“The putting has been amazing. It’s entirely Bryson’s technique and company.”
Rocco Mediate’s body is almost as stationary as a rock when he’s putting now.
The 59-year-old is using Bryson DeChambeau’s putting style with his arms completely locked and just his shoulders moving.
In his fourth round with the style, and the first round of the Chubb Classic presented by SERVPRO on Friday, Mediate shot a 4-under-par 68 and is in contention on the Black Course at Tiburón Golf Club at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort.
“The putting has been amazing,” Mediate said. “It’s entirely Bryson’s technique and company (SIK Golf). It’s arm lock. It’s lock down. I’ve talked to him about it, and I’m happy to say that. He’s told me a lot of very cool things on how to do it.
“… The way we do the arms and everything, everything’s locked out of motion. All you have to do is move your shoulders.”
Mediate made a nice par-saving putt to close the round after missing the green on the par-5 18th and pitching the ball a few feet past the hole.
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“I can’t be more excited about the rest of the year,” Mediate said. “I think all of us out here if we’re swinging just awful, and we all do, you still make a score. All of a sudden if you make one more putt a day that you didn’t make, and you add that up at the end of the year, it becomes astronomical.
“That’s what I should be more interested in.”
Mediate is a Calusa Pines Golf Club member, and had the director of golf Mike Balliet in his pairing Friday. Balliet, who is in on a sponsor exemption, struggled mightily, shooting a 90. Mediate told him to just relax.
“When you get in that situation you’re out of your element … that’s what we told him, ‘Calm down. Relax,” Mediate said. “It’s not what you do. Go out there and have some fun (Saturday). We had as much fun as he could. You can see it.”
Rocco Mediate (USA) walks off the green on the 18th hole during the first round of the Chubb Classic, Friday, February 18, 2022, at Tiburón Golf Club at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort in Naples, Florida.
Mediate is friends with Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson, enough so that Lifeson has brought him on stage during a show before. That’s what he likened Balliet being out with tour professionals.
“I’m like ‘Dude, what are you doing?’ I’m like ‘Get me outta here, no I don’t like this,'” Mediate said of Lifeson bringing him up. “Mikey’s a really good player, but he’s just out of his element.”
Some Calusa Pines members plus owner Gary Chensoff were following the group.
“It was great, a lot of the members were there,” Mediate said. “They weren’t watching me.”
Tolles still recovering
Tommy Tolles (USA) tees off on the second hole during the first round of the Chubb Classic, Friday, February 18, 2022, at Tiburón Golf Club at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort in Naples, Florida.
Fort Myers native Tommy Tolles played his first round in a Champions Tour event since last summer. He underwent surgery for a torn meniscus in his right knee, then returned for four events, not finishing any higher than 60th.
Tolles, 55, also had shoulder surgery in 2020.
“The shoulder healed really well, the knee not so well,” Tolles said after shooting a 1-over 73.
Despite that, Tolles walked. Even though it’s possible for him to have a cart on the Champions Tour, he’d rather not.
“They can label us whatever they want, senior tour, Champions Tour, but you don’t have to act like one,” he said. “You could go out there play like a 40- or 45-year-old.
“… I refuse to take one. If I can’t sit there and carry on a conversation with a walking scorer, my playing partners, caddies, then I don’t want to be a part of it. Walking is a fundamental part of the game. I want to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.”
Tolles said he struggled in all aspects of his game in his first competitive round since last June.
“I can’t really push off my right side through the swing,” he said. “It’s kind of more of an arm swing. I’ve lost a little distance.”
But it was everything that didn’t go well.
“I didn’t do anything right today,” he said. “You can’t be upset with making almost a handful of birdies when the wedge game wasn’t very good. Everything’s pretty dull. I drove the ball fairly well, and kept it in play for the most part.
“My short game’s extremely rusty. My iron game’s not very sharp. My wedge game was horrific.”
Tolles does have some time to get back up to speed. He is on a medical extension and has 17 events to make enough money to earn his full status back.
“I don’t think they’re knocking on anyone’s door out here,” said Jim Furyk.
The topic won’t go away.
How will the PGA Tour handle the new Saudi Arabian-backed Super Golf League, which recently announced it plans to start this year and possibly have events in the United States.
Even the Tour players themselves are keeping it in the spotlight. Last week in Phoenix, Tour players Charley Hoffman made a post on Instagram after getting penalized and implied that penalties like the one he was called for — the ball on a dropped penalty shot rolled into a hazard — were among the reasons players were looking to jump to another league.
That just made all of the noise even louder in Phoenix than on No. 16. And it’s still reverberating.
At Riviera this week on the tour, multiple players have been asked about it. For example, Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm have said they’re where they want to be, while Adam Scott left the door open. Tiger Woods spoke in favor of the PGA Tour.
At the Chubb Classic, the PGA Tour Champions event this week in Naples, the 50-and-over players aren’t in the marketplace the Super Golf League — which is led by CEO Greg Norman of LIV Golf Investments — would be looking at.
“I don’t think they’re knocking on anyone’s door out here,” said Jim Furyk, the tour’s Rookie of the Year last year, jokingly. “I haven’t had any contact.”
But if the chance to make millions, with no cut so basically appearance fees, and playing in 40-player fields were brought up while these guys were in their 30s, for example, well …
“$150 million is generational money,” Jerry Kelly said. “That’ll make you think.”
Not for him, though.
“This is the dream,” he said of playing on the PGA Tour and Champions. “I don’t think, I’m not saying this, I don’t know, but if I got $150 million to go play I just don’t know how much I’d feel in here (pointing to his chest) about playing. You see guys sign big contracts and have a hard time actually drumming up the adrenaline and playing.”
