Woods fades to five adrift at PGA Genesis Invitational

South Africa’s Dean Burmester carded 65 to take the lead at the halfway stage of the Omega European Masters in Switzerland on Friday.

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Forget Disneyland. What does the Super Bowl MVP know, anyway? When Chesson Hadley was asked how he was going to celebrate after winning the Albertsons Boise Open in 2017 to lock up his PGA TOUR card, he knew exactly what to say. “We’re going to wine country,” Hadley told the interviewer from the Golf Channel, reiterating a promise he had made to his wife Amanda. Then he even named the vineyards he wanted to visit – Alpha Omega, Frank Family and Far Niente. Robin Baggett, an avid golfer who owns Alpha Omega with his wife Michelle, was watching on TV, and it wasn’t long before their phones started blowing up with text messages from people who had seen the shout out. And Michelle – “I’m a planner,” she says – leapt into action. She reached out to friends at the other two vineyards and then contacted Hadley on social media. Later, she sent him and Amanda a lengthy email with restaurant and hotel recommendations and set up visits to wineries when they came to Napa a week later. “They didn’t know us from Adam,” Amanda says. “… She’s like the most hospitable person I’ve ever met in my life. She basically planned our whole trip.” The two couples got together that week, and a fast friendship was formed. The Hadleys have spent time at the Baggett’s homes in Pebble Beach and Lake Tahoe, and they are staying with them this week in the Napa Valley while Hadley plays in the Fortinet Championship. “They’re awesome people,” Hadley says. “They have become great friends of ours.” “A great relationship formed,” Michelle Baggett agrees. “I mean, we both have the same faith and the same values, and we both are very philanthropic with children’s causes.” And when Hadley won the weekly Birdies Fore Love competition at the PGA TOUR’s season-opener at Silverado Resort last year, he suddenly had $50,000 to donate to charity thanks to RSM. The competition lasts throughout the fall and the overall winner receives $300,000 to give to the charity of his choice. “That’s just one thing that’s so cool about the PGA TOUR and some of our partners and sponsors is that there’s stuff like this that we can do to give back and impact people,” Hadley says. “It’s really cool that have the ability to do that.” He and Amanda decided to divide the donation. They knew they wanted to leave some of the money in the Napa Valley, a place they both love, the place where the tournament is played and a place that has suffered mightily in recent years from the raging wildfires in California. So again, they turned to Michelle, who is the executive director of the Alpha Omega Foundation. They told her they wanted to make a $20,000 donation to the winery’s charitable arm, but then they wanted the money to go to help young people. Michelle suggested the Hadleys look at the Napa Valley Community Foundation’s website and one program stood out – the Fruit of the Vine Scholarship. The Fruit of the Vine Scholarship program was established by a local grape grower who was able to graduate from UC Berkley back when tuition was just $100. With that cost having increased exponentially, though, he saw a need to help – particularly those students who might be the first in the family to attend college and those whose parents work in viticulture. Nearly 100 students have received scholarships, which generally run $4,000 each year, since the program was established in 2014. Students have attended or are attending 19 different institutions, all but one of which is a California land grant university or college. The Hadleys are among an estimated two dozen families who have made donations to the Fruit of the Vine Scholarship program. Terence Mulligan, the executive director of the Napa Valley Community Foundation, says their support “means a ton. “Round numbers, it means one kid’s going to be taken care of all the way through college,” he says. “A cool 20,000 is a really generous gift, and it means opportunity basically for these hard-working young people who are really the future of our community.” Michelle Baggett agrees, saying the Hadleys “hit the ball out of the park,” when they decided to donate to Fruit of the Vine. The agriculture, hospitality and wine industries need bright young minds to learn and return to the area for it to continue to prosper. “What a blessing for these kids to get a four-year paid scholarship for an undergraduate degree to hopefully come back to Napa and to continue the good work that we do out here,” she says. Chesson and Amanda used the rest of the money that