Thornberry wins Korn Ferry, earns PGA Tour card

Before his son Charlie became his co-star in Decembers, the Hero World Challenge offered the golf world one last glimpse of Tiger Woods before hitting pause for the holidays. Woods started the tournament around the turn of the century to benefit his foundation. In more than two decades of existence, the small, but star-studded, gathering has offered many memorable moments. Woods has been the host with the most five times, winning the Hero to cap off some of the best years of his career. More recently, the tournament has offered us a rare glimpse of Woods while he has been sidelined by injuries, becoming a de facto “State of Tiger” gathering as he’s conducted candid press conferences about his health, launched comeback attempts or even just hit balls before curious observers, as he did last year. He is back in this year’s field, his first Hero start since 2019, when he was the reigning Masters champion and preparing for a successful stint as the U.S. Presidents Cup Team’s playing captain. Woods is coming off a year that saw him make an unexpected return to competitive golf at the Masters but also saw him play just three times as his surgically-repaired right leg struggled with the rigors of tournament golf. To get you ready for Woods’ return to the Hero – and his first competitive appearance since July – here’s a look at his five victories in the Hero World Challenge. 2001 Venue: Sherwood Country Club, Thousand Oaks, Calif. Final round: 64, 273 (-15) Margin of victory: Three shots over Vijay Singh (71) Tiger Woods used a trademark comeback to win his Hero World Challenge for the first time. He was four down to Vijay Singh when he sprayed his tee shot on Sherwood Country Club’s ninth hole over a creek and onto the thick brush on the side of a hill. He took a penalty drop, hit his next shot under the bleachers behind the green and then watched his chip off a hardpan lie roll 45 feet past the cup. Woods holed the lengthy bogey putt, however. Singh failed to capitalize on Woods’ miscues, making a bogey of his own to stay just four ahead. “It was a huge momentum swing,” said Woods, who shot 30, including five birdies in a row, to beat Singh by seven over the final nine holes. It completed an eventful year that saw Woods complete the Tiger Slam and win his first PLAYERS Championship. He’d go on to win five more times in 2002, including the Masters and U.S. Open. Woods’ final-round 64 at Sherwood tied the course record. He donated his $1 million winner’s check to the Tiger Woods Foundation. “With a field like this, it feels great to win,” Woods said. “Winning this tournament gives me the same feeling as winning any tournament.” 2004 Venue: Sherwood Country Club Final round: 66, 268 (-16) Margin of victory: Two shots over Padraig Harrington (66) Woods was a ball-striking machine, missing just two fairways and two greens, as he collected his second Hero World Challenge victory. His final-round 66 was good enough for a two-shot win over Padraig Harrington, which would have been more had Woods putted well. This one was especially gratifying as Woods was still solidifying swing changes and had just come off an odd year of close calls: 10 top-10 finishes without a victory after his lone win that year, at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. “Probably ’98 was more difficult,” Woods said of his 2004 swing overhaul, “but certainly this one I got a lot more badgering from you guys. I got a lot more questions, ‘What are you doing?’ Because I had a great run for like five years, back in ’97. Yeah, I was dismantling my golf swing and … people thought I was crazy there.” Also gratifying: His father, Earl Woods, whose health problems had limited his activity, was on site to see him win. 2006 Venue: Sherwood Country Club Final round: 66, 272 (-16) Margin of victory: Four shots over Geoff Ogilvy (71) It was a bittersweet year for Woods, whose father, Earl, passed away in the spring. Tiger missed the cut in his first event back, the U.S. Open at Winged Foot, but won The Open Championship a month later, crying on caddie Steve Williams’ shoulder. It was the first of six wins in six starts for Woods, including two majors (The Open, PGA Championship) and two WGCs (Bridgestone Invitational, American Express Championship). By the time he got to Sherwood, he hadn’t lost in five months. He started the final round one behind Geoff Ogilvy, the winner earlier in the year at Winged Foot, but erased that deficit with two early birdies, including a chip-in at the third hole, and an Ogilvy bogey at the second. It was all Woods the rest of the way. Although he had been distracted by Earl’s poor health for the first part of the season, he’d still managed early wins at Torrey Pines and Doral, and racked up six more after his father’s passing. The gaudy totals: 15 official PGA TOUR starts, eight wins, one second, one third, 11 top-10s. And another victory in what would become the Hero World Challenge. “It’s been a year of two halves, really,” he said. 2007 Venue: Sherwood Country Club Final round: 68, 266 (-22) Margin of victory: Seven shots over Zach Johnson (68) Woods had concluded his 2007 season with four wins in five starts, along with winning the inaugural FedExCup. He would win his first three starts of 2008, as well. In between, Woods, then 31, took a lengthy competitive hiatus after the Presidents Cup in September. It didn’t show at Sherwood. He dusted off the clubs 10 days before the event, carded a second-round 62 to jump ahead of the pack and cruised to the event’s largest margin of victory at the time (Jordan Spieth won by 10 shots in 2014). Woods’ daughter Sam, 6 months old at the time, was on the scene for congratulations, as he punctuated a campaign that featured seven TOUR titles including the PGA Championship at Southern Hills. That season, Woods ranked No. 1 on TOUR in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee and No. 2 in Strokes Gained: Putting. Seemingly his form had never been better. But he wasn’t convinced. “Obviously, I’ve got a lot of room for improvement, which is a great sign,” he said. “Just imagine if I could hit the ball the way I wanted.” Even Woods had to be pleased with what awaited in 2008, which was on pace to be one of his best years before it was interrupted by knee surgery. He won four of his six starts and finished second at the Masters. His worst showing was a fifth-place finish in the World Golf Championship at Doral. His campaign ended with one of his most famous victories, the 2008 U.S. Open. 2011 Venue: Sherwood Country Club Final round: 69, 278 (-10) Margin of victory: One shot over Zach Johnson (71) Woods hadn’t won worldwide since the Australian Masters in November 2009. For a player who had accrued 71 PGA TOUR titles by age 33, it was a monumental drought brought on by the prolonged effects of personal scandal. Woods, then 35, trailed Zach Johnson by one stroke with two holes to play. Then came a vintage Tiger finish. He drew even with a curling 15-foot birdie at the par-3 17th, and after Johnson missed a 15-foot birdie at the finishing hole, Woods made birdie from 6 feet to secure a one-stroke victory. The emotion was palpable as Woods released a fist to the sky amidst a southern Californian roar. “It feels awesome, whatever it is,” said Woods of the winning emotion. “I had the lead at the Masters on the back nine, and had a chance at the Aussie Open. So this is my third time with a chance to win; I pulled it off this time.” The following March, Woods won the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard for his first TOUR win since the 2009 BMW Championship. It was his first of three 2012 TOUR wins, before winning five times in 2013.

