2021 Golfweek International Junior Invitational

2021 Golfweek International Junior Invitational
The 2021 Golfweek International Junior Invitational will take place Nov. 6-7 at Eagle Landing Golf Club in Orange Park, FL. Annually among the top 30 fields in junior golf, the Golfweek International has been competed each year since 2000 and will once again bring together many of the world’s top junior players.

Players ranked in the top 200 of the Golfweek/Sagarin, Junior Golf Scoreboard, or WAGR rankings earn an automatic acceptance into the field. Champions of other events in the Golfweek Junior Tournament Series along with top-5 finishers in State Junior Championships will also earn spots in the field. A “special” invitation to the tournament, may be requested by submitting a brief tournament resume to Ron Gaines – [email protected]

The tournament is nationally ranked by Golfweek/Sagarin and Junior Golf ScoreboardAJGA 2021 PBE status for the event is as follows:

  • Girls and Boys Champions: 12 Stars
  • Girls top 3 and Boys top 5: 8 Stars
  • Girls top 5 and Boys top 10: 4 Stars
  • Girls top 10 and Boys top 15: 1 Star

Playing applications are now being accepted and the registration portal is now open. All registrations will be pending and subject to a screening process by the tournament selection committee.

Here are the past champions and venues for the Golfweek International Junior Invitational:

2001 — Chanin Puntawong and Nicole Perrott

(Champions Gate, Orlando, FL)

2003 — Jon McLean and Tiffany Chuda

(Sea Trail, Sunset Beach, N.C.)

2004 — Peter Uihlein and Jenny Arseneault

(Sea Trail, Sunset Beach, N.C.)

2005 — Rafael Lee and Isabel Lendl

(Sea Trail, Sunset Beach, N.C.)

2006 — Morgan Hoffmann and Elisa Aoki

(Ocean Plantation, Ocean Isle Beach, N.C.)

2007 — Julian Suri and Stephanie Kim

(Grand Cypress, Orlando, FL)

2008 — Josh Eure and Stephanie Meadow

(Longleaf, Pinehurst, N.C.)

2009 — Mike Miller and Stephanie Meadow

(Reunion Legacy, Orlando, FL)

2010 — Sam Chun and Doris Chen

(Reunion Independence, Orlando, FL)

2011 — James Yoon and Annie Park

(Shingle Creek, Orlando, Fla.)

2012 — Zachary Healy and Yueer Cindy Feng

(Celebration, Orlando, FL)

2013 — Luis Garza and Bailey Tardy

(Shingle Creek, Orlando, FL.)

2014 — Marcos Montenegro and Ana Paula Valdes

(Champions Gate, Orlando, FL.)

2015 — Robin Wang and Ya Chun Chang

(Lake Buena Vista and Tranquilo, Orlando, FL.)

2016 — Jan Schneider and Chin Tzu Chen

(Disney Magnolia and Palm, Orlando, FL.)

2017 — Jeremy Sisson and Chin Tzu Chen

(Innisbrook, Palm Harbor, FL.)

2018 — Nick Gabrelcik and Meiyi Yan

(Mission Inn, Howey-in-the-Hills, FL.)

2019 — Tony Chen and Jenny Kwok (Champions Gate, Orlando, FL.)

2020 – Alejandro Fierro and Toa Yokoyama (Hammock Beach, Palm City, FL.)

 

To view coverage of the 2020 Golfweek International Junior Invitational, please click here.

Source: Golfweek https://ift.tt/2V95qPJ

PGA Tour says $40 million Player Impact Program 'winners' won't be revealed. Twitter-verse expresses its dismay.

PGA Tour says $40 million Player Impact Program 'winners' won't be revealed. Twitter-verse expresses its dismay.

We may never know if Jim Herman wins the PGA Tour’s Player Impact Program, at least that’s the way the PGA Tour would like it.

During his State of the PGA Tour press conference in Atlanta ahead of the Tour Championship on Tuesday, PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan confirmed that the Player Impact Program, which was approved this year and features a $40 million bonus pool for the most popular players, won’t conclude at the end of the FedEx Cup season on Sunday but rather run through the end of the year. Despite the program being designed to compensate players who are judged to drive fan and sponsor engagement, Monahan said, “we don’t have any intention on publicizing it.”

That seems counterintuitive but when asked for an explanation, Monahan said, “To us, it’s a program that we created, was created by our players, with our players, for our players, and that’s, that’s what we decided that we were going to do when we created it.”

The FedEx Cup, one could argue, also fits that description but the up-to-the-minute standings are recited by TV announcers almost as soon as each week’s winner holes the final putt.

Monahan noted that there are five different criteria, each weighted equally in calculating how the bonus money will be distributed among the top 10 players, with the player deemed most valuable receiving $8 million.

No player has shamelessly campaigned for a share of the $40 million quite like Herman, a 43-year-old journeyman pro who has built a Twitter following ever since he first tweeted about the PIP news a day after Golfweek broke the story on April 20: “My ship has come in!”

Twitter did not react well to the news that the megastars finishing in the money won’t be revealed.

Trevor Immelman

Colt Knost

Max Homa

Source: Golfweek https://ift.tt/2V95qPJ

Lynch: PGA Tour protecting its players shouldn’t mean babysitting Bryson DeChambeau

Lynch: PGA Tour protecting its players shouldn’t mean babysitting Bryson DeChambeau

Jay Monahan earns around $4 million a year, which easily qualifies him as America’s most well-compensated babysitter. Yet it might barely exceed the hourly minimum wage given all of the extra work the PGA Tour commissioner just created for himself.

On Tuesday, Monahan pointedly reiterated the Tour’s long-standing policy of booting unruly fans from tournaments.

“By coming to a PGA Tour event, you’re expected to contribute to a welcoming and safe environment by refraining from and reporting any unsafe, disruptive, or harassing behavior,” he said. “Comments or gestures that undermine the inclusive and welcoming nature of the game will not be tolerated, nor will any harassment of players, caddies, volunteers, officials, staff, or other spectators.”

Monahan’s injunction against harassing caddies, volunteers or officials could have been aimed at several guys in the locker room, but his words were intended for the other side of the ropes, and—no matter how often he insisted otherwise—specifically at the gallery following one player. That was clear when the commissioner was asked if the word “Brooksie” might trigger a spectator’s ejection.

“Yes, and the reason I say yes is the barometer that we are all using is the word ‘respect,’ and to me, when you hear ‘Brooksie’ yelled or you hear any expression yelled, the question is, is that respectful or disrespectful?” Monahan replied. “That has been going on for an extended period of time. To me, at this point, it’s disrespectful, and that’s kind of behavior that we’re not going to tolerate going forward.”

