The PGA Tour is back, less than a month after crowning Viktor Hovland the FedEx Cup champion and taking home the $18 million first-place prize that went with it.

But things were different starting this week with Fortinet Championship. The Napa, California, event at Silverado Resort — won impressively by Sahith Theegala, who shot a four-under 68 for a two-shot win over KH Lee — no longer is the first tournament of a season that wraps around the calendar, but rather kicked off the seven-event series dubbed the FedEx Fall, where players work to regain, or improve, their playing status heading into 2024.

Everyone is still eligible to play, but the top 50 from the FedEx Cup standings — meaning everyone who qualified for last month’s BMW Championship at Olympia Fields — are locked in for next year and have qualified for all of the PGA Tour’s signature events. But the remaining players are trying once again to accumulate FedEx Cup points. At the end of the autumn, the top 10 players on the FedEx Cup points list who have not qualified for 2024’s signature events will earn spots into the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and Genesis Invitational. And only those inside the top 125 on the points list will have full status for 2024. (Points earned will not carry over to the 2024 FedEx Cup list.)

“It’s still a PGA Tour event with all the perks, and these guys are so good,” said Theegala, 25, who claimed his much-anticipated maiden tour victory in his 74th career start.

Among those perks: a first-place prize money payout of $1.512 million from a total purse of $8.4 million. Here are the prize money payouts for each golfer who made the cut this week in California.

Win: Sahith Theegala, -21, $1,512,000
2: SH Kim, -19, $915,600
3: Cam Davis, -17, $579,600
4: Eric Cole, -16, $411,600
5: Justin Thoams, -15, $344,400
6: Brendon Todd, -14, $304,500
T-7: Troy Merritt, -13, $255,150
T-7: Max Homa, -13, $255,150
T-7: Callum Tarren, -13, $255,150
T-7: Matt Kuchar, -13, $255,150
T-11: JJ Spaun, -12, $195,300
T-11: Matthias Schwab, -12, $195,300
T-11: Peter Malnati, -12, $195,300
T-14: Dylan Wu, -11, $153,300
T-14: Sam Ryder, -11, $153,300
T-14: KH Lee, -11, $153,300
T-17: Doug Ghim, -10, $132,300
T-17: Mark Hubbard, -10, $132,300
T-19: Robby Shelton, -9, $99,540
T-19: Martin Laird, -9, $99,540
T-19: Jason Dufner, -9, $99,540
T-19: Carson Young, -9, $99,540
T-19: Hank Lebioda, -9, $99,540
T-19: Chad Ramey, -9, $99,540
T-25: Luke List, -8, $65,940
T-25: Greyson Sigg, -8, $65,940
T-25: DJ Trahan, -8, $65,940
T-25: Vince Whaley, -8, $65,940
T-25: Kelly Kraft, -8, $65,940
T-30: Tyson Alexander, -7, $42,532
T-30: David Lipsky, -7, $42,532
T-30: Nate Lashley, -7, $42,532
T-30: Russell Knox, -7, $42,532
T-30: Erik van Rooyen, -7, $42,532
T-30: Ben Taylor, -7, $42,532
T-30: Tom Johnson, -7, $42,532
T-30: Beau Hossler, -7, $42,532
T-30: Justin Suh, -7, $42,532
T-30: Satoshi Kodaira, -7, $42,532
T-30: Lucas Herbert, -7, $42,532
T-30: Jimmy Walker, -7, $42,532
T-30: Davis Thompson, -7, $42,532
T-30: Scott Harrington, -7, $42,532
T-30: Martin Trainer, -7, $42,532
T-45: James Hahn, -6, $23,964
T-45: Stephan Jaeger, -6, $23,964
T-45: Harry Hall, -6, $23,964
T-45: Sam Stevens, -6, $23,964
T-45: Andrew Landry, -6, $23,964
T-45: Ryan Moore, -6, $23,964
T-45: Justin Lower, -6, $23,964
T-52: Sangmoon Bae, -5, $20,118
T-52: Zac Blair, -5, $20,118
T-52: Brice Garnett, -5, $20,118
T-52: Mackenzie Hughes, -5, $20,118
T-56: Austin Cook, -4, $19,236
T-56: Ben Crane, -4, $19,236
T-56: Patton Kizzire, -4, $19,236
T-56: Scott Stallings, -4, $19,236
T-56: Kevin Streelman, -4, $19,236
T-56: Preston Summerhays, -4, Amateur
T-62: Chesson Hadley, -3, $18,648
T-62: Kevin Kisner, -3, $18,648
64: William McGirt, -2, $18,396
65: Sung Kang, -1, $18,228
T-66: Chez Reavie, E, $17,976
T-66: Richy Werenski, E, $17,976
68: Carl Yuan, 2, $17,724

The post Here’s the prize money payout for each golfer at the 2023 Fortinet Championship appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Dave Shedloski

For Sahith Theegala, playing in the Fortinet Championship was a no-brainer, mostly for golf reasons but especially because the California native could enjoy the week with family and friends.

