Category: PGA Tour Champions

TimberTech: Darren Clarke victorious for first time since 2011 British Open

“I haven’t had one of these in a while,” Darren Clarke said after winning the TimberTech. “I was drunk for a week the last time I won.”

BOCA RATON, Fla. – It has been nine years since Darren Clarke had a victory toast, but he showed Sunday he still knows how to win and celebrate.

Clarke birdied the 18th hole to win the TimberTech Championship by a shot over defending champion Bernhard Langer and Jim Furyk. It was Clarke’s first victory since the 2011 British Open, and Clarke celebrated with a champagne toast outside the Broken Sound clubhouse.

“I haven’t had one of these in a while,” Clarke said. “I was drunk for a week the last time I won. I imagine I’ll wake up with a headache tomorrow.”

Clarke shot a 4-under 68 on The Old Course to finish at 17-under 199, edging defending champion Bernhard Langer (67) and Jim Furyk (68) by a stroke. Miguel Angel Jimenez (66-201) was fourth.

Clarke earned $300,000 for his first victory on the PGA Tour Champions in his 40th start. The Northern Ireland native won three PGA Tour titles, highlighted by his memorable win at Royal St. George’s just before his 43th birthday.

TIMBERTECH: Leaderboard

“I’ve had a lot of opportunities the last few years, so it’s great to finally win one,” Clarke said. “I wouldn’t be working this hard if I didn’t think I could still win.”

Clarke took advantage of rare mistakes by Hall of Famer Langer, a Boca Raton resident who was trying to win his 42nd career PGA Tour Champions title. Langer was leading at 17-under after 14 holes and hadn’t made a bogey all week on a course where he had already won twice.

Langer (67) then bogeyed two of his next three holes. He hit it in the water at the difficult 15th hole after an errant drive – he had to get up-and-down from the fairway to save bogey – and missed a short par putt at the 17th.

Langer birdied the 18th to finish at 16-under and force Clarke to birdie the par-5 18th to win. Langer remains four wins behind Hale Irwin’s career mark of 45 on the PGA Tour Champions.

“I got off to a good start with a birdie at the first and kept going,” Langer said “I didn’t drive the ball well and I  could feel something wasn’t right with my swing and it showed up over and over. I made a great birdie at the end, but the swing just wasn’t quite where it needed to be.”

Darren Clarke
Darren Clarke hits a drive off the 12th tee during final round of the TimberTech Championship in Boca Raton, Florida on November 1, 2020. Photo Richard Graulich/Palm Beach Post

Furyk was trying to win for the third time in five starts on the PGA Tour Champions. He spent most of the back nine within a shot or two of the lead, but made one birdie on the last seven holes, a disappointing one at the 18th.

“I didn’t make a lot of putts,” Furyk said. “I was burning a lot of edges. At 18, I had a nice look for eagle from about 20 feet and thought I hit a great putt. I didn’t even sniff the hole. I probably missed it a good cup low and we just misread the putt.”

Clarke birdied three of his first seven holes Sunday and led at 16-under until he double-bogeyed the ninth hole after his drive went into the water. Clarke responded with birdies on the next two holes to remain in contention.

Had Clarke lost, no doubt he would have rued a one-stroke penalty he received Saturday for picking up his ball on the second hole, forgetting the field was no longer using preferred lies.

This was Clarke’s last chance to win this year. Because of visa issues, he has to be out of the country by Wednesday, meaning he will miss next week’s season-ending event in Phoenix.

He’ll take with him a nice parting gift – the TimberTech Championship trophy. And more time to celebrate.

“I would love to go and try and win again next week, but unfortunately that won’t be the case,” Clarke said. “I’m going to have to sit at the beach down in Abaco Club, drink some sea breezes and watch the boys on the big screen.

“When everybody makes a birdie, I’ll go cheer and have another sea breeze or a Kalik Light. It will be a little bit of both.”

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Defending champ Bernhard Langer positioned for another win at TimberTech Championship

Defending champ Bernhard Langer could earn another win at the PGA Tour Champions’ TimberTech Championship.

BOCA RATON — Some folks in their 60s rely on annuities to get by.
Bernhard Langer has the TimberTech Championship.

The World Golf Hall of Famer has earned more than $40 million while playing on the PGA Tour and the PGA Tour Champions the last 45 years. But he had to travel all over the U.S. (and the UK for the British Open) to earn this grand sum of money, sometimes leaving a tournament without a penny earned if he missed the cut.

Not so at the TimberTech Championship.

During the last 12 years, Langer has only had to make an eight-minute commute from his Boca Raton home to The Old Course to earn $1,186.385.

And counting.

