By Ryan Herrington
Matthew Wolff, age 21, had never met Vijay Singh, age 57, prior this week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic, and says he didn’t know much about the 34-time PGA Tour winner before being paired with him (and C.T. Pan) for the opening two rounds at Detroit Golf Club.

“I think he was a little before my time,” Wolff said on Friday. “No, I’m just kidding. Don’t tell him I said that.”

There’s more truth, however, to that statement then either of the two might like to admit. Wolff was born in April 1999, nine months after Singh won the first of his three major titles at the 1998 PGA Championship. Wolff was only 5 in 2004, the best statistical season of Singh’s PGA Tour career.

Yet playing with the World Golf Hall of Famer proved anything but a stressful experience for Wolff. After posting an opening-round 69 on Thursday, Wolff shot a second-round 64 to take a share of the lead at 11 under through the morning wave of play on Friday.

A run of six-straight birdies in the middle of the round—in which no made-putt came from longer than 11 feet—helped fuel Friday morning’s effort for the 2019 NCAA champ at Oklahoma State. Even with a bogey on his second-to-last hole of the day, Wolff’s 64 was the second-lowest he had shot in 75 career rounds on the PGA Tour.

Wolff’s lowest score came a year ago when he shot a third-round 62 en route to his breakthrough victory at the 3M Open. For that round, Wolff was paired with another PGA Tour Champions golfer, Tom Lehman, age 60, something that wasn’t lost on the young phenom.

“Maybe it’s something about the old greats, me feeling like I need to impress them or something like that,” Wolff said.

Impressive isn’t necessarily how you’d describe Wolff’s play thus far during the PGA Tour’s restart. Competing in the three previous tour events, Wolff’s best performance was a 53rd-place showing at the Charles Schwab Challenge, with missed cuts at the RBC Heritage and Travelers Championship.

Wolff said that getting off to a solid start, a birdie on his first hole, then five more to make the turn in a six-under 30, was critical in terms of clearing his mind.

“I just felt like, you know, I wasn’t really worrying about the cut at that point, I was worrying about putting myself in the best spot and keep on making more birdies,” Wolff said. “It was nice to not be around the cut this time and to put myself into a good spot going into the weekend because as I’ve learned the last couple weeks you definitely can’t win on the first two days, but you can sure as heck lose.”

Of course, following up his good play with two more solid rounds is equally important for Wolff’s psyche. Wolff has broken par in a weekend round only once since February.

The post The two lowest rounds of Matthew Wolff’s PGA Tour career now have this strange connection appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By John Strege
Ernie Els is a World Golf Hall of Famer who was eager to rejoin his contemporaries on the PGA Tour Champions, though they might have preferred he continued competing against the younger generation.

In only his third start on the senior tour, Els won the Hoag Classic at Newport Beach (Calif.) Country Club on Sunday. In his senior debut in January, he tied for second in the Mitsubishi Electric Championship, losing in a playoff.

“It was pretty tight, you know?” Els said. “I felt a little uncomfortable on the greens. I didn’t have that free-flowing feeling, I had to work hard for it and that’s a good thing to do, to work hard for something. You don’t want something falling in your lap. I’m glad the first one’s over with and we can move on now and it gets more comfortable after this. After being in a playoff in Hawaii, coming close to winning there, I didn’t want to mess this one up. I had a great opportunity and I wanted to try and take that.”

It was his first victory since 2013, when he won the European Tour’s BMW International Open, a year after he won the British Open, his fourth major championship.

Els finished with a four-under par 67 to finish 54 holes in 16-under par 197, two strokes ahead of Newport Beach resident Fred Couples, Robert Karlsson and Glen Day.

A fivesome — Els, Couples, Day, Karlsson and Scott McCarron — was tied for the lead midway through the back nine. Day and Karlsson briefly took the lead, though Day was undone by an 18th-hole bogey and Karlsson by a 16th-hole bogey

Els, meanwhile, claimed the lead by holing an eight-footer for birdie at 15, then sealed it with a birdie at the par-5 18th hole.

