The post ‘I was burning inside’: Pro falls prey to PGA Tour rules official’s post-round prank appeared first on Golf.

The post ‘I was burning inside’: Pro falls prey to PGA Tour rules official’s post-round prank appeared first on Golf.

Pace of play (the slow kind) is a hot talking point on the PGA Tour. But on Sunday, Joaquin Neimann flipped the narrative on its head when, playing solo in the first group of the day at the Tour Championship, he looked more like Usain Bolt than Tommy Bolt.

With nothing but an open course ahead of him at East Lake GC, Neimann and his caddie, Gary Matthews, tightened their laces and made history, needing all of 1 hour and 53 minutes to finish 18 holes. It was the fastest round in Tour Championship history, edging Kevin Na’s 2016 mark by five minutes.

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If Neimann was expecting to celebrate his achievement with pats on the back in the scorer’s tent, he had another thing coming: some light-hearted (if sharp-edged!) needling from Andy Pazder, the PGA Tour’s chief of tournaments and competition, who greeted Neimann and Matthews with a stern look.

“Andy is sitting right there with the rules official,” Matthews recalled later, “and I looked at him, like, this is serious.”

A few moments later, Pazder beckoned over Matthews and Neimann, and here’s how Matthews recounted what came next:  

“He said, ‘Listen, Joaquin, as a professional, you’ve disrespected the game, you’ve disrespected the Tour Championship. This is not how professionals act, and Gary you’ve been out here a long time and you should know that and here is a fine for $10,000.'”

You could cut the tension with a 2-iron.

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“I look at him like, I was burning inside,” Neimann said. “I was going to say something and he’s like, ‘All right, forgive me. Before you say something, I was just kidding.

“I was like, ‘Oh, I hate you.'”

Boom, roasted! By a PGA Tour rules official! Didn’t see that coming.

To the long list of PGA Tour pranksters — Peter Jacobsen, Phil Mickelson, Henrik Stenson, Ian Poulter, et al. — you can now add one more name: Andy Pazder.

You can read more about Neimann’s historic round here.

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The post How the insanely lucrative FedEx Cup bonus payouts are divvied up, from 1st place to 150th appeared first on Golf.

The post How the insanely lucrative FedEx Cup bonus payouts are divvied up, from 1st place to 150th appeared first on Golf.

It’s easy to get wrapped up in which player is bound for FedEx Cup glory at the Tour Championship — and the cool $15 million check that comes along with it. More commonly overlooked is how all that other cash is distributed, i.e., the remaining $45 million!

The FedEx runner-up banks $5 million, third place is good for $4 million, while the fourth- and fifth-place finishers have to settle for a measly $3 million and $2 million, respectively.

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Some of these winnings will be sorted Sunday evening at East Lake, but a good chunk of FedEx Cup change has already been sorted among the 120 players who didn’t qualify for the Tour Championship — from K.H. Lee, who pocketed $200,000 for his 31st place finish in the playoffs down to the pack of players who finished between 126th and 150th (including the likes of Justin Rose, Rickie Fowler and Tommy Fleetwood) and made $70,000 for their efforts.

Yes, it’s good to be a PGA Tour player in 2021! Here’s the full list of FedEx Cup bonus payouts for the 2020-21 season:

PAYOUTS FOR PLAYERS WHO QUALIFIED FOR THE TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP:

