Men's college golf team of the week: Illinois Fighting Illini https://ift.tt/36CRPTo
After an 11-month break from competition due to COVID-19, the Illinois men have returned to victory with a vengeance.
The Fighting Illini have won their first two tournaments of the spring, claiming the Mobile Bay Intercollegiate wire-to-wire two weeks ago and last week’s LSU Invitational at the Tigers’ University Club.
“This was a great win for our guys against a top golf conference with a lot of great coaches and great players,” said head coach Mike Small. “At this time in the season, I’m very proud of the guys for coming down here and competing against this level of competition.”
Illinois, +12, won by two shots over Vanderbilt and five over third-place South Carolina. The tournament field featured 12 of 14 Southeastern Conference schools.
“They faced a lot of adversity this week, with the conditions, the weather and the golf course, and scores showed that. But the resiliency they showed on the back nine today is what team golf is all about,” continued Small. “I was proud of them for staying the course, after a rough front nine, and staying steadfast and keeping on point.”
The Illini’s consistency at the top half of the leaderboard paid off in the long run, with three players finishing inside the top 15: Michael Feagles, T-4 (+2), Adrien Dumont de Chassart, T-7 (+3) and Jerry Ji T-15 (+5).
Men's college golf Player of the Week: Dan Erickson, Texas A&M https://ift.tt/36CRPTo
In the final round of last week’s Border Olympics at Laredo Country Club in Laredo, Texas, Dan Erickson found himself down two strokes on his final hole of the tournament.
Lucky enough for the Texas A&M senior, the final round was started via a shotgun start, and his final hole was actually No. 1, a par 5. Erickson, who came back for his extra year of eligibility granted due to COVID-19, stuffed a 3-wood to six feet from 266 yards out and converted the putt to force a playoff for the individual title against Texas grad student Hunter Ostrom. Erickson claimed the title with a par on the second playoff for his second college win and first since 2018.
“We’ve put in a lot of work over the winter break and it feels great to start the spring with a win,” Erickson said. “The main reason I came back is because our roster is so stacked and we all believed we had unfinished business from 2020. We didn’t play as well as we would’ve liked in the fall but know what we are capable of and it’s exciting to start the spring with a win, with the team and individually.”
The Aggies also won the team title at 2 under for the tournament, the only team to finish under par after three rounds and eight shots clear of runner-up Texas.
Registration open for 2022 Drive, Chip and Putt qualifiers https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
Registration for 2021-22 Drive, Chip and Putt qualifiers is now open.
The announcement was made Monday in a joint statement from the USGA, Masters Tournament and PGA of America.
“We are thrilled to be able to safely return to a full qualifying schedule this year for Drive, Chip and Putt,” USGA CEO Mike Davis said in the release. “The program continues to be an important vehicle to introduce and encourage junior participation in golf and serves as a foundation for their lifetime enjoyment of the game. We all benefit annually from watching these young players having fun in a game they love.”
Local qualifying begins May 1, continuing throughout the summer with 330 events across the nation. Boys and girls ages 7-15 are eligible and the winners of those events will move on to 61 sub-regional events. The winners of those events will participate in 10 regional qualifiers, with 80 participants moving onto the finals at Augusta National Golf Club.
Locations for regional qualifiers include Pebble Beach Golf Links, TPC Scottsdale, Medinah Country Club, Oak Hill Country Club, Colorado Golf Club, Quail Hollow Club, TPC River Highlands, Alotian Club, The Bear’s Club and Oakland Hills Country Club.
“Drive, Chip and Putt is a fun, accessible way for boys and girls of all skill levels to enjoy playing the game, and we are excited to offer this opportunity once again for participants across the country,” ANGC and Masters Tournament Chairman Fred Ridley said in the statement. “We appreciate the commitment of our partners at the USGA and PGA of America in our efforts to conduct this year’s qualifiers responsibly and provide a pathway for juniors to develop a lasting connection with golf.”
The qualifying events will follow protocols to mitigate the risk of COVID-19, including mask requirements, social distancing and limiting the number of spectators. More information of registration and safety protocols can be found on the Drive, Chip and Putt website.
