Tag: Rickie Fowler

Presidents Cup: Jason Day withdraws, Byeong Hun An joins International Team

Jason Day has withdrawn from the Presidents Cup International Team and captain Ernie Els has chosen Byeong Hun An as replacement.

Presidents Cup captain Ernie Els has chosen Byeong Hun An to replace an injured Jason Day on the International Team, the Presidents Cup announced Friday.

Day, who has a 5-11-4 Presidents Cup record, withdrew from the Dec. 9-15 event at the Royal Melbourne Golf Club due to a back injury. The event would have been the Australian’s fifth Presidents Cup appearance.

In a statement released Friday, Day said he hopes to return to Australia to play soon, but in the meantime, wishes all Presidents Cup competitors luck.

MORE: Meet Team USA and the International Team

Day also withdrew from the Australian Open, Dec. 5-8.

“I’m quite disappointed I won’t be coming home to play in either the Australian Open in Sydney or the Presidents Cup the following week in Melbourne,” Day said. “I was quite looking forward to both events. I had been prepping all week in Palm Springs when I was injured.

“Frustratingly, I’ve been through back problems before and my medical team decided it best to shut down all practice and play. Therefore, I wanted to inform Golf Australia as well as provide Ernie as much time as possible to best prepare our International Team for Royal Melbourne.”

Day told Golfweek earlier in November he hasn’t had a trainer for most of the past year, which has made it difficult to practice when his back acts up. Last season, Day’s back forced him to withdraw from the Arnold Palmer Invitational after the first round in March and also forced him to receive treatment on the course during the second round of the Masters.

“We wish Jason well and hope his back recovers quickly. We were eager to have Jason as part of the team at Royal Melbourne and his experience will be missed,” Els said in a statement. “The good news is that there were a number of strong and qualified players available to choose from when I made my captain’s selections. To have someone as steady and talented as Ben An puts us in a great position to succeed. Ben played extremely well this fall and throughout the year and he will fit in nicely on this team.”

The 28-year-old An competed in 22 PGA Tour events last season and had three top 10 finishes with his best coming from a third-place finish at Wyndham Championship. An also earned $1,990,033 in 2019.

With the addition of An, who will compete in his first Presidents Cup, the International Team will feature two Korean players. An joins Sungjae Im, the 2019 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year.

“I’m sorry to hear that Jason has been forced to withdraw from the International Team and I wish him a speedy recovery. It was a huge surprise to receive a call from Ernie who told me that I was in the team,” An said in a statement. “It has been a goal of mine all season to be on the International Team and I am honored to play in my first Presidents Cup. I’m looking forward to joining Ernie and the rest of the team in Melbourne and, more importantly, contribute to the International Team’s goal to win the Cup.”

The International Team move follows Brooks Koepka’s withdrawal from the U.S. Team due to a lagging left knee injury. Team captain Tiger Woods selected Rickie Fowler as a replacement on Nov. 20.

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Should Tiger have waited and picked Brendon Todd for the Presidents Cup?

Tiger Woods might have pulled the trigger on Rickie Fowler too soon. Brendon Todd is hot and would have been a good Presidents Cup pick.

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ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – Did Tiger Woods pull the trigger too soon with his latest pick as captain of the U.S. Presidents Cup team?

It’s a valid question, courtesy of Brendon Todd, who is in the pole position to win a third consecutive event on the PGA Tour.

On Wednesday, Woods, while he could have waited, didn’t waste any time in replacing the injured world No. 1 Brooks Koepka with Rickie Fowler to round out his band of 12 that will head to Australia Dec. 7 to face the Internationals at Royal Melbourne.

RSM Classic: Tee times, viewing info | Scores | Photos

Fowler was the expected choice. He’s a force in the team room, a solid, experienced player in the matches, a guy who finished 11th in the points race to be one of the eight automatic qualifiers. Fowler was Woods’ fifth pick – he earlier selected himself, Tony Finau, Gary Woodland and Patrick Reed.

But Fowler hasn’t played since August, as he got married in October and then got sick at the end of his honeymoon with an intestinal bacterial infection.

Meanwhile, Todd has gone bonkers.

He’s won the Bermuda Championship and the Mayakoba Golf Classic and will take a two-shot lead into Sunday’s final round of the RSM Classic at Sea Island Golf Club. With a bogey-free, 8-under-par 62 in Saturday’s third round, Todd got two clear of Webb Simpson and Sebastian Munoz, is three clear of D.J. Trahan and four ahead of three other players.