Win: $15,000,000

2: $5,000,000

3: $4,000,000

4: $3,000,000

5: $2,500,000

6: $1,900,000

7: $1,300,000

8: $1,100,000

9: $950,000

10: $830,000

11: $750,000

12: $705,000

13: $660,000

14: $620,000

15: $595,000

16: $570,000

17: $550,000

18: $535,000

19: $520,000

20: $505,000

21: $490,000

22: $478,000

23: $466,000

24: $456,000

25: $445,000

26: $435,000

27: $425,000

28: $415,000

29: $405,000

30: $395,000

PAYOUTS FOR PLAYERS WHO DIDN’T QUALIFY FOR TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP

31: K.H. Lee, $200,000

32: Charley Hoffman, $195,000

33: Alex Noren, $190,000

34: Si Woo Kim, $186,000

35: Max Homa, $183,000

36: Hudson Swafford, $181,000

37: Cam Davis, $179,000

38: Kevin Kisner, $177,000

39: Keegan Bradley, $175,000

40: Webb Simpson, $173,000

41: Brian Harman, $171,000

42: Marc Leishman, $169,000

43: Cameron Tringale, $168,000

44: Harold Varner III, $167,000

45: Shane Lowry, $166,000

46: Lucas Glover, $165,000

47: Matt Jones, $164,000

48: Carlos Ortiz, $163,000

49: Aaron Wise, $162,000

50: Lee Westwood, $161,000

51: Charl Schwartzel, $160,000

52: Paul Casey, $159,000

53: Sebastián Muñoz, $158,000

54: Tom Hoge, $157,000

55: Branden Grace, $156,000

56: Russell Henley, $155,000

57: Cameron Champ, $154,000

58: Maverick McNealy, $153,000

59: Emiliano Grillo, $152,000

60: Robert Streb, $151,000

61: Jhonattan Vegas, $150,000

62: Chris Kirk, $150,000

63: Patton Kizzire, $150,000

64: Kevin Streelman, $150,000

65: Keith Mitchell, $150,000

66: Harry Higgs, $140,000

67: Mackenzie Hughes, $140,000

68: Talor Gooch, $140,000

69: Ryan Palmer, $140,000

70: Phil Mickelson, $140,000

71: Matthew Wolff, $110,000

72: Seamus Power, $110,000

73: Matt Fitzpatrick, $110,000

74: Tyrrell Hatton, $110,000

75: Martin Laird, $110,000

76: Joel Dahmen, $110,000

77: Ian Poulter, $110,000

78: Troy Merritt, $110,000

79: J:T: Poston, $110,000

80: Pat Perez, $110,000

81: Bubba Watson, $110,000

82: Andrew Putnam, $110,000

83: Doug Ghim, $110,000

84: Brandon Hagy, $110,000

85: Adam Long, $110,000

86: Peter Malnati, $105,000

87: Wyndham Clark, $105,000

88: Adam Schenk, $105,000

89: Lanto Griffin, $105,000

90: Adam Scott, $105,000

91: Kramer Hickok, $105,000

92: Brian Stuard, $105,000

93: Henrik Norlander, $105,000

94: Doc Redman, $105,000

95: Brian Gay, $105,000

96: Roger Sloan, $105,000

97: Brandt Snedeker, $105,000

98: Hank Lebioda, $105,000

99: Tyler McCumber, $105,000

100: Denny McCarthy, $105,000

101: Brendon Todd, $101,000

102: Luke List, $101,000

103: Adam Hadwin, $101,000

104: Chez Reavie, $101,000

105: Brendan Steele, $101,000

106: Sepp Straka, $101,000

107: Garrick Higgo, $101,000

108: James Hahn, $101,000

109: Zach Johnson, $101,000

110: Russell Knox, $101,000

111: Matt Wallace, $101,000

112: Sam Ryder, $101,000

113: Gary Woodland, $101,000

114: Jason Day, $101,000

115: Matthew NeSmith, $101,000

116: Scott Piercy, $101,000

117: Kyle Stanley, $101,000

118: Anirban Lahiri, $101,000

119: Dylan Frittelli, $101,000

120: Richy Werenski, $101,000

121: C:T: Pan, $101,000

122: Matt Kuchar, $101,000

123: Brice Garnett, $101,000

124: Scott Stallings, $101,000

125: Chesson Hadley, $101,000

126: Justin Rose, $70,000

127: Ryan Armour, $70,000

128: Patrick Rodgers, $70,000

129: Bo Hoag, $70,000

130: Camilo Villegas, $70,000

131: Nate Lashley, $70,000

132: Michael Thompson, $70,000

133: Rory Sabbatini, $70,000

134: Rickie Fowler, $70,000

135: Cameron Percy, $70,000

136: Austin Cook, $70,000

137: Tommy Fleetwood, $70,000

138: Chase Seiffert, $70,000

139: Charles Howell III, $70,000

140: Vincent Whaley, $70,000

141: Nick Taylor, $70,000

142: Francesco Molinari, $70,000

143: Mark Hubbard, $70,000

144: Ryan Moore, $70,000

145: Michael Gligic, $70,000

146: Joseph Bramlett, $70,000

147: Bo Van Pelt, $70,000

148: Beau Hossler, $70,000

149: Vaughn Taylor, $70,000

150: Satoshi Kodaira, $70,000

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The post ‘I was battling for my life’: Patrick Reed details his double-pneumonia scare appeared first on Golf.

