SPRINGER EARNS PGA TOUR CARD WEEKS AFTER DAUGHTER PASSES AWAY
KEEPING himself “grounded” with memories of his daughter, bereaved Nashville golfer Hayden Springer battled his way to a fourth-place finish at Q-School on Monday to earn a coveted US PGA Tour card.
Last month, Springer and his wife Emma mourned the death of three-year-old Sage, their first-born child who was diagnosed prenatally with a severe developmental disorder.
Sage was in Springer’s thoughts throughout the rain-delayed final round at TPC Sawgrass in Florida as the 26-year-old earned one of the PGA Tour cards awarded to the top five finishers.
“It’s kind of one of those things that I think about her, and I just think about her smile,” Springer said.
“Like that’s the thing that I can just close my eyes and think about her smiling, and it’s kind of a grounding, kind of gets you back to neutral.
“Not thinking about golf, not thinking about the last shot, the next shot, just thinking about her and her smile.”
Sage was never expected to make it out of hospital after her birth but was a “fighter”, Springer said. She survived major heart surgery at four months’ old and spent another two months in hospital before returning home for round-theclock care.
“She was just a very joyful girl, and she really loved her life,” her mother Emma said, wiping away tears in video posted on PGA Tour website.
“I think she just inspired joy in a lot of people, really made a lot of people feel joy and smile just knowing her.”
Springer, who has made only four PGA Tour starts since turning professional in 2019, booked his place at Q-School after topping PGA Tour Canada’s season-long Fortinet Cup race.
Midway through his final round at Dye’s Valley course at Sawgrass, the Texas Christian University (TCU) golfer was well-positioned when a torrential downpour cancelled play on Sunday.
He spent the rest of a nervous day with Emma, a nurse and fellow TCU golfer, and their one-yearold daughter Annie before returning on Monday.
After back-to-back bogeys from the 12th hole, he steadied with a birdie on the 14th but wobbled again with a bogey on the 17th after finding water.
However, a tap-in for par on the last hole was enough to finish joint fourth on eight-under with Mexico’s Raul Pereda, the pair nabbing the last two tour cards.
Australia’s Harrison Endycott won the event on 15-under, reclaiming his tour card after a tough rookie season, ahead of Americans Trace Crowe (11-under) and Blaine Hale Jr (nine-under).
Springer said he had essentially worked his whole life for a day like Monday.
“And you dream about it. It’s like you don’t know exactly when that day will come, but today is the day,” he said. — Reuters.
UKRAINE forward Artem Dovbyk scored twice as Girona wrote another chapter of their Cinderella story on Monday with a dominant 3-0 win over Alaves to leapfrog Real Madrid and reclaim top spot in the LaLiga standings.
The lowly Catalan side have forged ahead and sit alone at the top of the standings on 44 points, two ahead of Real Madrid and nine clear of last season’s champions Barcelona in third.
Girona’s stunning start to the LaLiga season scaled new heights last week when they claimed a statement 4-2 victory over Barca – their first league win over their Catalan rivals – and they kept the ball rolling against Alaves.
They dominated proceedings with the same intensity they have shown this season, with their 3-0 defeat at home to Real Madrid in late September, the only major blip in a stunning start to the campaign.
Dovbyk opened the scoring in the 23rd minute with a close-range strike from a rebound off the goalkeeper and Portu extended their lead just before the break with a fine first-time effort from the edge of the box.
Most of the hosts’ scoring opportunities came from the right side of their attack, with 21-year-old Brazil fullback Yan Couto troubling Alaves’ defence with his speed and skill.
On one of his sprints up the wing, he knocked the ball through a defender’s legs to get into the box before being fouled from behind in the 59th minute, earning a penalty that Ukrainian Dovbyk netted with a tidy finish right down the middle of the goal.
The win was Girona’s 14th in 17 games, giving them the most wins and points in Europe’s top five leagues at this stage of the season.
Their remarkable run has fuelled belief that they are equipped to challenge for a maiden title only two seasons after gaining promotion to the top flight.
“This team is so hungry that it doesn’t settle for anything,” Portu told Movistar Plus.
“The team wants more and we only think day to day about continuing.
“We can’t look at the standings. The key to the team is to stay focused, nobody relaxes here. It’s not easy to get used to winning, to have that extra pressure . . . but the team is handling it very well.” — Reuters.