All of the negatives associated with Saudi Arabia, from its treatment of women to possible ties to the 9/11 terrorist attacks (many of the hijackers were Saudi citizens), create their own minefield that a golfer carrying a big bag of money would have to navigate.
They’re growing the game, some of them have said.
“That’s nonsense, just utter nonsense,” Tour players Paul Goydos said.
On the other hand, while Phil Mickelson also recently created a bit of a firestorm with comments bashing the PGA Tour and its “obnoxious greed” while playing in the Saudi International a couple of weeks ago, Goydos said he does have a point.
“It was inelegant the way that he said it,” Goydos said. “His media rights are worth $5 million. My media rights are worth nothing, literally nothing. If you look at what I contributed to the PGA Tour with my name and likeness, the fans I brought out, television ratings, and then you compare that to what I made, it’s astronomical.”
Said Rocco Mediate, speaking without specifically naming Mickelson: “You don’t need to badmouth where you made your money.”
Goydos then made quite the analogy.
“The obnoxious greed to me is not the PGA Tour, it’s the people like me who don’t bring anything to the table other than somebody to beat up,” he said. “I’m the Washington Generals in a sense. How good are the Harlem Globetrotters without the Washington Generals? They have to have somebody to beat. We don’t really bring any money in but you need somebody to beat.”
On the other hand, while Phil Mickelson also recently created a bit of a firestorm with comments bashing the PGA Tour and its “obnoxious greed” while playing in the Saudi International a couple of weeks ago, Goydos said he does have a point.
“It was inelegant the way that he said it,” Goydos said. “His media rights are worth $5 million. My media rights are worth nothing, literally nothing. If you look at what I contributed to the PGA Tour with my name and likeness, the fans I brought out, television ratings, and then you compare that to what I made, it’s astronomical.”
Said Rocco Mediate, speaking without specifically naming Mickelson: “You don’t need to badmouth where you made your money.”
Goydos then made quite the analogy.
“The obnoxious greed to me is not the PGA Tour, it’s the people like me who don’t bring anything to the table other than somebody to beat up,” he said. “I’m the Washington Generals in a sense. How good are the Harlem Globetrotters without the Washington Generals? They have to have somebody to beat. We don’t really bring any money in but you need somebody to beat.”
“As nice a guy as (PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan) comes across as, unless you have leverage, he won’t do what’s right.
“And the Saudi money has finally given us that leverage. I’m not sure I even want [the SGL] to succeed, but just the idea of it is allowing us to get things done with the [PGA] Tour.”
Mediate sees both sides of the argument, as far as the tour players who don’t want to play in the Saudi league, and the ones who are at least giving it consideration.
“There’s a huge amount of money,” Mediate said. “There’s only 40 (players) and it’s a zillion dollars.”
That part of it has Mediate at least hoping the tours can find a way to work together, although there is at least some speculation that the Saudi tour will make an announcement during The Players Championship, the PGA Tour’s crown jewel, next month.
“I think it would be great if it could work together,” said Mediate, while adding he’s not sure if that’s possible. “They could just say ‘Just go ahead and play (the Saudi league), but just tell us you’re still going to hang with us.'”
Goydos hopes the players and the PGA Tour can work something out, and he sees some of the new initiatives as ways that could do that.
“They’re slowly doing certain things,” he said. “They’re going to start their own series of events and try to get more players in the top players’ hands.”
Peter Jacobsen and the golfers who played in the PGA Tour’s AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, which went up against the Saudi International (which isn’t the same thing as the proposed Super Golf League), did get sort of a preview though. Many top players, including Bryson DeChambeau and Dustin Johnson, skipped Pebble.
“Players earn the right to get releases from tournaments,” Jacobsen said diplomatically. “They have to play a certain number to acquire a certain number (of releases) and they’re well within their rights to request the releases.
“It’s up to the commissioner at his discretion to decide if it’s going to weaken the field that week. Everybody has a right to do that. I’m just disheartened that a lot of the players don’t grasp the fact that the AT&T (a major sponsor on the tour, period, not just for the Pebble event) is so important to our PGA Tour, our lifeblood.”
The number and quality of golfers who played in the Saudi International also opened another opportunity by being there.
“I think obviously having 21 players playing that event overseas, that was a good opportunity for the organizers of that tour to close the door, have some talks, try to woo more players into signing with them,” Furyk said. “… My thoughts on that are really that I would be in full support of the PGA Tour and what we’re trying to accomplish. Hopefully the players — I don’t know how many of them there are, but I think there has to be more than one I would hope; it’s hard to run a tour with just one — players that are involved hopefully can sit down with (PGA Tour commissioner) Jay (Monahan) and get things hashed out and move forward in a positive light.”
David Duval was a little more succinct.
“I think you would be an absolute fool to go play on that tour,” he said. “Simple enough.”
NAPLES, Fla. — David Duval and Jim Furyk have won millions of dollars in their respective PGA Tour careers.
They’ve played some of the best rounds in Tour history. Duval shot a 59, and so did Furyk, who followed that up a few years later with a record 58.
The two reunite this week at the 35th Chubb Classic on the PGA Tour Champions at Tiburón Golf Club at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort.
“To have been knowing and playing and competing against somebody for 35, 36 years, and he and I are dear friends, our wives are dear friends, Tabitha and Susie, I just think that just the opportunity to kind of reconnect that way, especially in a competitive environment, is a true blessing that the Champions Tour provides,” Duval said.
Duval is back playing after turning 50 last year and becoming eligible for the Champions tour following several years in the broadcast booth. Furyk has shifted more so to the Champions tour after playing both tours, but mainly on the PGA Tour until last year.
Duval said he was 15 when he first saw Furyk, who was 16 but already 6-foot, at an AJGA junior tournament in Hilton Head, South Carolina.
Jim Furyk speaks at a presser during the Chubb Classic Pro-Am on Wednesday, February 16, 2022, at the Tiburón Golf Club in Naples, Florida.
