Golf

Subterms

    More stories

    • 125 Shares99 Views

      in Golf

      With Purses Filled, L.P.G.A. Chief Will Step Down This Year

      by

      AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyWith Purses Filled, L.P.G.A. Chief Will Step Down This YearMichael Whan’s marketing savvy and commitment to players helped grow women’s golf and, more important, get better paydays for its athletes.L.P.G.A. Commissioner Michael Whan played a shot during a charity event ahead of a tournament in 2018.Credit…Michael Reaves/Getty ImagesJan. 14, 2021, 10:23 a.m. ETWhen Amy Olson went to play golf at North Dakota State in 2009, she didn’t know if the L.P.G.A. Tour would be there for her when she graduated. Many had feared that the women’s tour was on the verge of folding, after it lost 10 events from 2008 to 2010 while the total annual prize purse went from $60.3 million to $41.4 million.But the tour made a prescient hire in 2010, plucking Michael Whan from the world of corporate marketing to take over as commissioner. In the ensuing decade, Whan resurrected the top women’s golf tour in the world. The 2021 season is set for 34 events — 12 of them outside the United States — for a total purse of $76.5 million.Olson joined the tour full time in 2014 and has 12 career top-10 finishes, which include a tie for second at the United States Open last month, and over $2 million in earnings.“That’s the story of hundreds of girls around the world who wanted to play golf at the highest level,” said Olson, 28, who is a player representative on the tour’s board of directors. “Mike gave us that opportunity.”Whan has now decided it is time to move on, after the longest and arguably the most successful run as L.P.G.A. commissioner. Last week he reached out to players and sponsors with whom he has established close friendships to let them know that he was stepping down, before the news release went out on Jan. 6. Whan, who did not give a specific reason for his departure, plans stay on the job awhile, to help find his successor. His next job is unclear.“I like to live my life pretty nervous, and I haven’t been really nervous in a while,” Whan said at the news conference to announce his decision. “I want to get back to that.”The United States Golf Association, the governing body of the sport that runs the men’s and women’s U.S. Opens, announced in September that its chief executive, Mike Davis, would step down at the end of 2021. When asked if he would pursue that position, Whan demurred.“I think for any job — that one certainly included — requires a cleanse of my brain,” Whan said.Before joining the L.P.G.A., Whan, 55, worked on both sides of sponsorship sales, in the golf divisions at Wilson Sporting Goods and TaylorMade. He knew companies could find value in connecting with women, and he believed that the L.P.G.A. Tour belonged at the forefront of their marketing plans.“He has rebranded the L.P.G.A.,” Olson said. “It’s not just about us pursuing our dream. It’s now about women and women’s empowerment, and giving girls opportunities. That resonates so strongly with corporations.”For example, Whan worked with KPMG and the P.G.A. of America to rebrand and revitalize one of the women’s five major championships, arranging the inaugural KPMG Women’s P.G.A. Championship at Westchester Country Club in 2015. It was the first L.P.G.A. event to include a women’s leadership summit, and more than a dozen such events are now associated with tournaments throughout the calendar.“It completely changed the way that Mike sold to sponsors,” said Shawn Quill, the managing director at KPMG in charge of sports sponsorships. “He embraced what we were doing, and it led to a complete change in what the value proposition was for the L.P.G.A. Tour.”Players say Whan’s impact wasn’t limited to the tour’s relationship with sponsors. The players, both current and retired, felt a connection to their fast-speaking, self-deprecating commissioner. He created many catchy nicknames — Olson was “headband” because of her penchant for wearing the accessory as a rookie — and he constantly wrote thank-you notes.Whan kept players top of mind as he deftly led the Tour through the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, publicly lobbying sponsors to pay their athletes even when they were not competing in the contractually required number of tournaments for the year. There was no reduction in purses for the 18 events that were played, and every tournament sponsor is set to return for 2021. When tournaments resumed, safety protocols yielded only 42 positive coronavirus tests out of the approximately 7,200 that were given throughout the year.Communication and transparency were the two words players repeatedly used to describe Whan’s tenure, which has had a personal touch they say will be sorely missed.The tour veteran Christina Kim remembered that when Whan was first hired, she was playing in an event in South Korea. At 3 a.m., her phone started ringing like crazy. She finally sent a text that said: “Who are you? Please stop calling me.” Whan responded that he was the new commissioner and wanted to say hello, so Kim got out of bed and called back, starting a warm relationship.“He provided us with the knowledge that we needed to know where the Tour was and where the Tour was headed,” Kim said. “He gave us the ability to not only believe in his desires and wishes and ability for the L.P.G.A., but he made us believe that we mattered.”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

