Golfers live longer
Whose turn is it this week to treat golf as their whipping boy?
Mainstream media feed on the sport as a source of unsubstantiated headlines, many based on the fallacious stereotype of golfers as overweight entitled middle-aged men riding in golf carts while smoking a cigar and chugging a beer. (I do wish they would stop using my foursome as an example.)
For their edification, and yours, here are some verifiable facts about just one positive aspect of golf.
Last fall, Dr. Andrew Murray and his colleagues at Edinburgh University’s Physical Activity for Health Research Centre reported on the results of a review conducted by researchers into 5,000 existing studies about golf.
5,000 studies!
What they found was stunning.
Golf not only has physical and mental health benefits for everyone who plays, but those benefits increase with age. Older folks improve their balance and endurance as well as respiratory and cardiac health.
“We know that the moderate physical activity that golf provides increased life expectancy, has mental health benefits and can help prevent and treat more than 40 major chronic diseases such as heart attacks, stroke, diabetes, breast and colon cancer,” Murray told the BBC.
“Evidence suggests golfers live longer than non-golfers, enjoying improvements in cholesterol levels, body composition, wellness, self-esteem and self-worth.”
The Edinburgh University study was published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine and is part of the Golf and Health Project, which is led by the World Golf Foundation.
A visit to the Golf and Health web site www.golfandhealth.org is a revelation. (Highly recommended for those mainstream media types mentioned above.)
Other studies show that walking 18 holes is equivalent to an eight-kilometre hike. That hike can drop blood glucose levels by up to 30 per cent in older golfers and helps everyone with weight maintenance and physical fitness. Walking and carrying your clubs can burn up to 2,000 calories per round. Even if you can’t carry, get off the power cart and use a manual or electric push cart (what the Brits call “trolleys”).
Heck, even being a spectator at a golf tournament is good for you.
“Spectators at golf events have been reported to walk significantly further than the 7,500 to 10,000 steps recommended daily for health,” according to Golf and Health. So you don’t have to actually play the game to reap the health benefits associated with it.
Even if the preceding hasn’t persuaded you to get out and golf, how about this for a kicker?
The death rate for golfers is 40 per cent lower than for non-golfers of the same age, sex and socio-economic status, according to a study of 300,000 golfers by Sweden’s Karolinska Institutet. That equates to a five-year increase in life expectancy for regular golfers.
When the Edinburgh University study was released, the London Daily Mail ran this above the story:
“Play golf and you’ll live longer.”
Now, that’s a headline you can believe.
Conners off to strong start at Masters
AUGUSTA, Ga. – The last guy into the Masters left no doubt he deserved his spot.
Corey Conners followed up a thrill at the first tee – a greeting from Jack Nicklaus – with a 2-under 70 that put the Canadian in solid position after the opening round Thursday.
“I feel like I belong,” Conners said.
Playing in the first group of the day, he got a chance to watch Nicklaus and Gary Player hit the ceremonial tee shots that traditionally kick off the first major of the year. On his way back to the clubhouse after his one and only swing, the 79-year-old Nicklaus congratulated Conners on last weekend’s victory at the Valero Texas Open – the performance that got him into the Masters as the final entrant in the field.
“That felt pretty special,” Conners said. “It’s cool that that Jack Nicklaus knows who I am.”
The 27-year-old native of Listowel, Ont., endured a sluggish start, playing the front nine at 1 over. He was solid off the tee, but a little too cautious on the treacherous greens. Then in the middle of the back side, Conners made his move.
He rolled in back-to-back birdies at the 13th and 14th holes before making eagle at the par-5 15th.
After a booming drive left only 212 yards to the green at the bottom of the hill, Conners launched his approach over the water, the ball coming to a stop just 6 feet past the cup for barely more than a tap-in.
A three-putt bogey at the final hole put a bit of a damper on his day.
But Conners wasn’t complaining.
Not after his improbable journey just to claim a spot in the first major of the year.
Since he’s currently ranked outside the top 125 in the FedEx Cup, Conners had to go through Monday qualifying just to get into the Texas Open. He made a 20-foot birdie at No. 18 to sneak into a six-man playoff for the final berth in the actual tournament. Then, with a birdie at the first extra hole, he eliminated the other five contenders.
