Tag: Retief Goosen

Team USA’s win is great, but inaugural World Champions Cup shows event might be here to stay

“It’s beaten every expectation I had. It was just incredible.”

BRADENTON, Florida ― After Friday’s second round of the World Champions Cup, which saw Team International clinging to a half-point lead over Team USA, International captain Ernie Els opined that any lead didn’t really mean anything until maybe the last putt.

The inaugural event at The Concession Golf Club didn’t come down to the last putt. But it did the last hole.

Trailing Team International on Sunday by 2.5 points with three holes to play, Team USA got clutch play down the stretch from David Toms and Billy Andrade and overcame the margin to win the inaugural event at The Concession Golf Club.

Team USA finished with 221 points, Team International was second with 219, and Team Europe third with 208. Over the final three holes, the 56-year-old Toms, who won 13 PGA titles from 1992 to 2017, earned 4.5 out of a possible 6 points. One match earlier, Andrade, filling in for injured Team USA captain Jim Furyk, registered 11 points, besting International’s Vijay Singh and Europe’s Miguel Angel Jimenez.

Team USA’s vice captain Bill Andrade, left, watches David Toms drink out of the World Champions Cup trophy to celebrate at The Concession Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Swinger-USA TODAY Sports

But trailing by half a point after leading for much of Sunday, Team International had a chance to pick up two points and the tournament championship on the par-4 No. 9 closing hole when Toms and Team Europe’s Bernhard Langer bogeyed.

All International’s Retief Goosen had to do was make par to collect the two points and give his team the victory. But Goosen, a winner of two U.S. Opens, hit his approach shot into the penalty area. His double-bogey earned him zero points, while the USA and Europe each earned a half-point.

The format called for three points to be available for each hole. The lowest score earned 2 points, the second lowest 1 point, and the third lowest earned zero. If teams tied with a score, the points were split. If two teams tied with a low score, they each earned 1.5 points, with third place earning nothing.

After the post-match ceremony, each member of Team USA walked into the media interview room draped in an American flag. Later, they poured champagne into the championship trophy and drank from it.

Team International’s Stephen Ames reacts after his birdie putt on the ninth at The Concession Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Swinger-USA TODAY Sports

Toms’ play over the final three holes keyed the USA’s victory. Before taking the half-point lead heading into the final hole, USA had trailed by as many as six points.

“I think, really, what I really liked about this team,” Furyk said, “and I always talk about the personalities and how easy these guys are to get along with, but this is a feisty group. I think we’ve got a bunch of guys who have good short games, good putters, guys that don’t give up, guys that will grind it out and finish a hole for you.”

Another big contributor to Team USA was Jerry Kelly, who played a bogey-free nine holes to earn 12.5 points, the most of any player during the morning singles. Team International captain Els, who earned 12 points during the bogey-free nine-hole morning singles, felt for Goosin, his teammate.

Team InternationalÕs Retief Goosen chips up to the eighth hole during their morning round at The Concession Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Swinger-USA TODAY Sports

“I really feel for Retief,” he said. “He had such a tough lie there. To be this close at the end of the day . . . yeah, we lost basically the last couple of matches.”

Even Toms didn’t think his team had a chance, particularly when USA trailed by 6 points.

“On No. 8, I had a putt to win the hole,” he said, “and one of the guys in the crowd said something to the effect that it was a big putt. I was like, at that point, I didn’t even know it would mean anything, honestly, because I didn’t know where we stood. I made the putt, so that was good. Then I got to the 18th tee and I heard “USA! USA!” after Billy (Andrade) made his putt and I was like, man, we have to be in good shape.”

Said Team USA Brett Quigley about the format, “It’s beaten every expectation I had. It was just incredible. It was way more fun than I thought it would be and just so much love. The team aspect of it, because every week we’re doing our own thing and we go home and we go to the next week. This week, to have our families here, our caddies so involved and all the players genuinely pulling for each other made it so special.”

