DELAET SHOULD BE WELL RESTED
Field stacked for one of the richest events on PGA Tour
If you haven’t yet checked it out, the field is absolutely stacked for The Players this week at TPC Sawgrass.
There’s no shortage of possible contenders in the US$10.5-million golfing event, which just happens to be one of the richest tournaments on the PGA Tour.
Where does one even start? There’s newly crowned Masters champion Sergio Garcia, Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose, Rickie Fowler, Jordan Spieth, Jason Day, Henrik Stenson, Martin Kaymer and Adam Scott.
Also in the mix are Hideki Matsuyama, Phil Mickelson, Justin Thomas, Louis Oosthuizen, Brooks Koepka, Matt Kuchar, Kevin Kisner, Paul Casey, Jon Rahm, Kevin Chappell, Graeme McDowell, Lee Westwood, Jim Furyk, Keegan Bradley, Jimmy Walker, Zach Johnson, Luke Donald, Charl Schwartzel, Webb Simpson, Jonas Blixt, Jason Dufner, William McGirt, Branden Grace, Bubba Watson, Patrick Reed and Francesco Molinari, among others.
McIlroy, who is coming off seven straight top-10s in stroke play events, is considered a favourite.
The Canadian contingent at Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., includes Graham DeLaet, who should be well rested and focused after skipping the Wells Fargo Championship and Valero Texas Open before that in between the RBC Heritage and Zurich Classic.
He’ll be teeing it up Thursday and Friday with Ben Crane and Grayson Murray.
DeLaet will be one of the underdogs this week, still looking for that major breakthrough and first PGA Tour victory.
Fellow Canucks in the field are Adam Hadwin (golfing Thursday and Friday with Luke Donald and Alex Noren), David Hearn (Boo Weekley and Robert Garrigus) and Mackenzie Hughes (Jim Herman and K.J. Choi).
MACKENZIE TOUR Q-SCHOOL
The Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada’s Q-school wrapped up this past week with Horacio Leon — a little brother to Dakota Dunes Open mainstay Hugo Leon — earning top medal honours at 19-under for the four-day tournament.
Eric Onesi, a lefty who contended at Dakota a couple years back with a top-five placing, finished as the runner-up at 14-under.
Canada’s Riley Wheeldon, a Mackenzie Tour veteran and past winner, placed sixth.
Saskatchewan hopeful Jerry Christiansen didn’t fare as well. Christiansen ended up tied for 107th at 20-over par with rounds of 77-77-81-73. Christiansen, who also came up short in Q school the previous year, finished with 19 bogeys, two double-bogeys and three birdies through the four-day tournament.
FIRST CHAMPIONS WIN FOR DALY
Two-time major winner John Daly — the special guest host for the Synergy 8’s 2010 Drive for Kids Campaign, which raised $160,000 for a pediatric ultrasound machine in Saskatoon — won his first PGA Champions Tour event last week.
It was the first win for Daley, a five-time PGA Tour winner, since the 2004 Buick Invitational.
Daley collected a cheque for US$322,500 for finishing first at the Insperity Invitational in Texas to move to No. 8 in the Charles Schwab Cup race.
Speaking of the Synergy 8, this year’s event will feature fellow Champions Tour player Colin (Monty) Montgomerie. The 53-year-old Scottish golfer is taking the place of David Duval, who is unable to make it to Saskatoon because of a scheduling conflict.
The 2017 event takes place Aug. 29 with golf TV personality Holly Sonders, who returns from last year’s event, as guest host. The tournament will be played at the Willows Golf and Country Club, followed by a dinner with Montgomerie at Prairieland Park.
(Provided by Golf Saskatchewan)
Decision 23/7 Fallen Tree
Q: Is a fallen tree a loose impediment?
A: If it is still attached to the stump, no; if it is not attached to the stump, yes.
If there is an attached stump, it is treated as a short tree. Play the ball as it lies. There is no free relief.
Loose impediments are natural objects, including stones, leaves, twigs, branches and the like, dung, worms, insects and the like, and the casts and heaps made by them, provided they are not fixed or growing, solidly embedded, or adhering to the ball.
Sand and loose soil are loose impediments on the putting green, but not elsewhere.
Snow and natural ice, other than frost, are either casual water or loose impediments, at the option of the player.
Dew and frost are not loose impediments.