The defending champion once again positioned himself for another high finish with a 4-under 68 Saturday that left Langer tied for fourth place at 11-under 133, two shots behind co-leaders Darren Clarke and Robert Karlsson entering Sunday’s final round.

The round could have, should have been lower. Langer missed only two greens, but lacked his usual touch with the putter.

“I gave myself opportunities, and that’s what I need to do because I’m hitting a lot more clubs into these greens than some of my opponents,” Langer said. “Didn’t make a lot of putts, but I’m still there.”

Langer has averaged almost $100,000 a start ($98,865) at The Old Course. That doesn’t get old.

That’s what happens when you win twice, finish second twice, third twice, not to mention eight top-10s in 12 starts.

Numbers on a scorecard don’t always tell the story, but these numbers are numbing:

In 38 rounds at The Old Course, Langer has shot 66 or lower 10 times. He has shot even-par once and been over par just three times (with a pair of 73s). His overall average is 68.34, which basically turns the four par-5s into par-4s.

Not only does Langer take the fewest shots, he also has the most memorable one: His hole-out from a bunker for eagle to defeat John Cook in a playoff in 2010.

From a plugged lie, no less.

Sorry, Bart Bryant, but that eagle edges out the albatross you made to finish the second round in 2015. A trophy beats a Shot of the Day.
Just one question: What the heck happened to Langer in 2017 when he finished 37th? Was that an imposter? He only beat half the field that year.

Langer has been beating these guys since 2007. At 63, he refuses to act his age.

“Hopefully, I am acting my age,” Langer countered. “I’m wiser than I was 20 years ago.”

Langer made history in 1986 when he became the first player to be ranked No. 1 when the world rankings debuted. He also is one of five players who have won tournaments on all six continents where golf is played.

His game travels, as well.

Langer won a pair of Masters (1985 and 1993), but also appears in one of the most-famous photographs at Augusta National in 1986, when he put the green jacket on 46-year-old champion Jack Nicklaus.
Langer needs four more wins to tie Hale Irwin’s career record of 45 PGA Tour Champions titles. If Langer finishes in the top four Sunday, he will go over the $30 million mark.

On just the PGA Tour Champions.

There’s no secret to Langer’s success. He outworks and out-thinks most of his colleagues. Jeff Waber, Broken Sound’s director of golf, said Langer averages about 10 practice rounds a year on The Old Course.

“He doesn’t get himself into trouble,” Waber said. “He may not hit the prettiest, best-looking shot, but he never hits it out of play and takes a penalty shot. He always misses it on the correct side. He’s the most patient player out there.”

Waber also praised Langer’s actions off the course. Five years ago, Waber was looking to raise money for his old boss, John Skaff, after he suffered a serious health issue. Waber called Langer to see if he had any suggestions on what items raised the most money in a charity auction.

“Bernhard came over later that night and brought me the current year’s Masters flag from the champions dinner that had been signed by 34 of the living winners,” Waber said.

“I said, ‘Mr. Langer, I’m kind of shaking here.’ He said, ‘No, this will raise the most amount of money and it’s all yours.’”
It’s not always about the money.

Langer’s pay days on The Old Course

Bernard Langer has made more than $1.186 million playing in his hometown TimberTech Championship at Broken Sound Club in Boca Raton. He is the only player to win the event twice and has a pair of seconds and thirds. His average score on the par-72 Old Course is 68.34 (in 38 rounds) and his average earnings is $98,865.33.

Here are his year-by-year results:

  • 2019: Finished first. $255,000
  • 2018: Finished second, $140,800
  • 2017: Finished T-37, $9,450
  • 2016: Finished T-10, $28,850
  • 2015: Finished T-26, $14,450
  • 2014: Finished T-7, $54,400
  • 2013:Finished T-2, $144,000
  • 2012: Finished T-3, $118,350
  • 2011: Finished T-17, $23,991
  • 2010: Finished first, $255,000
  • 2009: Finished third, $122,400
  • 2008: Finished T-35, $9,693

Darren Clarke, Robert Karlsson lead TimberTech Championship, Jim Furyk in contention

Darren Clarke and Robert Karlsson lead the TimberTech Championship through 54 holes with Jim Furyk T-3 and in contention.

BOCA RATON – Darren Clarke got off to a fast start for the second consecutive day on Saturday, and this time he didn’t let up.

Clarke, 52, who is seeking his first PGA Tour Champions victory, shot a bogey-free 10-under-par 62 Saturday for a 13-under 131 total.

He was tied for the lead of the TimberTech Championship with Robert Karlsson, 51, who followed his opening 65 with a six-birdie 66, during an intermittently wet and windy second round at The Old Course at Broken Sound.