The gloomy reality of sport is that some folks get their jollies bawling at competitors, offering about as much entertainment to fellow spectators as a shrieking, incontinent drunk might in a crowded subway train. Bryson DeChambeau has been tailed by a herd of such imbeciles since the Memorial Tournament in June, at which he had several fans ejected for the crime of calling him “Brooksie.”

Brooksie—as in Koepka, his antagonist in a juvenile feud that makes one long for the gravitas of Paris Hilton’s spat with Lindsay Lohan—duly offered beer to fans whose day was cut short. Encouraged by free suds and emboldened by their target’s infantile overreaction, the hecklers have shadowed DeChambeau ever since, and it is evidently having a detrimental impact on his well-being. As loathsome as the trolls are, is calling one player by another’s name really cause to evict?

Legally, yes. Jodi Balsam, a professor of sports law at Brooklyn Law School, says legal authority to regulate conduct originates in the terms of the ticket. Balsam herself once authored such terms for the National Football League.

“The League and its teams have almost complete discretion to define what is acceptable and unacceptable conduct, and it is entirely within their discretion to revoke that ticket,” she said.

Armed with similar terms, the PGA Tour has similar discretion to decide what is grounds for ejection. That includes heckling, signage or even wearing t-shirts emblazoned with Brooksie slogans.

As a matter of law, Monahan’s threatened action is defensible. As a matter of enforcement, however, it risks becoming preposterous. How easily, and with how much certainty, can security identify and remove one heckler in a crowd of hundreds? How many spectators is the Tour willing to see ejected on a given day? How many fans will intentionally be tossed to expose the inherent flaws in this approach? And what happens when DeChambeau and Koepka inevitably play together? Must Koepka supporters remain mute for fear of a Pinkerton grabbing them by the collar? The line between fan and troll is blurred beyond reasonable enforcement there.

Policing language is a perilous task, particularly at a sporting event crowded with people to whom one is happily selling beer by the bucketload.

There are legitimate reasons for fans to be removed from tournaments, like endangering the welfare of others, intoxicated belligerence, or attempting to distract players while executing a shot—the latter surely to become an issue as legal gambling grows in golf. These are all reasonable and necessary matters to enforce. But the PGA Tour cannot be in the business of protecting someone’s hurt feelings, and that is the reality it is stumbling toward. Thus so many Tour players openly mocked the idea after Monahan spoke. Like flight attendants, they know its simply unworkable to legislate decent behavior.

There’s no evidence that DeChambeau sought the Tour’s intervention on this matter, and even less reason to believe he will benefit from it. If anything, it might make things worse for him, at least until the cretins finally exhaust their admittedly deep reservoir of witless inanities. It’s easy to understand why Monahan felt the need to threaten consequences. The needling gets under DeChambeau’s skin, and he has shown himself woefully ill-equipped to handle it.

But for all the noble intent behind Monahan’s shift, the onus remains largely on DeChambeau. It would be nice if Koepka asked fans to button it, but that also assumes the hecklers are fans of Brooks rather than just haters of Bryson. DeChambeau needs to develop a thicker skin, an ability to tune out the noise. In that respect, he’s not alone among Tour players. At the 2020 Players Championship, a fan was thrown out for asking a passing Patrick Reed to sign his shovel, a droll reference to Reed’s bunker misadventures in the Bahamas a few months prior. That fan faced greater sanction for his words than Reed did for his actions.

There’s reason to believe that Monahan’s comments today aren’t solely about protecting the image and product of the PGA Tour at the expense of engaging fans. The commissioner hinted that DeChambeau is not in a good place: “He’s working through some things and he’s going to have my and our support as he continues to do so.”

Whatever the underlying issues, DeChambeau can’t seem to help himself in emotionally tough circumstances, his reactions often further inflaming situations. With this vow to boot spectators, the Tour isn’t helping him either. The solution lies not in threatening a few dozen hollering fools, but in helping one man learn to dismiss them for what they are.

Source: Golfweek https://ift.tt/2V95qPJ

Millions and millions more will be up for grabs on the PGA Tour this coming season

Millions and millions more will be up for grabs on the PGA Tour this coming season

ATLANTA – The PGA Tour’s pot of gold is about to get a lot bigger.

In March of 2020, the PGA Tour announced a new nine-year agreement with CBS Sports, NBC News and ESPN that would run from 2022 through 2030.

Well, the payout begins this fall.

PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said in his annual gathering with the media ahead of the Tour Championship, the FedEx Cup Playoffs finale, that official prize money will increase by approximately $35 million and the FedExCup and Comcast Business Tour top-10 bonus pools combined will grow by $15 million to $85 million. The roughly $633 million in comprehensive earnings up for grabs this coming season marks an 18 percent increase year over year.

The 2021-22 season begins Sept. 16 with the Fortinet Championship at Silverado Resort and Spa in Napa, California. A few of the fall events will have purse increases but the lion’s share of the new money will begin in 2022.

When asked about the potential for a rogue league being established that could syphon away some of the game’s biggest stars, Monahan would only say his focus is on the PGA Tour and the alliance between the Tour and the European Tour.

“I’m 100 percent focused on our business and excited to be here at the Tour Championship to complete this unbelievable season, to go into 2021-2022 with not only an incredibly strong schedule with great committed tournaments, but to be fully sponsored coming through a pandemic,” he said.

“That’s what I have been focused on, that’s what I’ll continue to be focused on and I think in life you always have to be cognizant of, No. 1, there should be zero complacency to anything you do, and No. 2, someone is always going to try and take, compete and take something away from you. And I’ve operated that way every day of my life and I think that’s why, with the great team I have surrounded by me, we’re going to continue to grow this great Tour.”

The 2021-22 season will include for the first time three co-sanctioned events with the European Tour – the Barbasol Championship, Barracuda Championship and the Genesis Scottish Open will count in both the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup standings and the European Tour’s Race to Dubai.

“This is just the first step in a strategic alliance that we will continue to build on in the coming years,” Monahan said.

In other news

The 2021 WGC-HSBC Champions has been cancelled.

“Although it’s unfortunate to have to do so, we must ensure that we abide by the epidemic prevention policies of different markets which may cause inconvenience to the players and make tournament operations very challenging,” Monahan said.


The Bermuda Championship will be played as a stand-alone event with full FedExCup points and an increase in the purse size.


And the PGA Tour will continue to deal with COVID.

“We’re still not without our challenges and we’re still looking at those challenges day-to-day, market to market, and making the best decisions we can alongside community partners, health officials, and medical experts,” Monahan said. “We recognize that we were going to need to learn to live with this and we were going to need to continue to make adjustments as we went forward. I think that’s exactly what we did, and that’s exactly what we’ll continue to do as long as we’re forced to continue to deal with this pandemic.”

