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PGA Championship: The potentially life-changing week for low-PGA club pro Ben Cook

PGA Championship: The potentially life-changing week for low-PGA club pro Ben Cook

Golfsolutions May 23, 2021
PGA Championship: The potentially life-changing week for low-PGA club pro Ben Cook https://ift.tt/3fb60Uv

KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. – One putt. Eight feet. To play the weekend at the 103rd PGA Championship.

PGA teaching pro Ben Cook sank it as if it was just another putt on the practice green at Yankee Springs Golf Course in Wayland, Michigan, where he is PGA Director of Instruction.

“It is weird to think that it came down to the last putt on the last hole that I almost three-putted to miss the cut,” he said. “But I made it thankfully and then without that, it would have – none of this would have happened.”

That included a third-round pairing with former major winner Webb Simpson, and shooting a sparkling 3-under 69 on ‘moving day’ at The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort. As Simpson and his caddie, Paul Tesori, walked off the green, Tesori said of Cook, 27, “How does he lose any tournament he plays in? He should be out here with us.”

Tesori, who played one year on the Tour before becoming a caddie, is a student of the game and he went one better at the end of the round, and let Cook know how impressed he was with his performance.

“Paul after the round was like, ‘Hey, use this as a springboard and see if you can build on that momentum that you created this week and see if you can get to the next level,’ which was really nice,” Cook said. “They are hoping to see me out here on a more regular basis, which is great.”

Ben Cook reacts on the first green during the second round of the 2021 PGA Championship at Kiawah Island Resort’s Ocean Course on May 21, 2021 in Kiawah Island, South Carolina. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

Cook, who rocked a hat with the word “Bad” on the front, made four birdies in the final round en route to shooting 2-over 74 and a 72-hole total of 4-over 292. It earned him low PGA club pro honors after being one of the 20 club pros to qualify for the championship. He earned a berth in the field for finishing third in the PGA Professional Championship.

“It’s always something I’ve strived to do the last couple years and now that I’ve made the cut and was low club pro this year, it’s definitely a goal achieved, along with making the cut,” said Cook, who missed the cut in the 2019 and 2020 PGA. “Very happy.”

Cook has bigger ambitions in the pro game. He missed the cut at the PGA Tour’s Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship in September, currently has status on the PGA Tour Latinoamerica and has a date at U.S. Open Sectional Qualifying. Making the cut at the PGA Championship allows him to skip to the second stage of Korn Ferry Tour Q-School later this year.

“If I finish Top-10 on the Order of Merit or their points list, I’ll get to go to final stage of Q-School, get a card. Depending on how you play, you get better status,” he explained.

Of competing on PGA Tour Latinoamerica, Cook said, “It’s a little brotherhood, if you will, of everybody kind of splitting costs and going to dinners together. It’s a blast,” he said.

So was an unforgettable week at the 103rd PGA Championship.

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Brittany Lincicome prepares to return to LPGA in Las Vegas after suffering a miscarriage

Brittany Lincicome prepares to return to LPGA in Las Vegas after suffering a miscarriage

Golfsolutions May 23, 2021
Brittany Lincicome prepares to return to LPGA in Las Vegas after suffering a miscarriage https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Brittany Lincicome was getting ready to put daughter Emery down for a nap when she picked up the phone. They’d been at a neighbor’s pool party with the family dog Dexter. On Monday, she’ll fly to Las Vegas for the LPGA’s match play event at Shadow Creek, ready to get back to work.

Lincicome was supposed to be at the Pure Silk Championship at Kingsmill this week. Last Monday, her bags were packed, and her parents were set to drive her to the airport after a routine doctor’s visit at the 12-week mark of her pregnancy. The day prior, Lincicome had experienced light bleeding. She talked to her doctor and friends and everyone assured her it was probably fine.

The next morning, she began to have cramps every three minutes. Her husband, Dewald Gouws, decided to take off work to head to the appointment with her. They took two cars, with her parents following along for the airport run.

Lincicome, 35, had a miscarriage halfway to the door of her doctor’s office. Gouws ultimately rushed her to the emergency room to stop the bleeding. A heartbroken Lincicome posted about the loss on Instagram.

“My husband and I both know that God has plan for us,” she said. “There’s a reason why it happened, even though we don’t see it now.”

