By Joel Beall
Yusaku Maezawa fancies himself a space pioneer. He’s hoping his new collaboration with the PGA Tour moves golf into the stratosphere in his native country.

Maezawa, the founder of the Japanese fashion website Zozotown who was recently tabbed as first commercial passenger to attempt a flight around the moon with SpaceX, announced on Tuesday that the first official PGA Tour event is coming to Japan in the fall of 2019.

“I think this will be the first PGA Tour sponsor that is going to the moon,” Maezawa said through an interpreter. “I haven’t decided who I will take to the moon with me yet. I would like to talk to many people with an open mind.”

The tournament, named the Zozo Championship, is set for Oct. 24-27, and will be part of the tour’s Asian Swing through South Korea and China. The Zozo will replace the CIMB Classic.

The move coincides with golf’s participation in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, hoping to raise the sport’s profile in the lead-up to the Summer Games. The tour signed a six-year deal with the event, which will boast a $9.75 million purse and a field of 78, along with 10 players from the Japanese Tour and eight special exemptions. The Zozo will take place at the Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club in Chiba prefecture, just outside Tokyo.

At the event were Japanese stars Hideki Matsuyama and Isao Aoki, the latter who was the first Japanese player to win a tour event.

“Finally this day has come,” the 76-year-old Aoki said. “If I were younger, I’d like to play in a PGA tournament in Japan. I wish this day had come earlier.”

The post Golf’s moonshot: PGA Tour announces new official stop in Japan with space pioneer appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Ryan Herrington
Winless during the 2017-’18 PGA Tour season, Marc Leishman had yet to qualify for the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Maui the first week of January. But on Sunday, the 34-year-old Aussie shot a seven-under 65 at the CIMB Classic in Malaysia to close out a five-stroke victory and earn a place into the winners-only event.

It turns out, however, that Leishman had a hunch he’d find his way into the event. After closing out a five-stroke triumph at the CIMB Classic, Leishman confessed that he had already booked his trip to Hawaii.

“I was actually talking to my wife about that two weeks ago, and we booked flights to go back to Australia and had to book sort of return ones back to America, and I just booked them for Maui, thinking that I’ll either be playing in the tournament or we’ll go for a vacation there,” Leishman said. “Now I’ll be playing a golf tournament. I know Audrey will be very excited, as my kids will be.”

RELATED: Leishman’s CIMB Classic triumph a good sign for the Presidents Cup Internationals

Twice before Leishman has played at the Plantation Course at Kapalua Resort, finishing T-23 in 2013 and T-7 last January.

Leishman said he considered Hawaii one of his favourite places in the world, so if his bet on himself failed, it wasn’t the worst outcome.

“To be able to play two weeks there at two of my favourite golf tournaments is certainly something to look forward to.”

EIGHT birdies in the final round to clinch the @CIMBClassic.@MarcLeish‘s Sunday in less than five minutes: pic.twitter.com/WNPiof8XQ7

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) October 14, 2018

The post How’s this for confidence? Marc Leishman had a trip booked for Maui without yet qualifying for the Tournament of Champions appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Brian Wacker
As much as the United States has struggled in the Ryder Cup in recent years—particularly on the road—it hasn’t had the worst record in men’s professional team competitions of late. That goes to the International team in the Presidents Cup, which is currently on a seven-match losing streak as it eyes the next competition 14 months from now at Royal Melbourne.

So how can the International team stop its own slide? Well, performances like the one Marc Leishman delivered on Sunday at the CIMB Classic in Malaysia would certainly help.

Leishman broke free from a three-way tie at the start of the final round with four birdies in his first five holes. It was the start of a tidy seven-under 65 performance at TPC Kuala Lumpur that allowed Leishman to cruise to a five-stroke victory over Emiliano Grillo, Chesson Hadley and Bronson Burgoon. Leishman’s final 72-hole score—26-under 262—matched the tournament scoring record, with the victory becoming the fourth of his PGA Tour career and third in his last 44 starts.

