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    Watching Tiger Woods Play an Often-Hidden Role: Dad

    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

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

    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

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    At the U.S. Open, a Love Story

    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

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    U.S. Women’s Open: December Date for Brings New Challenges

    #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Coronavirus OutbreakliveLatest UpdatesMaps and CasesBritain’s Vaccine RolloutVaccine TrackerFAQ: Vaccines and MoreAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyDecember Date for U.S. Women’s Open Brings New ChallengesGolf’s final major tournament is set to play in Houston with coronavirus-related challenges, an unprecedented two-course format, and one of women’s golf’s largest purses.Former world No. 1 golfer Ariya Jutanugarn, left, and her sister Moriya both tested positive for the coronavirus in November. “It’s tough because I know my body isn’t 100 percent yet,” Ariya said Wednesday, ahead of opening round of the U.S. Women’s Open.Credit…Carlos Osorio/Associated PressDec. 10, 2020Updated 8:16 a.m. ETHOUSTON — The PGA Tour does not have a 72-hole stroke play event this week, and several weekend college football games, including the marquee matchup between Michigan and Ohio State, have been canceled or postponed because of the coronavirus, leaving the best female golfers in the world well positioned to fill the TV viewing void.This weekend, the L.P.G.A. contests the United States Women’s Open, its most lucrative major tournament, pushed back six months from its original date by the pandemic, on a stage cleared of some of the usual obstacles that can overshadow women’s golf in America. The spotlight it offers is in many ways tailored for Ariya Jutanugarn.Jutanugarn, 25, a former women’s world No. 1 from Thailand, generates tremendous clubhead speed and can produce birdies in bunches when she gets on a roll. But she tested positive for coronavirus before an L.P.G.A. event in Florida last month. In her final practice round this week, Jutanugarn did not look like the same player who was crowned Open champion in 2018 or even the same one who tied for sixth during an L.P.G.A. stop in Georgia in late October.Playing the back nine of the Cypress Creek course in a group that included her older sister, Moriya, 26, Jutanugarn consistently fell a few paces behind the others because of what she described as a lingering effect of the virus.“Every time when I play I walk really slow because my heart rate is up so high. But I just have to deal with it.”A month after her diagnosis, she continues to grapple with fatigue and headaches. The barbecue for which Texas is famous, a staple in players’ dining, is largely lost on her because she hasn’t regained her sense of smell or taste.“It’s tough because I know my body isn’t 100 percent yet,” Jutanugarn said. “I just have to deal with it and do my best, and make sure I take good care of my body.”They’re playing in a Christmas-themed bubble.The poinsettia centerpieces on the Nos. 1 and 10 tee snack tables don’t fool the players. They are acutely aware that Christmas isn’t quite here yet.“Coming into these two weeks, this past week or two that I was home, I was like, ‘OK, I’m going to be in a bubble,” said Lexi Thompson, the No. 11-ranked player. “I’m not taking the chance of testing positive coming into the two most important weeks of the year.”Tim Tucker, center, is moonlighting this week on the bag for Lexi Thompson, right. He usually caddies for the P.G.A. golfer Bryson DeChambeau.Credit…Jamie Squire/Getty ImagesStill, it’s 2020. So despite the best made bubbles, stuff happens. On Wednesday, the United States Golf Association announced that Andrea Lee, who had tested negative for the coronavirus before the Volunteers of America Classic outside Dallas and spent last week ensconced in the L.P.G.A. bubble, tested positive for the virus upon arriving in Houston and had withdrawn from the Open.Jutanugarn breathed a sigh of relief Monday after passing her pre-event coronavirus test. Despite being in a featured group alongside two other former champions, Inbee Park and So Yeon Ryu, Jutanugarn said her expectations were low.In her return to competition after quarantining, she finished tied for 62nd. Moriya, who had tested positive at the same time as her sister, also made her competitive return at the Volunteers of America Classic and tied for 16th.“Last week when I walked 18 holes I passed out because I was so tired,” Ariya Jutanugarn said.All is not necessarily lost. Last month, Dustin Johnson won the rescheduled Masters a month after testing positive for the coronavirus in a pretournament test. Like Jutanugarn, he isolated for at least 10 days and returned for the final tuneup event.On Masters Sunday, Jutanugarn said, she turned on the TV, intending to watch Johnson’s final round. But she was feeling feverish and her head was throbbing. “I fell asleep for four hours, I woke up and he had finished,” she said.It’ll take two courses to get the full field in before dark.The challenge for Jutanugarn, and the rest of the Open’s competitors, is compounded because this year, for the first time, the tournament is being played on two courses to accommodate a full 156-woman field in fading winter daylight.Cypress Creek, where three of the four rounds will be contested, is long, with massive greens. The second course, Jackrabbit, where each contender will play one of the first two days, is a tighter layout, with contouring around the smaller green complexes. To play both well requires the versatility of a Formula One driver who could also be competitive in NASCAR.Stacy Lewis, a two-time major winner who is a member of Champions Club, knows both courses well. “I think in everybody’s head you say, ‘We’re going to play Cypress three times, my focus is going to go that way more than the other one,’” she said. “And then you have a bad day on Jackrabbit and you’re not even playing the next two. I know people have asked me and I’ve told them, ‘Pay attention to Jackrabbit.’”There’s a lot of money on the line this weekend and next.For Jin Young Ko, the U.S. Women’s Open is only her third L.P.G.A. event in 2020. The world No. 1 has remained in her native South Korea since the Covid-19 outbreak took hold in America.Credit…David J. Phillip/Associated PressThe next two weeks have the players’ full focus. Both the U.S. Women’s Open and next week’s finale in Florida offer a winner’s check of at least $1 million. The U.S. Open will pay out $5.5 million and the purse for the Tour Championship will be the fifth-highest in the women’s game this year at $3 million, a haul that makes this stretch comparable only to the mid-August-to-September span during which two other majors — the Women’s British Open and the AIN Inspiration — were contested.“To be honest, it feels weird because I’m playing in December around Christmas Day, so it’s the first time,” said Jin Young Ko, the women’s world No. 1. “But the course is tough and then everyone look nervous, too, so it’s fun.”Fun? Danielle Kang, who has won twice since the tour’s July restart, is accompanied this week by her boyfriend, Maverick McNealy, who plays on the PGA Tour. McNealy is one of several male players, including major winners Jason Day and Bryson DeChambeau, who have thrown their support behind the L.P.G.A. this week by posting messages on social media with the hashtag #WomenWorthWatching. DeChambeau’s regular caddie, Tim Tucker, is moonlighting this week on the bag for Lexi Thompson.Asked the best piece of advice that she has received from McNealy, Kang, a one-time major winner, said, “Just relax. It’s the U.S. Open. Everyone is stressed out.”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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    An American First on the European Tour

    AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyAn American First on the European TourThe controversial golfer Patrick Reed is leading the race to become the No. 1 player, which will be settled in Dubai.Patrick Reed in September at the United States Open, where he finished tied for 13th.Credit…Hilary Swift for The New York TimesDec. 9, 2020, 5:02 a.m. ETLove him or hate him, Patrick Reed is poised to become the first American to be Europe’s top golfer.The 30-year-old Texan, who shot to fame at the 2016 Ryder Cup as “Captain America,” exciting fans with his aggressive play and on-course antics, holds the lead in the Race to Dubai rankings that come to a close next week at the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai, at Jumeirah Golf Estates from Wednesday through Sunday.While Reed has been a polarizing figure in American golf, fans in Europe love him. He’s found a warm embrace on the European Tour, which made him an honorary lifetime member after his 2018 Masters win. He also enjoys the exchanges with European fans, who have largely moved on from his 2014 Ryder Cup performance where he goaded and shushed spectators. Those same fans now applaud his fiery competitive edge.Besides, taking his game worldwide was always in his plans, he said, and that means playing the European Tour. As he said in October at the BMW PGA Championship in England: “I feel like the more support we can get, especially from guys from the States, the better. That’s one reason why I always come over and play, is because I know how important it is for our games to travel.”He said last week that he felt a special connection with European fans.“I think it started in 2014 at Gleneagles in Scotland,” he said, referring to the Ryder Cup. “For the first time, I realized that they understood my humor, and the competitor I am.”He said the closing ceremony was very special to him.“They announced Tom Watson, and I looked at the thousands and thousands of European fans, waves and waves of people roaring on their feet for Tom Watson, our American captain, in defeat,” Reed said. “And it really moved me. I had never seen anything like that. They loved him no matter what country he came from. I felt like, I want to be like him.”Patrick Reed, center, at the 2014 Ryder Cup, talking with Tom Watson, left, the captain for the United States.Credit…Montana Pritchard/The PGA of America, via Getty ImagesFans in Europe appreciate that, by playing in the tour, he helps build better golf there. But things are different in the United States, where Reed has earned critics on and off the course, starting in 2014 when he boldly proclaimed he was one of the top five players in the world. It wasn’t true; he was No. 20 in the rankings at the time. Yet he has since been forever linked to that brash claim.Most recently he was criticized last December for seemingly improving his lie in a waste bunker when his club brushed away sand behind his ball at the 11th hole at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas. While Reed said that it was unintentional and that he did not notice that his club had moved any sand, he was penalized two shots.He said afterward that after seeing the video, he accepted the penalty, “but it wasn’t because of any intent.”“I thought I was far enough away,” he said. “I think with a different camera angle, they would have realized that. It was not improving the lie because it was far enough away from the golf ball.”Taunts of “cheater” soon followed him to tournaments from Hawaii to California. In February, his fellow American Brooks Koepka, a 2018 Ryder Cup teammate, called him out on it.Patrick Reed was penalized two shots last year at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas for improving his lie in a bunker.Credit…Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images“I don’t know what he was doing — building sand castles in the sand — but, you know, you know where your club is,” Koepka said in an interview with SiriusXM. “I mean, I took three months off, and I can promise you I know if I touch sand. If you look at the video, obviously he grazes the sand twice and then he still chops down on it.” Cameron Smith of Australia also called Reed a cheat.Reed has become a master at tuning out the noise.“The biggest thing for me is any time you go to the golf course, pop in my headphones, get to work and just really get in tune with every golf shot I hit because at the end of the day you can’t listen to what other people are saying,” Reed said at the WGC-Mexico Championship in February.To the end, for Reed to win the Race to Dubai and make European Tour history, he has to fend off Tommy Fleetwood, Collin Morikawa, and Lee Westwood, who are the next three in points. Fleetwood won the Race to Dubai in 2017 and has finished second and third in the rankings in the past two years.Morikawa is in the hunt to win without having played one game in Europe this year. As an affiliate member of the tour, which allows players to pay a fee for tour status, points may be earned at majors and other events and applied to the Race to Dubai.Westwood is hoping to win the Race to Dubai for the third time. “I’ve had some success in Dubai over the years,” he said. “It’s a big honor for any player. I’ve done it twice before, so it’s great to have another chance again this year.”Ahead in points, Reed hopes this will be his year.“I came close in 2018,” he said. “So you bet I will do my best to earn that No. 1 spot.”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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    How Golf's European Tour Saved Its Season

