Tiger Woods has already found himself at the bottom of the leaderboard just one round into the Zozo Championship, which he won last year.
Click here to read the full article…
| Growing a bit tired of sports betting? Your favorite team isn't playing? Go and have some fun at our partner site and check some Freeroll Slots Tournaments! Guaranteed fun for hours and USA players are accepted. |
History tells the story of the past, it doesn’t predict the future, but lessons learned shape its direction. That reality prompted significant changes to the Presidents Cup in 2015. The United States still prevailed, albeit by the slimmest of margins, 15-1/2 to 14-1/2. But now, in what could be labeled as reverse psychology, the biennially stronger team will be attempting to defend its title at the foot of the Statue of Liberty. There will be no escaping the reminder of one’s pride in playing for his flag at Liberty National Golf Club alongside New York Harbor. It’s exactly the kind of pressure the Internationals need to apply as they enter this road game with a record of 1-9-1. Because the Presidents Cup is a team competition with match-play scoring, an open mind is encouraged when accepting the ranking of the participants. More on the course, the format and other details beneath the full-field ranking. Went 2-1-1 with Patrick Reed at the 2016 Ryder Cup, but Spieth should draw Thomas at some point now. Not that it’ll matter on a squad as deep as the U.S. Captain America at Liberty National in the Presidents Cup. Yes, please. Oh, and he’s playing well. Loves to remain busy, so expect the adrenaline to continue to flow. An anchor. Arguably the most in form upon arrival with three top 10s among six consecutive top 25s, so it would surprising if he sits out a session. It’s the Aussie’s fourth appearance (4-8-3). T9 at Liberty National doesn’t hurt, but this squad is loaded with his buddies — and potential partners. Solid all year, too. First-timer. Nothing like making a splash as the most recent major champion and winner of the FedExCup. Figures to go out with Spieth, but options are everywhere. The Aussie is now a cornerstone for the visitors in his third appearance. Also played Liberty National in both 2009 and 2013. Recently dominated the field at Conway Farms. One of three South Africans on the squad. Expect him to partner with Grace after they went 4-0-0 as a team two years ago. Oosthuizen went 1-3-0 with Schwartzel in 2013.   First-timer. Debuts with fellow former FSU teammate Koepka, so that’s a natural pairing. The formidable duo could be the lockdown team of the competition.   First-timer. Poised to forge a new, long-term partnership as one of America’s future stars, so look for pairing with Berger. Filthy second half of 2017 illustrates monster stats. Went 5-0-0 in the losing cause in 2015. Teamed with fellow South African Louis Oosthuizen in every two-man session. Expect the same. No reason to break what’s not broken.   Fourth consecutive appearance. He’s 6-7-1 overall but 0-4-1 in foursomes. The experienced South African could help balance a scuffling and tired Matsuyama in four-ball.   Already his third appearance. Cited fatigue for lackluster FedExCup Playoffs performance, which presents a challenge for his captain, but still figures to carry any partner tee-to-green.   The 39-year-old is making his fourth appearance. Enjoying an outstanding 2017 despite the absence of a victory. As youngsters emerge, he slides into mentor role. Despite individual success, he’s just a combined 2-7-0 in four-ball but 4-1-1 in foursomes in the Ryder and Presidents Cups. As a result, expect experienced partners. International’s elder statesman at 37 years of age. Eighth straight appearance (13-17-5). Aussie had four different partners en route to 0-2-2 in 2015. He’s 1-3-1 with Matsuyama.   First-timer. Tee-to-green tactician finished T15 at THE NORTHERN TRUST in 2013. Might align with Kuchar the best with their similar styles. Needed a captain’s pick to extend his record of never missing an edition. Now 47, the oldest in the competition is like a de facto playing assistant captain leading by example. First-timer. Flexible partner as a phenomenal putter, he’s insurance in four-ball despite bentgrass greens. Could earn foursomes nod on the third day with a good start.   First-timer. Relatively quiet second half didn’t deter him from qualifying for TOUR Championship. Fantastic putter makes for a wonderful partner. Longer off the tee than advertised.   He was surprised to be a captain’s pick, but he belongs here. Responded with T9 at Conway Farms. One of the more outwardly cerebral; could partner with anyone as a result. First-timer. The fearless 40-year-old secured entry via a captain’s pick despite losing steam following a torrid summer stretch. Played Liberty National in 2009 and 2013.   First-timer. Captain’s pick from Argentina has just one top 25 since June. Likely partner is Vegas as they’re the only two native Spanish speakers. Neither is a strong putter.   First-timer. All or nothing for most of the year, but the stakes are different now. Terrific tee-to-green.   