They became friends in college and closer when they both joined the then-Nike Tour, and played practice round games on Tuesday, pairing against fellow tour pros for money.
“We have a pretty good record, I will just say, and made a few bucks,” Furyk said. “He’s a heck of a partner. About three years after that, there was a couple veterans out there that tried to steal a little money from us, and three years later he was ranked in the top 10 in the world and I was ranked top 25 in the world, so they probably picked the wrong battle.
“But it was a lot of fun on Tuesday to gain some experience and play a lot of golf alongside him. We were always partners, so put a lot of practice rounds together on the tour, played a lot of practice rounds in majors together, and so I spent a lot of time with David.”
“We certainly dipped into a few pockets,” Duval said. “He and I were partners virtually every week. I don’t recall having to pay out too often.”
While Furyk did have that 58 in addition to a 59, he said Duval looks at his own 59 in a different way.
“David likes to brag that his was 13 under and both of mine were 12 under, but mine was still one lower, so we’re in a little competitive battle as good friends,” Furyk said.
First Tee Challenge returns
The Golf to Paradise – First Tee Champions Challenge is set to celebrate its 15th anniversary this week when 20 First Tee participants representing 10 chapters throughout the country play in conjunction with the Chubb Classic.
In partnership with the Naples, Marco Island, Everglades Convention, and Visitors Bureau, the Golf to Paradise – First Tee Champions Challenge will feature three nine-hole rounds of competition, with an alternate format each day on three of Naples’ premier golf courses.
On Friday, the teams will play in a better-ball format at The Moorings Country Club, Saturday will be a scramble format at Royal Poinciana Golf Club, and Sunday will be alternate-shot format at Lely Golf and Country Club (Flamingo Course).
Prior to competition, the First Tee students will participate in a First Tee Champions Challenge Clinic presented by Premier Packaging, taking place on the back of the driving range on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. at Tiburón Golf Club with PGA Tour Champions players. The First Tee participants also will participate in the “Keep Collier Beautiful Beach Clean Up” volunteer service activity on Saturday morning prior to their second-round play at Royal Poinciana.
The First Tee Chapters and participants include: Ty Kaufman and Julian Alonso, First Tee – Naples/Collier; Bradley Lardie and Adam Koval, First Tee – West Michigan; Dylan Callaway and Daniel McCloskey, First Tee – Pittsburgh; Brant Dattilo and Ava Heaton, First Tee – the Triangle; Gabriella Ishaq and Matthew Stolte, First Tee – Minnesota; Slade Aliff and Caroline Gilreath, First Tee – Roanoke Valley; Devin Carpenter and Isabella Magno, First Tee – Greater Philadelphia; Kaylee Dwyer and Annika Northey, First Tee – Chicago; Zara Karim and Kyndall Campbell, First Tee – Greater Washington, D.C.; Brant Tretter and Sam Reising, First Tee – Indiana
Jimenez remembers Romero
Eduardo Romero, who won five times on the PGA Tour Champions, died, the tour announced Monday, without giving any other details. An Argentina news agency said he died of cancer. He was 67.
“I was so sad to hear that Eduardo has passed away and I send my deepest condolences to his family,” Spain’s Miguel Angel Jimenez wrote on Twitter. “He was a fantastic guy, a really great golfer and a friend for many years.”
The Argentine, known as “El Gato”, won eight titles on the European Tour, in addition to the five on the PGA Tour Champion where he won major titles at the Tradition in 2006 and the U.S. Senior Open in 2008.
“Let’s just hope that no one takes their shirt off this week on the Champions Tour. Wouldn’t be as pretty,” joked Jim Furyk.
Beer cans landing on greens. Rowdy fans. Golfers taking their shirts off.
Sounds like quite a party.
But at a golf tournament? And a PGA Tour event no less?
That was the scene throughout the weekend on the par-3 16th at the WM Phoenix Open.
On Saturday, Sam Ryder made an ace on the 16th, and the beer flew out of the stands with cans landing on the green. Sunday, Carlos Ortiz did it, and the same happened.
Then Harry Higgs and Joel Dahmen took it up (or down) a notch. Dahmen had challenged his Twitter followers that if he got enough retweets, Higgs, who was playing with him, would take off his shirt on the 16th.
When Higgs drained his par putt, he gave the crowd what it expected — pulling up his shirt. Dahmen topped it by completely taking off his shirt and twirling it in the air as the beer flew once again.
Don’t expect that in the Chubb Classic presented by SERVPRO at Tiburón Golf Club at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort.
“Let’s just hope that no one takes their shirt off this week on the Champions Tour,” Jim Furyk quipped. “Wouldn’t be as pretty.”
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“I guess that’s just Phoenix, right?” Furyk said. “Phoenix has always kind of had that history of being wild, being crazy. They usually get to a certain point where they push the panic button and try to draw it back, and then it creeps back up there back and forth, and I guess we haven’t seen players involved in the craziness.”
Players on Wednesday in the pro-am were fairly OK and understandable about the rowdiness and the beer showers, to a point.
“You know, that’s what that environment is set up for,” David Duval said. “That’s what is in some ways expected.
“I’m just — at least I’m not aware of anybody getting hit with the beer cans and things like that, so I’m happy that didn’t happen. That could be potentially a little bit dangerous. It certainly, when they’re landing on the putting surface, can affect the putting surface. Granted you’re allowed to repair it, but you can’t always see the bumps
and dents that these things make.”
Tom Lehman is very familiar with Phoenix, as a longtime Scottsdale resident.
“We’ve all seen the growth and the way the whole thing has transformed itself over the years,” he said. “It started with a TGI Fridays tent in back of the 16th tee on the hill there with all of the college kids hanging out there, to trying to get rid of all of the college kids that were too crazy and putting grandstands and then suites around there only to find out that the young professionals are worse than the college kids.
