Sunday’s final round of The Players Championship has been a wild one already with the final group of Lee Westwood and Bryson DeChambeau hitting some truly awful shots on the front nine.
But there was also a really bad shot by a guy who wasn’t in contention and it came at the legendary par-3 17th island hole.
Brendon Todd stepped up to the tee and hit a wild shank that went so far right it almost landed on the little island that has a tree and flowers on it. We never see balls go near that island.
Well, until today.
Todd could only drop his club and laugh at himself as the ball sailed away.
Brendon Todd aced the eighth hole Friday at the Players Championship, earning the first hole-in-one of his PGA Tour career.
As he approached the sixth tee at TPC Sawgrass, Todd was sitting even par on the round after bogeying the par-4 sixth two holes earlier and starting his round with a birdie on No. 2.
Todd, who won twice on Tour last season, teed off at the 213-yard, par 3 hole with a 5-wood. The ace was the seventh hole-in-one at No. 8 in Players Championship history and the first since Michael Thompson in the first round of the 2013 tournament.
The 35-year-old was T-56 at even par at the turn on Friday and 2 under on the round.
The circumstances were eerily similar last year when Todd earned his third career victory by winning the Mayakoba Golf Classic.
Just because the weather forecast in paradise — and Cancun certainly fits into that category — isn’t exactly ideal for tourists this week, don’t expect Brendon Todd to lament the lack of sunshine.
“Looks like it’s going to be in the same conditions; it’s already wet and we’re expecting more rain on Thursday, Friday, so it should feel pretty similar to how it played last year,” Todd said. “I played the back nine this morning and my game felt pretty good, made some birdies, so looking forward to carrying momentum this week.”
Speaking of similar feelings, Todd would certainly love to replicate the way he felt when he left Cancun last year. After contemplating retirement less than a year earlier, Todd’s victory in the Mayakoba was his second PGA Tour win in 15 days, following an equally impressive performance at the Bermuda Championship. Not bad, considering he’d entered last November with just one win in more than a decade of toiling on Tour.
[vertical-gallery id=778011913]
With that victory, he became the first player to capture consecutive Tour events since Bryson DeChambeau, who was victorious in the first two events of the 2018 FedEx Cup Playoffs at The Northern Trust and Dell Technologies Championship.
“It definitely grew my confidence. I was coming from a few years that weren’t so good and to kind of get better every week in 2019 and finish it off with a couple wins was a milestone here for me,” he said of the stretch. “It opened up a lot of doors for me in 2020, a lot of new events and I feel like I handled a lot of those well. I had a couple top 25s in majors.
“I feel like I’m poised for a pretty good 2021 … in a really good spot after I was last year at this time, so I’m just going with the ebbs and flows of golf and trying to play my best.”
Todd has been good in the new season, but there’s certainly room for improvement. He finished T-23 at the U.S. Open, then made the cut in his next two events — the CJ Cup and Zozo Championship — but struggled in his Bermuda title defense and missed the cut at the Masters. In typical Todd fashion, he’s been straight (he was fourth on Tour in driving accuracy for the 2020 season), but not very long (187th).
And hoping a little holiday break after this week will give him a chance to recharge his battery, but first, he’d prefer a successful defense of his title in Cancun.
“It’s always great to be home. I’ve got three kids that are 6, 4 and 2,” he explained. “I take my 6-year-old out to play, so I won’t put the clubs away or anything, I’ll only have three weeks off before Maui, Sony and the American Express, so I’m just looking forward to the holidays and getting back after it in January,”
College GameDay will have a special location on Nov. 14, 2020 show, which will be televised from The Masters at Augusta National Golf Club.
“College GameDay” will have a special location on Nov. 14, 2020.
ESPN’s college football pregame show will hosted at the Augusta National Golf Club, which is home to The Masters. The prestigious golf tournament is set to take place Nov. 12 through Nov. 15 in Augusta, Georgia.
It will be the second time the GameDay crew has come to the state of Georgia. GameDay previously went to the Auburn at Georgia game in Athens. The Masters and “College GameDay” will be held without fans due to COVID-19.
The PGA Tour hasn’t had fans in attendance at any of its events since the return of the PGA golf tournaments following an initial break in March. The Masters is normally conducted in April. This year, Augusta, Georgia’s most famous sporting event will have a much different feel.
One thing that will not change is former Georgia Bulldogs will be competing for the green jacket. Former University of Georgia golfing standout Bubba Watson has won the tournament twice, most recently in 2014.