Puerto Rico will host its first USGA championship in 2022, the U.S. Women's Amateur Four-Ball https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
Last month, the U.S. Golf Association brought the Puerto Rico Golf Association into its network of Allied Golf Associations. The PRGA became the first association outside the U.S. to join the alliance and now, Puerto Rico has a USGA championship on the books.
Grand Reserve Golf Club, host site of this past week’s Puerto Rico Open on the PGA Tour, will host the 7th U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship on April 30-May 4, 2022. That week will also mark the first time a USGA championship is held outside of the U.S. mainland in a U.S. territory.
“We have a wonderful, longstanding relationship with the Puerto Rico Golf Association, and bringing a USGA championship to the island further demonstrates our commitment to working together even more closely moving forward,” said John Bodenhamer, USGA senior managing director, Championships. “The Grand Reserve has an impressive pedigree, and we very much look forward to bringing the Women’s Four-Ball there.”
Sidney Wolf, president of the PRGA, is just as excited to host it.
“This is big news for Puerto Rico for our development, and the one we really wanted,” Wolf told Golfweek. “We want to do our part to grow women’s golf, which is becoming such an important segment in the game. This is perfect for us and positions us for bigger events as we make our comeback.
“When we started talking about becoming an AGA in September 2019, one of the hopes was to do a championship in Puerto Rico. Who knew it would be so quick. And it’s the right one for us. This has quickly developed into a major for female amateurs.”
Grand Reserve stretches across a beachfront peninsula in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico, and is located just 15 miles outside the capital city of San Juan. The parkland-style golf course, a Tom Kite design that opened in 2006, overlooks El Yunque National Forest.
The U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball, along with the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball, are the USGA’s newest championships, having come online in 2015. Both were canceled in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 2021 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball will be played at Maridoe Golf Club in Carrollton, Texas, on April 24-28. Starting with this year’s championship, winners of the U.S. Women’s Four-Ball will earn exemptions into the following U.S. Women’s Amateur.
Arnold Palmer Invitational odds, predictions and PGA Tour picks https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
A PGA Tour field of 123 golfers is at Bay Hill Club & Lodge this week for the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Collin Morikawa isn’t in attendance following his victory at last week’s WGC-Workday Championship. Below, we look at the 2021 Arnold Palmer Invitational odds and make our PGA Tour picks and predictions to win.
Tyrrell Hatton (+1800) returns to Bay Hill to defend his 2020 API title. It was his first career PGA Tour victory, but he has two wins on the European Tour since the beginning of last year, as well. Viktor Hovland is the top player in the field by the Golfweek/Sagarin world rankings.
The field is strong for the marquee event but has several notable omissions, including Dustin Johnson. It’s a busy stretch of the PGA Tour schedule in the run-up to the 2021 Masters Tournament. The Players Championship takes place next week at TPC Sawgrass.
Molinari returns to the site of his most recent PGA Tour victory, having won this event in 2019. He didn’t defend his title last year, as he withdrew due to a back injury and played just seven events in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
He has been much more active early in 2021 and has three top-10 finishes in four events, including a T-8 at The Genesis Invitational two weeks ago. He’s averaging 0.55 Strokes Gained: Approach and 0.51 SG: Around-the-Green per round on the 2020-21 season.
The former Open Championship winner has 28 career rounds played at Bay Hill and ranks fourth in this field with an average of 2.23 strokes gained on the field per round.
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2021 Arnold Palmer Invitational picks – Contender
Alex Noren (+8000)
Noren missed the cut in this event last year despite gaining 2.13 strokes around the green over the first two rounds, as he lost 2.30 strokes per round off the tee. His driver continues to be a problem this season, but he has been strong on and around the putting surfaces.
Once ranked as high as eighth in the Official World Golf Ranking, Noren enters this week at No. 95 following a quality T-12 finish in a comparable field at the Genesis Invitational.