“The transformation, the evolution of that hole I think its remarkable. It’s such a huge benefactor to local charities. That hole alone creates about $10 million in revenue and a lot of that goes to local charities.”
For Chris DiMarco, who won the event in 2002 and nearly made an ace on the hole on the way to the victory, that part was his main issue.
“The thing about it is that as a player you’re kind of damned if you do, damned as you don’t,” he said. “Here’s the funny thing. this is what I don’t think a lot of the fans understand that if I was in those stands, I probably would’ve been doing the exact same thing. That’s kind of the way I am.
“I just feel like golf to me isn’t all that. i think that to a point. when the shirts started coming off, and now they started throwing beer cans, guys are chipping in and guys are throwing beer cans, it’s getting a little excessive.”
The eloquent Paul Goydos brought up a good point.
“I think coming to the Champions Tour and asking a bunch of old men what they think of that is probably not the best way to look at that,” he said. “They’re trying to get to a different crowd. I would imagine the ratings were fine. The guy wants to rip his shirt off, that’s really (PGA Tour Commissioner) Jay Monahan’s purview, not my purview.”
DiMarco described the crowd as 70% there to drink, 20% to be outside and maybe 10% there to watch golf, but also gave them props on their research on players.
“They know your high school team,” he said. “They know your dogs’ names. They do their research. It’s pretty cool how they do it.”
But he also said that while the celebrations got and do get a lot of the coverage on that hole, what happens the rest of the time isn’t always the case.
“It’s great, but as a player, they just don’t seem like they’re cheering for you,” he said. “They’d rather see a bad shot . I think they’d rather boo than not boo.”
Mark Calcavecchia’s daughter was there.
“She said it’s getting crazier each year,” he said.
Like much about the rise of the PGA Tour, Tiger Woods has a role. Back in 1997, Woods made a hole-in-one that literally shook the ground, as well as the windows on the clubhouse a few hundred yards away.
“I remember Tiger making the hole-in-one and kind of the tee box getting rained with beer cans and kind of covered up,” Furyk said.
Twenty-five years later, it’s bigger than ever.
“I think it’s awesome,” Lehman said. “I love it. It’s like guys making a hat trick (in hockey) and all of the hats go on the ice. I think you can’t say it’s a great tradition in one sport but not in the other. It’s unique in golf and I love it.”
“It simply is what it is, and if you don’t like it, don’t play,” Duval said.
Mayfair believes the move to Oklahoma may be the last piece in what has been a complex puzzle.
Lots of times when Billy Mayfair tells other pro golfers about his offseason move from Arizona to Oklahoma, they automatically assume it was his wife’s idea.
Tami Mayfair, after all, has deep roots in Oklahoma.
Her dad, Art Proctor, was a longtime pro at Kickingbird. She started playing at the Edmond golf course when she was 5, and over the years, she won tons of junior and amateur tournaments around the state.
Billy quickly tells people the move to join the ranks of pros living in Oklahoma wasn’t Tami’s doing.
“She’s kind of getting blamed for it, but it was me,” he said with a laugh. “It was me. It was my decision.”
But it’s a decision both have embraced.
As Billy Mayfair prepares to begin his PGA Tour Champions season this week at the Chubb Classic in Naples, Fla., he believes the move to Oklahoma may be the last piece in what has been a complex puzzle. He was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder three years ago. It was a late-in-life diagnosis — he was 53 at the time — but he has seen opportunities in the days since he received the news.
Billy Mayfair joined the ranks of pro golfers who call Oklahoma home. He moved here because of a late-in-life diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder.
It has given him a chance to live a fuller, happier life.
It has also provided Billy and Tami a chance to help others.
“It touched other people,” Billy, now 55, said recently while sitting in the kitchen of their Edmond home. “It’s worth every second of it.”
But he wasn’t so sure of that initially.
A diagnosis of high-functioning autism has made Billy Mayfair better understand the way he reacts to things on the golf course and in life in general. [Jeff Lange/Beacon Journal]Tami long suspected Billy might be on the autism spectrum. Some of his behaviors tipped her off. He became flustered easily. He never seemed to know when she needed a hug. He rarely had rational exchanges with rules officials on the golf course, either submitting to them or yelling at them.
Billy’s struggles with officials bubbled over during the Champions Tour Invesco QQQ Championship in 2019. A pair of rules interpretations led to a disqualification, and the story blew up.
Another publication called it “the strangest DQ of the year” while another said simply, “Oh, Billy Billy Billy.”
As Billy dealt with the aftermath, Tami suggested as she had several times before that he consider being tested for autism. He had always said no — “Everyone else was different,” Billy said of his mindset. “I was normal” — but his disqualification caused some serious soul searching. Finally, he agreed to testing.
A battery of tests revealed his autism spectrum disorder, or ASD, a high-functioning level similar to Asperger’s syndrome.
“All of a sudden,” Billy said, “a light bulb went off.”
He started to see answers to questions he’d long had.
“Why was school this way?” he said. “When I dated, why was I this way?”
He doesn’t always process information as quickly as others. So, when a rules official is explaining a situation, for example, Billy may not put all of the information together as easily as some people.
It’s not that he can’t understand at all. He often just needs additional time to process.
In the months after his diagnosis, Billy spent lots of time talking with doctors, working with psychologists and reading books. The pandemic pause in early 2020 gave him even more opportunities to develop coping strategies to deal with difficult moments.
One of the things he does is take stock of the weather conditions when he arrives at the course for a tournament. Wind can especially change the plan for the day, so on especially windy days, Billy will sit in the car for a few minutes and think through how the conditions may affect club selections and shot options.