It will give the Aussie a big boost when the next Presidents Cup standings come out (he was 16th at the start of the week), as he tries to make the team for a fourth time. This time it will carry extra meaning as the event is played in Leishman’s home country.

“Being back at Royal Melbourne’s going to be awesome,” Leishman said. “I’ve played three President Cups so far, two in America, one in Korea, so to play one in Melbourne again with all my friends and family there is going to be awesome. [I’m] hoping I can continue this form, be a leader on that team.”

Fourteen months is a long way off, but he’ll need to be one of the leaders if there’s any chance of the International team ending a losing streak that included an eight-point defeat at Liberty National last fall that was so bad the competition was nearly over before ever reaching the singles matches.

Scott Halleran

The good news for the International team in the next go round, aside from a suddenly reeling and somewhat disjointed U.S. team (can you say Patrick Reed?) is that Leishman might not be the only player it can turn to.

Grillo opened Sunday’s final round by going out in 30 before stalling on the back and finishing with a 66. Still, it was the 26-year-old Argentine’s best finish on tour since a runner-up at the 2016 Northern Trust, and his second top-10 in his last four worldwide starts.

Then there was India’s Shubhankar Sharma, who was one of the three players tied with Leishman at the start of the final round in Malaysia. He stumbles on Sunday, with two bogeys in his first six holes and five overall on his way to a disappointing 72 to tie for 10th. Still, it was the 22-year-old’s second top-10 on the PGA Tour in the last eight months in a still burgeoning career. He’ll get another chance to impress 2019 International captain Ernie Els with a practice round next week in Korea.

“He’s told me it would be great if you can make [the team],” Sharma said of Els. “That’s always enticing for a kid my age.”

A few other players also had performances in Malaysia that should be encouraging for Els. Mexico’s Abraham Ancer finished T-5 with a closing 65, fellow South African Louis Oosthuizen was T-5, and South Korea’s Siwoo Kim shots a Sunday 65 to finish T-10.

It’s still a long way out, but any little bit of optimism is a welcome one for the Internationals.

The post Marc Leishman takes an early first step toward his big goal for 2019 appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

But a pair of back-nine bogeys opened the door for the rest of the field to keep pace, including Leishman’s two playing partners, second-round leader Gary Woodland and India’s Shubhankar Sharma. The trio nearly matched each other shot for shot, Woodland and Leishman carding five-under 67s while Sharma edged them both by a stroke with his six-under 66. Once again they will all play together on Sunday, setting up what should be a fascinating final 18 holes in Malaysia, as they’re all tied at 19-under 197.

“They’re playing good,” said Leishman, who is looking for his fourth PGA Tour victory and his first since the 2017 BMW Championship. “I think we’re all playing well. Whoever ends up winning tomorrow, whether in my group or not, is going to go low. Hopefully, it’s me, but we’ll have to do something good tomorrow.”

A win for Sharma would be his first on tour, and it would prove last year’s breakout performance at the WGC-Mexico Championship was far from a flash in the pan. The 22-year-old picked up a pair of victories on the European Tour last season, so it’s not like he doesn’t know how to get it done.

“Good thing is that I’ve been in this position before and I’m in it again,” Sharma said. “But the good thing also is that we’re in Asia and I’m going to get a lot of support from all the fans. I know what to do and what not to do, so I’ll just try and relax as much as possible and come back tomorrow strong.”

Like Leishman, Woodland is also in search of his fourth PGA Tour victory, and a win would give him victories in back-to-back seasons, something he’s never done in his career.

“This golf course sets up good to my eye,” said Woodland. “I’ve been playing well coming in. It’s nice to be in contention and have a chance tomorrow. Excited about my game and where I’m at.”

Bronson Burgoon and Louis Oosthuizen sit in a tie for fourth at 17-under 199.

The post Gary Woodland, Marc Leishman, Shubhankar Sharma tied for the lead at CIMB Classic appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Joel Beall
An expired visa almost prevented Jhonattan Vegas from playing in this year’s Open Championship, as Vegas—with a borrowed set of clubs—didn’t arrive to Carnoustie until 45 minutes before his tee time. Unfortunately for the three-time tour winner, another travel predicament has struck.

