Tour Championship: Just being here is big

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – With his victory on Sunday night at the AT&T Byron Nelson, Aaron Wise secured the 500th PGA TOUR title by a former Web.com Tour player. Wise played the Web.com Tour in 2017, compiling six top-25 finishes in 16 starts, including a win at the Wichita Open Supporting Wichita’s Youth in in June. The former University of Oregon standout finished 18th on the Tour’s Regular Season money list to earn his PGA TOUR card for the 2017-18 season, and entered the week in Dallas at No. 56 in the FedExCup standings, thanks to a career-best T2 finish at the Wells Fargo Championship two weeks ago. “It’s incredible to think of the vision Commissioner Beman had for the Web.com Tour, and how pivotal it has been over the last 29 years in preparing, identifying and transitioning the game’s next generation of PGA TOUR stars,� said Web.com Tour president Dan Glod. “Five-hundred PGA TOUR victories by former players is an impressive number and speaks to the depth of talent we see each week on the Web.com Tour. This milestone clearly demonstrates that our members are prepared to win as soon as they reach the PGA TOUR and continue to have sustained success.� The Web.com Tour, which was founded in 1990 as the Ben Hogan Tour, delivered its first PGA TOUR champion in 1991 when Bruce Fleischer won the New England Classic in a seven-hole playoff for the lone victory of his TOUR career. Fleisher made 12 combined starts on the Ben Hogan Tour between 1990 and 1991, recording four top-five finishes – including back-to-back T3 efforts leading into his breakthrough week at Pleasant Valley Country Club in Sutton, Massachusetts. Since that inaugural victory, the Web.com Tour has paved the way for 17 former players to win 23 major championship titles, including the last three PGA Championships (Justin Thomas, Jimmy Walker, Jason Day). In addition to major championship titles, eight former players have won THE PLAYERS Championship at least once in their career, including 2018 champion Webb Simpson. In 2012, Jacksonville, Florida-based Web.com became the umbrella sponsor of the Web.com Tour, with a 10-year agreement in place through 2021. With 50 PGA TOUR cards available for the following season (since 2013), the Web.com Tour has become the path to the PGA TOUR. Twenty-five TOUR cards are reserved for the leading money winners at the end of the 22-event Regular Season. Another 25 are up for grabs at the conclusion of the four-event Web.com Tour Finals that follow the Regular Season in September. “The Web.com Tour is producing high-caliber professional golfers ready to compete on the PGA TOUR, and the reason is clear. People in every profession can succeed if they have determination and backing from the right team and tools,� said David L. Brown, chairman, chief executive officer and president of Web.com. “It is gratifying to partner with the PGA TOUR to help golf’s current and rising stars succeed and achieve their potential. Congratulations to Aaron Wise on the win and thank you for demonstrating the power of the Web.com Tour.� That formula has given way to immediate success for a number of graduates in recent years. During the PGA TOUR’s 2016-17 season, the Web.com Tour’s Class of 2016 featured nine graduates winning 10 times, including Rookie of the Year Xander Schauffele, who became the first rookie in history to win the TOUR Championship. Thus far during the TOUR’s 2017-18 season, five players from the Class of 2018 have earned titles, including Ryan Armour, Austin Cook, Brice Garnett, Andrew Landry and Wise.

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KAPALUA, Hawaii – Two-time winner Justin Thomas added another accolade to his Kapalua kit bag after a blistering course-record 12-under 61 in the third round of the Sentry Tournament of Champions. Pre-tournament favorite Thomas sat dead last after the opening round thanks to a pedestrian 1-over 74 and while he bounced back with a 67 on Friday, he was still miles behind pace-setter Cameron Smith. But on Saturday in perfect conditions, the 2017 and 2020 Sentry Tournament of Champions winner notched up two eagles and eight birdies in a scintillating effort. The 28-year-old played the last seven holes in seven under and barely missed a 22-foot eagle try on the final hole for a 60. “I didn’t do anything crazy, just took advantage of all the easy opportunities and chances that I had and hit a lot of really good drives, quality iron shots and wedges in there to, again, if there’s such a thing as an easy 12-under, I definitely felt like it was,” Thomas said afterwards. “I wasn’t crazy aggressive today. When you have wedges in your hand with soft greens, you attack. It doesn’t matter if you’re in last or first. You’re just trying to make birdies and I felt like that’s what I did.” Thomas beat the previous record of 62, held by Xander Schauffele, Jason Day, Chris Kirk, Graeme McDowell and K.J. Choi. It was his fifth round of 61 or less since 2015, the most of any player on TOUR. While he found just 11 of 15 fairways off the tee, Thomas hit all 18 greens in regulation and made 113-feet, 3-inches worth of putts. The Kentucky native will likely need to replicate his heroics on Sunday if he is to add a third title at the Plantation Course given the overnight leaders continued to go low. But while victory might be beyond his grasp, it was still important to him to surge as high as possible. “When I looked up and was in last, I felt like that was pretty humbling,” Thomas said. “But I felt like yesterday closing that round out at least gave myself a chance to get a respectable week, respectable finish out of it, and if I did something berserk this weekend, I might have a chance to win.” He now holds the course record at both Hawaii stops on the PGA TOUR having also shot a 59 at Waialae Country Club in Honolulu during his 2017 victory in the Sony Open. “It’s fun. Every golf course you go to there’s a scorecard in the locker room… whether the people know me or not or whether they know whoever shot the course record or not, it seems like that’s kind of a part of the club at that time. So, it definitely means something,” he said of course records. “I still remember my first. It was a Junior World practice round. I can’t remember the name of the golf course. I was like probably nine years old. It was like an executive course. I just remember because Tiger had the course record, and I remember beating him and it was like the coolest thing obviously I had ever done at that time. “Something tells me it’s not still standing. But that was the first one I had ever broken and I was pretty pumped about that.”

