JOHNSON BACK IN THE SWING
Set to resume play on the PGA Tour
Dustin Johnson is done falling down stairs and set to resume play on the PGA Tour as a favourite at this week’s Wells Fargo Championship.
The $7.5-million tournament takes place at Eagle Point Golf Club in Wilmington, N.C.
There are four Canadian golfers in the field, including Nick Taylor, David Hearn, Mackenzie Hughes and Brad Fritsch. Saskatchewan’s Graham DeLaet will sit this one out and get ready for The Players Championship.
Hearn and DeLaet are coming off a T-22nd finish in two-man play at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.
DeLaet is currently 63rd in the FedEx Cup standings and 62nd in official money this season with $906,058 after 13 events.
Joining Johnson among the favourites this week are Adam Scott, Webb Simpson, Jon Rahm, Willie McGirt, Paul Casey and Phil Mickelson.
DAKOTA DUNES ALUMNI WATCH
Plenty of former Dakota Dunes Open participants are playing in the Wells Fargo this week.
That includes Taylor, Hughes and Fritsch as well as James Hahn, Andres Gonzales, Willy Wilcox, C.T. Pan, Joel Dahmen, Tom Hoge, Mark Hubbard, Bobby Wyatt, Tyler Aldridge and 2016 SIGA Dakota Dunes Open contender Carter Jenkins, a former University of North Carolina Tar Heel who gets to play in his home state.
Hahn will tee it up with Mickelson.
MACKENZIE TOUR-PGA TOUR CANADA Q-SCHOOL
The Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada Q-School is underway in Courtenay, B.C., on Vancouver Island.
Former Dakota Dunes contender Eric Onesi, Dakota favourite Hugo Leon’s younger brother Horacio Leon and Mackenzie Tour veteran Riley Wheeldon are among the top golfers as the event wraps up its second round Wednesday.
The tournament also features Saskatchewan’s Jerry Christiansen, a native of Air Ronge who finished his high schooling in Saskatoon.
After two rounds, Christiansen finds himself well off the pace at 10 over par after shooting 77 in both rounds.
WEB.COM TOUR
The Web.com Tour stops in the Dominican Republic this week for the $625,000 Corales Puntacana Resort and Club Championship in Punta Cana.
Among the favourites is Canada’s Ryan Yip, another former Dakota Dunes Open participant who has moved on from the Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada ranks.
There are currently five former Dakota Dunes participants in the Web.com’s top 25. The top 25 golfers from that tour’s money list at the conclusion of the season will earn their PGA Tour card for next season.
Among them are Canada’s Roger Sloan and Corey Conners.
Joining them are Taylor Gooch, Sam Ryder and Brandon Harkins.
LATINOAMERICA TOUR
Mexico’s Jose de Jesus Rodriguez — another golfer who played at the Dunes just south of Saskatoon — is among the top five golfers on the PGA’s Latinoamerica Tour.
He ranks No. 5 with $31,500 through two events.
Germany’s Max Rottluff, who won the 2016 SIGA Dakota Dunes Open in Saskatchewan, sits at No. 12 with $11,900 after one event.
Carlos Sainz Jr., Jose Toledo, Kelvin Day, Benjamin Alvarado, Derek Gillespie, Jorge Fernandez-Valdes, Bo Hoag and Doug Letson are among the other Mackenzie Tour/PGA Tour Canada alumni sitting in the Order of Merit’s top 125.
LPGA TOUR IN MEXICO
The LPGA Tour is in Mexico this week for the Citibanamex Lorena Ochoa Match Play in Mexico City.
The field includes Canada’s Brooke Henderson and Alena Sharp.
Henderson will play Australia’s Katherine Kirk in Thursday’s opening round pairing.
Henderson, who is No. 13 in the Rolex rankings, has won $205,751 this season. She has career LPGA earnings of $2,030,465 — not bad for a teenager.
RULE OF THE WEEK (Provided by Golf Saskatchewan)
Q A practical joker removes the flagstick from the hole and sticks it into the putting green some distance from the hole. The players approaching the green are unaware of this action and they play toward the flagstick and not the hole. Do the players have the option to replay?
A No. In equity (Rule 1-4), the players must accept the resultant advantage or disadvantage.
(While this does appear to be an unfair, a cruel or an unusual punishment as amateur golf goes, there will be someone in your group who has a two-foot birdie putt. Enjoy the start to the year and play by the rules ... if possible.)