“The U.S. guys kept grinding out the 18th,” Els said. “We just couldn’t make that one putt up the hill. I missed it, K.J. missed it, Vijay (Singh) missed it. Unfortunately, Retief had such a tough lie.

“What a week, what a format. This thing works.”

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Steven Alker and Padraig Harrington, 1-2 in the points race, are 1-2 on the leaderboard at Charles Schwab Cup Championship

Steven Alker and Padraig Harrington are separated by just a shot.

PHOENIX — It should come as no surprise that two of the best players on the PGA Tour Champions in 2022 are dominating the field at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship.

It should also come as no surprise that the golfer who has taken this tour by storm in the last 15 months has put himself in the driver’s seat to claim his first series title.

Steven Alker, tied for the tour lead with four wins this season, including a major at the Senior PGA Championship, came into the playoffs leading the points race. Padraig Harrington, in his first full season on the tour, is No. 2 in points and has won three times, including a major at the U.S. Senior Open.

Once the computers crunched all the numbers, Alker and Harrington were the only ones mathematically alive who could claim the season title. After the two pre-tournament favorites went shot-for-shot on a sunny Friday afternoon at Phoenix Country Club, it’s Alker and Harrington atop the leaderboard.

Harrington, playing in the third-to-last group in the second round, posted a birdie-birdie finish to shoot a 64, tied for low round of the week. He is at 12 under after 36 holes. For Harrington to claim the Cup, however, he needs to win but he also he needs Alker to finish outside the top five.

That’s starting to look like a long shot.

“Steve is relentless,” Harrington told Golf Channel after his round.

Alker was tied for the lead after 18 holes and after a 7-under 64, he holds the outright lead. Alker opened his round Friday with a pair of birdies, took his first outright lead with another birdie on No. 5. For the next couple hours, he would share the lead with Harrington a couple more times. Birdies on 15 and 17 got him to 13 under for the week so far. Alker has 13 birdies over two days and has yet to bogey a hole.

“I know what I’ve got to do, the numbers are all there. It’s kind of black and white. I just try and put myself in position to win a golf tournament, that’s big for me,” Alker said. “I’ve got to keep hammering those birdies out.”

Alker, a New Zealander who moved to Scottsdale in 2002, has his family following him this week, including his wife Tanya, son Ben and daughter Skye. That rooting section will be down one Saturday as Skye, a member of the Fountain Hills High School cross country team, will be competing in the state championships.

“Go Falcons,” Alker said.

Alker and Harrington are the only two golfers who can win the Cup this week. Even if Harrington wins this tournament, he needs Alker to finish outside the top five.

What about Langer?

Bernhard Langer, the ageless wonder who at 65 won for the 44th time on the Champions tour last week, has posted scores of 66 and 69 and is tied for eighth at 7 under. A 45th win would tie Hale Irwin’s mark set 15 years ago, but he’ll start Saturday’s third round six shots off the pace.

Lots of birdies but just one eagle

The quirky stat of the week after 36 holes: it took until late in the day Friday for the first eagle to be finally recorded.

Thongchai Jaidee rolled in a birdie putt on the par-5 18th hole to give him a second-round 68 and move him into the top 10. It’s the only eagle after 1,188 holes of competition. There have been 284 birdies so far this week.

What’s on the line?

First place this week is good for $440,000. The winner of the Cup race banks a cool $1 million bonus.

In fact, the top five finishers in the Cup standings will earn a lump sum deposit into a Schwab brokerage account:

First place: $1,000,000

Second: $500,000

Third: $300,000

Fourth: $200,000

Fifth: $100,000

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Looking to putt better? This two-time U.S. Open champ says your putter needs to ‘become your second wife’

“You need to look after that thing because that’s where the money is.”

Sure, it might make for the best social media moments, but losing your temper on the golf course will likely keep you from putting success. At least that’s according to two-time U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen, who is playing this week at the PGA Tour Champions’ Mitsubishi Electric Classic.

Goosen was asked after his second round at TPC Sugarloaf if his calm demeanor and his impressive putting go hand-in-hand.