And, boy, did he enjoy the week.

With a group of more than 30 boisterous supporters following his every shot and quite a bit of internal motivation further carrying him along, the second-year PGA Tour player was an unstoppable force on Sunday. His breakthrough maiden victory never seemed in doubt as he raced out to a sizable lead and went on to defeat SH Kim by two strokes at Silverado Resort in Napa, California. A closing four-unde 68 gave him a 21-under 267 total, tying Stewart Cink’s record score on the Silverado’s North Course.

“It doesn’t feel real. It’s probably not going to set in for a while, but man it was a lot of good golf, and it was some of the most fun I’ve ever had in my life,” said the native of Orange, California, whose enjoyment was enhanced by the presence of his parents, his girlfriend and many others. “I had so many family and friends cheering me on, and just the support I have is mind-blowing. I go to bed at night these last few days and, like, I can’t believe how many people are cheering for me, but this feeling is incredible.”

From the standpoint of his status on the PGA Tour, Theegala didn’t need to show up at the first event of the new FedEx Fall series. After advancing to the BMW Championship during the FedEx Cup Playoffs in August, he already had secured full status for 2024, not to mention spots in all of the tour’s big-money signature events. But there was no way he was going to pass on a tournament in his native California. With an affinity for Silverado Resort and an itch to compete after a seeming eternity of time off for the self-professed golf “addict” — in this case, three whole weeks — he just had to tee it up.

He also was highly motivated after missing the Tour Championship by one spot in the FedEx Cup points standings, coming up nine points shy of 30th place after a bogey on the 72nd hole at Olympia Fields.

Theegala has come close before to grabbing his first PGA Tour win, but finally had his breakthrough at Napa. Jed Jacobsohn

Of course, the family angle can’t be discounted. His father Muralidhar had a birthday earlier in the week, and one of Sahith’s best friends hails from Napa.

Put that all together and is it really surprising that Theegala became the 12th first-time winner on the PGA Tour this season?

After beginning the final round with a two-stroke lead over three players, including two-time PGA champion Justin Thomas, Theegala, who put new irons in his bag this week, immediately opened with a birdie from six feet to move three ahead, and he never let his advantage slip below that figure until a bogey on the par-five finishing hole.

A decorated collegiate player at Pepperdine, who in 2020 swept the three most prestigious player-of-the-year awards in Division I, Theegala broke his maiden in his 74th career start and converted a 54-hole lead for the first time in three tries. As a playoff participant, he will not get FedEx points for the victory, but he does earn $1.512 million, a two-year tour exemption, and World Ranking points. He began the week 37th in the Official World Golf Ranking and is projected to jump to 27th.

Kim, who shared the lead with Theegala through 36 holes, shot 68 to finish second, while Cam Davis birdied the last for 70 and solo third at 271. Eric Cole attempting to strengthen his bid for the Arnold Palmer Award, finished another stroke back in fourth place after 70. Thomas, the somewhat controversial wild-card pick for Zach Johnson’s US Ryder Cup team, struggled early, hit only four fairways and settled for a 72 to finish fifth at 273.

World No. 7 Max Homa, the two-time defending champion, ended up T-7 at 13-under 275.

Homa, and everyone else in the field, had to feel like they were interlopers at Silverado with the Theegala faithful expending as much or more energy cheering outside the ropes as Sahith was giving inside them. And the young man noticed.

“Yeah, they meant everything. Just like the way I am, I kind of keep my head down and keep going and stay focused, but I secretly just loving the cheering,” he said. “It gets me fired up. And just knowing that I have that support no matter the good golf or the bad golf, they just have my back and I hope they know that I have their back, too.

“I can’t even express how I feel. It’s a team win. It’s not just a win for me, it’s a win for the whole family and everyone. Definitely going to celebrate.”

As if they hadn’t been doing that all week.

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The answer was simple, even if the question wasn’t necessarily welcomed.

