Under Armour will commit more $1 million over the next eight years to the Jordan Spieth Family Foundation.
Jordan Spieth recently took home his 13th PGA Tour victory at the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head, South Carolina.
The win paid off in more ways than one.
Spieth currently has a 10-year deal with Under Armour and following his victory, their partnership has been extended for another four years through 2029. In addition to the extended contract, Under Armour has also committed to donating more than $1 million over the next eight years to the Spieth Family Foundation.
Spieth’s foundation focuses on special needs youth, junior golf, military support and pediatric cancer. His foundation has provided scholarships, grants and opened up golf programs that help break down socioeconomic barriers.
Jordan Spieth poses with the trophy with wife Annie Verret and son Sammy Spieth after winning the 2022 RBC Heritage in a playoff at Harbor Town Golf Links in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
“Under Armour took a chance on me,” Spieth told company founder Kevin Plank in 2020. “I was just leaving school, and I guess in other sports I would have been considered a high draft pick but at the same time I didn’t have PGA Tour status, which in golf means everything.”
Jordan Spieth made good on his word to take some time for the young fans at the RBC Heritage.
Jordan Spieth’s latest victory was a thrilling one, a playoff win over Patrick Cantlay at the2022 RBC Heritage in Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head, South Carolina. It’s the second year in a row that Spieth won a trophy on Easter Sunday.
That win also showed how classy the star golfer is, thanks to two videos posted on the PGA Tour’s Twitter feed.
After Spieth finished his round, he went out to a slew of young fans waiting for his autograph and told them he had to wait to see if he’d be involved in a playoff, so he promised he’d come back, whether he won the tournament or not.
The 28-year-old Texan claimed his 13th PGA Tour win – and first as a father – via a one-hole playoff at the 2022 RBC Heritage with Ryder Cup teammate Patrick Cantlay. Spieth shot a 5-under 66 thanks to a pair of eagles on his front nine at Harbour Town Golf Links during Sunday’s final round and earned the win with a clutch up-and-down from the bunker on the first playoff hole.
Spieth will take home $1.44 million for his efforts, with his playoff partner Cantlay earning $872,000. Check out how much money each PGA Tour player earned this week at the 2022 RBC Heritage.
Eleven players were within three shots of the lead down the stretch on Sunday, setting up for a thrilling finish along the South Carolina coast.
Jordan Spieth claimed the 2022 RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head after a one-hole playoff with Patrick Cantlay for the 13th win of his career.
Spieth was first in the clubhouse, posting a number at 13 under following an impressive Sunday 66 aided by two front-nine eagles. The 28-year-old Texan was one shot behind Lowry, who immediately made double bogey on the 14th to give up the lead to Spieth.
Just minutes later, Sepp Straka rammed in a putt for birdie on the 17th to briefly tie Spieth before falling back to 12 under with a bogey on the last. Cantlay made a birdie of his own on the par-3 17th to tie Spieth and then missed a 12-footer for the win on 18, forcing a playoff at 13 under.
This is Varner’s first outright 54-hole lead on the PGA Tour.
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – Harold Varner III counts many courses among his favorites on the PGA Tour.
Harbour Town Golf Links is not one of them.
“Every tee shot is super uncomfortable, especially when it’s windy, and I’ve hit it out of bounds everywhere here,” he said. “Last year, first hole, I hit it out of bounds. It’s just hard off the tee.
“Sometimes I feel like I’m always kind of guiding it out there, but if you can guide it out there for 72 holes, you can do some damage.”
Well, his inner GPS was working just fine as Varner did some serious damage Saturday in the third round of the RBC Heritage. With not a single blemish on his card, Varner shot 8-under 63 to take a one-shot lead; it’s his first outright 54-hole lead on the PGA Tour.
With rounds of 67-72-63, Varner sits at 11 under as he tries to win his first PGA Tour title; he won the Saudi International earlier this year and won the 2016 Australian PGA Championship. While he may be “super uncomfortable” at Harbour Town, his past two starts are not indicative of that. He tied for second last year and six of his last seven rounds around Harbour Town have been in the 60s.