    • 125 Shares189 Views

      in Golf

      Masters Tournament Will Allow Limited Number of Fans to Attend

      by

      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Coronavirus OutbreakliveLatest UpdatesMaps and CasesA Future With CoronavirusVaccine InformationF.A.Q.TimelineAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyMasters Tournament Will Allow Limited Number of Fans to AttendAfter hosting the 2020 event without spectators in November, six months delayed from its usual spring date, Augusta National Golf Club announced it would restore some tradition.Dustin Johnson on the 15th hole of the Masters golf tournament in Augusta, Ga., in November. Attendance was limited to club members, staff and other personnel, including a reduced number of news media members.Credit…Doug Mills/The New York TimesJan. 12, 2021, 1:01 p.m. ETThis year’s Masters tournament in April will be attended by a limited number of spectators, the Augusta National Golf Club announced Tuesday. The club, which prohibited fans from the event two months ago, did not specify how many fans would be allowed in 2021, adding that spectators would be permitted if, “it can be done safely.”The 2020 Masters was postponed from its usual April date to November because of the coronavirus pandemic and was contested with protocols that included virus testing before the event for all players, caddies, club members, staff and other personnel, including a reduced number of media members.Fred Ridley, the club chairman, said in a statement issued Tuesday that similar health standards would be instituted for this year’s tournament, which is scheduled to be contested from April 8 to 11. The Augusta, Ga., club’s announcement comes as the state reported 16 new coronavirus deaths and 7,957 new cases on Jan. 11. Over the past week, there has been an average of 9,604 cases a day, an increase of 55 percent from the average two weeks earlier.“Following the successful conduct of the Masters Tournament last November with only essential personnel, we are confident in our ability to responsibly invite a limited number of patrons to Augusta National in April,” Ridley said. “As with the November Masters, we will implement practices and policies that will protect the health and safety of everyone in attendance.”In November, Ridley said the club was exploring the ability to significantly increase its testing measures to facilitate a decision on whether to welcome fans to its next tournament.Ridley said Tuesday that the Augusta National Women’s Amateur competition and the Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals — two events canceled last year — would be held on the weekend before the Masters tournament begins. The club also intends to have a small number of spectators at each of those competitions.“Nothing is, or will be, more important than the well-being of all involved,” Ridley added. “While we are disappointed that we will be unable to accommodate a full complement of patrons this year, we will continue our efforts to ensure that all who purchased tickets from Augusta National will have access in 2022, provided conditions improve.”The Augusta National statement said that the club was in the process of communicating with all ticket holders and that refunds would be issued to those patrons not selected to attend.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

    • 88 Shares179 Views

      in Golf

      Trump Golf Club Loses 2022 P.G.A. Championship

      by

      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Presidential TransitionliveLatest UpdatesHouse Moves to Remove TrumpHow Impeachment Might WorkBiden Focuses on CrisesCabinet PicksAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyTrump Golf Club Loses 2022 P.G.A. ChampionshipThe golf major had been scheduled to be played at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J., in May 2022.“It has become clear that conducting the P.G.A. Championship at Trump Bedminster would be detrimental to the P.G.A. of America brand, and would put at risk the P.G.A.’s ability to deliver our many programs, and sustain the longevity of our mission,” Jim Richerson, the P.G.A. of America president, said in a video statement.Credit…Seth Wenig/Associated PressKevin Draper and Published More

