Time isn’t on this legendary trio’s side

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Commissioner Jay Monahan announced late Tuesday the PGA TOUR will cancel four additional events in accordance with the most recent recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control, the World Health Organization and the Office of the President of the United States in the battle against the Coronavirus pandemic. The four events are the RBC Heritage (April 13-19); Zurich Classic of New Orleans (April 20-26); Wells Fargo Championship (April 27-May 3); and AT&T Byron Nelson (May 4-10). Furthermore, the PGA of America is postponing the PGA Championship (May 14-17) for a date later this year, to be announced. Monahan videotaped a message at TOUR headquarters that was distributed to players along with news of the schedule change. Here are the basics: WHO WILL BE AFFECTED? On March 12, the TOUR made the announcement to cancel or postpone four weeks of events, starting with THE PLAYERS Championship, which Monahan called “the Super Bowl of our sport,â€� through the week of the Valero Texas Open, April 2-5. (Augusta National Golf Club then announced the postponement of the Masters Tournament, April 9-12). Tuesday’s announcement brings the total to eight weeks of cancellations for the TOUR along with its five supporting Tours, including the Korn Ferry Tour, PGA TOUR Champions, PGA TOUR Latinoamerica, Mackenzie Tour-PGA TOUR Canada, and PGA TOUR Series China. WHAT ARE PLAYERS DOING WITH THE TIME OFF? Billy Horschel pledged money and joined the TOUR in helping to distribute 22 tons of food, once earmarked for THE PLAYERS Championship, to Feeding Northeast Florida, instead. Matt Wallace announced on Tuesday that he will donate half his money from THE PLAYERS purse to Blessings in a Backpack. Monahan said others have also reached out. “It’s no surprise,â€� the Commissioner said. “I see their hearts every single day, I see how much they care about our sport and our fans. You can’t move fast enough when people are in need. It’s inspiring to know that they have the confidence in this organization to make the right decisions, but at the same time they’re all raising their hands saying, ‘What do I need to do to help?’ It’s times like these that people come together and show their true grit and true connectedness.â€� WHO ELSE HAS BEEN CHIPPING IN? Feeding Northeast Florida was just the beginning.  “We had restaurants calling us saying they were thinking of closing, and they wanted to be able to use their restaurants to be able to feed people,â€� Monahan said. “People not even associated with our tournament in this community. Good deeds beget good deeds, and that’s what we’re seeing here in Jacksonville and on the First Coast, and I know that’s what we’ll see in each market as we go forward, particularly as our players lean in to try and find ways to help.â€�  WHAT HAS IT BEEN LIKE TO BREAK THE NEWS TO TOURNAMENT DIRECTORS? “It’s really hard,â€� Monahan said, “because these tournament directors, they’re working on this tournament 365 days a year, they’re working with their communities, they’re working with our players. They’re kind of the pulse for the game of golf in that community, and they so want to stage their events. I think the reality is that by the time we’re talking to them, we’re not surprising them. We’re all dealing with the same set of facts, and we all want to come to the right decisions together, so that part of it I feel really good about. But you can plan for all kinds of situations, but this one is really unique – just think about how much it’s changed since last Wednesday night, think about how much it’s changed in the last 24 hours. I think we can expect more of that, and the only way to counteract that is to be committed to communicating and to be honest and real about what you’re seeing and hearing and how it affects you.â€�   HAS MONAHAN BEEN IN CONTACT WITH COMMISSIONERS IN OTHER SPORTS? Yes, and the conversations, he said, have been helpful. “This challenge, this crisis, is affecting everybody differently,â€� Monahan said. “Everybody has their own unique considerations. To hear what others are going through — some of which is applicable to us, some of it not — it’s helpful to me as I think about all the things that we’re considering. But as it relates to the golf industry, I know every major golf organization is working not independently but together and trying to figure out, as we look to the end of the FedExCup schedule and the end of the 2020 calendar year, how do we put the best product forward for our fans and our collective interests.â€� CAN THE 2019-20 SEASON BE SAVED? Sungjae Im leads the FedExCup standings through the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, but will there be a FedExCup Playoffs? It’s too early to say for sure, but it remains possible. “As we receive more clarity in the coming weeks,â€� Monahan said in his videotaped statement to members, “the TOUR will be working with our tournament organizations and title sponsors, in collaboration with golf’s governing bodies, to build a reimagined PGA TOUR schedule for 2020 that ensures the health and safety for all associated with our sport and a meaningful conclusion to the season. We will provide further updates when those plans come into focus.â€� HOW CAN FANS STILL ENGAGE? Over the coming days, the TOUR, through its various partners, will make available its archive of past PGA TOUR competitions and additional programming for fans. More details will be made available soon.

