Tag: harry higgs

BMW Championship: Who’s in, whose bubble burst in FedEx Cup Playoffs

The field of 124 at the Northern Trust has been cut to 70 for the BMW Championship.

JERSEY CITY, N.J. – Tony Finau wasn’t the only player who came through in the clutch on Monday at the Northern Trust.

In the tournament within the tournament, six players punched their ticket for this week’s BMW Championship, the second leg of the three event FedEx Cup Playoffs and kept their hopes alive to win the $15 million in bonus money awarded to the champion.

While Finau closed in 65 at Liberty National to win the title in a sudden-death playoff, Keith Mitchell birdied the final three holes to jump 38 places to No. 63 and bump Matthew Wolff to the wrong side of the cutline at No. 71.

“I was pretty down on myself in the middle of 15 fairway and to be standing here getting up and down on 15 for par and then birdieing the last three holes to play next week, it took a lot of, I guess just calming my nerves and trying to remember that this is it, I’ve got three holes left to keep playing or I’m going home,” said Mitchell who finished T-8. “I just decided to stick with it and really that putt on 18 just sealed the deal.”

Sweden’s Alex Noren charged with a closing 66 and despite a bogey at the last finished tied for fourth.

“I kind of knew I wasn’t going to win, but a good chance for a good finish, and that’s all I tried to do, moving up to next week,” Noren said.

NORTHERN TRUST: Winner’s bag | Leaderboard | Photos | Money

Tom Hoge closed in 69 and tied for fourth with Noren and Justin Thomas. He started the week at No. 108 and made up the most ground among those who advanced.

“I had no plans as far as what we were going to did after the round here, so you have to play well and make sure you’re moving on,” Hoge said.

Erik van Rooyen had a rollercoaster of a day. He started one stroke out of the lead and was in the trophy hunt until he hit two balls in the water at the par-3 11th and made quadruple bogey. In one disastrous hole, he tumbled 28 spots in the FedEx Cup standings and could ill afford anymore slip ups. But he bounced back with an eagle at the par-5 13th and finished seventh.

“I was fighting right the whole day, and then sniped one left on 11, in a place you can’t miss it. That’s disappointing,” he said. “I tried to paddle back after that and make some birdies, obviously knowing that I probably was out of it at that point for winning the tournament, but there’s points on the line to move up.”

Harry Higgs shot 3-under 68 to finish T-16 and secure at least another shot to make it to Atlanta and the Tour Championship.

“I’m no good with numbers, I don’t know how it works but I’m pretty sure if I win next week I will be into Atlanta which is obviously a goal,” he said. “I did figure when I made the turn at even, I kind of thought four birdies on the back nine would be in enough, three would have a very good chance. I guess fortunately made three to just scrape by and get in.”

Northern Trust
Harold Varner III at the 2021 Northern Trust at Liberty National Golf Course in Jersey City, N.ew Jersey. Photo by John Minchillo)/Associated Press

Harold Varner III has been in this position before and came through in 2019, but said it doesn’t make it any easier.

“The nerves are the same,” he said. “I wish they could go away because you’ve done it before but it just hasn’t happened yet. Today was a grind and just hung in there.”

Reigning PGA Championship winner Phil Mickelson advanced on the number at 70th despite missing the cut on Friday. But Irishman Seamus Power wasn’t so lucky. He missed an 11-foot par putt at 18 that would’ve been the difference. The bogey left him in 72nd place. But Power, who was competing in Monday qualifiers with limited status before winning the Barbasol Championship last month, took it mostly in stride.

“For me there was nothing to lose and only to gain. I didn’t quite gain enough. Just didn’t have my best game and that’s what cost me,” he said. “Bogey at the last disappointing but in a few days I’ll be feeling better about it.”

Six players who entered the week on the right side of the cutline had their bubbles burst (see below) effectively when they missed the cut on Friday.

Now, the new target is to finish in the top 30 to advance to the Tour Championship. But first, the next stop is Baltimore and Caves Valley Golf Club. Asked how he would celebrate with the quick turnaround after a Monday finish, Mitchell said, “Driving to Baltimore in my BMW.”