With a 10-birdie round on Sunday, Conners captured the first PGA Tour victory of his career – and an invite to Augusta.
Conners certainly understands the enormity of the odds of everything falling into place the way it has.
“Look, I’m a math and stats guy,” he said, standing near the giant magnolia tree that shades the porch of the stately clubhouse. “I know I was very unlikely to be here. I can say with certainly that I didn’t think I would be here, but it worked out very well.”
Conners is off to a much better start than his only other appearance in the Masters.
The fun continues! @coreconn holds the lead at #TheMasters ?? pic.twitter.com/1ENLpNAK7U
— Golf Canada (@GolfCanada) April 11, 2019
After qualifying as an amateur in 2015, he opened with an 80 that left him no real chance of making the cut.
Now, with another solid round, he’ll be heading on to the weekend for the first time.
He has plenty of fans cheering him on.
“There are way more Canadian people than I was expecting – or at least people pretending to be Canadians – out there,” Conners quipped. “It was awesome.”
Mike Weir, the 2003 Masters champion and the only other Canadian in the field, shot a 72.
McIlroy juggling mind and game in Masters quest
AUGUSTA, Ga. – Rory McIlroy feels as prepared as ever for the Masters.
He is spending more time with his nose in a book than with his hands on a putter. “The Greatest Salesman in the World” by Og Mandino is among the best books he has read in the last year. He has been working with Brad Faxon on his putting, but their best sessions take place over a cup of coffee.
His morning routine goes beyond stretching. There is juggling – yes, juggling – meditation and mind training.
“I was watching the Women’s Amateur over the weekend and I saw a few women on the range juggling, so it’s catching on,” McIlroy said Tuesday. “How many balls can I juggle? Just three. I’m a rookie.”
It’s all geared toward becoming a complete person.
And whether it makes him a complete player by capturing the only major he has yet to win, well, that would be a bonus.
McIlroy is in the early stages of this process, and it’s hard to argue with the results, even if results don’t drive him like they once did. He has yet to finish out of the top 10 in his seven tournaments this year, which includes a victory at The Players Championship.
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Welcome to the RBC Canadian Open, @rorymcilroy – see you in JUNE! ?? #SummersOpen #RBCCO
But that green jacket is a powerful pull on the mind, and McIlroy has reason to believe he can fit comfortably into one.
He famously lost a four-shot lead with an 80 in the final round in 2011 but, even at age 21, showed enough resolve and enormous talent to win the U.S. Open in the very next major. He played in the final group on Saturday in 2016 with Jordan Spieth until falling back with a 77. He played in the final group Sunday last year with Patrick Reed, three shots behind, and fell out of the mix before reaching the back nine.
“I know I’ve played well enough and I’ve shot enough good scores around here over the years that if I can put my best effort forward, I’m going to have a good chance to do well here,” McIlroy said. “But it’s definitely different. My mind set is a little different in terms of … I’m still practicing. I’m still getting better. I’m not getting ahead of myself, not thinking about the tee shot on Thursday or thinking about what is to come this week.
“I would dearly love to win this tournament one day,” he said. “If it doesn’t happen this week, that’s totally fine, I’ll come back next year and have another crack at it. But I’m happy with where everything is – body, mind, game.”
No one was particularly happy with Mother Nature on Tuesday, as more storms arrived that shut the course down for about three hours in the morning and pounded an already soft Augusta National with rain before giving way to patches of sunshine in the afternoon.
Wednesday is a short day of practice because of the Par 3 Tournament.
The curtain raises Thursday with a host of players capable of getting in McIlroy’s way of joining golf’s most elite club. Only five other players have captured the career Grand Slam – Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.
This is McIlroy’s fifth crack at the Masters with a Grand Slam at stake. In the modern era of the Grand Slam that dates to 1960, no one went more than three years between the third and final leg.
Phil Mickelson is in a similar situation, if not worse. He lacks only the U.S. Open – he has a record six silver medals – and is 0 for 4 since the Grand Slam has come into view. He also believes McIlroy’s game is at a high level.