They were one shot ahead of Jim Furyk, who had shared the first-round lead with John Daly at 64. Furyk was alone in third place after a 68 Saturday and a 132 total. Daly shot a 1-over 73 with four bogeys and three birdies to fall into a tie for 20th.

Cameron Beckman, 50, who is playing in only his fifth Champions Tour event, and Kent Jones, 53, both shot 66 Saturday and were tied for fourth along with hometown favorite and defending champion Bernhard Langer and Scott Parel, who both shot 68. Gene Sauers and Rod Pampling both shot 65 to move up 19 spots into a tie for eighth.

Sunday’s final round begins at 9:35 a.m. Clarke, Karlsson and Furyk tee off in the last threesome at 11:45 a.m.

Clarke, who won the 2011 Open Championship, had four birdies on the front nine Friday, but he had two bogeys and a birdie coming home to finish at 3-under 69, which put him in a 19-way tie for 27th in the 81-player field.

A native of Northern Ireland who now lives at The Winding Club at Abaco Bay in the Bahamas, Clarke birdied the first hole Saturday morning and added four more birdies on to finish the front 5-under 31. He then birdied the first two holes on the back to give him three consecutive birdies and five in a six-hole stretch.

A birdie at No. 13 put him at 8 under for the day. After four pars in a row, he concluded his round in style on the 507-yard par-5 18th. Clarke hit his second shot, an 8-iron from 163 yards, three feet from the hole, then rolled in the eagle putt. Approach shots like that were the key to his round.

“I holed one 30-footer on No. 9 and one 12-footer on No. 10 … about everything else was about three, four feet,” said Clarke, who is in his third season on the Champions Tour. “The greens are receptive, obviously, and if you play it well, you give yourself opportunities. Today I read the greens better than I have for quite some time. But again, it was much easier to hole putts – it goes without saying – if you hit it closer.”

Clarke was on such a good roll, not even a mental mistake could stop his momentum.

“The last few weeks with the weather conditions, we’ve been ball in hand, marking it and placing it,” said Clarke, adding that on the first tee the starter told his threesome that no placing was allowed Saturday. “First hole, fine. Second hole, down the middle of the fairway, marked it, picked it up. Oops. One-shot penalty straightaway. Anyway, hit it over the back of the green, chipped it in for par.

“A 61 would’ve been nice, but a 62 is just fine with me.”

Karlsson, a native of Sweden, has six top-10 finishes in 11 events in his first season on the PGA Tour Champions. He had four birdies on the front nine, birdied the 14th hole to pull within a shot of Clarke, and two-putted the 18th for birdie for the tie.

Playing aggressively, but smart, has been a key to his success this year, which includes a tie for second, and three straight top-10s coming into this tournament.

“I’ve had too many tournaments where I made too many mistakes early on, otherwise I probably would have done a bit better because a lot of my good tournaments have come from really great last holes, or last few holes anyway, in the last round,” said Karlsson, who had 11 European Tour wins. “When you play on the Champions Tour, it’s just very, very low scoring all the time and very bunched up. I’m trying not to get too caught up in it, play my own game and that’s going to be the plan tomorrow as well.

“I’m ecstatic with my first year on the tour. I didn’t play well at the end on the European Tour and coming out here and being up in the top of the leaderboard again, see my name on the leaderboards, being in contention, it’s great fun again to be there.”

John Daly talks about his ‘shagadelic’ pants, bladder cancer after tying for lead at TimberTech Championship

John Daly holds a lead for just the second time during a tournament since joining the PGA Tour Champions in 2016.

BOCA RATON, Fla. — Sometime Saturday morning, before John Daly arrives at The Old Course at Broken Sound, the enigmatic and eccentric golfer will stand in front one his closets in his RV and decide which one of the 300 or so pants he travels with to wear.

First, Daly said, he will pull out a shirt and then choose a matching pair of slacks.

“What’s great about this stuff is you can dress in the dark because you’re pretty much going to match any shirt,” he said Friday after shooting an 8-under 64 to share the first-round lead with Jim Furyk at the TimberTech Championship.

Daly, who holds a lead for just the second time during a tournament since joining the PGA Tour Champions in 2016, went with a psychedelic pattern of exploding lime greens, purples, yellows and pinks on a black background for Round 1.

Think ‘60s: “Laugh-in.” Jimi Hendricks. Acid rock.

Rock Bottom Golf, the company Daly has partnered with, calls Friday’s choice Shagadelic.

“One of our loudest patterns,” said Anna Cladakis, Daly’s fiancé, who was wearing a matching pair of shorts, which is helpful for Daly.

“That way I can find her,” he said.