Players moving into top 70

Player Finish at Northern Trust FedEx ranking last week Current FedEx ranking
Tom Hoge T-4 108 48
Alex Noren T-4 91 43
Erik van Rooyen 7 76 45
Keith Mitchell T-8 101 63
Harry Higgs T-16 80 69
Harold Varner III T-11 72 56

Players moving out of top 70

Player Finish at Northern Trust FedEx ranking last week Current FedEx ranking
Matthew Wolff MC 59 71
Matt Fitzpatrick MC 60 73
Tyrrell Hatton MC 63 74
Martin Laird MC 65 75
Troy Merritt MC 69 78
J.T. Poston MC 70 79

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In praise of Harry Higgs, the new Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green recordholder and a most memorable day

It slipped by without much fanfare – other than a few tweets – but Harry Higgs set a PGA Tour single-round record on Thursday.

JERSEY CITY, N.J. – On this rare day of rest on the PGA Tour, let’s take a moment to revisit a record that was set during Thursday’s first round of the Northern Trust at Liberty National.

It slipped by without much fanfare – other than a few tweets – but since the tournament’s final round was postponed until Monday, let’s reflect on the Strokes Gain: Around the Green record set by the one, the only Harry Higgs.

It was Paul Tesori, caddie for Webb Simpson, who brought attention to Higgs’ heroics from off the green. He tweeted to stats guru Justin Ray asking if gaining 5.92 strokes on the field Around the Green was a record and Ray responded in the affirmative.

So, what got into Harry on Thursday? “I don’t know but I’m going to try to figure it out so he can do it more often,” his brother Alex said.

Adam Scott played in the same threesome with Higgs and a day later still marveled at the black magic act he had witnessed. “He had one of those days where they all go in,” Scott said. “The world is revolving perfectly for you when things like that happen.”

Indeed, they were. Higgs holed three putts from off the green and chipped in for par on another occasion. The fun started happening for Higgs at the 13th, his fourth hole of the day, after he missed the par-5 with his second shot. Using a putter from 50 feet, he holed out for eagle.

“The first one that he putted in from way off the green hit Wyndham’s (Clark’s) coin like 30 feet from the hole, hopped up and still went in,” said Scott.

Of having Clark’s coin on his line, Higgs said, “It was in a perfect spot. Figured I didn’t need him to move it since I was off the green.”

From there, Higgs made run-of-the mills birdies at Nos. 16 and 6 that was offset by a string of three bogeys beginning at 17.

After hitting his tee shot in the water at the fifth, Higgs chipped in with his 60-degree wedge to save par from 34 feet left of the green. Then his TaylorMade Spider putter, which he’s used since playing the 2018 Korn Ferry Tour, took over. First, he made a bomb at the seventh for birdie.

Harry Higgs
The weapons Harry Higgs used to set the Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green record. (Adam Schupak/Golfweek)

“To call a 79-footer easy is a little aggressive but it broke right and went back to the left and so if you hit it the right speed it’ll just auto correct,” he said.

It may go down as an obscure record but Higgs wiped Patrick Reed’s name from the ShotLink record books (+5.84 in the third round of the 2017 U.S. Open) and etched his own in its place in memorable fashion. Higgs came up 80 feet short of the green at the ninth, his last hole of the day, with his approach to the par 4. No problem: by this point, Higgs was feeling it.

“If that’s as close as you’re going to get to the hole, you might as well try to hole them,” he said.

And so he drained another bomb.

“That was a bonus,” he said of his uphill, walk-off putt to close out a wild way to 2-shoot 2-under 69. “I told myself I have to think like I’m going to hit it off the green to get it all the way there.”

Here’s the thing: Scott said it’s “scary” to think what his strokes gained would’ve been if Higgs hadn’t half-chunked a chip at 17 and failed to chip on to the green from the tall stuff on 18.

“It should’ve, could’ve been even better,” Higgs conceded. “But that’s the story of this lovely game we play.”

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Phil Mickelson and Joel Dahmen defeat Harry Higgs and Keith Mitchell in Twitter-inspired match

Harry Higgs after the match: “I ran my big mouth and a Hall of Famer put me in my place.”

JERSEY CITY, N.J. — It wasn’t exactly Mohammed Ali and George Forman’s “Rumble in the Jungle,” but the Tuesday morning match between Phil Mickelson and Joel Dahmen against Harry Higgs and Keith Mitchell had the attention of everyone at Liberty National Golf Club.

Smiles and snickers were everywhere as the four walked to the first tee at 10 a.m. Rory McIlroy peaked across the fairway before teeing off on the second hole to catch the action, and Harris English called over a row of mounds on the 14th hole to get an update on the score.

