Pablo Larrazábal won the European Tour’s season-opening Alfred Dunhill Championship after making three birdies on his last four holes.
MALELANE, South Africa – Pablo Larrazábal won the European Tour’s season-opening Alfred Dunhill Championship on Sunday after losing a three-shot overnight lead and then making three birdies on his last four holes for a dramatic one-stroke victory.
Larrazábal birdied the par-5 18th as the Spaniard finished 8 under overall and just ahead of Sweden’s Joel Sjoholm.
Larrazábal said he struggled with blisters on his feet and closed with a 75 after six bogeys and a double bogey but his rousing finale enabled him to clinch a fifth European Tour title and first in four years.
Sjoholm’s final-round 69 almost saw him through to victory. Charl Schwartzel (70) finished tied for third at 6 under on his return to tournament action for the first time in eight months because of a wrist injury.
Dustin Johnson will take another week to recover from knee surgery earlier in the fall, but still plans to play the Presidents Cup.
Dustin Johnson’s recovery time has just grown by a week. The world No. 4 has not teed it up since the Tour Championship in August, and on Saturday announced that he won’t play the Hero World Challenge, either. Johnsonhad arthroscopic surgery in September to repair cartilage damage in his left knee.
Johnson made the announcement on Twitter. He specifically addressed the Presidents Cup, to be played the week after the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas. He automatically qualified for the U.S. team, and still intends to play despite his lack of competitive reps leading up to the matches in Australia.
“After a lot of careful thought and consultation, I have decided that it is in my best interest if I withdraw from next week’s Hero World Challenge,” he wrote. “While my recovery from knee surgery is complete, I feel another week of physical therapy and practice will best prepare me for the Presidents Cup. I have informed Captain Woods of my decision, which he fully supports and understands, and cannot wait to tee it up with him and my teammates next week in Australia.”
Chez Reavie will replace Johnson in the limited-field Hero event. It will be Reavie’s debut in that field.
During a PGA Tour radio interview in late September, Johnson said his rehab was progressing well and that he expected to be ready by the time the Hero rolled around.
In his last eight PGA Tour starts, Johnson has failed to produce a top-10 finish. It’s the longest such drought since his rookie year in 2008.
In a statement announcing Reavie’s entry in the field, Woods also addressed Johnson withdrawal.
“I wish Dustin the best and I know he’s disappointed not to be playing at Albany.”
When your dad is a PGA Tour player, it seems more natural to tee up drivers in the yard than toss a baseball back and forth.
When your dad is a PGA Tour player, it seems more natural to tee up drivers in the yard than toss a baseball back and forth. This is the case for Dustin Johnson and son River.
A video of River swinging his driver in what appears to be someone’s front yard went up on his mom Paulina Gretzky’s Instagram page this week. “Watch out PGA Tour 2035,” Gretzky wrote as a caption.
River displays a strong move for a 2-year-old, including a tight shoulder turn. He’s already putting a right-to-left flight on the golf ball.
That River’s fundamentals are solid really isn’t all that surprising when you consider that his dad has won 20 PGA Tour titles and his grandfather is hockey legend Wayne Gretzky. He comes by his athleticism honestly.
River’s dad, who is currently No. 4 in the world, hasn’t played on the PGA Tour since August, when he was T-29 at the Tour Championship. Johnson, who had arthroscopic surgery in September to repair cartilage damage in his left knee, is expected to play the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas next week, then head to Australia as part of the U.S. Presidents Cup team.
In honor of 17-year-old Alec Cabacungan, Kevin Na will donate $50,000 to Shriners Hospitals Brittle Bone Program.
Kevin Na’s victory at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open was nearly two months ago, but the win is still making waves.
On Instagram Tuesday, Na posted about his admiration for Alec Cabacungan who has osteogenesis imperfecta, also known as brittle bone disease. The 17-year-old found a special place in Na’s heart after the two met in October at the Shriners Open.
Cabacungan, who has been treated at Chicago’s Shriners Hospital since 2002, dreams of becoming a sports anchor and had the opportunity to interview Na at TPC Summerlin during the 2019 Shriners Open. In Na’s video posted on Instagram Tuesday, the two spoke about Na winning the Shriners Open in 2011 and Na gave Cabacungan a T-shirt with his signature “walking it in” move on the front.
