‘War by the Shore’ captain Stockton: see Ryder Cup course

JERSEY CITY, N.J. — The Americans came within one match of winning the Presidents Cup. On Saturday. Anirban Lahiri made two clutch birdies that only delayed the inevitable. This is a powerful U.S. team playing to its full potential, and the result is the biggest blowout since these matches began in 1994. Lahiri and Si Woo Kim had the only victory for the International Team over two sessions. From the sun rising over the Manhattan skyline until the chilly twilight at Liberty National, the Americans poured it on. They have a 14.5-3.5 lead and need only one point Sunday to win the Presidents Cup for the seventh straight time. Phil Mickelson set a Presidents Cup record with his 25th victory, breaking the record set by Tiger Woods. Mickelson hit two wedges into birdie range in the morning foursomes session with Kevin Kisner, when the Americans won three matches and halved the other. Jordan Spieth’s best intentions cost him a hole in a ruling rarely seen in match play, though that didn’t matter. All that did was inspire Spieth and Patrick Reed to win yet another match. They are 8-1-3 as a partnership in the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup. Justin Thomas made another big birdie on the 14th hole and cupped his hand to his ear, covered by a beanie in the chill, to fire up a crowd that didn’t need much help. Even in the lone loss of the day, the Americans made it hard on them. Charley Hoffman chipped in from short of the 17th green and body-slammed partner Kevin Chappell, a celebration that lasted only long enough for Lahiri to match his birdie with a 20-foot putt. Lahiri and Kim were 1 up playing the par-3 18th, and when Lahiri chipped to 3 feet and both Americans were in the bunker, they chose not to concede Lahiri’s putt until after Chappell had made par. It was meaningless in the big picture, yet it illustrated clearly — along with all the celebrations — that no victory is too big for this U.S. team. Hoffman was aware that his match could have ended it. “We knew what was on our shoulders,” said Hoffman, the 40-year-old who had never been in a team competition as a pro. “I didn’t have my best stuff all day long, but I had a chance. Got to give it up to Lahiri. He made some great birdies coming down the stretch, and they knocked us off.” The 11-point margin is the largest going into the 12 singles matches, breaking the International record of nine points set in 1998 at Royal Melbourne, the only time it has ever won the Presidents Cup. The 2003 matches ended in a tie. While the outcome was inevitable, this day still had its moments, none more peculiar than the 12th hole. Jason Day was already down for a birdie. Spieth had 12 feet for his birdie, while Louis Oosthuizen hit his drive behind the green on the reachable par 4 and had a shot at eagle. The ball raced by the hole and was headed down the slope with water on the other side, and the partisan American crowd was urging it to keep going. Spieth had heard enough and reached over and scooped away the moving ball with his putter. Match referee Andy McFee, a top rules chief on the European Tour, stepped in and informed Spieth that it was a violation of the first rule in golf (Rule 1-2): “A player must not take an action with the intent to influence the movement of a ball in play.” No player would ever do that in stroke play (though John Daly and Kirk Triplett did it to their golf balls on U.S. Open greens). Spieth figured the International Team already had its birdie. Even so, the rule meant Spieth was disqualified from the hole, even as Oosthuizen and Day protested. “I’m sorry for trying to do the right thing,” Spieth said to McFee, a mixture of sarcasm and frustration. That gave Day and Oosthuizen a 1-up lead that lasted only three holes. Spieth birdied the 15th to square the match, Reed hit a tee shot into the wind and along a ridge to 5 feet for birdie on the 16th, and Spieth birdied the 17th to close them out. Day went 0-4-1 in the Presidents Cup two years ago. He heads into singles with a 0-3-1 mark at Liberty National. Hideki Matsuyama has failed to win a match. Adam Scott is 0-3 and sat out the Saturday afternoon session. Dustin Johnson extended his record to 4-0 this week, teaming with Matt Kuchar for an easy victory in foursomes and riding U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka and his hot putter for a 3-and-2 victory that put the Americans on the cusp of victory. The celebration will have to wait. Lahiri missed a 3 1/2-foot putt on the 18th hole that cost the International team a rare victory in South Korea two years ago. This time he saved his team, if only for a day.