Hadley won in the Birdies For Love competition to make a $20,000 donation to the Shriners Children’s Hospital and another of $10,00 to help fund a golf scholarship at Georgia Tech where he went to college. Those donations also had special meaning to the couple. “My cousin is an orthotist and prosthetist there at Shriners in Greenville, South Carolina,” Amanda says. “So, she molds the fake legs and the orthotics and stuff. They were shocked, absolutely shocked, and they sent us some neat little videos of kids whose lives had been changed from their visits to Shiners.” And Hadley says one of the reasons he’s playing the PGA TOUR right now is Georgia Tech coach Bruce Hepler. “He does a great job of raising professional golfers, but also turning us into a functioning human being that’s going to contribute to society,” he says. That’s exactly what Hadley did when he and his wife decided to leave some of the Birdies Fore Love money that he won in the Napa Valley which has been their “spot,” Amanda says, since the couple honeymooned there more than a decade ago. Not surprisingly, long before they boarded the plane for California on Monday, the Hadleys – no longer the 23-year-olds newlyweds who “knew nothing “– had been planning their activities in the wine country when Chesson isn’t playing in the TOUR’s kickoff event at Silverado. They have their special places like Model Bakery where they get the brick oven-baked English muffins with jam that are among Oprah Winfrey’s favorite things. They’ll go to Bouchon for the macaroons and Rutherford Grill for the kale salad with peanut dressing. “Obviously the wine’s incredible, but the food is every bit as good as the wine out there,” Hadley says. One of the highlights, though, was Tuesday’s check presentation at Alpha Omega, where Chesson and Amanda got to meet two Fruit of the Vine scholarship recipients. Seeing first-hand how their donation made quite an impact on Chesson and Amanda. “We are Christians, and we have a strong faith background, and this is what we are called to do,” Hadley says. “We believe that everything that we have, and we’ve been given is not really ours. Like God has given us these things — our talents, our house and obviously our income, and we’re just stewards of it. “And so, this is just what we’re supposed to do. It’s really cool that I was able to win this and be able to give back and keep some of the money in the Napa community. And you know, I would certainly love to be able to do that again this year.”

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When a golf course is approved to undergo a renovation, it usually means that it’s older and outdated. It’s tired. It’s getting (or has already been) passed by due to the never-ending advancement of equipment and its agronomy has deteriorated beyond the point of sustainable maintenance to achieve expectations. Then there’s what happened at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm. After it hosted the PGA TOUR from 1987-2004 and once more in 2006, it not only required an overhaul to eliminate concern over poor drainage and substandard turf, it likely wasn’t going to rejoin any sort of rotation as a host at this level until something significant occurred. Done and done. A much tougher test is in store for the field of 120 at this week’s Quicken Loans National. Continues to sizzle and remains one of the most active among the elite. Since a T14 at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, he’s 7-for-7 with six top 25s. Season-best T5 last week. The PGA TOUR’s leader in adjusted scoring took a week to lick his wounds after a T5 at the U.S. Open. Fifth in birdie-or-better percentage and 10th in bogey avoidance. To steal his phrase, wouldn’t be surprised if he just won this (the week after sitting atop the Power Rankings, naturally). Tops on TOUR in birdies-or-better percentage. The 2013 champ (a mile away at Congressional) struts in on a T12-T25-T5 burst. Sits eighth in greens in regulation, seventh in scrambling and third in bogey avoidance. His affinity for tough tracks doesn’t hurt, but foreign greens already enhance his ball-striking skill set. Four top 25s since the Masters, including breakthrough title at Valero. Keeps printing top 20s like money. A T14 at TPC River Highlands is his eighth in 2017 alone. A force throughout his bag, he’s also 13th in bogey avoidance. Scratched out four sub-70s for a T17 at TPC River Highlands, his third top 20 in the last six weeks. Ranks 10th in strokes gained: tee-to-green and sixth in adjusted scoring. Heating up again as we near the Presidents Cup. Last week’s T3 occurs just one month after he went T5-solo sixth in the final swing through Texas. Has always enjoyed a tough test. Win