    #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Coronavirus OutbreakliveLatest UpdatesMaps and CasesBritain’s Vaccine RolloutVaccine TrackerFAQ: Vaccines and MoreAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyHow the European Tour Saved Its SeasonThe pandemic forced the golf tour to start almost from scratch. But six months later, it’s holding the tournament that will determine its champion.Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, is hosting the DP World Tour Championship, the final stop on the European Tour.Credit…Andrew Redington/Getty ImagesDec. 9, 2020, 5:02 a.m. ETIt’s been a chaotic path to golf’s final stop on the European Tour.At the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai, which is sponsored by a logistics company, a player will be crowned Europe’s No. 1 golfer on Sunday. As the season ends, tour officials and players will have artfully navigated a constellation of constant shifts, changes, postponements and cancellations.What began last November as a packed schedule of 46 tournaments across 31 countries came to a halt in March because of the pandemic. Professional golf was shut down, and it was unclear whether the season would resume or be even worth salvaging.“It was so many months without playing,” said Adrián Otaegui of Spain, who ranks 28th in the Race to Dubai, which determines the best player. “We didn’t know when we were coming back. It was hard to practice, not knowing when we would resume.”In June, tour officials regrouped in an attempt to restart the season.Keith Pelley, the tour’s chief executive, warned players that tournaments would look “radically different,” suggesting that there would be a condensed schedule, with multiple tournaments in the same location.Keith Pelley, the European Tour’s chief executive, at the Hero Open in England in August. Credit…Richard Heathcote/Getty ImagesIn addition, sponsorship and prize money would be tight, he said. With the European Tour already struggling to draw players lured by the larger prize purses of the PGA Tour, the news dealt an additional blow: Players would also have to give up some of their perks.“Many of the things you have become accustomed to, such as top-class players’ lounges or courtesy car services, will most likely assume a different appearance, if indeed they are present at all,” Pelley said in a memo.He said the pandemic had become the biggest challenge of his life.“The job changed overnight,” he said in a June teleconference. “Every single day you were getting knocked down, knocked down and knocked down, another tournament canceled, more revenue lost.”It came down to prioritizing safety and making the tough decision to play without spectators, he said.“There was no question whether or not the tour would close tournaments to spectators,” he said. “We’d love to have 30,000 fans, but I think it’s going to be very difficult.”The tour resumed in July with the Austrian Open at the Diamond Country Club in Atzenbrugg near Vienna. By the end of the year, the tour managed to schedule 38 events in 18 countries.Under the guidance of the tour’s medical advisory board, which included virologists, public health experts, immunologists and senior health leaders from FIFA, World Rugby and the ATP, the tour’s new health strategy was put in place.Sean Crocker, an American golfer, playing on the 16th hole at the British Masters in England in July.Credit…Andrew Redington/Getty ImagesDeveloped by Dr. Andrew Murray, the European Tour’s chief medical officer, the strategy included rapid on-site Covid-19 testing, daily symptom checks, social distancing and no-touch sanitizer stations.At each tournament, players, caddies and staff members were required to go through a process that would be “some of the strictest screening and testing criteria on earth,” Murray said.“The entire world has changed,” he said. “What we know is that we can put golf on safely, but there are a number of factors we need to consider.”Tour organizers also created a bio-bubble system that requires players, caddies and the media to be only at the golf course and the hotel.They are subject to screenings, including daily questionnaires, temperature readings, and nasal swab or saliva tests. Everyone is also being tested as they leave airplanes.There were initial grumblings about lack of fans during tournaments or socializing after hours, but players adjusted.Joost Luiten of the Netherlands in July at a practice session before the Euram Bank Open in Austria. He drove instead of flying.Credit…Stuart Franklin/Getty Images“When you get here, you have to do a test and you have to do a temperature check,” said Joost Luiten of the Netherlands, who ranks 72nd in points. “It’s new and it’s different, but it’s just part of the new rules on tour, and you just have to accept it.