“Definitely,” he responded. “Golf, the more you can stay at the same level and not have too many ups and downs in temperament and emotions, the better it is for your game. You’ve got four hours there that you’ve got to hit hopefully 65 shots and those 65 shots only take a few minutes, and what do you do with the other three and a half hours? Walking on the course, you need to stay in focus, you need to calm yourself down.

“All that kind of stuff breathes into your game, how your emotions are between shots. If you’re cursing everything and coming to the ball for the next shot, you’re probably not going to hit a good shot because you’re not mentally ready to hit it. It’s important how you manage your emotions on the golf course to stay consistent.”

Goosen, who has seven victories on the PGA Tour to go with twice as many on the European Tour, said he’s maintained the same putting technique through the years, one that has served him particularly well.

“I’m pretty much still the same. I tried a little bit with the long putter and the belly putter. Who didn’t? But you always seem to go back to what you did when you played your best golf and made all the putts. Just got to find the confidence again and the belief that you can putt well again. Putting is very much a feel game, there’s no strength or anything involved. Some players lose their feel and you’re not quite sure how hard to hit it or … your eyes go a little bit. As you get older, you don’t see the lines as clearly as you used to see it.

Retief Goosen (RSA) prepares for a putt on the first hole during the first round of the Chubb Classic, Friday, Feb. 18, 2022, at Tiburón Golf Club at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort in Naples, Fla.

“Putting is very much, can I say, a personal thing. You’ve just got to find something that works for you to hit the ball online. It doesn’t matter how you stand or how you hold the putter as long as you can start it online and at the right speed. Speed is probably the most important thing.”

Even though he’s now 53 years old, the Pietersburg, South Africa, native still can get it rolling. On Saturday, for example, he birdied four of his first five holes to climb near the top of the leaderboard on a course where he captured his second PGA Tour win (at the BellSouth Classic in 2022). He finished with a pair of bogeys, but still shot a 67, and sits at 3 under for the tournament.

And while others are prone to tinkering with their putters, Goosen insists familiarity has helped to breed success.

“I use the same putter. I don’t often change putters,” Goosen said. “I won a lot of my tournaments with a putter or two, two putters or so. Even now I’m still putting with a putter that I’ve used for a while. I think, yeah, changing putters constantly is not a good thing. You’ve got to get a putter that you like and then try and stick with it even during the times when you go a little off. It will come back, but once you start just swapping out putters every week, it’s difficult to get a feel for it and putting is feel.”

That recipe keeps producing something delicious. Goosen is fifth on the PGA Tour Champions in putting average this season and that’s translated to five top-6 finishes in his seven Champions starts.

Of course, he can occasionally have frustrating spells with the flat stick, but he feels the attachment a player builds with his putter needs to be one that creates trust. Almost akin to a marriage.

“Well, I’ve had my times that I toss it a little bit and kick it a little bit. You get back in your hotel room in the evening, you bang your head against … why did I not hit a good putt there?” he said. “A putter, it needs to become your second wife. You need to look after that thing because that’s where the money is. It doesn’t matter how good you hit the ball; if you can’t make the putt, it’s useless.”

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Bernhard Langer carries a two-shot lead into Sunday at Chubb Classic

Saturday, Bernhard Langer put himself in position for his 43rd Champions victory.

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The year is 2022. And a 64-year-old is again the man to beat this week on the PGA Tour Champions.

That’s for golfers age 50 and over.

Saturday, Bernhard Langer put himself in position for his 43rd Champions victory, making an 8-footer for birdie on the final hole to take a two-stroke lead at the Chubb Classic presented by SERVPRO on Tiburón Golf Club at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort’s Black Course.

Langer, a three-time winner in Naples, matched his age with an 8-under 64 on Friday and then shot a 4-under 68 to finish at 12 under.

“It was a little more up and down,” Langer said. “(Friday) I had a very clean card, no bogeys. Today I had seven birdies, but also three bogeys.

