What to watch for at The Open this week

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla., and HOUSTON, Texas – United Airlines and the PGA TOUR today announced a multi-year extension of their official marketing relationship that designates United as the “Official Airline of the PGA TOUR, PGA TOUR Champions and Korn Ferry Tour” through 2025. This partnership renewal will also extend the commitment to annually award 55 golf teams at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) with more than half a million dollars in grants, divided equally among the schools, to fund travel for golf tournaments and recruiting efforts. Over the multi-year extension, United will award a total of $1.5 million in grants to these institutions. “On behalf of the PGA TOUR, I’m grateful to our longtime partner United Airlines for their continued support of our players and Tour as well as HBCU golf programs across the country,” said Executive Vice President, Corporate Partnerships Brian Oliver. “Partnering with a global leader like United has allowed us to make significant steps towards diversifying the landscape of competitive golf and enhancing the overall student-athlete experience.” Developed in early 2021 by the TOUR’s HBCU task force, the HBCU grant program aims to leverage the TOUR’s partner network in order to offset the financial burdens many HBCU golf programs face. Student athletes from across the country will also have access to mentorship and career coaching from United employees. “We are immensely proud to continue our work with the PGA TOUR to help remove barriers for collegiate athletes at HBCUs so that they can be given the same opportunities to fulfill their potential and pursue their dreams,” said Jennifer Entenman, United’s Managing Director of Global Sponsorship and Inclusive Partnerships. “United is committed to driving racial equity and inclusion and we have seen the profound impact these grants have on the communities we serve.” Through 2025, each school will receive $10,000 in travel credits, enabling more than 250 student-athletes, coaches and their equipment to fly United to compete in high-profile tournaments that may have been previously out of reach because of limited travel budgets. “Even in the short time that I’ve been at Prairie View A&M, United has saved us a tremendous amount of time and money just to be able to have access to go to George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston to fly,” said Prairie View A&M Golf Coach Mesha Levister. “Just to reduce costs of travel helps tremendously because now we can use those funds to give them a better experience as a student athlete and a college golfer.” United’s travel grants through the PGA TOUR’s HBCU Grant Program will serve 55 current golf programs offered at HBCUs, including:

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2021 AT&T Byron Nelson, Round 2 Top 10 win probabilities: 1. Sam Burns (1, -17, 43.4%) 2. Alex Noren (2, -15, 15.7%) 3. Kyounghoon Lee (3, -14, 8.4%) 4. Jordan Spieth (T6, -11, 5.3%) 5. Doc Redman (4, -13, 3.7%) 6. Carlos Ortiz (T6, -11, 2.3%) 7. Matt Kuchar (T6, -11, 2.1%) 8. Charl Schwartzel (T6, -11, 1.7%) 9. Patton Kizzire (T6, -11, 1.4%) 10. Jon Rahm (T40, -7, 1.1%) Top Strokes-Gained Performers from Round 2: Putting: Rob Oppenheim +4.2 Around the Green: Jr. Potter +3.1 Approach the Green: Sam Burns +4.4 Off-the-tee: Bryson DeChambeau +2.2 Total: Sam Burns +8.4 NOTE: These reports are based off of the live predictive model run by @DataGolf. The model provides live “Make Cut”, “Top 20”, “Top 5”, and “Win” probabilities every 5 minutes from the opening tee shot to the final putt of every PGA TOUR event. Briefly, the model takes account of the current form of each golfer as well as the difficulty of their remaining holes, and probabilities are calculated from 20K simulations. To follow live finish probabilities throughout the remainder of the AT&T Byron Nelson, or to see how each golfer’s probabilities have evolved from the start of the event to the current time, click here for the model’s home page.