“That’s always a challenge when you put so much emphasis on playing a particular event, but it’s also the chance to bring out your best,” Mickelson said. “And he’s had such a phenomenal start to the year, he’s been playing such great golf consistently week in and week out, I think contending will be a given. He’ll be in contention. You just need those little breaks … that push you over the winner’s circle and that’s probably all that he’s waiting for this week.
“You can’t force it. It just has to happen.”
The books McIlroy has been reading are recommendations from successful businesspeople. Along with Mandino’s book, he liked Ryan Holiday’s “The Obstacle is the Way” and “Ego is the Enemy,” and he’s just now starting on the biography of Steve Jobs.
In an interview at the Match Play, he was asked if he was spending more time on his golf or on his attitude.
“Life,” he said. “I hit balls once last week. That was it. So much of this game is mental. It’s taken me a while to get to this point, but the proof is there of what I’ve been doing, the way I’ve been playing, how I’ve been approaching the game.”
So what happens if he’s right in the mix Sunday afternoon, facing the most dynamic back nine in golf, the coveted green jacket there for the taking? What if that Sunday afternoon includes Woods, who eliminated McIlroy at the Match Play in a finish so irritating that McIlroy left without speaking to the media?
“I haven’t thought about it,’ McIlroy said. ”I guess there’s a lot of bridges to cross until we get to that point.“
Conners rides whirlwind week all the way back to the Masters
As the man in the green jacket recounted the incredulous events of the past week, Corey Conners cocked his head to one side and smiled ever so slightly.
Almost as if he couldn’t believe it, either.
A little over a week ago, Conners snatched the last spot in the Valero Texas Open by the skin of his teeth. Then he won the tournament with 10 birdies in the final round, claiming the last opening at the Masters.
So here he is at Augusta National.
Ready to compete for a green jacket.
“A special week, a crazy week,” Conners said. “Things are good.”
Certainly, the 27-year-old Canadian wasn’t thinking about the Masters on his way to San Antonio, where his first – and, really, only priority – was the chance to earn a much-needed paycheque. Because he was outside the top 125 in the FedEx Cup standings, he had to earn his way into the Texas Open during Monday qualifying.
Up to 100 players go at it for 18 holes during Monday qualifying, with the top four finishers getting into the actual tournament. Conners went to the final hole needing a 20-foot birdie putt just to get into a six-man playoff for the last of those spots. He made the putt, and then poured in another birdie on the first of the extra holes to vanquish the other five contenders.
Dramatic stuff indeed.
Though, in all honesty, no one was paying much attention. Since 1980, only four Monday qualifiers on the PGA Tour had gone on to win the tournament.
Make it five.
Conners’ performance was impressive. His wife, Malory, even became a bit of a celebrity for her reactions while lugging a cup of white wine.
“She’s been my biggest fan for years and my biggest supporter,” Conners said. “I’m really lucky to have her by my side. It’s pretty cool to see her in the spotlight a little bit. Her reactions were awesome. You can see how much she cares about what I’m doing, and it means a lot to me. It was pretty cool. She got a lot of messages and gained a lot of followers on social media, so she was pretty pumped about that.”
It was a rollercoaster of emotions for the Conners crew ? pic.twitter.com/WHuazSadD7
— Golf Canada (@GolfCanada) April 8, 2019
Count Justin Rose among those new-found fans.
“I loved the cameras being on her and you could tell what a big moment it was for the two of them,” the world’s top-ranked player said. “It was very special to see those stories out there because winning is difficult and it’s nice to see it when it does change someone’s life.”
But Conners takes issue with those who make him out to be some sort of Rocky, the hopeless underdog who makes for a good story early in the week but is quickly shoved aside as soon as the Rory McIlroys and the Tiger Woodses take to the course.
He tied for third at the Sony Open in Honolulu, shooting back-to-back 64s on the weekend, and finished second last fall at the Sanderson Farms Championship, four strokes behind winner Cameron Champ.
Conners is not even a Masters rookie. He qualified for the event as an amateur in 2015, though he was not ready for such a stiff test. He opened with an 80 and missed the cut.
Conners feels much better equipped this time around.
“Everyone was calling me the Monday qualifier, but I don’t feel like a Monday qualifier,” he said. “I’ve played well in a bunch of tour events this year.”