In the end, Mickelson and Dahman came back from 2 down through four holes to win the 18-hole match, 3 and 1.

“I think we were all looking forward to playing today, which is great,” Mickelson said afterward. “We had a great time, and we had the right outcome, really. I think we had the outcome we all really certainly expecting, and I think, hoping for.”

It was classic Mickelson smack talk on a day filled with zingers. If you have not been following this saga, here’s the backstory.

On the Sunday before the start of the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, Higgs decided to answer questions posted by his Twitter followers. People lobbed in questions about the best shot Higgs had ever seen, the best shot he’d ever hit and so on. Then a follower asked Higgs this:

Mickelson then invited Higgs to play a match during that week’s WGC-FedEx St. Jude, knowing full well that Higgs had not qualified for the event.

Tuesday morning, after more good-natured back and forth on Twitter, the match was on, although none of the players disclosed how much was on the line.

After Mitchell’s tee shot on the first hole went into the water, Higgs made a birdie and won the hole to take a 1 up lead.

“Do you want par or Keith as your partner today,” Mickelson asked.

Northern Trust: Tee times, TV info | Odds | Fantasy

Twenty minutes later, after Mickelson’s second shot on the third hole came up well short of the green, Higgs returned the favor and yelled, “Hey Joel would you like a par as a partner?”

Instead of having Mickelson hit his pitch shot, Dahmen putted from 10 feet away and made his birdie. Mickelson then started pontificating about how golfers tend to miss putts on the high side of the hole when they need to make hole-halving putts. Of course, he talked loudly enough to let Higgs and Mitchell hear him, which was the point, but Mitchell made his birdie putt anyway.

“Paht-nah!” yelled Higgs.

After falling 2 down through four holes, Dahmen made a birdie on the fifth hole to win it. Then Mickelson’s drive on the sixth went so far right that it stopped in the seventh fairway. But he hit a great shot and then made an eagle putt to win the hole and square the match before making a birdie on the seventh put he and Dahmen 1 up.

While the match was going on, Mickelson was live tweeting.

On the 17th hole, after both Higgs and Mitchell missed their birdie putts, Mickelson called out to Dahmen. “Let’s end this with an exclamation point.”

Dahmen then rolled in a 30-foot birdie putt to give him and Mickelson their 3 and 1 win.

“We lost. That would be the extent of my take,” Higgs said after walking off the 18th green. “I ran my big mouth and a Hall of Famer put me in my place. But it was fun to get out with Phil, Joel is a great friend and Keith is a great friend as well. We had a blast. I would have like to have won, but I do think it was good preparation. I had a few nerves at times, it mattered a little bit. You want to beat Phil and anyone else you are playing with, but the lead up to it created some nerves. It was fun, it was nice to experience that on a Tuesday, when you are usually just walking around looking for places where you need to hit it and not need to hit it.”

Phil Mikelson and Joel Dahmen
On several occasions, Phil Mickelson helped Joel Dahmen read putts at Liberty National. Photo by David Dusek/Golfweek

All four players wanted to win, but the most interesting thing about the match was watching the 51-year-old Mickelson interact with his partner, Dahmen (33) as well as Higgs (29) and Mitchell (29). On several occasions, he gave Dahmen a read on putts, and explained his philosophy on putting and green reading. He answered Mitchell’s questions about golf balls, and on the 17th green, gave Higgs advice about being himself and not being afraid to have fun on the course, because that’s when Higgs will play his best golf.

Phil Mickelson and Harry Higgs
Phil Mickelson had some words of advice for Harry Higgs on the 17th green at Liberty National. Photo by David Dusek/Golfweek

“Phil and I are somewhat similar in that our true selves are somewhat vivacious, if you will. I don’t know if I’m using the right word there, but it’s a big word and it sounded nice,” Higgs said. “I know my best-performing self is a bit of a showoff, someone who interacts here and there. (Phil) put it great and said there are times when you have to harness it because you know it will help you and other times where have to give it no power and basically taker care of your business on and off the golf course.”

It’s the kind of advice that John Daly could have used 25 years ago, and that Higgs, who has developed a cult following of fans thanks to his fun-loving, everyman appeal, will be wise to follow.

So will there be a rematch?

