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.”
Corey Conners shares 2nd midway through Valero Open
SAN ANTONIO – Rickie Fowler and Jordan Spieth are successfully fine-tuning their preparations for the Masters.
However, they haven’t been able to match Si Woo Kim so far at the Valero Texas Open.
First-round leader Kim used a late-round hole-in-one Friday to build a four-shot lead at the halfway point of the PGA Tour’s last stop before the Masters.
Kim, the 2017 Players Championship winner, led by one heading into the second round before shooting a 6-under 66.
Kim aced TPC San Antonio’s 16th hole and is 12 under through 36 holes. He leads six players at 8 under, including Fowler and Spieth.
“The first days here,” Kim said, “I’ve been feeling good. I don’t want to change anything.”
Fowler led on the back nine until consecutive bogeys late in the round.
“Yeah, at 15 and 16, kind of a little unforced errors,” Fowler said. “That happens. I hit some good shots out there and made a few putts. I’m happy with it. Obviously in a good spot going into the weekend.”
Joining Fowler and Spieth – both shot 68 – are Harold Varner (66), Adam Schenk (66), Kyoung-Hoon Lee (67) and Monday-qualifier Corey Connors (67). Lee got it to 9 under before a bogey at his final hole of the day.
Conners, from Listowel, Ont., birdied his final three holes on Friday. He has only a partial PGA Tour card this year after finishing 130th in the FedEx Cup standings last year – the top 125 get full cards.
“It was really solid ball-striking. I was able to make some putts. Basically took care of the holes that you need to take care of, the par 5s, and No. 5, a short par 4, I was able to make birdie,” said Conners. “Other than that, just kept it pretty simple. There’s a few pins that are close to some slopes, so played a little safer on some shots, but struck it really well.
The Team Canada alumnus is well aware of the significance a win would have on his season (and career).
“Yeah, it would be pretty big. I’m not trying to get too far ahead of myself. Any event that you have a chance is amazing. Yeah, to be a Monday qualifier and just pumped to be out here. Yeah, a win would be awesome, but we’ll try and take care of business tomorrow and see where we are.”
Kim’s ace at the 167-yard 16th bounced up toward the flagstick, landed next to the lip of the cup and dropped in. He’s gone 26 holes without a bogey and has nine birdies along with the ace.
“I was trying to hit to the left edge of the bunker, with the wind,” Kim said. “It was a 9-iron. I saw the bounce, but I never saw it go in.”
Byeong Hun An (68), Matt Jones (68), Rory Sabbatini (68), Scott Stallings (69), Brian Stuard (70), Josh Teater (68) and Jim Knous (67) are 7 under.
Graeme McDowell, who won for the first time since 2015 last week at the PGA Tour’s event in the Dominican Republic, has shot consecutive 69s and is joined at 6 under by Scott Brown, Hank Lebioda, Ryan Moore and Jhonattan Vegas. Brown had a 67, Lebioda and Moore 70s and Vegas a 71.
Nick Taylor (72) of Abbotsford, B.C., and Mackenzie Hughes (71) of Dundas, Ont., were tied for 36th at 3 under. Adam Svensson (69) of Surrey, B.C., was tied for 48th at 2 under. Roger Sloan of Merritt, B.C., and Ben Silverman of Thornhill, Ont., missed the cut.
Fowler, who drove the green at the 327-yard fifth hole and eagled, held a lead early on the back nine. After the eagle, he made birdie putts of 43 feet, 10 feet and 25 feet.
But he three-putted from 23 feet at the 15th and barely got out of a greenside bunker on the 16th, leaving a chip and putt for another bogey.
“At 16, I actually hit a great tee shot,” Fowler said. “I was just expecting the wind to hold it a bit better, and obviously it didn’t.”
He got a stroke back with a birdie at the 17th, but his attempt to reach the par-5 18th in two landed him in a stream in front of the green. He chipped up and finished with a par.
Spieth had no late-round hiccups. Instead, he holed out from 113 yards for an eagle on his 17th hole. Earlier in the day, he chipped in from off his second green.
“I just slid under the ball really nicely on that chip shot, landed right on my spot, just trickled in,” Spieth said. “Certainly a bonus on the hole out. In the air, I thought it was going to be pretty good.”
Kim surged to a two-shot lead when he chipped to a foot away on the par-5 14th hole and tapped in for birdie. He got up-and-down from a bunker at the 15th, putting from almost 10 feet to save par. He wouldn’t need the putter on the 16th.
