Let’s take a closer look at the lefties on the PGA Tour.
About 10 percent of the U.S. population is left-handed but there has only been 17 lefties to win on the PGA Tour.
One place they can find common ground is the official website of being left-handed, lefthandersday.com, where it appears the struggle is real:
“August 13th is a chance to tell your family and friends how proud you are of being left-handed, and also raise awareness of the everyday issues that lefties face as we live in a world designed for right-handers.”
August 13, 2024, marked the 33rd annual International Lefthanders Day. On that site, you can purchase things such as left-handed scissors. For left-handed golf clubs, you’re probably better off looking elsewhere.
Fifteen non-righties have combined to win 86 times on the PGA Tour, led by you-know-who, Phil Mickelson.
With Brian Harman’s win at Royal Liverpool in 2023, there have now been three lefties to win the Open Championship, joining Bob Charles (1963) and Phil Mickelson (2013).
Weir wasn’t originally sold on his southpaw style when it came to the game.
IVINS, Utah — Mike Weir will go down as one of the most successful left-handed players in the history of golf. He’s got 14 pro victories, a green jacket and a Presidents Cup captaincy all on his resume.
But truth be told, when he was growing up in a suburb of Sarnia, Ontario, which sits on the very southern tip of Lake Huron, Weir wasn’t originally sold on his southpaw style when it came to the game.
So a 13-year-old Weir penned a letter to the great Jack Nicklaus asking for advice on whether he should try to convert to a right-handed swing.
When asked during the leadup to this week’s inaugural Black Desert Championship, which is bringing the PGA Tour back to the state of Utah that Weir now calls home, the 2003 Masters champion said he took Nicklaus’ return message to heart.
“I have no idea what would have happened. I was a natural left-hander,” said Weir, who played his college golf at BYU. “I wrote Jack when I was a kid and he said stick with your natural swing. 1983 when I wrote that letter, there was Bob Charles who had won the British Open. But Russ Cochran was on Tour and a guy named Ernie Gonzalez, but they were kind of middle-of-the-pack guys, good players. But the best players in the world were all right-handed, and I wrote Jack this letter, and he said, no, stick to your natural swing, so I did.”
Weir cemented his legacy in the game by becoming the first lefty to ever win at Augusta, although Phil Mickelson and Bubba Watson have since combined for five wins since the Canadian turned the trick. Weir has eight PGA Tour wins, tied for the most all-time.
But it might have all been different if not for the advice from the Golden Bear.
“If I switched to right-handed then —my dad was willing to do that, but when I got the letter back from Jack, it was, okay, we’re staying with it,” he said.
Would he have had the same success if he’d have switched?
“Who knows,” Weir said. “Probably not on Tour, I wouldn’t think.”
International Team Captain Mike Weir talks to Captain’s Assistant Geoff Ogilvy of Australia and the International Team during a practice round prior to the 2024 Presidents Cup at The Royal Montreal Golf Club on September 24, 2024 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
This has been an interesting time for Weir, whose best playing days are in the rearview mirror. But coming off his captaincy in the 2024 Presidents Cup in Montreal, Weir is still displaying the scrappy nature that would have him popping up on leaderboards. He’s yet to make a cut through his first three PGA Tour events this year before Black Desert, but he’s played well on the Champions circuit, posting four top-10 finishes.
“This last month or so has been a special time in golf for me. Two weeks ago at the Presidents Cup was something that was in the works for a long time and put a lot of energy into that for a couple years. Although we didn’t get over the line and win the event, it was still such a special week,” Weir said. “Just the response of all the fans to our team, our players, having three Canadians on the team was really special, having a lot of family there. It was just an incredible week for me. Then here we are two weeks later playing at home in a PGA Tour event in my home state. It’s pretty cool. I’m trying to soak it up.”
And while he’s still looking to get into the mix at the new event, Weir has found a happy place where he can enjoy his surroundings and enjoy the success of others. The event marks the PGA Tour’s first appearance in the Beehive State in 60 years. He’s playing the opening two rounds with Garrick Higgo and Troy Merritt.
