The wild and windy history of Kiawah Island

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BLAINE, Minn. – Mardy Fish has an affinity for history. The accomplished tennis pro understands no professional athlete has competed in both an ATP event and a PGA TOUR event. Fish, winner of six ATP singles and eight doubles titles, is set to change that. The 40-year-old Minnesota native will compete in this week’s 3M Open on a sponsor exemption, making not only his TOUR debut, but marking the Association of Tennis Professionals’ debut on this stage. Professional golf has long drawn similarities to tennis for its meritocratic landscape, the concept of earning one’s success on a week-to-week basis. “It’s just like tennis,” Tiger Woods said of golf at last year’s Hero World Challenge. “You have to go out there and earn it.” Fish embraces the chance to earn success at TPC Twin Cities, as he follows the likes of high-level professional athletes like Stephen Curry and Tony Romo who have competed on the Korn Ferry Tour in recent years. Neither has been able to make a cut, although Curry sent shockwaves through the sporting world with an opening-round 71 at the 2018 Ellie Mae Classic at TPC Stonebrae. Fish has proven he can succeed in a competitive golf setting – he won the 2020 American Century Championship, a celebrity golf tournament that is nationally televised. He knows that a PGA TOUR event is a new stage, though, with new challenges. He looks forward to that challenge. “Steph (Curry) and I are real close, and so he was texting me out here,” Fish said on Tuesday. “He just said, look, do what you do, do you. He’s a really good golfer. We just sort of root for each other in these scenarios as well. “I certainly don’t expect to compete to win the tournament necessarily, but making the cut is something that I’m eyeing big-time. I’ve worked really hard during the last couple of months to get myself into this type of golf shape, long irons into par-4s and long holes and stuff like that. I’ve played golf my whole life, ever since I could stand, and so you’re just hitting a little white ball around. “Like how do you enjoy it and not play well, or how do you enjoy it and play great? It’s difficult to kind of compartmentalize like that. I hope I do. I know I do leading up to it, for sure, but once the tournament starts, you’ll kind of jump back into that mode and think that you’re as good as these guys out here, and I’m sure that’s what I’ll do.” Fish has deep roots in Minnesota – he spent the first five years of his life in the Minneapolis area, and his dad is an alum of the nearby University of Minnesota. He’s a Minnesota sports fan – Vikings, Twins and Timberwolves. He threw the ceremonial first pitch at a Twins game last month, describing it as a bucket-list activity. He has cultivated friendships with Vikings players like Kyle Rudolph and Adam Thielen. “They’re all Minnesota nice,” laughed Fish. Fish played competitive tennis, golf and baseball throughout his childhood. He stopped playing golf tournaments at age 14 as he turned his attention to tennis, but he never lost the bug. He enjoyed a Tuesday practice round at TPC Twin Cities with Rickie Fowler and Camilo Villegas, soaking in how the multi-time TOUR winners approach their preparations for a tournament. He played Wednesday’s pro-am alongside country singer-songwriter Jake Owen, who has also competed at the Korn Ferry Tour level. The stage now clears for Fish. He tees off at 9:02 a.m. CT Thursday, alongside Chase Seiffert and Seth Reeves. Two rounds are guaranteed, with the objective of earning a tee time on the weekend. “Excitement,” Fish said. “Humbleness. It’s special. It really is.”

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Mito Pereira showed incredible resolve in his pursuit of the PGA Championship. The Chilean, who was competing on the Korn Ferry Tour this time last year and started the week ranked 100th in the world, was playing just his second major championship. He took a one-stroke lead to the 18th hole Sunday and prepared to hit his preferred shot when he wants to find a fairway, a low, piercing fade. He knew immediately, though, that the shot was sailing too far right. He let go of the club in dismay, then watched as his ball bounded into the creek on the right side of the hole. That swing proved the difference, as Pereira missed the green long on his third shot, then chipped through the green from a gnarly lie in the rough. His 22-foot bogey try from the fringe failed to drop, and Pereira signed for a 5-over 75. He finished in a tie for third place at 4 under, one stroke shy of the playoff between Justin Thomas and Will Zalatoris. “On 18, I wasn’t even thinking about the water,” Pereira said. “I just wanted to put it in play, and I guess I aimed too far right. Obviously sad to be here and not in the playoff, not make par, just straight win. Today I was really nervous. I tried to handle it a little bit, but it’s really tough. I thought I was going to win on 18, but it is what it is. We’ll have another one.” Pereira also was just inches away from taking a two-shot lead to the last ho, as his birdie putt on 17 stopped just short of the hole. The third-place finish matched Pereira’s best of the season. He also finished third at the season-opening Fortinet Championship, his lone top-10 of the season before arriving at Southern Hills. He earned his first TOUR card by winning three times on the Korn Ferry Tour last season, becoming the first player since 2016 to earn a three-win promotion. The PGA Championship would have been his first PGA TOUR victory, however. Making his first major start since the 2019 U.S. Open, where he missed the cut, Pereira carded a second-round 64 at Southern Hills to enter the weekend one back of Zalatoris. After four bogeys in a five-hole stretch around the turn Saturday, some may have expected Pereira to fade into the background, but he rallied with three birdies in the final six holes in testy conditions to carry a three-stroke lead into Sunday at 9 under par. Southern Hills remained a stern test Sunday, and Pereira had done enough through 71 holes to maintain pole position, including several incredible up-and-downs. He was one stroke clear of Zalatoris and Thomas, who were both in the clubhouse, when he got to 18. The next time he holds this position, he’ll be better for it. “I thought I was nervous the first day,” reflected Pereira on Sunday afternoon. “Then I thought I was nervous on the second day. Then I thought I was nervous on the third day, but the fourth day was terrible. I mean, this morning was tough. “I just played it through and actually had a one-shot lead on 18, and that was pretty good, and sad to hit it in the water. I mean, I wish I could do it again … You’re in such a stressful situation, that everything (with the swing) can change. Just got to learn how to do it better. Keep training for it.”

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