A little more time to prepare would’ve been nice, but that’s a minor complaint. Valero flew him to Augusta on a corporate jet, his clothing supplier sent along some new duds and his manager took care of housing and other arrangements that had to be made on short notice. Conners did have to do a bit of shopping after arriving in Augusta, “so I could get a couple T-shirts and a pair of pants to go to dinner in.”
He has got good memories from his last Masters appearance.
After that rough start, he bounced back to shoot a 3-under 69 in the second round.
“I’ve been playing rounds over in my head,” Conners said. “Although the course has changed slightly, a lot of the shots are going to be pretty similar to what I faced in 2015. … I think the course suits my game really well, so I’m really, really excited to get going.”
He already is playing with house money.
Might as well let it ride.
“I was excited to watch the coverage on TV back at home for an off week,” Conners said. “But, you know, I’m even more excited to be here playing.”
Canadian pair of Sharp, Henderson share 17th place at ANA
RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. – Jin Young Ko won the ANA Inspiration for her first major title, celebrated with the traditional winner’s leap into Poppie’s Pond and will jump to No. 1 in the world ranking.
The woman who said this year that her goal was to be the happiest player on the course was thrilled about the first two.
“I still can’t believe,” Ko said. “I’m really happy.”
She wasn’t all that excited about the No. 1 spot in the world.
“I just try to focus on my game on the course,” Ko said. “It doesn’t matter about world ranking. I don’t like numbers like No. 1 or No. 2. I’m just playing on the course.”
She did that better than anyone else over four days on the Mission Hills course made more difficult by thicker rough, tighter fairways and some longer holes. On Sunday, the 23-year-old South Korean closed with a 2-under 70 in hot and mostly calm conditions for a three-stroke victory over Mi Hyang Lee.
“If ball goes right or left it doesn’t make me happy, but I’m still trying to be happy,” Ko said. “Also, I really try, don’t think about future, doesn’t matter. Just focus on my swing, on the putting. That’s why I win this week.”
After bogeys on 13 and 15 cut her lead to a stroke, Ko made a 6-foot birdie putt on the par-4 16th and closed with a 15-foot birdie putt on the par-5 18th. She also had a rough back-nine stretch Saturday, allowing In-Kyung Kim to cut a five-stroke deficit to a single shot going into the final round.
“Yesterday was a little bit hard for me,” Ko said. “I’m not robot. We are human.”
Ko won for the fourth time on the LPGA Tour, completing a desert sweep after taking the Founders Cup two weeks ago in Phoenix. She leads the money list and has five top-three finishes in six events this year.
Is she surprised by her start?
“No, no, no,” Ko said. “I had really hard practice in winter training off-season in Palm Springs.”
Ko gave caddie David Brooker his third victory in the event. The Englishman also leaped into Poppie’s Pond with Grace Park in 2004 and Lorena Ochoa in 2008.
“He knows this course,” Ko said. “He helps me all the time on the course. So really say thank you for my caddie.”
She finished at 10-under 278.
Lee parred the final six holes in a 70.
“This is really good momentum for me,” said Lee, also from South Korea. “I’m so happy with this week.”
Ko had a three-stroke lead at the turn and faced little pressure until stumbling with the two bogeys. Her drive on the par-4 13th jumped into the thick right rough and her long approach ended up short of the green in the left rough. After missing a 12-foot birdie putt on the par-3 14th, she hit into the left greenside bunker on the par-4 15th and missed a 12-foot par try.
“I had couple miss shot, but I think it will be fine,” she said.
It was.
Lexi Thompson was third at 6 under after a 67.
“My caddie, Benji (Thompson), helped out tremendously,” Thompson said. “I was getting down a little bit, but he just kept me right in there playing aggressively the whole day – making those birdies and just firing at every pin I could.”
Kim closed with a 74 to tie for fourth at 5 under with Carlota Ciganda. The 30-year-old South Korean lost a chance to win the event seven years after missing a 14-inch putt on the final hole of regulation and losing on the first hole of a playoff.
Kim declined to comment after the round.
Ciganda finished with a 68.
Brooke Henderson (72) of Smiths Falls, Ont., and Hamilton’s Alena Sharp (73) tied for 17th at 2-under par.