    • 100 Shares119 Views

      in Golf

      Tiger Woods Mixes Golf and Family Once Again

      by

      AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyTiger Woods Mixes Golf and Family Once AgainNormally Woods tries to keep his private life separate from his career, but playing with his son Charlie in the PNC Championship was an emotional father-son bonding moment.“I’m just making sure Charlie has the time of his life,” Tiger Woods said Saturday, referring to his 11-year-old son. Credit…Mike Ehrmann/Getty ImagesDec. 20, 2020Updated 5:38 p.m. ETORLANDO, Fla. — As he does with the accessories in his golf bag, Tiger Woods neatly arranges his life in tidy compartments. His life as a high-profile golfer goes in one slot, his family goes in another and, like his favored chunky peanut butter and banana sandwiches and the rest of his luggage, he’d prefer to keep it all separated.When Woods made an exception this week, teaming up with his 11-year-old son, Charlie, at the PNC Championship, the results were perhaps predictably distinct.Charlie had a blast and Woods was a nervous wreck.The dynamic duo, as they were described by breathless television announcers, finished seventh at 20-under, five strokes behind the winning team of Justin Thomas and his father, Mike, who were grouped with the Woodses in the first round.But as far as Tiger Woods was concerned, this was one event where success was all about the details, not the digits.“I’m just making sure Charlie has the time of his life,” he said on Saturday.Woods’s father, Earl, who died in 2006, possessed a pride in his child’s precociousness with a golf club that led to Woods, 44, making his first television appearances and submitting to his first interviews before he started kindergarten.Because of Woods’s accomplishments, which include 15 major titles, Charlie has also grown up in the spotlight, widely photographed and gawked at since birth. Over the past year, as his interests have shifted from soccer to golf, his swing has been scrutinized on the internet as if it contained the meaning of life.“This is a different world that we live in now,” Woods conceded. “Everyone has a phone, everyone has an opportunity to video, he’s been out there.”But it’s one thing to exist in a fishbowl and quite another to be dropped into the shark tank of a 36-hole televised competition featuring 20 teams in which major winners or Players champions are paired with family members in a scramble format.With Tiger and his cub in the mix, the low-key event became a major production, eclipsing the L.P.G.A.’s tour championship, held roughly 200 miles — and a distant universe of hype — away and won by the women’s world No. 1, Jin Young Ko. More than 200 people and multiple television cameras were gathered around the first tee to watch Charlie’s opening shot Saturday.Charlie Woods, playing from forward tees set up for him and octogenarians Gary Player and Lee Trevino, split the fairway with most of his drives and often placed his approaches inside his father’s efforts.Credit…Phelan M. Ebenhack/Associated Press“A lot of people are trying to use him to build up, or write or talk about things,” Woods said. “Just making sure he’s able to have fun playing the game of golf.”Woods insisted that Charlie be excused from media interviews throughout the week. When he met with reporters, Tiger Woods’s usual facility with words escaped him. Many of his thoughts trailed off.“I’m trying to make sure Charlie has the right environment, that he’s sheltered and away from this,” Woods said Saturday while addressing a small group of reporters. “I do all of this so he can practice and play and enjoy the golf side of it.”On one hole during the first round, Woods spoke with Justin Thomas about how excruciating it was to want so badly for Charlie to play well but to be helpless to do anything but watch.Tiger Woods need not have fretted. Charlie, playing from forward tees set up for him and the octogenarians Gary Player, 85, and Lee Trevino, 81, split the fairway with most of his drives and often placed his approaches inside his father’s efforts.The opening round featured Charlie’s first-ever eagle on a par-5, which he took in stride until his excited dad squeezed a bashful smile out of him with a bear hug.“He hit some of the most incredible golf shots,” Woods said.In introducing the golf world to his son, Woods revealed the man behind the golfing machine. Woods, an 82-time PGA Tour winner who says he competes to win, repeatedly used the word “perfect” on Saturday to describe a round that ended with the Woodses trailing by four strokes.Woods can bore holes in his competitors’ games with a glare, but a few times over the weekend his eyes pooled with emotion as he talked about the father-and-son bonding opportunity the tournament provided.From his mannerisms to his mechanics, Charlie came across as a miniature version of his father. He seemed comfortable in the company of adults and well-schooled in golf’s etiquette, walking to every tee box with the club he was going to use in one hand and his teed ball in the other. He stayed out of the way when it wasn’t his turn and wasted no time hitting once over the ball.Tiger Woods, who said he constantly emphasizes having fun on the course and being “respectful,” beamed at the mention of Charlie’s good manners and said he had to share any credit with his ex-wife, Elin Nordegren, who showed up Sunday with their daughter Sam to watch Charlie play.Neither Thomas nor Woods expressed surprise at the quality shots that Charlie consistently produced. They’d seen them all when they practiced and played alongside him during the months when the tour was shut down because of the coronavirus pandemic.“I knew he was going to wow a lot of people,” Thomas said, adding, “The kid’s a gamer, he’s a grinder, he’s competitive.”Every afternoon when he was finished playing 18 holes, Charlie made a beeline for the range to hit more balls. During one post-round session, the children of another major winner were on the range not far from him. As they twirled and tossed their clubs like they were batons and cried out to get their parents’ attention, Charlie was a few yards away, quietly and methodically working his way through a bag of balls.The retired L.P.G.A. star Annika Sorenstam, a 10-time major winner, noticed that her 9-year-old son seemed enamored of Charlie and more enthusiastic about the game after watching him play.“When you see somebody your age and your size do what Charlie’s doing, it’s a little more inspiring to see what you can do,” Sorenstam said.Trevino crossed paths with Woods before the first round. “Now you know how your father felt,” he said he told him.Woods’s voice grew thick. “It’s unbelievable,” he replied.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

