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Gene Sauers, who in 2011 nearly died from a rare skin disease, parred the 72nd hole on Monday at Scioto Country Club to win the 37th U.S. Senior Open by one shot over Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez and PGA Tour Champions rookie Billy Mayfair.
Kyle Robertson | DispatchGene Sauers after winning Monday at Scioto Country Club
Sauers, 53, looked in trouble after 16 holes when he trailed Jimenez by a shot, but he parred the last two holes — while Jimenez bogeyed them both — to win his first senior major title and the $675,000 winner’s check.
Sauers shot 1-under 69 and third-round leader Jimenez shot 1-over 71. Mayfair (tied for 2nd) shot 3-under 67.
Sauers did not touch a golf club for seven years beginning in 2005, when he gave up golf for three years. After getting sick in 2008 and suffering through Stevens-Johnson syndrome — a serious disorder of the skin and mucous membranes — doctors gave him a 25 percent chance to live.
“I told my wife when I was in the hospital that I didn’t think I’m ever coming out,” he said during his victory speech.
He recovered, needing skin grafts, and in 2014 lost his first U.S. Senior Open to Colin Montgomerie in a playoff. This time he pulled it out in a Senior Open that experienced intense heat the first three days, then heavy rains that postponed Sunday’s final round to Monday.
Justin Rose shoots 66, leads after third round in Rio
RIO DE JANEIRO — Justin Rose is one round away from winning golf’s first Olympic gold medal in 112 years.
Rose did a little shimmy when his 10-foot par putt on the final hole Saturday swirled in the back side of the cup for a 6-under 65, giving him a one-shot lead over British Open champion Henrik Stenson going into the final round — the medal round — at Olympic Golf Course.
It’s not a two-man race, even if it felt like one.
Rose was at 12-under 201 and had the lead after Stenson narrowly missed a birdie putt and had to settle for a 68, capping a day in which he poked a caiman with the end of his wedge in the water to the left of the 10th hole.
Marcus Fraser, the leader after the first two rounds, stumbled to a 72 and was four shots out of the lead.
“It’s like a lot of other sports,” Rose said. “You work hard to get into the finals. It’s about a great performance tomorrow.”
Rose, the U.S. Open champion three years ago at Merion, is used to playing alongside Stenson when the competition is more about flag than money. They were partners in the Ryder Cup in 2014 at Gleneagles, winning all three of their matches for the European flag.
That won’t be the case Sunday. It will be Britain against Sweden, with other countries still looking to break into contention.
Bubba Watson kept American hopes alive with a 5-under 67 that featured his own surreal moment. Watson had a 30-foot birdie putt on the 14th hole, but when he took his putter back, a clump of mud dropped to the ground. Watson tried to stop his stroke and failed, so the ball traveled only about 6 feet.
He still wound up with a 67 and was in the group six shots behind — and three shots out of a medal — along with Emiliano Grillo of Argentina and David Lingmerth of Sweden, both of whom shot 68. They were at 6-under 207, with Matt Kuchar and Padraig Harrington another shot behind.
Rickie Fowler had the low round of the blustery day with a 64, though he remained nine shots behind.
Rose was four shots out of the lead to start the second round, but not for long. He holed a 75-foot pitch for eagle from just short of the third green, where the tees were moved up to make it a 285-yard hole into the wind. Then, he hit 7-iron to 15 feet on the downwind, par-5 fifth hole and made that for another eagle. He took the lead for the first time with a 35-foot putt from off the 12th green.
Stenson’s day was exciting because of a wedge, just not for a shot that he played with it.
Walking along the edge of the water on the par-5 10th, he spotted a caiman — a small crocodile in these parts — and reached over to poke it with the end of his wedge.
“It was a little lob wedge,” he said. “If it was twice the size, you probably needed to go to a longer iron.”
He wound up making birdie on that hole, and two birdies late on the back nine kept in range of Rose.
For all the talk about the stars who stayed home, this is just what golf needed in its return to the Olympics. Stenson is coming off the lowest score in major championship history when he won the British Open at Royal Troon, among the greatest final rounds played. He is No. 5 in the world, the highest-ranked player in the field.