TimberTech Championship: Leaderboard

Daly, who drives his RV to most tournaments, had no trouble picking out Anna without spectators allowed on the grounds because of the coronavirus pandemic. But if for any reason he could not, he certainly heard her cheering on her man after his eight birdies and an eagle on No. 18 (his ninth hole of the day). Daly also had two bogeys.

The wildly popular Daly would have been basking in the adoration as he conquered 6,807-yard The Old Course.

“It would have been crazy out here if we had a lot of fans,” he said.

Crazier than his outfit? Probably not. But Daly would not have been difficult to find in pants that look like they were lifted from the cover of a Cream album. One thing that is different with him, though, is the shaggy gray beard Daly started growing when he was diagnosed with bladder cancer about two months ago.

John Daly
John Daly finishes his round on the ninth hole at the PGA Tour Champions TimberTech Championship in Boca Raton, Florida. Photo by Richard Graulich/Palm Beach Post

“If it gets too bad, I might have to trim a little bit, but I’m going to keep it,” he said. “It may be down to the ground before this thing gets over with but that means I’m still living.”

Daly, who uses a cart, said he is constantly tired. He said he is trying to drink the right stuff but “it’s hard to take Diet Coke away from me.” He said Friday he was “proud” of himself for “only” smoking six cigarettes during the round. “Usually I smoke a pack and a half.” He’s trying to cut back, “but hell, who knows. Can’t quit instantly.” He said his next chemotherapy treatment is in about a month.

Daly later got emotional when talking about his cancer. His eyes watered and his voice cracked when he mentioned the support he has received from the players and caddies.

“They’re awesome, they’ve been great,” he said.

And probably surprised to see Daly’s name at the top of the leaderboard. Daly won once on the Champions tour, in 2017, and has just 10 top-10 finishes in 77 starts. And The Old Course does not exactly fit the game of player who likes to boom his driver.

Daly said he used seven 3-woods and seven drivers during the first round. On the 507-yard 18th, he hit a driver and a 7-iron to about 12 feet before sinking the eagle putt. He drove it onto the fringe on the 290-yard par-4 7th hole and made a short birdie putt.

“I just hit it really good,” he said. “The bad drives that I did hit, I could find it. I just putted really, really good.”

Like the old saying goes: “Drive for show, putt for dough.” And Daly is one of golf’s all-time showman, with the threads to match.

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How has COVID-19 impacted PGA Tour Champions? Ask Mark Calcavecchia and Co.

Mark Calcavecchia is still trying to fully recover his strength after contracting the coronavirus while on vacation in his native Nebraska.

BOCA RATON, Florida — COVID-19 has had a dramatic impact on the PGA Tour Champions, and no one knows that better than Mark Calcavecchia.

Like the other 81 players 50 and older who are competing this week in the TimberTech Championship, Calcavecchia has adjusted to not playing in front of fans and having to social distance from the parking lot to the clubhouse to the practice range to the golf course.

But as Calcavecchia, 60, of Jupiter, prepares for the event, which is Friday through Sunday at The Old Course at Broken Sound, he’s still trying to fully recover his strength after contracting the coronavirus in September while on vacation in his native Nebraska.

“I feel good now,” said Calcavecchia, who won this tournament when it was called the Boca Raton Championship in 2018. “After I was sick, I was pretty weak for two or three weeks and my back hurt, so I still had kind of lingering effects from the aches and pains of it.

“Then sure enough, in Cary, North Carolina, the last day (of the SAS Championship on Oct. 11), back spasms grabbed me right in the middle of my back and buckled my legs and I went down. I couldn’t even make another swing.”

Calcavecchia, whose wife and caddie, Brenda, has consistently tested negative for the virus, headed to Virginia for the next tournament, but his back did not improve. They returned to Florida, where Calcavecchia’s back doctor gave him “a nice little injection in the right spot, so I feel really good now. We’ll see how long it lasts.”

He said his back felt good during Wednesday’s pro-am, adding that the course played long for him. One of the shorter hitters on the senior tour given his back and COVID issues, Calcavecchia said he hit some approach shots that he’s not used to hitting, such as 5-irons to greens where he would normally hit 8- or 9-irons.

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The pandemic has forced players to get used to not having fans, and grandstands, at their tournaments. That changes the strategy on holes such as the par-5 18th. Many players went for the green in two knowing that if they ended up against the grandstand, they received a free drop and a chip that often resulted in an easy birdie. A second shot like that now could end up in a pond behind the green.

“Eighteen has a whole different look to it,” Calcavecchia said. “It looks weird with no stands, or fans.”

Added Jesper Parnevik, “The thing we miss are fans. That’s the saddest part I would say. It’s kind of lonely out there.”