The post ‘I was battling for my life’: Patrick Reed details his double-pneumonia scare appeared first on Golf.

After going over three weeks — and the entirety of the FedEx Cup Playoffs thus far — without competing, Patrick Reed carded an opening-round two-over 72 at the Tour Championship at East Lake. He’s not in contention, but rather than focusing on his finish, Reed was just grateful to get through 18 holes without any medical issues.

The 31-year-old Reed was making his first start since spending nearly a week in the hospital battling bilateral pneumonia.

“I went in [the hospital] Thursday of Northern Trust,” Reed said after his round Thursday. “I was in there for, it felt like I was in there forever. I think I was in there for five or six days. I don’t remember the exact timeframe, but it felt like an eternity.”

Reed says he doesn’t know if his pneumonia was Covid related, but that the symptoms came upon him quickly.

“It hit me just like a brick,” he said. “I mean, just all of a sudden I went from feeling okay to literally feeling like I couldn’t breathe and was almost drowning in air and it was, it hit me so fast and it was so brutal.”

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Reed said his pneumonia was “scary” because it was in his lungs’ lower lobes, “which is where a lot of deaths and people pass away from.”

“First couple days they were sitting there telling me that make sure you text your family quite a bit, talk to your family, because you just don’t know. I mean, this is not good. We’re not in a good spot right now,” Reed continued.

Reed said he worried about not having the chance to tell his wife, Justine, and their kids that he loved them, because they weren’t allowed to visit.

“I’m sitting there and those first two days the only thing that was going through my mind is, I’m not going to be able to tell my kids goodbye,” he said. “I’m not going to be able to tell them I love them. I’m not going to be able to tell my wife that I love her and give her a hug.

“It definitely puts you in a dark space when you’re in there, especially those first two days. But I’m so happy to have such an amazing team and such amazing doctors that were working with me to get me through it and to get me working in the right direction on the way up. And to think that I’m able to be here and play and really feel like today, I really felt okay. I mean, it’s a little frustrating not having the speed, not being able to hit the shots and really feel certain things quite yet, but I took a ton of time off. I mean, I was battling for my life. I was in the hospital. And the good thing is now I can hit the ground running hopefully.”

Reed says that if it wasn’t for the upcoming Ryder Cup, he wouldn’t be at the Tour Championship this week. But with a potential captain’s pick up for grabs, Reed is willing to do whatever it takes to get Steve Stricker’s attention.

“I saw him yesterday,” Reed said of Stricker. “He came out to me when I was on 9 and I hit a hybrid into 9 to eight feet and I made the putt for him. So you know, honestly, the biggest thing is, talking with Stricks and stuff, is just making sure I’m healthy and I think the biggest thing for me this week is just to see kind of where I’m at. And I know by Ryder Cup my game’s going to be where it needs to be, as long as I feel like my health is where it needs to be and as long as I feel like I can sustain through rounds of golf.”

The Ryder Cup begins on Friday, Sept. 24 at Whistling Straits, in Wisconsin.

The post ‘I was battling for my life’: Patrick Reed details his double-pneumonia scare appeared first on Golf.

The post Dustin Johnson’s $15 Million TaylorMade fairway wood appeared first on Golf.

The post Dustin Johnson’s $15 Million TaylorMade fairway wood appeared first on Golf.

Dustin Johnson’s bank account has had a pretty good summer. After a handful of top-10 finishes and a trio of victories, DJ leaves the summer of 2020 close to $20 million richer than he began it. Not half bad for a guy on the receiving end of Brooks Koepka’s PGA Championship jabs.

But in reality, a huge chunk of that near-$20 million comes thanks to Johnson’s win at East Lake on Sunday. The Tour Championship’s $15 million winner’s check provides a rather sizable bump in DJ’s overall earnings and makes him both the top-earner and major championship favorite heading into the 2021 “super season.”

But perhaps the biggest turning point in Johnson’s game came at the PGA Championship. With gnarly rough expected at TPC Harding Park, Johnson elected to use a TaylorMade SIM Max 7-wood, a surprising addition in the pro game where players generally aren’t in need of the loft and spin provided by a higher wood.