Pro golfer Billy Mayfair recently moved to Oklahoma to be closer to wife Tami’s family. But he says the move has helped him as he adjusts to life and golf with autism. He was diagnosed only a couple years ago, and even though it came late in life, the diagnosis has been life changing. (Photo by Doug Hoke/The Oklahoman/USA Today Network)
Only after he’s done with that mental checklist does he head for the clubhouse to start getting ready.
Another thing that helps Billy deal with his autism spectrum disorder is being in places that are calm, quiet and serene. Over the past few years, he has felt less calm and quiet living in the Phoenix area.
The population has boomed, and it feels different.
Last spring, Billy came to Oklahoma for the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship. Even though it was in Tulsa at Southern Hills, he and Tami flew into Oklahoma City and stayed a few days with her brother.
“And it was just so peaceful and calm,” Billy remembered.
Billy Mayfair tees off at the first hole during the Chubb Classic Pro Am, Wednesday, April 14, 2021, at the Tiburon Golf Club in North Naples.
He started thinking almost immediately about leaving Arizona for Oklahoma, and when he finally mentioned the idea to Tami, she balked.
“You’re Mr. Arizona,” she told him.
It is the only home Billy had ever known. He was born and raised in the Phoenix area. Went to college there at Arizona State. Made his home there in the offseason, too, ever since he went pro.
But the more Billy and Tami talked about moving to Oklahoma, the more he sold her on the idea. The day after the Senior PGA Championship wrapped — Billy finished tied for 30th — the Mayfairs looked at a few houses.
A couple months later after Billy finished the U.S. Senior Open Championship in Omaha, they drove to Oklahoma City to sign the papers and close on their new house.
This offseason, they spent time getting unpacked and settled, but they also devoted time to their next endeavor, The Billy and Tami Mayfair Foundation. They plan to offer help and support to those who help and support people with autism.
Helping the helpers, if you will.
Tami was following Billy during a tournament last season when she overheard some dads in the gallery talking about one of their sons who had Asperger’s. She approached the men and admitted she had overheard their conversation.
“You guys have kids on the spectrum?” she asked.
“Yeah,” one of the dad’s said. “Do you have one?”
“Yeah,” Tami said, pointing toward the green where Billy was putting, “he’s out there.”
Billy Mayfair joined the ranks of pro golfers who call Oklahoma home. He moved here because of a late-in-life diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. (Photo by Doug Hoke/The Oklahoman/USA Today Network)
She spent the rest of the round walking with the men and talking with them about her experiences helping Billy with his autism. After she mentioned their plans for the foundation, one of the dads grabbed her arm, started to cry and implored her to help families like his.
“I’ve got three kids,” he said, explaining his youngest was the one with autism. “The middle daughter, we’re losing her, she’s drowning.”
Tami exchanged numbers with the father and has since connected him with several professionals who can help, but Billy and Tami want to offer that kind of assistance on a broader scale. Many groups provide support for the autistic. The Mayfairs believe there’s a void for the siblings, parents and grandparents of someone with autism.
Billy felt convicted about that mission last season, too, during a tournament in Michigan.
After a long third day — he’d had to finish Friday’s round on Saturday, then play Saturday’s round — he was approached by a man who had come with a group of autistic kids. They heard about Billy’s diagnosis, and they decided to come and support him.
“Would you talk to the kids?” the man asked Billy.
He was tired, but he agreed.
“And as soon as I started talking to them, my energy went right up,” he said.
He talked to the kids for nearly an hour.
He got in the car afterward and called Tami. She was expecting to hear an exhausted voice, but instead, Billy was talking a mile a minute. Being with that group of kids and their parents had invigorated him.
He could see how the kids and adults alike soaked up every word.
“That brings me joy,” Tami said. “Now, it comes full circle. Now, we can make a difference. Now, we can turn this lemon into some serious lemonade.”
Billy and Tami Mayfair can hardly believe how their lives have changed over the past few years. They feel like their path has been illuminated, and in many ways, they believe their move to Oklahoma as a significant part of that journey.
They aren’t at the end, but they can get where they want to go from here.
“I’m very happy here,” Billy said. “We’re very content.”
Jenni Carlson: Jenni can be reached at 405-475-4125 or jcarlson@oklahoman.com. Like her at facebook.com/JenniCarlsonOK, follow her at twitter.com/jennicarlson_ok, and support her work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.
Couples, a former World No. 1 who was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2013, won in Naples in 2010 and 2017.
NAPLES, Fla. — The Chubb Classic added a couple of booms to its field Monday.
Two-time champion Fred Couples (whose nickname is Boom Boom) was announced along with four other World Golf Hall-of-Famers, bringing the total to nine playing in the Chubb Classic presented by SERVPRO next week.
Davis Love III, Sandy Lyle, Jose Maria Olazabal and Ian Woosnam were the others, joining previously announced Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, Bernhard Langer, and Colin Montgomerie. Langer has won the event, which is celebrating its 35th anniversary, a record three times.
They will join a 78-player field competing in the first full-field event of the 2022 PGA Tour Champions season, Feb. 18-20, for a share of a $1.6 million purse. Players have until 5 p.m. ET this Friday to commit. Golf Channel will televise all three rounds of play.
“We are excited about the strong field of World Golf Hall-of-Fame members and major champions who will be joining us to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the Chubb Classic presented by SERVPRO,” said Sandy Diamond, executive director of the Chubb Classic, in a release. “This world-class field will give our great fans the opportunity to watch up close so many legends of the game competing on one of the best destination golf courses in the country in Tiburón Golf Club.”
Couples, a former World No. 1 who was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2013, won in Naples in 2010 and 2017. He has 13 Champions victories, including two major championships. Couples is a three-time winning captain for U.S. Presidents Cup teams and a two-time U.S. Ryder Cup team vice-captain. He accumulated 15 PGA Tour victories, including the 1992 Masters and two Players Championships.