“… But still happy where I am.”

Bernhard Langer from Germany reacts after putting on the 18th green during the second round of the Chubb Classic at Tiburon Golf Club on February 19, 2022, in Naples, Florida. (Photo by Omar Rawlings/Getty Images)

Retief Goosen, Scott Parel, and Tim Petrovic are all two back going into Sunday’s final round. Steven Alker, who shot a 7-under 65 capped by a 30-foot eagle on the final hole, and Jerry Kelly are four behind Langer.

Goosen was 10 under but bogeyed Nos. 12 and 14 to fall back, then responded with birdies on Nos. 15 and 18.

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In between, he made a par on the par-4 17th after getting a break.

“Drove it into long grass there in a fire ant nest and was lucky to get a drop away from that and managed to make par, so that was big turnaround for the round,” Goosen said.

Retief Goosen from South Africa looks on from the first tee box during the second round of the Chubb Classic at Tiburon Golf Club on February 19, 2022, in Naples, Florida. (Photo by Omar Rawlings/Getty Images)

Parel, who won this tournament at The Classics at Lely Resort in 2020, got in some iron work after struggling with that part of his game in the first round. He still didn’t feel good about it after his range session before the second round, then hit his tee shot on No. 1 right — he thought he may have been out of bounds — but got up and down for a par.

“Then I was like ‘OK, well if I can make par from there maybe I can hit some good shots and make some birdies,” he said.

Parel did, birdieing Nos. 2, 3, 6, and 9, and then Nos. 11, 15, 16, and 18 on the back to move up the leaderboard with an 8-under 64.

Petrovic, a Calusa Pines Golf Club member, made an eagle on No. 6 after a good par save on No. 5 when he had to hit a shot out of a water hazard.  He birdied No. 9, then had seven pars and birdies on Nos. 15 and 18 on the back.

Langer birdied the first hole and added three more birdies and a bogey on the front nine, but he slowed down with four pars and a bogey on the next five holes.  He birdied Nos. 15 — an eagle putt lipped out — and 16 — hitting a 6-iron to a couple of inches — before stumbling with a bogey on No. 17, and recovering with the birdie on the 18th.

Langer did a little fist pump after getting the last one to fall.

“It’s nice to have a two-shot lead, not a one-shot lead,” he said. “It’s nice to make a putt and finish the day well and give the people something to cheer about, too.”

It wasn’t a knockout punch to the rest of the field, though.

“Trying to beat Bernhard, I mean that’s really cool,” Alker said.

“He’s unbelievable,” Parel, 56, said. “I saw him (Friday), I’m like, I’m glad you’re shooting your age and not my age, because then we would have no chance.”

“Anybody can shoot a low one (Sunday), but I think as long as we finish ahead of Bernard, you got a good chance of winning,” Goosen said with a smile.

Greg Hardwig is a sports reporter for the Naples Daily News and The News-Press. Follow him on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter: @NDN_Ghardwig, email him at ghardwig@naplesnews.com. Support local journalism with this special subscription offer at https://cm.naplesnews.com/specialoffer/

Two-time champion Fred Couples, eight other Hall of Famers in PGA Tour Champions’ Chubb Classic field

Couples, a former World No. 1 who was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2013, won in Naples in 2010 and 2017.

NAPLES, Fla. — The Chubb Classic added a couple of booms to its field Monday.

Two-time champion Fred Couples (whose nickname is Boom Boom) was announced along with four other World Golf Hall-of-Famers, bringing the total to nine playing in the Chubb Classic presented by SERVPRO next week.

Davis Love III, Sandy Lyle, Jose Maria Olazabal and Ian Woosnam were the others, joining previously announced Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, Bernhard Langer, and Colin Montgomerie. Langer has won the event, which is celebrating its 35th anniversary, a record three times.

They will join a 78-player field competing in the first full-field event of the 2022 PGA Tour Champions season, Feb. 18-20, for a share of a $1.6 million purse. Players have until 5 p.m. ET this Friday to commit. Golf Channel will televise all three rounds of play.