    • 100 Shares149 Views

      in Golf

      Watching Tiger Woods Play an Often-Hidden Role: Dad

      by

      AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyTiger Woods, Playing Partner and ParentWatching Woods and his son, Charlie, on the golf course offers a rare window into a side of Woods fans never see: dad.Tiger Woods, right, and his son, Charlie, will play in a televised father-son event this weekend.Credit…Phelan M. Ebenhack/Associated PressDec. 18, 2020ORLANDO, Fla. — The kid, like others of his generation, had never seen Tiger Woods win a major. He had no clue how cool golf could be.And then his father unexpectedly won the 2019 Masters. That’s when the game got a hold on Woods’s son, Charlie, 11, almost as soon as Woods swept him up in his arms behind Augusta National Golf Club’s 18th green.“It was casual before then,” Woods’s caddie, Joe LaCava said, referring to Charlie’s interest in golf. “Now it’s intense — in a good way.”Charlie Woods’s deeper embrace of golf has afforded the public a rare view this weekend of another side of his famous father, one that Tiger Woods usually chooses to keep out of sight of the prying public: the devoted dad.Woods, 44, and his son will make their debut Saturday in the PNC Championship, a 36-hole best-ball format featuring 20 teams of prominent past champions and their family members. On a chilly Thursday at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club at Grande Lakes, where the tournament is taking place, the Woodses warmed up with an 18-hole pro-am that was memorable for Charlie’s approach-shot darts and Woods’s paternal pride.“It’s so much fun for me to see him enjoying the game,” Woods said. “That’s the whole idea. Enjoy hitting shots and creating those shots.”Golf has come full circle for Woods, who forged a deep connection with his father, Earl, through the game. As Earl did with Tiger, Woods exposed Charlie to the game early. At 6, Charlie had a swing that Woods said he envied.Charlie moves his neck to work out the cricks the way his father does. He shakes his water bottle, minus the added electrolyte powders, just like his father. He stuffs his hands in his pockets when he is cold like his father. And when he is playing with his father at home, he reacts to good shots just like he does, by twirling his club.But Charlie is not a sawed-down version of Woods. Unlike his father, who competed in a putting contest with Bob Hope on “The Mike Douglas Show” when he was a toddler and had been profiled in Golf Digest and Ebony magazine by the time he was 6, Charlie has had a much more low-key childhood.He dabbled in golf but initially seemed more interested, as is his older sister, Sam, in soccer. That was fine by Woods, who said Thursday, “Whatever he decides to do, as long as he has a passion for it, I’m happy.”Until this week, his children have made infrequent appearances in the glare of his spotlight. Sam, 13, hadn’t planned on attending the final round of the 2019 Masters, showing up only after her club soccer team failed to advance to a tournament final scheduled for the same day, and Woods said that Charlie came only because his sister was there.After he won, Woods said, they spent the short flight home fighting over who got to wear the green jacket. He was gratified by their enthusiasm.Woods has spoken often of how he thought his children were reluctant to commit to golf because they associated the sport with the pain it has caused him, not just his physical struggles but perhaps also his arrest with painkillers in his system in 2017 after a risky back surgery. The operation had been undertaken, Woods said at the time, to improve his quality of life with his children, not prolong his career, which he thought was over.Woods’s voice and expressions always soften when he speaks of his children. They are the one topic that can reliably engender a smile that reaches his eyes.