“At this stage of my life, I’m still super competitive, but there’s a lot of guys I’m rooting for out here, too. And I love to watch them as a fan of golf and watch the evolution of the game,” he said. “The younger generation that I had a chance to play with yesterday and then to see some of the veteran guys that I know still playing, it’s really cool at this stage of life to still be kicking the golf ball around a little bit and trying hard at it.”
MONTREAL — A month ago, Keegan Bradley was sweating out whether he’d qualify for the BMW Championship while planning to serve as an assistant captain to U.S. Presidents Cup captain Jim Furyk at Royal Montreal Golf Club.
Then he not only made it as the last man in the BMW field, he won the tournament and forced Furyk to use one of his captain’s picks on the 38-year-old veteran who last competed in international team competition a decade ago. On Thursday, Bradley sank six putts of more than 10 feet and teamed with Wyndham Clark during a four-ball session at Royal Montreal Golf Club for a 1-up win.
“It was 10 years of pent up energy, it looks like, of not playing these,” said the fiery Bradley, who was jubilant when his winning putt dropped in. “I just had such a blast out there today.”
But on Sunday morning, he experienced his share of butterflies before his singles match against Si Woo Kim, the hottest player on the International Team.
“I felt like I could throw up,” Bradley said. “I can’t remember ever feeling like that. I was, like, really uncomfortable,” adding, “this morning I woke up and just, like, felt I had electricity going through my body.”
Bradley gave the U.S. side just the jolt it needed. It was only fitting that he should have the honor of securing the clinching point, as the U.S. claimed the 2024 Presidents Cup for a 10th straight time in the biennial competition, winning 18½-11½ over its opponents consisting of a 12-man team from the rest of the world (excluding Europe).
“It’s a fairy tale. It’s a movie almost. I just can’t believe it,” said Bradley, who was named the 2025 U.S. Ryder Cup captain in July. “You just have to work as hard as you can, and good things happen.”
As soon as he won his match, 1 up, over Kim, he looked around for someone to hug, finally finding teammate Russell Henley and then locating his wife for a smooch.
“I was saying all week I didn’t know if I’d ever get to do this again. To just play in this tournament and then to win the point, my goodness, the last time I played, I was the point to lose the Ryder Cup,” Bradley said. “If this is my last round as a player, maybe it is, I’m happy with that.”
He added: “This is up there with as great a moment in my career as I’ve ever felt.”
The U.S. raced to an early lead, sweeping five four-ball matches Thursday, but the Internationals returned the favor with a sweep of Friday’s foursomes to show they wouldn’t go lightly this time. But on Saturday’s double session the U.S. won three out four points available in each session to grab an 11-7 lead. No team has ever trailed by more than two points heading into the singles session and come from behind.
Xander Schauffele of team USA celebrates the win during the final round of the 2024 Presidents Cup. (Eric Bolte-Imagn Images)
Furyk, who was the losing U.S. Ryder Cup captain in 2018, front-loaded his lineup and his studs delivered, winning 4½ points in the first six matches. On Sunday, the Americans played the first hole in seven birdies and an eagle and added seven birdies at the second for a collective 16 under. “That’s coming out hot,” Furyk said.
Xander Schauffele, the World No. 2, went out first and played 15 holes in 7 under to rout Jason Day, 4 and 3.
“My goal was just to set the tone, get red up on that board as early as possible, and I was able to do that,” Schauffele said.
Sam Burns and Tom Kim traded shots all day, but their match ended tie, the first of the week.
The one early loss was in the third match where Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama made birdies at 14 and 15 and a stellar approach shot on the par-3 17th to edge world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, 1 up.
“The last putt right there I was super nervous,” Matsuyama said. “My hands were shaking a lot.”
Scheffler moved to 1-3 in singles during team competitions and 0-2 in the Presidents Cup.
The next three matches, however, all went to the Americans. Russell Henley, perhaps the breakout star for the red, white and blue, topped Sungjae Im 3 and 2.
“I’m just thankful to be on the team but also to get some points for the team,” Henley said. “It just means the world to me.”
Corey Conners, one of three Canadians on the International Team, was one of the brights spots in singles. He rallied from a 2-down deficit through four holes and coasted to a 5-and-3 win over Tony Finau.
“One of the coolest moments of my career on 13, with everybody, a thousand people around the green singing ‘Oh, Canada’ and to hole a putt like that was really memorable and special.