Rose is another major champion at No. 12 in the world, slowed by a back injury in the middle of his season, but excited about the Rio Games. He was part of opening ceremony and kept busy in the week leading to the golf competition, going to other sports, spending time in the gym with Britain’s other athletes and soaking it all in.
The only thing better would be leaving with a gold medal.
“It would mean an awful lot,” Rose said. “You see what it means to the other Olympic athletes. Once a guy slips a gold medal around his neck, we’ll all understand how important it is.”
UPPER ARLINGTON, Ohio — Joey Sindelar, one of four former Ohio State players in the U.S. Senior Open at Scioto Country Club in suburban Columbus, has felt the support of the hometown crowd all week.
It apparently was a big help Friday. The 58-year-old Sindelar shot a 4-under 66 on a hot and humid day to take the second-round lead. He had five birdies, including two in a row after a bogey on No. 5. After finishing the first round with a 69, he was at 5 under overall.
“I’ve never been unconvinced that that many people in your corner, as the four of us have witnessed this week, cannot somehow kind of talk you into what might happen,” Sindelar said.
His highlight was a 40-foot birdie putt on the par-3 17th, after pars on the six previous holes.
“I’m seeing the line very well, and I seem to be able to hit the ball where I’m looking, and so far it’s been a fun week with the putter,” said Sindelar, whose best finish in a senior event was a second in 2009.
Billy Mayfair, making his first PGA TOUR Champions start after turning 50 last Saturday, was a stroke back after a 67. He had four birdies and a bogey.
“Any time you put the words USGA in front of a tournament, first of all, they’re going to be the best venues you’re ever going to find, and they’re going to be set up very difficult,” Mayfair said. “You’ve got to drive the ball well. You’ve got to hit good, smart iron shots, and you’ve got to position the ball on the green really well. Usually, that’s below the hole. The greens will get firmer and firmer.”
First-round leader Vijay Singh followed his opening 66 with a 75 to drop into a tie for eighth at 1 over.
“I didn’t hit that many fairways,” Singh said. “It was a lot windier today. I got some bad breaks, didn’t putt as well. But all in all, I managed. I didn’t play as bad as what the score reads.”
Defending champion Jeff Maggert also was 1 over after a 71. He won last year at Del Paso in California.
Sindelar said stamina has been factor for the PGA TOUR Champions players in the blistering heat and high humidity. For one thing, Sindelar said he also had trouble keeping his hands dry on the club. The conditions also have worked in their favor, with the course playing hard and fast.
“Some of us have aged way different than others,” he said. “I’m extremely arthritic so the heat is good for me. It keeps me loose so I’m kind of enjoying it. But, boy, at night we’re cramping no matter how much you drink. Everybody got beat down a little. It’s just tough physically to go through that out there.”
John Daly had an 81 to miss the cut. He had three double bogeys, six bogeys and a birdie.
Bernhard Langer was tied for 23rd at 3 over after a 70.
Because of the threat of rain Saturday, the players will play in threesomes starting at about 7:30 a.m.
Joey Sindelar (69-66—135/-5)
• Followed his opening-round 1-under-par 69 with a 4-under-par 66 for a 36-hole score of 5-under-par 135.
• Is competing in his ninth U.S. Senior Open with his best finish a second-place effort at the 2009 event at Crooked Stick GC in Indiana. Was also T4 in 2011.
• This marks the first time he has held sole possession of a second-round lead in a PGA TOUR Champions event since March, 2009 when he led Don Pooley by one stroke at the AT&T Champions Classic in Valencia, Calif. He eventually finished T4.
• Claimed seven victories on the PGA TOUR with the last coming at the 2004 Wachovia Championship in Charlotte.
• Played his college golf here in Columbus at Ohio State where he was a three-time All-American and a member of the Buckeyes’ 1979 NCAA Championship team.
• Son, Jamie, is working as his caddy this week. He, too, played golf at Ohio State.
• Is a native of Horseheads, N.Y.
U.S. Senior Open Notes
• A total of 63 players, including one amateur, made the cut at 7-over-par 147.
