Latest news with #MyrtleBeachClassic
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Pro golf tour adding multi-year stop in Midlands. Here are the details
Professional golf is coming to the Midlands next year. The Korn Ferry Tour is bringing an event to Woodcreek Golf Club in Elgin, 20 miles east of Columbia. The Colonial Life Charity Classic will be May 11-17, 2026. An agreement is in place to have the event there for five years with Colonial Life as the title sponsor. It will be held the week after the PGA Tour's Myrtle Beach Classic this year. Advertisement An official announcement was made Friday afternoon with Korn Ferry president Alex Baldwin, City of Columbia mayor Daniel Rickenmann and state senators and representatives in attendance. 'This is going to have an incredible impact across our community,' Rickenmann said. '… We are talking about seven to eight million dollars (per year) in our community. It also exposes our junior golfers that there is an opportunity, allowing them to be next to the next Scottie Scheffler or Justin Thomas or whoever their hero is. 'It also gives people an opportunity to explore the Midlands and get to see what we have in Richland County … and experience what we all know is a great community right here.' The tournament will also have a charitable element, with proceeds going to the United Way. Advertisement The Korn Ferry Tour, which was started in 1990, is a developmental league for the PGA Tour. In 2024, 30 Korn Ferry golfers earned PGA Tour cards. Some of the notable Korn Ferry Tour alumni include Scheffler, a three-time major winner, as well as Justin Thomas, Bryson DeChambeau, Jason Day, Zach Johnson, Bubba Watson and Tony Finau. According to Baldwin, 82 percent of current PGA Tour members have played on the Korn Ferry Tour. 'You walk in the room here and five minutes here you can feel the excitement. I know we got a membership that is champing at the bit to be involved. And we couldn't be more excited,' Baldwin said. This will be the Korn Ferry Tour's second event in South Carolina. The BMW Charity Pro-Am is held at the Thornblade Club in Greer. The also is an event in Raleigh, North Carolina, on the Tour's 26-event schedule. Advertisement South Carolina also has two PGA Tour events — The RBC in Hilton Head Island and the ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic. 'Love of being a native of Columbia and proud of what is going on in this state. But there is a void in the Midlands for golf and didn't have a significant event,' Eventus CEO/president Gene Hallman said. 'We want to make this more than a golf tournament. We want to make it a social event.' Hallman, an Irmo High graduate who got his masters at the University of South Carolina, founded Eventus and his company will oversee everything that goes on with the tournament outside of the ropes. He said plans are for various events during the week of the tournament such as concerts, celebrity pro-am and junior golf clinics. Former PGA Tour and Korn Ferry player Chris Baker will be the tournament's director. Baker, an Iowa native, is recently retired from professional golf and lives at Woodcreek. Baker is thought to be the first former golfer to be a director of a professional golf event. Advertisement Hallman's company has overseen events on the LPGA Tour, Champions Tour and United States golf events such as the U.S. Women's Open, US Senior Open and Walker Cup. His Alabama-based company also brought the Southeastern Conference baseball tournament to Hover, Alabama. So, Hallman got the ball rolling on bringing the event to the Midlands. He made a phone call to his college buddy and former Hammond basketball coach Mark McClam and then Colonial Life president Tim Arnold on Jan. 11 to kick things off. Things went quickly from there and were wrapped up in April. Once the sponsorship was secure, talks started with the PGA/Korn Ferry Tour began to ramp up. The Tour has 26 events and won't add any more. So, the Colonial Life Charity Classic will replace a current event on Korn Ferry's 26-event schedule. The final piece was to secure the course to host an event of this stature. A call went out to Woodcreek owner Harold Pickrel, who bought the course5 1/2years ago and continued to make upgrades. Advertisement Woodcreek Golf Club opened in 1997 and was designed by Tom Fazio. The course has hosted some mini tour events such as Hooters Tour and statewide golf events, but none of this magnitude. Pickrel was definitely on board with it. He already has invested $5 million in the course and likely $2 million more to fine-tune some things, including building an amphitheater next to the clubhouse. 'I was quite honored to be offered an opportunity to host an event like this,' Pickrel said. 'We call this course one of the best-kept secrets around. To have a chance to show off our course to some of the best players in the world and other people to see it is special. It gives us notoriety.'