Canadian Corey Conners wins Valero days after qualifying, will play Masters
SAN ANTONIO – Canadian Corey Conners claimed his first PGA Tour victory and earned an invite to the Masters on Sunday, winning the Valero Texas Open less than a week after qualifying.
Conners only entered the tournament field Monday, and he’s the first golfer to win on the PGA Tour after qualifying on a Monday in nine years. He made three birdies in the final five holes, shooting a 6-under 66. He was 20-under for the tournament, winning by two shots over Charley Hoffman.
Next stop for Conners: Augusta, Georgia, for next week’s Masters.
Hoffman, the 2016 Texas Open winner, shot 67 for 18-under on the weekend.
Ryan Moore closed with an 8-under 64, a shot off the course record, and was third at 17-under.
Si Woo Kim, The Players Championship winner in 2017, led the opening three rounds but dropped to a tie for fourth with Brian Stuard (15-under) after an even-par 72.
Conners, the 2014 U.S. Amateur runner-up, will play in his second Masters. Two of the top three finishers last year at Augusta missed the top 10 this week. Rickie Fowler was tied for 17th while 10 strokes back at 10-under with a final-round 69, and Jordan Spieth (72) was 7-under.
Incredible performance from @coreconn. What a battle, and what a champion ??? pic.twitter.com/PnembdLq9q
— Golf Canada (@GolfCanada) April 7, 2019
Stuard finished with 66 to get to 15-under. Kevin Streelman closed with an 8-under 64 and was 14-under. He missed tying the course record when, after four-straight birdies, he hit his approach from the 18th fairway into the gallery and bogeyed.
Mackenzie Hughes (73) of Dundas, Ont., and Adam Svensson (70) of Surrey, B.C., tied for 42nd at 5 under. Nick Taylor (72) of Abbotsford, B.C., tied for 52nd at 4 under.
It was a wild round for Conners, a native of Listowel, Ont., who had not won on any of the PGA Tour’s affiliated circuits. He had 10 birdies and four pars that sandwiched four consecutive bogeys on the front nine.
He had a one-stroke lead when he rammed home a 34-foot birdie putt at No. 12, and stayed a stroke up with a tap-in birdie at the 14th.
Moore joined Conners at the top of the leaderboard with an 8-foot putt at No. 16 that was his fourth birdie in five holes.
Moore missed a birdie opportunity on the next hole when he couldn’t convert on a putt from inside 10 feet. Minutes later, Conners sank a 10-footer to save par at No. 15, then hit to four feet to set up a birdie at the 175-yard par-3 16th. His birdie at No. 17 gave him a three-shot lead walking up the final hole.
Conners looked like he would tuck this one away early. He birdied four of the first five holes at TPC San Antonio. Trailing by a shot going in the final round, he benefited from a three-stroke swing on the leaderboard on the third hole with a 10-foot putt on the par-3. Kim hit into the water fronting the green and double-bogeyed. Later in the day, Kim was grabbing at his right upper body with an apparent injury.
Conners was two strokes ahead, and with birdies on the next two holes he led by four over both Kim and Hoffman.
But Conners bogeyed the next four, and three of those came after tee shots put him in nice position either from the middle of the fairway or close to it.
The other bogey, on a par-3 at No. 7, he hit his tee shot into a bunker, then blasted over the green.
He made the turn and clicked off three consecutive birdies. The last player to qualify on Monday and win a PGA Tour event was Arjun Atwal in 2010 at the Wyndham Championship. That was the first time it had been done in 24 years.
Canada’s Nicole Gal wins Drive, Chip and Putt division at Augusta
AUGUSTA, Ga. – The Canadian streak at the Drive, Chip and Putt championship continues with a victory from Oakville, Ont., native Nicole Gal.
Gal, 15, won the Girls’ 14-15 age division by a one-point margin, finishing with 23 points total to edge out the competition. Gal collected the most points at the chipping portion, nabbing nine out of a possible 10 points, followed by eight at chipping and six at driving. Click here to view the full leaderboard.
Words from the #DriveChipPutt champ, Nicole Gal ??
Canada is so proud! ?? pic.twitter.com/VrdrU6nRNi
— Golf Canada (@GolfCanada) April 7, 2019
This is the third Drive, Chip and Putt title for Canada—Vanessa Borovilos won her division in 2018 and Savannah Grewal captured Canada’s first title in 2017.