• Among those missing the cut were former U.S. Open champions Hale Irwin (+13), Scott Simpson (+10) and Lee Janzen (+11) as well as former U.S. Senior Open winners Bruce Fleisher (2001), Roger Chapman (2012), Dave Eichelberger (1999) and Eduardo Romero (2008). Others missing the cut included Mark O’Meara, John Daly, Rocco Mediate, Scott McCarron, Wes Short, Jr., and John Cook.
• Two players who enjoyed big turnarounds on Friday were Peter Fowler and Duffy Waldorf. Each improved their scores by 10 strokes over Thursday’s opening rounds. Fowler shot a 3-under-par 67, while Waldorf finished at 2-under-par 68. Fowler shared the 36-hole lead in Sacramento a year ago. In addition, Joe Durant, coming off a win at last week’s 3M Championship, rebounded from an opening-round 75 with a 3-under-par 67.
• A day after shooting a 4-under-par 66 in his opening round, Vijay Singh shot a 5-over-par 75 on Friday and is currently T8 where he is joined with defending champion Jeff Maggert and 2011 U.S. Senior Open champion Olin Browne.
• Bernhard Langer rebounded from his 3-over-par 73 on Thursday with an even-par 70 and finds himself T22 heading into the weekend. He trails by eight strokes as he seeks his third major title in 2016 and eighth overall which would tie Jack Nicklaus in that category on PGA TOUR Champions. Langer also has a streak of 15 consecutive top-10 finishes in majors dating back to 2013.
• The only amateur among the 23 amateur entrants to make the cut was Chip Lutz, who posted a 36-hole score of 6-over-par 146. It marked the 12th consecutive year at least one amateur had made the 36-hole cut. Lutz won the 2015 U.S. Senior Amateur title to earn a berth in the field.
• Brandt Jobe, who already owns three top-5 finishes in major championships this year on PGA TOUR Champions, is back in the top 10 after two rounds. His even-par 70 on Friday helped him to his current T10 position. He was T3 at the Senior PGA Championship, fourth at the Constellation SENIOR PLAYERS Championship and T5 at the recent Senior Open Championship. He was the medalist at last fall’s PGA TOUR Champions National Qualifying Tournament in Scottsdale.
• Doug Garwood has now played 216 consecutive holes without a three-putt on PGA TOUR Champions.
• Mark Wiebe and Mike Gilmore each withdrew on Friday. Wiebe withdrew after eight holes, while Gilmore did not start his round.
Enough about Zika, golfers getting heckled, and Rickie Fowler’s, um, interesting haircut. Golf — actual golf — finally makes its return to the Olympics after a 112-year absence this week and now we have the tee times and pairings to look forward to.
The best groups for Thursday and Friday at Gil Hanse’s new Olympic Course in Rio? It’s tough to choose. There’s Bubba Watson, Martin Kaymer and Anirban Lahiri, but there’s also Rickie Fowler, Justin Rose and Jhonattan Vegas.
Reigning Masters champ Danny Willett will play along Matt Kuchar and promising Chinese youngster Haotong Li. Reigning British Open champ Henrik Stenson (and odds-on favorite) is in a group with Rafael Cabrera-Bello and Thongchai Jaidee.
And then there’s the juicy pairing of Patrick Reed with Sergio Garcia and Emiliano Grillo. Could we see another crowd shushing situation?
Just a reminder, this is a 72-hole stroke-play tournament so these guys will all be re-paired after the second round based on the leader board. And there is no team aspect. Sorry, Kuchar.