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NORTON, Mass. – Rory McIlroy has spent the last few weeks watching his 16-year-old self and perfecting a swing adjustment that he hopes will catapult him to a second FedExCup triumph. The 2016 FedExCup champion sat out THE NORTHERN TRUST in the opening week of the FedExCup Playoffs and as a consequence dropped to 28th in the FedExCup standings. But the two-time Dell Technologies Championship winner feels it was time well spent as he is trying to return to the swing of his younger years, studying video of when he was just 16. The catalyst was a poor final round at the World Golf Championships – Bridgestone Invitational where he failed to put pressure on Justin Thomas in the final group (finished T6) and a relatively limp performance at the PGA Championship in St. Louis where he tied for 50th. “That was all to do with swing mechanics and technique,â€� McIlroy said of his recent form. “I just needed to have a couple of weeks off and sort of assess where I was at and what I needed to do to improve and go forward. “So I worked for ten days with Michael Bannon down in Florida. We worked on a few things, sort of looking back at old video all the way back to when I was 16 and what I’ve done well in my swing throughout the years. And just sort of trying to get back to that.â€� The Northern Irishman downplayed the changes a little, saying he wasn’t trying to reinvent the wheel. But none-the-less he felt it imperative to step away from competition to ingrain it in. The issue for McIlroy has been being too shallow on his takeaway and steep on his downswing. His younger self had the opposite – steep on the takeaway and shallow on the way down. “That’s why I get two-way misses left and right,â€� McIlroy says. “It was a good thing for me because I’ve been sort of fighting with Michael on this for a while. So it made me realize, OK, I can do this again. And even just watching it you start to feel the feelings that you might need to get back into those positions. So it was a beneficial week.â€� The 14-time PGA TOUR winner who claimed the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard earlier this season now feels fresh and more importantly confident with the tweaks as he looks to go on his Playoff blitz. On two separate occasions McIlroy has won multiple Playoff events in one season (2014, 2016). On both of those occasions TPC Boston was one of the happy hunting grounds. “It’s good to be back. I’ve had some really good memories here in Boston, two good wins that have set me up for a win at the FedExCup, which I was able to win in ’16,â€� he said. “It’s a good test. If you play well, you can make a lot of birdies and you can get on runs. I feel like I’ve played well here because of that, the par-5s, the short par-4s, the bentgrass greens, I seem to putt better on those. So I’m excited to get back. “I’m actually pleasantly surprised I didn’t drop more in the FedExCup, I thought from 21 I was going to drop outside the top-30. But I was able to hold my position pretty well. I feel like I’m in a decent position coming into this week.â€�

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SAN ANTONIO – In a Hall of Fame career that took him all over the world, Greg Norman spent very little time at historic Riviera. He played a couple of PGA Championships there but was never in contention. He made one start at the regular PGA TOUR stop, missing the cut. Ten total rounds. Still, his limited visits left an impression. Riviera was on his mind less than a decade ago when he was designing the AT&T Oaks course at TPC San Antonio. Specifically, Riviera’s sixth hole, memorable because it has a pot bunker in the middle of the green, dividing the putting surface essentially into four quadrants. “I always liked that hole,� Norman said. “I liked the concept. Can’t do it everywhere. Just has to be the right topo (topography), the right distance.� Norman thought he found the right spot as he sketched out the holes for TPC San Antonio. But he wanted to make sure. Luckily, the player-consultant on his design was Sergio Garcia, who at that point in his career had played Riviera in 22 competitive rounds, more than double Norman’s total. Garcia loves Riviera. When Norman brought up the idea, Garcia was quickly on board. They discussed it, tinkered with it, then finally went through with the idea. The end result is the 183-yard 16th hole. Inspired by George Thomas’ masterpiece, but distinctly Norman, on display again this week at the Valero Texas Open. “He obviously liked the sixth hole there, so he wanted to do something kind of similar but with his touch and a different flair to it,� said Garcia, playing at TPC San Antonio for the first time since 2010. “I think this one, the nice thing about it is you have more pin positions than you do at Riviera. “For example, the green is a little bit bigger, the bunker is also a little bit bigger. It just brings a different element to it. It’s a different look and it’s just kind of like a par 3 with two greens if you look at it that way.