“The crowds have been behind us, and we really felt their energy,” he said.
Patrick Cantlay, who drained a 16-foot birdie at 18 to win Saturday’s last foursomes match and stake the U.S. to an 11-7 lead heading into singles, earned another point for the U.S. with birdies on Nos. 14 and 15 to pull away from Canadian Taylor Pendrith, 3 and 1.
Team USA players and caddies celebrate the win during the final round of the 2024 Presidents Cup. (Eric Bolte-Imagn Images)
“It’s great to have teammates and have the best players in the world on my team,” Cantlay said. “This team is so close, and we’ve pulled for each other all week.”
Collin Morikawa (2 and 1 over Adam Scott) and Max Homa (2 and 1 over Mackenzie Hughes) both added full points for the U.S. Wyndham Clark and Australia’s Min Woo Lee tied as did American Sahith Theegala and South Korea’s Ben An. South Africa’s Christiaan Bezuidenhout claimed one final point for his side with a 2-and-1 victory over Brian Harman.
While the International side battled to the end, the result was the same, but Tom Kim expressed belief that the International side just needs a few things to go its way next time.
“Winning doesn’t last forever,” Kim said. “There’s going to be one day where it’s just going to be our day. We’ll keep trying. There’s going to be one time when we’re going to hold the Cup, and it’s going to be sometime soon.”
Hughes was at his son’s baseball practice when Weir’s name popped up on his phone.
MONTREAL — Earlier this month, Mackenzie Hughes tried to temper his expectations as he waited for a call to find out if he would be selected as a captain’s pick for the International Team for the Presidents Cup team.
Two years earlier, he didn’t get the nod when the competition was held at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, just down the road from where he calls home and where he practices regularly. How did he spend the week of the competition? “Sulking at home,” said Hughes who didn’t bother to attend as a spectator either. “I don’t think I could’ve quite stomached it.”
Hughes, who grew up in Dundas, Ontario, set a goal to make this year’s team when the biennial competition returned north of the border to Royal Montreal Golf Club for the first time since 2007, and he played well during the qualifying period but not well enough, finishing 15th in the standings. The top-6 automatically qualified and then International Team Captain Mike Weir was given six captain’s picks to round out the 12-man roster. Hughes was at his son’s baseball practice when Weir’s name popped up on his phone. Hughes answered and took a deep breath.
When Weir began by saying it had been a tough few days of deliberation and that he had to make some tough calls, Hughes prepared for the worst. “I thought, Oh, man, here we go again. My heart kind of sank for a minute,” he recalled.
But Weir quickly shifted gears and dropped the good news that he had made the team.
“It was head spinning, heart thumping, this euphoric-type moment,” Hughes said. “Getting that phone call is probably one of the highlights of my career.”
Hughes wasn’t the only Canadian to make Weir’s team, which is made up of players from the rest of the world excluding Europe, which already compete against the U.S. in the Ryder Cup. Hughes was joined by fellow Canadians Corey Conners and Taylor Pendrith, who both represented the International Team two years ago but failed to win a single point as the Internationals lost for the ninth straight time.
Hughes, Conners and Pendrith represent a quarter of the team and it marks the first time that three Canadians have been selected for a team in Presidents Cup history. That’s not the only team these three share. All three overlapped at Kent State, with Hughes a junior when Conners and Pendrith joined the Golden Flashes at the northeastern Ohio school in the early 2010s.
Herb Page, who coached Kent State for 41 years before retiring in 2019, boasted that his three players in the competition was one more than powerhouse Georgia, Cal and two better than Texas. Ahead of the official announcement on Sept. 3, Hughes called his coach on FaceTime and then widened the image to show Conners and Pendrith all together and broke the news of their selection.
“I just about cried,” Page told the Canadian Press.
To Hughes making the team in any capacity was special but to do so with his former college teammates was “the cherry on top.”
The International team for the 2024 Presidents Cup at The Royal Montreal Golf Club. (Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
Weir noted that he chose Hughes in part because of his splendid short game and touch around the greens. He ranked fourth in both Strokes Gained: Putting and Strokes Gained: Around the Greens this season on the PGA Tour. While he will be one of two rookies on the International Team, Hughes experienced competing in front of a partisan crowd at home when he played in the final group Sunday at the RBC Canadian Open in June. But he said the experience he will most draw on is being in a twosome with Tiger Woods at the 2018 Players Championship when Woods stormed into contention.