Along with the post, Na announced he and his family will donate $50,000 of his winnings to the Shriners Hospitals Brittle Bone Program and thanked Cabacungan for being an inspiration.
“My family and I have decided to donate $50,000 that I received from @RSM for making the most birdies during my victory (at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open) to the (Shriners Hospitals) Brittle Bone Program to help kids who have osteogenesis imperfecta,” Na wrote on Instagram. “Alec, thanks for getting me ready for the tournament! @aleccco, you’re a star and and an inspiration to so many!”
According to the Chicago Tribune, Cabacungan has broken more than 60 bones during his lifetime and had more than a dozen surgeries, but has remained optimistic and focused throughout it all.
If you’re hungry to watch golf on Thanksgiving, you can tune into “2019 U.S. Open: Woodland Peaks at Pebble Beach” from Fox Sport Films.
Already counting down the days to next year’s majors?
Yes, the Masters is 134 days away. But if you’re hungry to watch some golf on Thanksgiving, you can tune into “2019 U.S. Open: Woodland Peaks at Pebble Beach” from Fox Sport Films in association with the USGA. It premieres Thursday, Nov. 28, at 4 p.m. ET immediately following the Bears-Lions game on Fox.
Narrated by actor Andy Garcia, the film follows Woodland’s run to his first major championship with exclusive footage of Woodland, his wife Gabby and their children.
It’s been a monumental year for Gary and Gabby, who welcomed twin girls into the world this summer. And the year isn’t over yet for Woodland, who will make his Presidents Cup debut in a couple weeks in Melbourne. He was one of Tiger Woods’ captain’s picks after finishing fifth at the Zozo Championship in Japan.
The Woodland film also features interviews with Justin Rose, the 2013 U.S. Open champion who entered the final round just one shot off Woodland’s lead, along with interviews from Curtis Strange, Shane Bacon, Brad Faxon and John Feinstein.
After its Thanksgiving debut, the film will re-air on FS1 eight times throughout December.
Paul Brown began volunteering for the Greensboro PGA Tour event in 1999 and has worked to make the Wyndham better every year.
Paul Brown, Volunteer.
That’s the email signature of Greensboro, North Carolina resident Paul Brown and it couldn’t be more accurate.
In 2017, Brown was named the Wyndham Championship Volunteer of the Year after 17 years volunteering for the annual PGA Tour stop in Greensboro. Two years later on Nov. 21, Brown was further honored for his incomparable dedication when he was named PGA Tour Volunteer of the Year.
It’s not surprising Brown earned both honors considering how he goes above and beyond his duties as a hole captain at the August event, but it is surprising it’s taken so long.
Brown began volunteering for the event when he moved to Greensboro in 1999 and answered an ad in the local newspaper to become a course marshal for the Greater Greensboro Chrysler Classic at Forest Oaks Country Club. He began as a spotter on the par-4 16th, a job he held for several years as the event transitioned to the Chrysler Classic of Greensboro. When Wyndham took over in 2007 and moved to Sedgefield Country Club in 2008, Brown’s presence as a volunteer grew more prominent.
He now captains the par-3 16th and has done the job well for 11 years, but Brown doesn’t take pride in the recognition he’s received. Rather, he attributes the honors to excellent teamwork.
“Of course when you’re (honored with) something like this you have to realize all of the people behind it, all the volunteers,” Brown said. “I handle about 40 volunteers who work hole 16 every year at the tournament and of course their efforts go toward making the tournament better than ever … It’s kind of a group award more than anything, that’s the way I feel about it.”
Paul and Charlotte Brown of Greensboro, North Carolina (Paul and Charlotte Brown)
But Brown shouldn’t sell himself short. It’s his communication skills and dedication that go above and beyond the call of the average volunteer hole captain. During the tournament, he begins recruiting spectators. The lure of being inside the ropes draws fans to ask questions to which Brown readily has answers. Outside of tournament week, Brown frequently communicates with new and returning volunteers over email, reminding them of registration and important dates.
But he doesn’t just help keep volunteers informed, he wants to make the event better. Brown creates a survey for his volunteers after the tournament, although he’s not sure if any other hole captains do it. He reads every single response before passing them along to the Wyndham Championship.
“That way everyone that works for me gets a shot at the tournament directors and everybody, and they say good things and bad things about the tournament. And of course the Wyndham people review that and there are some good points,” Brown said. “You know you get good things (from) the people in the trenches.”