Gal was joined by four other Canadians on the grounds at Augusta:
Name: Vanessa Borovilos | Finished 6th with 16 points
Competition Category: Girls’ 12-13
Hometown: Toronto, Ontario
Began playing golf: Age 12
Favourite golfers: Tiger Woods and Brooke Henderson
Name: Carter Lavigne | Finished 10th with 4 points
Competition Category: Boys’ 7-9 (qualified at Winged Foot Golf Club)
Hometown: Moncton, New Brunswick
Began playing golf: Age 4
Favourite golfers: Jordan Spieth and Brooke Henderson
Name: Andy Mac | Finished T5 with 17 points
Competition Category: Boys’ 10-11 (qualified at Winged Foot Golf Club)
Hometown: Candiac, Quebec
Began playing golf: Age 5
Favourite golfers: Jordan Spieth and Lydia Ko
Name: Anna Huang | Finished 3rd with 19 points
Competition Category: Girls’ 10-11 (qualified at Chambers Bay)
Hometown: Vancouver, British Columbia
Began playing golf: Age 4
Favourite golfer: Tiger Woods
Canada’s Sharp, Henderson inside top 10 ahead of ANA Inspiration finale
RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. – Jin Young Ko turned a four-stroke deficit into a five-stroke lead in only 10 holes Saturday at the ANA Inspiration. She nearly gave it all back, setting up a final-round shootout in the first major championship of the golf season.
Ko ended up with a one-shot advantage over second-round leader In-Kyung Kim, shooting a 4-under 68 in unexpected calm conditions at tree-lined Mission Hills to reach 8-under 208.
Kim birdied the par-5 18th for a 73, giving herself a chance to win the event seven years after missing a 14-inch putt on the final hole of regulation and losing to Sun Young Yoo on the first hole of a playoff.
Four strokes behind fellow South Korean player Kim entering the round, Ko walked off the 10th green with the five-shot lead after a quick three-stroke swing. Ko holed a 25-foot birdie putt on the par-4 10th minutes after Kim snap-hooked a drive into the right-side trees and made a double bogey on the par-5 ninth.
Kim rallied to birdie the 10th, her first birdie of the day after making eight of them in a second-round 65, and pulled within two strokes when Ko hit into the water short of the green on the par-3 14th and made a double bogey of her own.
Ko followed with a bogey on the par-4 15th, cutting her lead to a single stroke. Ko pushed the margin back to two with a 10-foot birdie putt on the par-3 17th. She missed a 10-foot birdie try on the 18, and Kim closed with a 5-footer in the final group.
Mi Hyang Lee and Danielle Kang were 5 under. Lee had a hole-in-one on 17 and birdied 18 in a 68. Kang shot 70.
Two Canadians are in the top 10. Hamilton’s Alena Sharp jumped into a tie for fifth after a 5-under 67 pushed her to 3 under for the tournament.
Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., is tied for eighth at 2 under. She shot 71 on Saturday.
The 23-year-old Ko won the Founders Cup two weeks ago in Phoenix for her third LPGA Tour title and leads the money list. She tied for second last week in Carlsbad for her fourth top-three finish in five events this year.
The 30-year-old Kim struggled with the 2012 loss at Mission Hills before finally ending a long victory drought late in 2016. Her confidence restored, she won three times in 2017, capped by a major victory in the Women’s British Open.
Ko played the front nine in 5-under 31. She birdied the par-5 second, ran in a 40-foot birdie putt on the par-4 fourth and tied Kim for the lead at 7 under with an 8-footer on the par-3 fifth. Ko pulled ahead with a birdie on the water-guarded sixth, driving inches short of the rough a few feet short of the pond fronting the second tongue of fairway and hitting a 9-iron to 6 feet. She increased the lead to two shots with a birdie on No. 9, hitting a wedge to 6 inches.
Canada’s Corey Conners one stroke off lead heading into final round in Texas
SAN ANTONIO – Si Woo Kim‘s narrow miss of a second hole-in-one on consecutive days at the Valero Texas Open was deceiving.