First-timer. Just one top 10 in the last 11 months, but it was a biggie. THE PLAYERS champion has battled back discomfort all year. Only South Korean on the team. POWER RANKINGS: PRESIDENTS CUP RANK PLAYER COMMENT Liberty National isn’t new to half the field that competed in THE NORTHERN TRUST in 2013, but only four of those 12 are Internationals. Seven overall were in play when the course debuted for THE NORTHERN TRUST in 2009, including three Internationals. Those who are returning will see primarily the same setup that they tackled in the opening leg of the FedExCup Playoffs four years ago, except the par-4 fifth hole is now the starting line for the Presidents Cup. The par-5 sixth is the second hole this week, and so on. Holes 1-4 on the course will play as Nos. 15-18. This means that the outward nine is a par 38 that boasts all three of Libery National’s par 5s. The inward side is a par 33 with three par 3s (including the last). Only the seventh hole (originally No. 11) is at a different yardage than how it played in 2013. The par 3 is down 25 yards and now tips at 225 yards. Of course, overall par matters not in this competition, nor does Liberty National’s official length of 7,328 yards. However, while the rerouting was determined to shift the most eye-catching holes to critical points for every match, the swings in momentum are more likely early, especially in foursomes. Thursday’s opening session will be comprised of five matches of foursomes (also known as alternate shot). Five four-ball matches will follow on Friday. Saturday consists of two sessions of four matches each, first foursomes and then four-ball. The format requires at least two starts per golfer during the first four sessions. The final day will line up all 12 on each side in singles. In 2015, a reduction of four team matches lowered the total points up for grabs to 30. Thus, the winning team will need to score at least 15-1/2. Another twist that took effect in the last edition is that matches that are tied after 18 holes result in halves for every golfer in those matches. The heat wave that was summer’s last gasp will come to an end as the Presidents Cup begins. After a daytime high of 80 degrees on Thursday, even better conditions will command the remainder of the week. Cooler air, primarily sunny skies and but a light wind out of the north are forecast. Come to think of it, glorious views of the Statue of Liberty and the New York City skyline on the horizon just might inspire the home team. When you’re as deep at the United States by comparison, you can enjoy the view. NOTE: The Captain’s Pick debuts at FantasyGolf.PGATOUR.com for the competition. Rob will be writing nightly recaps and previews specifically for fantasy gamers. You’ll find his primer for The Captain’s Pick here.
The locals may object to those who say TPC Harding Park is hosting its first major this week. San Francisco’s municipal gem is home to an important championship on an annual basis, and while the San Francisco City Championship isn’t considered one of golf’s Grand Slam events, it is one of the game’s most unique. The tournament affectionally referred to by locals as simply “The City” has been held every year since 1916. Its endurance through the World Wars allows it to claim the title of golf’s oldest consecutively-played championship. Its former competitors range from World Golf Hall of Famers to taxi drivers, NFL quarterbacks to airport baggage handlers. The doctors and lawyers who are members at the Bay Area’s prestigious clubs play alongside bartenders. It’s not unusual to see a player turn to alcohol to steady his nerves or to witness a former U.S. Golf Association president carry his own clubs through a downpour. San Francisco is a city that prides itself on its diversity. Its amateur golf championship is no different. The tournament, conducted on San Francisco’s public tracks in the wet and cold of Northern California’s winter, attracts only the most passionate participants. “In a lot of ways, it’s golf in its purest form,” said Bo Links, a San Francisco golf historian. “(The City) determines who has heart and grit and determination.” San Francisco’s golf heritage is underappreciated, often overshadowed by its neighbors to the south, who are the beneficiaries of interminable sunshine. But the City by the Bay can boast of major champions and world-famous courses, as well. Harding Park, Olympic Club and San Francisco Golf Club are all within five miles of each other. Olympic has hosted five U.S. Opens. SFGC is an A.W. Tillinghast design that annually ranks among the world’s best courses. And Harding Park was one of the country’s first great municipal layouts. Major champions Johnny Miller, Ken Venturi, George Archer and Bob Rosburg got their start by the Bay. The City has been dominated in recent years not by the working-class folk heroes of the past, but high school and college students. TPC Harding Park’s renovation in 2002 once again made it a TOUR-caliber course after years of neglect. Those two factors have reduced some of The City’s scruffy charm, but it still stays true to its colorful past. The San Francisco City Championship’s greatest moment came in 1956, when the world’s top two amateurs met in the final. Harvie Ward was the reigning U.S. Amateur champion. Less than a month later, Ken Venturi would finish runner-up at the Masters. A final-round 80 left him a shot behind Jack Burke Jr. Newspaper articles estimated that more than 10,000 were in attendance to witness Venturi win, 5 and 4. Venturi’s victory was heralded in bold type atop the San Francisco Chronicle’s front page. Ward would go on to defend his title at that year’s U.S. Amateur, but he wasn’t the champion of San Francisco. Archer, the 1969 Masters champion, also is a past City champion. Miller and Tom Watson, a Stanford alum, competed in the tournament, but never won