Dudley Hart can relate to that. He made a hole-in-one at the tour’s first tournament back after the shutdown to a pin hidden from the tee. His only clue that he hit a great shot was a marshal waving his arm.

“That kind of stuff is different, but I’m just glad we’re out playing,” Hart said.

COVID had an impact on Ken Duke of Stuart, who canceled his annual charity golf tournament. Although the Champions Tour has had a safe season since play resumed on July 31 after nearly a five-month closure, Duke didn’t want to take any chances with his Ken Duke & Friends Celebrity Pro-Am, which was scheduled for this past weekend at Floridian National Golf Club in Palm City.

“It was the right thing to do with people traveling from all over the United States,” Duke said, noting that his family has been safe and healthy. “We just didn’t need any kind of spike at our event and get negative publicity from that. We’ve done pretty well the last four years, raising a lot of money for a lot of different charities, so we thought it was the best thing to do.”

David Frost said COVID has had some benefits and some drawbacks. He took advantage of the time off to spend three months at home in Delray Beach and expand his wine business. The highly regarded wines from his vineyard in South Africa are sold at Trader Joe’s and online at frostwine.com.

“I’ve never really been home in 35 years for that amount of time. I’ve traveled non-stop since 1982,” he said. “So it was nice to have a break like that. However, when I came back, my golf game completely sucked.”

During that break, Frost also posted a bunch of Facebook Live videos on his David Frost Golf page.

“I have received so much support over the last 30 years playing golf, so I think it was my time to spread the word that everybody should be patient, stay safe, stay at home as much as possible,” he said. “In a short while, this thing will be over and then we can get back to normal again.”

Frost and his family have been safe and COVID-free. He said his only close friend to get COVID was President Donald Trump.

Parnevik said COVID had little effect on him and his family because they went to his native Sweden in mid-April and stayed there for the summer.

“We never had a lockdown,” he said. “Bars, restaurants, schools, everything was open. They never shut down. My kids thought that was great, because we went from Florida lockdown where we barely stuck our heads out of the window because we were scared of COVID to being in Sweden where we did pretty much normal things.”

For Hart, of Naples, the COVID shutdown came at the perfect time: He had just had surgery on his thumb.

“I couldn’t practice or play,” Hart said. “My son’s a golfer, he’s a freshman on the golf team at the University of Florida. So I was out with him messing around all the time, which at least got me out of the house and got me out of my wife’s hair.”

Hart’s family did have some COVID close calls. His son’s roommate at Florida had COVID, but he did not contract it. Neither did his daughter, whose roommate at the University of Tampa got the virus.

“We’ve done well,” he said. “Everyone’s been pretty smart about it. Not paranoid. I feel like there’s a big difference between that. I don’t stress about getting it, but I’m going to try to do everything I can to be smart. If I go in somewhere, I’m going to put a mask on and wash my hands.

“I still try to live my life as normal as I can and I’m not locking myself in my house in fear, which isn’t safe for your sanity.”

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John Daly’s favorite things are causing his cancer: ‘Alcohol. Beef. Milk. Diet drinks.’

Doctors told Daly what adjustments he would have to make with his life — it was almost like they told him to stop being John Daly.

BOCA RATON, Florida – You never know where you’re going to see John Daly these days.

He was at last week’s presidential debate in Nashville as a guest of Donald Trump.

There is a YouTube video of Daly making a hole-in-one – barefoot, no less – in a charity tournament in Virginia earlier this month.

And six weeks ago, the 54-year-old Daly announced he had been diagnosed with bladder cancer.

Daly’s life remains as unpredictable as a soap opera, material he can use in one of his country songs.

This week, you will see Daly on a golf course, playing in the TimberTech Championship at Broken Sound Club. Even during a global pandemic, Daly makes more news in a summer than most athletes do in their lifetime, which helps explain why he remains one of the game’s most popular players.

But Daly’s popularity won’t help him on The Old Course – fans aren’t allowed this week because of COVID-19 concerns. Nobody will be screaming when he grips it and rips it.

“It’s been weird,” Daly said this week. “I miss ‘em, I miss ‘em dearly. I thrive on them. Whether you are playing good or bad, they try to pump you up.”

John Daly was in his usual sartorial splendor at The Old Course at Broken Sound on Wednesday as he prepared for the TimberTech Challenge. Photo by Scott Halleran.

At least Daly has someone he can croon with in the locker room. Colt Ford, a former pro golfer turned country music star, was given an exemption into the TimberTech Championship. Daly said he and Ford recently finished a video entitled “Red, White and Boozed.”

You don’t have to make this stuff up with Daly.