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Howard University moved one round closer to its first stroke-play victory as a men’s Division I program on Tuesday at TPC Sawgrass, shooting a second consecutive 19-over-par 307 – this time on the Dye’s Valley Course – to take a 1-shot lead into the final round of the 34th PGA WORKS Collegiate Championship. Howard, in its 154th year of existence, is only 13 months into restarting its golf program (it competed years ago in Division II), and is playing in only its third stroke-play tournament of 2020-21. Everett Whiten Jr. shot 1-over 73, with Gregory Odom Jr. pitching in with a 75. Odom, at 2-over 146, leads all individuals inside the Men’s Division I Team Division. Howard’s coach, Sam Puryear, played on a winning team in this tournament while at Middle Tennessee, and Odom said he and his teammates would like to give him a win as a coach, too. “I’m trying to stay mentally in the game,” said Odom, a junior from Memphis. “Leading as a team is always great. We didn’t have a super great season, but this is the finale. You’ve got to turn up.” Texas A&M-Corpus Christi took a commanding lead in the Women’s Team Division, shooting 26-over 314 on the TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course to stretch its lead to 24 shots over Delaware State. Delaware State’s Baipor Khunsri (3-over 147) is the low individual through two rounds, but Texas A&M-Corpus Christi boasts four (Lucie Charbonnier, Kelli Ann Dugan, Reese Drezins and Kellsey Sample) among the top six. Joni Stephens, in her third season as coach for the Islanders, had a message for her front-running team: “Soak in this experience. The fact that we’re here at TPC Sawgrass and playing in the PGA WORKS Collegiate Championship is unbelievable. This is an opportunity unlike anything we’ve ever had before and will be unforgettable. This will be something they’ll carry with them forever.” Dugan didn’t shoot her team’s lowest round, but provided the highlight of the day for the Islanders with a birdie-birdie finish at the Stadium’s famous 17th and 18th holes. She hit her tee shot in tight to set up birdie on the island 17th, then holed her third shot from short of the green at the par-4 18th. There are a lot of pros who would pay handsomely for such a finish in The Players each year. “I thought to myself, ‘I just birdied 17 and 18!’” said Dugan, a junior from San Antonio who shot 79. “I’ll never forget that. It’s something I’ll be able to tell my grandchildren.” Prairie View A&M’s men’s team, coming off a victory in the Southwestern Athletic Conference – its third consecutive conference title – shot 16-over 304 on Dye’s Valley to close the gap on Howard, and will head into Wednesday trailing the Bison by one shot. Prairie View received a rounded team effort, getting 75s from Lorenzo Elbert Jr. (the SWAC’s individual champion) and Isaiah Wilson and a 76 from Jordan Stagg. “The beautiful thing about winning the SWAC, it was very different than the first two (conference titles),” said Prairie View A&M Coach Kevin Jennings. “After the first round, we were 10 strokes back, and we made up nine strokes in the second round. Coming from behind gave the team a lot of momentum, and personally, gave us a lot of confidence within the group. I’m more than confident in my guys.” Alabama State (301) and Florida A&M (307) will start the final round eight shots behind Howard. Florida A&M, which recently won its first Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference title, placing three players among the tournament’s top four, was the favorite to win the PWCC – the Rattlers were runners-up two years ago – but have yet to put a complete team round together. In the Women’s Individual Division, UNC-Wilmington junior Phu Khine produced the round of the tournament thus far, making six birdies in a 5-under 67 on Dye’s Valley. Khine started fast with two birdies and closed her round with two more, and said the effort was the best she has had this spring. “I’ve been waiting to see a round like this,” Khine said. “I wasn’t confident enough with my swing, and without confidence, my swing got messed up. So I’ve worked on a few key things and I’ve been committed. It’s more like a mental thing. I look at the pin sheet, and it’s like, I can hit that shot.” Miles College (Alabama) took a slim 3-shot edge over Livingstone College (North Carolina) into the final round of the Men’s Division II Team Division. Savannah State will start the final round 10 shots back. Anthony Lumpkin (74) leads Miles and is tied for second individually, one shot behind leader Jared Southerland of Kentucky State. Through two days of play, perhaps the best battle in any of the five divisions is taking place for the Men’s Individual title. Appalachian State junior Timothius Tarmardi pitched in for eagle from 15 yards at the penultimate par-5 17th hole at Dye’s Valley, and his 2-under 70 pulled him even with talented University of Alabama-Birmingham sophomore Khavish Varadan, who shot 74. The nearest competitor to those two stands eight shots back. Tamardi shot 33 going out on the Stadium Course on Monday, but didn’t finish well in his opening 74, so he cannot wait to get back there for one more go on Wednesday. “It was good experience for tomorrow,” he said. “I just need to seal the deal tomorrow. It’s not always about how you start, but how you end it. That’s all that matters.” This is the first time the PWCC has been staged at TPC Sawgrass, home course to The Players Championship each spring. Asked how he’ll handle the nerves on Wednesday when he steps to the famous finish at the Stadium Course, which includes that perilous 140-yard shot to the island green at No. 17, Tamardi, who is from Indonesia, paused for a moment. “Nothing crazy. One shot at a time,” he said, smiling. “We will talk about the 17th hole tomorrow.”

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