Source: Golfweek https://ift.tt/2V95qPJ

PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan hopeful Bryson DeChambeau will end print media boycott

PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan hopeful Bryson DeChambeau will end print media boycott

ATLANTA – Bryson DeChambeau hasn’t talked to the print media for nearly a month, opting only to speak with PGA Tour broadcast partners.

He wouldn’t even talk to print media after nearly shooting 59 in the second round of last week’s BMW Championship, which he eventually lost in a six-hole playoff to Patrick Cantlay.

PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan is hoping DeChambeau ends his boycott and right quick. In his annual address with the media at East Lake Golf Club ahead of this week’s Tour Championship, the FedEx Cup Playoffs finale, Monahan touched on the DeChambeau rift with the print media.

“Bryson is a star. He has fascinated golf and sport fans around the world since our return to golf. He’s also a young man that’s growing and evolving, not just on the golf course, but off the golf course,” Monahan said. “And I would just say to you that I look at this as a point in time. I don’t think this is the way things are going to be for a long period of time. I’m hopeful that we’ll get back to a steady cadence of communication that he’ll have with the media. But he’s working through some things and he’s going to have my and our support as he continues to do so.”

DeChambeau’s silence began in Memphis at the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational after his controversial comments concerning not taking the COVID-19 vaccine caused a storm. It just continued his turbulent summer in which he split with his longtime caddie, Tim Tucker; didn’t talk to the media at the Rocket Mortgage Classic despite being the defending champion and being sponsored by Rocket Mortgage; shot 44 on the back nine in the final round of the U.S. Open and fell from the lead to a tie for 26th; created a firestorm with his equipment company when he said his driver “sucks” at the British Open; was forced to withdraw from the Tokyo Summer Games after testing positive for COVID-19; and dealing with a feud with Brooks Koepka.

“I’ve talked to Bryson about a lot of things and obviously our preference would be to have him talking to the media on a regular basis, and certainly in that instance when he has a historic performance,” Monahan said. “I’m hopeful that that will not be the case on a long-term basis, and I think that sometimes as hard as it is to contemplate and understand, I think human beings and individuals need some space, and I think that’s what’s going on right now.

“When we look at this over the long run, I think that this is something that he’ll get through. He’ll get to the other side of and he’ll be better for it. But that’s my perspective on it. It’s not binary, you know, he’s working through it in a way that he feels is best for him and he knows he has my and our support.”

Source: Golfweek https://ift.tt/2V95qPJ

Ex-NBA star J.R. Smith shares joys, frustrations as student at North Carolina A&T as he tries hand at college golf

Ex-NBA star J.R. Smith shares joys, frustrations as student at North Carolina A&T as he tries hand at college golf
J.R. Smith is reading short stories in his English class, studying nutrition in his family and consumer science class.

But the lessons for the longtime NBA player at North Carolina A&T aren’t just in the classroom. Smith also has learned college isn’t all fun and games. It’s not golf 24/7 even though he enrolled in part to play on the university’s golf team.

In a series of tweets over the past week, Smith, who turns 36 on Sept. 9, shared his freshman experience, expressing frustration of being back in the classroom for the first time since his senior year of high school in 2004.

“I hated school growing up and I knew this would be a challenge, but that’s not going to discourage me one second. You have to be able to buckle down and lock into new journeys and challenges coming in your life. Observe, learn and adapt,” Smith tweeted.

Kelley L Cox, USA TODAY Sports

He asked if it were natural to “want to switch majors” one week into his first semester and tweeted, “Been up since 5am LA time working on my education assignments. One bad week will not spoil the semester. Lace your boots up put your head up and go to work.”

On Sunday, he wrote, “So disappointed in myself this first week man.”

Smith was once one of the best 450 basketball players in the world, a former champion and Sixth Man of the Year. It is estimated that he’s made more than $90 million during his NBA career. Now, he’s just like thousands of other college freshmen trying, maybe even struggling, to find their way – turning in assignments before a midnight deadline and contemplating the value of joining a fraternity.

His honest words reveal a vulnerability and humility but also inspiring to others trying to make a life change. In return, Smith has received tips and encouragement from professors, tutors, students, celebrities and media personalities, among others.

Nearly two decades ago, Smith committed to play basketball for Roy Williams at North Carolina. But after impressive performances in high school all-star games, including the 2004 McDonald’s All-American game in which he was named co-MVP with Dwight Howard, Smith decided bypass college for the NBA.

He embarked on a successful 16-year career winning titles with Cleveland in 2016 and the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020 and earning Sixth Man of the Year in 2013.

“After a while, school just disappeared from my mind,” Smith told reporters last week. “I didn’t think I would have that urge or want to go back or let alone encouraged to go back.”

A big golf fan and avid golfer, Smith often watched PGA Tour events in his NBA locker room and sometimes brought his clubs on road trips. After a regular-season game against Milwaukee during his Cavs days, Smith watched the final holes of a tournament on his iPad before starting his postgame press conference. And there was the year early in his Cavs days when he played 36 holes on an off day in Orlando and 18 the next day before that night’s game.

Smith said he put away the clubs for the 2015-16 season and didn’t play a full round until after the Cavaliers won the title. And, of course, he was one of the Lakers who made use of tee times in the Orlando bubble in 2020.

He didn’t play in the NBA last season and contemplated what life after basketball might look like. It’s not always an easy transition especially when your “career” is over by your mid-30s.

Smith decided to attend college.

“Being able to compete and challenge myself academically is where my heart is right now,” Smith said. “Being able to play golf at the same time is even better. It gives me incentive to keep my grades up.”

North Carolina A&T opens its fall season Sept. 24-25 at the Black College Golf Coaches Association Invitational.

“Obviously it’s a different environment from playing in front of 20,000 people to playing in a college golf gallery,” Smith said. “It’s still as nerve-wracking shooting a free throw in front of 5,000 people as it making a 5-foot putt in front of 30 (people). It all correlates the same.”

Source: Golfweek https://ift.tt/2V95qPJ

Calling Bryson DeChambeau 'Brooksie' at a PGA Tour event could get you booted from the premises

Calling Bryson DeChambeau 'Brooksie' at a PGA Tour event could get you booted from the premises

ATLANTA – If you’re in the gallery at a PGA Tour event, you might want to think twice about calling Bryson DeChambeau “Brooksie.”

In his annual meeting with the media at this week’s Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan addressed unruly fan behavior that has ticked up recently on the PGA Tour, some of it dealing with the rift on social media between DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka, which has led to DeChambeau being heckled by fans who refer to him as “Brooksie.”