at the AT&T Byron Nelson and T4 at the FedEx St. Jude Classic illustrate recent connections with tiptop form. Twelfth on TOUR in GIR. Might fulfill the eye test more than any other golfer because his occasional brilliance transcends data. Always a threat to WD, but nonetheless rested since a T13 at Erin Hills. Radically improved putting has yielded progressively better top 20s in his last three starts. It’s paid off what was already a serviceable tee-to-green game. Captured his only Web.com Tour title here in 2012. Like Reed, the Swede was also sparked by a T14 at the Zurich Classic and is 7-for-7 since, albeit with one less top 25. No stranger to thriving on smaller greens is fresh off a T5 at TPC River Highlands where he ranked T3 in greens in regulation and 15th in proximity to the hole. Duties as a first-time defending champion may be distracting, but practices at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm, so he likes the level of comfort and advantage it presents. The team event in NOLA has marked a turnaround for him as well. The rookie backed up a T5 at the U.S. Open with a T14 at the Travelers. Ranks 24th in GIR. POWER RANKINGS: QUICKEN LOANS NATIONAL RANK PLAYER COMMENT Along with many other notables, Tony Finau, Jimmy Walker, J.B. Holmes and Charles Howell III will be included in Tuesday’s Fantasy Insider. Back when TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm was a regular stop on the PGA TOUR and then known simply as TPC Avenel, it played as a pushover of a par 71. Charles Howell III owns the course record with a 61 in 2004. Three golfers share the tournament record of 263, most recently submitted by Adam Scott, also in 2004. Neither mark is expected to be threatened this week even. To shed perspective on the challenge, we turn to the career of World Golf Hall of Famer Bernhard Langer. He’s made 197 starts on the PGA TOUR Champions, but in only 14 has he completed a tournament over par. One of those occasions was during the Constellation SENIOR PLAYERS Championship in October of 2010 when TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm resurfaced following its overhaul (in 2007). Mark O’Meara prevailed in a playoff after the duo completed the 72-hole competition in 7-under 273. The Web.com Tour then swung into town in October of 2012, and then again on the weekend after Memorial Day in 2013. David Lingmerth’s 8-under 272 was good enough for the first title, while Michael Putnam’s 7-under 273 secured victory in the latter. Only a combined 21 golfers finished under par for the week in the two editions. Jason Gore’s opening 63 in 2012 is the lowest aggregate of any of the three sanctioned competitions since 2010. Since Ben Curtis was the last PGA TOUR winner to pose for pictures at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm, none of the 18 holes were left alone during the upgrade and modernization. Multiple holes were completely redone and all 83 bunkers were rebuilt. Particular attention was paid to land directly affected when water rises on the Rock Run Stream Valley that crosses through the southern edge of the property. The course now tips at 7,107 yards. Bentgrass greens averaging 5,300 square feet and running at about 12 feet on the Stimpmeter place a premium on distance and accuracy on approach. They’ll also help hide poor putters, but the relative unfamiliarity of the surfaces already presents an even playing field. However, as of midday Monday, 17 in the field (including Lingmerth) competed in the Web.com Tour event in 2012 and 21 were here in 2013, including Quicken Loans National defending champion Billy Hurley III. He missed the cut. Overall, 28 played in at least one of the two with 10 pegging it in both. (All former participants will be listed in The Confidence Factor on Tuesday.) Summerlike weather is in store throughout the tournament, and that includes an increasing threat of rain and boomers into the weekend. Warm and muggy air will provide the ingredients, while prevailing winds from a southwesterly direction may play a role at times, especially early. ROB BOLTON’S WRITING SCHEDULE PGATOUR.COM’s Fantasy Columnist Rob Bolton will be filing his usual staples leading up to this week’s event. Look for the following columns this week. MONDAY: Rookie Ranking, Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Medical Extensions, Power Rankings TUESDAY*: Sleepers, The Confidence Factor, Fantasy Insider WEDNESDAY: One & Done THURSDAY: Ownership Percentages in PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf and One & Done presented by SERVPRO * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO, which also publishes on Tuesdays.

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