Sahith Theegala is tied for the lead with SH Kim after the second round of the Fortinet Championship, shooting a 64 Friday at Silverado that included a bunker hole-out for eagle. He finished the season 31st in the FedEx Cup standings, just one spot out of qualifying for the Tour Championship at East Lake. Although that still irks him, he wrapped up status for 2024 which includes spots in all the tour’s biggest events.

When asked why he’s playing this week, Theegala, one of the more thoughtful interviews on the PGA Tour, responded by saying, “I don’t think that’s a great question.”

To him, the answer was way too obvious.

“I love California events and West Coast swing events,” he said. “I love Poa annua. I love this golf course. This was one of my first sponsor invites I got [in 2020], and one of my best friends lives in Napa. It’s just a great event for all my family and friends to come out to.”

Is that all?

“It’s still a PGA Tour event with all the perks and these guys are so good … I understand a lot of guys are not playing with the new structure, which is great.

“I’m such an addict, it’s tough for me to sit around and do nothing, too. I felt like three weeks was ample break. I was fired up missing East Lake by one, so just kind of wanted to play a tournament ASAP.”

The 25-year-old Californian who now lives in Houston said that he plans on playing three times in the autumn, will take time off during the holidays then will come out guns blazing early next year. He didn’t touch a club one during the first half of his three-week breaks and only started to knock off some rust five days before heading to the Fortinet early to spend time with his parents and celebrate his father’s birthday.

“I would say just kind of keeping the competitive juices flowing,” Theegala said about his goal for the week. “My whole life I really haven’t gone that long without playing a tournament other than the injury I had and I never wanted to make months off.”

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The two-time major champ has gotten by far the most scrutiny of either team’s six captain’s picks. And for good reason following a PGA Tour season in which he failed to qualify for the FedEx Cup Playoffs for the first time in his career.

But this was also the first time that post-season cut-off came at No. 70 instead of 125. And when it was Max Homa’s turn to talk about JT during his press conference at this week’s Fortinet Championship he pointed that out. But first, he pointed something else out in typical Max Homa fashion.

Q: If I had told you at last year’s Fortinet, your defending champ media day, that Justin Thomas a year from now would be 71st in the FedExCup, what would you have said?
MAX HOMA: I think it would be weird if you just came up and told me that, I guess, would be the first thing.

Great point. Max Homa is a funny guy! But also in typical Homa fashion, he then gave a very smart, thoughtful answer. Watch the entire exchange here:

 

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A post shared by GOLF.com // GOLF Magazine (@golf_com)

“Golf’s really hard, and I think 71st isn’t awful I don’t think,” Homa continued. “I think it’s a testament to how great of a golfer he is. Like 71st we can all be oohing and aahing like it’s the worst thing ever, like how could you possibly be 71st? That’s a testament to how great he is.

“I know Justin wants to play better obviously, and he obviously is very capable of it, but I don’t think 71st is this awful season that we can raise our nose up to and say how could you ever play so poorly,” Homa added. “I thought he played just fine.”

Well said, Max, and good luck in your attempt to three-peat in Napa. Although, the better you play, the more (JT) questions you’ll probably have to answer.

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It was only two weeks ago that Viktor Hovland won the Tour Championship/FedEx Cup title in a runaway by five strokes over Xander Schauffele. Well, now we’re back, the PGA Tour starting anew with the FedEx Cup Fall at the Fortinet Championship. Players status in the 2024 FedEx Cup points race isn’t at stake this week in Napa, California, but there is plenty on the line as Joel Beall spelled out in this primer about the next seven tour events. For the first time the autumn events serve as their own stand-alone series, with FedEx Cup points from earlier in the year carrying over. Tour pros who finished outside the top 70 on the FedEx Cup points list will use these events to make sure they stay inside the top 125 at autumn’s end and keep their PGA Tour cards for 2024. And if those pros who finish the autumn between 61st and 70th in the points earn spots into the first two “signature” events of the 2024 tour season.

He may not be playing for a card, but Max Homa is playing for something pretty rare at Silverado this week. The 32-year-old will have the chance to win his third straight Fortinet title. This would make Homa the first golfer since Steve Stricker at the John Deere Classic (in 2009-11) to win the same PGA Tour event three years in a row after down-to-the-wire victories over both Maverick McNealy in 2021 and Danny Willett in 2022. It’s also his chance to warm up before the Ryder Cup. He’ll be joined by fellow Americans Justin Thomas, captain Zach Johnson and vice-captain Stewart Cink.

WOW!

@MaxHoma23 chips in on 18 to put the pressure on @Danny_Willett.

