Tracking Tiger: Latest from his first round

Sung Hyun Park lost control of her lead and slipped into a four-way tie with Shanshan Feng, Tiffany Joh and Ariya Jutanugarn after three rounds of the Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic.

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ST. AUGUSTINE, Florida – Gary Bullard, a skinny African American golfer in a white Army cap, tried to soak it all in as he birdied the 18th hole at the Advocates Pro Golf Association Tour event at the Slammer & Squire course in World Golf Village on Friday. MORE ON APGA TOUR: Dent following in father’s footsteps | College star sees APGA as key to next level A rising sophomore on West Point Academy men’s golf team, Bullard, 19, shot 75-73 and reports for training at 6 a.m. next Thursday. He won’t touch his clubs for nearly a month. “I won’t have this, and I’ll miss it,” said Bullard, one of a handful of amateurs in the field. “The caliber of players out here is so high, it makes me wonder: Why are these guys not on TOUR? The only difference is the number of people around.” Indeed, the quality of golf at this two-day tournament on the APGA Tour, which promotes diversity by providing playing opportunities for aspiring touring professionals, was first rate. Patrick Newcomb of Benton, Kentucky, shot 65-64 to force a playoff with Julian Suri (62-67), a Jacksonville-based on-and-off TOUR pro. Suri won. Tim O’Neal (64-67) of Savannah, Georgia, finished alone in third, two shots back. An American with both Indian and Mexican heritage who reached a high of 60th in the world, Suri has seen his career stall with injuries. Perhaps this will be a springboard in his comeback. For Kamaiu Johnson (69-67, T6) and Willie Mack III (71-67, T10), both of whom landed sponsorships from Farmers earlier this year – Rickie Fowler tweeted his congratulations – the tournament was just more seasoning. Others, having finished well back, were just soaking it in. That part – being around others in the game, getting mentorship and cell numbers, networking – is not inconsequential. The APGA will increase its number of tournaments to 10 by 2022. It is expected to reach 2,000 young people a year, and develop a database of qualified minority candidates upon which golf organizations and manufactures will be able to draw. Whether or not West Point’s Bullard winds up playing on TOUR after college and his five-year military commitment, he wants to remain in the game. Maybe he’ll work for the TOUR, instead. “The goal is to stay around something you love,” said Bullard, who after signing his card joined fellow competitors for pictures and socializing on the clubhouse veranda. “There’s nothing I love more than golf. I’ve been around it my whole life.” Nearby, Michael Herrera of Moreno Valley, California, about an hour east of Los Angeles, rested his legs after posting a second-round 74 to go with his opening 75. Asked about the logo on his cap and shirt, he spoke of Mike Love Golf & Training (mikeloveapparel.com), his new side project, which after launching sold 35 hats in just a week and a half. “I love the golf business,” said Herrera, 22, “and I’m hoping this one that I’m starting helps me with travel and tournament entry fees to chase the dream. I signed up for Canadian Q school this year, but it got cancelled. I just play and practice as much as I can.” The Slammer & Squire event marked the APGA’s second tournament back since the pandemic, and the circuit will quickly move to its third, at Dubsdread Golf Course in Orlando, Monday and Tuesday. Then comes the Midwest swing – Chicago Harborside International – before the circuit concludes its season with a pair of Southern California tournaments Aug. 30-Sept 2. “Everything has just been so compressed since the break,” said Adrian Sills, who played the PGA TOUR in the 80s and started the APGA with Ken Bentley in 2010. When Sills played the TOUR there were more African Americans than there are now, and he and Bentley are trying to do something about that. So is the PGA TOUR itself, which began to support the APGA in 2012 with access to TPC courses and the PGA TOUR Performance Center at TPC Sawgrass. “Some of these guys like Kamaiu and Willie are right on the verge of breaking out,” Bentley said in an extensive interview with the PGA TOUR last month. And they don’t lack for inspiration; TOUR pros Joseph Bramlett, Harold Varner III and Tony Finau have played in APGA events. “Golf has to change, but I’m optimistic,” Bentley added. He isn’t the only one. For the APGA, it was on to Orlando.

