Latest news with #WyndhamChampionship
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Masters 2025: Why does Aaron Rai wear two gloves?
When you're playing in your first Masters, you need to stay in your comfort zone to start. For Aaron Rai of England, the comfort zone includes a fashion statement rare for the world of golf these days: two gloves. Sure, they make him look like a jewel thief, but they work: Rai spent much of his round atop the Masters leaderboard on Thursday. Rai, who played his way into the Masters with a victory in the Wyndham Championship last August, has sported two gloves his entire career. The tradition dates back to when he was just a wee lad of eight. 'I just happened to be given these two gloves — the guy who actually makes them sent a pair over — and I got into the habit of wearing them," he said a few years back. "Then, a few weeks down the line, my dad forgot to put the two gloves in the bag so I had to play with one. It was terrible. I couldn't play, I couldn't feel the grip, so I've always stuck with the two gloves ever since.' Rai isn't the only member of his inner circle with game; his companion/caddie showed some impressive skills Wednesday at the Par 3 contest: Caddie goals. #themasters — The Masters (@TheMasters) April 9, 2025 Rai and his two gloves ought to be in the mix for the weekend, based on Thursday's round.
The Star
29-04-2025
- Sport
- The Star
Golf-Snedeker and Ogilvy named captains for 2026 Presidents Cup
Aug 10, 2024; Greensboro, North Carolina, USA; Brandt Snedeker hits his tee shot on two during the second round of the Wyndham Championship golf tournament at Sedgefield Country Club. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports (Reuters) -Brandt Snedeker and Australia's Geoff Ogilvy have been named as captains of the U.S. and International Teams, respectively, on Tuesday for the 2026 edition of the Presidents Cup at Medinah Country Club outside Chicago. Snedeker, a nine-times winner on the PGA Tour who was the U.S.-based circuit's 2007 rookie of the year, was a captain's assistant at last year's Presidents Cup and will serve as one of Keegan Bradley's vice captains for the 2025 Ryder Cup. The 44-year-old American represented the U.S. Team in the 2013 Presidents Cup, where he compiled a 2-3-0 record, and played in the 2012 and 2016 Ryder Cups. "I'm looking forward to leading our guys into Medinah for what will certainly be an amazing week of golf," said Snedeker. "Representing my country in team competition has been a highlight of my PGA Tour career, and I will lean on those experiences to ensure we are prepared and ready to compete against what I know will be a unified and determined International Team." Ogilvy, who counts the 2006 U.S. Open among his eight wins on the PGA Tour, takes over at the helm of the International Team after serving as a captain's assistant in the last four iterations of the Presidents Cup. The 47-year-old Australian played on three consecutive International Teams (2007, 2009, 2011), where he amassed a 7-6-1 record. "Since Ernie Els debuted the shield in 2019, the International Team's spirit has intensified and grown as we have rallied around this symbol which embodies our shared ambition and unifies both players and fans," said Ogilvy. "I intend to carry that momentum forward, just as the captains before me have, to build strong support for our international players in the lead up and throughout the event." The 2026 Presidents Cup will be held September 24-27, 2026 on Medinah Country Club's Course #3, site of the 2012 Ryder Cup where Europe overcame a four-point deficit on the final day to retain the Cup in what is known as the "Miracle at Medinah". The United States prevailed in Montreal last September for a 10th consecutive Presidents Cup triumph, improving to 13-1-1 in the biennial match play event against a line-up of international players from outside Europe. (Reporting by Frank Pingue in TorontoEditing by Christian Radnedge)
Straits Times
29-04-2025
- Sport
- Straits Times
Snedeker and Ogilvy named captains for 2026 Presidents Cup