The post Ernie Els wins for the first time on the PGA Tour Champions appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By John Strege
No one is ageless, of course, but at what point it is evident in golf is a moving target, and Bernhard Langer continues to move the target more than most.

Langer, 62, won the Cologuard Classic at Omni Tucson National in Tucson, Ariz., on Sunday. He started the final round trailing by four, then shot a seven-under par 66 to win by two over Woody Austin.

It marks the 14th consecutive season the World Golf Hall of Famer has won on the PGA Tour Champions, and a record that only a few years ago seemed unapproachable suddenly is in play.

The victory was Langer’s 41st on the senior tour, second only to Hale Irwin’s 45 career victories. And there is no indication that this victory will prove to be an aberration. In four starts this year, Langer has finished tied for sixth, tied for fifth, tied for third and first.

First, but not his last.

Langer hit every fairway, 14 of 14, in an eight birdie, one bogey round that included a chip-in birdie at the seventh hole and an 18th-hole bogey. The German native completed 54 holes in 18-under par 201. Austin had the second-best round of the day, a seven-under 66. Thirty-six hole leader Brett Quigley, pursuing a second victory in this his rookie year on the PGA Tour Champions, stumbled to an even-par 73 and tied Rod Pampling for third.

Langer ranked it among his finest rounds as a senior. “It was very much up there, certainly the first 17½ holes,” he said. “That six-iron at the last wasn’t a lot of quality, but up until then a lot of quality shots. Really good driving all day long, and good putting. All in all, extremely happy.

“I still feel if I can play my best I have a chance to win out here, but I have to play my best I can’t play at 80 per cent. Too many good players out here.”

As for Irwin’s record, four wins to tie still represent, at age 62, an uphill climb for Langer, but he is not unaware of it. “I don’t really think about it,” he said, “but I get reminded of it just about every week out here.”

The post Bernhard Langer ageless? Well, he’s 62 and still rolling, winning the Cologuard Classic appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By John Strege
Los Angeles calls itself the entertainment capital of the world, Hooray for Hollywood and all that jazz, though sports in this melange of lights, camera, action has always been hit or miss.

A city of four million in a county of 10 million, for instance, loves its Dodgers but went without an NFL team for 20 years and responded with a collective whatevs.

This is the landscape the LPGA is re-entering this week with the inaugural HUGEL-JTBC LA Open. It will be played in the heart of Hollywood, at Wilshire Country Club, less than a mile from Paramount Studios, the famous Hollywood sign visible in the distance, parking at the Hollywood Bowl.

There’s no business like show business, so they say.

The question is, based on past performance, whether the LPGA has no business returning to a region in which it has never been able to establish traction. We posed it to Los Angeles’ resident LPGA expert, World Golf Hall of Famer Amy Alcott, a native of Santa Monica.

“From my experience in close to 40 years of playing the tour,” she said Tuesday, “I always found that it was the small cities — Corning, New York, Rochester, New York, Birmingham, Alabama, Dubuque, Iowa — those are the cities that have smaller populations where the LPGA becomes the biggest show in town.

“When it’s not the biggest show in town, New York or Los Angeles, where there’s so much going on, it becomes a little different animal. It’s not that it can’t thrive and be amazing. But a lot of it is promotion and just getting the golf people [in the area] behind it.”

The last time the LPGA came to what is called the Southland (incorporating Los Angeles and Orange counties) was seven years ago when the Kia Classic was played one time at Industry Hills in the City of Industry. Before that is was 2005, the last year of a five-year run of the Office Depot Championship, this one at Trump National Golf Club in Rancho Palos Verdes.

The previous three were hosted by Amy Alcott at El Caballero CC in Tarzana. “Out at El Cab we drew very well,” Alcott said. “The last year of the contract, out at Trump National, it didn’t draw very well at all.”

That has often been the case since the first LPGA event, the Los Angeles Open, was played in 1955 at Inglewood Country Club (which no longer exists).