He’s been entertaining us since the 1991 PGA Championship, when as the ninth alternate he won by hitting the ball miles past everyone else. Kind of like what Bryson DeChambeau is doing these days.

Daly went on to win the 2005 British Open and three other PGA Tour titles while earning more than $10 million. But he is known more for his affinity for gambling and drinking, as well as his sartorial choices.

Daly won an interesting wager when buddy Fuzzy Zoeller bet Daly $150,000 he wouldn’t make it to his 50th birthday. The recent cancer diagnosis is a reminder that nobody lives forever.

Daly said the news hit him hard, and his first chemotherapy treatment hit him harder.

“The only positive is this cancer is treatable, but I’m probably looking at chemo for the next five to seven years,” Daly said. “The first chemo kicked my butt. I’m just praying maybe they got it.”

It didn’t get any easier when doctors told Daly what adjustments he would have to make with his life. It was almost like they told him to stop being John Daly.

“Everything I love to eat and drink causes the stones that causes the cancer,” Daly said. “Alcohol. Beef. Milk. Diet drinks. I’ve tried to cut back on the smokes. Thank God I don’t like energy drinks because they’re the worst.”

His four seasons on the PGA Tour Champions haven’t gone as well as he envisioned. In 77 starts, he has a victory and 10 top-10 finishes while earning $1.7 million. This year, he ranks 58th in the Charles Schwab Cup money list with a top 10 in 11 starts.

Daly won his second major on The Old Course in Scotland, but odds are he won’t duplicate that feat at The Old Course in Boca Raton. In three starts here, he has finished 73rd, 39th and withdrew in 2017 when he was struggling in the final round.

“It’s not a course that favors me because I can’t hit driver a lot,” Daly said.

Yet if fans were allowed this week, no doubt they would be flocking to Daly. Asked to explain his popularity, he knows it goes beyond his golf game.

“My swing is a little longer than most,” he said. “I’ve never lied to my fans. When I screw up, I take the blame. I’ve always been honest with them. You have to be if you want to keep your fans.”

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Colt Ford takes another crack at the PGA Tour Champions — this time at TimberTech Championship

He finished dead last in his previous Champions start. Can Colt Ford get out of the basement in Florida?

Among the 81 professional golfers in this week’s TimberTech Championship is a guy who can whip out a guitar and croon some awesome country ballads.

We’re not talking about John Daly, either.

Colt Ford can outperform Daly on a stage as much as Daly can outdrive Ford on the golf course. Ford, who in his previous life was a professional golfer named Jason Brown, played briefly on the now-named Korn Ferry Tour and other mini-tours in the 1990s and taught golf before turning his interest to country music.

Ford was given a sponsor exemption into this week’s PGA Tour Champions event at Broken Sound Club. Not only will Ford be playing in both pro-ams, he will be matching scorecards with the likes of Hall of Famers Bernhard Langer and Ernie Els – and Daly – in the 54-hole tournament that runs Friday through Sunday.

Ford also received a sponsor exemption into last month’s Sanford International in South Dakota – both tournaments are run by Pro Links Sports — where he broke 80 all three rounds but finished last in the field by a shot.

“I’m super excited to get another start out here,” Ford said Monday before getting a lesson from PGA Professional Mike Malizia at Banyan Creek Golf Club in Palm City.

“I did it (played professional golf) for a long time in the past, but that was a long time ago. While I have been playing music, those guys have been playing golf every day.”

The 51-year-old Ford has done well with his career mulligan. He has sold 3 million albums and co-wrote one of the biggest-selling country music songs of all time, “Dirt Road Anthem.”

He knows the difference between making birdies and hit songs is like night and day.

“In golf, it’s time to get up when most musicians are going to bed,” Ford said, smiling. “Guys are getting up to hit balls when the party is just winding down.”

You could write a country song on Ford’s life. He played college golf at Georgia and turned professional afterward. Known as “JB,” he won a couple of mini-tour events, but after getting married and having a child, he knew he needed more financial security.

Actor Andy Garcia celebrates his chip with Colt Ford to give his team the win on the 18th hole during the 3M Celebrity Challenge at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on February 06, 2019 in Pebble Beach, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

Ford turned back to his second love – music – and reinvented his image. He knew Jason Brown wasn’t going to move the needle, so his wife suggested Colt … Ford?

“I thought, ‘perfect,’ ” Ford said. “What sounds more American than that?”

Malizia has known Brown, er, Ford, since they were playing junior golf together at 12. Malizia said Ford was always a good ball-striker who also could sing.

“He was always performing and rapping,” Malizia said. “He was good, but a lot of people weren’t into country music back then. Once country music became mainstream, his career took off.”