it. Juli Inkster, a seven-time LPGA major champion, won the women’s division twice. The City’s charm is not in the Hall of Famers who once competed, but the wide swath of the population who play alongside them. Frank Mazion, a 6-foot-3 baggage handler at San Francisco International Airport embodied the blue-collar contingent that makes up a large part of The City. He won the City in 1979 and 1983. In addition to scratch flights for men, women and seniors, there are multiple net flights for higher-handicap players. Hundreds participate each year. Mazion befriended John Brodie, the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback who later played PGA TOUR Champions, after beating him in The City in 1974. “Mazion looks like he could have run interference for Brodie, or better yet, caught a lot of passes during a long National Football League career,” the Milwaukee Journal wrote in 1977, when Mazion was playing the U.S. Amateur Public Links there. “His golf clubs look like toys in his hands.” The friendship between Mazion and Brodie, forged at The City, is testament to the tournament’s diversity. Riveters, roofers and cops are among the tournament’s past champions. Stephen Molinelli’s opponent in the 1993 semifinals was a man nicknamed “Scarecrow.” “He played in overalls, a flannel long-sleeve shirt and a straw hat. And he beat me,” said Molinelli, a former Olympic Club champion. “That’s the greatness of The City Championship.” Nick Ushijima, the 2000 champion, was driving to the tournament when he saw a man riding a Harley-Davidson, his golf clubs strapped to his back, headed in the same direction, presumably en route to the same destination. Ushijima also recalls seeing Sandy Tatum, the former USGA president who spearheaded Harding Park’s revitalization, carrying his bag through the rain. Jim Williams, a former member of the USGA Executive Committee, won the senior title in 2012 and 2014. “Sandy Tatum is a member at Cypress Point, a Rhodes Scholar, a lawyer, a partner at one of the top firms in San Francisco. It’s raining cats and dogs and he’s qualifying for the championship flight. That’s how much the tournament means to people,” Links said. Players used to sign up at the Roos Atkins on Market Street when the department store was the tournament’s sponsor. John Abendroth, who competed in a handful of PGA TOUR events in the 1970s, remembers sleeping overnight outside the store to ensure his spot in the field. Two rounds of stroke play winnow the championship flight to 64 players who compete in match play. Play is only conducted on Saturday and Sunday, so the tournament takes place over four weekends. Players must keep their game in shape for a month, with a five-day hiatus between matches. The semifinals and finals, which are both played on the final weekend, used to be 36-holes apiece. There isn’t time for weather delays because of the large field and firm schedule. Northern California’s storms rarely carry lightning, so players trek through even the heaviest rain to complete their rounds. The pre-renovation Harding Park often couldn’t handle the precipitation so finding relief from casual water wasn’t always an option. Chipping over puddles on the putting surface wasn’t out of the ordinary. “You’re not playing in (those conditions) in a PGA TOUR or USGA event,” said Randy Haag, the 1999 champion. “Forget about an umbrella. It’s not going to do any good.” He remembers especially severe weather while competing in a playoff for medalist honors. Harding Park’s first hole is approximately 360 yards, but with a 30-mph wind blowing rain sideways into his face, he hit driver and 3-wood short of the green, then got up-and-down for par and the win. Temporary greens were often used when greens were flooded. The temporary surfaces were simply holes cut into the fairway, though. There were no guarantees on those makeshift surfaces. “Every putt was an adventure,” Links said. One past participant remembers eight temporary greens being used in one round. Lincoln Park, the other course used for the tournament’s stroke-play portion, is a quirky layout that adds character to the tournament. It also offers one of the best panoramas in golf. Whereas Harding Park is slated to host a major, Lincoln Park is a short layout known for its sharp doglegs and small greens. For all its modesty, it also has one of the best views in golf. The 17th tee overlooks the Golden Gate Bridge. Lincoln Park is just 5,146 yards and plays to a par of 68, but it isn’t uncommon to see players shoot a higher score there than at Harding Park. The tight fairways, tough lies, long par-3s and the course’s condition all make it more difficult than the scorecard would imply. “You have to waltz around Lincoln,” Haag said. “You can’t get too freaked out when you do bogey one of those easy holes, because it’s definitely going to happen.” Players had to overcome similar conditions before the renovation that turned TPC Harding Park into a major championship venue. The course was used a parking lot for the 1998 U.S. Open. Dandelions and weeds overran parts of the fairways. Ushijima once accidentally kicked his ball while searching for it in the fairway because his ball was camouflaged by the small, white flowers. Overcoming these myriad challenges was a source of pride for The City’s players, though. “If you won The City, you earned it,” said six-time champion Gary Vanier. And added your to a winner’s list that included everyone from baggage handlers to major champions.
