Tag: Cologuard Classic

Photos: 2024 Cologuard Classic by Exact Sciences on PGA Tour Champions

La Paloma has three courses and parts of all three were combined to make a composite layout.

TUCSON, Ariz. — The PGA Tour Champions returned to Southern Arizona for the Cologuard Classic but at a new venue.

La Paloma Country Club, a Jack Nicklaus design that opened in 1984, hosted the senior circuit for the first time in 2024 after nine years at Tucson National. Cologuard came on as title sponsor in 2018.

La Paloma has three 9-hole golf courses and parts of all three were combined to make a composite layout for the tournament, which played at 6,856 yards and had a par of 71.

It’s the first year of a three-year deal for the venue, which is also famous for being used for some of the scenes in the hit golf movie Tin Cup.

The total purse is $2,200,000 with the winner earning $330,000.

Steve Stricker says some LIV golfers want to come back to PGA Tour; are player transfers an option?

The golf conversation continues to be dominated by the PGA Tour-LIV Golf rift.

TUCSON, Ariz. — While player movement at the top level of men’s professional golf usually involves LIV recruiting yet another PGA Tour player, Steve Stricker said he knows that some LIV golfers want to return to the PGA Tour.

“I know that for a fact,” he said Thursday after his pro-am round ahead of the 2024 Cologuard Classic at La Paloma Country Club. “And so it’s kind of a wait and see game.”

With much of the golf conversation dominated by the rift, there doesn’t see to be much oxygen left to talk about the other tours but players on the PGA Tour Champions are paying attention to the goings-on in the world of professional golf.

“Of course I’m very interested in what happens,” said Stewart Cink, who turned 50 last year but still plays on both PGA Tour circuits. “I hope that we can get back together as like one sport in golf, but it’s a complex situation.”

With the PGA Tour holding a big-money signature event at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and LIV Golf playing for a fourth time in 2024 in Hong Kong, the Champions circuit is about to stage the first of three straight West Coast events.

“Ultimately, I hope someday we all can play nice together again and have the best players in the world playing and competing against one another,” said Stricker. “I think that day will come and I think there will be some circumstances, you know, where those guys that left are going to have to do something, I don’t know, a penalty of some sort, I don’t know what that means. I hope some day it all comes back together and the guys are playing all together again.”

Whether the rival tours coexist, merge or simply allow some crossover, many feel that there should be no easy path back to the PGA Tour for those who left.

“I wouldn’t let the LIV guys come right back, I don’t think. I think there needs to be some way of, you know, just another way to say thanks for the guys that didn’t leave and just kind of abandon our standards and rules,” Cink said. “I think there needs to be some form of like delayed, I don’t know if it’s delaying some of their performance bonuses or if it’s some kind of a suspension that maintains itself, I don’t know exactly, but something.”

Big names on the PGA Tour leaving for LIV Golf is having a ripple effect on the Champions tour.

“It’s unfortunate, because when [Phil] Mickelson came out, it was a jolt for our tour and it was great,” David Toms, the defending champion of the Cologuard Classic, said during a media day Monday at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California, for the upcoming Galleri Classic.

Mickelson won his first two – and four of his first six – starts on the PGA Tour Champions in 2021 but seven months after rolling in a birdie putt on the 18th hole at Phoenix Country Club to end that season, he was off to London for the first-ever LIV Golf event.

“And so then all of the sudden he’s not a part of us anymore. So that’s unfortunate,” Toms said.

The drain of veteran golfers with name recognition means the Champions circuit also lost out on Lee Westwood, who turned 50 in April of 2023 and it won’t be able to welcome Ian Poulter, who turned 48 in January 2024, nor Henrik Stenson, who turns 48 this April, in the coming years. The PGA Tour losing a bit of name recognition eventually means a weakened Champions tour.

As long as the PGA Tour and LIV exist, perhaps there’s some middle ground that can be found.

“I’m not against, you know, some sort of a transfer back and forth. I played (Mexico Open) there on the PGA Tour a couple weeks ago, and I’m sure they would have loved to have Abraham Ancer play. So I’m not against having a small amount of invites, and that cuts both ways,” said Padraig Harrington, who compared the situation to the rivalry the PGA Tour used to have with the European Tour. “When the European Tour is in Spain this year, we would love to have Jon Rahm play the Spanish Open. I’m not against a small amount of transfer of players playing events and maybe a couple of invites going each direction. Maybe an outside team playing every week in LIV, why not.

“But again, not too sure how they’re going to come together as one tour, so why not have an agreeable two tours where there’s a bit of rivalry.”