One such instance occurred after DeChambeau lost a six-hole playoff to Patrick Cantlay on Sunday in the BMW Championship at Caves Valley Golf Club in Maryland. ESPN reported that DeChambeau has a brief exchange with a fan who had called him Brooksie and said, “You know what? Get the (expletive) out,” before motioning for a police officer. DeChambeau quickly walked away.

Monahan said that type of fan behavior could result in an ejection from the course.

“When you hear “Brooksie” yelled or you hear any expression yelled, the question is, is that respectful or disrespectful?” he said. “At this point, it’s disrespectful, and that’s the kind of behavior that we’re not going to tolerate going forward.”

Monahan said the PGA Tour was updating its fan code of conduct program in 2020 but stopped last summer when the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the world and fans weren’t allowed at tournaments. Once fans were allowed to return to events, the PGA Tour re-started work on the fan code update “to reinforce an environment at PGA Tour events that allows for everyone to enjoy in a safe environment, and that is spectators players, volunteers, literally everybody.”

“By coming to a PGA Tour event, you’re expected to contribute to a welcoming and safe environment by refraining from and reporting any unsafe, disruptive, or harassing behavior,” Monahan said. “Comments or gestures that undermine the inclusive and welcoming nature of the game will not be tolerated, nor will any harassment of players, caddies, volunteers, officials, staff, or other spectators.

“Fans who breach our code of conduct are subject to expulsion from the tournament and loss of their credential or ticket.”

Monahan said he has talked to DeChambeau and Koepka. The two have been going at each other for more than two years – think the eyeroll of Koepka at the PGA Championship, the fans being ejected at the Memorial. Both, however, have vowed that their rift won’t cause problems at the Ryder Cup.

“I’ve been at a lot of our tournaments this year, particularly since our return to play, and this issue isn’t specific to one or two players,” Monahan said. “I think it’s an opportunity to reassess overall civility at our tournament and fan behavior and reset the expectation through our fan code of conduct.

“That’s something that we have identified. It’s something that I’ve talked to not only those two players, but a lot of our players about. It’s something I’ve talked to our partners in the industry about, and we have all agreed that together we have got to come together and demonstrate what is truly exceptional about our game. And if you go back to the history of the game, the values of honor, integrity, respect that have been central fabric to the game since the point in time, our expectation is that that’s what we’re going to experience at our tournaments.

“And I made the point earlier about families and kids, and we have volunteers that are giving so much of their time, and the game has never had more people coming into enjoy the game and experience it than we have had really over these last several months, and we want more people to come in. We just want to make certain that everybody can have a safe, healthy, and enjoyable experience, whether you’re inside the ropes or outside the ropes and that’s what we’re intending to do.”

Stewart Cink, a two-time winner this season, said he doesn’t hear a lot of bad stuff directed at him, but he has heard some harsh things said to Patrick Reed and DeChambeau this year.

“It’s a little different hearing the two personalities of the fan group with those two guys, but I did hear some pretty astonishing things when I played with Patrick, and I love playing with Patrick Reed,” Cink said. “He and I just laugh about it when we hear it and I can’t believe that there hasn’t been a murder yet in the crowd.

“But it’s pretty intense. I think in the end the fans sometimes just like to hear themselves and they like to be able to yell out something and then poke their buddy and say, ‘Did you hear me?’ I think the players out here don’t get too wrinkled by it necessarily because it’s not really a personal thing. I think in a one-on-one situation those fans that yell probably wouldn’t be quick to say those same things in a one-on-one situation.

“So it’s more about just getting the laugh out of your buddies and it comes at the expense, to a certain extent, of the player that it’s directed to. But we have got to be big boys if you want to play in this game and that’s just the way it is.”

World No. 1 Jon Rahm has heard his share of derogatory things aimed at him.

“Many things in Spanish that I don’t want to translate so somebody learns something bad,” he said. “Bad things about my mom, bad things about my wife. Nobody said anything about my son yet, but I can imagine that’s coming in the Ryder Cup. I can’t in good conscience say what some people have said. I don’t know what goes through somebody’s mind to say something like that, but I don’t know. Some bad things.

“But I got to say, that is 1 percent of all the public out there. Everybody else is great. They create a great atmosphere. There’s just going to be the usual people that, whether they had a few too many drinks or they’re getting influenced by their friends or they’re just simply trying to be funny, they’re going to say some things that are just maybe not nice to hear.

“But at the same time, as athletes, we’re not the only ones that deal with it. Every other athlete in every other sport has to deal with it. In team sports, every time you have an away game, you have a whole stadium full of people yelling things at you. So I’m sure other sports have heard way worse things than I have on the golf course so far.”

Source: Golfweek https://ift.tt/2V95qPJ

What would Jon Rahm do with $15 million FedEx Cup prize? Save it and invest responsibly, of course.

What would Jon Rahm do with $15 million FedEx Cup prize? Save it and invest responsibly, of course.

Jon Rahm knows exactly what he’d do with the $15 million first prize if he were to win the Tour Championship on Sunday and the FedEx Cup riches that go to the victor.

“Save it and invest it responsibly, unlike any other 27-year-old ever said,” Rahm, 27, laughed. “I said it before, we get this question every time. I’ve been very fortunate that at my young age I make more money than I ever thought I could make. I’ve never done this for the money, but obviously, it’s an amazing bonus and even already I can already afford a great life for my family and the future of my family.

“If I haven’t bought anything extravagant yet, like, yeah, we live in a very nice house and we have some nice cars, but nothing out of the very ordinary, I can’t really think of it, nothing that would like surprise anybody or raise any eyebrows, to be honest, nothing that’s that special.”

Spoken like a man who already has banked more than $7 million this season, tops on the PGA Tour, and will surpass $35 million in career earnings even if he finishes dead last at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta this week. Rahm, the World No. 1, is playing to win, to maintain the No. 1 rank – there is a scenario where if Dustin Johnson shoots the low 72-hole aggregate, he can regain the title – and to stake his claim to PGA Tour Player of the Year.

Rahm enters the week No. 4 in the FedEx Cup point standings. Despite a Tour-leading 14 top-10 finishes, including his U.S. Open win, Rahm will begin the tournament at -6, a stroke behind Bryson DeChambeau, two behind Tony Finau and four behind polesetter Patrick Cantlay, who won the BMW Championship on Sunday in a six-hole playoff. Rahm has overcome two positive COVID-19 tests this season to have a phenomenal season, so what’s spotting a few strokes to three players in the field?