Since then, the LPGA has had tournaments in Whittier, Montebello, Buena Park, Pasadena, Calabasas, Los Angeles (Rancho Park GC), Costa Mesa, Simi Valley and Glendale, four years its longest run in any one place.

Now for the optimism on the eve of the inaugural HUGEL-JTBC LA Open. “I have no doubt this tournament will be successful with this sponsor and where it’s located,” Alcott said.

The two sponsors are Korean companies and Wilshire CC is adjacent to Los Angeles’ Koreatown. Moreover, the Southland has the largest population of Asian-Americans in the United States, 10 of the top 21 players in the Rolex Rankings are Korean, and 13 of the top 21 are from Asian countries, including the No. 1-ranked player, Shanshan Feng of China.

The LPGA is returning at the right time in the right place, in more than one way the right place. One of the sponsors, HUGEL, produces Botox, among other beauty products, and intends to expand into U.S. markets.

Could there be a better place to market Botox than on Los Angeles’ west side that includes Hollywood and Beverly Hills?

The post LPGA goes Hollywood in bid to finally crack the code for success in Los Angeles appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By John Strege
A tournament that built its foundation on nostalgia was gamely represented on Sunday by Laura Davies, who has contributed to the game’s history.

Davies, 54, threatened to turn back the clock in the Bank of Hope Founders Cup, which pays homage to the LPGA’s past of which she is a part, but ultimately she was bettered by Inbee Park, who has simply reset the clock.

When Davies had pulled within a shot of the lead, Park birdied four straight holes on the back nine at the Wildfire Golf Club in Phoenix to win by five, her 19th LPGA victory. Davies, Ariya Jutanugarn and Marina Alex tied for second.

Davies, who was bidding to become the oldest winner in LPGA history, followed a Saturday 63 with a Sunday 69 that was her first LPGA runner-up finish since 2007.

“I realized the record of how old I am now and not having won for God knows how many years on the LPGA, it would have been huge,” Davies, whose last victory was nearly 17 years ago, said. “But I’m actually quite pleased. It’s a great finish for me. I was four over after six on the first day. Just to get into this position is amazing.”

A World Golf Hall of Famer, Davies at least was beaten by a future Hall of Famer, a rejuvenated Park, who already has qualified for the LPGA Hall of Fame and was the youngest to do so, at 27.

Still, only 29, Park, who only two years ago was seriously pondering retirement to start a family, has had her interest in the game rekindled.

“When I was taking the long break [last year], I was just thinking, ‘I think I can do this life as well,’” she said. “Just kind of thoughts like that. I just love the breaks. Just really refreshes me. I’m not burned out. I’m happy to play golf again.”

Rounds of 63 and 67 on the weekend don’t foster unhappiness, of course, though she confessed to being somewhat surprised, given how long she took off. Last year, she played only 15 LPGA events and ended her year after the Women’s British Open in early August.

“I didn’t expect to win this early, obviously, after a long break,” Park said. “In Singapore [the HSBC Women’s World Championship a few weeks ago] I felt like my ball-striking was quite good and I just needed to work on the putter a little bit. And it worked pretty good this week.”

It was better than that on a bogey-free weekend when she made 12 birdies and an eagle, four of the birdies coming on the back-nine run on Sunday that served notice to the competition, that her form has returned two weeks before the LPGA’s first major, the ANA Inspiration.

The post Inbee Park wins Founders Cup with a late run of birdies that ends Laura Davies remarkable bid appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Seriously, what a fun and efficient way to navigate a golf course. Being able to zip out to your golf ball and hit your next shot is the definition of ready golf. And even if you’re not playing well, you’ll still feel like Marty McFly on that hoverboard in Back To The Future, Part II. OK, so there were a couple of close calls with parked cars in a parking lot test run, but by the third ninth hole, you start to get (somewhat) comfortable. And talk about a great way to get kids into the game. If you get a chance to use a GolfBoard, go for it. In the meantime, here’s what else is going on in golf.