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Padraig Harrington insists his instructional videos can get ‘every golfer in the whole wide world to a single figure handicap’

“It’s hard to be a scratch golfer, but to get to 9, it’s not that hard.”

TUCSON, Ariz. — For golf nerds, Padraig Harrington is a must follow on social media.

If you watch his instructional videos enough, you might even get really good at the game.

“I should be able to get every golfer in the whole wide world to a single figure handicap. I think that’s a very reasonable goal,” Harrington said after his pro-am round at La Paloma Country Club, host venue for this week’s Cologuard Classic on the PGA Tour Champions.

“I’ve always liked coaching,” he said, his words coming from a place of truly trying to help the “weekend warriors” get better as this difficult game. Harrington started making videos during the COVID shutdown. He was actually kept from traveling home to Ireland for several months during 2020, so he just kept playing golf but he also started pointing the cellphone camera towards himself to create content that just might help someone out there learn the game.

Cologuard: Steve Stricker says ‘it’s fun thinking about’ pairing up with Tiger Woods for team event in New Orleans

“I tried to post a video every day, then obviously we expanded to now doing it on YouTube on Paddy’s Golf Tips. It’s enjoyable. It’s a great way to get access to the public directly.”

Chris DiMarco, a five-year veteran of the Champions circuit, says it’s “fun watching them and it’s not just something he’s doing to be funny.”

But is it realistic to turn Joe Sixpack, who goes through two sleeves of balls each round, into a single-digit handicapper?

“I think that’s a very reasonable goal,” he insists. “It’s hard to be a scratch golfer, but to get to 9, it’s not that hard.

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“When I say it’s not that hard, there’s some simple things you can do to get there and that’s what my videos are mainly focused on. I’m really just trying to help the weekend warrior get to a level where if you’re a single figure golfer, you can walk into any clubhouse with your chest expanded. It’s a level of achievement.”

Shedding bad habits is one thing. So is ignoring the so-called tips that everyone has heard.

“When it comes to golf, people who come to golf, especially athletes who come to golf, they seem to have some crazy ideas about keeping your head still or keeping your head down or swinging slowly. God, they’re like 100 percent, I think, it won’t be 100 percent, but 99 percent of golfers would be better off doing the exact opposite of what they think would be better. Just swing away, that’s probably the best advice you could give. You’ll just get used to it and time it after that rather than to try and get good too quick, too early.

“We could talk about this all day,” he said.

His playing competitors sometimes notice, too. Harrington says he was stopped by a Champions tour colleague Thursday morning about a recent video.

“I was literally walking out the door, the pro said it was really helping him,” he said before continuing his thoughts in instructor mode. “I just did a recent one with stepping in your swing, try and get the proper sequence in at the movements. Remember, I said movements. You don’t stay still when you’re swinging a golf club, you’ve got to move.

“I’m not trying to make these lessons for my fellow pros,” he added. “I’m trying to make them, as I said, for beginners and people who are kind of stuck in the game, who aren’t improving and trying to get them across that threshold of, you know, being able to break 80, be a single-figure golfer.”

Steve Stricker says ‘it’s fun thinking about’ pairing up with Tiger Woods for team event in New Orleans

So, what if Stricker formally asked Tiger, might he accept?

TUCSON, Ariz. — Tiger Woods has already made it known he’s facing a future of playing a limited schedule of the majors, the Genesis and probably the signature events when he can.

But what about the lone team event on the PGA Tour, the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, alongside good buddy Steve Stricker?

Stricker floated the idea on a recent Golf Digest podcast, saying he’s a “huge Tiger fan, and I want to see him playing as much as he can.”

He then floated out an amazing prospect.

“I thought about asking him to see if he wanted to play in New Orleans at the team event,” Stricker said.

Since then, a few days have passed for Stricker to marinate on the idea. In Tucson this week for the PGA Tour Champions Cologuard Classic, he was asked to confirm whether he in fact did ask Tiger to play.

“I haven’t, no,” he said after his pro-am round at La Paloma Country Club.

Was the idea of it just something he’d thought about, not actually considered?

“We had some great times being teammates on some of those [Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup] teams over the years. I guess I blurted it out loud when I was on a podcast with somebody, I said wouldn’t it be cool to get the band together one more time, for him and I to play again,” he said, adding “I don’t think that will happen, he’s got other issues than playing with me, but it would be fun, and it’s fun thinking about it.”

Stricker is coming off a PGA Tour Champions season in which he won six times, including three majors. One of those, the Kaulig Companies Championship (formally the Senior Players), guaranteed him a spot in next week’s Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass.

So, what if Stricker formally asked Tiger, might he accept?

