Rahm could be lock for Player of the Year
The next PGA Tour season starts this week, believe it or not, and if it seems like last season just ended, well, that’s because it did.
The 2020-21 season came to a close at the Tour Championship nine days ago and after just a week off, the new season is here. It starts in Napa, California, at the Fortinet Championship, which was named the Safeway Open the past few seasons. The tournament got its start in 2007 at Grayhawk in Scottsdale. It was called the Fry’s Electronics Open back then.
But let’s take one last look at last season, one in which Arizona State alum Jon Rahm put together a remarkable run.
He won just once (though it was a major) at the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. He was runner-up at the Tour Championship and FedEx Cup finale and posted a Tour-leading 15 top-10 finishes.
As golf stats guru Justin Ray points out, Rahm was first in several other significant categories: scoring average (69.300, earning him the Vardon Trophy), strokes gained total, strokes gained tee to green and birdie average.
Last week Rahm earned his first PGA of America Player of the Year Award, and he’s one of five finalists for the PGA Tour Player of the Year award. Patrick Cantlay, Bryson DeChambeau, Harris English and Collin Morikawa are the other finalists.
Rahm, Mickelson to Napa, Ryder Cup
As mentioned, the new PGA Tour season starts in Napa, and it’s not difficult attracting some of the game’s top names to wine country. Rahm is in the field, as is Phil Mickelson. Those two are looking to get in some competition before next week’s Ryder Cup, where Rahm, of Spain, will be a part of the European team, and Mickelson will be a vice captain for the American squad.
Mickelson, who has yet to go all-in on the PGA Tour Champions circuit, recently committed to the Furyk and Friends tournament in Jacksonville, Florida, on Oct. 8-10. Jim Furyk hosts the event. It’ll be Mickelson’s fourth senior circuit tournament, and his first since teeing it up at Tucson National in February.
“We talked to Phil and said we’d love to have him. He reached out and was excited to come,” Furyk said. “There was no twisting of arms. He’s excited about being here.”
Calcavecchia back from surgery
Last Friday, Mark Calcavecchia walked to the first tee at Norwood Hills Country Club in St. Louis, stuck a peg in the ground and did something he hadn’t done in 264 days: hit a golf ball in competition.
It’s the longest layoff the Phoenix resident has had since he took up the game almost a half century ago.
Calcavecchia knew he would be looking at a lengthy rehab when he underwent back-fusion surgery in early January to deal with an injury that has bothered him for a decade.
He has dealt with back pain for years, treating it with epidurals and cortisone shots. But after the pain started shooting down his leg – and he was knocked to the ground by back spasms last October – he knew it was time to have surgery similar to what Tiger Woods had done (but with different vertebrae).
The Ascension Charity Classic marked Calcavecchia’s 991st combined start on the PGA Tour and PGA Tour Champions. He shot 73-76-74 and only beat six others in the field but he’s back on track to join the rare club of players who have made a combined 1,000 starts on the two tours.
Grant leaves ASU, turns pro
Linn Grant has left the Arizona State women’s golf team early to pursue her professional career. Grant will begin that quest at the second stage of the LPGA Qualifying School, which begins in October.
“We are wishing Linn Grant the best of luck with this next step in her golf career. She has contributed so much to this program and we are grateful she decided to become a Sun Devil,” ASU head coach Missy Farr-Kaye told thesundevils.com.
Grant was No. 1 in the Golfstat Rankings just ahead of the 2021 NCAA Championship in May. She was an All-Pac-12 golfer last season and finished in the top 10 in 12 of her 16 college tournaments.
Chip shots
Former ASU golfer Olivia Mehaffey will make her second LPGA start on Thursday at the Cambia Portland Classic. She turned pro immediately after the NCAA Women’s Championship in May and made her LPGA debut in July in Northern Ireland, where she finished tied for 17th. This will be her first LPGA event in the U.S.
The ASU and Arizona women’s golf teams started their seasons this week at the Annika Intercollegiate in Lake Elmo, Minnesota, while the ASU men also started this week at the Maridoe Collegiate Invitational in Carrollton, Texas. The UA men already have their first tournament under their belts after finishing seventh in the 14-team Maui Jim Intercollegiate in Scottsdale at Mirabel Golf Club, 23 strokes back of tournament winner Georgia Tech. The Wildcat men won the Pac-12 title last season.