“We are excited about the strong field of World Golf Hall-of-Fame members and major champions who will be joining us to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the Chubb Classic presented by SERVPRO,” said Sandy Diamond, executive director of the Chubb Classic, in a release. “This world-class field will give our great fans the opportunity to watch up close so many legends of the game competing on one of the best destination golf courses in the country in Tiburón Golf Club.”

Couples, a former World No. 1 who was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2013, won in Naples in 2010 and 2017. He has 13 Champions victories, including two major championships. Couples is a three-time winning captain for U.S. Presidents Cup teams and a two-time U.S. Ryder Cup team vice-captain. He accumulated 15 PGA Tour victories, including the 1992 Masters and two Players Championships.

Love, a 21-time winner on the PGA Tour including the 1997 PGA Championship and 1992 and 2003 Players Championships, will be making his 2022 PGA Tour Champions season debut. A two-time U.S Ryder Cup captain, Love was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2017.

Lyle, a 2012 Hall-of-Fame inductee, is a two-time major champion – 1985 Open and 1998 Masters – as well as the 1987 Players Champion. He has 30 professional wins worldwide and topped the European Tour’s Order of Merit in 1979, 1980 and 1985.

Olazabal, a two-time Masters champion (1994 and 1999) has recorded 30 professional wins worldwide and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2009. A seven-time European Ryder Cup team member, Olazábal captained the European Ryder Cup team’s comeback in 2012, eventually defeating the U.S. 14½ to 13½.

Woosnam, a former World No. 1, has accumulated over 50 worldwide victories during his Hall-of-Fame career, including 29 on the DP World Tour (formerly European Tour) and the 1991 Masters. He joined Love III as a 2017 Hall-of-Fame inductee.

The 2021 Chubb Classic was played last April at The Black Course at Tiburón Golf Club, where Steve Stricker captured his sixth PGA Tour Champions victory by one stroke over Robert Karlsson and Alex Cejka. Tiburón is the only club to host a PGA Tour, LPGA and PGA Tour Champions event in the same calendar year.

Chubb Classic 2022 ticket options

There are four ticket options for fans:

Good-Any-One Day Grounds — $25. General admission daily grounds, valid Thursday, Feb. 17 (Pro-Am), and Friday-Sunday, Feb. 18-20 (tournament rounds).

Weekly Grounds — $40. General admission daily grounds, valid Thursday-Sunday, Feb. 17-20.

Legends Lounge 17th Green Suite — $125 per day. Private luxury suite offering exclusive views of the 17th green. Includes hot appetizers, afternoon snacks, soft drinks and cash bar.

ULTRA Club 18th Green Suite — $400 per day. Private luxury suite overlooking the 18th green. Includes premium full lunch buffet, open bar and valet parking.

All tickets are available at chubbclassic.com.

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How I spent my COVID lockdown: Steve Stricker becomes Fortnite fanatic, Retief Goosen restores a Hummer

Steve Stricker refused to demonstrate his Fortnite dance moves, but the mental picture of the 53-year-old golfer celebrating a good shot with gyrations from the video game was still a visual delight. “I got a couple dances when I do something well, …

Steve Stricker refused to demonstrate his Fortnite dance moves, but the mental picture of the 53-year-old golfer celebrating a good shot with gyrations from the video game was still a visual delight.

“I got a couple dances when I do something well, I will throw it at the guys,” Stricker said, giving no hint of his preferred choices.

Asked if he would show them off for the PGA Tour Champions camera, Stricker said, “No, no chance.”

What members of the Champions Tour did during the coronavirus lockdown might seem mundane, even though the 50-and-over players are competing in just the second event since the restart in the $3 million Bridgestone Senior Players, which opens Thursday at Firestone Country Club.

But that was not the case where Stricker and Retief Goosen are concerned.

No one would have imagined Stricker becoming addicted to Fortnite or Goosen working to restore a 2006 Hummer H2 SUT, infamous in Akron because LeBron James drove an H2 while in high school.