Todd missed just one green in regulation on the Seaside Course and hit every fairway in regulation. While he made birdie putts from 20, 12, 6, 2, 28, 18, 2 and 9 feet, he also lipped out four other birdie putts.

“Like my caddie said, it was like a video game out there today,” Todd said. “Just thrilled with the way I’m hitting it and feeling out there. That was about as good as I could ask for in the circumstances.

“I just expect certain areas of my game to perform at a certain level right now. So when they do, the scores come and then you just kind of take them and move through the round and try to shoot as low as you can.”

Todd’s remarkable run could lead him to winning three consecutive events on the PGA Tour. The last player to do that? Woods, in 2006.

It’s a stunning about-face. Todd nearly quit the game and considered opening a pizza franchise when he missed 37-of-41 cuts and went more than two years without breaking 70 on the PGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour from 2016-18.

Now he’s posted 12 consecutive round in the 60s, signing for 66-68-63-67-62-63-68-65-68-66-66-62. Folks, that’s a whopping 68-under par.

But he has no ill will toward Woods for not picking him.

“If there was any inkling at all, Davis (Love III) or Zach (Johnson) or one of the assistant captains might have mentioned it to me. Obviously Tiger had Rickie in mind a long time ago, as he should have, and I’m fine with that,” Todd said.

Todd also isn’t complaining about the final group on Sunday, where he’ll go out with Simpson and Munoz. Todd and Simpson played junior golf against each other and they’ve remained friends ever since. In times of struggle, each has consoled in the other. On Sunday, they will play on the PGA Tour together for the first time since being grouped in the first two rounds at Colonial in 2016.

“We’ve been able to talk to each other on the phone and help each other out,” Simpson said. “I’ve been so proud of him for hanging in there.  I mean, I think besides the Player of the Year, I mean, his story could be the biggest story of the year. To come back just proves what kind of guts he has inside of him to not give up or throw in the towel.”

But Simpson won’t question Woods’ decision to take Fowler.

“It’s funny, Brendon texted me after he won (in Mayakoba) and he said, ‘Captain’s pick?’” Simpson said. “But now it’s like he’s playing as good as anybody in the world. But I think the team’s set, but he definitely gave it a good try.”

That’s all Todd will do in the final round, for he’s not going to change anything.

“I just want to get into my little zone and attack the golf course like I’m trying to go shoot nothing because that’s been my mindset every day for the last three events and there’s really no reason to change it just because I’m (in) the lead,” Todd said. “And whether it happens or not, you know, I’m not going to change my game plan, I’m not going to feel good or bad about myself, I’m just going to keep attacking.”

It’s worked pretty well for three consecutive tournaments.

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Brooks Koepka withdraws from Presidents Cup; Rickie Fowler in

As was expected, Brooks Koepka has not recovered from his knee injury in time to play in the Presidents Cup, giving Rickie Fowler an in.

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Brooks Koepka is out of the Presidents Cup; Rickie Fowler is in.

Koepka, ranked No. 1 in the world, announced on Wednesday that he has been forced to withdraw from the 2019 competition due to a knee injury. U.S. Team Playing Captain Tiger Woods used the additional selection afforded to him by Koepka’s withdrawal to select Fowler.

“I notified Captain Tiger Woods that despite constant medical care and rehab, I am not able to play golf at this time. I consider it to be a high honor to be part of the 2019 team and I regret not being able to compete,” Koepka said in a statement. “Since my injury in Korea, I have been in constant contact with Tiger and assured him that I was making every effort to be 100 percent in time for the Presidents Cup in Australia. However, I need more time to heal.”

Tiger Woods and Rickie Fowler on the 12th tee during the second round of The 2018 Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass. Photo: John David Mercer/USA TODAY Sports

Koepka qualified as the No. 1-ranked player for the U.S. Presidents Cup Team in the points standing. December’s event would have been Koepka’s second Presidents Cup appearance after making his debut in 2017 and compiling a 2-2-0 record.

“Brooks and I talked, and he’s disappointed that he won’t be able to compete,” Woods said. “I told him to get well soon, and that we’re sorry he won’t be with us in Australia. He would clearly be an asset both on the course and in the team room.”

“Anytime you lose the No. 1 player in the world, that’s a huge loss,” said Charles Howell III, the defending champion at this week’s RSM Classic. “And Brooks, like his mentality, the way he is, I mean, he seems made for match play, so I do think it’s a big loss.  But you’re replacing him with Rickie Fowler, who’s obviously a phenomenal player.”