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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Sam Ryder brought down the house with a hole-in-one on the stadium 16th hole Saturday in the WM Phoenix Open, where newcomer Sahith Theegala topped a leaderboard as crowded as the course. RELATED: Full leaderboard | Get to know Sahith Theegala in 10 stories | Inside Sam Ryder’s epic ace on WM Phoenix Open’s 16th hole Ryder’s wedge shot on the 124-yard hole landed just right and short, bounced a couple of times, spun left and tumbled in. The rowdy fans on the 17,000-seat hole threw drinks in the air in celebration and littered the turf with bottles, cans and cups, leading to about a 15-minute delay. “I don’t know how I could pick a hole over this one,” said Ryder, eight strokes behind Theegala after an even-par 71. “I don’t think there’s any hole that has the electricity that this one has.” Ryder’s first TOUR ace was the 10th at No. 16 since the tournament moved to the course in 1997 and first since Francesco Molinari in the third round in 2015. Tiger Woods did it in 1997 before grandstands ringed the hole. “It just ended up being a perfect 54-degree wedge,” Ryder said. “Everything always plays a little shorter in there, adrenaline or whatever it is.” With around 200,000 fans packing firm and fast TPC Scottsdale on another sunny, 80-degree day in the Valley of the Sun, Theegala overcame a double bogey on the par-4 second to shoot a 69. “What a day,” Theegala said. “So many ups and downs. I mean, it was wild.” Making his event debut on a sponsor exemption, Theegala had a 14-under 199 total for a one-stroke lead over defending champion Brooks Koepka. FedExCup champion Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele, Scottie Scheffler and Talor Gooch were another stroke back. “I’m really exhausted right now,” Theegala said. “Probably, I hit it in the desert five times. I got my ball stepped on twice, got my ball picked up twice. Very draining, for sure.” Theegala is trying to become the first player to win on a sponsor exemption since Martin Laird in the 2020 Shriners Children’s Open. The 24-year-old Indian-American grew up in Chino Hills, California, and starred at Pepperdine. In 2020, he swept the three major college player of the year awards. He’s playing for the fifth straight week, with his parents and some family members attending the last four in California and Arizona. “It was hard to see them,” Theegala said. “Just engulfed in the sea of people.” After hitting the lip of a fairway bunker en route to the double bogey on No. 2, Theegala rallied with birdies on Nos, 6, 7 and 8. He dropped a shot on the 11th, birdied the par-5 13th and holed a 15-footer on the par-4 17th. “Obviously, really bad start and proud of the way I fought back there,” Theegala said. “But still trying to take it all in. There’s just is so much going on there, too. Which is a good thing. I really enjoyed the fans out there.” Koepka had a 68. The four-time major champion is the last player to win the event in his first appearance, doing it in 2015. “I’m playing solid, so just go out and go play a good round tomorrow and see what happens,” Koepka said. “Just need to keep putting it the way I did. I feel confident. I like where my game’s at, and we’ll see.” Scheffler flirted with his second 59 before settling for a 62. Seeking his first TOUR victory, he began the day nine strokes behind Theegala. “I think it’s a fun event,” Scheffler said. “I think it would be a little bit draining if it was like this every week, but one week a year is pretty special.” Scheffler played his first nine in 7-under 27, and added two birdies on his second nine. He was the last player on the TOUR to shoot 59, doing it in THE NORTHERN TRUST in 2020. Jim Furyk is the only player to break 60 twice in the PGA TOUR, shooting 58 and 59. The fourth-ranked Cantlay, also making his first start in the event, had a 68. Gooch birdied the last three holes for a 67, making a 40-footer on 18. Schauffele, the leader at 14 under at the turn, shot 69. He made a double bogey after driving into the water on the par-4 11th. Hideki Matsuyama (66) was 11 under with Tom Hoge (67), Max Homa (68), Alex Noren (67) and Adam Hadwin (68). Matsuyama, the Masters champion who won in Scottsdale in 2016 and 2017, is making his first start since winning the Sony Open in Hawaii a month ago. Hoge won at Pebble Beach last week for his first PGA TOUR title.

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