Willett still has a 4-footer for the win. pic.twitter.com/NnmRBUIGPz

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) September 18, 2022

Five golfers, along with Homa, in last season’s top 50 will tee it up in Napa this week. Cam Davis, Sahith Theegala, Andrew Putnam, Brendon Todd and Eric Cole are all looking to stay sharp during what is otherwise their “off-season”.

The winner will receive 500 FedEx Cup points and a $1.512 million share of the $8.4 million purse.

Tee times
First tee
9.55am Arjun Atwal, Derek Lamely, Paul Haley II
10.06am Dylan Frittelli, Wesley Bryan, DA Points
10.17am Ryan Palmer, DJ Trahan, David Lipsky
10.28am Erik van Rooyen, Garrick Higgo, Brian Gay
10.39am JJ Spaun, Chad Ramey Luke List
10.50am Lucas Herbert, Martin Laird, Andrew Landry
11.01am Patton Kizzire, Hank Lebioda, SH Kim
11.12am Kevin Tway, Jason Dufner, Henrik Norlander
11.23am Scott Piercy, Ryan Moore, Kevin Stadler
11.34am Ben Martin, Sangmoon Bae, Derek Ernst
11.45am Matt NeSmith, Sam Stevens, Austin Smotherman
11.56am Brandon Matthews, Trevor Werbylo, Ryan Gerard
12.07pm Hayden Springer, Fred Biondi, Preston Summerhays (a)
3.05pm Taylor Pendrith, Callum Tarren, MJ Daffue
3.16pm Austin Cook, Austin Eckroat, Zecheng Dou
3.27pm Aaron Baddeley, Greg Chalmers, Geoff Ogilvy
3.38pm Akshay Bhatia, Justin Thomas, Sahith Theegala
3.49pm Nick Hardy, Mackenzie Hughes, Cam Davis
4pm Stewart Cink, Brendon Todd, Lanto Griffin
4.11pm Jimmy Walker, Doug Ghim, Dylan Wu
4.22pm Eric Cole, Taylor Montgomery, Davis Thompson
4.33pm Cameron Percy, Robby Shelton, Vince Whaley
4.44pm Adam Long, Sam Ryder, Christiaan Bezuidenhout
4.55pm James Hahn, Mark Hubbard, Justin Lower
5.06pm Michael Gligic, Augusto Núñez, Brent Grant
5.17pm Devon Bling, Blake Hathcoat, Chase Sienkiewicz
10th tee
9.55am Sean O’Hair, Beau Hossler, Carson Young
10.06am Ricky Barnes, Kevin Yu, Harrison Endycott
10.17am Kevin Chappell, Will Gordon, Tyson Alexander
10.28am Max Homa, Cameron Champ, Joel Dahmen
10.39am Kevin Kisner, Webb Simpson, Matt Kuchar
10.50am KH Lee, Andrew Putnam, Zach Johnson
11.01am Kelly Kraft, Doc Redman, Andrew Novak
11.12am Chris Stroud, Kyle Stanley, Scott Brown
11.23am CT Pan, Jonathan Byrd, Greyson Sigg
11.34am Ryan Armour, Cody Gribble, Charley Hoffman
11.45am Satoshi Kodaira, Alex Noren, Matti Schmid
11.56am Carl Yuan, Trevor Cone, Kevin Roy
12.07pm Peter Kuest, Henry Chung, Morgan Deneen
3.05pm William McGirt, Brian Stuard, Max McGreevy
3.16pm Tommy Gainey, Matthias Schwab, Harry Hall
3.27pm Sung Kang, Peter Malnati, Ben Taylor
3.38pm Robert Streb, JB Holmes, Troy Merritt
3.49pm Chez Reavie, Tyler Duncan, Scott Stallings
4pm Nico Echavarria, Jim Herman, Richy Werenski
4.11pm Martin Trainer, Kevin Streelman, Stephan Jaeger
4.22pm Russell Knox, Zac Blair, Kramer Hickok
4.33pm Ted Potter, Jr, Chesson Hadley, Justin Suh
4.44pm Nate Lashley, Brice Garnett, Ben Crane
4.55pm SY Noh, Nick Watney, Harry Higgs
5.06pm Scott Harrington, Tano Goya, Kyle Westmoreland
5.17pm Tom Johnson, Cyril Bouniol, Jacob Bergeron

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Golf will do that.

Max Homa successfully defended his title at the Fortinet Championship on Sunday and now heads to his first Presidents Cup in Charlotte, where he likely will be relied on heavily by US captain Davis Love III considering that Homa is a former winner at Quail Hollow Club. A bit of Hail Mary-type brilliance set up Homa’s unlikely win when he chipped in from 33 feet for a birdie on the 72nd hole to tie Willett.