� More than that, according to Norman. “Once we drew it out and you could actually see that there were like three or four different greens in one, depending on where the PGA TOUR puts the tee markers,� he said. “It’s a challenging hole because it’s not just a regular par 3. It’s like three or four different par 3s in one.� A year ago, the first round pin placement was front right, the second was back right, the third was back left, and the final round was front left. Different looks each day, and with the wind that often whips through the course, different conditions. Brendan Steele, the 2011 Valero Texas Open champ, recalled having a 185-yard tee shot last year with a helping wind. He took out a wedge and finished pin-high. “It gets so windy here that it can play really different,� Steele said. “… It’s basically four different greens – and they’re all very small.� Adam Scott, who won at TPC San Antonio the first time it hosted the event in 2010, said he played a 6-iron into a front pin placement with the wind into his face during Wednesday’s practice round. “It’s interesting for sure, but it’s got us talking about it, which is a good thing,� said Scott, making his first start here since 2011. Most players are adept at avoiding the bunker in the middle of the green. In fact, in last year’s final round, just three players found that bunker with their tee shots; in the second round, it was just two, with the majority of misses being far right of the green. Overall, less than 25 tee shots in the four rounds landed in the middle bunker (there are four other bunkers guarding the green). A look at where Kevin Chappell hit his tee shot at the 16th in each round during his 2017 win at TPC San Antonio. “The bunker’s actually OK to the back pins and not very good to the front pins,� Steele said. “You have to kind of know where your miss is and then stand in there and hit a great shot in order to get it close to the hole. There’s not a lot of room for error.� Of course, finding the bunker is not the quirkiest result about the 16th tee shot. Instead, it’s finding the green – but on the wrong side of the bunker, forcing players to chip over the bunker to the pin. That’s what happened to Kevin Chappell in the first round in 2013. With the pin set in the back right, his tee shot landed 20 yards away on the front left of the green, forcing him to use a wedge. “I think I did all right,� Chappell said, recalling the shot. Indeed, he did. Finished 4 feet from the pin for par. That’s the only time in 25 career rounds at TPC San Antonio that Chappell has landed on the wrong side of the bunker. A year ago when he broke through for his first PGA TOUR win, he played the hole in 1 under, saving par from the middle bunker in the first round, and rolling in a 11-1/2 foot birdie putt to the back left pin in the third round. Chappell doesn’t worry about the middle bunker. Depending on the set-up, he has bigger concerns. “I was talking to my pro-am group today about it,� Chappell said Wednesday on the eve of his title defense. “That back right pin or middle right pin’s one of the scarier pins we play all year. Not because of penalty shots and that side of it, but the pin is 9 feet from the people, so you can hit a good shot and hit someone. “That’s never a comfortable feeling.� And it’s never comfortable having to take out a wedge when you’re on the putting surface. Steele hasn’t had to during his seven starts at TPC San Antonio. But he has been on greens that required him to chip over an obstacle to reach the pin. It happened once on the 18th green at Bay Hill when his approach landed front right, with the pin tucked to the back right on the green that wraps around the back portion of the pond. At the time, Arnold Palmer was waiting to greet players as they finished – making an uncomfortable shot even more nervy in front of the legend. “I’ve heard a lot of guys say, well, they shouldn’t put the pin over here and put the green over there if they don’t want us to hit a chip,� Steele said. “I mean, how else are we supposed to get it there? “I didn’t want Arnie to see me take a big chunk out of Bay Hill – but that’s the shot. I needed to play it that way.� And at various times this week, players will play a similar shot at the 16th. Sticking a bunker in the middle of the green may challenge the traditional approach of golf course design, but if it was good enough for George Thomas, then it’s good enough for Greg Norman. Plus, it just makes livens up things. “It’s just a bigger version of Riviera,� said Martin Piller, who tied for fourth at Valero last year and made his first TOUR start at Riviera this season. “I think it’s fun. It’s cool. It gives a lot of different looks at it. It’s like every day is a new hole, with the bunker in the middle of it. Everytime you play it, based on where the pin is, it’s got a new set of challenges.�

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