Stenson’s 44 career rounds played at this venue are the eighth-most in this field. His average of 2.00 strokes gained on the field per round are tops in that group and sixth among those with a minimum of 10 career rounds played here.
He missed the cut in two of his last four appearances at the API, but he has five top-10 finishes since 2013, including a fourth-place result in 2018. He’ll make his 2021 PGA Tour debut following back-to-back missed cuts at the European Tour’s Saudi International and Omega Dubai Desert Classic.
His form doesn’t inspire confidence but the familiar venue should get him back on track as he begins to gear up for the Masters.
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U.S. Walker Cup team is set for May matches at Seminole; includes 8 collegians, 3 returners from 2019 https://ift.tt/3hNqW3C
With just more than two months until the 2021 Walker Cup match at Seminole Golf Club in Juno Beach, Florida, the U.S. team has taken shape. On Monday, the U.S. Golf Association announced the full 10-man squad that will compete in the first Walker Cup to be held in the spring on U.S. soil.
Davis Thompson, Ricky Castillo and John Pak, as the three highest-ranked Americans in the WAGR, earned their spot on the team after the World Amateur Golf Ranking was updated on Feb.10 to reflect results from the previous weekend’s Jones Cup, a prestigious amateur event at Ocean Forest Golf Club in Sea Island, Georgia. The trio joined reigning U.S. Amateur champion Tyler Strafaci as the first selections to the team.
The remaining six players were later chosen by the USGA’s International Team Selection working group. Those players are Pierceson Coody, Quade Cummins, Austin Eckroat, Stewart Hagestad, Cole Hammer and William Mouw.
Hagestad, Hammer and Pak all return from the 2019 U.S. team that defeated Great Britain & Ireland at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake, England. Hagestad, the 2016 U.S. Mid-Am champ, and Strafaci, who did not return to Georgia Tech this spring, are the only non-collegians on the team.
Pak was arguably the man of the matches in 2019, going 3-0-0 (the only player on either team to go undefeated). The Florida State senior, who has since won two college events and finished as low amateur at the 2020 U.S. Open, came to the Walker Cup team in a decidedly different way than he did in 2019 in that he secured his spot early. A year and a half ago, Pak made six starts in a 10-week stretch, hitting all the major amateur events to make his case for inclusion. Ultimately he was one of the final selections, revealed after the end of the 2019 U.S. Amateur.
Castillo, now a sophomore at Florida, and Mouw, a sophomore at Pepperdine, seemed to be in the running for much of the summer of 2019, and likely were among the players who just missed a selection that year. Both were junior golfers then, on the cusp of college golf.
Castillo has spent time as the top-ranked player in the WAGR, but currently checks in at No. 6. He won twice in his abbreviated freshman season and has made the semifinals at the Western Amateur the past two years. Mouw set Pepperdine’s freshman record with five top-10 finishes and came back this fall with a pair of top 10s individually.
As for Thompson, a Georgia senior who finished runner-up in his Jones Cup title defense last month, a Walker Cup pick has been all but guaranteed as he has maintained his position at or near the top of the WAGR for the past several weeks. He is currently ranked No. 1.
Thompson has won two college titles in the past two years, including the 2019 NCAA Athens Regional title, and was stroke-play medalist at the 2019 Western Amateur. He finished in the top 25 at the 2019 RSM Classic on the PGA Tour.
Cummins is the only fifth-year senior on the squad and is finishing up his career at the University of Oklahoma. He won the 2019 Pacific Coast Amateur and logged top-5 finishes at the 2019 Sunnehanna Amateur and in Western Amateur stroke play that year.
Coody, who is a teammate of Hammer’s at the University of Texas, won the Western Amateur in July 2020. Austin Eckroat, a junior at Oklahoma State, is ranked No. 15 in the WAGR and scored a top-15 finish at the PGA Tour’s Mayakoba Golf Classic in November.
McClure Meissner, a junior at SMU and the reigning Southern Amateur champion, and Garett Reband, another Oklahoma fifth-year senior, are the first and second alternatives, respectively.