“I got into Fortnite. Stupid game,” Stricker revealed Wednesday. “I don’t know where that came from, but it’s kind of consumed some of my time, even lately. I bring it with me out on the road and pass the time. But I’m trying to wean myself off that game.”

At first, Stricker’s wife Nicki and their daughters Bobbi, 21, and Isabella, 14, played with him at their home in Madison, Wisconsin.

“During the quarantine, when it first happened, I was playing quite a bit. I had nothing else to do, right? We play golf and then I play Fortnite,” he said. “The kids started playing with me, too. Nicki tried to, but she got frustrated with it and ended that pretty quickly.

“But yeah, I still get into that. The kids have stopped playing. They know better.”

Returning champion Relief Goosen, left, elbow bumps Sam Jakabcic of Brunswick while posing for a photo before the Bridgestone Senior Players Tournament pro-am on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2020, Akron, Ohio, at Firestone Country Club. [Phil Masturzo/ Beacon Journal]
Goosen, meanwhile, was in Orlando, Florida. He said he didn’t touch a club for three months, occupied instead by another of his passions.

“I am a bit of a mechanic,” Goosen said. “So I bought myself an old car and spent three months renovating it. I was under the bonnet taking things apart and cleaning and putting them back together. That’s just the kind of thing I like.

“It needed a bit of work. And it just worked out fine now. It’s a great car to drive.”

Goosen said it was only the second or third car he’s tinkered with.

“I’m a bit of a car guy, so they come in and out of my garage,” he said.

Goosen said he also wakeboarded for the first time, then tried water skiing again.

“I used to do slalom waterskiing, but after back surgery … well, before back surgery I sort of gave it up, so it will be 10 years. But I got out behind the boat. And it was a little sort of wobbly in the beginning, but later on, I started finding a little bit of stride. But I didn’t want to push myself and fall and twist an ankle, that’s for sure.”

Fred Couples’ down time was more routine. After playing in the Hoag Classic in Newport Beach, California, he headed to Palm Springs, where he, his girlfriend Suzanne Radcliffe and her son Hunter stayed until mid-June. Couples played basketball, golf and tennis with the 12-year-old, watched old movies, kids movies and lots of Netflix.

“Then went back to Newport, and you would have thought there wasn’t a coronavirus,” Couples said. “People were everywhere. And I’m not going to say no one cared, but there was a lot going on. Then they kind of shut California down and then it got a little serious.

“When you’re in Palm Springs, you kind of don’t see the world, except on TV. And everything was beautiful there. And it was beautiful in Newport, once people started paying attention.”

A Seattle native, Couples said he kept an eye on demonstrations against racial injustice in the Pacific Northwest.

Couples, 60, did not play two weeks ago in the Ally Challenge in Grand Blanc, Michigan, so this is his first experience with the Champions Tour’s COVID-19 protocol.

“I got here and I have never done so many things at a golf tournament and we’re only Wednesday morning,” he said. “I have been tested. I picked up my test. I went, had my temperature taken. I went back and got a ticket to get in the gates. Then I’m eating out of plastic that’s been wrapped up seven times, just to stay clean. And I got no problem with it.”

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Jim Furyk pulls away, wins Champions Tour debut at Ally Challenge

Furyk stood his ground on Sunday, posting a smooth-as-silk 68 to win in Champions debut at Warwick Hills, just outside of Flint, Michigan.

Jim Furyk sure made this Champions Tour stuff look easy.

While others made runs on Sunday during the final round of the Ally Challenge in Grand Blanc, Michigan, Furyk simply stood his ground, posting a smooth-as-silk 68 to win in Champions debut.

He becomes the 19th player to win a Champions event on his first try, following in the footsteps of others like Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Lanny Wadkins.

“I didn’t know 19 people won in their first time, it sounds so ordinary,” Furyk said through a smile after the victory. “It feels good, you know, I really missed a lot of good friends out here. I respect the talent out here and you look at how many Hall of Famers and how many good players there are, so it’s an honor to come out win the first one.”