Click here to read the full article…

AUGUSTA, Ga. — After a grinding 2-under 70 in the opening round of the Masters, Tiger Woods will seek to move up the leaderboard Friday at Augusta National. We’ll have updates and hole-by-hole coverage of his second round, so check back often. MORE MASTERS Leaderboard | Tales of Tiger’s equipment | Rd. 1 recap: Is 70 a magical number? Pre-round notes BACKING UP 70. Tiger Woods has opened with a 2-under 70 on five previous occasions at the Masters. The first three times, he followed with a round in the 60s — and eventually went on to win (1997, 2001, 2002). In 2009, he followed his 70 with a 72 en route to a T-6 result, while in 2013, he shot 73 after his opening 70 and finished T-4. LATE TEE TIME. There are 29 threesomes teeing off Friday, and Woods is in the 28th group with Jon Rahm and HaoTong Li at 1:49 p.m. ET. In Thursday’s first round, 18-hole leaders Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka both played late and had favorable scoring conditions along the back nine. Woods is hoping to have a similar advantage Friday provided the wind dies.  “Sometimes what happens is you get that lull in the evening, the guys that go off real late, winds start dying down and you get probably a good six, seven holes where the wind is pretty benign,” Woods said. GOLF CHANNEL REVIEWS. Here’s what the experts were saying after Tiger’s opening 70: “I saw a golf swing that was patient. It was rhythmic. When he gets that extra length and time for transition, he seems to swing and play better.â€� — David Duval “The rhythm never changed from 1 to 18. Which is something he’s worked extremely hard on. He was in control of his round.â€� — Frank Nobilo “The guys at the top are hitting on all cylinders. He’s fully confident with his golf swing. It’s just a matter of whether or not he can capitalize on the greens. Because whoever is going to win this tournament is going to have the week of their life on the greens. And thus far he struggled quite a bit today.â€� — Brandel Chamblee