Love, a 21-time winner on the PGA Tour including the 1997 PGA Championship and 1992 and 2003 Players Championships, will be making his 2022 PGA Tour Champions season debut. A two-time U.S Ryder Cup captain, Love was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2017.
Lyle, a 2012 Hall-of-Fame inductee, is a two-time major champion – 1985 Open and 1998 Masters – as well as the 1987 Players Champion. He has 30 professional wins worldwide and topped the European Tour’s Order of Merit in 1979, 1980 and 1985.
Olazabal, a two-time Masters champion (1994 and 1999) has recorded 30 professional wins worldwide and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2009. A seven-time European Ryder Cup team member, Olazábal captained the European Ryder Cup team’s comeback in 2012, eventually defeating the U.S. 14½ to 13½.
Woosnam, a former World No. 1, has accumulated over 50 worldwide victories during his Hall-of-Fame career, including 29 on the DP World Tour (formerly European Tour) and the 1991 Masters. He joined Love III as a 2017 Hall-of-Fame inductee.
The 2021 Chubb Classic was played last April at The Black Course at Tiburón Golf Club, where Steve Stricker captured his sixth PGA Tour Champions victory by one stroke over Robert Karlsson and Alex Cejka. Tiburón is the only club to host a PGA Tour, LPGA and PGA Tour Champions event in the same calendar year.
Chubb Classic 2022 ticket options
There are four ticket options for fans:
Good-Any-One Day Grounds — $25. General admission daily grounds, valid Thursday, Feb. 17 (Pro-Am), and Friday-Sunday, Feb. 18-20 (tournament rounds).
Legends Lounge 17th Green Suite — $125 per day. Private luxury suite offering exclusive views of the 17th green. Includes hot appetizers, afternoon snacks, soft drinks and cash bar.
ULTRA Club 18th Green Suite — $400 per day. Private luxury suite overlooking the 18th green. Includes premium full lunch buffet, open bar and valet parking.
“The field is extremely strong,” said new executive director Sandy Diamond.
A 58 and a 59 will make their PGA Tour Champions debut in Naples this year.
No those aren’t the ages for David Duval and Jim Furyk.
They’ve each shot that score on the PGA Tour.
Duval plans to make his transition from TV fully on the PGA Tour Champions this year.
So that will include the 35th annual Chubb Classic presented by SERVPRO coming up Feb. 14-20 at Tiburón Golf Club at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort, the tournament announced Monday.
Duval, a former world No. 1, made his Champions debut in the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai in Hawaii last month, and tied for 34th. He turned 50 on Nov. 9.
Duval won 13 PGA Tour events, all from 1997 to 2001, including the 1999 Players, the 1997 Tour Championship, and the 2001 British Open. He became the first player to shoot 59 in the final round of a tournament to win in 1999 at the now-American Express.
Furyk, a 17-time PGA Tour winner, including the 2003 U.S. Open and three-time PGA Tour Champions winner, will make his debut at the Chubb Classic. Furyk shot a 59 at the BMW Championship in 2013, and then three years later, became the first ever to shoot a 58, doing so at the Travelers Championship.
‘The field is extremely strong’
Three-time champion Bernhard Langer, Colin Montgomerie, Ernie Els and Retief Goosen were among the commitments announced Monday.
“The field is extremely strong,” new executive director Sandy Diamond said.
But the field will not include its defending champion, Diamond all but confirmed.
Steve Stricker, who won last April in the first playing of the tournament at Tiburón Golf Club’s Black Course, had a long hospital stay toward the end of 2021 due to inflammation around his heart.
“I don’t think he’s going to be here,” Diamond said. “I think it’ll take a minor miracle.
“I spoke to his agent and he is doing much better, so that’s good.”
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What to know for Chubb Classic 2022
There will be a 78-player field competing in the 54-hole championship Friday through Sunday, for a share of the $1.6 million purse. Players have until 5 p.m. ET on Friday, Feb. 11 to commit to the Chubb Classic. Golf Channel will televise live all three rounds of play.
Els, a World Golf Hall-of-Fame member who has recorded more than 70 professional victories worldwide including four major championships, will be making his second consecutive appearance.
The Chubb Classic is the longest-standing PGA Tour Champions event to be contested in the same metropolitan area. And Tiburón has become the only facility to host a PGA Tour, LPGA Tour, and PGA Tour Champions event in the same calendar year.
Diamond said that something that’s also been good has been the sales component. The 56 groups for the two-day pro-am are completely sold out.
“My background is more on the business development side, the sponsorships and marketing,” Diamond said.
While Stricker isn’t likely to return, something just as important will — fans. After not allowing the general public to attend last year due to the coronavirus pandemic, full attendance will be allowed this year.
“That’s probably the biggest thing,” Diamond said.
The Chubb Classic will be back at Tiburon Feb. 14-20, 2022.
The Chubb Classic is going back to its normal February dates in 2022 and to Tiburón Golf Club at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort in Naples, Florida, for the next two years.
But there is a new name running it — in more ways than one.
The PGA Tour Champions event, which is presented by SERVPRO, has announced the return to Tiburón’s Black Course, where it was played in April and won by Steve Stricker, the captain for the U.S. Ryder Cup team this week. The extension through 2023 coincides with extensions for title sponsor Chubb and presenting sponsor SERVPRO announced in August 2020.
“The Chubb Classic is one of the premier events on the PGA Tour Champions schedule and is a mainstay in the Naples and Southwest Florida,” said Andy Bush, a partner in tournament owner/manager Outlyr, in a release. “We couldn’t be more excited to continue our partnership with Tiburòn Golf Club for 2022 and beyond in hosting this great championship.”