Chomping emphatically on chewing gum, Willett smiled broadly at his opponent. Then he settled over a putt of three feet, seven inches for his own birdie and the win. He hit the left lip. The ball skittered almost six feet by. On the comebacker, Willett’s ball broke left, again hit the left edge and looped around and out.

Winning is hard.

3 putts from 4 feet and Danny Willett loses by a stroke. pic.twitter.com/mfljIjUAOt

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) September 18, 2022

Willett was still laughing as he shook Homa’s hand and offered a brief embrace. Had to be shock. Had to be. Homa looked in shock, too.

“Obviously, going to remember that last, but good week, nice to be in contention basically all week from Friday,” said Willett, rummaging through his emotions to focus on something positive. “Yeah, just a shame how I finished but that’s golf. We’re going to do it again another day.”

Homa claimed his fifth career PGA Tour title and earned $1.44 million by posting 16-under 272 on the North Course at Silverado Resort and Spa after shooting a four-under 68. Willett had a 69 as his bid for his first PGA Tour win since capturing the 2016 Masters came up painfully short.

“That was crazy. I still don’t really know what happened,” said Homa, 31, who won for the third time in his native California and for the fourth time after trailing through 54 holes. “Just kind of one of those weekends you just had to hang around. My coach told me that this morning, he said just hang around as long as you can and got to see what happens.”

With tee times moved up because of a rainy forecast in Napa, California — that proved very accurate — Willett led for much of the afternoon after starting the final round tied with Homa and one stroke behind Justin Lower, who is somewhat of a kindred spirit. Both Willett and Lower finished outside the top 125 on the 2021-22 FedEx Cup eligibility points list, but they were able to keep their PGA Tour cards when Cameron Smith, Joaquin Niemann and four others jumped to the LIV Golf series after the Tour Championship, pushing them up the standings and giving them new life.

And they made the most of it. Well, almost. Lower couldn’t keep pace with his playing partners, carded a one-over 73 as the round was contested using preferred lies in the cool, wet weather. He finished in a tie for fourth at 276. Still, his winnings of $360,000 were more than half his career earnings of $716,970 at the start of the week.

While Willett at one point held a three-stroke lead, Homa wouldn’t go away. Still, Willett looked to have secured the win when he guided home a 10-foot par save on the 17th hole to preserve a one-stroke lead and then wedged his approach to less than four feet at the par-5 18th while Homa left his third shot from the front greenside bunker in a closely mown area short of the putting surface. After getting to place his ball on a slight upslope for a pristine lie, Homa went for a spinner and his ball raced into the cup.

HOLY HOMA.@MaxHoma23 is CLUTCH ? https://t.co/dxnqmBKmxi pic.twitter.com/9yIbySCuqU

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) September 18, 2022

“I spun it and once it hit the pin, it almost like spun straight into the ground. It was just one of those things,” said Homa, whose wife Lacey, despite being eight months pregnant, walked the whole way in the gallery. “Golf’s a weird game, some crazy stuff happens on the last hole it seems like and that was very crazy.”

“I expected him to do it, but then it’s still a bit of a shock when it happens,” Willett, 34, said.

Yep. A shock.

Willett said he hit the first putt too hard. The second one he played straight, but it broke right to left. Crusher of a finish, even with an $872,000 pay day. But the Englishman held his head high and exhibited class when he said: “Bit of a shame to kind of finish how I did, but no, he [Homa] is heading off to the Presidents Cup and hopefully he plays well there, too.”

Homa is intent on doing just that after being on a bit of a mission at Silverado.

“I’m just happy to be in form, to represent my country, play with those boys. They’re some good golfers, so I just wanted to come in in form,” he said. “Honestly, I got a lot of people … I know this is Twitter, but I’ve had a lot of people tell me if the LIV guys wouldn’t have left, I wouldn’t have made the Presidents Cup team. So I had a little bit of a chip on my shoulder this week.”

Homa couldn’t help but feel for the crestfallen runner-up, and returned the kudos. “Yeah, he is obviously a tremendous golfer. He’s won the Masters, he’s won I think eight times in Europe. He’s just a very talented dude and has a great attitude,” Homa said. “You can see why he’s had so much success. He composed himself unbelievable today, never buckled really. And then on the last, obviously that’s not the way anybody could foresee it going, but still just a really classy guy.”

That class included choosing not to whine as he left wine country.