Anyway, here’s the full list of tee times and pairings (All times ET):
8:30 a.m. Thursday, 10:25 a.m. Friday: Adilson da Silva (BRA), Graham DeLaet (CAN), Byeong-Hun An (KOR)
8:41 a.m. Thursday, 10:36 a.m. Friday: Padraig Harrington (IRL), Matteo Manassero (ITA), Danny Lee (NZL)
8:52 a.m. Thursday, 10:47 a.m. Friday: Kiradech Aphibarnrat (THA), Gavin Green (MAS), Thomas Pieters (BEL)
9:03 a.m. Thursday, 11:03 a.m. Friday: Julien Quesne (FRA), Marcus Fraser (AUS), Shingo Katayama (JPN)
9:14 a.m. Thursday, 11:14 a.m. Friday: Nicolas Colsaerts (BEL), Jeunghun Wang (KOR), Espen Kofstad (NOR)
9:25 a.m. Thursday, 11:25 a.m. Friday: Felipe Aguilar (CHI), Danny Chia (MAS), Soren Kjeldsen (DEN)
9:41 a.m. Thursday, 11:36 a.m. Friday: Fabian Gomez (ARG), David Lingmerth (SWE), Jose Filipe Lima (POR)
9:52 a.m. Thursday, 11:47 a.m. Friday: Rodolfo Cazaubon (MEX), Bernd Wiesberger (AUT), Brandon Stone (RSA)
10:03 a.m. Thursday, 11:58 a.m. Friday: Danny Willett (GBR), Matt Kuchar (USA), Haotong Li (CHN)
10:14 a.m. Thursday, 12:09 p.m. Friday: Bubba Watson (USA), Martin Kaymer (GER), Anirban Lahiri (IND)
10:25 a.m. Thursday, 8:30 a.m. Friday: Jaco van Zyl (RSA), Mikko Ilonen (FIN), David Hearn (CAN)
10:36 a.m. Thursday, 8:41 a.m. Friday: Gregory Bourdy (FRA), Fabrizio Zanotti (PAR), C.T. Pan (TPE)
10:47 a.m. Thursday, 8:52 a.m. Friday: Yuta Ikeda (JPN), Roope Kakko (FIN), Miguel Tabuena (PHI)
11:03 a.m. Thursday, 9:03 a.m. Friday: Ashun Wu (CHN), Nino Bertasio (ITA), Scott Hend (AUS)
11:14 a.m. Thursday, 9:14 a.m. Friday: Joost Luiten (NED), Ricardo Gouveia (POR), Siddikur Rahman (BAN)
11:25 a.m. Thursday, 9:25 a.m. Friday: Sergio Garcia (ESP), Patrick Reed (USA), Emiliano Grillo (ARG)
11:36 a.m. Thursday, 9:41 a.m. Friday: Thorbjorn Olesen (DEN), Alex Cejka (GER), Ryan Fox (NZL)
11:47 a.m. Thursday, 9:52 a.m. Friday: S.S.P. Chawrasia (IND), Seamus Power (IRL), Wen-Tang Lin (TPE)
11:58 a.m. Thursday, 10:03 a.m. Friday: Rickie Fowler (USA), Justin Rose (GBR), Jhonattan Vegas (VEN)
12:09 p.m. Thursday, 10:14 a.m. Friday: Henrik Stenson (SWE), Thongchai Jaidee (THA), Rafael Cabrera-Bello (ESP)
WHEN IS IT?
The men’s event is Aug. 11-14, and the women’s event is Aug. 17-20. Both will be played on the newly constructed Olympic Golf Course in Rio de Janeiro.
WHAT’S THE FORMAT?
Seventy-two holes of individual stroke play with no cut. There’s no team element. Essentially, it’s like a World Golf Championships event. One difference, however, is the possibility of playoffs to determine gold, silver and bronze medals.
WHAT’S AT STAKE?
Besides national pride and everlasting glory, the gold medalists will receive exemptions into professional majors: four tournaments for the men’s winner in 2017 and five for the women (the Evian Championship in 2016 and four majors in 2017).
HOW CAN I WATCH?
Tickets are available or as low as R50 (or about $14!). Or you can watch on TV: Golf Channel will air more than 130 hours of coverage.
MEN’S TV TIMES (ET) Aug. 11-13, 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Aug. 14, final round, 6 a.m. to 3 p.m.
WOMEN’S TV TIMES (ET) Aug. 17-19, 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Aug. 20, final round, 6 a.m. to 3 p.m.
SOURCE: GOLF DIGEST
“How many opportunities are you going to have in your life to do this?” said Jim Furyk after shooting a 59 in the second round of the 2013 BMW Championship, becoming one of six players to ever do so on the PGA Tour.
Ironically enough, the now 46-year-old Furyk had another opportunity looming, and one to put up an even better score. During the final round of the 2016 Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Conn., Furyk posted a 12-under 58, the first player on the PGA Tour to ever shoot a round that low, while hitting all 18 greens in regulation.
Entering Sunday 16 shots back of the lead, Furyk got off to a torrid start, with two birdies and an eagle on his first four holes. He would birdie four more holes on the front nine alone, bringing his nine-hole score to an incredible eight-under 27.