“You know, I’ll see him next week at the Players, hopefully he’ll be there and I’ll be there, hopefully play a practice round with him. Yeah, I’ll ask him,” he said.

Tucson golf course where part of the movie ‘Tin Cup’ was filmed will host PGA Tour Champions in 2024

La Paloma Country Club, a Jack Nicklaus Signature golf course, opened in 1984 in Tucson.

TUCSON, Ariz. — “Tin Cup” is probably the second-best golf movie ever made and if you were to Google it, you’d find a slew of interesting facts about the film, including the locations used to film it.

The “tiny Arizona town of Tubac” comes up in that search, as does Kingwood, Texas. But another filming location was La Paloma Country Club, a Jack Nicklaus Signature golf course that opened in 1984.

In February, when the PGA Tour Champions returns to Tucson, the 50-and-over circuit will compete at La Paloma, the first of a three-year deal for the Cologuard Classic by Exact Sciences. Tin Cup fans who look closely will probably recognize parts of the course.

“Kevin Costner was here,” said David Stout, the regional director of agronomy for Troon, who then recounted a funny story. “The mechanic of the golf course was actually mowing this area and there was a problem with the mower and they scalped the grass a few days before the filming of the scene.”

Alas, no harm, no foul, as filming commenced on time.

La Paloma, which means “the dove” in Spanish, opened with nine holes on the Ridge course and nine on the Canyon. In 1985, a third nine dubbed the Hill was opened.

The Cologuard Classic will take advantage of the best parts of the three nines, with the routing for the tournament to include “all of the Ridge Course, Canyon Nos. 1, 4, 8 and 9 and Hill 3, 4 and 9,” according to Stout.

The PGA Tour Champions played at Omni Tucson National’s Catalina Course since 2015 and Cologuard came in as the title sponsor in 2018. But the run at Tucson National is over, with a new era starting at La Paloma.

Located about 10 miles to the southeast, there won’t be much change in elevation, with both courses at about 2300 feet, but the venues are indeed quite different.

“There’s a lot of movement on these golf courses,” Stout said. “It has one of the higher slope ratings out there. Tucson National is a great golf course but relatively flat particularly on that Catalina course. Here there’s just constant movement, so I think the tee shots will be challenging but the second shots in will be challenging. These Nicklaus greens are a little smaller, they’re tight and they’re really well protected on all sides.”

Check out some of the best photos of La Paloma Country Club.

David Toms wins PGA Tour Champions Cologuard Classic, which will move to a new Tucson venue in 2024

David Toms led by four shots at one point en route to winning for the third time on the PGA Tour Champions.

TUCSON, Ariz. — David Toms posted a 6-under 30 on his front nine Saturday and led by two shots after 36 holes at the 2023 Cologuard Classic.

On Sunday, he led by four through 11 holes and was still up by two when he got to the par-4 18th, rated the most difficult hole on the PGA Tour Champions last season.

And for the third day in a row, the 18th proved trouble for Toms, who drove his tee shot into a lake down the right side of the fairway for the third time.

He said he didn’t see it go in Sunday and only discovered it was wet once he got up there, and that probably helped him avoid thinking about a bad shot for very long.

“It was more about ‘Let’s take our drop, let’s get our yardage,'” Toms said. “My caddie Scott [Gneiser] said ‘Hey man, we’re alright. Let’s hit a good shot here.'”

Toms only had five bogeys over the 72 holes and three of those came on the 18th. After a drop, his approach missed right but he got up-and-down for bogey and that was enough, as Toms closed with a 68 to finish at 15 under and beat Robert Karlsson by a shot. Toms (68-65-68) posted 19 birdies over three days and besides the first-place check, he also won a gold Conquistador helmet, which is the trophy for the tournament.

He sounded excited to be able to bring that home.

“It’s just kinda one of those things. I’ve always paid attention to it, saw the funny pictures of the guys putting it on their heads. I can tell you that my caddie’s got no chance to fit it on his head,” Toms quipped.

2023 Cologuard Classic
David Toms poses with the trophy after winning the 2023 Cologuard Classic at Omni Tucson National in Tucson, Arizona. (Photo: Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

Gene Sauers had the best round Sunday with a 64 and tied Mark Hensby for third at 12 under. Doug Barron finished solo fifth at 11 under. Lee Janzen and Marco Dawson tied for sixth at 10 under.

Other notables this week:

  • Steve Stricker: Tied for eighth (70-66-71)
  • Brett Quigley: First-round leader bounced back from a second-round 73 with a closing 69
  • Miguel Angel Jimenez: Tournament’s defending champion shot 70-70-69 to finish 7 under.
  • Bernhard Langer: A Champions tour record 46th win will have to wait, as he shot 72-68-70 to tie for 19th
  • Jerry Kelly: tournament ambassador also tied for 19th.