Lincicome was grateful that it didn’t happen when she was competing in Thailand and Singapore or on the long flight home. But then she also began to wonder if those trips had somehow caused the loss.

“I thought originally it was my fault,” she said. “Maybe the long flight did something. My doctor said, ‘There’s nothing you could’ve done to prevent this. This is just your body saying something was wrong.’ ”

Lincicome wants to share her story in the hope that other women who have experienced such loss can take encouragement from the fact that they are not alone. That it wasn’t her fault, and it’s not theirs either.

Lincicome and Gouws first started trying to get pregnant after she won in the Bahamas in January 2018. She got the good news at her beloved ANA Inspiration, where she’s won twice. When the couple went in for their eight-week appointment in late April, the doctor delivered devastating news. There was no heartbeat.

The next morning at 5 a.m., Lincicome went in for surgery.

“We cried for days and days,” she said.

Lincicome first told that story publicly in February 2019 after posting on social media that she was pregnant with Emery, who was born eight weeks early in July 2019.

“It’s a thing you can bundle it all up and depression can hit you quickly,” she said of losing a child, “and you don’t know what’s happening.”

She’s grateful to have a strong and supportive husband and friends on tour and in her community who have checked in often and delivered meals. When Lincicome pulled out of Kingsmill, it brought Moriya Jutanugarn, a late entry into the tournament who was at the bottom of the alternate list, into the field. Jutanugarn held a share of the lead going into Sunday’s final round.

Lincicome loves match play because she can be more aggressive. She’s only played 13 holes in a cart since leaving the hospital, but said that physically, she thinks she’ll be fine, as long as she doesn’t push it.

“I feel like I just want to get back to normal again,” she said, “get back to my normal routine.”

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Phil Mickelson cracks 1-iron, adds 4-wood before Sunday's final round at PGA Championship

Phil Mickelson cracks 1-iron, adds 4-wood before Sunday's final round at PGA Championship

Golfsolutions May 23, 2021
Phil Mickelson cracks 1-iron, adds 4-wood before Sunday's final round at PGA Championship https://ift.tt/3fIAtYW

If Phil Mickelson is going to win his sixth career major championship at the 2021 PGA Championship, he will have to do it after making a last-minute equipment change.

As Mickelson stepped up to the third tee after regaining the lead over Brooks Koepka, Louis Oosthuizen and Kevin Streelman, CBS Sports on-course analyst Dottie Pepper said that Mickelson’s caddie and brother, Tim Mickelson, told her Phil cracked the face of his 1-iron. It happened 15 minutes before Mickelson went to the first tee. The Hall of Famer added his Callaway 4-wood in its place before the round.

Most pros travel to events with a full 14-club set, along with a backup driver, backup putter and perhaps one or two other clubs. Mickelson is known for traveling with as many as 23 to 25 clubs, picking the 14 that will go into his bag based on the course and weather conditions.

PGA Championship: Leaderboard | Photos

On Thursday this is what he had in the bag:

DRIVER: Callaway Epic Speed (6 degrees), with Fujikura Ventus Black 6TX
FAIRWAY WOOD: TaylorMade “Original One” Mini Driver (11.5 degrees), with Fujikura Ventus Black 7 X
IRONS: Callaway X-Forged UT (3-5), Apex MB (6-PW), with KBS Tour V 125 S+ shafts
WEDGES: Callaway PM Grind Raw (52, 56, 60 degrees), with KBS Tour-V 125 S+ shafts
PUTTER: Odyssey Phil Mickelson White Hot XG blade prototype
BALL: Callaway Chrome Soft X with Triple Track
GRIPS: Golf Pride MCC

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Henrik Stenson casually destroys a club during the final round of the PGA Championship

Henrik Stenson casually destroys a club during the final round of the PGA Championship

Golfsolutions May 23, 2021
Henrik Stenson casually destroys a club during the final round of the PGA Championship https://ift.tt/36ZNhHt

If you’ve ever played golf then you know it can be a frustrating game that can lead to you yelling a bunch of bad words at the sky or even throwing a club in a fit of anger that has nothing to do with the club but rather the person using the club.

That happens to professional golfers, too. They’re human, after all, and golf likes messing with humans.