Retief Goosen and Brett Quigley both were in the hunt with Furyk, but each made a critical mistake down the stretch — Goosen bogeyed No. 18, while Quigley lipped out a short putt on No. 17 and bogeyed each of the final two holes.

Ally Challenge scores

For Furyk, this meant another great finish at Warwick Hills, where he made all 15 cuts when the course hosted the PGA Tour’s Buick Open. He captured the Buick title in 2003, finished second twice and placed in the top 25 in all but three of his appearances at the course.

Chris DiMarco, Rod Pampling and Wes Short Jr. all finished tied for third at 10 under while Bernhard Langer, Tom Lehman and Jerry Kelly were fourth at 9 under.

In terms of others who have also won their debut, Palmer won in his first attempt, the 1980 Senior PGA Championship, while Nicklaus won in his debut at the 1990 Regions Tradition.

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Scott McCarron named PGA Tour Champions Player of the Year 2019

Scott McCarron was named PGA Tour Champions Player of the Year while Retief Goosen took home PGA Tour Champions Rookie of the Year honors.

Scott McCarron was named PGA Tour Champions Player of the Year while Retief Goosen took home PGA Tour Champions Rookie of the Year honors for the 2019 season.

The two awards were announced on Tuesday, two days before the tour’s 2020 season-opener, the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai Golf Club in Hawaii.

Last season, McCarron won three times, was runner-up three times and posted 14 top-10s while taking home the Charles Schwab Cup. He won more than $2.5 million in prize money along the way.

McCarron edged out Jerry Kelly, who also had three wins, as well as Steve Stricker, Bernhard Langer, Kevin Sutherland, Kirk Triplett and Miguel Ángel Jiménez, who all won twice.

Goosen won the Rookie of the Year award over Doug Barron. Goosen had the lowest scoring average (69.14) of the season.

In other PGA Tour Champions news, 2019 Presidents Cup captain Ernie Els will play on the circuit for the first time this week at the Mitsubishi, a 54-hole event that will be played Thursday-Saturday.

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Retief Goosen, son Leo close with eight birdies for PNC Father/Son lead

Two-time U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen and his son Leo lead the PNC Father/Son Challenge at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club in Orlando.

Tucked in the middle of the PGA Tour’s Silly Season is a family tradition featuring a first-rate field. Among the 20 teams playing this weekend’s PNC Father/Son Challenge field, 12 teams include a World Golf Hall of Famer.

After the first round at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club in Orlando, Florida, two-time U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen and his son Leo are at the top of the leaderboard. The back half of the Goosen scorecard was almost completely covered in red, which played a big role in the team’s rise to the top. The Goosens birdied their final eight holes of the day for a 14-under 58.

PNC Father/Son Challenge: Leaderboard

That was one shot better than Bernhard Langer and his son Jason Donald or David Duval and his son Brady could do in the opening round.

Asked to explain those birdies after the round on Golf Channel, Leo Goosen hesitated. His dad pointed a finger at the 16-year-old and offered a simple response.

“His putting.”

Turns out, Leo put a new putter in the bag for Saturday’s round after trying it out the night before. Retief hopes “he’ll hang on to this one for more than a week.” Leo did hole a 40-footer for par on No. 2 with the new flatstick.

Leo has played golf since he could walk, according to his dad, but his game has come a long way in the last six months, to the tune of 20 additional yards off the tee.

“I’d say that we just had each other’s backs,” Leo said. “I’d take one hole and then he’d take the next one, or I’d hit a good drive, he’d hit a good second.”

Behind the Duvals and the Langers at 12 under, Tom Lehman and his son Thomas combined for an 11-under 61 that was good for fourth. Jim Furyk and his father Mike had a 62 and landed in fifth.

Annika Sorenstam is playing the event for the first time, and as the first female professional to appear in what has been a male-dominated event. She and her father Tom had a 6-under 66.

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