Allan Henry-USA TODAY Sports
In addition to Watson, Kevin Kisner and Brendon Todd have already qualified for The Masters. It should be an exciting tournament as always.
Will “College GameDay” pick winners of the Masters? Top games for the Nov. 14 weekend in college football include: LSU versus Alabama, and Michigan versus Wisconsin. The Georgia Bulldogs are set to travel to face the Missouri Tigers that week in an SEC East battle.
Fred Ridley, Chairman of Augusta National Golf Club, announced today that @themasters will provide an expansive slate of content across multiple platforms, including @CollegeGameDay live from Augusta National on Saturday, November 14.
While the stars prep for Augusta National in two weeks, there are plenty of storylines for someone to grab the spotlight in Bermuda.
A year ago, Brendon Todd arrived in Bermuda as a down-on-his-luck journeyman PGA Tour pro winless since 2014. By Sunday he had blitzed the field at the Bermuda Championship, victorious by six strokes, won the next event too, and racked up another 10 top-25 finishes last season as he resurrected his career.
When asked how he would have responded if told prior to the start of last year’s tournament that he would improve from outside the top 500 to No. 41 in the Official World Golf Ranking this week and be the highest ranked player in the field, he said, “I probably would have laughed and said, ‘I’ll take it, give me more, right?’ ”
While much attention already is being devoted to the Masters, which begins in two weeks, for the 132-man field this week and next at the Vivint Houston Open, these starts mean everything. Todd, who is making his 200th career Tour start, took advantage last year making seven birdies in a row in the final round, beginning on the second hole, to coast to victory.
“I felt like I was kind of walking on clouds and that’s a really special feeling to have,” he said.
For some of the special invites, this week could change the trajectory of their career. Take Camiko Smith, a 35-year-old native of Bermuda who is making his Tour debut after winning a 36-hole local qualifier played earlier this month. Until Todd came along and shot one of three 62s at last year’s tournament, Smith shared the course record of 64 with Adam Scott. Smith grew up along the fourth hole of Port Royal Golf Club in Southampton, so close to the Robert Trent Jones Sr. design, in fact, that a ball pulled left will end up out of bounds in his family’s yard.
“I actually hop over a fence and I’m right on it,” said Smith, who had been teaching golf in Orlando and Dallas prior to returning to Bermuda and working at a local glass company for the last four months. “I used to get kicked off for doing that, now I’m sitting here playing a PGA Tour event in my backyard, so it’s pretty awesome.”
Danish teen sensation Rasmus Hojgaard has already won twice on the European Tour, becoming its first champion that was born in the 2000s. The 19-year-old, who has PGA Tour aspirations, played in the U.S. Open in September and jumped at the chance to make another PGA Tour start.
“It was a no-brainer for me to come over here and play,” he said.
Left to right: Brothers Ben, Luke and Ollie Schniederjans enjoy a walk in Bermuda. Photo by Mark Williams/PGA Tour.
The Bermuda Championship also has a couple family affairs as 64-year-old former Players Championship winner Fred Funk and son Taylor, 24, are grouped together Thursday (12:15 p.m. ET tee time) while brothers Ollie and Luke Schniederjans, who also benefited from sponsor’s exemptions, will be playing in their first Tour field together. It didn’t hurt the chances for the brothers, who both attended Georgia Tech, that Bermuda Championship tournament director Sean Sovacool is also a fellow Yellow Jackets alum.
Ollie, 27, a former No. 1 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, lost his Tour privileges after finishing No. 180 in the 2018-19 FedEx Cup point standings and spent last season competing on the Korn Ferry Tour, while younger brother Luke, 22, is making his Tour debut. (Middle brother Ben has caddied for Ollie for the past year.)
“I always dreamed of us playing a PGA Tour event together,” Ollie said. “All three of us brothers out here walking around, it’s pretty incredible.”
Someone will leave Bermuda with a trophy, $720,000 added to their bank account, a two-year Tour exemption and a berth in the 2021 Masters among the spoils.
“There’s probably going to be somebody this week that finishes first or second who is a great player and has shown great form either in the last year or in a previous year that changes the curve of their career,” Todd said. “That’s what’s so cool about some of these events that don’t have the top-ranked guys in them.”
Former Georgia Bulldog golfing great Kevin Kisner took the time to take a shot at Georgia Tech ahead of the Tour Championship.
Former Georgia Bulldog golfing great Kevin Kisner took the time to take a shot at Georgia Tech in an interview ahead of the Tour Championship. The Tour Championship is played at East Lake Golf Course in Atlanta, Georgia.