New venue in 2024

The Cologuard Classic announced Sunday that the event will have a new home next season, as the Jack Nicklaus-designed La Paloma Country Club will be the host venue in 2024. The private club is about 10 miles northwest of this year’s locale, Tucson National, which hosted since 2015.

Cologuard had previously announced an extension of its title sponsorship of the event through 2027.

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David Toms cards nine birdies, takes two-shot lead at Cologuard Classic

“I thought it might be one of those days where I could go really low.”

David Toms shot a 7-under 65 on Saturday to jump into the lead at the 2023 Cologuard Classic.

Toms opened with consecutive birdies and made the turn with a 6-under 30. He birdied Nos. 10, 14 and 17 but had bogeys on Nos. 16 to 18 to finish 36 holes at 11 under at Omni Tucson National in Tucson, Arizona.

“Front nine, obviously when you shoot 6-under par first nine, a lot of things  went well. I made a couple nice putts, but I hit a lot of nice shots, kept the ball in play, got pretty hot in the beginning actually,” Toms said. “I thought it might be one of those days where I could go really low.”

Toms last won at the 2021 Ascension Charity Classic in St. Louis in a playoff.

“Certainly you can’t ever really get ahead of yourself. Back when I used to win a fairly good amount on the [PGA] Tour, I just never really thought about winning too much, I went out there and played golf and it just kind of happened,” Toms said. “Tomorrow I’ll have to obviously play aggressive when you can because there’s a lot of guys out there, you saw a lot of good scores today. The weather’s going to be nice again, so it will be another day where I’ll have to be hot, but why not?”

Robert Karlsson is two shots back after his second-round 64. Steve Stricker is in solo third at 8 under after shooting a 66.

Chris DiMarco posted a 63, the round of the week so far, to get into a tie for fourth alongside Alex Cejka and Retief Goosen.

First-round leader Brett Quigley stumbled to a 73 on Saturday. He opened with a bogey, had birdies on Nos. 8 and 9 and then closed with back-to-back bogeys.

Bernhard Langer, tied with Hale Irwin for the most wins in Champions tour history with 45, is tied for 15th after rounds of 72 and 68. He will start the final round Sunday seven shots back.

Langer did celebrate a Champions tour milestone, playing in his 1,000th round Saturday.

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PGA Tour Champions Q school grad Brian Cooper a shot off lead at Cologuard Classic

Brian Cooper was 17 shots better Friday than his last outing on the PGA Tour Champions.

TUCSON, Ariz. — Padraig Harrington and Steven Alker made all the headlines the last time the PGA Tour Champions visited Arizona.

Harrington won the Charles Schwab Cup Championship at Phoenix Country Club, while Alker claimed his first season-long points title.

Fast forward the calendar three months and neither golfer is in the field this week at the Cologuard Classic. Champions tour stalwarts Steve Stricker (2-under 70), Miguel Angel Jimenez (2-under 70) and Bernhard Langer (even par 72) were well off the pace after 18 holes.

Add it all up and the door is cracked open for others to make a move, including 2022 Champions tour Q school grad Brian Cooper.

Cooper fired a 6-under 66 Friday in his seventh round on the tour this season and 34th round overall. It’s his lowest score to date. He was one of the five survivors of Q school last November and the 55-year-old came into Tucson with rounds of 78-83-77-77-84-83 in his first six outings in 2023.

Some of that he chalked up to his equipment, which he said he takes full responsibility for. He also suffered a pinched nerve in his neck two weeks ago.

So far this week, however, everything is firing on all cylinders.

“Living in Arizona, I mean, this week, playing well this week would really mean a lot,” he said. “I’m going to have family here, friends here. This week would really mean a lot.”

Playing the back nine first, he birdied Nos. 12 and 16 and then eagled the 17th. He had three more birdies on the front nine before closing with three straight pars.

“I think the way I hit it today, it’s kind of indicative of the way I’ve been hitting it and that’s what I expect out of myself. Whether it’s 66 or not, I expect to hit the ball good and give myself opportunities,” Cooper said. “In the first two weeks, honestly, I had zero opportunities. So this is what I expect of myself not only this week but the entire year.”

Cooper is a shot off the lead of Brett Quigley, who had the best round Friday with a 7-under 65, the day after the golf course was blanketed under a thick layer of snow.

“I loved it. I felt like I was a little kid yesterday,” he said. “I hadn’t seen snow in so long. It was a fun morning. The guys building the snowman out there on the driving range and driving in, seeing all that snow, it was like being a kid again.”