While he’s an expert at watching golf, Brown doesn’t play anymore. He played since he lived in Fridley, Minnesota, after graduating from the University of Minnesota in 1956, but he and his wife Charlotte retired from the game about two years ago.
Something surprising to learn about Paul after hearing about the time and energy he dedicates to the tournament is that he’s turning 85 in January.
Charlotte, 79, volunteered at the Wyndham Championship with Paul for five or six years and still wishes she could, but due to high blood pressure, she can’t be out in the sun during long, hot days of the tournament. She now helps Paul with record keeping and communicating with volunteers.
“I feel like I’m still a part of it although I don’t have the communication (and involvement) I used to have,” Charlotte said.
While the August heat of North Carolina, clamor of course evacuations that go along with summer storms and long days can be difficult for any volunteer, Paul hasn’t slowed down. His youthful vigor reflected in his voice carries him through.
“It’s not like many (volunteers) can take the entire week,” Wyndham Tournament director Mark Brazil said. “Paul’s in there at 6:30 in the morning, he doesn’t leave until 7 at night and those are full-time staff type hours and he’s doing that as a volunteer. Most of your volunteers, and we’re happy to have all of our volunteers … they can take one day. But he’s the kind of guy that takes the whole week.”
During the tournament, Paul works 12-hour days and in the offseason dedicates countless hours to his hole captain duties. If that’s not enough, Paul also volunteers at junior and college golf events held around Greensboro, including a two-week junior camp at Pinehurst. He serves at the aquatics center at the Greensboro Sports Foundation helping with YMCA events, ACC men’s and women’s aquatic events, Olympic tryouts and ACC basketball championships at the Coliseum. He volunteers even more at the Greensboro Convention and Visitors Bureau helping with races, NCAA events and track competitions.
If all that’s still not enough, Paul has also found paying gigs as part of the statistical crew for the Charlotte Hornets’ NBA G-League affiliate, the Greensboro Swarm, and as a coordinator and rover for Guilford County Board of Elections, proving guidance at precincts on election days.
Paul and Charlotte Brown of Greensboro, North Carolina (Paul and Charlotte Brown)
Paul said he’s able to keep up with all his volunteer responsibilities because he served as an official for hockey, football, baseball, basketball and softball during his career. He’s convinced those five sports have kept him young.
After graduating from Minnesota, Paul also served as the Parks and Recreation director in Fridley until 1975. He then moved to Oklahoma City to take a job with the Amateur Softball Association as umpire, director and youth director and lived there for 27 years before he and Charlotte moved to Greensboro.
Additionally, Paul attributes a healthy lifestyle to his longevity. He goes to the doctor and dentist regularly, gives blood twice a year and doesn’t drink or smoke.
“I have legs of a 20-year-old man holding me up so I’ve been very lucky with that,” Paul said.
The only place his age really shows in his depth of experience.
“If we were ever to have a Mr. Volunteer in Greensboro and around the region, he’d certainly be one of them,” Brazil said.
First and foremost, Eamon Lynch is giving thanks for Tiger Woods for his win at the Masters and all that it means for the game.
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There was a lot to be grateful for in golf in 2019, and now is the time of year that we get to give thanks for it.
First and foremost, Eamon Lynch is giving thanks for Tiger Woods for his win at the Masters and all that it means for the game. There’s also Brooks Koepka and Rory McIlroy, who have given golf fans the first taste of a legitimate PGA Tour rivalry in more than two decades.
Lynch’s list spans the villains of golf, the up-and-comers of golf and even the turkeys of golf.
There is indeed a lot to be thankful for this year.
Watch the video at the top of the page to see the latest edition of Eamon’s Corner.
Sergio Garcia will get a chance to redeem himself for bad behavior next year when he returns to the Saudi International.
Sergio Garcia will get a chance to redeem himself for bad behavior next year when he returns to the Saudi International. Garcia’s last appearance in the European Tour event in Saudi Arabia ended in disqualification after he willfully damaged greens and slashed around in a bunker during the tournament.
When Garcia played the inaugural Saudi International in February 2019, he received an appearance fee reportedly in the neighborhood of $650,000. The Telegraph reported that he was not asked to return any of it despite the disqualification, which came at the end of the third round when other players complained about the damage he had caused to putting surfaces.