“The key is to win in a way that is not so dominant that they believe they can win, and then come back for me,” Mickelson said, speaking like a shark in a pool of gold fish. “I think they are. I think they are going to come back for me, and that was really the challenge for Joel and I.”

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The Internet wins again: How a hypothetical question led to a Harry Higgs Vs. Phil Mickelson practice round money game

It happened innocently enough thanks to Twitter: Higgs and TBD Vs. Mickelson and Dahmen.

Harry Higgs and TBD vs. Phil Mickelson and Joel Dahmen – now there’s a match golf fans can get behind. It will happen on Tuesday, Aug. 17, at Liberty National Golf Club in Jersey City, New Jersey, and continue a PGA Tour tradition of great smack-talk practice round money games.

This one came to be innocently enough. Higgs, one of the most affable players in all of golf, was bored and had some time to kill on a flight and asked his Twitter followers to help him pass it by with a Q&A. That’s when Cameron Binder chimed in and asked, “Who would you want to partner with to take on Mickelson and Tom Brady in the next Match?” Higgs responded that “he’ll play with anyone. And I don’t think Phil Mickelson is ready for my trash talk.”

That’s all it took for Mickelson to take the bait. He came back firing, tweeting, “I might not be ready for your trash talk, but I am READY for you.”

The back and forth continued and before long Mickelson had proposed a match at next week’s WGC-FedEx St. Jude Championship. He tweeted, “This will save me a trip to the ATM before I leave. Thank you.”

There was only problem: Higgs didn’t qualify for next week’s limited-field, no-cut tournament in Memphis.

“And folks this is why Phil is the greatest. You swing at the greats you better not miss,” Higgs tweeted. “It’ll have to be Tuesday at Liberty National I didn’t qualify for Memphis. But I’m game!”

Mickelson couldn’t resist: “What? You say you’re ready for me and you’re not even qualified to be in the field? Might want to rethink that last lane change.”

Not long after, Dahmen asked in and Mickelson grabbed him to be his partner. Higgs has a little time to pick his teammate. Mickelson’s Tuesday money games are legendary, and this one shouldn’t disappoint. As Michael Buffer would say, “Let’s get ready to rumble!”

Harry Higgs’ brother and caddie delayed his USGA championship start to mix drinks for his brother at PGA Championship

Alex Higgs left his partner to go it alone at the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball while he caddies for brother Harry Higgs at the PGA Championship.

KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. – Max Homa’s caddie Joe Greiner wasn’t the only PGA Tour looper to qualify for the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship at Chambers Bay. So did Alex Higgs, sidekick for his brother Harry Higgs, who made birdie on the final two holes at The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Resort on Friday to comfortably make the 36-hole cut with his 1-under 143.

That means Alex Higgs’s partner, Park Ulrich, a financial advisor and the 2020 Kansas Amateur champion, is going to have to play solo on Saturday in the two-man team event when 36-hole stroke-play qualifying gets underway.

“We love you, Park, and hopefully you play your tail off and qualify for match play so then we can get Al all the way across the country to play some matches on Monday,” Harry Higgs said.

While Greiner was given the week off by his boss, Alex Higgs opted to work for his brother and booked a Friday night flight to Seattle, where the championship is being held, that was scheduled to depart at 6:45 p.m., just in case his brother failed to make cut.

“Made it a while ago, and I think I told him about it in some way, shape or form,” Alex Higgs said. “The wave that we got obviously kind of made that tough with all the traffic getting back to the airport, and obviously it’s not exactly close to here in Seattle. But it was a win-win going into the week for me.”

Harry Higgs and brother Alex Riggs
Harry Higgs and brother Alex Riggs talk to the media on Friday at the PGA Championship. (Golfweek photo)

Alex has been on the bag for his big brother the last few years and Harry gave an example of how helpful it is to have his brother around this week.

“He did a good job on 13,” Harry said. “He said, ‘Harry, I think you should tee your driver up high and hit it as hard as you can over that bunker.’ He kind of knows, that’s why he is great for me.”

On the treacherous water-laden 17th, Alex stepped in and told his brother, “if you hit this ball in the bunkers, I’ll make you a cocktail tonight, because anything left there is fine.” Harry followed directions, keeping it dry to the left and made it from off the green from 59 feet for birdie. That earned Harry a Tito’s and water. And Alex should make it a double given that his brother rolled in a 64-foot birdie on 18 for good measure.