Vegas announced on Tuesday that he has withdrawn from the CIMB Classic, held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, due to a passport issue. “Unfortunately my country is having some horrible issues and renewing your passport is one of them,” Vegas wrote on Twitter. “Thanks everyone (at the) CIMB Classic for trying to make this happen.”

Súper disappointed not going to @CIMBClassic this week in Malaysia due to my passport expiring in a 2 months. Unfortunately my country is having some horrible issues and renewing your passport is one of them. Thanks everyone @CIMBClassic for trying to make this happen.

— Jhonattan Vegas (@JhonattanVegas) October 8, 2018

Vegas’ homeland, Venezuela, is in the midst of civil unrest and economic collapse. On Monday the country’s congress reported Venezuelan consumer prices rose 488,865 percent in the 12 months ending in September.

Vegas’ participation in November’s World Cup of Golf could also be in doubt, as the event will be played in Australia.

Sam Ryder will take Vegas’ spot in the CIMB Classic field.

The post More passport issues force Jhonattan Vegas to withdraw from CIMB Classic appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

From the “amazing wife”/amazing life he currently leads, to perceived Ryder Cup wrongs, a French Open faux-pas, the curly topic of Tiger, to doing it “tough” flying into Dubai on Sergio Garcia’s private jet, the 41-year-old was in top media centre form Tuesday.

Related: Perez backspins on ‘he can’t beat anybody’ Tiger

Perez has never been one for political correctness and while there was nothing too risqué in his pre-tournament presser, it was thoroughly entertaining. His refreshing honesty and dry humour will certainly be welcomed by the global media this week provided he can live up to his world No.18 billing.

Things started a little slowly before Perez warmed to his task when the topic turned to the Ryder Cup. In the past, it seemed that some Americans at this time of the year hadn’t made the Ryder Cup a priority. Has that changed post Hazeltine?

Related: Garcia, Stenson and McIlroy headline marquee first round groups

“Not really for me,” Perez said before going slightly off-piste on a fascinating personal rant.

“I won in Malaysia [CIMB Classic] and I finished fifth in Korea [CJ Cup @ Nine Bridges] and I didn’t get any points for the American side. That kind of upset me a little bit; the fact that I’m 13 on the list, but I should be probably three or four.

“So it kind of put a bitter taste in my mouth; the fact that you win on the PGA Tour and you beat some good players, and yet you don’t get any points because of whatever our committee has decided to do. So that upset me a little bit.

“But The Ryder Cup, it’s a big thing. It’s in France this year, so every American wants to represent their country just like every European wants to represent their countries. You know, it will be exciting to play on a team. I think that’s the only thing I’m really missing. Everybody wants to win a major but there’s only four. Ryder Cup means that you’ve done something really good for two years to make a team, and you get to be with your fellow Americans and represent your country and try to bring home the Cup.”

Perez was adamant “if you win the same calendar year as the actual Cup, they should count. I don’t know why they wouldn’t”. So, have you been able to make that point to anyone?

“No. I haven’t seen Jim [U.S. captain Jim Furyk] at all. I haven’t seen Phil, anybody that’s part of it. I’m sure they are not really interested in my opinion anyway (laughter) so wouldn’t really matter. It wouldn’t really matter.

“You know, all I can do is what I can do. I’m not really worried about — I guess like I’ve said in the past, I’d love to win again, I’d love to be in contention in a major, try to even have a look at one [a major title] would be incredible, and then get back to The Tour Championship because that would set me up again next year to be in all those big tournaments and WGCs and majors and the big schedule that you want to play. That’s really my focus.

“Ryder Cup would be really the cherry on top because that means everything else already had happened and then I played well and then bang, I play the Tour Championship and then The Ryder Cup. They all kind of go hand in hand. So if I don’t play well enough, then I don’t get to Tour Championship and The Ryder Cup’s out, anyway.