“This is a ball striker’s golf course and my ball striking has been very, very good, and I’m only four shots back, so it’s only a one-shot difference each day, and we all know that four shots can be gone very, very quickly,” Rahm said. “If I get off to a fast start tomorrow, on Thursday, it will be a good start, get a couple birdies on, and we won’t be too far away. So I’m confident in what can be done. Obviously Patrick has to worry about his own game, but I feel like I’m doing the right things and I’m giving myself a really good chance.”

Rahm, who finished a career-best fourth at last year’s Tour Championship, already has made it clear during the Northern Trust two weeks ago that he’s not sold on the FedEx Cup playoff system. He didn’t back down on his belief but chose his words very carefully in doing so.

“I like it much better than the last one in the sense of that you know where you’re standing and you know what you have to do. I’m not going to say too much because I know my words are going to be possibly, let’s say, muddled to the extreme and almost make it sound about something different than what I feel, but I’m not the biggest supporter of the full format itself. What I do like is the fact that you understand what’s going on and what’s going to happen and who is on the lead and what you have to do to win, but I don’t agree with every part of the format this week.”

In other words, Rahm may not like the format but he isn’t going to complain too loudly. That same philosophy when he gets a bad break or doesn’t hit a good shot may help explain Rahm’s rise to U.S. Open champion and golf’s new alpha male, according to Tour veteran Stewart Cink.

“I think that we don’t see the complaining anymore on the golf course. Maybe it’s because we don’t see much to complain about on the golf course either,” Cink said. “But we don’t see Jon emotionally giving away energy by complaining about a result, a lip out, a bad bounce, or something like that, and I think that’s a huge sign of maturity. I don’t know if somebody got ahold of him or he just understood himself, but he just is on full go. I mean, he’s just, he’s rocketed, his potential was always there and he really never had a rough patch, but, man, he’s just all systems go at the moment.”

Source: Golfweek https://ift.tt/2V95qPJ

Historic wins, famous blackballing: Inside the history of The Country Club, host of the 2022 U.S. Open

Historic wins, famous blackballing: Inside the history of The Country Club, host of the 2022 U.S. Open

Francis Ouimet’s secret weapon in the 1913 U.S. Open wasn’t a particular set of clubs, nor his familiarity with the course at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts, which he could see from his bedroom window.

When the amateur won the title in an upset against British veterans Harry Vardon and Ted Ray, he credited his caddie, Eddie Lowery, a 10-year-old boy from nearby Newton who was his loudest cheerleader.

The stunning victory cemented a place for Ouimet and Lowery — and The Country Club, host of the upcoming 2022 U.S. Open — in golf history. Here’s what you need to know about The Country Club.

Who was Francis Ouimet’s caddie?

A 20-year-old Brookline native who had caddied at TCC, Ouimet was fresh off a loss in the U.S. Amateur when the president of the United States Golf Association asked if he would play in the Open. Though he initially declined, Ouimet joined after his boss gave him time off to play.

Finding a caddie proved more difficult.

Lowery and his brother, Jack, played hooky from school to watch the play at TCC, and Jack agreed to caddie for Ouimet after the golfer’s original man bailed. When a truant officer caught Jack, however, Eddie took three street cars over to TCC and pleaded with Ouimet to take his brother’s place.

“I’ve never lost a ball,” Lowery advertised, not mentioning he had rarely caddied, according to TCC historian Frederick Waterman.

Francis Ouimet

After winning the 1913 U.S. Open, Brookline’s Francis Ouimet, rear, credited his caddie, 10-year-old Eddie Lowery. Ouimet later dedicated this photo, writing over Lowery’s towel, “This is the boy who won the 1913 Open.” (Photo: The Country Club)

More: Thousands of golf fans, millions of dollars: Brookline’s U.S. Open plan

Knowing the course as well as he did, “Ouimet didn’t really need a caddie,” Waterman said. “What he needed was someone to believe in him, which Eddie Lowery did with all his heart.”

Ouimet’s win kickstarted the American golf boom, Waterman said. Both he and Lowery left lasting legacies at TCC, including a 2005 incident, when an assistant golf professional spotted the ghostly figures of a boy and a young man sitting on a bench, dressed in golf clothing from a century prior.

The Country Club membership

The ghost sightings — there have only been a couple over the years, according to Waterman — are part of the lore of The Country Club, one of the United States’ oldest and most exclusive clubs.

Founded in 1882, TCC only began allowing women as voting members in 1989, and didn’t have a Jewish member until the 1970s, or a Black member until 1994.

So exclusive is the club that former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick said he and his wife were “blackballed” from joining. Former New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady — whose previous residence is visible from the TCC course — had a difficult time getting in.

The Country Club

In its early days, The Country Club employed a flock of sheep to keep the greens trimmed. (Photo: The Country Club)

Who founded The Country Club?

The Country Club’s unique name, lacking identifiers, hints at its historical status. When he and his friends set out to create the club, founder J. Murray Forbes, an international trader, borrowed the name from a club in Shanghai.

At the time of its founding, The Country Club was the only “country club” in the Western Hemisphere, according to Waterman.

While TCC has hosted many high-profile golf competitions, including the 1999 Ryder Cup, 2013 U.S. Amateur and three U.S. Opens, early activities were primarily equestrian.

Establishing the golf course

Golf came to Massachusetts in 1892 with Florence Boit, who brought equipment back from her studies in Europe and shared the game with her uncle and friends. Smitten, the new golf converts convinced TCC’s executive committee to spend $50 to lay out six holes on the Clyde Park grounds.

Willie Campbell, the club’s first head golf professional, helped expand the course. His wife, Georgina, later became America’s first female golf professional at nearby Franklin Park.

Georgina Campbell

Georgina Campbell, wife of Willie Campbell, the first head golf professional at The Country Club. Willie later moved over to Franklin Park, and Georgina took over after he died in 1900, becoming the first female head pro in the U.S. (Photo: The Country Club)

Meanwhile, TCC rose to the top of America’s nascent golf industry as one of five charter clubs to found the United States Golf Association.

In the second U.S. Open in 1896, European pros threatened to withdraw if John Shippen, a Black man, and Oscar Bunn, a member of the Shinnecock Nation, were allowed to play at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, their home course. The USGA’s president put his foot down, the naysayers backed off, and Shippen and Bunn played.

When the U.S. Open came to Brookline in 1913, TCC — which boasted four of the USGA’s first eight presidents — guaranteed Shippen was welcome. No Black man would play again in the U.S. Open until 1948.

Tricky course: One of the best in the U.S.

Over the years, The Country Club has attracted the world’s greatest golfers, many of whom have loved and lost on the tricky course.

Half a century after Ouimet’s victory, golf was experiencing another boom as the charismatic, telegenic Arnold Palmer rose in popularity. Palmer came to TCC for the 1963 U.S. Open, and spectators watched in horror as his ball came to a rest in a tree stump at the 11th hole. It took Palmer three swings to get it back into the fairway.

