Tag: 2021 Charles Schwab Challenge

Watch: Sergio Garcia holes out from bunker for eagle as part of masterful run, ties for Schwab lead

Sergio Garcia had a spectacular stretch at the Charles Schwab Challenge, using an eagle on the 11th hole to finish with a 63.

FORT WORTH, Texas — If mirror shades bring good luck to one player enjoying success in middle-aged life, why wouldn’t they work for one who’s fast approaching it, right?

Sporting a pair of reflective sunglasses reminiscent of those often worn by 2021 PGA Championship victor Phil Mickelson, a bespectacled Sergio Garcia had a spectacular stretch during Thursday’s opening round of the Charles Schwab Challenge, using an eagle on the 11th hole to finish with a 63 and a spot atop the leaderboard with Jordan Spieth.

While the golf tournament at Colonial Country Club is celebrating its 75th anniversary, this year marked a milestone for Garcia as well — it’s been 20 years since he captured his first PGA Tour victory on this very course.

The part-time Texan, now 41 and a homeowner in nearby Austin, said he didn’t realize how long it had been since his initial win.

CHARLES SCHWAB CHALLENGE: Tee times, TV info | Leaderboard

“I mean, I obviously knew that I won here in 2001 because it was my first PGA Tour win. But no, I didn’t think that it was my 20-year anniversary,” he said on Thursday. “I didn’t even think about that, now that you mention it. But it’s nice. It’s nice to go through those milestones, I guess, and it just shows me how long I’ve been out here and how fortunate I’ve been to be consistent throughout my career, touch wood, but obviously quite healthy.

“All those things I’m very proud to be a part of. I’m just excited to keep it going.”

Garcia had birdies on Nos. 8, 9 and 10, but found the bunker with his second shot on the par-5 11th, leaving himself more than 60 feet to the pin. That didn’t faze the Spaniard, however, as he holed out from the sand to pull within a shot of Spieth, who was in the early wave.

Garcia later birdied No. 15 and nearly took the lead on the final hole of the day, but a 15-foot birdie putt lipped out.

“Great round. I’m not going to lie; conditions weren’t easy. Obviously, because of the rain, the course wasn’t too firm, even though it firmed up nicely between yesterday and today,” he said.

“But yeah, it was quite breezy. It was gusty, so it wasn’t easy to pull some of the clubs. There were some tough holes out there, but I was able to hit really good shots on those holes, and a couple up-and-downs when I needed them, so very happy with the way it went.”

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This two-time heart transplant recipient’s heartbeat surged Thursday on the PGA Tour, and why he’s OK with that

Erik Compton, a two-time heart-transplant recipient, is making just his third start on the PGA Tour since 2017.

There’s nothing quite like the thrill of playing on the PGA Tour for Erik Compton.

The 41-year-old two-time heart transplant recipient, who has spent most of his time competing on the Korn Ferry Tour the past five years, can tell the difference based on his heart rate alone.

“I looked at my watch, it was about 140, and when I play on the Korn Ferry Tour it’s about 107,” he said. “Maybe I need to jog around the block a little bit before the first round over there.”

This week his heart is where he feels really belongs. The 2014 U.S. Open runner-up is playing on a rare sponsor’s exemption at the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas, just his third PGA Tour start since 2016, and he’s making the most of the opportunity, opening with a bogey-free 5-under 65. Compton drained his longest birdie putt of the day at the first from 13 feet and then was locked in from inside 10 feet at Colonial Country Club. It didn’t hurt that he hit a bunch tight, including sticking it from 180 yards to 4 feet at 17.

“Yeah, it feels really good. I put in a lot of work on the putting,” he said. “I’ve been working with Phil Long with Axis One and grinding away and trying to get that right. I think that’s been the missing part of my game. I’m always a scrambler, so my chipping is good and if I can hit a few more fairways, I think I’ll have a good week.”