It speaks to Varner’s growing skill on the golf course.
“That’s what the best players do, I think,” he said. “They play well everywhere, whether they like it or not.”
Varner is one clear of Shane Lowry (65), Erik van Rooyen (67), and overnight leader Patrick Cantlay (70). Hudson Swafford (66), Matt Kuchar (67), Sepp Straka (67), and Aaron Wise (68) are two back at 9 under.
The fear ahead of the round was that Cantlay, the reigning FedEx champion and winner of four events last year, would run away and hide. But his momentum was stalled with four bogeys. He regained some momentum with a final-hole birdie.
“It had some good, it had some not so good, but I’m in a really good spot for tomorrow,” Cantlay said. “I’m obviously right there. I think always finishing under par for the day is a little bit of a momentum builder. Glad not to stall out or go backwards.”
Lowry went forward – just not as much as he thought he should have.
“Without complaining too much, 65 is the worst score I could have shot,” Lowry said. “I hit the ball unbelievable today, and I didn’t really hole anything. That putt on the last (9 feet) is probably as long as I’ve holed all day.
“It was getting quite frustrating for a while, but I hit it in pretty close a couple of times and made a couple of nice birdies. It was really nice to birdie the last and get myself into double digits for the tournament.
“I would have taken 65 before I went out. Another Sunday in the position I want to be in, and I’m looking forward to it.”
Shane Lowry of Ireland plays his shot from the 18th tee during the third round of the RBC Heritage at Harbor Town Golf Links on April 16, 2022 in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
Everyone looked forward to play Saturday as light winds and softer conditions were on tap after the slugfest that was Friday’s second round when winds whipping off the nearby sea battered players and their scorecards.
With the course yielding and players in attack mode, the field average was 3.5 strokes better in the third round than in round two.
While Varner has won twice around the world, he remains driven and is still working as hard as he can to gain his first PGA Tour title. He’s proven he can win on other tours, now he wants to prove he can win on the best tour.
“The best thing that I can do is just run my course, like this is my journey,” said Varner, who is 31. “It’s just weird I’m getting old. When people say, oh, you’ve been out here this long and you haven’t won, I’m like, oh, really. So it surprises me sometimes, but I just think I’m getting closer every time.”
Fleetwood is still searching for his first win on the PGA Tour.
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – When Tommy Fleetwood won the 2019 Netbank Golf Challenge in South Africa, he rose to 10th in the official world rankings and was considered by one and all to be among the game’s best players.
He hasn’t won since.
But the affable Englishman, 31, has yet to pull his long hair out of his head due to frustration. It’s not his nature. Instead, he has plodded along through the difficult times, trying to dig his past form out of the dirt.
“Like everybody else in the sport, in any sport, you’re trying so hard and you have such high expectations of yourself and you’re not getting those results, it’s difficult, and it’s frustrating,” Fleetwood said. “It’s just what it is. You have to get up every week and keep working hard and keep practicing.
“I said it a few times over the last year, standard’s getting higher and higher. So if you’re not playing well, you’re slipping. The gap gets bigger effectively. So you just have to keep up and play your game and trying to find what’s right for you and keep doing it.”
His third round Saturday in the RBC Heritage was more like the Fleetwood of old. He didn’t make a bogey in his 7-under 64 and raced up the leaderboard into a tie for second when the leaders were through six holes. Harbour Town Golf Links was vulnerable, with little wind and a tad softer conditions, or as Fleetwood said, “scoring would be different by a mile,” compared to Friday’s windy day.
While Fleetwood said he didn’t play “particularity great,” he caught a few breaks and capitalized on them to get into contention not only to win for the first time since 2019 but to win his first PGA Tour title; he has five wins on the DP World Tour.
“I never felt comfortable in my swing. Like I haven’t played well this week. But today was the day where I had nothing destructive in there,” said Fleetwood, who is now ranked 43rd in the world. “If I missed a shot, it was like a skanky one that would be in place somewhere and then I had a chance to go from there. I putted really, really well.
