THE NORTHERN TRUST, Round 1: Leaderboard, tee times, TV times

Justin Rose held off defending U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka to win the Fort Worth Invitational on Sunday.

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The cold weather state of Massachusetts has plenty of rich golf tradition (think Francis Ouimet, 1913, and Paul Azinger was born there), but it doesn’t turn out too many professionals on the PGA TOUR. Two Bay State natives decided to team up at this week’s Zurich Classic of New Orleans, and had some pretty strong results. Peter Uihlein, hot off his victory on the Korn Ferry Tour last week, joined up with Richy Werenski to tie the low round in Sunday’s foursomes format at the Zurich Classic. Even with a bogey at the par-3 17th hole, the pair made six birdies and would shoot 5-under 67 to climb 15 spots, all the way into third place at 19-under 269. (They would miss a playoff by one shot.) Only Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay matched their 67 on Sunday, which represented the low foursomes round of the week at Zurich. “It’s easy with a partner like Richy,” Uihlein said. “He drives it on a string and makes everything. So yeah, obviously I was playing well, I felt like foursomes was a pretty good game for us and coming into it we felt really good and we had a good game plan. I feel like we executed it pretty well.” Uihlein, 31, the 2010 U.S. Amateur champion and a player once ranked inside the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking, slowly has been working his way back into form after two seasons that didn’t meet his typical standards (he had one top-10 finish in 2019 and 2020). It was Uihlein’s second strong performance in Louisiana this year – he ran second at last month’s Korn Ferry’s Chitimacha Louisiana Open (67-67-66-67) as a build-up to winning last week at the Korn Ferry’s MGM Resorts Championship at Paiute, where he shot 16-under 272. Uihlein was born in New Bedford, and Werenski in Springfield. Uihlein played at Oklahoma State, and Werenski, a little younger, played collegiately at Georgia Tech. So, what brought the two together as a two-man team, outside of the state seal on their birth certificates and a love for the Red Sox? “We have a lot in common,” Uihlein said. “He just moved to South Carolina, but I knew him in Jupiter (Florida, where they both resided and played rounds together). We grew up playing with each other, and against each other, and we know each other’s games really well. Foursomes is more our style.” They paired very nicely in foursomes, posting a pair of rounds in the 60s in the difficult format. Werenski, 29, won his first PGA TOUR title last season when he captured the Barracuda Championship. Uihlein has always admired the way Werenski strikes it tee to green, and said Werenski’s solid putting helped to free him up this week. Werenski had a chuckle upon hearing Uihlein heap so much praise on his game. “He says I played good, but he carried the team,” Werenski said. “He knows it. But we had a great time. I love coming to this one, Louisiana is fun, so we had a great week, and looking forward to next year.”

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The PGA TOUR and Autograph, the web3 brand co-founded by Tom Brady, today announce a long-term deal to create a comprehensive “digital collectibles” NFT platform, revolutionizing golf fandom by allowing fans to celebrate their love of the game by owning a token of its storied history. The PGA TOUR will work with Autograph to create a digital collectibles platform that pulls from TOUR competition video, data, imagery and other competition-related components. Golf fans will have the opportunity to own and collect NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) featuring the best PGA TOUR golfers in the world as well as some of their favorite moments from the archives and the current FedExCup Season. Additionally, collectors will have a chance to earn rewards with a wide range of utility, including access to exclusive digital, in-person and onsite experiences, along with other program benefits. “The PGA TOUR is excited to work with Autograph to offer digital collectibles that highlight the most talented golfers in the world and their role in the sport’s history,” said Len Brown, PGA TOUR Chief Legal Officer, and EVP, Licensing. “The TOUR is continuously looking for innovative ways to engage fans to bring them closer to the game and their favorite players, so we’re thrilled to start building the future of golf fandom with the Autograph team.” “We are thrilled to expand our roster of iconic partners with the addition of the PGA TOUR as our first professional league,” said Richard Rosenblatt, co-founder and co-chairman of the board at Autograph. “Over the last year, we have defined the future of fandom by leveraging NFT technology to bring fans closer to the icons they love across sports, music and entertainment and each other. We look forward to unlocking new potential and offering our community exclusive access to the PGA TOUR team through this partnership.” “I’m very excited to be a part of this next chapter with Autograph and the PGA TOUR,” said Tiger Woods, who sits on Autograph’s Board of Advisors. “Enhancing the golf world with NFTs will create a connection between us as players and the fans.” The TOUR’s exclusive NFT Digital Collectibles platform with Autograph will launch in early 2023. To learn more and sign up for news and updates, visit autograph.io/pgatour.

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