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The shift has worked wonders — but don’t just take our word for it. Johnson’s four finishes since he added the 7-wood to his bag? T-2, 1, 2, 1.

But it’s not just DJ’s game that the SIM Max series fairway woods benefit. With a low CG and ultra-hot titanium face, SIM Max is built to meet golfers at the intersection of launch and playability, while TwistFace technology (added to TaylorMade woods for the first time in 2020) provides an added boost of forgiveness off the face.

While we’re not saying the distance boost provided by the SIM Max is the difference between you and Johnsonian scores, but hey, it certainly couldn’t hurt.

TaylorMade SIM Max Fairway Wood

The Max version has a carbon crown and V Steel sole design that lowers CG and reduces ground friction through impact. Also comes in a draw-bias SIM Max D model.

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The post 2020 Tour Championship Purse: Payout breakdown and winner’s share appeared first on Golf.

The post 2020 Tour Championship Purse: Payout breakdown and winner’s share appeared first on Golf.

If you’ve paid attention to the first three days of the Tour Championship at East Lake, you’ve probably heard something about the purse. The completion of the 2020 FedEx Cup Playoffs leaves a mind-boggling sum of money up for grabs — not only for the winner, but also for the remainder of the field.

Dustin Johnson enters Monday’s final round with the championship firmly within his sights. After beginning the week at -10 as part of the Tour Championship’s new format, Johnson has done nothing to hurt his standing atop the leaderboard.

During Sunday’s third round, Johnson notched seven birdies en route to a five-stroke lead at 19 under. While DJ enters the final round playing some of the best golf of his career, he’ll have to fend off a few of the game’s biggest names sure to make a run for the FedEx Cup.

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Trailing Johnson on the leaderboard are Justin Thomas, Xander Schauffele, Jon Rahm and Collin Morikawa.

Below is the payout information (including winner’s share) for the Tour Championship’s colossal $46 million (!!!) purse; you can catch all the action beginning on Golf Channel at noon ET and continuing on NBC at 1:30.

Tour Championship payout information, winner’s share

1. $15,000,000

2. $5,000,000

3. $4,000,000

4. $3,000,000

5. $2,500,000

6. $1,900,000

7. $1,300,000

8. $1,100,000

9. $950,000

10. $830,000

11. $750,000

12. $705,000

13. $660,000

14. $620,000

15. $595,000

16. $570,000

17. $550,000

78. $535,000

19. $520,000

20. $505,000

21. $490,000

22. $478,000

23. $466,000

24. $456,000

25. $445,000

26. $435,000

27. $425,000

28. $415,000

29. $405,000

30. $395,000

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The post 2020 Tour Championship tee times: Fourth round pairings for Monday appeared first on Golf.

The post 2020 Tour Championship tee times: Fourth round pairings for Monday appeared first on Golf.

With just 18 holes left in the FedEx Cup and Tour Championship, we’ve arrived at a familiar position: Dustin Johnson in the lead.

Johnson has held the 54-hole lead in the last four events he has played in now, a bonkers statistic that is indicative of how well he’s played in the last two months. DJ shot 64 Sunday during the third round to take a 5-stroke lead in the season’s final event. Is it an insurmountable lead? With the way he’s playing, it just might be. One of those 54-hole leads was turned into a 9-stroke victory just a couple weeks ago.

Johnson will play his final round at East Lake alongside Xander Schauffele, a man who has won the Tour Championship in his career once before. Johnson and Schauffele get going at 1:55 p.m. ET Monday. Schauffele is joined by Justin Thomas at 14 under. He’ll play in the penultimate pairing with Jon Rahm. You can find all 15 tee times of Monday’s final round below.

Tour Championship Round 4 tee times (All times ET)

11:35 AM – Marc Leishman, Billy Horschel

11:45 AM – Cameron Smith, Ryan Palmer

11:55 AM – Cameron Champ, Kevin Na

12:05 PM – Kevin Kisner, Joaquin Niemann

12:15 PM – Viktor Hovland, Bryson DeChambeau

12:25 PM – Patrick Reed, Mackenzie Hughes

12:35 PM – Sebastián Muñoz, Harris English

12:45 PM – Abraham Ancer, Lanto Griffin

12:55 PM – Hideki Matsuyama, Webb Simpson

1:05 PM – Tyrrell Hatton, Tony Finau

1:15 PM – Rory McIlroy, Brendon Todd

1:25 PM – Sungjae Im, Scottie Scheffler

1:35 PM – Collin Morikawa, Daniel Berger

1:45 PM – Justin Thomas, Jon Rahm

1:55 PM – Dustin Johnson, Xander Schauffele

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The post Why $15 million wouldn’t be enough to buy Sungjae Im a weekend off appeared first on Golf.