Ford shot rounds of 74-78-72 at the Sanford International, finishing just a shot behind Gary Nicklaus. Ford failed to accomplish his overall goal of not finishing last, but he beat several players in the first and third rounds.

“I was really nervous, and it didn’t help it was 52 degrees and raining,” Ford said. “I learned my good is just as good as their good. But my bad is not as good as their bad.”

Ford plays in celebrity events such as the Pebble Beach Pro-Am, the Diamond Resorts International and the American Century Championship. He once won $100,000 for the St. Jude Children’s Hospital in a closest-to-the-pin contest at Pebble Beach.

Ford realizes he needs to work on the mental side if he wants to play well in his second try at competing. “I just have to make better decisions,” he says. “You don’t aim at every pin out here. Just because you can hit a shot doesn’t mean you should hit a shot.”

Malizia got a call from Ford three years ago to start working with the entertainer’s game. Malizia said he wants Ford to act more like a singer on the golf course.

“When he’s performing on stage, he’s not thinking about what he’s doing,” Malizia said. “He’s focusing and reacting to the crowd. That’s what he needs to do in golf. Get out of the left (analytical) side of the brain and just compete.”

Ford would rather be performing with a mic in his hand than a golf club, but the coronavirus pandemic has all but shut down the music industry (there will be no spectators this week on The Old Course). Ford said he normally plays 130-plus shows a year, but managed just 40 this year.

“I’ve done more shows than anyone, but it’s not enough,” he said. “My band and my crew, my bus driver, this is not a hobby. This is what we do for a living. Playing golf has helped with my mental state of mind. I don’t take it lightly getting a chance to play with these guys.”

Ford said some of his old golfing friends such as Chris DiMarco and Jim Furyk might call him “JB” this week, but they probably won’t get much of a response. He’s not being a big shot.

“I’m just not in that frame of mind,” he said. “Besides, Colt Ford sounds a lot cooler than Jason Brown.”

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Could Phil Mickelson-Jim Furyk become a Champions rivalry? The stats say so.

The two have come out of the gates with birdies blazing since starting on the PGA Tour Champions.

It took 21 years for a second PGA Tour Champions player to win his first two starts since Bruce Fleisher accomplished it for the first time in 1999. That was Jim Furyk last month when he won the Pure Insurance Open at Pebble Beach, after winning the Ally Challenge in Grand Blanc, Michigan, on Aug. 1.

Phil Mickelson became the third less than a month later.

Furyk and Mickelson have dominated the PGA Tour Champions since both became eligible by turning 50 in June. Mickelson made it 2-for-2 in his starts by winning last week’s Dominion Energy Classic at the Country Club of Virginia. He took the lead from fellow left-hander Mike Weir on the back nine, and built on it with two-putt birdies at a short par-4 (he drove the green) and a par-5 on back-to-back holes.

Furyk tied for 13th, two weeks after he tied for ninth at the SAS Championship, ending his bid for three victories in a row. However, he’s ninth on the money list, less than $25,000 behind Mickelson.

While Furyk said he still plans to play occasionally on the PGA Tour, the former FedEx Cup Champion said the Champions Tour is calling his name a little louder these days.

“I think this is going to be my home and just excited to play some golf,” Furyk said. “It was fun to compete, get in contention for two weeks. I’d definitely like to get that feeling again.”

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The two have come out of the gates with birdies blazing. Mickelson, who is in the PGA Tour field this week at the Zozo Championship, has a scoring average of 65.0, is a cumulative 39-under par and has yet to post a score in the 70s on the Champions Tour. He is averaging 7.5 birdies per round.

“It’s fun for me to come out here and play well and this is a good start for me as I try to build a little bit of momentum heading to Augusta in about a month,” Mickelson said after his second victory. “I put a new driver into play this week, trying to get a little more pop, a little more carry. It was a little wayward at times, but it was also effective in allowing me to play this course the way I wanted to, which was aggressively.

“So there were some good things that came of it, and I also identified some areas I’ve got to work on. All in all, it was a really fun, successful week.”

Stat lines are different, but both successful

Furyk is averaging 68.5, with eight of 12 rounds in the 60s and is 42-under par.

But both are using different ways to win, as they have throughout their careers. Mickelson is averaging 311 yards per measured drive, and has hit 79 percent of his greens. Furyk is averaging 282 yards per drive, but hitting 78 percent of his fairways and 81 percent of his greens.

Mickelson also continued a recent trend of marquee winners on the Champions Tour. After players such as Doug Barron, Shane Bertsch, Brandt Jobe and Wes Short Jr., won in the late summer following Furyk’s first victory, the last five winners have been Mickelson, Ernie Els, Steve Stricker, Furyk and Miguel Angel Jimenez.