“You know, first out of the season, like I said, to be in contention, things are in a good place,” Willett maintained. “Yeah, we’ll live to fight another day.”

Not easy to say when you’re dying inside. But he has no choice but to believe it.

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Fowler, who parted ways with long-time caddie Joe Skovron and returned to swing coach Butch Harmon recently, posted a 67 to sit at five-under on Thursday. The 33-year-old is just three shots behind clubhouse leader Justin Lower, and one back of South Korea’s Byeong Hun An and Si Woo Ki, who both posted 66s on a fog-interrupted first round of the new season.

Fowler is in the midst of a slump that has seen him fall to No. 176 in the world. He hasn’t won since the 2019 Waste Management Phoenix Open, his fifth victory on the PGA Tour, while he also struggled to keep his card last season. Fowler was the last man into the playoffs opener, the FedEx St Jude Championship.

So Fowler made some tough calls to lift himself out of his funk. He split with Skovron in August and arrived in Napa this week with friend and veteran looper, Ricky Romano, on the bag. Fowler’s reunion with Harmon followed a three-year stint with John Tillery. Harmon’s time with Fowler was highlighted by a victory at the 2015 Players Championship and a climb to World No. 4.

With Harmon — the guru who counts World No. 1s Greg Norman, Tiger Woods and Adam Scott among his former students — Fowler has been working on a steeper left-arm plane. The changes certainly helped on Thursday as Fowler carded five birdies and no blemishes.

It has only been phone calls and video exchanges so far, but Fowler will hook up with Harmon at his Las Vegas base next month.

“It’s been great,” Fowler said after his round. “I know he’s excited just with seeing some of the stuff I’ve been able to do on the range in practice. It’s going to take some time to fully translate what I exaggerate on the range to the golf course, but at least it’s in a fairly good spot. The way I hit some shots and drove the ball today, it’s just good feedback to just build more confidence.”

Fowler has also not played this event since 2010 — five years before it moved to Napa and a year after Fowler lost in a playoff to Troy Matteson at Grayhawk. The reason he’s here this week is because his schedule was free, at a time of year when Fowler would typically be coming off a FexEx Cup playoffs run and gearing up for either a Presidents Cup or a Ryder Cup. Fowler will not line up for Davis Love III’s Team USA at next week’s Presidents Cup at Quail Hollow.

“Well, not going through the playoffs and not being on a Presidents Cup team, that’s been really the only reason why I haven’t been here to Napa yet,” he said. “We love being able to spend time in Napa. I’ve always heard good things about this event, so not to [celebrate] bad play or anything but I was excited when it was able to work out, [although] not exactly for the best reasons.”

Jupiter-based Fowler said earlier this week his goals for this season — the last wraparound season on the PGA Tour — were to get in contention more often, and build from there. Although he’d hardly count contending after one round as mission accomplished, it’s a step in the right direction for one of the tour’s most popular stars.

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Ranked No. 22 in the world, Homa is among the favourites at Silverado Resort in Napa, California, sharing that distinction with Hideki Matsuyama.

The 31-year-old is also now in a higher tier on the PGA Tour after completing his best year on tour by far, which ended with two victories (Fortinet, Wells Fargo) a fifth-place tie in FedEx Cup standings and a spot in next week’s Presidents Cup after US captain Davis Love III picked him.

Everything is great in Homa’s world. His game is in a good place, his mindset is as well and his wife Lacey is expecting the couple’s first child, a boy, later this year.

But there are always more goals to achieve.

“I think appreciate that’s good, but you appreciate that too long and you might get a little bit complacent and I’ve been just trying to go with the flow,” Homa said in Napa. “My goal in this game has always been just to progress and whether I’m No. 22 in the world or hopefully No. 1 in the world one day.”

About that complacency.

“As great as my game has felt and as great as my season was last season and as cool as it is to play a Presidents Cup, I’d like to play the Ryder Cup next year,” he said. “I’d like to not need a pick, a captain’s pick, all those things, you always have so much more to work for.

“I got to the Tour Championship three weeks ago and my coach, Mark [Blackburn], asked me … does it feel as good as I thought it would feel because it took me eight [years] to make it there. I said: ‘Actually, it doesn’t feel as good as I thought it would because now I’m bummed that I was like 16th going in there.’ I was like maybe that’s the beauty of this is that there’s always something else to kind of push for.”

Still, Homa is quick to make sure people don’t view any of his drive as coming from someone who is not happy, or someone who is not able to appreciate the progress in his professional path.

To that end, he was asked what he’d tell his younger self, now that he’s among the top players in the world.

