Tiger Woods’ even-par 71 has him five shots off the lead at the Open in Carnoustie, Scotland.
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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – The PGA TOUR has announced that it will implement a new Integrity Program effective January 1, 2018, to protect its competitions from potential outside influences related to gambling. While the TOUR has a longstanding policy prohibiting players from betting or related activities at TOUR-related events, the new Integrity Program is more comprehensive. It will cover all facets of competition and operations on the six Tours overseen by the PGA TOUR, including players and their support teams, all tournament staff and volunteers, the entire PGA TOUR staff and the PGA TOUR Policy Board. The Program’s stated mission is: “To maintain integrity and prevent and mitigate betting-related corruption in PGA TOUR competitions – ensuring competitions always reflect, and appear to reflect, the best efforts of the players, while protecting the welfare of the players and others involved with the PGA TOUR – through clear policies and regulations, ongoing education and training, and effective and consistent monitoring and enforcement functions.� To assist with the implementation of the program the TOUR has engaged Genius Sports, the global leader in sports integrity services, to provide several key services. This includes its state-of-the-art bet monitoring system which tracks real-time betting activity and utilizes proprietary algorithms to identify potentially suspicious patterns occurring in global betting markets. “The bedrock of PGA TOUR competition are the inherent values of golf and the honesty and integrity of our members,� PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan said. “We recognize, however, that no sport is fully immune from the potential influence of gambling. So, we felt it was important to move forward with an Integrity Program to further protect our competition from betting-related issues. Genius Sports will provide essential support as we roll out the Program across the entire PGA TOUR.� The TOUR has worked with Genius Sports to develop a tailored educational program that will help players, caddies and officials to identify, resist and report incidents of potential betting corruption. Educational workshops will reinforce the PGA TOUR’s regulations and highlight the potential consequences related to betting corruption. Additionally, custom-made e-learning modules will be available on a worldwide basis to all PGA TOUR players in multiple languages. Mark Locke, CEO at Genius Sports Group, said: “We are delighted to partner with the PGA TOUR to drive its integrity initiatives. Protecting the integrity of sport has never been of greater importance and it requires forward-thinking organizations such as the PGA TOUR to proactively invest in both proven technology and education driven by true expertise.� The TOUR will receive important insight into global betting activity on its tournaments across the PGA TOUR, PGA TOUR Champions, Web.com Tour, Mackenzie Tour-PGA TOUR Canada, PGA TOUR Latinoamérica and PGA TOUR China, covering approximately 140 events per year. The Program will be administered by a PGA TOUR Integrity Officer, and investigations will be conducted by an independent group with experience in law enforcement.
Cameron Tringale (+3000) ... You can't spell his surname without "angel," which is what receives its wings every time a golfer rings the bell for his first victory on the PGA TOUR. Tringale likely would say that he's had a wonderful life, but he's making his 297th career start as a professional without breaking through, as Joel Dahmen was the most recent to accomplish on Sunday in the Dominican Republic and as Valero Texas Open defending champion Corey Conners in 2019. Since Tringale's rookie season of 2010, there have been 135 first-time winners. If he ever were to join the club, it'd make just as much sense at TPC San Antonio as anywhere. He's cashed seven times in 10 trips, thrice for a top 20, including a T17 in the last edition. The 33-year-old also checks all of the boxes for precision and efficiency, and he's fresh off a T13 at The Honda Classic, his sixth top 20 of the season. Aaron Wise (+6600) ... Back in Texas where he broke through for his lone PGA TOUR title (2018 AT&T Byron Nelson). He's returned before, of course, but perhaps not as impressively until now. Currently 12th on TOUR in greens in regulation and 30th in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green. In his last start in the wind at PGA National just two weeks ago, he finished T13 for his fourth top 20 of the season. For the week, he slotted inside the top 20 in both SG: Tee-to-Green and SG: Putting. Denny McCarthy (+8000) ... Endured a rough four months since a T4 at the Bermuda Championship and at a time when he was in a groove. He got back on bermudagrass in earnest on the Florida Swing and went 3-for-3, punctuating the series with a T3 at PGA National. Now 72nd in the FedExCup and a virtual lock to secure his card, he carries that momentum into San Antonio where he finished T20 in his debut in 2018. His propensity to split fairways and continue to