With streaks of gray in his beard, Compton celebrated his 29th anniversary for his combined transplants last week. He still has to pop a rotating assortment of more than 20 pills a day to keep his immune system in check, but it is the life he’s learned to live with for all these years.

“I’m a fighter, I’m a grinder. I put one foot in front of the other,” he said. “I’m just blessed to be alive really. Spent most of my life with somebody else’s hearts. It’s a challenge, but I do the best that I can.”

Erik Compton hits from the rough on the 18th hole during the first round of the 2021 Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)

What’s been tough to live with is the loss of his PGA Tour status. Most of his friends are still playing there and the purses on the Korn Ferry Tour are a fraction of what he used to play for until he lost his card after finishing 173rd in the FedEx Cup standings.

He appeared on the verge of returning to the Tour for the 2019-20 season. He was the leader heading into the final round at the Korn Ferry Tour’s 2019 Wichita Open. Weather delayed the start of the final round and he was told that the event was going to be reduced to 54 holes and to stand by for the trophy ceremony. He already had called his parents to tell them his first-place paycheck would secure his PGA Tour card.

Then, tournament organizers determined there was a window to play. He lost in a playoff and finished 39th on the KFT money list and was sentenced to another season in golf’s minor leagues, which was extended even further when the global pandemic froze player status for 2021. He has just two top-25 finishes in 25 starts on the 2020-21 wraparound season.

Compton’s inspirational story used to generate a plethora of sponsor invites, but those opportunities have dried up. So, he jumped at the chance to compete at the Charles Schwab Challenge this week and reconnect with old friends. His daughter, Petra, asked if he had seen Jordan Spieth, who was the only player to better Compton on Thursday morning with a 7-under 63.

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“I thought that I was her biggest fan, but apparently not,” Compton said.

Still, Compton fights on. It’s what he does, and three more rounds like the one he played on Thursday could go a long way to improving his chances of a return engagement to the PGA Tour.

“My dream is to be back here and playing full-time again, make another run,” he said. “Today was one step in the right direction, but I know it’s a long week and I have to get rest and be ready for tomorrow.”

Jordan Spieth steals Phil Mickelson’s thunder with opening-round 63 at Charles Schwab Challenge

Jordan Spieth seemed pretty determined to thrust his storyline back to the forefront.

FORT WORTH, Texas — Prior to last week’s PGA Championship, the feel-good comeback story of the year was Jordan Spieth, who had nearly fallen out of the top 100 in the world before rebounding with seven top-10 finishes in his last 10 starts.

Of course, Phil Mickelson cast that plotline aside at Kiawah Island, becoming the oldest player in history to capture a major tournament, snapping a two-year drought on the PGA Tour in the process.

As fate — or wise PGA Tour rules officials in the competitions department — would have it, the two were part of a featured pairing during Thursday’s opening round of the Charles Schwab Challenge, and Spieth seemed pretty determined to thrust his storyline back to the forefront.

On a windy day with considerably tougher rough than in previous years, Spieth finished with birdies on his final three holes of the day at Colonial Country Club, posting a 63 and claiming the top spot on the leaderboard after the early wave of players.

The highlight of the round — a perfect Spieth clip — came on his second-to-last hole of the day when the hometown hero chipped in from the fringe for birdie.

When the round was through, Spieth admitted he was thrilled to post a number that low.

“Yeah, it’s hard to go any lower. I made some putts, got started on the first hole today, that one goes in, and that’s what I talked about before the tournament,” Spieth said. “If I could get a couple to go in early in the first round and the confidence and the work I’ve been doing on my stroke the last few days, which is a somewhat significant change in a stroke feel, I thought that would exude just a little bit of confidence into the rest of the round on greens where I’ve been very successful on before.”

Meanwhile, Mickelson struggled out of the gate, posting a pair of bogeys on the first three holes, and limped home with a 3-over 73. Just days removed from his sixth major victory, he found tricky sailing and never seemed to get into a rhythm.