Jennifer Kupcho heads to Augusta with 1 shot lead; Canada’s Thibault out
AUGUSTA, Ga. – Jennifer Kupcho took care of the preliminaries in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur and now has a shot at a title that never seemed likely: A chance to become the first woman to win at the home of the Masters.
Her only regret was that her one-shot lead was not bigger.
Kupcho, the 2017 Canadian Women’s Amateur Champion, battled her swing down the stretch on a blustery Thursday at Champions Retreat and held on for a 1-under 71, giving her a one-shot lead over Maria Fassi of Mexico, who had a 70.
The final round is Saturday at Augusta National, the first time women have competed on one of the most famous golf courses in the world.
“It’s going to be a tight race all the way to the finish,” Kupcho said.
Seo-yun Kwon of South Korea was 10 shots behind and just as excited.
The 72-player field was cut to 30 players for the final round, and Kwon flubbed two chips for double bogey on the 16th hole to seemingly lose her chance. But she saved par from a bunker on the 17th with a 10-foot putt, saw a leaderboard and knew only an eagle would suffice on the par-5 closing hole.
Her 4-hybrid came up a little short, 10 yards away.
“I said, ‘Let’s chip this in,”’ said Dave Thorpe, an Augusta National caddie working for Kwon this week. “I don’t know if she understood me or not, but she did it.”
That put her in an 11-way playoff for the last 10 spots to get the field to 30 players. Kwon was among nine players who made par on the first extra hole, all of them advancing when Alessia Nobilio of Italy and Ainhoa Olarra of Spain made bogey.
Brigitte Thibault of Rosemere, Que., missed the cut. She was the lone Canadian in the field.
On the second playoff hole, Olarra made a 25-foot birdie putt to get the last spot.
Augusta National announced its Women’s Amateur last year at the Masters, creating an opportunity for some of the best amateurs in the world to showcase their skills on a course where Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Tiger Woods have created so many big moments.
Women have played Augusta National for years, though it was not until 2012 that the club had its first female members. Kupcho is among several players in the field who have played as guests, usually with their college teams.
Friday will be a practice round at Augusta National, even for the 42 players who missed the cut.
Kupcho, who started on No. 10, was 3 under for the round through 10 holes and poised to stretch it even more when she missed a short birdie putt on the next hole.
“Lost my confidence a little bit,” she said.
The Wake Forest senior made her first bogey of the tournament with a 4-foot putt that rimmed out on No. 5, and she started to fight her swing. She narrowly cleared the rock-framed creek on the par-3 eighth and chipped poorly for another bogey, and she had to make a 4-footer on the par-4 ninth to avoid another dropped shot.
No matter. She was at 5-under 139 and plays in the final group with Fassi, one of the longer hitters in the field.
Kaitlyn Papp (69), Pimnipa Panthong (70) and Sierra Brooks (70) were two shots behind.
Fassi, the top college player among women last year as a junior at Arkansas, was dynamic as ever with five birdies and an eagle to offset plenty of mistakes. She was five shots behind toward the end of the round when she used her power to set up easy birdies on the reachable par-4 seventh and the par-5 ninth.
“I knew I had to post an under-par score to be in contention for Saturday, and it was just exciting to see that I made so many birdies,” she said.
Kupcho has played before big crowds at the U.S. Women’s Open.
Saturday figures to be a new experience, on the fairways and greens of Augusta National on the weekend before the Masters, with thousands of fans able to see the course for the first time all year through separate tickets they were able to buy through a lottery.
NBC Sports is televising the final round. The Augusta National Women’s Amateur has its own logo and even its own theme music for the broadcast.
Kupcho hopes the rest of it will look familiar.
“We both are good friends, so I think it will be a lot of fun, and we’re both good at golf – really good at golf,” she said. “So I think we’ll make a lot of birdies, and it will be pretty fun to watch us.”
Henderson tied for 16th early at ANA Inspiration
RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. – Ally McDonald was the last player to finish the first round of the ANA Inspiration.
It was worth the wait.
The 26-year-old from Mississippi closed with a 5-foot birdie putt on the par-5 18th in fading light Thursday to take the lead at 4-under 68 in the first major championship of the year.
Playing in the last group of the day off the first tee, she birdied all four par-5 holes on the tree-lined Mission Hills course toughened this year by thicker rough, tighter fairways and some longer holes.