“So excited that we’re able to have these moments,” he said Thursday.“My dad never coached me,” Tiger Woods said. “It was all about feels and being there, being present, being with me. He did that and I’m doing it the same way with Charlie.”Credit…Phelan M. Ebenhack/Associated PressTo watch Woods and his son on the golf course is to be granted a porthole into Woods’s parenting. Tournament officials have added forward tee boxes to accommodate Charlie, the youngest competitor in the tournament’s history. On the ninth hole, Woods stood behind Charlie, saying nothing until after he had hit an errant drive and looked imploringly at his father, who pointed out that the hitting strip was on a slight slope so he had to adjust his setup to account for that.“My dad never coached me,” Woods said. “It was all about feels and being there, being present, being with me. He did that and I’m doing it the same way with Charlie.”On the same hole, Woods’s son asked him why he had used his 9-iron for a 113-yard approach. Woods explained that it was cold and windy so he decided to go with that club and take a little off his swing.“He picks up on everything,” LaCava said. “He doesn’t just say, ‘Good shot, dad.’”To watch Woods and his son on the golf course is to be granted a porthole into Woods’s parenting.Credit…Phelan M. Ebenhack/Associated PressWoods and his son played each nine with a different set of amateurs. At the ninth and 18th holes, Charlie took off his billed cap to shake hands with his playing partners. He was polite and attentive and seemed unfazed by all the adults, including a few with their small children in tow, who cheered his every shot.“It’s so cool for me to see him enjoy the sport and feeling the shots and hitting it as solid as he is hitting it,” Woods said.As the lead producer of NBC’s golf coverage, Tommy Roy has grown accustomed to seeing Woods on the 120 screens he monitors during a telecast. But playing the first nine Thursday in the same group as Woods, Roy saw him from a new angle.“It’s really cool, I have to say, to see him as a dad,” Roy said.Whether Woods was standing behind his son studying his form and the flight of his ball or leaning down to answer a question, the result was the same. Woods described them as “bonding moments.”Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas, younger stars who have gotten to know Woods well over the past few years, each described him as a great father. But until this week, people drawn to Woods, the performer, had no idea really what he looked like as a parent.On every hole, after the group putted out, Woods stuck a tee in the ground and engaged Charlie in contests to see whose putt or chip came closest to it. On the 18th hole, as Woods and his son walked side by side down the fairway, pulling roughly two dozen spectators along, one man in the crowd turned to another and said, “I’m not even a big fan, but I’m enjoying this. It’s pretty cool.”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