“You know, I’m not really focused on it. I’m having a great time in life right now. I’m having a great time on the course. I’ve got really no stress right now. I’m just kind of playing and that’s making it easier for me. But you know, if things go well, they go well. I would love to be part of it, but if I’m not, then, you know, I’ve never been in it, anyway, so I’m not really losing anything.”

Perez was then asked on the travel element of The European Tour versus the PGA Tour?

“Well, the travel, it was tough coming over here. I had to fly with Sergio on his plane from (laughter) it’s like, I had to go commercial from Phoenix to Austin, which was an hour and a half; and I had to get on that G5 and fly all the way over to Singapore and sleep the whole way, and same up here to Dubai. So it’s been tough so far but I’m managing.”

The 41-year-old was quizzed on how many other European Tour events he was likely to play in 2018 which is where the French Open funny reared its head.

“I’m going back to the Porsche in Germany and I was going to try to play the one in — the French, just in case I, you know, got hot enough, have a look at it [le Golf National where the Ryder Cup will also be played].

“Funny enough, I was in Paris last year during The French Open on vacation and I didn’t know the tournament was going on [laughs]. I should have planned it where I played the tournament and I could have done the whole thing. That would have been pretty smart but I didn’t look at it that way. Maybe the wife wouldn’t like that though too much. Vacation’s not a vacation then.”

“I don’t know. I’m going to try to piece it together. I’ll go over it with my group and we’ll see, you know, if things are going really well and I’m still staying high in the FedEx, maybe we can add a few more in. The camaraderie out here, the European group is fantastic. I have a lot of friends out here. I’ve had a lot of people come up and say, hey, great seeing you this and that, haven’t seen you in a while. It’s just a different vibe out here. It’s great. I like it. I like it. It would be nice to mix in a few more.”

Talking of his peers, Perez mightn’t quite fit the profile of today’s model tour professional, the lithe, big-hitting, gym and range rats. But he is more than comfortable “owning his own stuff”.

“Now I’ve won three times and I’ve gotten into the Top-20 in the world, it just seems — I don’t know, it’s not that it’s not as important. It’s just that life is just different,” he said.

“I see more to life than just golf, and before, it was just always golf. I don’t want to say I wasn’t in a good place but I wasn’t playing… I wasn’t this and that, but now life is fantastic and it’s carrying on in my golf.

“I’ve got my game in a spot where it’s never been. I know how I’m going to hit it every day. My short game has been pretty good. I’m not worried about the long hitters and watching them hit 6-iron to a par 5 and I’ve got 3-wood. I’ve gotten past all that.

“You know, I do I what I do and I’m just kind of staying in my own zone.”

With that said, how about this week? You’ve played the course, does it suit your eye?

“It does. It’s a desert course, which, I live in Scottsdale, so we have all desert courses. The grass is pretty similar. They are small greens, but the layouts right in front of you. You hit it in your spot, hit it on the green. I think the layout is fantastic. It’s cool, too, to see all the buildings around and everything. I’m excited about it. I think it’s awesome.”

The media corps pens are poised.

The post Perez’s Desert Classic debut off to a flying start…in the press centre at least appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By E. Michael Johnson
When Pat Perez signed with PXG earlier this year, some wondered how he fit in with PXG’s tour staff. Company founder and owner Bob Parsons had an answer.

“Pat likes us and has been an ally, a friend,” Parsons told Golf Digest at the time. “It’s like what my dad told me about dating. He said the number one thing to look for in a girlfriend is one who likes you. If she doesn’t, the rest doesn’t matter.

“Pat likes us and we like him and he wasn’t signed with anyone so I told our guys to get him. … Pat’s a local guy. I know him. He’s played very well. I love that he’s outspoken. I couldn’t see a reason not to sign him.”

Related: Pat Perez runs away with his third career PGA Tour victory at the CIMB Classic

Parsons is known for his business acumen so it should come as no surprise that the investment in Perez paid some additional dividends this week as Perez captured the CIMB Classic in Malaysia for his second PGA Tour win in his last 25 starts. Perez cruised to a four-shot victory over Keegan Bradley. Over 72 holes Perez made 27 birdies against just three bogeys.