1News
17-05-2025
- Sport
- 1News
Ryan Fox overcomes poor start, still in hunt at PGA Championship
Kiwi golfer Ryan Fox remains in the hunt at the PGA Championship after fighting back from a poor start to his second round this morning - a common theme among some of golf's biggest names as they survived the cut. Fox, fresh off his PGA Tour win last week at the Myrtle Beach Classic, sits four-under overall in a tie for eighth, four shots off surprise leader Jhonattan Vegas of Venezuela at the midway mark at Quail Hollow. The Kiwi opening the day with two bogeys in his first three holes and added a third on the par-four 12th, but a stronger back nine featuring three birdies allowed him to card an even-par 71. Vegas meanwhile played the best golf hardly anyone saw this morning in the PGA Championship. Brilliant sunshine after three days of rain brought out a full house of spectators expecting a great show. They just didn't get it from who they came to see — Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele — and most of them were long gone when Vegas worked his magic in the late afternoon. Two good par saves. Two short birdies. Another par save. And then three birdies at the end for a 7-under 64, giving the 40-year-old Venezuela his best score in 45 rounds at the majors and a two-shot lead on an opening day of surprises. "Incredible," Vegas said when asked to summarise his round. "Any chance you get to shoot 64 at a major championship is always great." Equally incredible is that for the first time in at least 30 years, none of the top 10 players in the world ranking could be found in the top 10 of the leader board after 18 holes at a major. The biggest crowds belonged to the top three in the world, and it wasn't nearly as inspiring as four of the last five majors they have combined to win. At his first major since winning the Masters to complete the career Grand Slam, McIlroy didn't make birdie over his last 12 holes and had nothing to say about that after a 3-over 74 sent him straight to the range. Scheffler, the world No. 1, and defending PGA champion Schauffele had plenty to say about mud balls on tee shots, particularly on the 16th hole that sent both to double bogey. Scheffler at least holed two shots from off the green — one for birdie, one for eagle — and he finished with a 6-iron from 196m to just under 1m on No. 9 that sent him to a 69. "I did a good job battling and keeping a level head out there during a day which there was definitely some challenging aspects to the course," Scheffler said. "Did a good job posting a number on a day where I didn't have my best stuff." Vegas tied for the lead by getting up-and-down from behind the green on the par-5 seventh. He holed a 5.4m birdie putt on the short par-4 eighth. And on the rugged ninth hole, his tee shot held up in the grass just short of the bunker. He hit that to 7.6m and ended his amazing day with a third straight birdie. He has never finished in the top 20 in a major and hadn't qualified for this one in three years. Vegas had a two-shot lead over Ryan Gerard, the PGA Tour rookie who grew up in North Carolina and was the only other player to reach 7 under until bogeys on his last two holes. He was joined at 66 by Cam Davis of Australia. They weren't the only players who might an introduction to casual golf fans. Alex Smalley, the first alternate who found out about 15 hours before he teed off that he had a spot in the field, rolled in a 70-foot eagle putt on his way to a 67. Ryan Fox of New Zealand, who qualified by winning the Myrtle Beach Classic, also was at 67. They were joined by a large group that included Luke Donald, the 47-year-old Ryder Cup captain for Europe who was the only player without a bogey on his card. The US captain, Keegan Bradley, was another shot behind. "It's always fun, bogey-free in a major championship on a course that you wouldn't have thought would be ideal for me," said Donald, who is only in the field because of a PGA of America tradition to invite active Ryder Cup captains. Considering the champions the majors have produced in recent years, this leaderboard more closely resembled the Myrtle Beach Classic. None of the top eight players have won a major, nor have they ever seriously contended. Gerard looked comfortable playing before a home crowd. He made a tough par on the rugged ninth hole, then ran off four straight birdies on the back nine, and was 7 under for the round after holing a 18.2m for eagle on the par-5 15th. Davis had seven birdies and narrowly missed a 3m par putt on his last hole for the lead. Not bad for someone who recently ended a stretch of five straight missed cuts and hasn't had a top 10 since early February. "It's just constantly trying to go back to things that have worked, trying to keep the head in a place where you're not feeling like you're banging your head against the wall all the time," Davis said. 