    • 113 Shares149 Views

      in Golf

      US Women's Open: A Lim Kim Wins American Debut

      by

      AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyA Lim Kim Waited Out the Field to Win the U.S. Women’s OpenThe South Korean golfer scanned anxious texts from home while waiting for challengers to finish the rain-delayed final round of the major championship.A Lim Kim, of South Korea, won the U.S. Women’s Open, her debut tournament stateside. She said afterward that she will contemplate joining the L.P.G.A. Tour.Credit…Eric Gay/Associated PressDec. 14, 2020Updated 7:16 p.m. ETHOUSTON — A Lim Kim ran into trouble after she birdied the final three holes for a three-under 67 that catapulted her to victory on Monday in the 75th United States Women’s Open.As Kim sat in front of a large-screen TV in the Champions Club players’ dining area watching the competitors with a chance to catch her finish, she fumbled her phone, which was vibrating with messages from family members and friends back home in South Korea who had stayed up all night to watch her round.The phone fell to the bottom of her golf bag and Kim removed all her clubs to retrieve it while, one after the other, her challengers fell by the wayside.Hinako Shibuno of Japan, the 54-hole leader, couldn’t catch Kim. Shibuno had held a one-stroke lead after Sunday’s final round was postponed by inclement weather, but bogeyed the penultimate hole Monday and finished fourth at one-under with a closing 74.Kim’s compatriots, Inbee Park and Jin Young Ko, the women’s world No. 1, both carded the second-lowest score of the day, a 68. Ko’s round included birdies on two of the last three holes, to come up one stroke short of Kim at two-under 282.The American Amy Olson, who took the solo lead on the back nine in her bid to gain both her first L.P.G.A. victory and major win, tied for second with Ko. Her title hopes were dashed with a bogey on the par-3 16th, the same hole she had aced in the first round.Olson, 28, playing after the sudden death Saturday night of her father-in-law from a heart attack, closed with a birdie for a one-over 72. Olson sang bars from Josh Groban’s song “You Raise Me Up” to mask her grief. Kim, 25, meantime, provided a perhaps fitting portrait of a champion of a tournament that was delayed six months because of the coronavirus pandemic. She won wearing a face covering on and off the golf course while establishing herself as the class of a field in which only four players bettered par.“I’m OK to get positive tests for Covid-19,” Kim said through an interpreter, “but I don’t want to affect other people — players, a caddie that’s playing within the group — so that’s the reason I wear the mask throughout the round.”Kim celebrated a birdie on the 18th green Monday. She wore a face covering on and off the golf course throughout the U.S. Women’s Open.Credit…Jamie Squire/Getty ImagesBecause it took place so late in the year, the U.S. Women’s Open had the rare chance to showcase its players in America without sharing the stage with a 72-hole PGA Tour event or other U.S.-based events in a schedule that is usually packed during its normal late spring date.The United States Golf Association embraced the hashtag #WomenWorthWatching and a few players from the PGA Tour followed suit, much to the bemusement of the current generation of Asian L.P.G.A. stars who have never lacked for attention at home. That Monday’s final round was televised live in South Korea in the middle of the night says a lot about the popularity of women’s golf in a country where the best female golfers are more popular than the men who play on the PGA Tour.“Yeah, in Korea we get definitely a lot of attention and maybe we don’t need that phrase,” said Park, 32, a former world No. 1 whose final-round 68 vaulted her into a three-way tie for sixth at two-over 286.Park, who has 20 L.P.G.A. titles, including seven majors, said she gets recognized walking the streets in South Korea or paying the operator at a tollbooth while driving.In Thailand, Moriya Jutanugarn, 26, and her younger sister, Ariya, also command attention, since Ariya was the subject last year of a biopic that also included Moriya. On Monday, Moriya closed with a 74 to finish tied for sixth, one stroke ahead of Ariya, a former world No. 1.In Japan, Shibuno saw her life change rapidly after she won last year’s Women’s British Open in her first professional tournament outside her homeland. “I turned from a normal person to a celebrity overnight,” Shibuno said through an interpreter.She added, “Once I became a celebrity, and celebrity status, it makes it difficult to be myself.”This was Kim’s U.S. debut and with the win she becomes the latest in a long line of Korean players to take women’s golf by storm. Since turning professional as a teenager in 2013, Kim has won twice on her home tour and become known for her length. Kim, who is not a member of the L.P.G.A., earned $1 million for the victory. She also is eligible for a two-year tour membership, but said she is not sure if she will join in 2021. The decision would likely require several major disruptions to her life.“I just need some more time to think about it,” Kim said.Golf looked like the easy part for Kim, who took several deep breaths during her news conference to calm herself. “Once I go back home,” she said, “I’ll think about it and see.”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