To produce such numbers the putter needs to be working. Perez wielded a PXG Gunboat mallet at Kuala Lumpur G.C. The Gunboat is an extremely high MOI mallet-style putter with a single-bend shaft that creates a full-shaft of offset and a face-balanced hang angle. The 10 weights in the rear portion of the club can bring the putter anywhere between 360 and 400 grams, while also serving as an alignment aid.

What was in Pat Perez’s bag:
Ball: Titleist Pro V1
Driver: TaylorMade M2 2017 (Mitsubishi Tensei Pro White 70 TX), 9.5 degrees
3-wood: PXG 0317, 15 degrees
Hybrid: PXG 0317X, 19 degrees
Irons (3-4): PXG 0311XF; (5-PW): PXG 0311
Wedges: PXG 0311T (52, 60 degrees)
Putter: PXG Gunboat

The post The clubs Pat Perez used to win the CIMB Classic appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Christopher Powers
Prior to 2017, Pat Perez had won just one time in 376 starts on the PGA Tour. For a player that packed loads of potential when he first made it on tour, it felt like the then 40-year-old’s career was shaping up to be one big what-if. But after undergoing shoulder surgery before beginning last season, something has clicked for the Arizona native, and it’s brought out the best golf of his life when he needed it most.

On Sunday at TPC Kuala Lumpur, Perez capped off another strong week with a three-under 69 to win the CIMB Classic by four shots, giving him the third win of his career and his second in his last 25 starts.

Perez, 41, started his final round the same way he ended his third, with a flurry of birdies that extended his lead to seven shots, a margin no one was able to come close to catching the rest of the day.

Related: Pat Perez to play Omega Dubai Desert Classic

“I knew I had to stay on the gas here because guys are playing so good and you can go low any day, I was expecting someone to shoot 63 or something like that,” said Perez, who finished with a score of 24-under 264, two strokes shy of Justin Thomas 72-hole CIMB record of 26-under.

“I’m just such a different person than I was 17 years ago, even like, five years ago,” he said. “I’m learning how to play the game, I’m learning how to play my own game, stay within myself, that kind of stuff. I’m a late-bloomer.”

Call him a late-bloomer, or a PGA Tour veteran if you want, either way, there’s no denying the 41-year-old is peaking late in his career. Since his T-33 at last year’s CIMB Classic that kickstarted his season, Perez has won twice, finished T-7 or better five times and made well over $5.7 million.

Keegan Bradley made Sunday’s biggest charge, carding a five-under 67 that earned him a solo second finish at 20-under 268. It’s the 2011 PGA champion’s highest finish since last season’s Farmers Insurance Open, where he tied for fourth.

Xander Schauffele was unable to get much going in his final round, posting an even par 72 and finishing seven shots back at 17-under 271 in a tie for third with Sung Kang.

Hideki Matsuyama (71) and Cameron Smith (64) finished in a tie for fifth at 16-under 272.

The post Pat Perez runs away with his third career PGA Tour victory at the CIMB Classic appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Roger Maltbie and his wife, Donna, were in their hotel room in Napa, Calif., on Sunday night, slowly getting things in order for the ride back to their home south of San Francisco on Monday morning, when the smell from the Silverado Highlands wafted into their condo at the Silverado Resort. Roger went to check it out and saw the orange glow in the sky on the other side of the mountains. “We better start packing,” he told Donna after hustling back to the room.

At another part of the property, PGA Tour VP of rules Mark Russell was seeing, smelling and thinking the same thing. “No one had to tell me when to evacuate,” Russell said when we spoke on Monday afternoon. “I could tell it was already bad, and it was going to get a lot worse. It’s hard to believe something like that can happen so quickly. We got out of there.”