Phil Mickelson on the 14th tee during the first round of the Charles Schwab Challenge. Photo by Erich Schlegel-USA TODAY Sports

“It was almost like I was trying a little too hard, and I wasn’t just calm and let it happen, and I was a little bit antsy. What would be the word? Unsettled would be the word,” Mickelson said. “Like I just couldn’t quite get calmed down in that same frame of mind. Like I said, I’ll have more time tonight and tomorrow, get back in it, because my game has been really good.”

Spieth going low at Colonial isn’t out of the ordinary — Thursday marked the 10th time he finished with a score of 65 or better, needing just 23 putts on the day to catapult ahead of the early pack.

And while Spieth — who, when he was in grade school, followed Phil Mickelson at Colonial Country — was the day’s clear victor from a pairing that also included Daniel Berger (68), the Dallas native said he enjoyed again playing with one of his boyhood idols, especially after Mickelson’s monumental victory. He also said he didn’t see any complacency from the 50-year-old.

“It’s always fun playing with Phil. I very much enjoyed that. Just watching him but also talking with him,” Spieth said. “He was pretty much the same. He wanted to show as low as he could and he was grinding and he was upset when it wasn’t going well, and he was very similar. You wouldn’t have known.”

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Patrick Reed might be a villain on the PGA Tour, but with family ‘you’re their hero’

The chirping comes at Patrick Reed in waves. On social media. From PGA Tour galleries. From media outlets.

FORT WORTH, Texas — The chirping comes at Patrick Reed in waves. On social media. From PGA Tour galleries. From media outlets.

To be fair, much of it is merited. Reed has found himself in the throes of controversy on multiple occasions in recent years, from issues at the University of Georgia to highly-publicized incidents at the 2019 Hero World Challenge and even while on his way to victory at this year’s Farmers Insurance Open.

But when the nine-time PGA Tour winner gets back home with wife Justine and kiddos Windsor-Wells and Barrett, he insists he checks his dastardly persona at the door.

“The other side of Team Reed where we have Justine as the wife and the two little ones, puts perspective on just life in general. I’m fortunate enough to play a sport for a living and to travel the world, see the world but then at the same time, at the end of the day, I go out and play golf and always you can control is what you do on the golf course,” he said in advance of this week’s Charles Schwab Classic in Fort Worth.

“If you go home, it doesn’t matter if I shoot 63 or 73 or 83. When you walk in the door. … you’re their hero. Daddy’s home. They don’t care what happened on the golf course, they are just happy to have me back.”

Reed is nothing if not resilient. His best PGA Tour showings often follow his roughest outings. For example, during the current season, he’s missed three cuts and followed them with these finishes:

• Win at Farmers Insurance Open
• Top 25 finish at The Players Championship
• T-6 at Wells Fargo Championship

He insists his support system helps to keep him level-headed.

Patrick Reed reacts after a putt on the 15th green during the third round of the 2021 Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines. Photo by Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

“When you have that, that’s amazing because you’re able to kind of ride the highs but you’re able to keep those in check where they don’t get too high because if you get too amped, it’s very easy to get out of pattern,” he said.  “But at the same time, when things are not going your way, they are there to pick you up and kind of put a perspective on life that even though today was a bad day, you still have two little ones and a family to go back to that really aren’t focusing as much on golf and happy to see you.”

And while he has proven through his career that past performance is often an indicator of future success, Reed’s progression at Colonial Country Club suggests he’s ripe for a run at the title.

In his previous starts here Reed has finished 46th, 33rd, 15th and then seventh last year, when he used a third-round 63 to get near the top of the leaderboard.

“That’s the biggest thing out here: Everyone can hit the ball really well and everyone can make putts, but it’s who can mentally hang in there week-in, week-out and who can flip that switch and focus really hard when they are playing and also who can shut it down right afterwards so they can be ready to play each and every week,” Reed said. “I feel like that’s something we’ve been able to do really well and really dialing in the amount of work and the workload that we take on each week so we are fresh come tournament time.