Arnold Palmer

During the 1963 U.S. Open at The Country Club, legendary golfer Arnold Palmer watched as his ball came to a rest at a rotted tree stump at the 11th hole. He gamely took three swings and managed to get it into the fairway, but ultimately came up short to Julius Boros. (Photo: The Country Club)

During the 1963 U.S. Open at The Country Club, legendary golfer Arnold Palmer watched as his ball came to a rest at a rotted tree stump at the 11th hole. He gamely took three swings and managed to get it into the fairway, but ultimately came up short to Julius Boros.

Other pros have learned the hard way that TCC’s course requires strategizing, rather than hitting long. Jack Nicklaus “tried to impose his game on the course,” Waterman recalled, missing the cut in both 1963 and 1988, when TCC next hosted the U.S. Open.

TCC, which covers more than 235 acres, regularly ranks among the best courses in the world. In May, Golfweek ranked TCC the best private course in Massachusetts.

More: Golfweek’s top 200 classic golf courses

“You want a golf course to be like having a conversation with an interesting person, so that every time you meet that person you have a different conversation,” Waterman said. “The best golf courses are the ones where every round is different, but it’s always interesting, it’s always compelling because of the variety, because of what it demands of you.”

The course’s natural features set it apart, particularly the rocky outcroppings and fescue grass-lined bunkers, which look unfinished by design, said Brendan Walsh, TCC’s head golf professional.

The Country Club has played host to golf’s greats, including The Golden Bear himself, Jack Nicklaus.

Walsh listed the third hole as one of his favorites. “It’s our number one handicap hole in the front nine, and it’s a beautiful vista from the tee,” he said. “You look down and the horizon is our skating pond, as we call it.”

Both the third hole and 11th — another of Walsh’s favorites — have similar features, driving down to a generous area that funnels into a narrower path among the rocks, he explained.

Which holes will be used for the 2022 U.S. Open?

The club’s main course consists of the Clyde and Squirrel nines combined, and the upcoming U.S. Open will be played on a composite course including 15 holes from Clyde and Squirrel, as well as four additional holes from the Primrose nine (the first and second holes will be combined, Walsh explained).

He said the 2022 Open, to be played June 13-19, is meaningful in light of Ouimet’s 1913 win there, which put the game of golf on the map in America.

“For the U.S. Open to come back to that location where the history began and people realized that it’s an accessible game for all is what’s the most exciting,” he said. “To be able to share that around the world is pretty special.”

Source: Golfweek https://ift.tt/2V95qPJ

Patrick Reed is taking a van from Houston to Atlanta after being cleared for the Tour Championship

Patrick Reed is taking a van from Houston to Atlanta after being cleared for the Tour Championship

Patrick Reed is going on a road trip.

Earlier this morning the 2018 Masters champion packed up a van with the rest of #TeamReed to make the 12-hour trip from his home outside Houston to Atlanta for this week’s Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club, the final event of the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup Playoffs.

Reed qualified as the last player in the field this week despite not playing in either of the first two playoff events, the Northern Trust and last week’s BMW Championship, due to a battle with pneumonia.

The nine-time PGA Tour winner hasn’t been cleared to fly because the cabin pressure may be too much for his lungs, but Reed thinks he’ll be able to fly home after the tournament. After a long practice session on Monday, doctors monitored his progress and gave Reed a “cautious light to go and play.”

“It’s like the old times driving from tournament to tournament with Justine,” Reed told Golfweek over the phone on Tuesday. “Love driving the country.”

Reed won the Farmers Insurance Open back in January and has earned six top-10 finishes this season thanks to his impressive play on and around the greens, where he ranks eighth and fifth in strokes gained around the green and putting, respectively.

Source: Golfweek https://ift.tt/2V95qPJ

Tour Championship fantasy golf power rankings and odds

Tour Championship fantasy golf power rankings and odds

The 30 remaining golfers in the race for the 2021 FedEx Cup are at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, this week for the PGA Tour’s season finale. The top 30 in the season-long FedEx Cup standings will compete for the $15 million first-place prize. Below, we look at the fantasy golf power rankings for the 2021 Tour Championship, with PGA Tour picks and predictions.

The Tour Championship begins with starting strokes based on the FedEx Cup standings following Patrick Cantlay’s victory at last week’s BMW Championship. He’ll begin this week’s event at 10-under par with spots two through five in the standings starting at 8 under, 7 under, 6 under and 5 under, respectively.

Each group of five from there starts one stroke further back of Cantlay, with those entering the week placed 26-30 opening the tournament at even par.

Dustin Johnson returns to East Lake as the defending FedEx Cup champion and PGA Tour Player of the Year. He begins the week at No. 15 in the FedEx Cup standings and in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings.

2021 Tour Championship: Fantasy Golf Top 30

Odds provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Odds last updated Tuesday at 8:55 a.m. ET.

(Listed odds are without factoring starting strokes.)

30. Patrick Reed (+4000)

Captain America didn’t play either of the first two FedEx Cup Playoffs events but recently returned home after a stint in the hospital due to pneumonia. There’s too much risk against the elite field following the layoff.

29. Erik Van Rooyen (+5000)

One of last week’s biggest risers in the season-long standings with a fifth-place finish. He led the field in both Strokes Gained: Approach (1.63) and SG: Tee-to-Green (2.09) per round but both figures are well above his season average.

28. Stewart Cink (+9000)

The 48-year-old won twice this season for his first two victories since 2009. However, he enters the season finale just 23rd in the FedEx Cup standings off of a T-38 finish last week.

27. Kevin Na (+7000)

His 28 career rounds played at East Lake GC are tied for third in this field, but he has lost 0.11 strokes on the field per round. He lost 0.73 strokes per round off the tee last week but won’t need to rely on his driver as much at the considerably shorter venue.

26. Billy Horschel (+7000)

Snuck into the final at 29th in the season-long standings but has averaged 2.30 strokes gained on the field per round over 16 career rounds at East Lake. Salvaged a T-52 finish last week with 0.23 SG: Around-the-Green per round.

25. Harris English (+3000)

Seventh in the FedEx Cup standings with two wins and six other top-10 finishes on the season but was wholly unimpressive in a T-26 finish last week. Has just eight rounds of experience at this venue.

24. Jason Kokrak (+4000)

Makes just his second appearance at East Lake after claiming his first two career victories on the 2020-21 season. Finished 14th here in 2019.

23. Joaquin Niemann (+4000)

Tied for 29th last week with 1.15 strokes lost per round on and around the greens. He can rely on his irons and hope for a more neutral short-game performance.