Henrik Stenson has been known to smash a club or two during his career on the PGA Tour and he did it again during Sunday’s final round of the PGA Championship. He always seems to do the damage in a respectful manner, which is pretty classy of him.

Check out how casual this was:

He did that on the 15th hole so he only had to play his last three holes a club down, which is also a smart time to take out some frustrations on your club. Guy just gets it.

Stenson actually shot a 1-under 71 on Sunday but finished the tournament way bak at 8 over.

Now let’s all get ready back to the Phil Mickelson show.

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'Listen, man, you stiffed me': Recalling the time Brooks Koepka asked Phil Mickelson for an autograph

'Listen, man, you stiffed me': Recalling the time Brooks Koepka asked Phil Mickelson for an autograph

Golfsolutions May 23, 2021
'Listen, man, you stiffed me': Recalling the time Brooks Koepka asked Phil Mickelson for an autograph https://ift.tt/3yt1mcd

KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. – Despite carrying around one of the biggest chips on his shoulder, Brooks Koepka always is looking for a slight, something to motivate him. And like Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods before him, Koepka’s the type that has a long memory.

He won’t have to dig too deep to recall a time that, Phil Mickelson, his foe in the final group of the 103rd PGA Championship, rubbed him the wrong way. Koepka has never forgotten the time his dad took him the Masters as a kid. He was about 8 or 9 years old, which would plant the story in the late 1990s, and young Brooks collected around 50 autographs from players that day. Sneaking into the player’s parking lot helped add to the haul.

“I mean, I pretty much got everybody,” He recalled during his pre-tournament press conference at the 2019 Masters.

Not everybody. A certain player stiffed him.

“I tried to get Phil’s autograph. I was standing by the old range, and somehow found my way kind of right by the parking lot or something like that and asked him for an autograph and he said no, and he turned me down, probably about the only kid Phil’s ever turned down.”

PGA Championship: Leaderboard | Photos | How to watch | Tee times

Whenever Koepka has been asked to name his childhood golf idols, he’s ticked off Tiger Woods and Adam Scott. Mickelson? Not so much, though the moment has become one these Ryder Cup teammates have shared a laugh over.

“He doesn’t remember,” Koepka said. “I mean, I can’t believe he doesn’t remember the first time he ever said no to a kid, signing an autograph. I told him, I think in 2014, I think we were playing a practice round at the British Open. I had to tell him. I was like, ‘Listen, man, you stiffed me, and I really didn’t like you for a long time.’ He was typical Phil, right back at me. I shouldn’t have been there (in the parking lot). I’ve got his autograph now.”

While Koepka probably wouldn’t give any quarter to his opponent regardless of the fact, could it be he’s just a little more amped up to play spoiler to Mickelson’s fairytale pursuit of becoming the oldest player to win a major? Just a reminder to all pros, always sign for every kid. They may just grow up and be paired with you in the final round of a major.

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The perfect pairing? PGA Championship's final group of Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka might be.

The perfect pairing? PGA Championship's final group of Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka might be.

Golfsolutions May 23, 2021
The perfect pairing? PGA Championship's final group of Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka might be. https://ift.tt/3fIAtYW

KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. — Phil Mickelson was annoyed.

It had nothing to do with his golf. That was going splendidly Saturday with birdies on two of his first three holes to open up a three-shot lead that would peak at five before stumbling during the third round of the PGA Championship.

But as Phil addressed his second shot on No. 4, he was looking straight into a drone.

“Could the TV guys get the drone out of the line of my shot,” he said to anyone who would listen on the course.

“It’s annoying.”

That drone, as it turned out, was the least of Mickelson’s problems by the end of the day. A larger one started looming on the back nine, one that four years ago turned majors into his personal playground, having won four, and once again has been under the radar this week as he continues to recover from knee surgery.

PGA Championship: Leaderboard | Photos | How to watch | Tee times

Now, Brooks Koepka is Mickelson’s biggest annoyance.

“Feels normal,” said an emotionless Koepka minutes after posting a 2-under 70 to get to 6-under for the tournament, one shot behind Mickelson.

“I’ve got a chance to win, so that’s all I wanted to do today is not give back any shots and be there tomorrow with a chance,” Koepka said. “And I’ve got that.”