It was another highlight shot, but he missed the following birdie putt and his four-shot lead was trimmed to one over Canada’s Corey Conners, a Monday qualifier, after Saturday’s third round at the PGA Tour’s last stop before the Masters.
Kim aced the 16th hole at the TPC San Antonio on Friday, and he missed it by inches on the way to a third-round 3-under 69 after opening with consecutive rounds of 66. He was at 15 under and Conners, trying to become the first Monday qualifier to win on the PGA Tour since 2010, was a stroke back after shooting a 6-under 66.
“Yeah, I think about yesterday, like I can’t believe it, and then it was pretty close today, too,” Kim said of the near-ace. “I saw that first bounce and then I thought it would go in for sure.”
Charley Hoffman, the 2016 Texas Open winner, moved up the leaderboard with a birdie-birdie-eagle finish and the week’s best round of 64. He was two back of Kim at 13 under.
Scott Brown turned in a second straight 67, and Jhonattan Vegas also shot 67. Both were at 11 under with Kyoung-Hoon Lee (69) and four strokes back.
Rickie Fowler and Jordan Spieth started the day tied for second, four shots back. Both finished eight shots out of the lead after shooting 73s.
Kim flirted with the 16th hole on the second bounce on Saturday. This time, the ball rolled past the hole to inside four feet for what looked like an easy birdie. He missed, Conners made his from inches shorter and they shared the lead again.
“I thought it went in again,” Conners, of Listowel, Ont., said. “That was a heck of a shot. There was a bit of a distraction there. I was able to get refocused and hit a nice one after him.”
But Conners returned the favour on the next hole, missing a birdie from inside seven feet.
Kim, winner of The Players Championship in 2017, got out of a greenside bunker at the par-5 18th and sank a four-foot birdie to get the one-stroke advantage.
“Playing with Corey, the first six holes, crazy, like every shot is right on it and then he putted good,” Kim said. “I was just trying hard myself. Just trying to hit my shot, just trying to hit my putt. That’s why it was a pretty good back nine.”
Conners is trying to become the first Monday qualifier to win on the PGA Tour since Arjun Atwal nine years ago. Before that, no one had done it in 24 years. The winner is invited to the Masters if not already eligible – Conners is looking for an invitation.
Conners birdied the opening three holes, including a near-ace at the third, and almost had a fourth to start the day when his 58-foot putt rested a couple of inches from the cup on No. 4.
He birdied again at the fifth, which gave him a share of the lead with Kim, and joined Kim in birdieing the seventh.
Conners, 27, was a finalist in the 2014 U.S. Amateur, but he has not won on the PGA Tour or any of its affiliate tours. This season he has finished second in the Sanderson Farms Championship and after Monday qualifying was third at the Sony Open.
“I’ve been in this position a few times before where I’ve been near the lead,” Conners said. “I’ve got some good experiences to draw off of and hopefully I can get over the edge.”
Conners, who has only partial status on tour this year, has two top-three finishes this season. He is 66th in the FedEx Cup standings. The top 125 at season’s end get full cards for next season
Hoffman’s hot finish came with a birdie at the 14th. He wrapped it up with a 22-foot birdie putt at 16 and a 15-footer at 17 before he reached the green in two at the downwind 607-yard finishing hole.
“It was a big number (250 yards) to get it to the front of the green,” Hoffman said. “It was all of a 3-wood. I flushed it right up there. The only question was whether it would hold the green or not.”
Fowler bogeyed his first two holes, part of five on the day. Even with an eagle on the 18th, Fowler dropped 14 spots to 16th and 7 under.
Spieth was in the last group of the day with leaders Kim and Conners, but he quickly joined Fowler in going the other way. He didn’t hit a fairway until the 11th hole and by that time had two double bogeys.
After his front-nine 42, Spieth’s first birdie came on the 12th. He added four more on the backside.
“I actually look at today as progress,” Spieth said. “I needed the start today to recognize there are things that still need adjustment. I made those adjustments mid-round and was able to shoot 5 under. The back nine today was by far the best I’ve played, the most control I’ve had of the ball and the best I’ve felt putting in a couple of years.”
Kupcho wins at Augusta National with charge on back 9
AUGUSTA, Ga. – The charge on the back nine at Augusta National was among the best, this one by a woman.