“It was a circus, absolutely chaos and I shot 68,” he said. “I’ll never forget what I felt like playing with him and I think that’s going to be along the lines of what I will feel like at Royal Montreal.”
Hughes is coming into the competition on a high note after finishing T-4 at the Procore Championship in Napa, California, less than two weeks ago, and said he plans to embrace the chaos of playing on home soil and potentially in foursomes or four-ball with Conners or Pendrith.
“I feel like I want to use the crowd to my advantage,” he said. “I know they’re going to be loud and energetic and I want to lean into that.”
“It’s nice to actually feel like we have an actual home crowd.”
One of the best parts of team competitions is the home crowd.
In the Ryder Cup, whether the competition is in the United States or Europe, the opposing team is going to deal with constant jeering, raucous applause and more from the fans.
The Americans always have a home-field advantage, with events on home soil being a big advantage regardless of which team competition it is. For the Internationals, this year is bound to be different from the past. And that’s a key if the Internationals want to get their first win since 1998.
“It’s a big part of this competition, I believe, and a big part of team golf where you can ride some momentum and the crowd gets behind you, and you can really feed off that,” International captain Mike Weir said. “I certainly did here in 2007, not only with my match playing Tiger, but just the other matches, you get the crowd energy, and you can raise your level a little bit. So it can be a huge factor.”
One of the challenges the Internationals have faced is trying to unify golfers from around the world for a week to take down the Americans, who compete in team competitions every single year. The Internationals are forced to get people from numerous continents to bond and come together to take down an often-time overmatched foe, and that’s not always simple.
The Presidents Cup has been hosted in Australia, Canada, South Africa and South Korea, which is a home game for a handful of players on the International team. For the rest of the players, though they’re on the same team as the hometown favorites, they’re still outsiders to the fans.
On Tuesday during the pre-tournament press conferences ahead of the 2024 Presidents Cup, Weir and some of his players raved about the Canadian crowd and how it seems different this year. In the past, many International fans were infatuated with cheering for American stars like Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson as much as they were pulling for their country’s players to have success.
Canadian fans likely won’t be as starstruck.
Jason Day of Australia and the International Team reacts during a practice round prior to the 2024 Presidents Cup at The Royal Montreal Golf Club on September 24, 2024 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
“It’s going to be interesting,” Jason Day said. “This is probably the closest home game that I’ve played in front of because when we go down to Australia, I think they’re just so excited to see everyone because we don’t get a lot of golf down there, like especially the big names. In Canada, it’s obviously so close to the United States, and there’s like that friendly rivalry between the two countries, so it’s nice to actually feel like we have an actual home crowd. I don’t think I’ve ever felt like that before in the times that I’ve played.”
In addition to the friendly rivalry between the countries, there’s a PGA Tour event every year in Canada. Numerous Canadian teams play in American sports leagues, so fans north of the border are familiar with stars across all sports.
When it comes to golf, they will pull for their Canadians over anyone, and this week, it’s the International shield they’ll be backing.
“We’re certainly hoping the fans come out hard and cheer a lot for our guys,” Weir said. “Hopefully it is a factor.”
“I expect it to be a hostile crowd against an incredibly talented team.”
Brian Harman’s first experience with international match play was the 2023 Ryder Cup, where he played for the U.S. in front of huge, partisan galleries in Italy.
He expects no less enthusiasm from Canadian fans next week when the University of Georgia graduate and St. Simons Island, Ga., resident plays for the U.S. in the Presidents Cup at Royal Montreal Sept. 26-29.
“I expect it to be a hostile crowd against an incredibly talented team,” Harman told the Times-Union of his first venture on a Presidents Cup team. “Canadian golf fans are very knowledgeable and they love the sport. Some people have written off the International team in the past. We can’t write them off this team.”
That’s mainly because beloved Canadian Mike Weir is the captain, and he has three countrymen playing for him, Corey Conners, Mackenzie Hughes and Taylor Pendrith. Add Presidents Cup veterans such as Hideki Matsuyama of Japan and Adam Scott and Jason Day of Australia, and the solid South Korean team of Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim.