But it didn’t stop there. He birdied the first three holes on the back nine, marking seven consecutive holes he had birdied. This brought him to 11 under for the round, meaning all he needed to do was par out for his second career score of 59.
But, Furyk wouldn’t stop there. He rolled in a 23-footer for birdie on 16, and then maintained par on the final two holes to secure his spot in history.
The lead of Daniel Berger was still too much to conquer, though, as Furyk trailed by four strokes at the end of his round. Regardless, he climbed a massive 65 spots up the leader board, and is currently in sole possession of fifth place at 11 under.
More importantly, he is now the first player to shoot a 58 on the PGA Tour, AND the first player to have two rounds of 59 or better on tour. Plus, he made a good case for why he should be picked for the Ryder Cup team.
SOURCE: GOLFDIGEST
1. Unintended consequences
Among the big topics in golf this year is the schedule and the difficulty of cramming so many big tournaments into a short period in order to accommodate the Olympic tournament next week in Brazil.
Starting with the U.S. Open, there were three major championships and a World Golf Championship event in a seven-week period. For those heading to the Olympic golf tournament — at least the highest-ranked players — it is five big events in a nine-week stretch on three continents.
Throw in those who went to the Canadian Open and it’s four different countries. Then just two weeks later, the FedExCup playoffs begin, with four tournaments during five weeks followed by the Ryder Cup.
But for several top players, all of a sudden the schedule is not so daunting. Jason Day, Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy are all skipping the Olympics. Suddenly they have a three-week break prior to the playoffs beginning, as do those who didn’t qualify and aren’t in need of PGA Tour starts to improve their position.
It was never the intention of the PGA Tour schedule-makers to have it work out this way. In fact, the schedule has been the source of much consternation as it relates to the Olympics.
Now, however, there are no excuses, at least not for those skipping Rio. The FedEx run is still daunting, but not nearly so bad now, certainly not to the level that typically sees players dragging and everyone discussing how to improve the system.
2. Second-guessing
The PGA of America understandably took a few hits over the weekend, first for failing to recognize that a bad weather forecast was going to impact the third round of the PGA Championship and then for taking the unusual step of playing preferred lies for the final round.
On the one hand, the PGA said it felt players should go off the first tee and in twosomes whenever possible — hence little thought was given to going off in threesomes Saturday to try and beat the weather. But then the PGA did what is believed to have never been done in a major — lift, clean and place.
All that said, the PGA took shots when it was the only organization to really sacrifice for the Olympics. Long before golf was awarded a spot in the Olympics, the PGA of America had picked Baltusrol, as it wanted to celebrate the organization’s 100th anniversary near where it all began in New York.
The PGA moved up two weeks into an unenviable spot just two weeks after The Open. It was awkward, not ideal for players or fans, and then it resulted in an unlucky weather week. No other golf organization gave up so much to make the Olympics happen. The Masters and U.S. Open didn’t have to do much, really.
But what if the PGA Tour had moved the Bridgestone to the week prior to the U.S. Open? What if The Open had moved up just one week — it would have been the same week as Wimbledon — giving two weeks between it and the PGA?
What if the PGA Tour had not scheduled a tournament, the John Deere, the same week as the Olympic tournament? None of it would have been easy. But it might have made things a lot smoother for those involved.
3. Phil getting away
Phil Mickelson has maintained that he wanted to play in the Olympics — and he would have been in Rio if the deadline for qualifying had been pushed back to after The Open. You know, one of the biggest tournaments in golf.
Lefty won’t be in Rio, but he will take advantage of the break and said he plans to play in all four FedExCup playoff events — he didn’t qualify for the Tour Championship in each of the past two years.
“I have not had had three weeks in the summer for over two decades, and I’ll take these three weeks off and be fresh and ready heading into the FedExCup,” Mickelson said.
“I’ll take probably the first week off and then really start to get ready. That’s a good stretch of golf those four playoff events and the Ryder Cup. I’m looking forward to those five events. This is the first time where I’m excited to play all four FedExCup events. Usually I only play three. I’ll be fresh and excited to go out in the Ryder Cup, too.”