Rivals since college

Mickelson played at Arizona State from 1988-91, while Furyk played 110 miles to the south at the University of Arizona from 1989-92. Mickelson won 16 college tournaments and while Furyk didn’t win any, he was a key member of the Wildcats’ 1992 national championship. Meanwhile, Mickelson won three individual NCAA championships.

In 1990, both golfers were in the field for the PGA Tour’s Northern Telecom Tucson Open, Mickelson on a sponsor exemption, Furyk as a Monday qualifier.

Big money

Mickelson and Furyk’s PGA Tour success is obvious when you look at the all-time money list: Mickelson is second and Furyk is third, behind only Tiger Woods.

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Phil Mickelson earns PGA Tour Champions win No. 2 in his second start

Phil Mickelson becomes just the third player to win his first two starts on the PGA Tour Champions.

It was a Sunday southpaw skirmish in the final round of the Dominion Energy Charity Classic and the man they call Lefty emerged victorious.

Playing in his second PGA Tour Champions event after winning his debut back in August, Mickelson outdueled fellow Masters champion Mike Weir at Country Club of Virginia’s James River Course in Richmond, winning the 54-hole event at 17 under after an impressive 7-under 65 in the final round. All three rounds were played on the weekend due to excessive rain on Friday.

The 50-year-old senior circuit rookie entered Sunday play three strokes behind Weir and got off to a hot start, making birdie on four of his opening seven holes. He took a one-shot lead on the par-3 13th with a par after Weir made bogey and extended the lead to two with a birdie on No. 15. A tap-in birdie on No. 16 moved him to 16 under for the tournament and Lefty never looked back, ending his week with a birdie on No. 18.

Dominion Energy Charity Classic: Leaderboard

Mickelson joins Bruce Fleisher and Jim Furyk as the only players to win their first two starts on the senior tour. Furyk did so earlier this year.

Weir finished second at 14 under, followed by Paul Goydos in third at 13 under. Brandt Jobe and Berhand Langer finished T-4 at 12 under.

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Phil Mickelson trails only Mike Weir in second Champions start

A pair of lefties with green jackets lead at the Dominion Energy Charity Classic in Richmond, Virginia.

To keep his perfect resume on the PGA Tour Champions intact, Phil Mickelson will have to leapfrog another former Masters champ on Sunday and then hold off the rest of the field at the Dominion Energy Charity Classic in Richmond, Virginia.

Mickelson, who won his only other start on the senior circuit, notched seven birdies en route to a 66 during his second round on Saturday, good enough for the second spot on the leaderboard. Earlier in the day, Mickelson carded a 68 as Friday’s wet weather forced players into a Saturday marathon. A handful of players did not finish their second round on Saturday and will go off early Sunday.

While Mickelson played well, he didn’t play as well as 2003 Masters champ Mike Weir, who equaled Mickelson’s early round, but then fired a 63 in the afternoon to take a three-stroke lead into Sunday’s final round. Weir, who plays left-handed like Mickelson, stands at 13 under with 18 holes remaining.

Weir’s second round included nine birdies and no bogeys at the par-72 Country Club of Virginia.

Dominion Energy Charity Classic: Leaderboard

As for Mickelson, he said he’s trying to keep the pressure on, but his failure to hit fairways kept penalizing him.

“I’m trying, man. I’m trying to attack. I’m trying to hit drivers and get after this course, but … it’s hard to do from the rough. I let a few wayward shots get away from me,” Mickelson said. “Then when I hit a great drive like on 9 and all I’ve got to do is hit a solid 3-wood on the green and kind of flail it and didn’t make birdie, so I threw away a shot there. I’ve just got to be sharper.”

Weir wanted to get off to a hot start, knowing how much golf was to be played.

Mike Weir of Canada is all smiles on the eighth green during the second round of the Dominion Energy Charity Classic. (Photo by Tracy Wilcox/PGA TOUR via Getty Images)

“My mindset going into today knowing we had 36, I wanted to get in a nice rhythm for the day because there’s so many holes. If you get in a nice rhythm, you can kind of ride it and I did that, I got in a nice rhythm,” Weir said.

“I kind of stumbled a bit on my 18th hole the first round, but maybe that gave me a jump start to just, like, not be too bothered and just say, ‘Hey, I’m playing good and let’s just keep the pedal down. Nice to see some putts going in and hit a lot of great iron shots, too.”

As for having the lead heading into the final round, Weir couldn’t recall the last time that was the case.

“It’s been a long time. It would take me a while to come up with when the last time that was,” he said.

“It’s been a long time, so it feels good.”

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