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Another week another stamp on the passport as the PGA TOUR shifts from the pink sands of Bermuda to the jungles and beaches of the Riviera Maya and Playa del Carmen Mexico. A field of 132 will tee it at El Camaleon Golf Course at Mayakoba for the 15th consecutive year. Greg Norman’s resort course opened for business in 2006 and stretches barely 7,000 yards (7,017) to a par 71. Navigating the lush jungles, avoiding the many canals running through the property and keeping the ball out of the wind are keys to success this week. Sea Isle Paspalum greens and rough will cover the property but neither cut will provide much headache. The greens will run around 11 feet and the rough won’t reach two inches. Remember, resort golf means plenty of room to LAND it and multiple chances to score. Errant shots, because of the room to move, can and will be penalized with canals, sandy waste areas and 36 bunkers. Oh, and you’re not finding any crooked ones in the mangroves either. There’s a reason veteran guys cash most of the checks here. Pumping the breaks and shot-making trumps brash bombing. The two lowest tournament totals are from Matt Kuchar (-22) and Pat Perez (-21) who are neither chickens of spring or guys who kill it. Viktor Hovland became the first 20-something to win last December since Harris English in 2013. As with most shootouts, nobody has defended the title and the event has not produced multiple winners. Speaking of 2013, that’s when the event moved to fall and became a primary event. This year the purse is $7.2 million with the winner taking $1.296 and 500 FedExCup points plus a trip to the Masters, Sentry Tournament of Champions and all of the perks of victory on TOUR. Recent Event Winners Stats Recent Winners Last year – Viktor Hovland (-20, 264) First winner to birdie the 72nd hole. … Closed with 7 Birdies and 1 Bogey for 65 to win by a shot. … Played the weekend 63-65 but trailed by 2 shots after 54 holes. … Sat 7 back after 36 holes. … Led the field with 25 birdies including 16 on his final 36 holes. … Led the field GIR. … Played the previous two editions and MC both times. … Rolled in on 17 straight made cuts. … Won on Paspalum in Puerto Rico earlier in the season. … Picks up his second TOUR win at age 23 in 35th start. Notables in the field this week: Aaron Wise (2nd) closed with 63 and was T9 GIR. … Tom Hoge (T3) began Sunday one shot back in the final group and closed with 69. … Adam Long (T3) has never finished off the podium in his two starts over the last two years. … Billy Horschel (T5) stormed home 65-64. … Tony Finau (T8) made an ace on Saturday and was T4 Putting. … Emiliano Grillo (T8) led by four after 36 holes and by one after 54 holes but shot 72 on Sunday, the only round above par in the top 10 for the week. … Carlos Ortiz (T8) was the best Mexican finisher for the second year running. … Brendon Todd (T8) set the mark for the best result of a defending champion. … Abraham Ancer (T12) made one bogey and one double on the week. … Justin Thomas (T12) posted the low round of the week with 62 in Round 3. … First round leader Russell Knox (T23) set the pace with 65. … Cut was 1-under. … Top 31 players were 10-under or better. … 23 bogey-free rounds. … Scoring average was 69.767. … First time event was held in December. … Preferred lies in closely mown areas in Round 4. 2019 – Brendon Todd (20-under, 264) 54 hole leader by one closed with 68 to win also by one. … Third consecutive winner in the top 10 (T3) GIR. … Third consecutive winner to lead or co-lead in birdies. … Fourth consecutive winner to lead or co-lead in Par-4 scoring. … Sat two back after 36 holes. … Opened with 63 to trail by a shot. … 63 was T2 round of the week. … Previous results here were MC-MC-T49. … Won for the second time on TOUR in 7 days. … First multiple winner in the fall portion of the schedule since it was formed. … Picks up third career victory in his 178th start at age 34. Notables in the field this week: Adam Long (T2) played the final 36 holes bogey free in his first appearance. … Carlos Ortiz (T2) won the previous week in Houston. … Joel Dahmen (T6) closed 66-65 and led the field in Putting. … Abraham Ancer (T8) made only one bogey and one double for the week (again!). … Billy Horschel (T8) was T9 GIR. … 2016 champ Pat Perez (T8) secured another top 10 paycheck. … First round leader Danny Lee (T26) opened with 62 and didn’t break 70 the rest of the week. … Defending champ Matt Kuchar (T14) raced up the leaderboard with 62, co-low round of the week, on Sunday. … Cut was 1-under. … Top 22 players were 10-under or better. … 27 bogey free rounds. … Scoring average 70.032. … Preferred lies used all four rounds. 2018 – Matt Kuchar (22-under, 262) Set tournament scoring record and won by a shot. … Led or co-led after every round. … Established 36 hole record on 14-under. … Added the 54 hole record on 20-under. … Opened with 64 to share the first round lead. … Co-led the field with 26 birdies. …T18 or better in four of five starts here including last season. … Won for the 8th time in start No. 428 at age 40. … Entered the week off T57 at Shriners. Notables in the field this week: Danny Lee (T2) circled 25 birdies and would have won or forced a playoff in every other edition of this event on 21-under. … JJ Spaun (T3) matched Kuchar with 26 birdies. … Richy Werenski (T3) only squared four bogeys. … Brice Garnett (5th) was T6 Putting. … Pat Perez (T6) led the field in Overall Putting. … Scott Piercy (T8) missed tying the course record by a shot with 62 on Sunday. … Harold Varner III (T6) opened and closed with 65. … Adam Hadwin (T10) circled two eagles. … Anirban Lahiri (T10) circled 21 birdies and an eagle. … Aaron Wise (T10) led the field in Putting. … Defending champ Patton Kizzire (T55) sat 11-under after two rounds but didn’t break on the weekend. … Co-first round leader Kramer Hickok (T29) stumbled with 74 on Saturday. … Cut was 4-under, tying the event record. … Top 40 players were 10-under or better. … 34 bogey free rounds. … Scoring average 69.247. … Absolutely perfect weather. Key stat leaders Top golfers in each statistic on the 2020-2021 PGA TOUR are listed only if they are scheduled to compete this week. Horses for Courses: World Wide Technologies Championship at Mayakoba

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