“If I had to write a letter to myself then and say you’re going to make a Presidents Cup team, that would have been like almost unthinkable, but the beauty of this game is that you go one shot at a time, one range ball at a time, and you add up, I don’t know, almost like a million golf balls I’ve hit since then and you can quantify it and you can say, dang, like I made this,” he said.

“You might as well just keep going. Failure is in quitting. That’s something that I think I’ve had, but it would have been more useful to tell myself in 2013 — if you just keep digging it, you’ll be quite happy in the end.”

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The post Max Homa just finished the best year of his career, but that doesn’t mean he’s even remotely satisfied appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Yuan, 25, is set to make his fifth PGA Tour start this week at the Fortinet Championship, though it will be his first as a full-time tour member. The former Washington Husky, who hails from China, earned his PGA Tour card this past summer by finishing first on the Korn Ferry Tour’s regular-season points standings (‘The 25’), capping off a year that featured a win, three runner-ups and four other finishes inside the top seven.

Unless you’re a true golf nut, you’ve probably never seen and/or heard of Yuan, who has one of the funkiest follow-throughs in the sport. Here it is in all its glory:

One word to describe Carl Yuan’s swing… pic.twitter.com/hwj57vHKKv

— Korn Ferry Tour (@KornFerryTour) August 11, 2022

Yuan’s body language isn’t just limited to his driver swings, either. He gets weird with it on iron shots and even shots around the green, and he walks in putts, too. The man is the full package.

The thing he’s truly become a KFT folk hero for, however, is his ridiculous range sessions. Yuan does a ‘hosel drill’ in which he essentially shanks shots on purpose, making him the last person on the planet you’d want to warm up next to. He explains the unorthodox method in the video below:

Actually, Carl, it’s a terrible drill for amateurs. Legitimately the last drill amateurs should ever attempt at home. Practising hitting shanks sounds like some sort of sick nightmare, if we’re being honest.

He also practises hitting these little hooded hooks, which you can see right around the 51-second mark in the compilation video below, though we’d urge you not to skip to that part and instead watch all three minutes of this electric factory of a human:

If you’re thinking Yuan will just be some social-media driven flash in the pan, think again. He’s already a proven winner at the professional level, and he likely would have made the PGA Tour last year had he not gone to the Olympic Games to represent China. At the time, Yuan was inside ‘The 25’ on the KFT, and appeared poised to finish there at season’s end and earn his PGA Tour card. But he made the decision to play for his country, which caused him to miss the final six events of the KFT season, plus the three KFT Finals events, where 25 more tour cards were available. He finished T-38 in Tokyo.

“It took me time to think through it, but it’s not something I am going to regret,” Yuan said. “Every athlete’s goal is to be in the Olympics and play for your home country. Definitely some sacrifices were made, but I came back this year and played strong.”

He certainly did. Now, he’ll take his talents to the big tour, where he should have no issue becoming everyone’s new favourite golfer overnight.

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The post Carl Yuan, the man with the funky follow-through, is about to become your favourite golfer on the new PGA Tour appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Christopher Powers
Playing in front of a home crowd this week, California native Max Homa expected plenty of love. But on Saturday, even with his own mini cheering section following his every move, he was still second fiddle in his group. That’s part of the deal when you’re playing alongside fellow Cali native Phil Mickelson, who would draw a large crowd if he was playing on the moon.

Homa wasn’t mad about it. In fact, he loved every second, feeding off the energy Lefty’s legion of fans provided as he cruised to a seven-under 65 at the Fortinet Championship. The strong third-round move has positioned Mickelson in a tie for third heading into Sunday, and it’s put him just two shots off the lead of Jim Knous and Maverick McNealy. If he could play with Mickelson again on Sunday, he would (he’s not, unfortunately).

“The crowd was awesome,” said Homa, whose second career victory came in his home state last February at Riviera. “There were people out there with—obviously mostly Phil fans, but I had a few in the Cal gear and a couple guys wearing shirts, so it was awesome. Really fun coming to California for me, I have great support out here. And getting to play with Phil, too, you know you’re going to get a big buzz, so it makes everything more fun.”

Homa loves a good buzz on the course, something he was quick to point out to the media at Silverado. On Saturday at the 2019 Wells Fargo Championship, which Homa went on to win, he played alongside World No. 1 at the time Rory McIlroy. Last season at the Genesis Invitational, where he defeated Tony Finau in a playoff, he played the final round with Dustin Johnson, also World No. 1 at the time. There were no fans for that one, but the juice was still there.