“I expect it to be a dogfight,” Harman said. “We need to play really well. The International team has not had a lot of success [the U.S. holds a 12-1-1 lead and the only International victory was 26 years ago] but they’re hungry and they’re going to play with a lot of emotion.”
Harman had his moments in the Ryder Cup. He combined with Max Homa to win two doubles matches on Saturday, giving the U.S. a fighting chance. Homa is back on the Presidents Cup team, as are the usual team leaders, Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa, Patrick Cantlay and Wyndham Clark.
“The Ryder Cup was a huge learning curve,” Harman said. “Until you actually get there and play, it’s hard to know what you’re getting yourself into. I had an incredible time.”
Harman said he also expects the U.S. team to take on the personality of its captain, Jim Furyk of Jacksonville.
Max Homa and Brian Harman of Team United States celebrate winning their match 4&2 on the 16th green during the Saturday morning foursomes matches of the 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf Club on September 30, 2023, in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)
“Jim is very calm, very even-keeled but a fierce competitor,” Harman said. “I think this team will mirror that. Jim’s an excellent leader and we’ve had a lot of communication. We’ll really rally behind him.”
Harman hasn’t won since the 2023 British Open at Royal Liverpool. He came a shot away from taking Scheffler to a playoff in The Players Championship, tying for second, had two other top-10 finishes and atoned for a missed cut in the Masters by tying for 26th in the PGA and for 21st in the U.S. Open, before a tie for 60th in his Open title defense.
Harman was one spot away on the FedEx Cup points list to qualify for the Tour Championship and views the Presidents Cup as motivation to get his game in shape for 2025 — although he will play in least one FedEx Cup Fall tournament, the RSM Classic in his backyard at the Sea Island Club Nov. 21-24.
“I didn’t want my year to be over with,” he said. “I’m ready to work and get my game as good as I can.”
There will be 11 members of the two teams in all at the Silverado Resort.
The first event of the PGA Tour’s 2024 FedEx Fall is the newly renamed Procore Championship in Napa Valley, where both sides of the upcoming Presidents Cup will be heavily represented.
There will be 11 members of the two teams in all at the Silverado Resort, Sept. 12–15, including both team captains.
U.S. captain Jim Furyk will be on site and while he’s not playing, there will be plenty of strategizing between him and three of the guys on his roster: defending tournament champ Sahith Theegala, two-time event winner Max Homa and Wyndham Clark. In addition, two of Furyk’s assistant captains, Kevin Kisner and Stewart Cink, will be playing in the event.
Cink, who recently won his first PGA Tour Champions event, won in Napa in 2000 when it was called the Safeway Championship. It was later called the Fortinet Championship until this season. This year marks the 11th straight season Silverado has hosted a PGA Tour stop.
On the International side, captain Mike Weir, one of only six International Team members with 10 or more wins in the Presidents Cup, will be playing as will one of his assistant captains, Camilo Villegas. Players on the International roster teeing it up in Napa are Min Woo Lee, Corey Conners and Mackenzie Hughes.
Other tournament commitments include Webb Simpson as well as Joel Dahmen and three rising stars in the game: Luke Clanton, the top-ranked amateur in the WAGR who posted three top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour in 2024; Neal Shipley, the low amateur at the Masters and the U.S. Open; and Wenyi Ding, formerly of Arizona State and the Pac-12’s Player of the Year last season. All three are playing as sponsor exemptions.
The full list of entries was released Friday evening.
The Procore Championship is the first of eight Fall Series events on the PGA Tour. It’s the last event before the Presidents Cup, to be held in Montreal, Canada, Sept. 24–29, at The Royal Montreal Golf Club.
The International Team coaching roster is complete.
On Wednesday, International Team Captain Mike Weir announced Shigeki Maruyama as his fifth and final captain’s assistant for the 2024 Presidents Cup at Royal Montreal Golf Club in Montreal, Canada, from Sept. 24-29.
Maruyama joins Ernie Els, Trevor Immelman, Geoff Ogilvy and Camilo Villegas on Weir’s staff.