Koepka was 2 years old when Mickelson turned pro. Mickelson’s first major championship, the 2004 Masters, came eight days after Koepka’s 14th birthday. Sunday, the two will be paired with Koepka seeking his fifth major, third PGA Championship, and Mickelson seeking his sixth major and second Wanamaker Trophy.

“I’m playing really well and I have an opportunity to contend for a major championship on Sunday,” is how Phil, 50, summed up the day.

Koepka, 31, made up five shots in six holes to catch Mickelson, who appeared as if he was going to head into Sunday’s final round with a comfortable lead and a heavy favorite to become the oldest ever to win a major. But after playing his first 10 holes in 5-under and leading by five shots, Mickelson went bogey, double on Nos. 12 and 13. Koepka caught him with birdies on 12 and 16, but gave one back with a bogey on 18.

That set up the pairing between two titans, one beyond his prime but finding the Fountain of Youth and the other an indomitable foe when it comes to majors, wounded knee or not.

Koepka, ranked 13th in the world, admitted he is not close to 100 percent after undergoing surgery two months ago to reattach a ligament in his right knee. He still cannot fully squat to read putts and looks awkward when sticking his tee in the ground or retrieving his ball from the cup.

The knee has held up. But that’s only part of the reason Koepka is contending in another major. He is dialed in with a focus he saves for this stage.

Koepka is so focused on what he is doing that when asked about being in the final pairing with the Hall of Famer, he said, “Am I in the final group? I don’t know.” Luis Oosthuizen relinquished that honor by shooting a 72 and finishing one shot behind Koepka.

“It’ll be nice,” Koepka said. “At least I can see what Phil is doing.”

Koepka had an idea what Mickelson was doing early when, playing one hole ahead, he heard the roars. Mickelson played as well as he has in a very long time – his last PGA Tour win came two years ago and we’re eight years removed from his last major championship – with four birdies in his first seven holes and then going to 5-under with another on No. 10.

Koepka, though, was always lurking despite what he believes was “the worst putting performance I think I ever had in my career.” As a result, Koepka hit the putting green for more than 30 minutes following his round. He called it a “speed issue and “not trusting” his stroke.

“It was just maybe felt a little slow,” he said about the greens. “I’ll go figure this out here shortly.”

The swing hole that opened the door for Koepka was No. 13. Both Mickelson and Oosthuizen, his playing partner Saturday, put their tee shots into the creek that runs along the right side of the hole. Oosthuizen managed to bogey the par-4 hole. Phil had to re-tee and missed a 13-foot putt for bogey.

The double was his first of the tournament. In a span of three holes, Mickelson’s lead went from five to a single shot.

While Koepka was working on the putting green as the sun was setting on Kiawah Island, Mickelson was on the range. The driver was good to “Lefty” the first two rounds so much so he was 10th in the field in Stokes Gained: Off the Tee on Friday.

On Saturday, he was 70th.

He blamed his focus, something he has struggled with as his world ranking has plummeted to 113.

“I felt I had a very clear picture on every shot, and I’ve been swinging the club well, and so I was executing,” Phil said about the first 10 holes.

“Even though it slipped a little bit today and I didn’t stay as focused and as sharp on a few swings, it’s significantly better than it’s been for a long time. So I’m making a lot of progress, and I’ll continue to work on that and hopefully I’ll be able to eliminate a couple of those loose swings tomorrow.”

And if he doesn’t, Mickelson will have some company in the five-majors club.

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One memorable event from every PGA Championship

One memorable event from every PGA Championship

Golfsolutions May 23, 2021
One memorable event from every PGA Championship https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

There’s something to be said for the buzz of a major championship.

Your friends here at Golfweek couldn’t be more excited for the conclusion to the 103rd PGA Championship at Kiawah Island Golf Resort’s Ocean Course in South Carolina.

So in order to help get you in the right state of mind as Phil Mickelson and Brooks Koepka (and perhaps a surprise contender) battle it out on the breezy Atlantic coast, we went through more than a century of PGA Championships and picked out one notable piece of information or event.

We’ll start at the beginning with the inaugural tournament held in New York in 1916.

