Tag: uga golf

Travelers Championship: UGA golf Alum Harris English wins in dramatic fashion

Travelers Championship: UGA golf Alum Harris English wins in dramatic fashion

The Georgia golf program had a fantastic showing at the PGA Tour’s Travelers Championship this past week.

11 Bulldogs took the course at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Conn. After three rounds, former Georgia standout Bubba Watson held a share of the lead and seven other UGA products were in the top 30, including Kevin Kisner, Russel Henley and Harris English, who were all in the top-five headed into Sunday’s final round.

Watson held the lead for most of the afternoon before losing it to Harris English after a bogey on hole No. 14. English finished at 7-under 65 with the help of a huge birdie on No. 18 and headed to the clubhouse as the leader at 13-under.

English watched Texas alum Kramer Hickok battle back and finish with a share of the lead, which then forced a sudden-death playoff between Hickok and English and that’s where the fun really began.

English and Hickok battled for eight holes before English finally sealed a win with a 20-foot birdie putt on the 8th playoff hole. Both had chances to win in the earlier playoff holes, but English’s last birdie gave him his second win of the season, bumped him to second on the Fed Ex Cup points list and marked the longest playoff in Travelers Championship history.

English, 31, now has four victories on the PGA Tour and Georgia golf products have won 34 PGA titles since 2010. The most by any college in that time span.

Here’s where each Dawg stacked up on the leaderboard at the Travelers:

1. Harris English (-13)

T5. Brian Harman, Kevin Kisner (-10)

T10. Sepp Straka (-9)

T19. Russell Henley, Bubba Watson (-7)

T30. Brendon Todd (-5)

You can catch the former Bulldogs next at the Rocket Mortgage Classic at the Detroit Golf Club on July 1-4 on the Golf Channel and CBS Network.

Three former Georgia Bulldogs atop the leaderboard at Travelers Championship

Three former Georgia Bulldogs atop the leaderboard at Travelers Championship

Georgia golf has had a knack at producing elite PGA Tour talent over the years and at this week’s Travelers Championship, the case is no different.

Three Georgia Bulldogs sit at the top of the leaderboard headed into Saturday’s third round.

Bubba Watson is tied for first with Brice Garnett at 8-under par and Kevin Kisner and Russel Henley are both tied for 3rd at 7-under.

Watson still leads even after losing his driver head on the 14th.

11 former Bulldogs took the course this week at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Conn.

While the leaderboard may shift a bit with several golfers still mid-round, Watson, Kisner and Henley will all have a great shot at playing for the lead on Saturday and Sunday.

Henley was in contention at last week’s U.S. Open before sliding on Sunday to finish tied for 13th, while Watson finished tied for 50th and Kisner tied for 55th.

You can catch Saturday’s third-round and the final-round on Sunday on the Golf Channel from 1-3 p.m. ET and CBS Network from 3-6 p.m. ET.

 

Bubba Watson wants Kirby Smart as UGA football’s ‘coach forever’

Former standout Georgia Bulldog golfer Bubba Watson told ESPN’s “College GameDay” what he thinks of Kirby Smart and UGA football.

Former standout Georgia Bulldog golfer Bubba Watson told ESPN’s “College GameDay” what he thinks about Georgia’s 2020 season. This season clearly hasn’t been the University of Georgia’s year for football with the Bulldogs losing to both Alabama and Florida despite entering the preseason with College Football Playoff expectations.

Watson noted in the brief interview that it has been a ‘crazy year’ in college football without the normal practice schedule. He mentions he ‘loves the Dawgs no matter what and (he) wants Kirby Smart to be the coach forever’.

Here’s his interview with ESPN’s Tom Rinaldi on “College GameDay:”

Watson, who is tied for 36th at The Masters entering Sunday, is one of the more notable UGA football fans in sports. He’s one of the top golfers on the PGA Tour, so his words of support for Smart shouldn’t be taken lightly.

There are many reasons Smart is such a good fit in Athens. He is a former Georgia player, and there is nowhere else he’d rather be. Additionally, Smart has taken Georgia recruiting to new heights.

Yes, it has been a year that’ll end below expectations for the Bulldogs, but there’s no reason to panic. Smart needs to find solutions at quarterback and on defense, but the issues are fixable with Georgia’s high level of returning talent.

Georgia fans should listen to Watson and recognize it is far too soon for Smart to be on the hot seat.

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