'It's letting it organically come — good processes, good routines, all those little one percenters add up to good golf eventually." The others at 67 were Stephan Jaeger and Aaron Rai, who both became first-time PGA Tour winners last year. Scheffler at 69 had the best score of anyone from the top 10 in the world. McIlroy, a four-time winner at Quail Hollow, came into this PGA Championship believing that thrill-a-hole Masters title last month that gave him the career Grand Slam would be the highlight of his career no matter what he does from here. A sloppy round, particularly off the tee, wasn't going to change that. It was no less surprising to see him struggle at Quail Hollow, posting his highest round since a 76 in the second round of the Wells Fargo Championship in 2018. Schauffele wound up with a 72 in his bid to go back-to-back in the PGA Championship. Jordan Spieth likely will have to wait until next year at Aronimink to try for the career Grand Slam. The three-time major champion, lacking only the Wanamaker Trophy for his major collection, ran off three straight bogeys early on the back nine and shot 76. - Additional reporting by 1News
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
PGA Tour Golfer Surprisingly Withdraws Mid-Round During Championship
The PGA Championship teed off on Thursday at Quail Hollow. End of day, Jhonattan Vegas held the lead, followed by Cameron Davis and Ryan Gerard tied at second. Luke Donald and Ryan Fox remained in fourth, tied with three others. Before play resumed for round two on Friday, fans received some unfortunate news. Advertisement Patton Kizzire has decided to withdraw from the championship due to an injury after playing the first round. PGA Championship posted on X, "Patton Kizzire has withdrawn from the 2025 PGA Championship due to injury," on Friday morning. He carded an even-par 70 in the opening round at Quail Hollow—posting a 34 (−1) on the front nine and a 36 (+1) on the back, to sit tied for 58th on the leaderboard after 18 holes. Patton Kizzire watches his shot from the eighth tee box during the second round of the Myrtle Beach Classic golf tournament.© Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images Before this, he participated in the ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic. He shot 67-68-70-69 to finish tied for 20th at 10-under par, solidly and consistently showcasing four consecutive sub-71 rounds but narrowly missing a top-10 result overall. Another golfer, Shahith Theegala, withdrew before the championship began due to an issue he was suffering in his neck. His replacement Alex Smalley, did quite good in the opening round. Advertisement He shot a 4-under-par 67 at Quail Hollow Club, carding five birdies, an eagle at the par-5 4th, and three bogeys to sit tied for fourth place. A last-minute alternate and Duke University alumnus, he drained a 71-foot eagle putt on No. 17 and thrived on generous fairways and receptive greens. His performance left him just one stroke behind early leader Vegas. Related: PGA Championship Makes Historic Announcement
Daily Mirror
16-05-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mirror
PGA Championship contender cashes in after star forced to withdraw
Alex Smalley was the first alternate for the PGA Championship and only found out he would be competing one day before the tournament, yet he made a major impression on the event's first day Just a day before the PGA Championship started, Alex Smalley was on tenterhooks, unsure whether he'd even get to swing his clubs at Quail Hollow. As an alternate, his participation hinged on the withdrawal of a qualified player. Fate intervened when Sahith Theegala was forced to step aside due to a lingering neck injury that saw him bow out early from the Truist Championship the previous week. The injury failed to heal in time for the prestigious event and subsequently opened the door for Smalley, 28, who has seized the moment spectacularly. From barely being in the tournament to soaring to T4 in the leaderboard as Friday dawned, the North Carolina-born star turned what seemed improbable into reality. "I really prepared just like any other week," said Smalley following his astounding start to the tournament. "Obviously, it's interesting being first alternate. I was losing hope after every passing hour. And you know, you hear about everybody's ailments being first alternate." Not knowing his fate until Wednesday afternoon didn't hinder Smalley, who lit up the course with three birdies across four holes on the back nine. Although he gave away a couple of shots on the formidable par-four over on the front nine, he spectacularly clawed back into contention with a mesmerising 70-foot eagle putt