Jul 7, 2023; Silvis, Illinois, USA; Geoff Ogilvy tees off on the second hole during the second round of the John Deere Classic golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports REUTERS Aug 10, 2024; Greensboro, North Carolina, USA; Brandt Snedeker hits his tee shot on two during the second round of the Wyndham Championship golf tournament at Sedgefield Country Club. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports REUTERS Brandt Snedeker and Australia's Geoff Ogilvy have been named as captains of the U.S. and International Teams, respectively, on Tuesday for the 2026 edition of the Presidents Cup at Medinah Country Club outside Chicago. Snedeker, a nine-times winner on the PGA Tour who was the U.S.-based circuit's 2007 rookie of the year, was a captain's assistant at last year's Presidents Cup and will serve as one of Keegan Bradley's vice captains for the 2025 Ryder Cup. The 44-year-old American represented the U.S. Team in the 2013 Presidents Cup, where he compiled a 2-3-0 record, and played in the 2012 and 2016 Ryder Cups. "I'm looking forward to leading our guys into Medinah for what will certainly be an amazing week of golf," said Snedeker. "Representing my country in team competition has been a highlight of my PGA Tour career, and I will lean on those experiences to ensure we are prepared and ready to compete against what I know will be a unified and determined International Team." Ogilvy, who counts the 2006 U.S. Open among his eight wins on the PGA Tour, takes over at the helm of the International Team after serving as a captain's assistant in the last four iterations of the Presidents Cup. The 47-year-old Australian played on three consecutive International Teams (2007, 2009, 2011), where he amassed a 7-6-1 record. "Since Ernie Els debuted the shield in 2019, the International Team's spirit has intensified and grown as we have rallied around this symbol which embodies our shared ambition and unifies both players and fans," said Ogilvy. "I intend to carry that momentum forward, just as the captains before me have, to build strong support for our international players in the lead up and throughout the event." The 2026 Presidents Cup will be held September 24-27, 2026 on Medinah Country Club's Course #3, site of the 2012 Ryder Cup where Europe overcame a four-point deficit on the final day to retain the Cup in what is known as the "Miracle at Medinah". The United States prevailed in Montreal last September for a 10th consecutive Presidents Cup triumph, improving to 13-1-1 in the biennial match play event against a line-up of international players from outside Europe. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
USA Today
23-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
PGA Tour FedEx Cup watch: 13 pros whose stock is down at the midway point of the season
PGA Tour FedEx Cup watch: 13 pros whose stock is down at the midway point of the season The PGA Tour's 2025 FedEx Cup season is making the turn this week. Half of the 36 regular-season events, which wrap up at the Wyndham Championship in early August, concluded last week with the RBC Heritage and Corales Puntacana Championship. Eighteen tournaments is a fairly good sample size to determine whose stock is up and down. We already checked in on the risers here. Now, it's time to look at a Baker's dozen who have been taking the down elevator of late in the FedEx Cup standings. We start with Scottie Scheffler who has tumbled from first to third. It's tough being Scottie in that his B- game is still pretty darn good — goo enough to be third best even with some time off to allow his hand injury to recover — and yet he's leading off the down list because he already had four wins and a major by this time last year and this time he's winless. While the regular season is halfway over, we are just getting to the good stuff. Three of the four majors remain to be played so there's still plenty of time for Scheffler to make his case for a fourth consecutive PGA Tour Player of the Year title and others to turn their less-than-stellar performance into a career year. But with only 30 pros making it to the Tour Championship, 50 securing entry to the signature events in 2026, 70 clinching a berth in the playoffs and a card next season and 100 cards available — down from 125 — it's getting late early as that great philosopher, Yogi Berra, once said. Let's take a closer look at who else still has work to be done in the second half of the season. Xander Schauffele It was always going to be hard to follow up on winning two majors last season, but Schauffele is going to have to get his act together just to make it back to East Lake. He was sidelined with a rib injury following the Sentry and missed two tournaments played in San Diego, where he grew up, before returning at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. His cut streak remains intact, but he shot 77-81 on the weekend at the Players and finished 72nd. He's bounced back with three straight top-20 finishes, but if you had X Man with just one top 10 at the midway point of the season and No. 62 in the FedEx Cup, then you probably also sold short on the Dow Jones the day before the latest massive sell-off. Schauffele still gets to defend the PGA Championship and British Open and odds are he finds his mojo soon, but the first half of the year wasn't up to his high standard. Wyndham Clark The 2023 U.S. Open champion has tailed off with just one top 10 this season. He's