“We’ve all seen the different sporting events around the world that have been started, so I think you learn from each other, and I think golf is a sport where it’s quite easy to keep the distance between each other. There’s no spectators, so it’s as quiet as you can get it, and I think that’s the way to do it at the moment.”Connor Syme of Scotland, who is 67th in points, said he welcomed the new restrictions. “It just feels more comfortable if you know for certain everyone is all right,” he said. “I feel safe. All the precautions the European Tour is taking make it possible to play. It feels good.”Another big change was travel. Many players opted out of flying and instead drove to the tournaments.Luiten drove with Maarten Bosch, his caddie, from the Netherlands to Austria. “It’s a bit further than normal,” Luiten wrote on his blog.“Usually I drive if it’s to Paris, and I’ve done to Cologne in Germany, because that’s only a two-hour drive from Rotterdam,” Luiten said. “This is one where you would normally fly, but because it felt like a better idea to drive and we had some extra time anyway, so we thought why not. We just took it easy, so we did five hours on Sunday, stopping in Munich, and then did another four or five hours on Monday.”Thomas Bjorn of Denmark, at 231 in the points race, said on Twitter that players should drive if possible. Richard Mansell of England, ranked at 185, took that to heart. “It kind of got me thinking — I’ve never done a road trip like that,” he said in a video released by the tour.His fiancée’s father bought him a Ford Transit van, and Mansell drove with his caddie, Connor Winstanley.They slept in the van and made the trip from Staffordshire, England, to Austria in two days. “We woke up fresh as a daisy and did the last stretch,” Mansell said.“I thought it was going to be brutal, but the roads were brilliant. It was quite a beautiful drive to be honest. I really enjoyed it, but Connor probably got a bit sick of my singing.”The tour stayed Covid-free until the summer swing in the United Kingdom, where Alex Levy of France tested positive in August and Jbe’ Kruger of South Africa in October.David Howell, European Tour Tournament Committee chairman, admitted that this year was more crisis management than tour scheduling.“I look back with amazement what we were able to do with what we had and very little collateral damage in terms of positive tests,” he said. “We’re lucky that we play a sport that is able to be played in a socially distant manner, but the logistics of getting an international sporting organization back up and running was just amazing.”By the time the European Tour arrived in South Africa for the Joburg Open in November, Covid-19 cases had resurged worldwide, and event organizers and city officials increased precautionary measures for players, caddies, tournament staff and media.Fans sneaking a peek at third-round action in the BMW PGA Championship in England in October.Credit…Paul Childs/Action Images, via ReutersIn addition to undergoing Covid-19 screening and daily testing, players stayed at hotels within five miles of golf clubs and were permitted to travel only between the hotel and course.Yet in spite of tight restrictions and the eerie absence of fans, players were happy to be playing again.“We were one of the first sports to get back into competition,” Luiten said from the Joburg Open. “It was great to get back, but it’s a bit boring now. We miss the fun times. Also, at the moment there’s no atmosphere on the golf course without fans.”Oliver Wilson of England, ranked at 212, called it better than the alternative.“It’s a shame because we play better with fans,” he said. “But we’re very fortunate to be able to play — it was sheer excitement for players to get out of the house and back to competing. It’s hard not being able to socialize in the bubble. It’s tricky, but we have it good. We’re lucky.”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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    Lee Westwood and His Decades of Success