The event runs Sept. 4-7 in a rare PGA Tour event that is Friday-Monday instead of the usual Thursday-Sunday. Kisner notes how the event always seems to have a few Georgia Bulldogs playing in it.
Unfortunately for Georgia Tech golf fans, there will not be any Yellow Jackets participating in the Tour Championship. Kisner made sure to point that out:
Harris English and Brendon Todd are among the former Georgia Bulldog golfers set to play in the Tour Championship.
The PGA Tour has a different feel and schedule this year. The Masters is set to take place Nov. 12 through Nov. 15. Once again, Augusta, Georgia, will be the pinnacle of the golfing world.
Kevin Kisner is 29th on the PGA Tour. He’s set to tee off at 12:40 p.m. on Friday afternoon.
Jul 4, 2020; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Kevin Kisner tees off on the 2nd during the third round of the Rocket Mortgage Classic golf tournament at Detroit Golf Club. Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Simpson and Todd, who grew up competing for trophies as junior golfers in North Carolina, are grouped together in a threesome this week.
GREENSBORO, N.C. – As soon as Brendon Todd found out he was grouped in the opening two rounds of the Wyndham Championship with Webb Simpson, he texted Simpson’s caddie, Paul Tesori, and wrote that he’ll try to keep up with the all-time Sedgefield money leader this week.
“Webb owns this place,” Todd said of Sedgefield Country Club, a Donald Ross design that has hosted the Wyndham Championship since 2008.
Simpson, the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 6 in the world, won the title in 2011 and named his third child Wyndham after it, finished second last year and seeks his fourth consecutive top-three finish at the event.
Simpson and Todd being paired together (with South Korea’s Sungjae Im as their third wheel) is old hat for these two, who have been going head-to-head since their formative years.
“Brendon Todd moving to Cary, North Carolina, might have been the greatest thing for my game,” Simpson said. “From age 11 to 13, I won a lot of tournaments. Brendon comes to town and he was better than me. He inspired me. He made me mad when he beat me. He pushed me to get better and be my best.”
The way Todd remembers it, they dueled back and forth with Simpson beating him at his first tournament, the North State Junior Championship, and the North Carolina Junior Match Play while Todd claimed three individual state titles. At age 17, they teamed up and won the North Carolina Amateur Four-Ball.
Simpson has gone on to win the 2012 U.S. Open among his seven Tour titles, while Todd is a three-time winner, but both have experienced their struggles at times. Simpson went winless for more than four year from 2013 until 2018, which coincided with the USGA banning the belly putter in 2016 that he’d used for his entire career. Simpson resurrected his career using a legal, arm-lock method of putting and ranks No. 18 in Strokes Gained: Putting this season.
“I never thought I would ever be a great putter,” said Simpson, who ranked as high as fifth in putting in 2018.
Along the way, Simpson realized he took for granted his success and has learned to appreciate it more this time around.
“We’re never as far off as we think and we’re never going to play at a top level for as long as we might think or hope,” he said, “so, you’ve got to be thankful for those moments.”
Todd’s slump took him to the brink of quitting as he endured a stretch of missing 37 cuts in 41 starts between 2016 and 2018. The lowest of lows happened in a Monday Qualifier for the 2018 Wyndham Championship when he shot 41 on his first nine and knew he had no chance of earning a berth in the field.
“I told the guys I was playing with, ‘I’m sorry, I’ve never done this, but I’m going to withdraw.’ I started my drive home early. I knew I had nothing left. It was Korn Ferry Q-School or get a job,” said Todd, who considered opening a pizza franchise.
Instead, he took three months off to prepare for the second stage of Q-School, overcame the full-swing yips and became an inspiration for anyone struggling with this maddening game.
“It shows kind of what he’s made of,” Simpson said. “It’s hard to go from where he was to now on top of the world in the game of golf, or close to it.”
Todd won twice earlier this season at the Bermuda Championship and Mayakoba Golf Classic. Since the Tour’s season resumed in June, he’s held the 54-hole lead at the Travelers Championship and WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational and 18-hole lead at last week’s PGA Championship. His nine top-25 finishes in 21 starts ranks him as one of the season’s most consistent players, while Simpson claimed the Waste Management Phoenix Open and RBC Heritage and has been a model of consistency with seven top 25s in 11 starts. It’s brought them full circle to another pairing in the state where it all began.
“It’s really special to get paired in North Carolina,” Todd said. “They’re not just throwing us together for old time’s sake. We’re both top 10 in the FedEx Cup and having great years.”
