Tiger ‘best he’s ever felt in three years’ – Day

Reigning FedExCup champion Dustin Johnson headlines a Vivint Houston Open field that also features past FedExCup winners Henrik Stenson, Brandt Snedeker, and Texas native Jordan Spieth. Lanto Griffin will defend his first TOUR title at Memorial Park Golf Course, which was totally redesigned (with input from Brooks Koepka) by famed architect Tom Doak for 2020. The public course in Houston - which sees approximately 60,000 rounds per year - will be part of the TOUR schedule for the first time since 1963. FIELD NOTES: Johnson and Adam Scott are set to make their first starts on the TOUR since testing positive for COVID-19... Brooks Koepka will return to the golf course he had a hand in shaping... Mickelson is 2-for-2 with PGA TOUR Champions victories this season but decided to tee it up in Houston instead of the Charles Schwab Cup Championship. Mickelson won the Houston Open in 2011. The last Houston Open at Memorial Park also was the first PGA TOUR win by a left-hander. Bob Charles won at Memorial Park in 1963, the same year he won The Open Championship to become the first left-hander to win a major... The last three Houston Open winners including Lanto Griffin (2019), Ian Poulter (2018), and Russell Henley (2017) are part of the past champions contingent... Four of the top 10 on the current FedExCup standings (Stewart Cink, Garcia, Martin Laird, and Hudson Swafford) are in the field... Justin Harding, Kyle Hogan, Dawie van der Walt, and Jhonattan Vegas are amongst the sponsors exemptions. FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 FedExCup points. COURSE: Memorial Park Golf Course, par 71, 7,021 yards (yardage subject to change). The TOUR makes its return to Memorial Park for the first time since 1963. Founded in 1912, Tom Doak, who redesigned the course with the help of Koepka, took flood-prone land and added elevation and improved drainage. The TOUR's best will see a totally different Memorial Park Golf Course for 2020 with holes that have been both lengthened and shortened, fairways widened, and trees removed. "Other than winning a golf tournament, it's one of the coolest projects that I've been involved in," Koepka told FOX 26 Houston last year. STORYLINES: The Vivint Houston Open will be the first TOUR event in the U.S. since THE PLAYERS Championship to have spectators on site... The event, for 2020-21, was moved from October to November to accommodate the changes to the schedule due to COVID-19... The tournament returns to Memorial Park Golf Course for the first time since 1963... Griffin proved how valuable a solid fall could be, as he rode his victory in Houston all the way to The TOUR Championship last season. 72-HOLE RECORD: 266, Curtis Strange and Lee Trevino (1980 at Woodlands CC), Vijay Singh (2002 at TPC Woodlands). Golf Club of Houston record: 268, Phil Mickelson (2011), Russell Henley (2017). Memorial Park Golf Course record: 268, Bob Charles (1963). 18-HOLE RECORD: 62, Ron Streck (3rd round, 1981 at Woodlands CC), Fred Funk (3rd round, 1992 at TPC Woodlands). Golf Club of Houston record: 63, Johnson Wagner (1st round, 2008), Adam Scott (1st round, 2008), Jimmy Walker (1st round, 2011), Phil Mickelson (3rd round, 2011), Scott Piercy (1st round, 2015), Sung Kang (2nd round, 2017). LAST TIME: Griffin held off Scott Harrington and Mark Hubbard, a trio of Korn Ferry Tour graduates from the season prior, for his first PGA TOUR victory. Griffin calmly rolled in a 6-foot par on the 72nd hole to secure the win. He had moved to the top of the leaderboard only two holes earlier after draining a 35-foot birdie on No. 16. Griffin, a two-time Korn Ferry Tour winner, held of Harrington, who shot a 5-under 67 Sunday, and Hubbard, who shot a 3-under 69. All three were looking for their first TOUR victories. Harris English, Xinjun Zhang, Talor Gooch, Carlos Ortiz, and Sepp Straka all finished T4. HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Thursday-Sunday, 1 p.m.-4 p.m. ET (Golf Channel) PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday, 7:50 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. (Featured Groups) Radio: Thursday-Friday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio).