Fowler will now play for the third time on the U.S. Team following a strong showing in 2017 at Liberty National where he was undefeated with a 3-0-1 record. Fowler, who was 11th in the Presidents Cup points standings, hasn’t played since finishing T-19 at the Tour Championship in late August. He was expected to play at the Mayakoba Golf Classic last week, but withdrew due to an intestinal bacterial infection.

Former two-time U.S. Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III supported the selection of Fowler. He thought back to 2010, when Fowler was a rookie under consideration for Captain Corey Pavin’s final pick.

“When I called Bob Tway, he pointedly said, ‘He should be your first pick,’ and Rickie proved that over in Wales. He played like a veteran,” Love said. “Rickie loves the stage. A lot like a Phil Mickelson or now hanging around Kevin Kisner, there’s some guys that like to walk out on the final green and make that putt, they want the ball with no time on the clock and Rickie’s that guy. Rickie’s a guy you want on your side. It’s unfortunate for Brooks, but I think they picked up an all‑around team guy both playing and in the team room, so I’m excited for him.”

Kisner, who won the WGC Dell Technologies Match Play in March and had success at the 2017 Presidents Cup, has struggled the past few months. He and hot hands Kevin Na and Brendon Todd were among the names being bandied about as a replacement pick for Koepka along with old standbys Phil Mickelson and Jordan Spieth,

“No one else really stepped up and did much from our vantage point,” said Zach Johnson, one of team USA’s assistant captains. “I think you side with experience, camaraderie and chemistry.”

“Rickie has played on a couple Presidents Cup teams, was someone seriously considered for a pick and is well respected and liked by his teammates,” Woods said. “I know he’s going to do a great job for us. We’re all excited about this year’s event. The course is outstanding, the fans will be loud and we’re playing against great competitors. We’re ready to go.”

“When I heard Brooks wasn’t going to be ready to play, I was bummed for him and the team,” Fowler said. “Then I got a call from both Brooks and Tiger. I was humbled and excited to be given the chance. These team events have been some of the most memorable weeks of my career.

“To be picked by Tiger to compete with him and the rest of the team is very special. It is impossible to replace the world’s No. 1, but I can assure my teammates and American golf fans that I will be prepared and ready to do my part to bring home the Presidents Cup.”

The Presidents Cup will return to Melbourne, Australia and The Royal Melbourne Golf Club for the third time Dec. 9-15.

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Jason Dufner signs equipment deal with Cobra Golf

The winner of the 2013 PGA Championship, Jason Dufner, will be using Cobra clubs and bags starting this week at the Mayakoba Championship.

Jason Dufner, the winner of the 2013 PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, N.Y., has signed an endorsement contract with Cobra Golf. The financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed, but Dufner will be using Cobra clubs and start using a Cobra bag this week at the Mayakoba Championship.

While the deal was officially announced on Tuesday, Dufner, 42, recently attended a Cobra event at Drive Shack in West Palm Beach, Fla., with Greg Norman, instructor Claude Harmon and Rickie Fowler.

At that event, the former Auburn University standout explained that his friendship with Fowler played a large role in developing his relationship with Cobra. Dufner said that he and Fowler are close friends, that they have played a lot of practice rounds together and he frequently stays in Fowler’s guest house when he is in South Florida.

During one of those practice rounds, he tried Fowler’s Cobra driver and liked it so much he put one into his bag. After that, he started tinkering with muscleback blades and cavity-back irons made by the Carlsbad, Calif.-based company.

“I sat down and thought that I was going to play (Cobra’s) stuff next year,” he said. “I talked with them and tried to see what they were going to do with marketing and branding and if they were going to add any new players. It just kind of worked out that they were ready to take a step with another new player.”

Among the clubs that are in Dufner’s bag this week are a Cobra King F9 Speedback driver (10.5 degrees) with an LAGP Olyss 6X shaft, a King Driving iron (4), and King Forged CB irons (5-PW) and King V Grind wedges (52, 56, 62 degrees), all with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue AMT S400 shafts.

“Another great thing about Cobra, and this isn’t a knock on any other brand, is that they don’t have a huge staff,” Dufner said. On the PGA Tour, Fowler and Bryson DeChambeau are the only other full-time Tour players. “So they have more time to spend with you, more time to be around you and really dig into what your equipment needs might be.”

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