Jason Day is atop the leaderboard alongside a resurrected Brendon Todd after the first round of the 102nd PGA Championship.
SAN FRANCISCO – Hindered by an assortment of injuries since his reign as the best player in the world back in 2015 and 2016, Jason Day has struggled at times to keep his spirits up while his body’s well-being has been down.
Chief among his pains have been chronic back issues that have forced him to miss tournaments and severely cut into prep work in the weight room and on the practice ground. After winning 10 PGA Tour titles from 2013 through 2016, he’s won twice since – both coming in 2018. In 32 starts since the onset of 2019, he doesn’t have a top-3 finish. Earlier this year fell to No. 63 in the world and he recently he split with mentor and longtime coach, Collin Swatton.
But heading into the first major of the year, Day awoke and his body healed a bit. In his most recent three starts coming into this week’s PGA Championship, Day posted ties for fourth, sixth and seventh.
Now he’s at the top of the leaderboard alongside a resurrected Brendon Todd after the first round of the 102nd PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park.
“There was definitely a lot of momentum coming in off the previous finishes that I’ve had,” said Day, who won this championship in 2015, his lone major. “The game feels like it’s coming around. I’m pleased with it.”
Day shot a bogey-free, 5-under-par 65 while Todd, a two-time winner this season, negated his two bogeys with seven birdies. The two were one shot clear of a group that includes four-time major champion Brooks Koepka, two-time major winners Martin Kaymer and Zach Johnson, and 2013 U.S. Open champion Justin Rose.
Todd is riding some momentum, too. He’s held two 54-hole leads in the last four tournaments before falling back in the final round. But he has risen from the abyss with two wins in the fall after contemplating quitting the game a couple years back as he battled driver yips and missed 37 of 41 cuts. He has missed the cut in four of the eight majors he’s played, with a tie for 17th his best finish.
“I don’t really compare rounds, but it was one of my better rounds today,” Todd said. “I have a lot of confidence. I’m playing the game of golf really well, not a lot of golf swing going on. That’s the key for me.”
[jwplayer voJow8F6-9JtFt04J]
Koepka has won four of the last 10 majors he’s played and is trying to become the first to win the PGA Championship in three consecutive years since the tournament went to stroke play. Koepka has battled a left knee injury for more than a year (he had a stem-cell procedure last September) but looked fit and his usual powerful self in the first round.
“It’s only 18 holes right now. I feel good. I feel confident,” Koepka said. “I’m excited for the next three days. I can definitely play a lot better, and just need to tidy a few things up, and we’ll be there come Sunday on the back nine.”
Tiger Woods, seeking his fifth Wanamaker Trophy and 16th major, looks like he could be there on the back nine, too, after his 68. Woods has played just one tournament in nearly six months but looked spot on and pain-free. And he looked just fine with a new putter – a Scotty Cameron prototype – that he used instead of his Scotty Cameron that he’s used to win 14 of his 15 majors.
“I made some good putts,” Woods said. “For the most part of the day, I missed the ball on the correct sides. This golf course, you have to hit the ball in the fairway. You get a ball in the rough, into the grain, there’s no chance you can get the ball to the green. I felt like I did a decent job of doing that, and the golf course is only going to get more difficult as the week goes on.”
Getting better
Day has gotten better as the year has gone on. After a stretch of four missed cuts, one withdrawal and a tie for 46th in six starts, he reeled off his trio of top-10s.
“I shouldn’t say I’m not excited,” Day said. “I am excited to come out and play every day, but I know that I can improve, and mainly my putting can improve a little bit more.
Jason Day on the 10th green during the first round of the 2020 PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
“I feel like I’ve been working very hard in the off-weeks and especially when I come to a tournament to be able to get my putting back to where it is because it’s always been a strength of mine, and I feel like the game is slowly coming around, the confidence is coming around because I’m starting to see the results.”
And he’s starting to look forward to the next day. During his painful stretch, which has been mentally draining as well as physically uncomfortable, it’s been tough to get out of bed or off the couch. Now he can’t wait for the sunrise.
“I finally had enough of feeling sorry for myself, and it’s easy to do that in this game because it is so mentally tough,” he said. “You can start blaming everything else but yourself. Sometimes you’ve just got to pull your pants up and just move on, you know.
“I feel like the momentum that I’ve had over the last three starts has kind of seeped into this week. The funny thing is that every day I’m excited to go back to the golf course and play, whereas before I was struggling to get up and going, oh, do I want to kind of put myself through this again. To be honest, I’m excited to get out and play every week now.”