Back-to-back Safeway Open champion Brendan Steele and the tour players traveling to Malaysia for the CIMB Classic received word of the wildfires while awaiting their flights out of San Francisco International Airport. Having grown up in the San Jacinto Mountains of Southern California, Steele wasn’t surprised. He had been evacuated from his hometown of Idyllwild several times due to lurking wildfires and remembers his father’s fear of them wiping out his business and home.

Conditions had changed dramatically from when the NBC on Golf Channel reporter, the tour rules official and the tournament champion walked off the North Course at Silverado Sunday afternoon, Steele a two-stroke winner over Tony Finau. The wind had begun blowing in gusts upwards of 50 miles per hour. Maltbie saw fencing blown down, garbage cans flying through the air, and flames dancing on the east side of the golf course. “I ran back in and said, It is time to go now,” Maltbie said. “We just got out of there. It was scary.”

A tent structure built for the 2017 Safeway Open burns on a golf course at the Silverado Resort and Spa. (Photo by Josh Edelson)

So scary that Donna left some of her belongings in the closet just ahead of the mass evacuation. As they made their way down Monticello Road and Silver Rock Trail, their hope was that trees wouldn’t be blown over, blocking the road. Even on Thursday, 100 miles away at their home in Los Gatos, the smell the fumes from Sunday night still lingered with them.

Through Friday, hundreds of thousands of acres around Napa, Sonoma and other areas in that region of Northern California had been burned with 31 people killed, making these the deadliest wildfire in state history.

While going through this escape route, Maltbie exchanged text messages with the host of the tournament, part owner of the resort and his good friend, Johnny Miller. On the property was the house overlooking the 10th green where Miller raised five of his six children. Johnny and his wife, Linda, had downsized to a condo at the part of the course where homes burned to the ground.

Locals look through the remnants of their mother’s home in the Silverado Community, which was burned by the Atlas Fire. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

They evacuated at 1 a.m. to Walnut Creek and learned Monday that their property didn’t sustain damage. Same, thankfully, for the house that belongs to Miller’s son Andy. Unfortunately, though, the home of his daughter, Kelly, was part of a row of houses in the Deer Hallow subdivision that didn’t make it.

“Johnny’s pretty sad,” said John Evans, the resort’s managing director. “He tends to wear his emotions on his sleeve.”

As a 21-year-old amateur, Miller finished second to Miller Barber in the 1969 Kaiser International at the resort before going on to win the event there in 1974-1975. Personally, professionally and financially (as a co-owner and renovator of the resort), he was connected to and invested in the property, which he often, ironically, boasted of having the most amazing aroma from the oak trees.

“Silverado will always be special to me,” Miller told Golf Digest in 2011. “It feels like you’re on vacation when you go home. There aren’t that many people who move to Napa and leave.”

The Silverado Mansion was sparred the fire’s wrath. (Photo by Twitter/@SilveradoResort)

According to Evans, Miller was grateful for the efforts put in to save the resort proper during that harrowing first night. For the most part, the oak trees and the buildings of the resort escaped the type of damage that faced homeowners like Miller’s daughter. By using light generators to pump water, by staying up all night and dousing trees, brush, ground cover and buildings, workers and resort managers were able to save the 130-year-old mansion that serves as the resort’s centerpiece, along with the clubhouse, spa and marketplace that were part of the resort’s renovation in 2010.

If there was a blessing in this, it’s that the wildfires didn’t happen on Saturday night, when 6,000 fans were bussed in to a Goo Goo Dolls concert on the event’s front lawn. “As bad as it was, one day earlier would have been a disaster,” said Jeff Sanders, the tournament’s executive director.

Sanders hadn’t yet seen for himself the aftermath. “I’m still waiting for the yellow tape to come down [this coming Monday],” he said. As of Thursday there still wasn’t power or water at the resort and communications were hampered by a reported 73 cellphone towers downed. The resort is targeting Oct. 27 for a re-opening.

Close to his heart, on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, Steele was sending positive thoughts back to Wine Country. They could certainly use them.

“It was like a war zone around there,” Maltbie said. “It was devastating.”

The post Destruction from Napa-area fire hits close to home at Silverado Resort appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.