa also missed a birdie putt from 6 feet on the 18th hole in a 67. Berger was the only one who delivered, making a 10-foot birdie on the final hole that put him at 15-under 265. The last time Berger was in a playoff, Jordan Spieth holed a bunker shot to beat him at the Travelers Championship. So he could feel for what Morikawa felt int he loss. “It’s going to hurt for a little while, but he’ll get over it and he’ll be winning again,” Berger said. Even the optimism of being back to golf didn’t eliminate the sting, and more than Morikawa felt it. Xander Schauffele gave new meaning to the phrase “Horrible Horseshoe” at Colonial. He hit into the water on the 15th from a fairway bunker, hit a poor chip after the penalty shot and then made a 30-footer to escape with a bogey. He followed with a 25-foot birdie to regain a share of the lead. And then his 3-foot par putt on the 17th hole dipped in one side of the hole and spun out of the other. His 25-foot birdie putt to join the playoff came up just short and he shot 69. Bryson DeChambeau cringed when his 12-foot birdie putt on the 18th narrowly missed, giving him a 66 and leaving him one shot out of the playoff. Ditto for Justin Rose, whose 18-foot birdie on the last hole was a turn short. He also had 66. Jason Kokrak finished well ahead of everyone else. he also missed a birdie on the last hole in his round of 64. Spieth, trying to end three years without a victory, left with a consolation prize of progress. He missed a 2-foot par putt on the sixth hole — part of three bogeys in a four-hole stretch — but was still in the mix until a tee shot out of bounds on the 14th. Even then, he made a 35-foot putt to save bogey. He wound up with a 71 and tied for 10th. Rory McIlroy had seven straight tournaments no worse than fifth, a streak that came to a stunning halt. Starting the final round three shots behind, he was 5 over through seven holes and closed with a 74 to tie for 32nd. The final round was as wild as expected with eight players taking turns or sharing time in the lead, all without having any idea without fans to give a hint of what was going on. “If there are fans and everything with the ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs,’ I’d probably be a little more (ticked) off,” Schauffele said. “Maybe that’s a good thing for me right now. But it was definitely weird. It was sort of an internal battle, which it always is for me, but more so internal this week just with no fans.” Monahan conceded his biggest concern going into the week, even with its testing and safety procedure, was positive tests popping up. “That’s something, candidly, that I lost a lot of sleep over in the weeks that preceded coming in,” he said. All 487 tests at Colonial were negative, and the golf lived up to its part with a star-filled leaderboard and a half-dozen players still in the mix the final hour. Next up is the RBC Heritage at Hilton Head on the South Carolina coast, and Monahan said the first week won’t be complete until then to see how players handled the interstate travel. Those on the charter were tested for the new coronavirus after the third round. Everyone else would be tested when they arrived at Hilton Head. “This is about a sustained return,” Monahan said. “But I think as we sit here late in the day Sunday, there’s no question that this has been an exceptional week.”