At No. 6 in the FedExCup standings, Mickelson is a virtual lock to make it to Atlanta regardless of how he fares in the first three playoff events.
4. Where’s The Beef?
Andrew “Beef” Johnston has proven to be quite a character, and seems to enjoy the attention that is coming his way. The Englishman who won on the European Tour this year and had a top-10 at The Open was a big hit with fans in New Jersey and seemed to enjoy every selfie he took.
But he figures not to be back in the U.S. for the rest of this year. Johnston, in fact, turned down sponsor exemptions to the John Deere Classic and Wyndham Championship, electing instead to head home and prepare for the Race to Dubai on the European Tour.
5. Beemer from the gallery
It was a fun, surprising week at the PGA Championship for 2002 champion Rich Beem. He had not played in an official tournament anywhere since a year prior, when he missed the cut at the PGA played at Whistling Straits. He had spent a good part of this year rehabbing a shoulder problem while working full time for Sky Sports in the U.K. And then he chipped in on the final hole and celebrated — he tied for 71st.
6. Showing respect
During the third round of the PGA Championship, Padraig Harrington’s ball came to rest a yard past a plaque that sits in the fairway at Baltusrol’s 18th hole. It commemorates the 1-iron shot Jack Nicklaus hit from that spot in the 1967 U.S. Open played at Baltusrol, setting up a birdie that set the tournament scoring record at that time.
Harrington said he had 235 yards to the flag from his position and used a 2-hybrid, which is like a 3-iron. “Putting it like this, we (he and caddie Ronan Flood) discussed it after I hit my shot,” Harrington said. “How impressive hitting a 1-iron up the hill would have been in those days. It was seriously impressive. I was happy we have hybrids these days.”
7. Olympic prep
There are six players in this week’s Travelers Championship field who are headed to the Olympic golf tournament next week, including three Americans: Bubba Watson, Patrick Reed and Matt Kuchar. The other U.S. player is Rickie Fowler.
All four happen to be on the bubble for the U.S. Ryder Cup team, in spots 9 through 12. The top 8 through the Barclays will automatically make the team. The others in the Traveler’s field who are headed to Rio are Germany’s Alex Cejka, Denmark’s Soren Kjeldsen and Ireland’s Padraig Harrington.
8. The aggregate major champion
If you added up the scorers from all 16 majors championship rounds this year, Jason Day performed the best — by 12 shots. Day, the No. 1-ranked player in the world, finished a total of 9 under par for those 16 rounds, followed by Jordan Spieth at +3. Emiliano Grillo was next at +10.
The only major champion this year to make the cut in all four majors was Masters champ Danny Willett, who finished +16. The others to make the cut in all four were Kevin Na, Lee Westwood, Rafael Cabrera-Bello, Martin Kaymer, Bill Haas, Adam Scott, Bubba Watson, Harris English, Justin Thomas and Kevin Kisner.
9. Four majors, four new champions
SOURCE: ESPN
Nike, the most valuable sports brand in the world, is stepping out of the golf equipment business.
A company press release indicated that Nike “will transition out of equipment—including clubs, balls and bags” to focus on footwear and apparel.
“We’re committed to being the undisputed leader in golf footwear and apparel,” said Trevor Edwards, president of Nike Brand in a company press release. Sources said layoffs were announced this afternoon. Several calls to Nike officials this afternoon were not returned, and the status of Nike’s club design headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas, called The Oven, was unknown.
Nike, which reported flat to down annual sales in its overall golf business the last two years at just north of $700 million in annual sales (which includes shoes and apparel), has been in the golf business since 1984, but only introduced its first clubs in 2002 with the Pro Combo set of irons. Its sales in 2013 and 2014 were nearly $800 million.
Today’s announcement comes just a few days after the company’s 2016 line of clubs was extraordinarily reduced in price. That included $400 Vapor Fly drivers reduced to $150 and $250 Vapor Fly fairway woods to $100.
The company has struggled to become a leading player in the equipment business, with market shares in woods and irons that were routinely one-tenth those of leaders Callaway and TaylorMade.