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florida – The PGA TOUR and TrackMan announced today they are expanding golf’s most advanced club and ball tracking and tracing solution. By combining TrackMan’s cutting-edge Doppler Radar and club and ball tracking technology, TOUR events will have tracing capabilities for every golf shot hit during the season. This will significantly enhance how fans experience the world’s best golfers by providing more detail for television, OTT and digital platforms. This agreement will double previous ball-in-motion tracing capabilities on the golf course, allowing nearly every shot to be traced and automatically shared with television and OTT partners and across TOUR digital platforms such as PGATOUR.COM and the PGA TOUR app. The arrangement with TrackMan begins in 2022 for PGA TOUR LIVE and TOUR digital platforms, while the domestic television partner agreement begins in 2023. This expansion will immediately offer fan enhancements such as the visualization of ball flight paths for shots inbound to the green in TOURCast. “We’re excited to increase the volume and depth of tracking and tracing for every shot on the PGA TOUR,” said Ken Lovell, PGA TOUR Senior Vice President Golf Technologies. “TrackMan’s sensors will substantially increase content available for analysis and initiate the development of new insights, while creating the opportunity for us to develop innovative visualizations for fans to view all the incredible shots on TOUR.” Fans will see more information beginning in 2022 on how and why the ball moves and arrives at a certain position. This is achieved by using TrackMan technology to capture club speed, ball speed, curve, landing spin, launch angle, spin rate, spin axis, apex, carry and more. The advanced aerodynamic models can also determine the effects of wind, weather, and altitude on a shot so that fans can understand how a shot was impacted by environmental factors. In addition to doubling the collection of radar and tracing information, the new system will substantially increase the range and sensitivity of the content that will now be layered with video for use on any TOUR media platform. Klaus Eldrup-Jorgensen, co-founder and CEO of TrackMan, commented “We have been working closely with the PGA TOUR for more than 15 years, to accurately measure and report data on club delivery, ball launch, ball flight, and tracers for the best players in the world. We are proud to be chosen to implement our new solutions with the PGA TOUR, which will ultimately include all shots for all players. The future of golf will be told in new and innovative ways, the fan experience will elevate to a new level, and the stories about how good these guys play is just beginning.” The club and ball tracking and tracing solution has become a valuable element to “ShotLink powered by CDW,” the TOUR’s real-time data collection and scoring system. As the TOUR and CDW continue to innovate the acclaimed scoring system that has benefited tournaments, broadcast partners, players and fans in countless ways over the years, the TrackMan system contributes to the automated data collection efforts by allowing ShotLink to auto-trigger on shots without input from a person. The new technology being deployed expands tracking capabilities from tee boxes only to shots hit from the fairway and around the green, where the system determines the exact 3D position of the ball at any point in its flight. The TrackMan technology has the ability to lock onto a ball that starts behind the trees and only becomes visible to the radar halfway through its flight. It’s able to accurately track balls up to 400 yards in any conditions; rain, fog, sunrise, and sunset. For a typical TOUR event, around 40 units are placed around the course to track shots with advanced radar and camera units on tee boxes and greens to capture final resting position. TrackMan also recently developed a mobile system that will be used for the capture of radar and tracing information from the fairway and will automatically integrate into TOUR media platforms, which is aided by AWS, the TOUR’s Official Cloud Provider. There are no cables or connections with the mobile system, which adds very little weight for the operator. The TOUR is testing the mobile system for expanded future use on PGA TOUR Champions, the Korn Ferry Tour and in other executions. The club and ball tracking and tracing system will utilize AWS Fargate, Media Services, and numerous other AWS products to process and deliver radar and tracing on every shot in nearly real-time. The full suite of AWS products will allow TrackMan to reduce their onsite footprint and allow fast and easy access to the devices and information from anywhere around the world.