Click here to read the full article…

BROOKLINE, Mass. – There were 9,265 entries accepted for this year’s U.S. Open at The Country Club. Some players earned spots in the field through various exemption categories based on FedExCup finish, the Official World Golf Ranking, victories at prestigious events, etc. Others earned their spot through the unique meritocracy of qualifying. The enduring beauty of the U.S. Open is that any player with a 1.4 handicap or better can make the field for this major championship. In 2005, Jason Gore earned a spot in Sunday’s final group at Pinehurst No. 2 as a near-anonymous journeyman pro. Ten years ago, Beau Hossler held the solo lead Friday at Olympic Club as a rising high school senior. Who could author a similar story this week? Here’s five potential Cinderellas at The Country Club. ERIK BARNES A 36-hole U.S. Open qualifier didn’t faze the eighth-year Korn Ferry Tour pro. Barnes, 34, knows what it means to work a double shift. During pro golf’s hiatus in the spring of 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Barnes took a job at a Publix supermarket as a Grocery Replenishment Specialist (stocking shelves) to support his family – wife Ashleigh and two young sons, Jaxton and Tucker. Five days a week, the Indiana native woke up at 3 a.m. He worked from 4 a.m. – 1 p.m. at the grocery store, then headed to the golf course to practice. “Could I have filed for unemployment and got what I’m making at Publix? Yeah, probably,” Barnes said at the time. “But I needed to take action and do it right now.” Playing on conditional status at the time, Barnes made a quick impact once the hiatus was lifted, recording back-to-back top-15 finishes to boost his spot in the Priority Ranking and play a full season. He has played the best golf of his career in 2022, making 14 of 15 cuts to begin the Korn Ferry Tour campaign and secure his first TOUR card for next season. This week, he gets a sneak preview of life on golf’s biggest stage. FRAN QUINN Fran Quinn has been grinding as a pro golfer for three decades. He’s won four times on the Korn Ferry Tour but also traversed the globe, including stops in Africa and Asia, in search of places to play. Just 71 of his starts as a pro have been on the PGA TOUR. His 72nd may be the most memorable of them all, however. The 57-year-old’s endurance and perseverance will pay off this week, with a moment that he will never forget in front of friends and family. The Massachusetts native will be the first man to tee off of No. 10 Thursday (fellow Massachusetts native Michael Thorbjornsen, an amateur who made the cut in the 2019 U.S. Open, will do the honors off of No. 1). Quinn, 57, hadn’t attempted U.S. Open Final Qualifying since 2015 but the opportunity to compete this week in his home state was too good to pass up. Making the field may have been a longshot but he had to try. With the encouragement of his son Owen, and The Country Club’s location just 40 minutes from his hometown of Holden, Massachusetts, he sent in his application. The four-time Korn Ferry Tour winner advanced through both Local and Final Qualifying, punctuated with a birdie on the second extra hole of an 8-for-3 playoff at the Purchase, New York, site to secure his first U.S. Open berth since 2014. In his most recent U.S. Open appearance, at Pinehurst No. 2, Quinn generated buzz with an opening-round 68 that placed him T2 at day’s end. With Owen on the bag, he made the cut and enjoyed a memorable Father’s Day walk. It would have marked a sufficient farewell to the major championship arena. Now he has upped the ante, with a moment he only could have dreamed of. KEITH GREENE Golf Channel was on hand for the Jupiter, Florida, site of Final Qualifying, and when the broadcast cut to an interview with Keith Greene, many fans didn’t think much of it. But as Greene became teary-eyed upon explaining what this opportunity meant to him, he instantly gained legions of new fans. Kevin Kisner even tweeted at Greene with interest in setting up a practice round. Greene, 29, played collegiately at Eastern Florida State College and has competed on various mini-tours with limited success. He has made 12 career starts across PGA TOUR Canada and PGA TOUR Latinoamerica, with just one made cut to show. The seventh-year pro has yet to make a PGA TOUR or Korn Ferry Tour start. On his TOUR profile, Greene notes a favorite quote is “hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard.” Perhaps channeling that spirit, the Florida native has earned the right to tee it up against the world’s best this week. “I’ve just believed so much in myself … it’s just been hard, man,” Greene said upon qualifying, his voice breaking. “The family’s there, though. I’m just trying to do what I can out here, and I know I’ve got it. Competition’s so good, but I know I can do it.” Professional golf is incredibly deep. This week, Greene will aim to prove that. ISAIAH SALINDA Salinda’s parents worked long hours for decades to give their son every chance to chase his dreams. His dad Antonio has spent three-plus decades in the postal service in San Francisco, and his mom Debbie is a longtime nurse. Salinda played collegiately at Stanford, helping the Cardinal to the 2020 NCAA title, and he advanced through PGA TOUR Canada Q-School in March 2020 — just before the COVID-19 pandemic hiatus. Without a place to play for a while, his timeline was delayed. He finished T21 at PGA TOUR Canada’s Royal Beach Victoria Open the day before competing at 36-hole Final Qualifying in Bend, Oregon, where he carded 8 under to earn one of three available spots. Salinda competed in the 2019 Walker Cup and was a second-team All-American as a senior. Now he’ll tee it up in his first major championship. CHRIS GOTTERUP After a disappointing exit in the NCAA Championship quarterfinals, Gotterup wouldn’t have been blamed for taking a few days to relax before commencing his professional career. But the New Jersey native – who played a fifth year for Oklahoma after four years at Rutgers – recalibrated mentally and traversed from the NCAA Championships in Phoenix to attempt U.S. Open Final Qualifying in Purchase, New York. The recent Haskins Award winner (recognizing the United States’ top collegiate golfer) didn’t miss a beat, carding 3 under at a pair of demanding courses to earn his first major championship start. Gotterup, 22, finished No. 7 on the 2022 PGA TOUR University Ranking presented by Velocity Global. He’s expected to get a handful of PGA TOUR starts this summer, as well (he missed the cut last week in the RBC Canadian Open). He’s already finished in the top 10 in a PGA TOUR event, the Puerto Rico Open, this year. He has seen what success looks like at various levels. Now he’ll put it to the test at the highest level.

Click here to read the full article…