NCAA champion Jennifer Kupcho, trailing by two shots and coping with remnants of a migraine Saturday, hit hybrid to 6 feet on the par-5 13th for an eagle and finished with three birdies on the last four holes to become the first woman to win at the home of the Masters.
The 2017 Canadian Women’s Amateur champion closed with a 5-under 67 for a four-shot victory over Maria Fassi in the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur.
“You’re now part of the history at Augusta National,” club chairman Fred Ridley told her in Butler Cabin, where Masters champions receive their green jacket.
Kupcho hit the opening tee shot on Wednesday at Champions Retreat, where the opening two rounds were played. More importantly, she hit the final shot with a 20-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole at Augusta National to cap off a big week for her and for women’s golf.
The club didn’t have a female member until 2012, and now there are six. Ridley announced last year the creation of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur to provide a spark for women’s golf.
“I think we’re going to really start something great in women’s golf,” Kupcho said at the trophy presentation.
It featured all the heritage of Augusta National, including honorary tee shots by Nancy Lopez, Lorena Ochoa, Se Ri Pak and Annika Sorenstam. The crowd was larger than any of the 30 players who made the cut had ever experienced.
Kupcho did her part with a bold finish at perhaps the most iconic venue in golf.
“Just to play here at Augusta and have that kind of treatment, I think the woman’s game is really going to come out stronger,” she said, adding later that “there’s no bigger stage than this for amateur golf.”
Kupcho, the No. 1 player in the women’s amateur ranking, finished at 10-under 206 and won a silver bowl as the trophy, along with a piece of crystal – another Masters tradition – for making the only eagle of the tournament.
Sorenstam and Lopez say they had to fight tears when they walked to the first tee and soaked up the reality of a tournament for women at Augusta National. The crowd featured more women than typically seen during the Masters, especially young girls with their parents. Sorenstam and her daughter walked with the final group.
The golf was superb, at least at the top of the leaderboard.
Only six women finished under par, and no one challenged Kupcho or Fassi, a senior at Arkansas from Mexico. Both sent a message of their own long before the tournament by earning LPGA Tour cards last year and deferring until after they finished college.
Fassi, who started one shot behind, took her first lead with a pitch over the mounds to 2 feet for birdie on the par-5 eighth. Kupcho had reason to believe she was in trouble when a migraine surfaced, causing vision so blurry she couldn’t see the line she marks on her ball while putting. She three-putted the 10th to fall two behind, and sat on a bench at the 11th tee to gather herself.
“It started to go away, and I was able to see,” she said. “I knew I was going to be able to do it.”
She learned in the practice round on the 13th fairway that even with the ball above her feet on the severely sloped fairway, the shot tends to go straight. From 211 yards with a 3-hybrid, she took dead aim and the shot settled 6 feet above the hole for eagle.
“Probably one of the best shots I’ve ever hit,” she said.
Fassi answered with a 10-foot birdie putt to regain the lead, and Kupcho decided to aim her 3-hybrid to the bunker right of the green on the par-5 15th. Instead, it came out with a sharp draw, with enough distance to roll by the pin just over the back, setting up a birdie.
“She’s not afraid to be great, and that’s what makes her great,” Fassi said.
Tied again, she delivered the winner with a 7-iron on the par-3 16th that caught the ridge and fed down to the hole. Fassi’s tee shot stayed on the top shelf, leading to a three-putt that put the tournament in Kupcho’s hands.
“It’s amazing what we were able to have out here today,” Fassi said. “The ending wasn’t what I would have liked. She was hitting great shots. I did all I could. She played a great game and I’m really proud of her.”
Along the way, their friendship and sportsmanship was on full display. Fassi hugged her when Kupcho hit 6-iron to 2 feet on No. 6 for birdie. Kupcho patted her friend’s shoulder when Fassi answered with a shot that rolled back to a foot for birdie on the next hole.
That’s what Kupcho hopes young people took out of the moment, as much as women playing at Augusta.
“I think both of us just wanted to send the message that golf is about having friends, and to be out there with her, we were cheering each other on, and that’s kind of how golf is supposed to be,” Kupcho said. “And to make it look fun. It is fun. So to make it look that way for everyone watching, I hope it encourages people to pick up a club and go play.”