The post Why $15 million wouldn’t be enough to buy Sungjae Im a weekend off appeared first on Golf.

Fifteen million dollars might buy Sungjae Im a new house, but it decidedly won’t buy the 22-year-old phenom a new attitude.

Im, who entered Sunday’s third round one stroke off the lead at the Tour Championship, is one of golf’s brightest (and most indefatigable) young stars. At East Lake this week, Sungjae finds himself firmly in the mix for the Championship’s $15 million first prize — a sum roughly twice his current career earnings.

The gargantuan winner’s check is the largest in golf by a significant margin. Fifteen million is a ton of coin for established stars with comfortable bank accounts, let alone a second-year pro who still travels to events with his parents.

Yet when he was asked Saturday about how $15 million might change his burgeoning career, Im offered a curt response: it wouldn’t, at least not right now.

Q. What would you do with the $15 million?

Sungjae Im: I would buy a house in the United States and save so that I can live a comfortable life in the future.

Q. Would you play less if you had $15 million or keep playing more?

Im: Keep playing more.

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For those who have followed his career thus far, Im’s response came as no surprise. In just his second year on the PGA Tour, Sungjae has already earned a reputation for two (fine, three) things: ball-striking, authentic Korean barbeque and attendance.

Including this week’s FedEx Cup playoff finale at East Lake, Im has registered a whopping 25 starts during the Covid-shortened 2020 season. And at the quarter-century mark, the results are pretty good — seven top-10 finishes and one win, his first-career PGA Tour victory at the Honda Classic in February.

His 2020 comes on the heels of last year’s even more jam-packed rookie season, in which Im led everyone on Tour with 35 starts (a number that would have been higher had he qualified for either the Masters or U.S. Open).

Still, the fact remains, he’s everywhere and, more often than not, he’s in contention.

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There are any number of theories behind Sungjae’s preternatural commitment. One says it’s born naturally from his love for competition. Another surmises he’s simply gettin’ while the gettin’s good, particularly considering the professional complications that could arise from his forthcoming 21-month military service obligation as a South Korean citizen.

Whether you view his schedule as the makings of a sub-human competitive machine or simply a 22-year-old bubbling over with youthful zeal, you can rest assured: Sungjae Im isn’t in it for the money.

“I’m aware of the $15 million on the line, but I try not to think about it when I play,” he said. “I know if I play my best the next two days, the opportunity will come. It all seems like a dream. Just thinking about it now makes me pretty happy.”

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The post 5 things to know about the Tour Championship’s unique format appeared first on Golf.

The post 5 things to know about the Tour Championship’s unique format appeared first on Golf.

As players converge in Atlanta to tackle the historic East Lake Golf Club for the Tour Championship, it’s important to note that this event will be different from what fans are used to seeing — and not just because of the lack of fans. The Tour Championship also has a different format from any other event on the PGA Tour. Here are five things to know about the Tour Championship’s unique format.

1. It’s an extremely limited-field event

The field for the Tour Championship is the smallest of the year — and it’s not particularly close. Just the top 30 players in the FedEx Cup standings qualify for the event, meaning that while the field might be smaller, it is still packed with talent. The field is so exclusive that a number of big-name talents did not qualify, such as Tiger Woods, Brooks Koepka and Jordan Spieth. But even without those stars in attendance, the field will be stronger than most for the season finale.

2. Players start with a handicapped leaderboard

In a truly unique format, players start the week with a staggered leaderboard based on their standings in the FedEx Cup. This means that Dustin Johnson will start the week at 10 under with a two-stroke lead over Jon Rahm, who comes into the week second in the FedEx Cup Standings. This continues down to the players who just squeaked into the event, who will start the week with a clean slate at even par.