WE’RE BUYING

Justin Thomas: So much for any PGA Tour Player of the Year drama. Maybe his buddy Jordan Spieth can run the table at the final two events, but we’re penciling in JT for POY after picking up a fifth victory of the season at the Dell Technologies Championship to go with the first major he won at last month’s PGA. And just look at the heady company the youngster now finds himself in:

5 wins including a major in a season before age 25, since 1960:

63 Jack
99 Tiger
00 Tiger
15 @JordanSpieth
17 @JustinThomas34

— Justin Ray (@JustinRayGolf) September 4, 2017

With his three-shot win over Spieth, Thomas ascended to No. 4 in the Official World Golf Ranking. Next year’s #SB2K18 might have a stronger field than some tour events.

Stacy Lewis: The native Houstonian gave us one of the year’s best stories in any sport when she pledged to donate last week’s check from her LPGA start to Hurricane Harvey relief efforts — and then made it a winner’s check by claiming victory at the Cambia Portland Classic. She got a surprise victory embrace from her husband, Gerrod Chadwell, who is the University of Houston women’s golf coach and spent some time last week kayaking to his team’s facility to save some equipment.

What made it an even more storybook result was the fact that Lewis hadn’t won in more than three years despite finishing runner-up a remarkable 12 times during that span. Sports are a heckuva a thing, aren’t they?

Peter Uihlein: With a win in the first Web.com Tour Finals event, Uihlein locked up his PGA Tour card for next season. If the name sounds familiar, that’s because golf fans have been hearing it for a long time. Uihlein is the son of Titleist CEO Wally Uihlein and he won the 2010 U.S. Amateur before taking his game to Europe a la Brooks Koepka. Anyway, congrats, Peter, but what took you so long? Kidding! Sort of.

Tiger Woods: He’s BACK! To pitching and chipping, that is. Woods put the golf world in a frenzy with a quick video of him hitting a single shot while showing off some serious pipes in a tank top. And this time, it wasn’t even a full shot.

Dr. gave me the ok to start pitching pic.twitter.com/tboq1L3Xdn

— Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) August 31, 2017

Baby steps, Tiger. Baby steps.

WE’RE SELLING

People complaining about Thomas and Jordan Spieth being too friendly: Seriously, how is this bad for golf/sports/humanity?

#respect @JordanSpieth greets @DellTechChamp winner @JustinThomas34. #pgatour pic.twitter.com/BEKEFkxhRk

— PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) September 4, 2017

U.S. Presidents Cup bubble boys: Congrats to Kevin Chappell moving into 10th and final automatic spot — by less than a single point — and a pre-emptive congrats to Charley Hoffman, who at No. 11, will likely join Chappell on a first Presidents Cup squad. Everyone else below No. 10 in the standings? You’re out of luck following Phil Mickelson’s T-6 that virtually guarantees he’ll be the final captain’s pick by Steve Stricker. And for No. 12 Brian Harman and No. 13 Jason Dufner, there’s no one to blame but themselves after both failed to crack the top 60 at TPC Boston.

Raymond Floyd’s house: As in, the World Golf Hall of Famer has put his Hamptons house up for sale. For $25 MILLION:

But before you scoff at the price tag, keep in mind it’s 14,000 square feet of living space (there’s a main and guest house) and it’s just a seven-minute drive from . . . Shinnecock Hills! If we all pool our money together, maybe we can buy it. The guest house, that is.

ON TAP

The PGA Tour takes a rare week off before the final two legs of the FedEx Cup Playoffs, but there’s still some exciting golf to watch. The LPGA is playing in Indianapolis for the inaugural Indy Women in Tech Championship, and you can get a glimpse of some future PGA Tour stars at the Walker Cup, an event Justin Thomas played in just four years ago:

Michael Cohen

Random tournament fact: The U.S. leads the all-time series against Great Britain & Ireland, 35 to 9, but each side has won the biennial event seven times since the 1989. And Justin Thomas or his buddy Jordan Spieth (Did you know they are buddies?) won’t be playing this year.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

Jonathan Ferrey

Stacy Lewis’ victory leap into her caddie’s arms showed how much she wanted to win — for herself and Houston.

VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK (NOT INVOLVING TIGER WOODS)

Check out an NBC cameraman’s nifty footwork to avoid being hit by a Marc Leishman shank on the final hole of the Dell Technologies Championship:

This camera guy deserves a big raise. pic.twitter.com/dxCiosO7K7

— Skratch (@Skratch) September 4, 2017

And Leishman was thankful for this unexpected display of agility:

I definitely owe him a beer, saved me a shot there for sure!

— Marc Leishman (@marcleish) September 5, 2017

THIS WEEK IN CELEBRITY GOLFERS

Supposedly, this is the wedge of Maury Povich, who happens to be a scratch golfer:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BYeeYgSDAy7/

Classic.

THIS WEEK IN BUBBA BEING BUBBA

Bubba Watson had a day that Boston sports fans can only dream of, first, hitting a “home run” over the Fenway Park’s Green Monster:

Home run from top of green monster @fenwaypark!!! @SCTopTen #SCtop10 #Fenway pic.twitter.com/BKJylkYzxY

— bubba watson (@bubbawatson) August 31, 2017

And then hanging with Bill Belichick and Tom Brady on the sidelines of a New England Patriots pre-season game:

I love this guy!! #12 pic.twitter.com/n65imsbL0I

— bubba watson (@bubbawatson) August 31, 2017

Speaking of Brady, Jordan Spieth said he tried the legendary quarterback’s diet recently. “Tried” being the operative word. Not surprisingly, a diet of no sugar/gluten/caffeine/dairy/flour/basically anything didn’t stick with the young Texan.

THIS WEEK IN PHIL BEING PHIL

Check out this adorable/funny interaction between Phil Mickelson and a young fan at TPC Boston:

Phil asked this youngster a question.

And got an honest answer. ?@DellTechChamp pic.twitter.com/u4RamP2CLW

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) September 5, 2017

Good stuff, Phil. Although, you really miss chatting with Bones, don’t you?

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“Just what we’re going to be able to do, we’re going to be able to help me rebuild houses and get their homes back. That’s more important than anything.” — Stacy Lewis #Perspective

THIS WEEK IN DUSTIN JOHNSON-PAULINA GRETZKY PETER UIHLEIN-CHELSEA GATES PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF AFFECTION

https://www.instagram.com/p/BYmTbtVB6Gn/

With Uihlein earning his PGA Tour card for the first time, that means golf fans have a new PGA Tour WAG to get to know. Everyone say hi to Chelsea, a TV sports reporter and yoga instructor:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BHdtYoXDxhP/

https://www.instagram.com/p/BSXMbBJhdON/

https://www.instagram.com/p/BYHVjQkBB09/

THIS AND THAT

Jake Olson, the blind long snapper who warmed hearts with a successful PAT during USC’s season opener, is also a very good golfer. That is one talented — and inspiring — college kid. … NBA superstar Kevin Durant admitted to playing the video game Rory McIlroy PGA Tour “seven or eight hours a day sometimes.” We’re guessing Golden State head coach and avid golfer Steve Kerr would rather KD use that time to play 36 real holes a day. … A South Korean woman allegedly cut off her husband’s penis in part because he spent too much time and money on his golf habit. I did not tell my wife about this story. … And finally, congrats to co-worker Mike Johnson’s son Shawn on making his first hole-in-one:

Honestly, was too excited to post this last night. My boy, Shawn, jarred the tee shot on Rock Ridge CC's par-3 ninth for an ace! #proudpapa pic.twitter.com/dEygnmooJk

— Mike Johnson (@EMichaelGW) September 2, 2017

Of course, this now means that not only do all of my colleagues have an ace before me, but all of their kids will beat me to it, too.

RANDOM QUESTIONS TO PONDER

Why don’t more golf courses have GolfBoards?

How many hours of Tiger Woods PGA Tour did I play in college?

Did you remember to re-order the NFL RedZone channel before Sunday?

The post Stacy Lewis’ charitable win, Justin Thomas’ impressive playoff push, and introducing the newest PGA Tour WAG appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.