Thomas in three-way tie at Tour Championship

LA QUINTA, Calif. — Austin Cook played a six-hole stretch in 6 under and shot an 8-under 64 in breezy conditions Saturday to take the lead at the CareerBuilder Challenge. Cook began the run at La Quinta Country Club with birdies on Nos. 4-5, eagled the sixth and added birdies on No. 7 and 9 to make the turn in 6-under 30. After a bogey on the 10th, he birdied Nos. 11, 12 and 15 and saved par on the 18th with a 20-footer to take a 19-under 197 total into the final round on PGA West’s Stadium Course. He won at The RSM Classic in Sea Island in November for his first PGA TOUR title. Fellow former Arkansas player Andrew Landry and Martin Piller were a stroke back, and Jon Rahm and Scott Piercy were 17 under.

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Rory McIlroy calls Seminole Golf Club the greatest course that famed designer Donald Ross ever created – and Ross designed a lot, nearly 430 courses. Dustin Johnson says he feels like he can tear it up every time he plays — only to be constantly put in his place. History and intrigue drips from the place. This is where Ben Hogan would unwind and also tune up for the Masters every year in his prime. “Seminoleâ€� is one of those words in the wider golf community that pricks up every ear. Those who have been and played have great stories and those who haven’t want to go. RELATED: Fans at home will be able to contribute to TaylorMade Driving Relief’s COVID-19 relief efforts thanks to PGA TOUR Charities’ online and Text-To-Give donation platforms powered by GoFundMe Charity. Click here to donate. MORE: How it works | Power Rankings | Expert Picks | Similarities run deep for Fowler, Wolff | Rory, DJ at the forefront of golf’s paradigm shift While other courses such as Augusta National and Cypress Point have a similar aura, people have at least been able to see those on television in the past. Meanwhile, Florida’s Seminole Golf Club has been hidden away from view and the legend grows with each tidbit of a story you hear. So while there is no doubt that anticipation for any live sport is about as high as possible thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, the fact that Seminole is going on display in Sunday’s TaylorMade Driving Relief charity skins match has taken it to even greater heights. McIlroy and Johnson are preparing to take on Rickie Fowler and Matthew Wolff in support of COVID-19 relief efforts with all four combatants knowing the course itself brings as much intrigue as the competition. Fowler likens Seminole to another Ross gem – Pinehurst No. 2 – and knows that while the other pairing might have a power advantage, this course is more about precision on approach and a sharp short game. Each hole finds a way to work into a different wind, which given the close proximity to the Atlantic Ocean, can be a daunting prospect “I love Seminole. It’s just a fun golf course to play,â€� Fowler beams. “You’re going to see us having some fun off the tee and then from there is where things will get separated on approach shots and putting. “It’s very much a second-shot or approach-shot golf course. I’d say it’s fairly forgiving off the tee but how the greens are kind of designed, they’re pretty good-sized. But as far as where you can land the ball and keep the ball on the green … it’s kind of similar to a Pinehurst No. 2 in a way. “A lot of balls will roll and feed off, whether it’s back down through the fairway into bunkers, and that’s where it can get tough, especially if the wind is up.â€� Fowler’s partner, PGA TOUR young gun Wolff, has played the course just a handful times. But he saw enough to know he better bring his best short game. “The greens are extremely difficult. They’re very sloped, a lot of subtle breaks, and I’ve even heard that people putt the ball often off the green and into bunkers,â€� Wolff says. “I don’t think you’re going to see that from us, but it’s definitely something that I think putting is a huge advantage there.â€� In fact, McIlroy admits to putting off the green in a recent practice round. “I putted off the fifth green from about 30 feet,â€� the FedExCup champion says, proving even the best can be tamed by Seminole. “If the wind gets up and the greens are as fast as they were last Friday … birdies might be hard to come by, but there are going to be some chances. “Seminole is going to be a treat for everyone to see on TV. I think it’s Donald Ross’s greatest course he ever designed. He had a wonderful piece of land beside the Atlantic Ocean, and it has some of the best green complexes in the world in terms of the thought that needs to go into playing your second shots and then just how thoughtful you need to be on the greens and around the greens.â€� PGA TOUR senior tournament referee Stephen Cox says the setup on Sunday will be true to Seminole’s best features. While social distancing and other protocols will be in full effect to ensure the safest possible scenarios, Cox is confident the viewers will see Seminole in a great light. “We’re very, very lucky to have the likes of [head pro] Bob Ford on-site. He and I are going to work very closely to set up the golf course in a way befitting an event of this style and showcase some of the fun hole locations that Seminole has to offer,â€� Cox says. “There’s a genuine excitement about seeing Seminole. It’s not been broadcast to the worldwide audience before, so this is a new unique opportunity for people around the world to get a glimpse and to see such an American treasure.â€� Johnson is hoping he can finally get one over the course he says keeps enticing him back before finding ways to shut him down. “Seminole is a special place, and fortunately for us we live right down the street from it. I’ve gotten to play it quite a few times, and it’s a course you always enjoy playing. It’s got tons of history,â€� the 20-time PGA TOUR winner says. “When you first get there and you look at it, you think, OK, I should tear this place up, but then when you get done playing, you add your score up and it’s never very good, especially because the greens are always so fast, it’s a little windy … I always struggle there. “Obviously with no live sports really on right now, I think the world needs something to watch, so hopefully we can go out and put on a good show. We’re raising a lot of money for people who really need it, so it’s great to be a part of that, and I think we’re all really looking forward to it.â€�

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Roger Sloan grew up dreaming of winning Stanley Cups and Olympic gold medals. He’s a Canadian, after all, and hockey is as much a way of life there as it is a sport. Even now, as Sloan gets ready to tee it up at Waialae Country Club this week at the Sony Open in Hawaii, hockey is a part of his life. And it’s not just because the 32-year-old is a big fan of the Calgary Flames. Sloan, who is in the midst of his third season on the PGA TOUR, plays regularly in a men’s league in Houston, where he eventually settled after earning a degree in finance from the University of Texas-El Paso.   “It’s something I’m fairly good at,â€� Sloan says. “It’s just, it’s good to keep me athletic. … So, when we’re back home we kind of lace them up with the boys and you know, just go around for a good skate.â€� Sloan, who tied for second last year at the Puerto Rico Open, says he usually plays once a week during the season when he’s back in Texas taking a break from the TOUR. He plays forward on a team called the Backside Five. “It’s a good group of guys,â€� Sloan says. “The league I play in is actually very competitive because there’s a lot of guys that used to play professionally over in Europe that are now in the oil and gas industry, you know, with Houston being a hub for (that). “There’s a lot of Canadian hockey players that have migrated down for their work. So, the league is actually very competitive which, which is good and pushes me to be able to be better.â€� Hockey, of course, is a much more physical sport than golf. But Sloan says he doesn’t worry about, bruises, broken bones or bloodied noses. “You can get hurt in the gym, you can get hurt skiing and you can get driving to the golf course,â€� he says. “There’s so many things. So, you know what injuries are all around us, but you know, I can hold my own on a hockey rink.â€� Sloan, who made the FedExCup Playoffs for the first time last season, started playing golf when he was 11 years old. His family had recently moved to Merritt, British Columbia, a town of just over 7,000 where some of the Academy Award-nominated movie “The Sweet Hereafterâ€� was filmed. Playing hockey was a given. But there was no little league baseball in the area so what was Sloan supposed to do in the summers? His father Curtis, an avid golfer, had the solution – he gave his son a set of MacGregor junior clubs.   Sloan, who was valedictorian of his high school class, learned the game at Merritt Golf & Country Club, a nine-hole layout where he holds the course record of 58 for two trips around the course. He made three eagles and eight birdies that day while one-putting 11 greens. The accountability of golf was attractive to Sloan, who played four years at UTEP, posting four top-10s as a senior and making the NCAA regionals. But he really enjoyed the team atmosphere of hockey and has many great memories of playing with his friends — both on the ice and inside the house where he remembers breaking doors and putting holes in the walls.   “I think when I look back at it, the whole being a Canadian playing hockey, your whole life revolved around hockey,â€� Sloan says. “Whether you’re playing organized hockey or whether it was just after school, you know, when all the guys have grabbed their sticks and skates and they’d go to the rink in the neighborhood to even playing a little hallway hockey (or) as kid playing on your Nintendo or whatever it was — you’re always occupied with hockey. … “So many friendships I still have today were started with my hockey teammates.â€� As Sloan became more serious about golf, though, he quit playing hockey. But he started skating again about five years ago. “I took about a 10-year break, so I’m not nearly as good as I as I once was,â€� Sloan says. “Like I said, it’s a good cardio workout. Keeps me athletic and I just really enjoy it.â€� For now, though, the ocean breezes and swaying palm trees on Waikiki Beach offer a nice diversion.

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