Here’s the catch, though: His next appearance does not come with any fee.
“It is understood this was one of the conditions placed on the 2017 Masters champion by the European Tour as it spared him a suspension,” according to the Telegraph report.
The tournament will once again overlap the PGA Tour’s Waste Management Phoenix Open in 2020. Dustin Johnson won the inaugural event and will return to defend.
ESPN also reported that in addition to Garcia adding his name to the 2020 field, Patrick Reed, Henrik Stenson, Shane Lowry and Brooks Koepka will also play.
Garcia played 16 events on the European Tour in the 2019 season and won once, at the KLM Open.
His most recent headlines have been positive. Garcia and his wife Angela announced earlier this month that they are expecting their second child, a boy.
A day after Tyler Duncan won the RSM Classic, the first-time PGA Tour winner spoke with Golfweek’s David Dusek about his golf equipment.
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A day after Tyler Duncan won the RSM Classic, the first-time PGA Tour winner spoke with Golfweek’s David Dusek about his golf equipment and the changes he made this season.
David Dusek: From an equipment standpoint, you made a few changes to your bag in 2019. Would you consider yourself someone who is open to changing things up or do you prefer to stick with what you know?
Tyler Duncan: It was a bit of a coincidence. It wasn’t really planned, it just kind of happened that way. After last season I was almost planning on going with no contract and just playing what I wanted, and then I tested the Titleist driver and that was the selling point for me. I have always played the Titleist ball, and I was not willing to give that up. I tested the driver and it was awesome. It fit me perfectly, so we were off from there.
DD: Midway through the season you changed into a TS3 fairway wood that is listed at 13.5 degrees. There are lots of pros who use only one fairway wood, but typically it’s around 16.5 degrees. Have you always carried only one fairway wood, and had it been so strongly lofted?
TD: It probably has a little more loft on it than that, but I’ve always been trying to use one that fits the numbers that I’m looking for. I can hit roughly 255 yards in the air with that club. That’s really the gap that I’m looking for, but into a par 5, the way that it’s set up, I can launch into a green with a high cut with some spin or a hard draw with no spin. It’s just very versatile.
DD: You also carry a U500 2-iron. Is that club course specific? Also, there’s a big gap between a strong 3-wood to a 2-iron to your 4-iron. There must have been a lot of tinkering to make that setup work.
TD: Yup. The 2-iron is bent to 19 degrees, so it’s a degree weaker, and the 4-iron is a degree stronger. That’s narrowed those gaps on either side just a little bit. I switched to the U500 just before the Korn Ferry Finals. It has a little less offset, and I was able to launch it a little bit higher but hit it just a bit farther without too much spin.
DD: So you are going to be able to stop that shot.
TD: Exactly.
DD: Have you always played a graphite shaft in your driving iron?
TD: Yes, I’ve always played graphite in the driving iron because it allows me to launch it with the spin that I want and also get more distance out of it when I need to.
DD: So if your 3-wood goes about 255, what are the stock yardages for your driving iron and your next iron, the 4-iron.
TD: 230 and 210, basically.
DD: To a recreational player, those gaps may sound pretty big, but you know them. If you need more or less, you can hit a cut or turn a shot from right to left with a draw. Have you played this setup for a while?
TD: Yes, I used to play a 3-iron, but this is now my third season playing four wedges. I felt that adding that extra wedge was going to be a better help than a 3-iron. Most of the time you are not going to make many birdies with a 2-, 3- or 4-iron, but you can make a lot of birdies with your wedges. Being able to narrow those gaps and get my numbers dialed in with the wedges, I felt, was much more important than five or so yards at the other end of the bag.
DD: I noticed that you, along with a lot of other Titleist players, added some SM8 wedges to your bag last week. Did you work with Aaron Dill (Titleist’s PGA Tour rep for wedges) or Bob Vokey to make that transition, and what did you like about the new sand wedge and lob wedge?
TD: I worked with both of them. When Bob’s around he’s always a great person to talk to. I see Aaron almost every week. He comes and checks in to make sure that we have everything that we need. The SM8s are awesome; they went straight in the bag. That speaks for itself, but for me they were launching the ball a little lower, which is something that I have been working on. But I was able to keep the spin up, or higher, which was really helpful.