22. Sergio Garcia (+4000)

Made an early charge up the leaderboard Sunday before a couple of misadventures from the bunkers. Was able to tie for sixth with 1.31 SG: Putting per round.

21. Daniel Berger (+2000)

Played just 22 events this season and enters the finale at 26th in the standings. Still, he had one victory and seven other top-10 finishes while ranking fifth on Tour in SG: Approach.

20. Sungjae Im (+3000)

Back to East Lake for a third straight year off of an 11th-place showing in 2020. Led the field with 1.77 SG: Putting per round in 2019 but was the sixth-worst putter in the field last year.

19. Abraham Ancer (+2000)

Claimed his first PGA Tour victory two weeks before the playoffs and earned his sixth other top-10 finish of 2021 with a T-9 last week. He tied for 18th last year.

18. Sam Burns (+3000)

Won the Valspar Championship for his first PGA Tour victory and claimed four other top-10 finishes, including an eighth-place result last week; however, he’s one of just two golfers making their debut at East Lake GC this week.

17. Scottie Scheffler (+2000)

Had a disappointing T-22 placing last week at a course that figured to suit him well. He lost 0.29 strokes per round on the greens but most surprisingly lost 0.19 strokes per round off-the-tee.

16. Louis Oosthuizen (+2000)

Returned from injury to tie for 38th at Caves Valley Golf Club last week and had a rare poor putting performance. He last played here in 2019 and averaged 0.90 SG: Putting per round but was awful around the greens.

15. Hideki Matsuyama (+3000)

The reigning Masters champ finished in the top 15 at the Tour Championship each of the last three years, but he tied for 46th last week with a dreadful putting performance.

14. Corey Conners (+3000)

Tied for 22nd last week while ranking sixth in the field with 0.77 SG: Around-the-Green per round. It was an uncharacteristically strong part of his game, but a similar performance and his iron play will lead to a good result at this venue.

13. Viktor Hovland (+3000)

Tied for 17th at the BMW Championship despite losing 0.41 strokes per round around the green. He tied for 20th here last year with 1.48 strokes lost per round on the greens, but he gained 1.03 strokes per round on approach.

12. Cameron Smith (+2000)

Finished 20th or worse in his two appearances at East Lake GC but with awful putting. Slipped from third to fifth in the FedEx Cup standings with a T-34 finish last week.

11. Bryson DeChambeau (+1300)

Lost the marathon playoff against Cantlay last week despite leading the field with 2.01 SG: Off-the-Tee per round and ranking second, behind Cantlay, in SG: Putting. The shorter venue doesn’t suit his game as well and he finished 22nd here in 2020.

PLAY: Our new free daily Pick’em Challenge and win! Play now!

10. Collin Morikawa (+2000)

Finished sixth in his debut here last year but enters the 2020-21 season finale off of a missed cut at The Northern Trust and a T-63 finish last week in the 70-man field.

9. Brooks Koepka (+2000)

Tied for 22nd last week while his rival, DeChambeau, went to a playoff. He has an average of 1.64 strokes gained on the field over 16 career rounds at East Lake and should be motivated to bounce back.

8. Justin Thomas (+1200)

The 2021 Players champion slipped to a T-22 finish last week following a T-4 showing at The Northern Trust. His putter let him down, but he averaged 1.18 SG: Tee-to-Green per round.

7. Jordan Spieth (+2000)

Tied for 34th last week following a 73rd-place finish at the Northern Trust but remains comfortably in ninth in the FedEx Cup standings. Last played this event in 2017 with a T-7 finish.

6. Tony Finau (+2000)

The winner of The Northern Trust tied for 15th last week with poor play around the greens; however, he had Sunday’s best round with a 9-under par 63. He’s second in the FedEx Cup standings and begins the Tour Championship just 2 strokes back of Cantlay.

5. Dustin Johnson (+1200)

His T-6 showing last week was his fourth top-10 finish in his last eight events after a slow start to the 2021 calendar year. The showing vaulted him from 22nd to 15th in the season-long standings.

4. Xander Schauffele (+1200)

The field leader in strokes gained per round at East Lake GC with 3.56 over 16 career rounds. He won here in 2017 and was the low 72-hole scorer last year.

3. Patrick Cantlay (+1500)

The only three-time winner on the PGA Tour this season has earned the 2-stroke lead entering the Tour Championship. However, without starting strokes, he’s just sixth by the odds. He has averaged just 0.31 strokes gained per round at East Lake.

2. Jon Rahm (+700)

The No. 1 player in the Golfweek rankings slipped to No. 4 in the FedEx Cup standings with a T-9 finish last week. Still, he’s the favorite to win with and without starting strokes despite beginning at 6-under par.

1. Rory McIlroy (+1200)

The two-time FedEx Cup champ regained his form last week with a fourth-place finish at the BMW Championship. He was second in SG: Off-the-Tee and fourth in SG: Tee-to-Green last week.

If you’re looking for more sports betting picks and tips, access all of our content at SportsbookWire.com. Please gamble responsibly.

Follow @EstenMcLaren on Twitter. Follow SportsbookWire on Twitter and like us on Facebook.

Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services. Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage. This information is for entertainment purposes only. We make no representations or warranties as to the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of any content.

Source: Golfweek https://ift.tt/2V95qPJ

Patrick Cantlay's caddie says Bryson DeChambeau's stop walking comment 'wasn't a big deal'

Patrick Cantlay's caddie says Bryson DeChambeau's stop walking comment 'wasn't a big deal'

If it seemed like Patrick Cantlay and Bryson DeChambeau were a bit cold to each other during Sunday’s final round of the BMW Championship at Caves Valley Golf club in Owings Mills, Maryland, you can probably point to a moment on the 14th hole where it all began.

Bryson stood over his approach shot for several seconds before backing off, turning to his left, and saying “Patrick, can you stop walking?”

Cantlay did, but just a few minutes later would walk in a 21-footer for birdie to join DeChambeau at the top of the leaderboard.

You can imagine the traction the video received on social media, and even the reaction the broadcast team had to the moment. In a video posted to the Caddie Network’s Instagram page on Monday, Cantlay’s caddie, Matt Minister explained that the exchange wasn’t a big deal.

Tour Championship: Tee times and TV info

“It did add a little bit of spice to the telecast,” he said, “but we’re all pros out here and it’s not a big deal.”

Check out Minister’s full remarks below.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by The Caddie Network (@caddienetwork)

Source: Golfweek https://ift.tt/2V95qPJ

Tour Championship tee times, TV info for Thursday's first round of the FedEx Cup Playoffs finale

Tour Championship tee times, TV info for Thursday's first round of the FedEx Cup Playoffs finale

A supersized PGA Tour season comes to a close this week with the third and final leg of the FedEx Cup Playoffs. Only 30 players are teeing it up at the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, and that includes all the heavy hitters you’d expect. A $15 million bonus prize awaits the FedEx Cup champion.