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'I feel like we’re a little starstuck': Maryland, first-timers at NCAAs, look to survive another day

'I feel like we’re a little starstuck': Maryland, first-timers at NCAAs, look to survive another day

Golfsolutions May 23, 2021
'I feel like we’re a little starstuck': Maryland, first-timers at NCAAs, look to survive another day https://ift.tt/3vi0Tr9

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Three strokes. That’s all that separates Maryland from making the 54-hole cut at the NCAA Division I Women’s Championship.

The Terrapins are first-timers here. Not just to the NCAA Championships but to Arizona itself. Five international players whose tournament schedule never took them west of Texas.

“I feel like we’re a little starstuck,” said head coach Diana Cantu, “even though they’re good enough.”

The Terps were first off on Friday morning, when conditions were calm and scoring was ripe in the desert, and they didn’t take advantage. On Saturday afternoon, they were nine strokes better in menacing wind that, at times, could knock a person off-balance. They’ll need more of that grit on Sunday when the field is cut to the top 15 teams. Maryland currently sits in 19th, three shots back of South Carolina and Michigan, who are tied for 14th at 24-over 600.

So much attention at the NCAA regional at Baton Rouge went to the 12 teams who never hit a shot to advance.

NCAA officials scrapped competition all three days due to weather, with committee representative Brad Hurlbut, the Director of Athletics at Fairleigh Dickinson, controversially declaring that the course was playable, but “not playable at a championship level.”

The top six seeds automatically advanced. Maryland was seeded fifth.

Public outcry was so loud that Barstool Sports stepped up to run the Let Them Play Classic earlier this week at Whirlwind Golf Club in Chandler, Arizona, a last-minute home run for the heartbroken.

But it wasn’t easy for her team either, Cantu noted.

“They wanted to be here in a different way,” said Cantu.

“They still had such a strong season that they deserve it, they just didn’t envision it that way. … They’re so into social media and it just blew up so much. I think that was hard for them a couple days.”

Cantu believes they’ve moved past it now.

Maryland Terrapins

The Maryland Terrapins women’s golf team poses for a photo at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, site of the 2021 NCAA Championships. Photo by Maryland

On Monday, top eight teams after 72 holes of stroke play will advance to match play at Grayhawk Golf Club. Mississippi, LSU and Oregon also advanced out of Baton Rouge and are currently 7, 8, and T-9, respectively in Scottsdale.

Maryland, ranked 20th by Golfweek/Sagarin, placed in the top three in all seven tournaments they played this spring. The team disbanded last March after the season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and didn’t reunite until January.

Cantu worried about the time apart might impact them. She couldn’t be happier with how they came back firing. It helped too that in several events the Terps were grouped together because of COVID protocols. Cantu said those rounds were especially key in helping them to understand the importance of their attitudes, momentum and energy within the team.

Before Xiaolin Tian, now a graduate student, came to Maryland from China, the Terps were ranked well outside the top 100. That’s part of the pitch Cantu makes when selling her program to recruits: Come to a place that you can leave better than you found it.

“They’re setting such a high standard,” she said.

Maryland set an 18-hole record score of 278 this spring and senior Virunpat Olankitkunchai set a new individual tournament scoring mark of 11 under. She’s currently ranked 24th in the country.

“I don’t ever really stop and pause and realize what we’ve done,” said Cantu. “I’m a go, go, go what’s next person. What we’ve accomplished in year like this, I think it’s outstanding.”

And they’re not done yet.

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PGA Championship: Brooks Koepka's golf equipment at Kiawah

PGA Championship: Brooks Koepka's golf equipment at Kiawah

Golfsolutions May 23, 2021
PGA Championship: Brooks Koepka's golf equipment at Kiawah https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

A complete list of the golf equipment Brooks Koepka is using this week at the 2021 PGA Championship:

DRIVER: TaylorMade SIM2 (10.5 degrees), with Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 70 TX

FAIRWAY WOOD: TaylorMade M2 Tour HL (16.5 degrees), with Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 80 TX shaft

IRONS: Nike Vapor Fly Pro (3), with Fujikura Pro 95 Tour Spec shaft; Srixon ZX7 (4-PW), with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shafts

WEDGES: Titleist Vokey Design SM8 (52, 56 degrees), SM4 (60 degrees), with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 shafts

PUTTER: Scotty Cameron T10 Select Newport 2

BALL: Titleist Pro V1x

GRIPS: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord Midsize

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