Winner’s Bag: Matt Jones, The Honda Classic

MAMARONECK, N.Y. - The memories are not great. Tiger Woods shot 76-76 and missed the cut by three at the 2006 U.S. Open at Winged Foot, but his head wasn't really in it. "I think it was just - I was not prepared to play and still dealing with the death of my dad," he said Tuesday. At the 120th U.S. Open at Winged Foot this week the questions will be about Woods' body, not his mind. In '06, he was just six weeks removed from the death of his father Earl. RELATED: Tee times for Rds. 1 & 2 | Nine things to know about Winged Foot | Looking back at wild finish in 2006 "Yeah, when I didn’t win the Masters that year, that was really tough to take because that was the last event my dad was ever going to watch me play," Woods said. "He passed not too long after that, and quite frankly, when I got ready for this event, I didn’t really put in the time. I didn’t really put in the practice, and consequently missed the cut pretty easily." Woods went on to win the Open Championship later that summer, sobbing on the shoulder of his caddie, Steve Williams, on the 18th green. But at Winged Foot? A month earlier? No. It wasn't happening. He made six bogeys and a double in the first round, three bogeys and two doubles in the second. He was there but not there. Not really. A lot has changed since, starting with the fact that Woods, 44, made just seven official starts last season due to mobility issues with his surgically fused back. One of those, the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP last October, turned into his 82nd PGA TOUR victory, but there was precious little else for the highlight reel. Woods had only one other top-10 finish last season, a T9 at the Farmers Insurance Open. He did not feel well enough to play in the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, which like Torrey Pines is one of his favorite courses on TOUR. He also missed The Honda Classic, his hometown tournament, and elected to sit out THE PLAYERS Championship (cancelled after one round anyway because of the pandemic). And when he came back along with everyone else in June? Meh. He finished T37 at the PGA Championship, T58 at THE NORTHERN TRUST, and T51 at the BMW Championship. "This year I really haven’t putted as well as I wanted to," Woods said, "and the times I did make a few swing mistakes, I missed it in the wrong spots. Consequently, I just didn’t have the right looks at it. I’ve compounded mistakes here and there that ended up not making me able to make pars or a birdie run, and consequently I haven’t put myself in contention to win events." Now he comes to Winged Foot, a course he also played at the 1997 PGA Championship, making history, of sorts. Woods and Phil Mickelson were paired together for the first time as professionals in the final round. Each shot 75 in the rain, each finished T29. (Davis Love III won.) In terms of difficulty, Woods ranks Winged Foot alongside Oakmont in Pennsylvania and notoriously nasty Open Championship venue Carnoustie. "The winning scores here have never traditionally been very low," Woods said. (Hale Irwin won the 1974 U.S. Open at Winged Foot at 7 over par; Geoff Ogilvy was 5 over in 2006.) "I don’t see that changing this week." The Memorial Tournament and BMW Championship brought especially hard conditions, but the rough at Winged Foot is something else entirely. Most players have said it will be impossible to advance the ball from the long stuff. Gary Woodland said he was practicing his chipping, his caddie tossing him balls, when they lost one and couldn't find it for five minutes. Marshalls, Woodland added, are going to be invaluable. Tuesday brought chilly temperatures, with Patrick Cantlay donning a ski hat and Woods wearing rain paints for warmth. He played nine holes with Presidents Cup partner Justin Thomas (they're also together for the first two rounds, along with PGA Championship winner Collin Morikawa) and 2019 U.S. Amateur runner-up John Augenstein of Kentucky. The weekend forecast is for even cooler weather. "The golf course is going to be hard," said Woods. "It depends on how difficult they want to set up these pins, give us a chance at it. But with the forecast, it’s going to be difficult no matter what."

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NAPLES, Fla. — Sahith Theegala made a 15-foot birdie putt on the final hole Sunday as he and Tom Hoge closed with a 10-under 62 in Fourballs and became the first rookie team to win the QBE Shootout in 11 years. Ryan Palmer and Charley Hoffman each missed birdie putts from about 12 feet at Tiburon Golf Club that would have forced a playoff. They had a 65. Theegala was coming off a strong PGA TOUR rookie season in which he reached the TOUR Championship and twice had chances to win going to the final hole of tournaments. The QBE Shootout is an unofficial event, but it still felt good to win. “It’s nice to get a taste of victory because it’s so hard out here,” Theegala said. Hoge, who won his first PGA TOUR title at Pebble Beach in February, carried much of the load early when Theegala pulled a muscle in his left side on the first hole. By the end of the day, Theegala said it felt better and he was able to take fuller swings. They still had to contend with Palmer and Hoffman, especially at the end. Palmer’s chip up a steep slope on the par-5 17th hole didn’t get up the hill and came back to him. Stepping up quickly for the next shot, he drilled it into the cup an unlikely birdie that gave his team a share of the lead. Harris English and Matt Kuchar, trying to win the QBE Shootout for the fourth time, finished two shots behind after a 62. Max Homa and Kevin Kisner had a 63 and finished fourth. The top LPGA Tour player was Nelly Korda, who teamed with Denny McCarthy for a 62 to tie for fifth.

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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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