“I’m a grinder. I love to work. I love to be out there grinding and if anything, if I err at all, I’m going to err on the overworking so come tournament time, you’re not fully fresh where you should be.”

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Phil Mickelson on why he never stopped believing he could win again: ‘No reason why we can’t be our best later on in life’

Phil Mickelson proved everyone wrong in winning the PGA Championship at age 50.

Relief pitcher Tug McGraw is credited with coining the phrase “Ya Gotta Believe,” which became the rallying cry of the 1973 New York Mets. Phil Mickelson may owe some royalties on that battle cry after his stunning victory at the 103rd PGA Championship at Kiawah Island, South Carolina.

Despite not having registered a top-10 finish in a major since 2016, or even a top-20 finish on the PGA Tour this season, Mickelson still believed that he could not only win again, but win another major.

“I had seen the progress but I had not seen the results,” he said ahead of this week’s Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas, “and so that’s why I say, I had a belief but until you actually do it, it’s tough to really fully believe it.”

Mickelson credited playing against stiff competition with keeping him motivated to raise his game to their level. Nearly a year ago, he played a series of rounds with Xander Schauffele at The Farms Golf Club in Rancho Santa Fe, California, and Mickelson got waxed by the current World No. 6, who shot rounds of 64 and 63.

“I’m like, ‘Wow, OK. Let me try one more time,’ ” Mickelson recalled. “So, we go out next time and he shoots 62 and on a 220-yard par 3, I had to press and hit one to 4 feet and he makes a hole-in-one. I went back and talked to Amy and I’m like, ‘I don’t know how I’m going to beat this guy. He’s probably playing the best of any player in the world right now.’ ”

At age 50, Mickelson worked harder than he ever had before, often playing as many as 45 holes a day and last month he posted scores in the low 60s at The Farms that convinced him he was on the verge of returning to the winner’s circle.

“Then I went to Innisbrook (for the Valspar Championship) and I missed the cut and I didn’t shoot the scores and I didn’t execute on Tour the way I had been at home,” he said. “I still had a barrier to break through and that’s why I was so frustrated is that I wasn’t bringing my best out when I knew I could, and I had a glimpse there obviously at Charlotte in one round but wasn’t able to sustain it.”

Mickelson stumbled from leading the Wells Fargo Championship after an opening 64 two weeks ago, finishing T-69, but his confidence didn’t waver, said his brother and caddie Tim Mickelson.

“Right after Charlotte, he said, ‘I am going to win again soon.’ I just said, ‘Well, let’s just make sure we’re in contention on a Sunday,’ ” Tim Mickelson said.

Mickelson’s longtime agent Steve Loy echoed that sentiment. “Every time I try to tell him, look, we are running out of time, he’s going, ‘I don’t want to hear it.’ ” On the morning of the final round, Loy sent a simple text message to Mickelson, who he caddied for 30 years ago when Mickelson won his first PGA Tour title as an amateur at Arizona State.

“I said, ‘Phil, I’m getting too old for this, but you aren’t. Let’s get it done.’ ” Loy recalled.

Mickelson flew home Sunday night after the victory and stayed up celebrating with his wife, Amy. He’s back in action this week at a tournament where he’s won two of his 45 PGA Tour titles.

“I want to try to carry that momentum into a tournament that I’ve enjoyed many times and fortunate to win a couple of times on a great golf course,” he said.

It will be Mickelson’s last start before the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, one of his childhood playgrounds, in San Diego, and he’ll take two weeks to prep for the one major that has eluded him all these years. Winning a sixth major championship has bolstered his belief that it isn’t too late for him to complete the career Grand Slam.

“One of two things are going to happen: Either that’s going to be my last win and I’m going to have one of the most cherished victories of my career to look back on and cherish for a long time, or I also may have kind of found a little something that helps me stay a little bit more present and helps me focus throughout round a little bit longer and maybe I can execute and play golf at the highest level for a nice extended period of time now,” Mickelson said. “I don’t know which one it’s going to be, but either way, they are both positive.”

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