The company was known for non-traditional equipment designs over the years, including the cavity back Slingshot irons, square drivers named Sumo that reached the USGA’s limit for moment of inertia and golf balls called Mojo that were marketed in a psychedelic box. The company had groundbreaking equipment technologies, including sole channels and cavities in its metalwoods, shorter-shafted but larger headed hybrids that were like mini-fairway woods and golf balls that utilized a lightweight, ultra-resilient polymer resin material in their cores called RZN while the majority of the industry’s golf balls feature cores made exclusively of polybutadiene rubber.
Said one current Nike staff player, “I really love their equipment, but I’ll tell you this: In all the pro-ams I’ve played, I’ve never once seen one of my partners using a Nike club.”
There is no indication what will happen to Nike’s present tour staff, which in addition to Tiger Woods includes world No. 4 Rory McIlroy and 14 new players signed this year. That roster includes big hitting burgeoning stars Brooks Koepka and Tony Finau.
Playing this week at the Travelers Championship, Finau was one of several Nike players who got the news late Wednesday afternoon.
“I just heard in the last hour so it’s still a little bit of a shock, to say the least,” said Finau, who signed with Nike in January. “I love the equipment I’m playing now, and it’s a real process to get through to make a change like that. I don’t know exactly what it’s going to mean for contracts, but it’s pretty likely that this time next year I won’t be playing Nike clubs.”
But Finau said he understands the way the industry works. “I totally understand it from their perspective,” he said. “They’re killing it in apparel. They’re killing it in footwear. It’s just business.”
In the meantime, Finau isn’t planning on making any equipment changes for the immediate future, and likely nothing until the start of the 2016-17 PGA Tour season or even later. He’s got the FedEx Cup race and he even still plans to make a late run at earning a spot on the U.S. Ryder Cup team, starting this week.
“I just have to put all this in my rearview mirror,” he said. “I can’t worry too much about it. Just go play. I’ll definitely be playing Nike this week.”
Still, the company’s announcement today indicated that it planned to expand its roster, reading in part that “it will accelerate innovation in its golf footwear and apparel business and will partner with more of the world’s best golfers.”
It’s just that in the future it seems none of them will be using Nike golf clubs and balls.
SOURCE: GOLFDIGEST
July 18, 2016 – No Jordan Spieth, no Dustin Johnson, but the U.S. Olympic golf team still looks to be in good shape after its official announcement on Monday. Bubba Watson, Rickie Fowler, Patrick Reed and Matt Kuchar make up the men’s side, while Lexi Thompson, Stacy Lewis and Gerina Piller comprise the women’s representatives.
With four athletes qualified, the U.S. men reached the maximum quota allowed, while the women only had three Americans in the top 15 players in the world, qualifying just three of a possible four spots.
Watson and Fowler are the world’s No. 6 and No. 7 ranked golfers and qualified for the Olympics on merit alone. Reed, No. 14 in the world, and Kuchar, No. 17, replaced Spieth and Johnson after the pair pulled out earlier this month.
Had qualification extended to this week, it would have been Reed and Phil Mickelson headed to Rio – rather than Reed and Kuchar – after Mickelson’s second place finish at the 2016 Open Championship.
Watson won the Northern Trust Open back in February and is the lone Rio-bound American man with a tournament win this year. Between the four men though, they have eight top three and 27 top ten finishes.
Thompson and Lewis – currently ranked fourth and eighth in the world, respectively, have been firmly in position to qualify for all of 2016, but Piller’s status was less certain.
Piller’s world rank has fluctuated over the past few months and had she fallen outside of the top 15 players in the world, only two Americans would have played in the women’s tournament. When qualifying ended on July 11, Piller just snuck in with the No. 15 ranking in the world.
Thompson has one tournament win so far in 2016 – the Honda LPGA Thailand – and eight top ten finishes. Lewis is yet to win a tournament this year, but does have seven top ten finishes. Piller has eight top ten finishes in 2016.
The United States is far from the only country hit by withdrawals from the men’s tournament. Just one of the top five players in the world – Henrik Stenson – will be playing in Rio this August. Like Spieth and Johnson, Australia’s Jason Day and Ireland’s Rory McIlroy, first and fourth in the world, respectively, have decided to forgo the Olympic proceedings.
Sweden’s Stenson is coming off of the biggest victory of his career this past weekend at the Open Championship. It is the first major tournament win for the 40-year-old.