DD: Finally, I know that you play a Pro V1. Have you always been a V player, or did you switch over from the Pro V1x at some point?
TD: I played the Pro V1x until 2015, and that’s when I switched over to the Pro V1. I noticed that the Pro V1, especially with the irons, was allowing me to launch it a little bit lower and spin it a little bit less. I’m a pretty high-spin player, especially with the irons, so being able to launch it lower and with less spin was something that I needed.
Brendon Todd’s tank hit empty as he lost the lead and stumbled to a 2-over 72 and fourth-place finish at the RSM Classic.
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ST. SIMON’S ISLAND, Ga. – Brendon Todd’s glorious run on the PGA Tour stalled on Sunday when the 54-hole-leader of the RSM Classic ran out of gas in his attempt to win his third straight start on the PGA Tour.
“I was definitely tired on the back nine, and with no momentum going, no birdies through 14 holes, it just seemed like I couldn’t summon the energy to make some birdies,” said Todd, who shot 2-over 72 to finish fourth.
Back-to-back victories at the Bermuda Championship and Mayakoba Golf Classic lifted Todd into the conversation for a Presidents Cup captain’s pick as he attempted to become the first player to win in three consecutive weeks on the Tour schedule since Tiger Woods in 2006, and the first to win three consecutive starts since Dustin Johnson in 2017.
“Coming into the weekend I figured that he was going to be someone that was going to make a run for it, the golf that he’s been playing,” said Tyler Duncan, who won in a sudden-death playoff. “We were talking about if anyone had won three consecutive golf tournaments in a row and he’s found something and he’s been playing some unbelievable golf.”
If Todd’s brilliant third round 8-under 62 at Sea Island Resort’s Seaside Course on Saturday was “like a video game out there,” as he put it, Sunday’s round was more like a pinball machine on tilt.
“I didn’t feel I was in the zone,” Todd said. “I was in this just like adrenaline‑fueled zone the last three weeks and I couldn’t get there today. I think it just didn’t start out very good and I wasn’t able to kind of — once a bogey happens, then you’re just in this weird fight‑or‑flight mentality, so it kind of took all my positive energy away.”
Todd entered the final round with a two-stroke lead, but it evaporated quickly as Webb Simpson, who lost in a playoff, birdied two of the first three holes. Todd’s round took a turn for the worse at the fifth hole when he attempted to punch a 7-iron into the wind and blocked it right into a hazard. It was a 4-iron in 2015 that sailed 50 yards right of his target snd led to Todd’s struggles with the full-swing yips. But Todd said that fear of a reoccurrence wasn’t a factor in his miscue.
Of the stray shot that led to a double bogey, Todd said, “I felt like I made a pretty good swing. I was a little aggressive with my line, I was going pretty much right at it because I thought the wind was in off the right and I feel like the wind switched off the left. So the second it got moving right, it just moved hard right. Probably just a situation where Webb tied me up and I was trying to play aggressive and I just kind of got caught there on a wind switch.”
Todd did himself no favors in that his putter cooled off more than the weather, which dipped into the low 60s. Todd missed a series of makeable birdie and par putts – all to the right. Through his first 11 holes, he had made 22 feet of putts and ranked No. 70 of 76 in the field in Strokes Gained: Putting.
“One of those days,” Todd lamented. “The greens were fast again and the pins were tucked a little more and the wind was blowing harder. I think it was really just the wind. I mean, nobody in our group made a putt through 14 holes, not one really that I can think of. It was just a tough day on the greens for everybody.”
When Todd finally canned a 7-foot birdie putt, he raised his arms in mock celebration as if he’d just won the tournament. His final-round 2-over par 72 snapped a string of 12 consecutive rounds of 68 or better dating to the final round of the Houston Open.
What a difference a year makes for Todd. Flash back to last November and he had to shoot 61 to Monday Qualify into the RSM Classic. After contemplating a career change, he posted four rounds in the 60s in the tournament, and his T-54 here gave him the shot of confidence to continue his comeback. He said he would enjoy some time off and be raring to go at the winners-only Sentry Tournament of Champions at Kapalua Resort in Maui.
“Now I’m sort of flying high, my game’s really there, I’m confident and I know how to navigate the golf courses and my swing and my putting,” Todd said. “I’m looking forward to picking my schedule next year and going every week and trying to get under par and get in contention.”