3. It’s winner-take-all for the FedEx Cup

Since the players start on uneven footing, the event is winner take all for the FedEx Cup. Even if Mackenzie Hughes, who just barely squeaked into the field, comes from 10 back and wins the tournament, he will be the season-long FedEx Cup Champion. This quirk was introduced in an effort to appeal to the casual fan, who will now know exactly what the FedEx Cup leaderboard looks like in real time. The change also eliminates the possibility of an awkward duel trophy ceremony on the 18th green in the event that the Tour Championship winner is not the FedEx Cup champion.

4. Second year of the new format

The new handicapped leaderboard format is still in its infancy with this being the second iteration. Last season, Justin Thomas began the week with the lead, but he was supplanted at the top of the leaderboard by Rory McIlroy as he took the Tour Championship and FedEx Cup titles.

5. Largest purse of the year — by far

Even though the field is so small, the purse is the largest of the year with the winner taking home a cool $15 million. In all, the Tour will dole out $60 million in FedEx Cup bonuses by week’s end. The last-place money isn’t too shabby, either, with 30th place cashing a check for $395,000. Not too bad for a week’s work.

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The post 2020 Tour Championship: How to watch the FedEx Cup finale at East Lake appeared first on Golf.

The post 2020 Tour Championship: How to watch the FedEx Cup finale at East Lake appeared first on Golf.

After a year of competition, the 2019-20 PGA Tour season and FedEx Cup Playoffs come to an end this week with the 2020 Tour Championship at East Lake. Here’s everything you need to know to watch the event.

Tour Championship preview

This week, the Top 30 in the FedEx Cup standings duke it out for all the marbles. How many marbles exactly? A lot. The winner alone will take home a cool $15 million, with the runner-up cashing in for $5 million, nearly twice the winner’s share of any other tournament.

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The two players positioned best for those big checks are the same players who faced off in a playoff at last week’s BMW Championship: Dustin Johnson and Jon Rahm. While Rahm prevailed in that playoff, thanks to an incredible 66-foot winning putt, it’s Johnson who holds the No. 1 position in the standings heading into the week. He will start the event at 10 under par, while Rahm will begin two shots back at eight under.

But we’re not ready to hand the Cup to either of those players just yet. Defending FedEx Cup champion Rory McIlroy will tee off with a score of three under, but if he’s on his game, he could definitely mount a serious challenge come Sunday. World No. 3 Justin Thomas will have a better chance, as he’ll only have three shots to make up.

You can find full information about streaming the 2020 Tour Championship online or watching the action on TV below, along with full first round tee times.

Tour Championship basics

What: 2020 Tour Championship
Where: East Lake GC, Atlanta, Ga.
When: Friday-Monday, September 4-7
Winner’s share: $15 million
Last year’s champion: Rory McIlroy

How to watch the Tour Championship on TV

With a cable subscription, you can watch all four rounds of the 2020 Tour Championship on TV. Golf Channel will have the action for the first and second rounds, and will also provide early coverage for the final two rounds. Primary coverage of the third and final rounds on Sunday and Monday will be broadcast on NBC. Check out the full TV schedule below.

Friday, September 4: 1-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel)
Saturday, September 5: 1-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel)
Sunday, September 6: 1-3 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); 3-7 p.m. ET (NBC)
Monday, September 7: 12-1:30 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); 1:30-6 p.m. ET (NBC)

How to watch the Tour Championship online, streaming

You can stream the entire 2020 Tour Championship online in various ways. You can catch both the Golf Channel and NBC TV broadcasts online at nbcsports.com/live by logging in with your cable credentials. Another way to catch the action is with PGA Tour Live, which also includes featured group coverage, though you’ll need a subscription to access the stream.

2020 Tour Championship tee times: Round 1 (ET)

Tee No. 1

12:00 p.m. – Cameron Champ, Billy Horschel
12:10 p.m. – Viktor Hovland, Mackenzie Hughes
12:20 p.m. – Marc Leishman, Cameron Smith
12:30 p.m. – Ryan Palmer, Kevin Na
12:40 p.m. – Kevin Kisner, Abraham Ancer
12:50 p.m. – Tyrrell Hatton, Tony Finau
1:00 p.m. – Scottie Scheffler, Joaquin Niemann
1:10 p.m. – Sebastián Muñoz, Lanto Griffin
1:20 p.m. – Patrick Reed, Xander Schauffele
1:30 p.m. – Brendon Todd, Rory McIlroy
1:40 p.m. – Sungjae Im, Hideki Matsuyama
1:50 p.m. – Harris English, Bryson DeChambeau
2:00 p.m. – Collin Morikawa, Daniel Berger
2:10 p.m. – Justin Thomas, Webb Simpson
2:20 p.m. – Dustin Johnson, Jon Rahm

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This week in Bamberger Briefly, Michael Bamberger offers five pieces about where golf is in this odd spring, with the PGA Tour on deck for next week. Part I: Bryan Zuriff, Match II Producer. Part II: Superstars Among Us. Part III: Golf and Social Justice

On March 12, things were just going swimmingly for Kim Lewellen and the women’s team she coaches at Wake Forest, the No. 1-ranked squad in the country.