Asked how he felt about missing out on the competition, Alex said, “I love Park to death, but I think I probably would have picked this outcome over the other one. We can always qualify next year.”

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Harry Higgs tests positive for COVID, WDs from Vivint Houston Open

Harry Higgs was forced to withdraw from the Vivint Houston Open after he tested positive for COVID-19, the PGA Tour announced on Tuesday.

HOUSTON — Harry Higgs was forced to withdraw from the Vivint Houston Open after he tested positive for COVID-19, the PGA Tour announced on Tuesday.

Higgs had finished second in the Safeway Open to start the 2020-21 season, falling to Stewart Cink by two strokes, equalling the runner-up finish he posted at the Bermuda Championship in October 2019.

Higgs had seven top 25 finishes last season, which was his rookie year on the Tour. He has a pair of professional wins, one on the Korn Ferry Tour and another on the PGA Tour Latinoamérica.

“While I am disappointed to have to withdraw this week, I am grateful that I drove to Houston by myself and was alone as I awaited my pre-tournament screening results,” said Higgs. “I look forward to returning to competition when it is safe to do so.”

Kramer Hickok, who finished T-8 at the Bermuda Championship last week and had recently experimented with the maximum legal limit for club length recently, will replace Higgs in the field.

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After enduring Hurricane Laura, Sam Burns storms to lead at Safeway Open

Sam Burns shot 65 on Friday to grab a 2-stroke lead over Harry Higgs at the Safeway Open.

NAPA, California – Just a few weeks ago, after Hurricane Laura battered the Louisiana community that he calls home, Sam Burns grabbed a chainsaw and chopped down a tree that fell in a neighbor’s driveway across the street.

“I just tried to help out where I could,” he said. “I don’t think I did a whole lot, but I just tried to be a helping hand.”

It puts a water ball and subsequent double bogey at the par-3 11th hole, Burns’s second hole of the day at Silverado Resort and Spa’s North Course, in proper perspective, but it doesn’t mean Burns didn’t simmer on the inside.

“It pissed me off a little bit, woke me up, I guess,” he said. “It picked me up, like, ‘Hey, let’s go.’ Just kind of stuck with it and the golf course opened up for me the rest of the day.”

Did it ever. Burns birdied the next three holes and eight in a 12-hole span to shoot 7-under 65 and open a two-stroke lead over Harry Higgs after the second round of the Safeway Open.

SAFEWAY OPEN: Leaderboard | Tee times, TV info

Burns, 24, is another up-and-coming American pro who has floated under the radar as the likes of Collin Morikawa, Matt Wolff, Norway’s Viktor Hovland won tournaments, and, more recently, Scottie Scheffler, have made headlines. But Burns has an impressive pedigree too: 2014 AJGA Rolex Junior Player of the Year; a three-time state champion at Louisiana; All-American and Jack Nicklaus Award winner in 2016-17. He’s confident his time will come.

“Comparison is kind of the thief of joy. I try to stay as far away from that as possible,” he said. “There’s no timeline for me.”

That timeline could accelerate if he continues playing the way he has during the opening two rounds. Despite the early double bogey, Burns improved to 15-under 129 and hit 16 of 18 greens in the second round and ranks first in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-green. He credited his strong ballstriking performance to his ability to adjust quickly to a new set of irons he put in the bag this week.

“Some of the guys at Callaway came to my house last week and we worked on some stuff with my irons, put the new irons in play. So far, they’ve been pretty good,” He said.

Burns is making his 61st Tour start this week and if anything has slowed his progression, it may be due to breaking his right ankle in July 2019, which forced him to miss the rest of the 2018-19 season.

“I came back and tried to play in the fall but came back too early, just really bothered by my ankle,” said Burns, who made his first FedEx Cup Playoff appearance and finished No. 111 in the standings.

Higgs shot the low round of the day, a bogey-free 62 that included a walk-off albatross.

Australian Cameron Percy (64-68), American D.J. Trahan and Scot Russell Knox (63-69) shared third. Knox, the overnight leader, was stuck in neutral most of the day, but finished with birdies on the final two holes and drew inspiration from the U.S. Open tennis.

“I watched a great tennis match last night, Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka. Azarenka got dominated the first set. It was amazing so watch her pump herself up. Her body language changed and it was really amazing how she lifted her level of play and was able to go on and win the match,” Knox said. “Kind of inspired me to try and do that today. I mean, when things were kind of in neutral, I was like, you know what, let’s get going here. A little Friday fist pumps never hurt anyone.”