“On a major championship golf course you have to start out playing the par 5s really well,” McDonald said. “The par 4s play really tough, very long.”
Only 28 of the 112 players broke par, with McDonald and the other afternoon starters facing gusting wind. She had a one-stroke lead over 2014 champion Lexi Thompson, Jin Young Ko, Hyo Joo Kim and Linnea Strom. Thompson, Ko and Kim played in calmer morning conditions, but with the thick rough wet from dew.
“I just drove the ball really well,” McDonald said. “Gave myself a lot of opportunities to make good approach shots into the green. … Sometimes you hit the ball above the hole and you have to take a two-putt.”
McDonald played at Mississippi State after becoming the only female player to win the state boys’ high school championship. She has made only two previous starts in her third season on the tour, tying for 58th two weeks ago in Phoenix in the Founders Cup and missing the cut last week in Carlsbad.
“I think in this position that I’ve never been in it’s so easy to get ahead of yourself,” McDonald said. “For me, I’m just going to take it easy. I know that on the very first day a great round is awesome, but there is so much more golf left to play.”
McDonald birdied the last three holes on the front nine and added on another on the par-5 11th. She gave back a stroke on the par-3 14th before pulling ahead on the water-guarded 18th.
Also playing in the afternoon, Strom made a 25-foot birdie putt on the par-3 17th, with the pin on the far right side, to reach 4 under, then bogeyed the 18th after hitting her drive over the right-side cart path and under a tree. The former Arizona State player from Sweden is making her fifth start in her first season on the LPGA Tour.
“I know it’s a tough course, but there are some birdies out there,” Strom said.
Thompson birdied the final two holes, hitting to a foot on 18 after caddie Benji Thompson talked her into a lower-lofted wedge.
“I wanted to hit my 50 degree, which was max what the yardage was,” Thompson said. “He was like, ‘No, just chip the 47, take the spin off, in case a gust does come up.’ Sure enough, it did. Just chipped up there. I was like, ‘Thank you so much, Benji.”’
Ko won the Founders Cup.
“I don’t have greed on the course,” Ko said. “Course is hard, so I’m thinking always, ‘Hit the fairway, also green, middle of the green. Like two-putt is fine. I’m good.”’
Playing partner Jessica Korda had seven birdies in an adventurous 70. Coming off a second-place tie in Phoenix in her return from a left forearm injury, she also had a double bogey after driving out-of-bounds on the par-4 third and three bogeys.
“A serious roller-coaster,” Korda said. “Glad I got off it on 18. It was a crazy day.”
She was tied with fellow morning starters Lydia Ko, Cristie Kerr, Jane Park, Lizette Salas, Amy Yang and Lauren Stephenson and afternoon players Jing Yan, Mi Hyang Lee and Xiyu Lin.
Lydia Ko, the 2016 winner, matched playing partner Thompson with a birdie on 18.
“You just have to play smart,” Lydia Ko said. “If you are in not so good position, try and not get yourself out of it.”
Top-ranked Sung Hyun Park, 2011 winner Stacy Lewis and Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., topped the group at 71.
Hamilton’s Alena Sharp shot a 4-over 76 to finish the day tied for 80th.
Defending champion Pernilla Lindberg shot 73. She beat Inbee Park last year on the eighth hole of a sudden-death playoff that ended on a Monday. Park, the 2013 winner, also shot 73, playing in the afternoon.
Michelle Wie and Nelly Korda shot 74 in the afternoon.
Wie hadn’t played on tour since withdrawing during the first round of her Singapore title defence in late February because of pain in her right hand. She played a four-hole stretch in 5 over, then birdied the next four holes.
“It was definitely a battle,” Wie said. “Definitely proud of myself for coming back. Front nine felt just really rusty.”
Sei Young Kim made a 10 on No. 18 in a 78. After laying up on the par 5, she twice hit into the water and was penalized a stroke for dropping from the wrong height. Kim instinctively held out her arm and dropped at shoulder-height, but the modernized Rules of Golf that began this year require drops to be knee-height.
McIlroy, Woods have Masters on mind for different reasons
AUGUSTA, Ga. – The Masters should have been the first major Rory McIlroy won.
Now it is the only one he is missing.
Augusta National was thought to be the domain of Tiger Woods when he won four green jackets before turning 30.
Now he is 43, with eight surgeries behind him, so far removed from his last Masters victory that the club has changed chairmen twice since he last won 14 years ago.