2023 Cologuard Classic
Snow covers Tucson National in Arizona on Thursday, March 2, 2023, ahead of the 2023 Cologuard Classic. (Photo: Cologuard Classic)

Brett Quigley was 0-for-his-careeer on the PGA Tour (408 starts) but won his second-ever start on the Champions tour three years ago.

Among the four tied for second with Cooper is John Huston, whose lone Champions win came 12 years ago. He knows it’s too early to start thinking about the winner’s circle just yet.

“I’m too smart for that. I know it’s a long ways to go,” Huston said.

Kirk Triplett also shot a 66. Alex Cejka is solo fifth at 5 under. Tournament ambassador Jerry Kelly, Marco Dawson, Ken Duke, David Toms and Mike Weir are tied for sixth at 5 under after shooting 67s.

John Daly, in the field on a sponsor exemption, shot an 81 and is tied for last with Gary Hallberg.

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‘Keep kicking butt’: Steve Stricker is playing the Cologuard Classic in honor of Golfweek’s Steve DiMeglio, who continues his fight against cancer

“All I keep saying is keep plugging and keep kicking butt and you can do it.”

The PGA Tour Champions Cologuard Classic has a tradition of pairing competitors with cancer patients, cancer survivors or in memory of those who lost their battle with cancer.

For the 2023 event, Steve Stricker will be paired with longtime Golfweek/USA Today senior writer Steve DiMeglio.

This is the third year that players will be “paired up” and wearing ribbons with their honoree’s name throughout the competition.

During his pre-tournament news conference Thursday, Stricker was asked about his pairing with DiMeglio.

“When I learned of his prognosis back last year, I’ve been in contact with him probably on a monthly basis just checking in with him and seeing how he’s been doing,” he said. “Steve, I’ve been kind of in his corner since I found out and been seeing how he’s been doing, how he’s been feeling. We’ve been talking back and forth. So it’s kind of, it’s, I don’t know how to say it, but it’s a nice surprise that I get to play for him this week because he’s a friend and we’ve gone back to the days when I first came on [PGA] Tour that I’ve known Steve. And he’s been always very good to me and fair to me.

Steve DiMeglio, Steve Stricker
Steve Stricker will play the 2023 Cologuard Classic in honor of Golfweek’s Steve DiMeglio, who is battling cancer.

“Hopefully he can say the same. Yeah, it’s a cool situation that I get to think about him a little bit more this week and wear a ribbon with his name on it. Yeah, it’s a pretty cool thing.”

Stricker has also noticed how fired up DiMeglio is for the pairing.

“We texted back and forth after I found out that I was playing for him, texted back and forth a little bit. So I’ll send him out another probably thing before we get going,” Stricker said. “I just hope and pray that he’s on the mend and getting going in the right direction. It’s a tough thing. I know he’s stage IV, which is pretty far along, so he’s still got an uphill battle. I don’t know if he tells me everything. He keeps telling me that he’s fighting it. All I keep saying is keep plugging and keep kicking butt and you can do it and all that kind of stuff.

“Yeah, hopefully he’s going to beat it and make it through.”

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Photos: Snow blankets Tucson National ahead of PGA Tour Champions Cologuard Classic

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

A winter storm moved in over Arizona on Wednesday and by Thursday morning, the green fairways at Tucson National Golf Club, host venue for the 2023 Cologuard Classic on the PGA Tour Champions, were blanketed white with snow.

The golf course sits at about 2,300-foot elevation. The National Weather Service issued a winter weather advisory Wednesday evening that said the Tucson area was likely to get 1-to-3 inches of snow, with areas above 6,000 feet likely to get as much as 16 inches.

“It’s pretty, very pretty. Holy cow, the mountains look beautiful,” said Steve Stricker, who held his pre-tournament news conference just after lunch Thursday. “It doesn’t look so good on the golf course when you’re trying to play. But at least we’re getting out there today, we’ll see some of it somehow, either par 3, scramble or play nine holes. Yeah, it was something different to wake up to, for sure.”

The pro-ams scheduled for Thursday were adjusted to nine holes, starting at noon and 3 p.m. local time (2 p.m. and 5 p.m. ET).

The start of the tournament’s first round on Friday is expected to begin as scheduled, with the first tee time at 10:08 a.m. local time.

Miguel Angel Jimenez, who had two aces a year in the event, is the defending champion.

Bernhard Langer, tied for most PGA Tour Champions wins with 45, can break the record long held by Hale Irwin if he wins the 54-hole event Sunday.