Doug Ghim (66), one of 13 players who had to finish his first round in the morning, and James Hahn (65), who has 14 events remaining on a medical exemption to regain his playing privileges, are tied for six at 11 under.

“I’m just counting down the number of tournaments that I have remaining,” Hahn said. “Just kind of walking the course today, I was just kind of telling myself I have 14 opportunities to win a golf tournament and from there, you know, whatever happens, whether they let me keep playing or whether they tell me to go home, I think I’m just going to go out and try to give it my all.”

Phil Mickelson birdied three holes in a row beginning at No. 8 and posted a bogey-free round of 67.

“I needed to go a little bit lower, but I’ve got a chance if I go really low tomorrow, 8- 9-under, to get myself in it for Sunday,” Mickelson said.

Major winners Jordan Spieth, Sergio Garcia and Shane Lowry won’t have that chance as they were among the casualties of the 36-hole cut.

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PGA’s Viktor Hovland, QB Tony Romo in field for Texas event

PGA Tour pros Viktor Hovland, Harry Higgs, Scottie Scheffler, former quarterback Tony Romo will play in the event outside Dallas.

The PGA Tour is still planning its grand return in Fort Worth, Texas, at the Charles Schwab Challenge in June, but another event in the Dallas metro region will give some Tour pros a tournament atmosphere to get some much-needed work in.

The Maridoe Samaritan Fund Invitational is scheduled to start on Tuesday and sports an impressive field including Tour pros Viktor Hovland, Harry Higgs and Scottie Scheffler, as well as former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo.

The event could serve as a model for PGA Tour events scheduled in less than two months. The first four PGA tournaments are expected to be played without fans.

The event will take place at Maridoe Golf Club in Carrollton, Texas, where a number of pros are currently members. In fact, Jordan Spieth had been thought to be considering taking part in the 72-hole event, but is not on the tee sheet made available on Sunday.

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The event will be divided into flights with a top-flight group playing the course from about 7,900 yards.

According to ESPN, tournament organizers and players will take part in a conference call to discuss the social distancing measures that will be put in place on the course. No media members will be allowed at the event.

Jay Monahan, Maverick McNealy and playing with dad at Pebble Beach

PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan and rookie Maverick McNealy got to play with their fathers at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – For years, Joseph W. Monahan III has enjoyed the moniker, Joe “The Pro,” a nickname believed to be bestowed upon him by his brother Tommy, and sometimes shortened to simply “JTP,” by his cronies at Winchester Country Club back home in Massachusetts.

But this week, call him Moonlight Graham.

That’s because Monahan, a 76-year-old lawyer and father of PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan, is playing in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am with second-year pro Keith Mitchell, and has turned into a modern-day Archibald “Doc” Graham, who finally did get his time at bat in the 1989 motion picture “Field of Dreams.”

“It’s like a dream world for someone like me,” Joe the Pro said. “It’s Field of Dreams and Shoeless Joe Jackson stuff. Phil Mickelson and Jordan Spieth walk by me and they both said, ‘Hi, Joe.’ ”

A year ago, Joe caddied for Jay and beamed with pride at riding shotgun for three glorious days at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, which also includes rounds at Spyglass Hill and Monterey Peninsula Country Club’s Shore Course.

RELATED: Tee times, TV info | Photos | Celebrities | Scores | Updates

“Last year was the best,” Joe said. “We’re on the 18th green on Monday morning and I’m sitting with Jay and this guy is beside me. I don’t know who it is, and it’s Clint Eastwood. He says, ‘Buddy, you’ve got to be proud.’ I say, ‘I sure am.’ He says, ‘You know, you haven’t done too bad yourself.’ And he gives me a fist pump.”

How do you top that? The only way to do so was to upgrade to a spot in the field. It happened thanks to the urging of PGA Tour board chairman Ed Herlihy during a dinner at the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach in June with the Commissioner.

“Ed said to me, ‘Have I ever asked you for something?’ ” recounted Jay. “I said, ‘No.’ He said, ‘Well, I’m going to ask you for something.’ I said, ‘What’s that?’ He said, ‘I want you to play with your father at AT&T.’ I said, ‘I’ll caddie for my dad.’ He said, ‘No, your dad is going to be 76. He loves the game. You need to have that experience playing with him.’ I hemmed and hawed a little bit, but it had been decided.