McIlroy and Woods are the central figures at the 83rd Masters, which starts April 11. They share the stage with a cast of characters that gets deeper and stronger every year, so tough that 23 of the last 25 major champions were among the top 25 in the world ranking.
One is looking to join the most elite group in golf by capturing the final leg of the career Grand Slam.
The other is looking to recapture glory on a course where his red shirt was blazing among the azaleas, dogwoods and all the colours of springtime in Augusta.
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Woods has always had a hold on the Masters, so much that his Sunday shirt packed as much interest as the green jacket. To see him two years ago walk gingerly to the Masters Club dinner for past champions was to wonder if he would ever shine at Augusta, much less play. It was only a few weeks later that Woods had a fourth surgery on his back to fuse the lower spine.
He not only returned, Woods capped his remarkable comeback by winning in Georgia last year for his 80th career victory on the PGA Tour. But it was at East Lake in late September, not at Augusta National the second week in April.
Is his comeback complete without a major?
Woods last year was still learning what his fused back was capable of doing. He was coming off two close calls in Florida, but he didn’t break par at the Masters until the final day, when it was much too late.
Now he is building, and while his results in five tournaments this year have not been anything special, Woods has been gearing for this week.
“I’m right there where I need to be,” he said. “I’ve gotten a little bit more consistent with my play, and I think that everything is headed on track toward April.”
His last two majors were telling because he was in the hunt at both of them until the final hour. He briefly had the lead at Carnoustie in the British Open. He chased Brooks Koepka all the way to the finish line in the PGA Championship.
McIlroy had reason to think he would be allowed upstairs in the champions’ locker room by now. It was in 2011 when he had a four-shot lead, only to throw it away with a tee shot behind the cabins, a four-putt from 12 feet, a wild drive along the azaleas and an 80 on his scorecard.
He responded by winning four of the next 15 majors, before being slowed by a few nagging injuries.
This will be his fifth shot at the career Grand Slam, and he is getting closer. McIlroy played in the final group last year with Patrick Reed, missing a short eagle putt on the second hole that set the tone for his day. Already this year, he has not finished out of the top 10 in all seven of his tournaments, including a victory at The Players Championship against the best field in golf.
Is he excited? Hard to tell.
McIlroy has spent the last year reading books on life and success, working more on his attitude than his golf game. He is determined not to let the sport define his success. And it appears to be paying off. Las Vegas has installed him as the favourite at the Masters.
“I would have said a couple of years ago, ‘I need to win a Masters, I need a green jacket,’ where now it’s, ‘I want to win it.’ And I’d love to win it,” he said. “But if I don’t, I’m OK. Maybe some people will say that I’m not motivated enough. Believe me, I am motivated to make the most of what I have and to put my name among some of the greats of our game.”
This figures to be his biggest test. So powerful is the allure of Augusta National and the exclusivity of the club and its list of winners that players have been haunted over the years at being left out, whether it was Greg Norman or Tom Weiskopf, David Duval or Tom Kite.
That’s just the mystique. Equally tough will be the players Woods and McIlroy are trying to beat.
McIlroy at No. 3 is among five players who are vying for No. 1 in the world – Justin Rose, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and Justin Thomas are the others. All of them have reached the top of the ranking before, all of them having won a major or more. It has never been this crowded at the top since the ranking began in 1986.
Missing from that list, and perhaps the most intriguing player at the Masters besides Woods and McIlroy, is Jordan Spieth.
No one has performed as well at Augusta as Spieth since his debut five years ago – two runner-up finishes, a wire-to-wire victory, in the hunt on Sunday every year and ending the day atop the leaderboard eight times out of 20 rounds.
But he is in the worst slump of his young career, winless since the 2017 British Open, no performance in the top 20 this year. He says his game is close. The Masters might be the ultimate measure of how close – or far – he really is.
That is also true for Woods, McIlroy and everyone else.
Three months into the year, six months into the PGA Tour season, golf doesn’t feel as though it really starts until Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player hit the honorary tee shot, until “Fore, please” is heard on the first tee as players are introduced, and until that first big cheer makes fans wonder where it came from and what it was for.
Defending champion Vanessa Borovilos leads 5 Canadians into Drive, Chip and Putt finals
One of the lasting images from last year’s Drive, Chip, & Putt Finals at Augusta National Golf Club featured Canadian youngster Vanessa Borovilos getting lifted off her feet by multi-time Green Jacket winner Gary Player.
Borovilos is hoping for a repeat celebration this year.