Nathaniel Crosby, who in addition to guiding the 2019 victory also played on the winning U.S. team in the 1983 Walker Cup match, will return as captain.
“It is once again a great privilege to serve as the USA captain and to work with a group who represent the best of amateur golf,” said Crosby. “The 10 team members have a notable list of accomplishments on the collegiate, national and international levels. They will represent the United States in the spirit and tradition of the Walker Cup Match.”
Kamaiu Johnson 'grew up in a very, very racist town.' Then something changed. https://ift.tt/3dVR7VO
Kamaiu Johnson didn’t quite know how to act around a golf course the day he wandered out the back of his grandmother’s apartment that bordered the 4th hole of the Hilaman Golf Course in Tallahassee.
Johnson, 13 at the time, moved to Tallahassee from Madison County, where it was known Blacks were not allowed on their golf courses.
“I grew up in a very, very racist town,” Johnson said.
Living in a two-bedroom unit with six others, Johnson, who dropped out of school in the 8th grade, would stand on the balcony on the third-floor and “wish I could go down there.”
One day he did, picked up a stick and started swinging.
Jan Auger happened to be playing her round at that time, and Johnson’s life would change forever.
“I noticed he had a pretty good swing, so I thought he was swinging a golf club,” said Auger, who was playing the 3rd hole.
Auger, who is the general manager for golf for the city of Tallahassee, started quizzing Johnson. Why wasn’t he in school? Where did he live? What was he doing?
“He was such a cute little kid,” she said.
So, she offered him a bucket of balls and a 9-iron. “His face lit up.”
Auger insisted he get permission from his grandmother before going to the range to strike a golf ball with a club for the first time in his life.
“She could have said, ‘You’re trespassing,’ or ‘get off the golf course,’ ” said Johnson, who calls Auger a second mother. “No, she said, ‘I’ll give you a 9-iron and a bucket of balls to go to the range if you really want to hit some golf balls.’”
Kamaiu Johnson poses for a photo at the Hilaman Golf Course on Thursday, Dec. 3, 2020.
From Hilaman to Pebble Beach
Two weeks ago, Johnson, 27, made his PGA Tour debut, given a sponsor exemption for the Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Johnson (whose first name is pronounced KUH-my-ew) has been extended the same for the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill next week and the March 18-21 Honda Classic at PGA National.
Johnson played on the Advocates Pro Golf Association Tour, which was established in 2010 to prepare African-Americans and other minorities for the more advanced tours. He has done well enough that he’s now breaking in and, like many before him, including one of his idols, Tiger Woods, breaking down stereotypes.
“We have inspirational stories that should be highlighted, but it should not be highlighted I’m a Black golfer playing on the PGA Tour because I’m just another person,” Johnson said. “I’ve never looked at race like that.
“And I know golf is very, very different. Golf hasn’t always accepted Black people. It’s starting to change but it still shouldn’t be a big deal.”
Johnson was set to make his Tour debut two weeks sooner but a positive COVID-19 test forced him out of the field at the Farmers Insurance Open. “A tragedy for me,” he said. That was forgotten when Pebble, Palmer and Honda took note.
Johnson shot a 14-over 158 and missed the cut at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Yet, he was encouraged, saying it gave him confidence knowing he will get better.
“I know I can play,” he said. “I didn’t have one penalty shot all week. I didn’t hit a ball out of bounds, and I didn’t hit the ball in a hazard and that’s huge at Pebble Beach and Spyglass.
“I couldn’t get the greens down. I three-putted seven times. It just made me stronger and made my skin thicker for when I do get out there next time.”
Kamaiu Johnson plays his shot from the 11th tee during the first round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am golf tournament at Spyglass Hill Golf Course. Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports
Johnson told he’d ‘never amount to anything’
Back in Tallahassee, Johnson moved from the range to the course at Hilaman. Members at the club cobbled together a set of “mismatched” clubs and Auger charged him $1 a day to play. The catch: He had to work for it by doing jobs around the course, like collecting the balls at night.