“I am thrilled to announce Shigeki as my fifth captain’s assistant for the 2024 Presidents Cup,” Weir said in a statement. “His record in this event speaks for itself, but more importantly, he adds a trusted voice in our team room and is someone who will inspire these 12 players through his unwavering support and dynamic personality.”
In two appearances in the Presidents Cup (1998, 2000), Maruyama compiled a 6-2-0 record including a 5-0-0 showing in ’98.
“Representing the International Team in the Presidents Cup as both a player in 1998 and 2000 and later as a captain’s assistant in 2013 was one of the most valuable experiences in my golf career,” Maruyama said in a statement. “I am honored that Captain Weir has given me the chance to be part of this special brotherhood once again. I am looking forward to a great week in Montreal and helping to deliver an incredible atmosphere for our players and fans in Canada.”
Maruyama won three times on the PGA Tour, most recently in 2003.
As of August 21, Hideki Matsuyama, Tom Kim, Sungjae Im, Jason Day, Adam Scott and Byeong Hun An hold the six automatic qualifying spots for the International Team. Those spots will become official on Sunday after the BMW Championship.
“My game is secondary … my mind is constantly thinking about (Presidents Cup).”
With the PGA Tour Champions making a stop north of the border this week for the Rogers Charity Classic, Mike Weir admits he’d love to follow in the footsteps of Nick Taylor, who broke a 69-year drought for Canadians by capturing the 2023 RBC Canadian Open with a putt for the ages.
But while Weir will be fighting a strong field at Canyon Meadows Golf & Country Club in Calgary this week — and hoping to become the first Canadian to ever win the event in its 11-year history — he readily admits he’s constantly plotting and planning for his role as captain of the International team in the upcoming Presidents Cup.
Weir, the first Canadian to win a men’s major when he captured the Masters in 2003, has served as captain’s assistant in three consecutive playings, most recently under the leadership of Trevor Immelman at the 2022 Presidents Cup at Quail Hollow Club in September.
“It’s difficult. I was talking to Darren Clarke. He was like, hey, the Presidents Cup, you kind of get your life back after it’s done. You can focus on your own game,” Weir noted. “So, yeah, I mean, I played a few less tournaments this year and just your headspace is constantly thinking — for me, it’s on the top of mind, Presidents Cup; my game is secondary. Even though I’m working on my game and playing, my mind is constantly thinking about it. Calls before rounds, calls after rounds, texting with guys, our analytics guys.
“I’m trying to get all the information I can in regards to the players so I can make the best decision upcoming in the next couple weeks. I don’t want to make a decision on a whim. I want to have all the information and stats on the players so I can make an informed decision.”
An assistant for Ernie Els in 2019, Weir saw the International Team build its biggest lead in Presidents Cup history before falling to a Tiger Woods-led U.S. Team, 16-14, at The Royal Melbourne Golf Club, in Melbourne, Australia. His first appearance dates to 2017, serving for Nick Price at Liberty National Golf Club. The first Canadian to ever compete in the Presidents Cup, Weir has also made five Cup appearances as a player (2000, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009).
This week’s field in Calgary, which includes all of the top 5 and seven of the top 10 in the current Charles Schwab Cup race standings, should offer plenty to keep Weir’s focus.
But as much as he talked about tweaking his own game, Weir went into plenty of detail about the upcoming event, which will be held in September at Royal Montreal Golf Club, a course that also held the RBC Canadian Open on 10 occasions, most recently in 2014.
“A lot of the behind-the-scenes things are done. It’s really focused on the players now. There are two weeks left of the qualification process,” Weir said. “You know, this is crunch time for a lot of players. We have six automatic spots off the world rankings and then six picks with a lot of Canadians in the mix, so hoping they’re going to really play well the next couple weeks and that I can pick them for the team.
“As I’ve said all along, it’s an international team. It’s not Team Canada, so you have to be fair to everybody. A lot of guys are playing well. I really like our team the way it’s shaping up.”
As for Padraig Harrington’s body of work through Sunday’s closing round? Let’s label that appropriately workmanlike.
BINGHAMTON, N.Y. — The outcome, of course, made for a magnificent third consecutive Dick’s Sporting Goods Open victory. As for Padraig Harrington’s body of work through Sunday’s closing round? Let’s label that appropriately workmanlike.