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BONUS CONTENT – Off course with Brooks Koepka

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“It just makes it fun,” he said. “I believe in my game a lot more the last two, three years so it’s fun to go out there and play with arguably one of the best golfers of all time and arguably the best golfer in the last 30 years. He’s a great dude, it helps a lot. You get the crowds. When you’re playing well with the crowds, you kind of feed off it, too. I don’t really get that many people watch just me, so it’s nice to have somebody help bring some people to the golf tournament.”

On Sunday Homa will play in the penultimate group with Scott Stallings, who is decidedly not Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson or Rory McIlroy, no offence to Stallings. Should Homa make an early run at the lead, though, there’s no question there will be plenty of juice. The good news is, Mickelson’s group will be a few holes ahead, so Homa will at least be in the vicinity of all that good energy.

Meg Oliphant
Phil Mickelson putts on the 12th hole during round three of the Fortinet Championship.

Phil Mickelson is putting like a kid again
As we pointed out Friday evening, Phil Mickelson extended his arm-lock putter to 41 inches, and it’s already yielding strong results in the 2021-22 season. Following a three-under 69 in the second round, Mickelson kept it rolling, literally, on Saturday, shooting a five-under 67 that included a stretch of five straight birdies late in his round. The putter was a big talking point for Mickelson once again afterward, as it should be. Through three rounds he’s tied for fifth in the field in strokes-gained/putting, and Saturday was his best performance (+2.457 SG/P).

But as Mickelson went on to explain, it’s more than just the club itself. It’s the way he’s actually putting—like a kid again. We’ll let him take it from here.

“For a while, yeah,” said Mickelson when asked if he’d stick with this putter. “Because it’s how I putted as a kid. Like I always had a lot of forward press and all it’s doing now is getting in the same position as a kid, but it’s getting to that same position every time. I’m not overpressing, I’m not underpressing, so my launch characteristics when I get on the Quintic system is very consistent and that’s what I’m looking for.”

Believe it or not, the Quintic system is not something Mickelson made up or Mickelson doing a Bryson DeChambeau impression. It’s a real system that’s used for putter fittings, instruction, and, obviously, for the best players in the world to get all the feedback they need on how they are rolling it. Mickelson may have not had that type of technology when he was a kid, but it’s certainly making him feel young again now. At 10 under par for the tournament, he’s very much in the picture.

Meg Oliphant
Maverick McNealy reacts following round three of the Fortinet Championship.

Undeterred by sluggish start, Maverick McNealy fights back to tie lead
Given the fact he could put his clubs away for good and be just fine financially for the rest of his time on earth, winning on the PGA Tour is not exactly a matter of life and death for Maverick McNealy. Yet, after piling up a number of close calls last season on tour, he’s already back for more in Napa, and he’s displayed some serious fight over the first 54 holes.

Most of that fight was displayed in his third round, which McNealy began with the lead. But the former Stanford standout quickly vanished from the leader board with a front-nine two-over 38 while everybody else made there move. But McNealy was undeterred by the fireworks coming from all over the course, coming home in four-under 32 to regain a share of the lead heading into the final round.

“It was a crazy day, I’m not going to lie,” McNealy said. “That front nine got going pretty quick. Hit it in a few funny spots. We were on the clock I think on I want to say the ninth hole and it was just pretty hectic.”

Despite the chaos, the calm, cool, collected McNealy regained his focus thanks to one good shot, which, as any tour pro knows, is sometimes all it takes to get the train back on the tracks.

“Then got to the 12th fairway,” he said. “I remember hitting a good tee shot down the middle on the 12th with a utility iron and everything seemed to slow down and calm down for me. I started seeing my lines with the putter and I was really proud how I finished.”

McNealy closed with three consecutive birdies, putting himself in the final group and in prime position to grab that maiden victory. It will be new territory, as a handful of his high finishes have come via him nearly chasing down the leaders on Sunday. Tomorrow, he’s the one being chased, a challenge he’s ready to accept.

“I welcome nerves because it allows me to hit shots that I can’t hit under normal circumstances,” McNealy said. “That adrenaline, those nerves, that focus and intensity are states that I can’t achieve in a normal round of golf. That tee shot on 18 was a great example, I was so locked in and zoned in, the few extra miles an hour clubhead speed from the adrenaline and it resulted in my best drive of the day. Like I said, the focus I had with my putter and seeing the lines, it’s an exhilarating feeling and it’s one that I can only get when I’m feeling those nerves.”

Fittingly, on a course Johnny Miller designed, there will be plenty of “NERVES” to go round on Sunday in Napa.

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