This year marks the 15th season of the playoffs and the third time the Tour has used its Starting Strokes format, which was introduced for the first time in 2019.

It’s a staggered system whereby the player in the top position will start the Tour Championship at 10 under, the No. 2 golfer will start at 8 under and so on from there. Patrick Cantlay and Tony Finau, paired together in the last group off on Thursday afternoon, start in the Nos. 1 and 2 positions, respectively, after winning the first two playoff events.

From tee times to TV and streaming info, here’s what you need to know for the first round of the Tour Championship. All times listed are ET.

More: Who’s in, who’s out of the FedEx Cup Playoffs finale

Tee times

1st tee

Tee time Players
11:40 a.m. Billy Horschel, Patrick Reed
11:50 a.m. Erik van Rooyen, Sergio Garcia
12:00 p.m. Scottie Scheffler, Daniel Berger
12:10 p.m. Stewart Cink, Joaquin Niemann
12:20 p.m. Corey Conners, Hideki Matsuyama
12:30 p.m. Kevin Na, Brooks Koepka
12:40 p.m. Xander Schauffele, Jason Kokrak
12:50 p.m. Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy
1:00 p.m. Viktor Hovland, Louis Oosthuizen
1:10 p.m. Collin Morikawa, Sungjae Im
1:20 p.m. Jordan Spieth, Sam Burns
1:30 p.m. Harris English, Abraham Ancer
1:40 p.m. Cameron Smith, Justin Thomas
1:50 p.m. Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm
2:00 p.m. Patrick Cantlay, Tony Finau

TV, streaming, radio information

You can watch Golf Channel for free on fuboTV and CBS on the Paramount+ app. All times ET.

Thursday, Sept. 2

TV

Golf Channel: 1 p.m.-6 p.m.

STREAMING

PGA Tour Live: 11 a.m.-6 p.m.

RADIO

PGA Tour Radio on SiriusXM: 12 p.m.-6 p.m.

Friday, Sept. 3

TV

Golf Channel: 1 p.m.-6 p.m.

STREAMING

PGA Tour Live: 11 a.m.-6 p.m.

RADIO

PGA Tour Radio on SiriusXM: 12 p.m.-6 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 4

TV

Golf Channel: 1 p.m.-2:30 p.m.

NBC: 2:30 p.m.-7 p.m.

STREAMING

PGA Tour Live: 12 p.m.-2:30;  2:30- 6 p.m.

RADIO

PGA Tour Radio on SiriusXM: 2 p.m.-7 p.m.

Sunday, Sept. 5

TV

Golf Channel: 12 p.m.-1:30 p.m.

NBC: 1:30 p.m.-6 p.m.

STREAMING

PGA Tour Live: 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m.; 1:30 p.m.-6 p.m.

RADIO

PGA Tour Radio on SiriusXM: 1 p.m.-6 p.m.

We recommend interesting sports viewing and streaming opportunities. If you sign up to a service by clicking one of the links, we may earn a referral fee.

Source: Golfweek https://ift.tt/2V95qPJ

Ryder Cup: Ralph Lauren unveils 2021 lookbook for Team USA

Ryder Cup: Ralph Lauren unveils 2021 lookbook for Team USA

Ralph Lauren is the official outfitter for the 2021 U.S. Ryder Cup team for the fourth year now. The team will be wearing a variety of pieces in red, white and blue colorways as they compete for the win at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin.

Ralph Lauren will outfit all players, caddies, spouses and partners. Vice Captain and long-time Ralph Lauren Golf Ambassador Davis Love III is very excited for the Ryder Cup to resume play this year in Ralph Lauren’s patriotic designs.

“The captains and players just want to play. It’s time,” said Love.

The Ralph Lauren Ryder Cup collection includes a capsule full of Polo Golf and RLX Golf apparel. All items of this collection are made with moisture-wicking properties and enhanced airflow in Ralph Lauren’s performance fabrics. The polos are designed to compliment any swing, and the pants are lightweight and flexible.

Davis Love III

Davis Love III in 2021 Ryder Cup Apparel. (Photo: Ralph Lauren)

The company is very excited about their inclement-weather pieces which include sweaters, vests, wool jackets and packable down jackets. These pieces are curated to combat all weather collections that may come into play in Wisconsin.

Polo Ralph Lauren will serve as the tournament’s largest on-site apparel supplier with a large selection of merchandise from the brand available for the public to purchase. Having a piece of the Ryder Cup Collection is likw being a part of tournament history.

Love recalls spotting Tony Finau sporting his Ryder Cup jacket at the Atlanta airport months after the tournament. He also mentioned how often Patrick Reed wore the iconic pin-striped pant from the Ryder Cup’s previous collection in PGA Tour play.

“These pieces are meant to be worn time and time again, not just for one weekend out of the year,” said Love.

Ralph Lauren Tuesday through Sunday US Ryder Cup Team. (Ralph Lauren)

On day one of the tournament, players will be wearing the RLX Course Polo in a classic fit made out of 88% recycled polyester and 12% elastane. The Ryder Cup team logo will appear on the left chest, USA printed on the back shoulder and “United We Stand” printed on the back outside of the collar. This polo will be paired with the Cypress Pant which is a tailored fit made from 100% polyester. The color of the pant is French Navy and includes a French Navy pin stripe and embossed motif of the Ryder Cup shield and trophy. A French Navy vest will be an option for layering.

Friday play will take place in another RLX Course Polo in navy with red horizontal stripes. It will be paired with the Cypress Pant in French Navy. A French Navy with Golf Course Camo full zip jacket will be a layering piece.

On Saturday, the players will sport the Mesh Camoflauge Jacquard Polo in a classic fit. The polo is designed with a jacquard USA tipped knit collar with a three button unfinished English placket and collar stand. This polo will be complimented by a French Navy pin stripe Cypress Pant. A French Navy full zip jacket will complete Saturday’s look.

Davis Love III

Davis Love III in 2021 Ryder Cup Sunday Apparel. (Photo: Ralph Lauren)

For Sunday, Team USA will be wearing the Air Tech Pique Polo. This polo has a French Navy collar with a red, white and blue color block design. Sunday’s wardrobe will include a French Navy flag Cypress Pant with an embossed motif of Ryder Cup shield and trophy. Players will be wearing a sweater customized with their name. This sweater is a made to order design where the public can get their own customized Ryder Cup Sweater in a few short weeks delivered to their doorstep.

Source: Golfweek https://ift.tt/2V95qPJ