“It was just that I literally made zero mistakes, and then a few good shots where then I capitalized on it. It feels like I should be able to do that all the time.
“Unfortunately, that’s not the case.”
But he’s feeling more optimistic about his future.
“This year I feel like I’m on a much better track,” he said. “I don’t feel like I’m trying to find it every week. I was never playing that well, and then I always was trying to find the secret. I was never ready to play. I was always working on something on the range, thinking I need to hit it better, I need to hit it better. By the time it came to play, I was never ready.
“This year I feel I’ve got a much better mix of practice getting better, being ready to play, and actually I’m performing better at a more consistent level.
Cantlay dropped a silky left-to-right 21-foot putt on 18 to post a 67 and take a two-stroke lead.
The wind-swept oceanfront views of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, often provide a backdrop that seems suitable for a Hollywood dream sequence. During the late portion of his second round at the RBC Heritage on Friday, World No. 6 Patrick Cantlay put that landscape to good use.
Cantlay made birdies on his final four holes, dropping a silky left-to-right 21-foot putt on 18 to post a 67 and take a two-stroke lead after the second round of the event.
After 36 holes, Cantlay sits at 9 under, two strokes ahead of Robert Streb and three ahead of a group that includes Joel Dahmen, Cameron Tringale, Erik van Rooyen, Aaron Wise, and first-round leader Cameron Young.
Cantlay, who has lagged ever-so-slightly in recent weeks after posting top-10 finishes in his first four events of the calendar year, was pleased to build momentum on a blustery day.
“Obviously, that’s a dream finish. I finally rolled in some putts, and that was really nice to see going into the weekend,” he said. “It was a tough day out there, and I figured any round under par or around even par would be a win for today. So finishing how I did puts me in a great spot for the weekend.”
Cantlay has plenty of work to do as the weather is expected to be an issue throughout the final two days of play. Winds that gusted in the 30-mph range might subside a bit, but the weekend forecast includes thunderstorms.
“I think we’ll get some more weather. It always tends to blow a little bit here,” Cantlay said. “I think just staying with my game plan and continue to leave the golf ball in the right spots, which is paramount around this place, I think is the key.”
While Cantlay had a stretch with four consecutive birdies, Dahmen nearly did the same, posting birdie four times in a five-hole stretch to briefly take the lead.
Joel Dahmen on the green during the second round of the RBC Heritage golf tournament. David Yeazell-USA TODAY Sports
Dahmen started on the back, but after making the turn made birdies on Nos. 1, 2, 4, and 5 to get a brief edge on the field.
The key to Dahmen’s round was his putter. On Friday, Dahmen holed over 117 feet of putts, or almost double the 65 feet he made in the first round.
He did give one back on the seventh hole but happily finished with a 67 on a day so windy he was forced to forego his signature bucket hat.
“When you get in the trees and the houses, actually you’ll feel completely different on the tee than where your ball’s at,” Dahmen said. “It’s really hard to actually just hit a golf shot when the wind is going one way and you’re standing the tee, and the ball is going to do something completely different up there. So that was really difficult for me.”
For Cantlay, who started strong at the Masters last week but fell back in the pack with a 79 in difficult conditions during the third round, the familiarity and framing at Harbour Town Golf Links is something he hopes to use to his advantage over the tournament’s final half.
Cantlay has a pair of third-place finishes at the event and has carded a number below 70 in eight of his dozen rounds at the tournament.
That could all set up for a dreamy finish.
“I think it frames up the shots you need to hit on each and every hole and you can’t just hit stock shots all day,” Cantlay said. “So I really like working the golf ball, flighting it in. Especially on days like today where you’re getting 20, 30 mile an hour crosswinds, you need to flight the ball down and really leave your ball in a good spot. If you do that around this golf course, you get rewarded.”
“I definitely wanted to prove to myself that I could do it again.”
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – Onward.