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SILVIS, Ill. — Two words — one name, actually — drew a wide smile Sunday from Alex Stewart that answered a question that hadn’t yet been asked. The mere mention of Willie Mack carries that kind of currency these days on the Advocates Professional Golf Association Tour, which will continue its race to the Lexus Cup with the schedule’s penultimate event, the APGATour Deere Run, Monday and Tuesday. The 36-hole tournament is being contested at the TPC Deere Run course where Mack scored his second PGA TOUR check in as many weeks just eight days ago at the John Deere Classic. It will serve as a prelude to the season-ending APGA Tour Championship Atlanta Aug. 9-10 at TPC Sugar Loaf in Duluth, Ga. Highlighted by a Friday round of 66, Mack finished 61st at the Deere. That followed a 71st place finish a week earlier at the Rocket Mortgage Classic near his hometown of Flint, Mich., which followed a T62 at the Korn Ferry TOUR’s BMW Charity Pro-Am June 10-13 in Greer, S.C. All three starts came via sponsor’s exemptions. The $31,143 Mack earned in those three events wouldn’t cover a third of the rental cost of the private jets Champion Golfer of the Year Collin Morikawa and many of the American players rode home from Sandwich, England, Sunday night. Yet, for Mack — who spent a year-and-a-half of his nine-year grind on various mini-tour circuits sleeping in his car — it represents a windfall. For Stewart and the 58 other contestants in the APGATour Deere Run, the example of Mack’s monthlong run of success at the game’s highest level is simply invaluable. Stewart is playing as an amateur on the APGA circuit while awaiting his senior season at Livingstone College in Greer, N.C. Like Mack and the other Black and minority golfers competing on the APGA circuit, the PGA TOUR is his goal. “It’s not a pipe dream anymore,” Stewart said of the possibility of making the step from the APGA to the TOUR. “It’s reality. I was at work at a golf course back home, sitting in an office following the John Deere, thinking, ‘Wow, Willie’s doing it.’ You see him make four birdies in nine holes and you think, ‘OK, maybe he’s ready to be on the TOUR.’ Two cuts back-to-back? How can he not be?” Prince Cunningham will make his first APGA start as a pro this week after concluding his collegiate career at Florida A&M in June. Mack’s recent success is inspiring. “It’s definitely an amazing thing he did,” he said. “Being a young golfer who just graduated from college it, gives you something to look at. If he did it, I can do it. It’s a hard dream, but it pays off if you stick with it.” The 32-year-old Mack knows his quest is far from finished, but he’s never been closer. He began working with Todd Anderson, director of instruction at the PGA TOUR’s Performance Center at TPC Sawgrass, earlier this year and will enter the three-stage Korn Ferry TOUR Qualifying Tournament in late August fortified by the opportunity, experience and success he has enjoyed this year. Emphasis on opportunity. Mack has felt equally ready at various junctures since turning pro after an 11-win career at Bethune Cookman University in 2012. In 2019, Mack was Player of the Year on the Florida Professional Golf Tour, and he will be seeking his fourth finish atop the APGA points standings next month in Atlanta. “Yes and no,” he said, when asked if race and economic stature impeded his pursuit of a PGA TOUR career. “I always say things work out how they’re supposed to. I’m glad I could get these opportunities now.” Creating opportunity is what the Advocates Professional Golf Association is about. It was launched in 2008 as non-profit headed by CEO Ken Bentley, who retired as vice president for community affairs and workforce diversity at Nestle USA in 2013. The APGA Tour debuted in 2010 as a two-tournament circuit offering a total of $40,000 in prize money. Today, the tour features 10 events offering more than $500,000 in total purses, and is supported by the PGA TOUR, the PGA of America, Farmers Insurance and Lexus, among others. Five TPC Network clubs — Deere Run, Sugar Loaf, along with TPC Louisiana, TPC Scottsdale and TPC Las Vegas — serve as tournament venues. A 27-hole event is staged on the Torrey Pines North Course on the Saturday of the Farmers Insurance Open, and Farmers Insurance this year signed Mack and fellow APGA Tour stalwart Kamaiu Johnson to multi-year sponsorship deals. Mack made his first PGA TOUR start at the Farmers in January, but did not make the cut. He also missed the cut at the Genesis Invitational three weeks later. Executive director Cole Smith said the opportunity to play APGA events on TOUR-caliber courses has grown the APGA’s profile, as well as player interest. “It is a unique experience for our guys. Membership requests are going through the roof,” he said. “We’ve come a long way and we’re excited about what the future holds for us.” More excited in the wake of Willie Mack’s summer run. “Hopefully that inspires some other players to go out and try to do the same,” said Mack. “There are a lot of talented people out here. Just getting those opportunities can definitely change some minds.” Certainly, Mack feels ready after years of chasing his dream.

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