The men’s Olympic golf tournament runs from August 11-14, followed by the women’s tournament from August 17-20.
SOURCE: NBC SPORTS
SPRINGFIELD, N.J. — Jimmy Walker did everything required of a major champion on the longest final day in 64 years at a PGA Championship.
And then Jason Day made him do a little bit more.
Walker was standing over an 8-foot birdie putt on the par-5 17th hole Sunday when he heard a roar that caused him to twice back off the putt. It was Day, the defending champion and world’s No. 1 player, down to his last chance and delivering with a 2-iron that landed in front of the pin and stopped 15 feet away for eagle.
Walker answered, like he had done all day, with a birdie for a three-shot lead.
Moments later, another roar.
Day made the eagle putt, and the lead was down to one.
“There was nothing easy about the day — really about the week, for that matter,” Walker said. “Especially coming down the last hole.”
He went for the 18th green knowing it was his easiest chance for the par he needed to win. The outcome was still in doubt until Walker missed the green to the right, pitched out of deep rough to 35 feet and rolled his first putt about 3 feet past the cup.
Walker calmly made it to capture the PGA Championship, ending a long and wet week at Baltusrol, and still having just enough strength left to hoist the 37-pound Wanamaker Trophy.
“He really put it on me to make a par,” Walker said. “Sometimes pars are hard. But we got it.”
That par gave him a 3-under 67 and a one-shot victory and made the 37-year-old from Texas a major champion. Even with the silver trophy at his side, Walker still had a hard time letting that sink in.
Because of rain, the 36-hole final was the longest in PGA Championship history since Jim Turnesa won his 36-hole match in 1952. Walker at least had time to rest in his travel bus — he’s a frequent neighbor of Day on the PGA Tour — and get right back out into the final round. Walker, who shot a 68 in the morning for a one-shot lead over Day, didn’t make a bogey over the last 28 holes.
Day, trying to join Tiger Woods as the only back-to-back winners of the PGA Championship in stroke play, came out to the 18th green with his son to watch the finish and quickly found Walker. “Great stuff, mate,” he said.
“It was nice to get the eagle, just to try and make Jimmy think about it,” Day said after a 67. “But obviously, Jimmy just played too good all day.”
In a most peculiar final day at a major, the PGA Championship allowed for preferred lies — that never happens in a major — because of nearly 4 inches of rain during the week that drenched the Lower Course. Desperate to beat the clock and avoid a second straight Monday finish at Baltusrol, the pairings stayed the same for the final round.
Walker and Day were playing with occasional mud on their golf balls on the back nine of the third round Sunday morning as some players behind them were able to lift, clean and place their golf balls in short grass in the fourth round.
But it ended on a happy note for Walker. He is a major champion, completing a sweep of first-time winners in the majors this year. Better yet: It moved him from No. 29 to No. 4 in the Ryder Cup standings, all but assuring him a spot on the team.
He finished at 14-under 266, one shot from David Toms’ record score in the 2001 PGA Championship.
Walker began the back nine by holing a 45-foot bunker shot on No. 10 and making a 30-foot birdie putt on No. 11. The final birdie on the 17th was the most important because he had a cushion. And thanks to Day, he needed it.
“Two-putting from that is pretty difficult, especially trying to go for your first major,” Day said. “But he’s handled himself pretty good.”
British Open champion Henrik Stenson, trying to join Ben Hogan as the only players to win back-to-back majors at age 40, faded with a double-bogey on the 15th hole.
“It was a long day. I never felt like I brought my ‘A’ game,” said Stenson, who started the final round two shots behind and closed with a 71. “I think I hit more poor shots in the two rounds today than in the previous six or seven rounds combined.”
For the second straight major, this became a duel over the final hour.
Day pulled within one shot with a 20-foot birdie putt at No. 11, but he never had another birdie chance closer than 25 feet until the two par 5s at the end. Even so, the Australian battled to the end with the second of two 2-irons at 18 leading him to shout, “Get back there!” And it did.
Thanks to Walker holding his nerves, it just wasn’t enough.
“God, just to be in it and be there and have a chance and then to finish it off is just … it’s so gratifying,” Walker said.
SOURCE: ESPN
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