“He was such a natural,” Auger said. “He never had taken any lessons. I couldn’t believe that. Just a natural swing. I never wanted to mess with his game. He was a kid, I wanted him to have fun and you don’t want to overthink it.”
Said Johnson: “It came pretty naturally.”
Johnson qualified for the Florida Open at 18, got his GED at 21 and then moved to New York where he was a caddie at Elmwood Country Club in White Plains and started qualifying for tournaments.
“When I started playing golf, it opened doors for me,” he said. “You can’t let your circumstances define you. You got to be determined and you got to want to be better.
“I don’t let that determine my success just because I was a middle school dropout. I had teachers tell me, ‘you’ll never amount to anything. You’re going to end up dead or in jail.’
“That’s my motivation now. Look at me now. I’m actually an inspiration to people.”
Johnson now has an ambassador role with Farmers Insurance and his equipment is from Titleist. And like Tiger and so many others who were role models for him, he is inspiring the next generation of golfers in the Panhandle.
Kamaiu Johnson and Jan Auger. [Courtesy Jan Auger]
Marquis Taylor, who attended Tallahassee-Leon High School, earned a golf scholarship to Miles College in Birmingham, Ala. Auger said Taylor, who is Black, “adores” Johnson.
“It gives them hope,” Auger said about golf. “It’s an avenue. It’s terrible it’s not accessible to minorities and it should be. I see comments online, ‘They haven’t earned it.’ Define earned it to me?
“If anyone has earned it, it’s Kamaiu.”
No one understands that more than Johnson, who is doing more than trying to beat the odds and earn a spot on the Tour.
Johnson has started his My My Foundation to give back to kids in his community.
“I’m a product of that love and support of people who have come together and who helped me get to where I am today,” Johnson said. “It was white people, Black people; woman, man. All kinds of people.”
The reigning PGA champion held it together coming down the stretch at The Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Florida, to finish at 18 under and three shots ahead of another up-and-coming talent, Viktor Hovland, along with Brooks Koepka and Billy Horschel.
Morikawa has now collected four titles on the PGA Tour despite being just 24. He joins Tiger Woods as the only players to win a major championship and a WGC title before turning 25
Check out how much money each player earned this week at the 2021 WGC-Workday Championship.
During Sunday’s final rounds, players in the World Golf Championships-Workday Championship, Puerto Rico Open and Gainbridge LPGA showed their support for Woods in various ways.
Rory McIlroy, Jason Day, Justin Thomas, Tony Finau, Patrick Reed, Tommy Fleetwood, Scottie Scheffler, Carlos Ortiz, and Cameron Champ rocked similar versions of his signature Sunday-red shirt and black pants. Billy Horschel had “TW” etched on his hat while Matt Kuchar, Jason Day and Bryson DeChambeau played with golf balls stamped with “TIGER.”
It is hard to explain how touching today was when I turned on the tv and saw all the red shirts. To every golfer and every fan, you are truly helping me get through this tough time.
Rory McIlroy: “It’s just a gesture to let him know that we’re thinking about him and we’re rooting for him. Obviously things are looking a little better today than they were on Tuesday, but he’s still got aways to go. He’s got a huge recovery ahead of him.”
Tony Finau: “We’ve enjoyed so many Sundays watching Tiger do his thing. Red and black, we know that’s what Tiger does on Sundays, so to just join in and just let Tiger know we’re supporting him in the best way we can. We’re still playing and we miss him out here, but it was cool just to be a part of that today.”
Sebastian Munoz: “He was my idol. He’s the reason I played golf today. It’s just a little tribute I wanted to pay to him today, just how much his life and his work have impacted my life.”
Jason Day: “Just paying respect to Tiger. Obviously we hope for the best in wishing him a very quick recovery, just wanted him to know that we’re thinking about him.”
Justin Thomas: “I think it’s just important for him to feel some kind of support. I think this shows support to him. It’s not something that’s going to happen every week, it’s not something that people are doing every day, but obviously Sunday’s a pretty special day for him and what he’s wearing and just seemed like a great chance that people had the opportunity to do it.”