Sandy Diamond has taken over as tournament director — with his position as vice president and executive director — for the 35th annual tournament being held be Feb. 14-20. He replaces Scott Reid who left that role prior to last year’s tournament.
“Outlyr is all about bringing on best-in-class employees to manage our portfolio of tournaments, and Sandy Diamond fits the bill perfectly,” Bush said. “I’ve worked alongside Sandy for a number of years, and to have him join the team as we look to celebrate the Chubb Classic’s 35-year anniversary is the ideal time and opportunity.”
Diamond, a longtime PGA Tour sales, marketing and sponsorships executive who most recently was chief development officer for The First Tee of Metropolitan New York, will oversee all tournament management of the Chubb Classic, working in conjunction with PGA Tour Champions. Diamond and his family have relocated from the New York/New Jersey area to Naples.
“I’ve been fortunate to have a long-lasting career in the golf industry that has allowed me to channel my passions in both sports and business,” Diamond said. “To have this opportunity to join Outlyr and to manage the Chubb Classic and its upcoming 35th anniversary is a perfect next step in my career. I look forward to working with my friends at the PGA Tour and getting fully engrained in the Naples community as we ramp up for the 2022 edition of this great championship.”
Tickets and volunteer registration will be announced at a later date. For more information on the Chubb Classic, visit www.ChubbClassic.com.
In April, Stricker, a former part-time Naples resident who sold his home the week of the tournament, hung on to win by a stroke over Robert Karlsson and Alex Cejka. The tournament was moved from its normal February date partly for the hope that the coronavirus pandemic may have eased enough for fans to attend. But attendance was limited to Tiburón members, guests and sponsors.
Staying at Tiburón means once again that the resort, with both courses designed by World Golf Hall of Famer Greg Norman, will host all three of Naples’ professional tour events, this time in an even tighter window than before.
The LPGA Tour’s CME Group Tour Championship will be Nov. 15-21, followed by the PGA Tour’s QBE Shootout, the event Norman founded and hosts, from Dec. 8-12. Both of those are on the Gold Course.
This past year with the Chubb being in April, there was six months total between the LPGA event and it. Now there will be four.
“On behalf of our members and staff we are excited to return as tournament host for the Chubb Classic in 2022,” said Kevin DeDonato, General Manager at Tiburón Golf Club, in the release. “The support we receive from ownership, Troon, and all of our great partners will provide the resources to make this another successful event. We look forward to working with the Outlyr team along with all of the organizations affiliated with this longstanding event.”
Steve Stricker, who sold his Naples home, won the PGA Tour Champions’ Chubb Classic at Tiburón Golf Golf Club by a shot.
NAPLES, Fla. — Steve Stricker is leaving Naples. And he left it Sunday with a win.
Stricker, who sold his Naples home, won the PGA Tour Champions’ Chubb Classic at Tiburón Golf Golf Club at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort.
The 2021 U.S. Ryder Cup captain missed some chances to pull away, but knocked it tight on the par-4 16th and made birdie to give himself enough room for his sixth Champions Tour victory by a single stroke.
“I could have made it a little easier on myself for sure,” said Stricker, whose wife Nicki was his caddie. “I knew exactly where I was. I told Nicki when we were going down No. 14, I said, ‘Let’s get two out of these next three, and I hit it in there at Nos. 14 and 15 and missed them both and hit it in there at No. 16, but if I could have made a couple more putts, it would have been a little bit easier.
“But it’s tough to win. It’s tough to win anywhere, and I’m happy to get it done.”
Stricker, 54, has won six times in 29 PGA Champions Tour starts, but he’s still playing the regular Tour as well, partly to keep tabs on possible players for this year’s Ryder Cup. He’s made three cuts with one top-10 in eight starts there on the wraparound season.
“It kind of goes week to week,” Stricker said of his decision-making regarding what events to play. “I enjoy playing out here. Competition is great. You have to play well to win. But I also still enjoy playing on the regular tour. I’ve had a couple good showings this year so far. If I could get the putter going a little bit, my ball-striking is probably as good as it’s been when I was playing my best out on the regular tour.
“If I can get that putter going, I’ll probably play out on the big tour and see if I can’t make the (FedEx Cup) Playoffs one more time.”
Stricker parred four straight holes, including three-putting for par on the par-5 15th, but recovered on No. 16. Then he put his second shot in a greenside bunker on the par-4 17th, but crafted a delicate shot – with his left foot out of the bunker – to within 3 feet for par.
Steve Stricker acknowledges the crowd after the final round of the Chubb Classic at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Florida. (Andrew West/The News-Press)
“I didn’t have much of a stance there – shouldn’t have been there in the first place,” he said. “… Yeah, that was a tough little stance and just hacked it out of there and gave myself a four-footer, which I made nicely for a change.”
On the par-5 18th, Stricker put his second shot in the greenside bunker, but couldn’t get up and down for birdie, leaving the door open.
Robert Karlsson, who entered the final round sharing the lead, and Alex Cejka, who won the Monday qualifier, both had to eagle No. 18 to force a playoff. But both missed the green, and although Karlsson’s pitch and Cejka’s bunker shot were fine efforts, neither went in. Both birdied to finish a stroke behind Stricker.
“Today felt a bit uncomfortable,” Karlsson said. “It’s a long time since I’ve been up there. Yeah, it was nice to be up there. I played really well the last few holes.”
“I saw where he was (at 16 under). I thought, ‘I have to try to give it a go.’ But when it came out a little right, I was like, ugh. You can’t expect to hole it from 40 yards when you missed it from six feet a bunch of times throughout the day. That’s not the problem.”
Cejka was trying to become the first Monday qualifier to win on the tour since Doug Barron at the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open in 2019. Still, his top-10 finish put him automatically into the field at the next eligible event, the Mitsubishi Championship in Atlanta.