“I’m not sure how old he is, but I didn’t expect that,” says Borovilos with a laugh from her home in Toronto. The Borovilos family flies to Augusta, Georgia on Friday.
“After I won I felt like something got lifted off my shoulders. I was just relieved and happy.”
Playing in her third championship in 2018, Borovilos, who also competed in 2015 and 2016 (she finished 4th and 5th, respectively) became the second Canadian to win a division at the Drive, Chip, & Putt Finals. In 2017 Savannah Grewal captured the Girls 14-15 division.
Savannah Grewal (Mike Stobe/ Getty Images)
Borovilos credits her intensive, but fun, practice regime for her success a year ago.
She attends Hollycrest Middle School in Toronto, where she is part of an elite athlete program that allows her to finish school early each day, and she plays out of Credit Valley Golf and Country Club, coached by the Director of Instruction at the Mississaugua, Ont. course, Doug Lawrie.
She says she’s been working with Lawrie on getting her swing looking good for the national finals competition, and specifically on the landing spots for her chipping.
“The driving range is 40 yards wide, but it seems a lot closer together when I’m actually up there,” admits Borovilos,
The past participant of Golf Canada’s Future Links, Driven by Acura – the Canadian equivalent to Drive, Chip & Putt – said Brooke Henderson continually inspires her as she looks to try to win another title this weekend.
“She can really focus on shots that matter. When she won the CP Women’s Open I was watching, and she made every shot count,” says Borovilos, who wants to join Henderson on the LPGA Tour one day.
A year ago, Henderson told The Canadian Press after she finished up the final round of the ANA Inspiration she watched Borovilos win her title at the Drive, Chip & Putt finals.
“Who knows,” said Henderson, “maybe I will see her out here on the LPGA (Tour) one day.”
There are four other Canadians participating in this year’s Drive, Chip & Putt Finals at Augusta National but Borovilos is the only return competitor.
Local qualifying was held at more than 250 sites throughout the U.S. last summer for the 2019 event. There were 50 subregional qualifiers, and then just a handful of regional qualifiers at some world-class courses like TPC Sawgrass, Torrey Pines, Chambers Bay, Whistling Straits, Bellerive Country Club, and Winged Foot Golf Club (where Borovilos competed) – major championship venues, all.
As one of the top finishers from each regional site’s age/gender division – a total of 80 finalists – earned a place at the National Finals at Augusta National.
Borovilos says it was important for her to return, and she’s happy to have the opportunity again this year.
“I practiced really hard to get there,” she says. “There’s a lot of great competition I had to go through to get there, so I’m really happy to be going there again.”
OTHER 2019 CANADIAN DRIVE, CHIP & PUTT FINALISTS
Name: Carter Lavigne
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
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
Competition Category: Girls’ 10-11 (qualified at Chambers Bay)
Hometown: Vancouver, British Columbia
Began playing golf: Age 4
Favourite golfer: Tiger Woods
Name: Nicole Gal
Competition Category: Girls’ 14-15 (qualified at Winged Foot Golf Club)
Hometown: Oakville, Ontario
Began playing golf: Age 5
Favourite golfer: Jordan Spieth and Sandra Gal
Henderson hopes to match Post’s Canadian LPGA win record at ANA Inspiration
It’s no secret that Brooke Henderson wants to catch Sandra Post for most wins by a Canadian on the LPGA Tour. Matching Post’s record at this week’s ANA Inspiration – where the Canadian golfing great won twice – would be Henderson’s ideal event to do it.
Henderson, from Smiths Falls, Ont., and Hamilton’s Alena Sharp are the only Canadians in the field at the ANA, the first major of the LPGA Tour’s season, starting Thursday in Rancho Mirage, Calif. Post won the event in 1978 and 1979 when it was known as the Colgate-Dinah Shore Winner’s Circle. Post has eight career LPGA wins, one more than Henderson
“Tying Sandra would be amazing. I’m really looking forward to, and excited, that hopefully I will get this eighth win this year and to do it at a major would be incredible,” Henderson, 21, said. “Especially at ANA where she has won twice.
“I talked to her there before and she’s given me some hints on how to beat the course and hopefully I can put those into action and see what I can do.”
As winner of the Women’s PGA Championship in 2016, Henderson qualified for the ANA Inspiration well before this season began. But her strong start to this year – three top-10 finishes and one top 15 – would also have qualified her.
Sharp qualified as one of the top 20 players on the LPGA’s 2019 money list not already in the field.