The Deacons were in Arizona for a tournament, playing well and feeling good. They had just won Darius Rucker Intercollegiate event in Hilton Head by 26 shots. A Wake player, Emilia Migliaccio, had won the individual title.

Come April, two Wake players, Migliaccio and Swing Liu of China, would be competing in the second annual Augusta National Women’s Amateur.

In May, the Deacons would have a chance to win the NCAA title, and put their wild overtime loss to Duke in last year’s event in the rearview mirror of the team bus.

Are we having any fun?

Wake Forest’s men’s golf team is storied and then some. The all-time roster includes Arnold Palmer, Curtis Strange, Webb Simpson and other luminaries. But the women’s program is on a roll. Lewellen, the longtime women’s golf coach at the University of Virginia, was named the Deacons’ coach in June 2018, succeeding a legend, Dianne Dailey, who had coached the Wake team for 30 years.

In April 2019, a Wake player, Jennifer Kupcho, won the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur. Lewellen was there for the final round, her first time at Augusta National. Sunday night, she and Kupcho flew to New York and on Monday Kupcho made an appearance on the Today Show and taped an appearance of Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. FUN!

On the Sunday between Kupcho’s win and their unexpected trip to New York, Lewellen did some subtle recruiting at the finals of the Drive, Chip & Putt competition at Augusta National. “You can’t talk to the kids or their parents,” Lewellen said in a recent phone interview, citing recruiting rules. But you can make your presence known. Oh, and she did that all right.

Lewellen wore a Wake belt, a Wake hat and a shirt with four giant letters on it: W-A-K-E. “I was a walking billboard!” she said. Wake Forest women’s golf was in the air: Kupcho had just played outstanding golf to win the Augusta National women’s title.

Fast forward 11 months, to Thursday, March 12, 2020. The Wake women are in Arizona for a spring-break tournament. It’s the same day as the first round of the Players Championship. The news came in fast waves. The Arizona event, the rest of the season, the Augusta National Women’s event, the NCAAs: all cancelled.

Liu, the only senior on the Wake team, looked at Lewellen and said, “Coach, I’m done. My season, my college experience — it’s done.” It was heartbreaking for her to say and for her coach to hear.

Lewellen immediately organized an impromptu Senior Dinner, at an Italian restaurant in Arizona. Many toasts. Laughter, tears — and then a giant never mind. The NCAA, in its wisdom, decided to give seniors another year of eligibility. Liu will come back for the 2020-’21 school year and, having already earned a bachelor’s degree, will enroll in a one-year MBA program at Wake.

But what that school year will look like is anybody’s guess.

Right now, Lewellen is in what is called a “dead period,” when coaches cannot recruit. So she and her husband, John, an Episcopalian minister, and their two teenage sons, are taking their normal August vacation on a North Carolina beach now. They are water people. Lewellen had to cut an ocean swim short on Wednesday night. There were too many Portuguese man-of-wars in the water.

Nobody would say, right now, things are going swimmingly.

“John says, ‘You were having a great year, but that year came to an end, and golf has to be on the backburner now. We all have to focus on other things,’” Lewellen said Wednesday night.

Some days she can accept her husband’s take on it all, and some days she struggles with this here-and-now. She has her players to look after, her sons, her husband. She can’t recruit. She can swim in the ocean. She can enjoy family dinners in their vacation house in Holden Beach, N.C. She can play golf. Lewellen is playing more golf now than she has in close to 20 years, when she was trying to make it as a touring pro as Kim Byham.

But the main thing for a college coach isn’t playing. It’s watching. Kim Lewellen is looking forward to getting back out there and doing some good watching.

Michael Bamberger welcomes your comments at Michael_Bamberger@GOLF.com.

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