“I’ve played so much golf with my dad. He’s watching or playing all the time. To do this means a lot to him.”

And it is equally meaningful for Jay, and for good reason.

“It’s a particularly special time for me because his dad, my grandfather and our respective namesake, played in the 1947 U.S. Amateur here at Pebble Beach and lost on the 18th hole in the second round of the match play,” Jay explained.

On the eve of the tournament, Joe the Pro, who won the 2001 New England Senior Amateur, was asked at a reception by CBS announcer Jim Nantz, “What is your handicap?”

“Seven,” Joe replied.

“What? You’re a nine,” Jay said.

Laughter ensued.

“So now we know, he’s a seven but he put in for a nine. Oh, boy!” Nantz said to growing laughter. “I knew you were in trouble when you took about 10 seconds to try to figure out your handicap.”

It turns out Joe the Pro’s index is 7.3 and his 9 strokes is on the up-and-up. He put it to good use at the par-3 7th hole, rolling a 40-foot birdie putt into the heart of the hole after Jay’s partner, Harry Higgs, commanded him to “Do something,” for a net one on the scorecard.

Joe the Pro and his pro, Mitchell, signed for 7-under 64 at MPCC and are T-21 after one round.

Higgs, a Tour rookie who is paired with The Commish, shot a ho-hum 5-under 66 and Jay, a legit six handicap who could turn his shoulders a little more according to Higgs, pitched in two net eagles – at the par-5 6th and par-4 13th – en route to 8-under 63 (T-8).

One of the more comical moments of the day happened on the first tee when the caddie bib for Commissioner Monahan was spelled incorrectly with an extra ‘O’ replacing an ‘A.’ One spectator asked, “Are you guys related?”

Golfweek photo/Adam Schupak

Yes, they are. In past years, Lee Westwood (2013), Graeme McDowell (2014) and Rory McIlroy (2018) have all celebrated Father’s Day in February by playing with their fathers. Defending champion Phil Mickelson has a family connection as well. His late maternal grandfather, Al Santos, grew up in Monterey and caddied as a teenager at Pebble Beach after the course opened in 1919. Mickelson, who fired a 68 at Spyglass Thursday, marks his ball using a silver dollar from 1900 that his grandfather gave him – money earned during his days as a caddie. And Joe and Jay aren’t the only father-son tandem in the field. This year, Maverick McNealy and father, Scott, are joining forces for the second time, and opened with 6-under 66 at Pebble Beach.

“Someday, we joked, we have to play in this. I’d be the pro and he’d be the am,” said Maverick, who teamed up with his dad for the first time in 2018 and remembers his dad sneaking him inside the ropes at Pebble Beach when he was 5 years old and “still cute.”

This is the 14th appearance here for McNealy, the 65-year-old billionaire founder of Sun Microsystems who once won the Jack Lemon Award given to the amateur MVP. Maverick’s favorite memory of the tournament before joining the pro ranks is the time he turned on his phone when his flight landed in San Francisco late one Saturday night in February during his freshman year at Stanford in 2014. His eyes grew wide as he read a text from his father, Scott. “I’m paired on Sunday with Phil Mickelson at Pebble Beach. Do you want to caddie for me?”

Heck yeah!

Without hesitation, Maverick hopped in his car and made the journey to Pebble. While waiting on the fifth tee box the following day Mickelson gave Scott his cell phone digits so they could keep in touch. When Mickelson wandered over to the tee, Maverick whispered to his dad, “OK, you’re officially cool in my book now.”

Scott thought he’d played for the final time until Maverick’s sponsor KPMG, offered him a spot. It seems everyone is a sucker for a good father-son story at Pebble. Another sponsor, Under Armour shipped them matching shirts, pants, and pullovers. They’ve played thousands of rounds together, but this was more special and a reminder that Pebble Beach is a place where pros and amateurs and golf pair together quite like nowhere else. And this year, so do fathers and sons, especially the type that dish out pre-round advice.

“Dad, just two things tomorrow,” Maverick said before the opening round. “Hit the driver hard. If we find it great. If not, swing hard again next hole. And, don’t leave any putts short. And let’s have fun!”

“What a great pro I got assigned this year,” Scott quipped. “Knows just what to say. Love him to death.”

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