“A couple of little mistakes hurt me, especially early in the round,” he said. “This course can be tricky but I gave it a shot until the end.”
Fred Couples and Bernhard Langer both were in contention but fell back with poor tee shots late in the round. They tied for sixth at 13 under.
Couples, who had a share of the lead going into the final round and had won twice in Naples, had to take an unplayable lie on the par-5 15th and bogeyed. Three-time Naples champion Langer, after just missing an eagle putt on that hole, put one in the hazard area on the par-4 16th. He also bogeyed to end his chances.
“(Stricker) played extremely solid, never really made a mistake, he just kept the ball in play, hit good shots, and made a couple of good putts but had a couple other chances, too,” Langer said. “He played really, really steady, just the way you’re supposed to play around here. Hit a lot of 3-woods off the tee, but he’s pretty long still, and yeah, gave himself lots of looks and never had any total stress to get up-and-down or anything like that.”
Tim Petrovic, who shot a 7-under 65, and Charles Schwab Cup leader Kevin Sutherland, who shot 6 under, both tied for third.
Petrovic birdied No. 18, but Sutherland ended up with a par after coming up just short of the green in two.
“I wish I could have made birdie on 18,” Sutherland said. “You never know what’s going to happen. But I just didn’t hit — I hit two poor shots around the green, and that’s the way it goes.”
Stricker was happy he had his wife there as his caddie.
“She’s a great calming influence out there,” he said. “She’s very upbeat. She says the right things.”
Especially when at times a leader’s biggest conflict is with themselves.
“You’re battling yourself, you’re battling the course and you’re battling the other players,” he said. “As the older we get, you’re battling yourself more than anything at times. That’s what makes it hard, and that’s what makes the game hard.”
Stricker was looking up at the leaderboard at what everyone was doing the whole way.
“I was watching it all the time,” he said. “I like to know where I’m sitting. I knew who was coming. I saw the look in Bernhard’s eye there for a little while, and I’m like ‘Uh-oh, here he comes.’
“I saw Freddie was only a shot or two back, and Robert Karlsson who I played with (Saturday) who’s really striking it well, and obviously Kevin Sutherland was already in the house already, or on 18.”
In the end, though, he was looking down at everyone else.
Fred Couples now has company atop the leaaderboard at the Chubb Classic.
NAPLES, Fla. – Fred Couples finished where he started Saturday — in the lead at the Chubb Classic presented by SERVPRO.
But the two-time winner in Naples didn’t do so as emphatically as the first round. And he has plenty of company.
Robert Karlsson, a Swede with 11 European Tour wins and a pair of European Ryder Cup appearances, has a share with Couples at 12-under 132 on Tiburón Golf Club’s Black Course.
Couples, who set the course record with a 9-under 63 Friday, was nowhere near that sharp Saturday – at least as far as making birdies. He parred the first 10 holes before finally getting a birdie to drop on No. 11, then gave that back with a bogey on No. 12. But he came right back with a birdie on No. 13, then finished with back-to-back birdies to tie Karlsson.
“I just didn’t make many birdies or hit any really, really good shots — but finished strong, and I’m tied with Robert with a handful of guys very, very close,” said Couples, 61, who hasn’t won on tour since 2017.
“It was a good birdie on the last. I didn’t hit the ball poorly, you’ve just got to get it in the right spots. … It got exciting out there, and it got bunched up. Someone at 8-under could shoot 7- or 8-under and still win. No one is really out of it, that’s for sure.”
Karlsson came in with a 66 late Friday, then matched it Saturday. He was 6 under for the round with five holes to play, but made a bogey and parred three of them before birdieing No. 18.
Karlsson arrived in town early to check out the new tournament course and that’s been a good move.
“It has definitely helped, definitely for the tee shots,” he said. “I put in a bit of extra work and kind of hitting some of the low tee balls, which is useful here. There’s a bit of wind and a lot of trees protecting the fairways, so if you can keep it underneath the tree line, it’s quite easy; you can take a bit of the wind out, which is nice.”
Three-time champion Bernhard Langer, U.S. Ryder Cup captain and part-time Naples resident Steve Stricker, and Monday qualifier Alex Cejka are all one behind. Cejka made seven birdies in his last 11 holes in a 65, the lowest of the day.
“Everything is wide open, so it just depends who is hot,” said Langer, who rallied from a double-bogey on No. 3 with six birdies and is four off Hale Irwin’s tour record of 45 career victories.
Stricker grabbed the lead with birdies on Nos. 15 and 16, but bogeyed No. 17 and then had to get up and down for par on the par-5 18th.
“This course if you get it going in the right direction, you can really shoot a nice round like Freddie did (a 63 on Friday),” Stricker said. “You’ve got to kind of expect that somebody may do that (Sunday), maybe two or three or four shots back, putting up a good round.”
“I think for the leaders, the guys up around the lead, you’re going to have to play a good round and maybe shoot 5-, 6-, 7-under and see what that does for you.”
Cejka is trying to become the first Monday qualifier to win on the PGA Tour Champions since Doug Barron at the 2019 Dick’s Sporting Goods Open.
“I’m just happy to be out here,” Cejka said. “I’ve been waiting many, many years to finally qualify here to this Tour. I’m having fun. It’s a blast. I mean, it’s a great group of guys here, three rounds, no cut, perfect golf courses.”
Karlsson, 51, and Cejka, a 50-year-old from Germany, don’t have the name recognition of Couples, Stricker or Langer.
“It’s enough to worry about my own ball, I’m pretty sure,” Karlsson said. “Look, I’ve done this before. Even though I’m not very well-known in America, I’ve had a few chances in Europe and won a few tournament in Europe, so I know when I get lost in what players around me are doing, it’s very hard.
“So my focus for (Sunday) is just to focus on my own golf ball and to go out and play and enjoy and also take all the pressure off.”