rank among the best putters on TOUR favor him if the course stands taller than it did two years ago. David Hearn (+30000) ... While there must be a sense of national pride to compete alongside defending champion and fellow Canadian Corey Conners, Hearn fits the bill across the board of the quantifiable. In three of his last five trips to TPC San Antonio (2012, 2016, 2018), he's finished inside the top 20. He's also traveling from Corales where he posted a T13 for his third top 15 of the season; his last was at similarly exposed Bermuda (T8). And his combination of accuracy of the tee (17th), precision on approach (T22 in proximity) and putting (12th in Stroke Gained) presents as a triple threat when the winds kick up. Austin Eckroat (+20000) ... The pandemic has yielded unexpected dividends. For example, if the Korn Ferry Tour Finals wasn't canceled and eligibility extended for all PGA TOUR members, Martin Laird, Robert Streb and Branden Grace would've been subject to losing their cards, but each is now fully exempt through 2022-23 as a result of their wins this season. Also, Will Zalatoris is accomplishing more than any other PGA TOUR non-member who hasn't won in memory, in the process proving that there always is opportunity for the strongest talent on this stage. So, it stands to reason that, at a time when the lives of the world's youth are put on hold for a year, a strong talent among the golfers of the generation could break into the winner's column as an amateur. That's heady stuff for Eckroat, the 22-year-old senior at Oklahoma State University. In the world previously known to all, he'd have turned professional by now and would have been plying his craft wherever the game took him. In a peek at his potential, he finished T12 with four sub-70s at Mayakoba in December. That matched the likes of Justin Thomas and Max Homa. Former college teammate and current roommate, Viktor Hovland, prevailed, so Eckroat was first-hand witness to the experience. He's No. 5 on the PGA TOUR University Ranking. NOTE: Sleeper is a relative term, so Rob uses unofficial criteria to determine who qualifies. Each of the following usually is determined to be ineligible for this weekly staple: Winners of the tournament on the current host course; winners in the same season; recent major champions; top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking; recent participants of team competitions. Odds were sourced on Tuesday, March 30 at 5 a.m. ET. For live odds visit betmgm. Visit BetMGM.com for Terms and Conditions. 21+ years of age or older to wager. CO, IA, IN,MI, NJ, NV,PA, TN, VA or WV only. Excludes Michigan Disassociated Persons. Please Gamble Responsibly. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-522-4700 (CO, NV, VA), 1-800-270-7117 for confidential help (MI), 1-800-GAMBLER (NJ, PA & WV), 1-800-BETS OFF (IA), Call or Text the Tennessee REDLINE: 800-889-9789 (TN), or call 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN).
NORTON, Mass. – For the past three or four nights, nearly two dozen people, give or take a few, have taken refuge from Hurricane Harvey in Chris Stroud’s Texas home. He lives on high ground in Spring, which is about 20 miles north of Houston, among the areas hit hardest by the freakish, furious storm. Friends have fled suburbs to come to Stroud’s house, which he says is “built like a fortressâ€� and mercifully has stayed dry despite being pounded by more than 50 inches of rain. Neighbors without power have come knocking, as well. “The kids have been getting along well,â€� Stroud says. “A couple of guys have been cooking. That’s usually my job. I like to cook a lot. “But I’ve got a big wine cellar and (we’re) trying to ease the pain a little bit.â€� Stroud is doing more than letting his displaced friends camp out at his home, though. He has pledged $10,000 and 10 percent of his winnings this week at the Dell Technologies Championship to the relief effort and hopes others follow suit. Stroud was inspired by Houston Texan defensive end J.J. Watt, who started a fund-raising campaign on youcaring.com earlier this week that has taken off like a rocket. As of Wednesday afternoon, more than $6.7 million had been pledged through the page that Watt set up. “So I saw that yesterday that he was raising money, and I thought, that’s exactly what I’m going to do,â€� says Stroud, who also wants to organize a charity pro-am. “So I called the TOUR and I said, ‘What can I do?’ … And I said, ‘How do I do this? Who do we use?’â€� The TOUR, which has more than 30 members who live in the Houston area, responded with a $250,000 donation to the Red Cross. Fans can also make donations at (add link) as well as at kiosks on site this week at TPC Boston. Still, the stories of sadness and struggle are everywhere – and some hit very close to home. Patrick Reed, who also lives in Spring, says the Weather Channel has replaced the baseball games and other sports he normally watches on TV. He took out his phone Wednesday afternoon beside the putting green at TPC Boston and showed a sportswriter a photo of his back yard at 7 p.m. at night – and another, taken 11 hours later after Harvey started to punish the area. “(We live) 200 yards from Spring Creek and it’s 92 feet below our property line,â€� Reed says. “I got a call from my buddy, frantic, and this (photo) was at 6 p.m. the next morning. The whole thing’s under water. “This is a basketball goal that is 6 feet and the water was already over it,â€� Reed continued, pointing at the picture, which shows the outline of a pool under the muddy water. “It came up so fast, it was scary and I know a lot of people got trapped.