Click here to read the full article…

JERSEY CITY, N.J. – Patrick Reed couldn’t remember the last time he went 10 days without touching a golf club. When pressed for an answer, he jokingly replied, “1990.â€� That was the year he was born. It was difficult to do, but Reed needed to step away from the game this spring. He is known for being a passionate player, but he’d become lethargic on the course and frustrated with his results. His clubhead speed was down and the ball wasn’t flying where he anticipated. He took a three-week break from the TOUR, including that 10-day stretch where he didn’t touch a club, to try and regain the energy that made Captain America one of the TOUR’s most fiery competitors. Related: Final leaderboard | FedExCup standings | What’s in Reed’s bag? The plan paid off with Reed’s first PGA TOUR victory in 16 months. He came out on top during a final round Sunday that was a back-and-forth struggle between several players. His final-round 69 was enough for him to keep the one-stroke advantage that he started the day with. Reed finished at 16-under 268 at Liberty National Golf Club, one shot ahead of Abraham Ancer. With the win, Reed jumped from 50th to second in the FedExCup standings. He also re-insterted his name into the Presidents Cup conversation. Reed has qualified for the TOUR Championship and represented the United States in every year since 2014. His path back to the winner’s circle actually started with that break in May. His family vacationed in the Hamptons during his self-imposed hiatus. He was surrounded by some of the world’s best golf courses, but Reed happily filled his days playing with his two kids and spending time with his wife. Even the backyard of their rented manse had the perfect dimensions for a driving range: 310 yards by 50 yards of manicured grass. Reed stayed at the same house during last year’s U.S. Open, and the owner shaved a strip of short grass so that he could use the grounds as a practice facility. He had no desire to do the same this year, though. “I didn’t want to see the golf clubs,â€� he said. His enthusiasm quickly returned when he got back on the course. It helped that he eagled his first hole after his break, the first hole at National Golf Links of America. He hit driver to 6 feet. “I come back and I’m hitting the ball farther. I have a clear picture on what I’m trying to do and all of a sudden, I come out and I start hitting the ball where it’s supposed to go,â€� Reed said. “I’m starting to think clearly while I’m out there (on the course) and … the game starts turning around.â€� His fifth-place finish at the Rocket Mortgage Classic in June was his first top-10 on the PGA TOUR since October. Two starts later, he finished 10th at The Open Championship. Then he conquered Liberty National with a strong ball-striking performance this week. He finished in the top 10 of Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee (2nd), fairways hit (T8), greens in regulation (T5). He’s now converted five of his seven 54-hole leads into victories. He got off to a shaky start Sunday, though. He immediately followed an opening birdie with back-to-back bogeys. He added another bogey on the short par-5 sixth hole. After the next hole, his caddie/brother-in-law, Kessler Karain, reminded him to just keep hitting greens instead of playing too aggressively. Reed made three birdies and no bogeys the rest of the way. He regained a one-stroke lead after his birdie at the short par-3 14th. Rahm had just three-putted the same hole and was on his way to a bogey at No. 15, as well. Those two miscues dropped him into a tie for third place with Harold Varner III. Reed gave another undercut fist pump after holing a 9-footer for par on 15. A perfect pitch on the drivable 16th left him with a tap-in for birdie to take a two-shot lead. Pars on the final two holes were enough to hold off Ancer, who birdied 17 to pull within a shot as they headed to the 18th tee. This was Reed’s first victory since his triumph at last year’s Masters. Some players struggle after their first major because they lose a little fire after winning their first major. Reed felt like his win at Augusta National had the opposite effect. “I almost felt like I pressed harder and worked harder and tried harder and therefore, it made me physically and mentally drained,â€� he said. “I kind of went the wrong direction and that’s why I felt like I needed the break.â€� Reed’s winless streak hit its deepest depths in Florida, just as his Masters defense was fast approaching. There was a three-round stretch when he shot a final-round 78 at THE PLAYERS Championship, then fired 77-75 to miss the cut at the following week’s Valspar Championship. He was spotted working with swing instructor David Leadbetter on the range at that event, but he’s since resumed working with solely his longtime coach, Kevin Kirk. This was Reed’s seventh PGA TOUR win. The 29-year-old now owns a major, World Golf Championships and two FedExCup Playoffs events. He also won THE NORTHERN TRUST in 2016, when he finished a career-best fifth in the FedExCup. In two weeks, he’ll make his sixth consecutive appearance in the TOUR Championship. Now he’s trying to extend another streak. Reed has appeared on every U.S. team since 2014. Reed started the week ranked 17th in the U.S. Presidents Cup standings. He’s now 12th in the standings. The top eight after next week’s BMW Championship will earn automatic berths on the team that will travel to Royal Melbourne in December. Reed would need to win next week as well to qualify for the team. At worst, he’s placed himself in the running for one of the four captain’s picks. Those will be announced after the World Golf Championship-HSBC Champions. The Presidents Cup was ever-present as Reed competed at Liberty National. The view of the Statue of Liberty stoked the flames of a player who enjoys the moniker of Captain America. Liberty National was the site of the last Presidents Cup, the United States’ thrashing of an overmatched International side. And Reed held off a potential Presidents Cup foe in Mexico’s Ancer. They were paired together in Sunday’s final group. “The biggest thing for me was … to just focus on the golf I’m playing because at the end of the day, if you play good golf, that all takes care of itself,â€� Reed said.

Click here to read the full article…