    #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Coronavirus OutbreakliveLatest UpdatesMaps and CasesBritain’s Vaccine RolloutVaccine TrackerFAQ: Vaccines and MoreAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyLee Westwood and His Decades of SuccessUsually a slow starter, he began 2020 by winning the first tournament he played.Lee Westwood, right, celebrated with James Baker, his caddie, after winning the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship tournament in January.Credit…Kamran Jebreili/Associated PressDec. 9, 2020, 5:00 a.m. ETAn admitted slow starter, Lee Westwood was as surprised as anyone when at age 46 he won the first tournament of the year on the European Tour, the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. It made him the only active player on the tour to have won in four different decades.“Historically I’ve been the type of player who had to play his way into form,” he said. “I threw that out of the window in winning the first event. It just surprised me.”Within two months of that hot start, the strangest year in golf began. The Covid-19 pandemic shut down the main golf tours for months. When professional golf resumed in the spring, it surged in popularity, as one of the few live sports on television.But the pandemic made the travel necessary to be at the top of the international game tough. And Westwood’s career has been a global one. Including his 25 victories on the European Tour, Westwood has 44 worldwide wins, with 12 in Asia, three in South Africa, two in the United States and one in Australia. In more than 800 tournaments on the two major tours, the PGA and the European, he has made the cut more than 80 percent of the time.And going into this week’s DP World Tour Championship, Dubai, he is ranked fourth in points in the Race to Dubai, the yearlong points race to determine the best player on the European Tour.The following interview has been edited and condensed.In addition to winning the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, your play at the majors has been solid. You had a great start at the Masters this year, tied for 13th at the United States Open and tied for fourth at the last British Open. What do you attribute that continued strong play?I’m just still keen to work. It’s putting in the hard work that leads up to the tournament. Everyone gets excited to play in a tournament. I think people lose the drive to get to that point. I’m still fit and strong. It’s not like I’ve lost my length. When you look at it analytically, there’s no reason I shouldn’t play well. I have experience on my side. Majors take a slightly different approach. You have to think your way around the golf course a little bit more. Par means a lot more. For me at a U.S. Open or Open Championship, it’s plotting your way around a golf course. It plays into my game.Westwood on the eighth hole of The RSM Classic at the Seaside Course at Sea Island Golf Club in November.Credit…Sam Greenwood/Getty ImagesYou’ve been a global player for decades. What was traveling for tournaments like this year?Well, it was dictated by the pandemic. We were in lockdown March, April and May. Up until September, I didn’t feel comfortable going too far. I went to Europe, and I didn’t fancy going too far until I got a picture of how things were. The U.S. Open [at Winged Foot in Mamaroneck, N.Y.] was the first time I went over to the States. When your job is traveling through all these time zones, that really goes out the window.How important is playing around the world to a player’s development?You become much more well-rounded as a person. You need to play on different courses, different grasses, different greens. It can be part of your development as a player. At the end of the day, what people want to see is the top players playing together more often in the same tournaments. It’s all right seeing everyone play in the States. That’s where the cash is. But I think we should have tournaments in Australia, South Africa, South America where all the great players come together. The pandemic has shown that golf isn’t broken. It doesn’t need fixing. It just needs sharing around the world.Your 2020 season is ending in Dubai, with seven tournaments in the United States and 14 on the European Tour. How would you sum up this year for you and other global players?It’s very difficult to sit back and do an appraisal of it. There were five months off in the middle of it where I just sat around, really. Then I played a lot in Europe, not too successfully. I played well in the U.S. Open. It’s been a weird one. One of the good things that came out of it is I lost 12 kilos [about 26 pounds]. I’ll be fitter going into next season. I’ll take a month off after Dubai and start again in Abu Dhabi.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More