still made a bunch of cuts but experienced mostly pedestrian results other than a pair of 64s on the weekend in Houston to finish T-5. He's dipped from 18th to 92nd in SG: Off the Tee. Perhaps the PGA Championship being held at Quail Hollow, where he notched his first Tour title, is just what he needs to get the competitive juices flowing again. Will Zalatoris No top 10s and only three top 25s have Zalatoris sitting at 82nd in the FedEx Cup. He recently missed the cut at the Masters, too. His iron game remains sharp – he's 15th in SG: Approach the Green – but a balky putter has him ranked 142nd in SG: putting. Sahith Theegala After finishing third in the 2024 FedEx Cup final standings, Theegala was always going to face an uphill battle to top last year, but the first half of 2025 has been a bust. No top 10s, just one top 25, a T-17 at the Genesis Invitational, and finished 69th in his most recent start, beating just three golfers at the RBC Heritage, a no-cut, limited-field affair. He's 95th in the FedEx Cup, so there's much work to be done. The stats don't lie: he's dipped from 28th in SG: Off the Tee in 2024 to 122nd this season; from 44th in SG: Approach the Green to 140th; and SG: Total has tumbled from 16th to 120th. Max Homa Homa's struggles have been well documented, so we're not going to rehash his messy first half of the season and hit him while he's already down. He ended a stretch of five straight missed cuts with an impressive T-12 at the Masters, his first top-25 of the season, but finished 70th in the 72-man, no-cut RBC Heritage on Sunday. As bad as it has been, he's still banked more than $700,000, so this isn't 2017 Homa when he made just $18,008. But he ranks 100th in the FedEx Cup and has dug a hole if he wants to make the playoffs, qualify for signature events and earn a spot on the U.S. Ryder Cup team. Nick Dunlap The 21-year-old won twice last year and was awarded the Arnold Palmer Rookie of the Year award, so his performance this season to date qualifies as the quintessential sophomore slump. He's missed the cut in his last four starts with a cut and only beat one golfer last week at the RBC Heritage. He's shot a round of 78 or higher in four of his last five starts, and signed for 90 in the first round at Augusta National. He ranks 183rd in SG: Off the Tee, losing 1.681 strokes to the field, and hitting an abysmal 46.44 percent of fairways. He's a precocious talent, but he's going to have to figure out his driver and reduce the number of foul balls that have been plaguing him. Adam Scott The former world No. 1 is off to a pedestrian season, ranking 107th in the FedEx Cup, with no top 10s and just two top 25s. He also missed the cut at the Players and the Masters. It's not one part of his game that is responsible for the dip but rather the sum of the parts: he's tumbled from 17th in SG: Total to 94th. Rickie Fowler Much like last season, Fowler has been a non-factor, failing to record a single top 10 and just two top 25s. He's had Sunday-itis, recording just one round in the 60s in the final round, a 69 in Houston. His last four results have been discouraging: 71-T52-T30-68. In his resurgent 2023 season, Fowler ranked 7th in SG: Approach the Green but has fallen to 115th this season; dipped from 21st in SG: Around the Green in 2023 to 145th; and whereas he ranked 12th in SG: Total in 2023, he currently sits 138th. It's no wonder he's mired in 113th place in the FedEx Cup. Matt Fitzpatrick The Englishman and 2022 U.S. Open champion has hit a rough patch that he said last week dates to last season when he went winless, recording just three top 10s and finishing 40th in the FedEx Cup. Allow the 30-year-old Fitzy to describe the current state of his game: 'It's rubbish, simple as that,' he said. 'It's been awful. Yeah, it's been the worst I've ever played, in fact.' In nine starts, Fitzpatrick has failed to finish in the top 20 and is languishing in 114th place in the FedEx Cup. During his slump, his world ranking has tumbled from a high of sixth to 79th, and last month he parted ways with caddie Billy Foster. The numbers tell a sad story: 129th in SG: putting; 139th in SG: Around the Green; 144th in SG: Approach the Green; and 140th in SG: Total. Mark Hubbard 'Homeless Hubbard' is going to be making his home on the Korn Ferry Tour if he doesn't start producing better results. He's No. 119 in the FedEx Cup. He missed five cuts in a span of six events before a T-12 at the opposite field event in the Dominican Republic. He's missed the cut in six of 12 starts after making 26 of 30 last year and was a perfect 11-for-11 last year. He ranked 74th in SG: Total last year. This year? 164th. Peter Malnati It's as if Malnati made a deal with the devil to win his second Tour title last March at the Valspar