“I’m really happy with my start to the season,” said Henderson. “I feel like I have been in contention a little bit, I’ve felt the competitive juices flowing. It’s been fun, for sure.
“I feel like my game is in a good spot, I just think there’s some small things I’m continuing to clean up.”
Another highlight of Henderson’s season has been her prominent role in the LPGA’s Drive On campaign.
In the campaign’s 45-second introductory video released on March 20, Henderson is seen practising at a driving range and she is the first of several golfers to do a voiceover encouraging girls to overcome adversity and be true to themselves.
“It was pretty amazing to be a part of a film like that, that is so powerful and has so much meaning behind it,” said Henderson. “I didn’t really realize I was going to be one of the biggest people to kickstart it, but definitely an honour.
“Drive On’s just getting started and I think it will empower not only women and young girls but I think people of all genders and all ages, helping them to push past negativity and focus on what you’re trying to do and get there.”
Do you know the changes coming to golf’s handicap system?
Old Man Winter is finally loosening his grip on golf courses across the country and many of you are already shaking off the rust of a Canadian winter and heading to the first tee, ready to post those scores for handicap purposes.
Good for you!
But did you know that those scores can only be posted in Canada during what is called the “Active Season” in your province?
While some lucky folks in more temperate climes (that’s you, British Columbia) can already post their scores, the rest of us have to wait until the middle of April or later.
From west to east, Active Seasons are: B.C., March 1-Nov. 15; Alberta, March 1-Oct. 31; Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia, April 15-Oct. 31; New Brunswick, May 1-Oct. 31; P.E.I., April 16-Nov. 14; Newfoundland and Labrador, May 1-Oct. 15.
Why is there such a thing as an “Active Season”?
“Active Season exists to help eliminate scores that might adversely affect the calculation of a handicap because they are generally not played under what we call `mid-season` playing conditions,” said Craig Loughry, Golf Canada’s representative on the World Handicap Committee.
“Generally, outside the Active Season, conditions are soggy, wet, lots of leaves (potential lost ball or bad lie), cool, etc., which makes the course play a little longer and different than mid-season (virtually little to no roll on tee shots, which means a loss per drive of about 20 yards. On an average course that has 14 driving holes, that could mean a 280-yard difference just on yardage alone.
“Greens are also much more receptive and generally slow compared to mid-season. It’s a combination of these things which distort how the course plays from which it was rated (we assume mid-season when the majority of rounds are played) and what the expected scores would be in optimum conditions, so we set an Active Season to help mitigate the effect of scores played in the shoulder season.”
While those dates aren’t likely to change in 2020, there will be a significant updating of the handicap system starting Jan. 1 when the new World Handicap System is implemented.
For the past four years, Loughry has represented Canada as Golf Canada’s representative on the World Handicap Committee, sitting beside the other major golf associations from around the globe in an effort to make the system more equitable, flexible, consistent and understandable.
Significantly, the committee—Loughry calls it “the United Nations of handicapping”—will meet in Toronto this fall, its first gathering ever outside the United States, Britain and Europe.
“We hope by informing golfers of the impending changes this far in advance, they will have the opportunity to review the changes and comment on them,” Loughry says.
A limit of net double bogey per hole will be allowed for handicapping purposes and the maximum Handicap Index will be set at 54.0, regardless of gender, to encourage more golfers to measure and track their performance to increase their enjoyment of the game.
Perhaps the most obvious change for Canadians is that the term “Handicap Factor” used in this country for years will become “Handicap Index” to align with the USGA terminology and which will be used worldwide. But the new system will adopt Canada’s practice of updating handicaps daily in all countries, as opposed to the current USGA model.
A list of 9 useful tips for the World Handicap System can be found here.
The committee’s research shows that your Index is unlikely to change significantly from your previous Factor. Only 54 holes worth of scores will be required for an initial Index and your Index will eventually be averaged using the best eight of your last 20 scores posted.
One very notable innovation is the Playing Conditions Calculation which “analyzes how players have performed that day compared to their expected performance on that golf course. It will naturally include weather and course setup (reflected in the scores) and if expected results fall outside a tolerance level, an adjustment will apply to all scores played on that course for that day.”
Have a look at the changes and take advantage of the opportunity to comment.
As for me, when the Active Season starts here in Ontario, I’ll already be posting scores via the Golf Canada app from South Carolina where the Active Season never ends. My snow blower’s broken.