That’s Morgan Hoffmann’s mindset following his return to the PGA Tour this week in the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links. Playing for the first time in 923 days, Hoffmann, who was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy in 2017, likely missed the cut with rounds of 71-72 but proved to himself he belonged.
“I feel solid. Excited to play again,” he said after his round. “I don’t know when that will be. I’m excited about the progress. I definitely wanted to prove to myself that I could do it again. I know that I can and just need to sharpen up.
“My short game was pretty bad. I actually came into the week with my short game feeling solid. I don’t know, caught some weird lies and just didn’t really hit my spots. Putting had a lot of lips out there, and my irons can improve a lot out there.
“I knew I had a chance at least to make the cut, but it happens.”
Playing on a medical exemption, Hoffmann has two more starts to secure playing privlidges for the rest of the season. He is hoping to play in the Wells Fargo Championship in three weeks. The tournament has relocated from Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina, to TPC Potomac at Avenal Farm in Potomac, Maryland, as the Presidents Cup is being played at Quail Hollow in September.
“I really like that course,” he said. “I saw they did some changes. I want to play these three starts I have somewhat soon so I can continue playing the rest of the year and hopefully get my card for next year.
“If the Tour doesn’t have an opposite field event, I’d play probably a couple Korn Ferry events. Just depends on where my status is.”
Hoffmann, whose search for alternative treatments for his incurable disease took him around the world and led to his present home in the mountains and jungles of Costa Rica, will stay in Jupiter, Florida, while his home is being renovated.
He’ll continue to hone his game – especially his long game that he thinks he can cure with more repetitions – and look forward to raising more awareness that non-conventional treatments can help people in search of improving health. In 2017, Hoffmann and his wife, Chelsea, established the Morgan Hoffmann Foundation to help the fight against muscular dystrophy. The two’s goal is to build a wellness center in Costa Rica, tentatively called Nekawa, which is awaken backward.
“What surprised me the most (this week) was how pure this course was and just how pure PGA Tour events are and how awesome the camaraderie and welcoming back was,” he said. “The support was amazing. I felt very grateful.
“It was really special. I’m just happy to be back out.”
“When you’re on the golf course, it’s time to compete.”
The story of Morgan Hoffmann’s return to competitive golf dominated the early storyline at the RBC Heritage. In his first PGA Tour appearance in 2 ½ years, Hoffmann fired an even-par 71 on Harbour Town Golf Links, showing few ill effects of the Muscular Dystrophy he was diagnosed with five years ago.
But while his colleagues on the Tour were happy to see the former Oklahoma State star and former No. 1 amateur in the world back in action, once the first shot was played any tenderness was quick to wear off.
In fact, playing partner Harold Varner III, fresh off a top-25 finish in his Masters debut, shed light on the cutthroat mentality Tour players need to maintain. Varner was asked if he noticed any changes in Hoffmann’s swing since he’d last seen him play.
The answer was vintage and unedited HV3.
“I did not, but I’m not a very aware person, never have been. I’m out there to beat Morgan.” Varner said. “I don’t really care. … I get that he’s been through a lot, but everyone on this planet’s going to go through something, and that’s his battle. My battle may come down the road later.
“When you’re on the golf course, it’s time to compete. I want to win. I don’t know. That’s kind of messed up, but it is what it is.”
Varner, who fired a 67, also said he was glad to see Hoffmann and added that the former Walker Cupper still has game. When asked about Hoffmann lagging behind the group off the tee, Varner added that he’s not worried since Hoffmann — whose best finish on Tour was a T-2 at the Honda Classic in 2017 — used precision iron play to stay in the hunt.
“He hit his 5 iron close to where I hit my 8-iron, so I don’t think it really mattered. If you were watching the whole round, I know on No. 3, I outdrove him by 30 yards, but he hit it to four feet and I’m sitting there at 20, 25 feet,” Varner said of Hoffmann.
“That’s what makes the game so beautiful. He knows how to hone in on what he needs to do to play well.”