Championship. It's been pretty bleak ever since. He's made just four cuts in 11 starts this season and his best finish is T-49 in Phoenix. He snapped a streak of four missed cuts in a row at the Valero Texas Open but shot 77-80 on the weekend. Malnati changed coaches in March and so far the results haven't followed. He's No. 187 in the FedEx Cup but at least has the safety of another exempt year for his victory in Tampa. Brendon Todd Todd, a 39-year-old three-time Tour winner, has had many ups and downs during his career, and it appears he's hit another rough patch. This season, he has missed three cuts, withdrawn once and finished 78th in the no-cut AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. He's shot in the 60s – just once – as many times as he's shot in the 80s. He's 210th in the FedEx Cup. Todd last competed in early March at the Cognizant Classic. On the bright side, he's worked his way out of a slump before, so he should be able to do it again. Nick Hardy At No. 199 in the FedEx Cup, Hardy, 29, has dug himself a big hole in the first half of the season. He missed his first six cuts and his only two times making a paycheck were in opposite field events. Last week's T-41 in the Dominican Republic is his best finish so far. Short game and short stick have been the big culprits. Hardy's lone win came at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans two years ago, so hopefully a return to the Big Easy will make the game feel less hard.
USA Today
12-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
These two brothers set to enjoy a Masters Sunday they never even dreamed of growing up
These two brothers set to enjoy a Masters Sunday they never even dreamed of growing up AUGUSTA, Ga. – Scout McNealy was enjoying a peach ice cream sandwich outside the Scorers Building on Saturday afternoon while his oldest brother Maverick filled out his card. One might look at the McNealy brothers and think this Masters experience is the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. 'To be honest, this never even crossed my mind, playing the Masters,' said Maverick after a third-round 71. 'We were hockey players growing up.' Scout, a former collegiate golfer at Baylor, was flipping houses in northern Nevada when Maverick asked if he'd caddie in the fall. Their first tournament together was the Wyndham Championship, where Tropical Storm Debby wreaked havoc on the schedule. They played 72 holes in 2 ½ days before heading to Memphis, where the temperatures soared over 100. 'I promised him it gets better,' said Maverick. Boy did it ever. The pair ended the season with Maverick's first PGA Tour victory at the RSM Classic, securing his an invitation to the Masters. 'I tell people it's like playing Golden Tee,' joked Scout. 'I just point and the ball somehow ends up there.' The first time the McNealy brothers played Augusta was back in 2017. All four brothers played with their father, Scott, and two members. The McNealy boys – Maverick, Dakota, Colt and Scout – are named after American cars because their grandfather worked in the Detroit auto industry. Scott co-founded the tech company Sun Microsystems. Colt played the round of his life that day, carding a 73 from the tournament tees. 'That was pretty studly,' said Maverick, who won 11 times at Stanford. Scout didn't have his best that day, but he did birdie Nos. 12 and 16. 'That was just a bucket list item,' said Maverick of the family round, 'never really had it in mind that we'd be back and definitely not really in the Masters.' On Monday of Houston week, Maverick and Scout returned to Augusta National for the first time in eight years to play with AT&T CEO John Stankey. The most memorable shot of the day came when Scout hit driver off the deck on the 15th and flew the green. Maverick McNealy made his first made cut in a major this week This weekend at the Masters marks only the third time Maverick has made the cut in a major. His ball-striking has improved of late and he's feeling good on the greens. Maverick lauded Scout's green-reading skills and ability to keep him level inside the ropes. 'I just try to keep it fun,' said Scout, 'making it feel like a game when sometimes it's hard to.' Team Mav donned matching black hats outside the ropes this week to show their support. The Par 3 Contest, with wife Maya by his side, was especially memorable. Maverick said he's never had more fun on the course than working alongside his youngest brother. 'For me, I'm really grateful that he's taking the time and putting everything else in his life on hold for probably the most valuable couple of years in my career,' said Maverick. 'There's a lot changing in the world of golf right now, and I'd like to think I'm coming up on my prime, and it's a great time to play good.'