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In 1980, Argentina’s Roberto De Vicenzo won the first U.S. Senior Open, winning the title by defeating amateur William Campbell by a shot. That same year, in Cordoba, Argentina, 26-year-old amateur golfer Eduardo Romero, turned pro, embarking on his own professional golf career delayed for two years due to his service in the Argentina military. De Vicenzo was one of Romero’s idols, Romero a protégé of the Argentine legend. Twenty-eight years after De Vicenzo’s U.S. Senior Open heroics, Romero would hoist the same trophy De Vicenzo once held. At the 2008 U.S. Senior Open at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, “El Gato”—The Cat, so nicknamed for the way he stealthily stalked his opponents on the golf course, overcame a four-bogeys-in-four-holes streak on the back nine of the final round and still coasted to a four-shot victory over Fred Funk. When he finally made a par at the 15th hole to end the bogey streak, he pumped his fist as if he had won the tournament. It turned out he essentially had. The victory was an exclamation point that Romero was good enough to beat anybody at any time and anywhere, regardless of his age. He had done it during his career in Latin America and then on the European Tour, and that win, coupled with his initial PGA TOUR Champions title at the JELD-WEN Tradition, merely served as extensions to what he had done in his career prior to turning 50. Romero had been inactive as a competitor for some time as he battled illness, and he died February 13 in Argentina at age 67 after complications from cancer. Doctors sent Romero home from the hospital on February 5 after they told him his disease was terminal. Romero’s passing was confirmed by the Municipality of Villa Allende in Argentina on Sunday evening. The son of a club pro, Romero won and won often in his home country, taking home 44 Argentine Tour titles, including the 1989 Argentine Open. His 44 career titles are second only to De Vicenzo among Argentine professionals. He was victorious in five other Argentina-based tournaments and also prevailed in tournaments in Chile and Mexico. Romero’s eight European Tour wins came during a 13-year span where he beat such luminaries as Bernhard Langer, Seve Ballesteros, Colin Montgomerie and Jose Maria Olazabal. He won 67 total tournament titles prior to turning 50, and it only took Romero eight starts to pick up that first PGA TOUR Champions title, at the JELD-WEN Tradition. “I realized at the age of nine that my life was going to revolve around golf. In my house my father was a golf professional, and several relatives were dedicated to this sport. I was never good at studying or at football,” said Romero in 2014. “I never thought I would make a living from golf. I didn’t think about how much I was going to win in a tournament. I just played because I loved golf. I loved to hit the ball, and I always went out to enjoy what I did.” Romero held PGA TOUR membership for two seasons, originally earning his playing privileges by tying for 12th at the 1985 PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament. In 1986, Romero played in 30 TOUR tournaments, and played in 15 more in 1995 after finishing second to Woody Austin at the 1994 Qualifying Tournament. Despite only enjoying two seasons as a TOUR member, he added 51 additional PGA TOUR starts, his best chance at winning coming in 1990 in Colorado, at The International. In the Modified Stableford System scoring event at Castle Pines Golf Club, Romero tied for second, with Steve Pate and Peter Senior, three points behind winner Davis Love III. His performance in Colorado was a harbinger of things to come in the Centennial State. Prior to his victory in Colorado Springs, Romero, won the JELD-WEN Tradition, in the summer of 2006 outside Portland, Oregon. Romero finished regulation tied with Lonnie Nielsen then rolled in a two-foot birdie putt on the first extra hole for the first of his five PGA TOUR Champions titles. That win was also his first triumph in the United States and his first major championship. The U.S. Senior Open would be his second. The majority of Romero’s PGA TOUR Champions action came between 2007 and 2012. He played 102 of his 125 total tournaments in that span. “For that six-year period right after he turned 50, Eduardo’s talent was on full display. A generation after Roberto De Vicenzo played and starred on PGA TOUR Champions, Eduardo followed in his mentor’s footsteps, always proud of his heritage and showing what a great player he was in his own right,” said Miller Brady, PGA TOUR Champions President. “Beyond what he did on the golf course, though, was Eduardo’s humanity. He was a consummate professional, one of the kindest, most-generous players our Tour has seen. We send our condolences to Eduardo’s family, his wife, Adriana, and his daughter, Dolly. We will greatly miss him.” Even with all his globetrotting, Argentina was never far from Romero’s mind, where he always maintained a home regardless of where he was playing. He represented his country 13 times in the World Cup, exceeded only by De Vicenzo’s 15 appearances. His most-memorable performance came when Buenos Aires Golf Club hosted the 2000 World Cup, with Romero teaming with Angel Cabrera, thrilling the local fans as they contended all week, battling the U.S. team of David Duval and Tiger Woods. The Americans eventually prevailed by three strokes, Argentina finishing second. Said Romero after retiring from competition, “I think I’m satisfied with my career. If I had any debt, it was not winning a major in my time. I was close at the British Open, but at the end of the day everything happens for a reason. I did what I could, and I’m happy with what I achieved.”

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Politics aside, Presidents Cup gets off to flying start

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