    • 88 Shares129 Views

      in Golf

      At the U.S. Open, a Love Story

      by

      AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyAt the U.S. Open, a Love StoryThey met playing against each other in rec league hockey. Now Alena Sharp and her caddie, Sarah Bowman, are honeymooning on the golf course.Sarah Bowman, left, and Alena Sharp on their wedding day.Credit…Nancy AlbrightDec. 11, 2020, 9:30 a.m. ETHOUSTON — The honeymoon began, as so many do for golf-obsessed newlyweds, with 18 holes.The skies were blue, the sun was warm and the Spanish moss hung from the oak trees like nature’s tinsel, draping the scene in tranquillity. What better way to officially launch a shared lifetime of come-what-mays than as competitors at the 75th United States Women’s Open?For Alena Sharp, 39, a soft-spoken Canadian, and her U.S.-born caddie and wife, Sarah Bowman, life in the cumulus cloud that is 2020 has come with a powerful ray of light. Sharp’s first-round four-over 75 at Champions Club’s Cypress Creek course was the couple’s first competitive appearance since they were married in the backyard of their Arizona home on Nov. 23.The ceremony was officiated by their therapist. As part of their vows, exchanged in front of nine witnesses and more than 100 virtual guests from around the world, Sharp commended Bowman’s positivity and her personality, which she said “shines bright all the time.” And Bowman complimented Sharp’s grit, determination and resiliency.For a union sealed in the middle of a pandemic, there are worse qualities to bring to the table than positivity and resiliency.Bowman said: “People always talk about meeting someone that makes you want to be better in every way, and I always thought that was so stupid, but then I met Alena. And I can’t believe I’m saying it, but it’s real. She honestly makes me feel that way.”From Sharp came a barely audible, “Thank you.”Sharp and Bowman met in the face-off circle at a Chandler, Ariz., ice rink in 2013. They were opposing centers in a women’s recreational hockey league game.“She’d always win them,” said Sharp, who exacted her revenge with some well-executed forechecks.“She laid me out a few times,” Bowman said.Sharp played hockey as a child and turned to it to as an adult to escape her overactive golf mind and its constant churn of negative thoughts. Bowman, 44, a one-time competitive skier from Pittsburgh, was looking for an escape from her work at a neuro-oncology lab where she was laying the foundation — or so she thought — for a doctorate in psychology.Aware that Sharp was a professional athlete, Bowman initially misread her shyness as arrogance. “I thought she was full of herself,” said Bowman, who realized how badly she had misread Sharp when they met for a mountain bike ride.“We spent the entire time laughing,” Bowman said.Their friendship deepened in 2014 after Sharp found herself in between caddies. On a whim, she asked Bowman if she’d fill in at a local event on the Symetra tour, the L.P.G.A.’s minor-league circuit. Bowman recovered from an inauspicious start, leaving a crumb-like trail of clubs that spilled out of the bag as she proceeded down the first fairway, to help Sharp to a two-stroke victory.They already were dating, but within months they became partners professionally, too, but only after they made a pact. “We said that if the working arrangement ever affects our relationship, I’ll find another caddie,” Sharp said.They have had no regrets. They have traveled the world together and been Olympians together. They represented Canada at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro and are looking forward to competing in the delayed Tokyo Games next summer.Sharp and Bowman at the 2016 Olympics.Credit…Ross Kinnaird/Getty ImagesBowman’s greenness as a caddie when she started out forced Sharp to take ownership of her game and trust her instincts. Bowman was a quick study, progressing lickety-split from not being able to watch when Sharp putted because she was so invested in the outcome to reading the greens for her.The 99th-ranked Sharp, who joined the L.P.G.A. in 2005, has 14 career top-10 finishes. She is still searching for her breakthrough victory, though not for any lack of physical skills. Her talent has never been called into question, except by Sharp, who is quick to doubt herself.That’s where Bowman is at her best. No one is better at reading Sharp’s mind and recasting the negative thoughts.“We can say things to each other that I would never say to another caddie,” Sharp said. “I can tell her, ‘I just don’t trust myself right now.’ Or ‘I’m not confident.’ I feel like I can be totally vulnerable out there.”Sometimes when things are going sideways on the course, Sharp will become so emotional her eyes will fill with tears. When that happens, Bowman will remind her that golf is what Sharp does, not who she is, and that no matter her score, she is abundantly loved.“It’s good to be able to get those emotions out when I’m feeling not great and I’m not being nice to myself,” Sharp said.After seven years of dating, the couple decided to get married and planned their wedding in three short weeks, their sense of urgency spurred by the seating on the Supreme Court in late October of Justice Amy Coney Barrett, a conservative who alarmed L.G.B.T.Q. advocates at her confirmation hearing when she declined to say whether the court’s landmark ruling in 2015 allowing same-sex marriage was correctly decided.“Her nomination was really the driving force,” Sharp said.Barrett’s use of the term “sexual preference” during her confirmation hearings particularly pricked the ears of Bowman, who has never considered her sexual orientation a matter of choice. As a young adult she said she contemplated killing herself, so great was her struggle to accept her identity.In one of the wedding photographs the couple posted on social media, they are walking up the aisle, toward the camera. Each is wearing a gown pulled from the racks of a bridal-store chain. They are holding hands, crossing under an honor guard arch composed of golf club irons, though the salute is easy to miss at first, so blinding are their smiles.Sharp and Bowman almost cry when they look at the joy radiating from their faces in that photograph.“I didn’t want to be gay,” Bowman said. “I came from a very conservative place. I thought I’ll never be able to be happy. I’ll never be able to just live and be authentic.”Her voice cracking, she continued. “You just hope that enough kids who are going through what I did see this and see that you can move on. You hope they hang in there long enough to get past that.”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More