on the par-five seventh, reports the Express. After securing a birdie at the eighth and maintaining par on the challenging ninth, Smalley ended three shots behind the leader Jhonattan Vegas. Despite his delight, Smalley spared a thought for Theegala. "I wish him the best and hope to have him back out here as quick as possible because us players and I know the fans really like him a lot," Smalley said. "It was a shame to see him not be able to play this week. But it was nice to get an opportunity to play." Smalley almost made the cut for the PGA Championship a week earlier. Last week at Myrtle Beach Classic, he was just two shots off the lead, and he had hope due to a unique circumstance. A space was reserved at the PGA Championship in case the Myrtle Beach winner was already qualified. It boiled down to Ryan Fox, Mackenzie Hughes and Harry Higgs. Since Hughes was pre-qualified for the PGA, Smalley would step in if Hughes clinched the victory. However, with Hughes bogeying the final hole and Fox winning the tie-breaker, Smalley remained first alternate. Smalley made the hopeful journey back to Greensboro, North Carolina, fingers crossed for a chance to play. Reflecting on his opportunity, he said: "I live about an hour and a half from here in Greensboro. I grew up just north of Raleigh. To have a major championship in your home state is awesome. To be able to get in last minute is great." He has also been the first alternate on a few occasions on the PGA Tour. While it's somewhat of a stretch to expect anything major from him, with the star finishing in T23 at his last PGA Champs in 2023, it's worth remembering that John Daly famously won the 1991 event as the ninth alternate in his rookie season on the Tour. 'I guess I've had decent luck at first alternate before, but I don't really want to be in that position anymore,' Smalley said. However, this pans out for him, it's been a very unexpected 24 hours for the US star.
The Star
16-05-2025
- Sport
- The Star
Golf-Fox takes the bait, makes most of late entry to PGA Championship
FILE PHOTO: May 13, 2025; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Ryan Fox fresh from the Myrtle Beach Classic on a practice day for the PGA Championship golf tournament at Quail Hollow. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images/File Photo CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (Reuters) - New Zealand's Ryan Fox would have been fishing this week had he not secured a last-minute spot in the PGA Championship four days ago, but after making the most of the opening round on Thursday he could still reel in a major catch. Fox, who earned his maiden PGA Tour win on Sunday when he chipped in from just outside 50 feet on the first playoff hole in Myrtle Beach, opened with a four-under-par 67 at Quail Hollow Club that left him in solid position. "It's amazing what finding a bit of confidence can do," Fox said after mixing six birdies with two bogeys to sit in a share of fourth place, three shots back of leader Jhonattan Vegas. "Like all of a sudden the bad shots that were irking me a couple weeks ago didn't seem to matter quite so much today." What makes Fox's opening round, which was played in sunny and steamy conditions, all the more remarkable is that it comes of the heels of four consecutive weeks of competition. Had Fox not triumphed in Myrtle Beach to secure a spot in the 156-player field this week, he certainly had an idea how he would have spent his downtime ahead of the May 22-25 PGA Tour event at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas. "I guarantee, I'd be going fishing at least once. Outside of that, you know, just being dad. This is five weeks in a row," said Fox. "So I would put the sticks down for five or six days and just relaxed and got ready for Colonial next week. But obviously it's been a nice change to come here instead." Fox, whose best result at a major is a share of 16th place at the 2019 British Open, is the son of New Zealand All Blacks great Grant Fox, and after his opening round recounted some advice that his father gave him as a young child. "The idea of it was, if you -- like hard work beats talent. If you work hard to be the best you can be, you can live with whatever happens," said Fox. "But if you don't do the work, there will always be that little thing in your head, the what if; what if I had done this differently or done this better. That's what Dad drilled into me as a kid. "I certainly learnt a lot off him growing up, and you know, he was -- I think he's incredibly proud. He was incredibly proud last week with the win. "Yeah, very lucky to have that kind of experience growing up. He was on my bag a lot, too. Even though it's a different sport, I gained a lot early on from that." (Reporting by Frank Pingue; Editing by Michael Perry)