The affable Irishman played En-Joie’s back nine in even-par, nevertheless posted a single-stroke win over Mike Weir to leave him 3-for-3 in Endicott since celebrating a 50th birthday.
Harrington closed with 4-under 68 to finish the 54-hole event 15-under, with Weir coming in at 67. Third place was shared by Mark Hensby (66), Ken Duke (68) and Ken Tanigawa (70) at 13-under.
Stephen Ames, 36-hole co-leader on rounds of 64 and 69, faded from realistic contention on the back and shared sixth after a 71.
“It’s very exciting,” Harrington said. “Coming into the week people say, ‘Oh, are you going to do a three-peat,’ and it’s a lot easier to say it than do it. So yeah, I was trying to keep my expectations dab even though I do like the golf course. I know it suits me. I think it was managing other people’s expectations and trying to keep myself in a nice place.
“I probably didn’t play as well on Wednesday and Thursday as I would have wanted it, but I got gradually better as the tournament went on. Certainly today on a windier day it was a tricky day to be out in the last group. I certainly got a few good breaks. A few things went against me, but I got a few good breaks as well to even out the day. It was just my day.”
As for that back nine?
He opened by inexplicably chopping his second from the middle of the 10th fairway into the drink and made bogey, and his lone birdie thereafter came via a superb drive and approach finessed prudently to a bit above the hole at 15.
At the come-and-get-me 16th, he ground out par from well past the green near the 17th tee box. At 17, he yanked a 9-iron tee ball but got up and down from nasty rough left, holing a putt of seven or so feet. At the last – with Weir having posted 14-under – Harington carried his drive 317 yards to an ideal position and proceeded to uneventfully two-putt.
“I was really trying to make one more birdie,” he said. “I knew I had a one-shot lead, but if I could get it to two shots, I felt that’s comfortable. I was going after it on 16 and we were thinking 3-wood. Then we said, ‘Well, get driver to the back of the green.’ And obviously I pitched on hardpan rather than the soft part, went long and I was in – I wasn’t in the worst place in the world, but it was awkward when you’re leading the tournament.
“I think if I was one shot back, I would have given that a much better effort to get that up and down, but I was more concerned about not taking 5. And 17 was a little lapse in concentration; I was just drawing it into the pin, and I changed my target at the last moment and snatched that a bit.”
Weir, who assuredly will rue a shorty for par misfired at the 13th, made six birdies against that lone toe-stub. He has finished second in two goes at the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open.
Harrington, who made eagle at the third and birdies on the sixth, eighth and ninth:
— Made it eight wins on PGA Tour Champions in his 41st start at the age of 52 years, 9 months, 23 days.
— Joins Ames (2) and Ernie Els (2) as multiple winners this season.
— Became the first player to win the same PGA Tour Champions event in three consecutive seasons since 2014 DSGO winner Bernhard Langer at the Kaulig Companies Championship (2014-16).
Endicott, no doubt, will remain special to Harrington.
“This is what the Champions Tour is all about,” he said. “When we come to venues like this, Broome County, old PGA Tour stops, dare I say it being outgrown or forgotten about, they really come out for the Champions Tour. They love their golf, they come out, they have a great sponsor in Dick’s. The whole community, the fans come out, and we love being here.
“It’s great for us as players, we get to relive our past glories, hit shots under pressure, under stress, some good, some bad, so it’s really a perfect Champions Tour event. You have the atmosphere, you feel like you’re a kid back in the old days.”
Odds & Ends
— With birdies on six of his first nine holes (1-3 and 7-9), Hensby closed his first Dick’s Open with a 6-under 66 to finish T3 at 13-under. He played En-Joie’s front nine holes in an aggregate 12-under.
— Following a 7-under 65 in Round 2 to share the 36-hole lead at 11-under, Tanigawa closed his sixth Dick’s Open with a 2-under 70 to finish T3.
— In his sixth Dick’s Open start, 36-hole co-leader and Charles Schwab Cup No. 1 Stephen Ames shot 71 to finish T6 at 12-under. The finish becomes his ninth top-10 of the season (13 starts) and first in the Dick’s Open.