â€� Luckily for Reed, the water, which spread across his 4-acre property, stopped just shy of the front door of his house and has steadily receded. His in-laws rode out the storm there, along with his daughter, Windsor Wells, her nanny and the director of his charitable foundation. “They barricaded everything and it got six inches short of the house and it receded,â€� Reed says. “… The worst is done. The sun was out yesterday afternoon. So hopefully, the water just keeps receding. It’s tragic what happened in Houston. For that storm just to sit over us like that and to watch how many people got affected, it’s going to be hard to bounce back but Houston will be able to do it.â€� Jhonattan Vegas has lived in Houston off and on since 2002 when he moved to the United States from Venezuela to follow his dream of playing on the PGA TOUR. His wife and their 17-month-old daughter were in Houston when Harvey hit while Vegas was preparing for the Dell Technologies Championship and playing a Presidents Cup practice round at Liberty National. “(They) haven’t been able to leave the house for five days,â€� Vegas says. “We were lucky enough that around our area nothing flooded but all the rain coming down, all the lightning, a tornado hit not far from my house. So, it’s always tough, sleeping well or doing anything around here when you’re dealing with Mother Nature that way.â€� Stroud says Dawie van der Walt, who was on the PGA TOUR last year and currently plays the Web.com Tour, has 4 feet of water in his Kingwood, Texas home. “His house is completely devastated,â€� Stroud said. “He texted me some pictures yesterday. It’s really sad.â€� Shawn Stefani, who lives in Baytown, which is southeast of Houston, barely beat the worst of Harvey’s fury as he headed to Ohio to play in the Web.com Tour Championship. “On the way up to Dallas, he passed a 200-truck convoy of what they call the Cajun Navy,â€� Stroud says. “I’m sure you’ve heard of this. It’s guys from Louisiana bringing their boats, their jacked-up trucks to help. And he said there was a subdivision probably 500 or 600 homes under four feet of water, and all these trucks were in line to back up their boats and go save people.â€� Stroud has a similar truck that he estimates extends about 4 feet into the air and can drive through 5 feet of water. So his buddies made good use of it, driving around the neighborhood to rescue people and pets. Stroud originally was supposed to make a quick trip home to Texas on Sunday. When he missed the cut at THE NORTHERN TRUST, he considered trying to get a jump on Harvey, which ended up sitting over southeast Texas for five days and dumping several trillion gallons on rain on the area. “I talked to my wife, my family, my friends, and the thing they were concerned about, if I did get back home, how could I get back out.â€� Stroud says. “And it was tough. My heart goes out to all the people there. Obviously I was extremely worried about my family being at home.â€� His wife considered taking the couple’s two daughters and going to their house at a lake about two hours north of Spring. Stroud didn’t know how to advise her from afar, but some of his buddies, one of whom is a retired Navy SEAL, stepped in and helped make the decision to stay. “I think it was Sunday night where it really got scary,â€� Stroud says. “There was lightning, flood, tornado threats. There was a tornado that hit in my neighborhood, north Houston, and just scary. And the power was going in and out. … I couldn’t get to them. I couldn’t call them — and the landline’s down. “So it was scary for me to just sit here. My heart is somewhere else and I’m supposed to be getting prepared for golf. It’s just, you know, it makes you realize what’s most important in your life is your family and friends.â€� One of those friends, former TOUR player Kelly Gibson, has reached out to Stroud several times in the last week. He’s from New Orleans and weathered Hurricane Katrina, even helping to serve food to first responders during the devastating hurricane, and watched as his beloved city resurrected itself. Stroud, who picked up his first TOUR victory last month at the Barracuda Championship, said Gibson’s most recent text was “humongous,â€� estimating that it clocked in at 70 lines. Among other things, he wanted to give Stroud advice on how to compartmentalize. “When you’re on the golf course, focus on the golf and when you’re off the golf course, focus on what you can do to keep your family everything and safe,â€� Stroud recalls Gibson writing. “The things that I did read on the text last night that I haven’t finished was it’s going to take months and years for this rebuild of Houston, and he said, just, you know, just be prepared for that. Be prepared for the process of what it takes to rebuild a city. “It’s really, really sad.â€�
