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Phil Mickelson goes full Phil, drama in the dark at Pebble

Drama in the dark

The weather was biblical at Pebble Beach on Sunday. Making it fitting that golf's Methuselah stood atop the leader board at round's end.

Phil Mickelson, months away from turning 49 years old, owns a three-shot lead with two holes remaining as the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am was suspended due to darkness.

Mickelson, who began the day three shots back of Paul Casey, made the turn in 33 and tied the Englishman with a birdie at the 10th. Back-to-back bogeys from Casey gave the advantage to the five-time major winner, and Mickelson seized the opening with consecutive red figures at the 14th and 15th, reshaping the final three holes from competition into Mickelson's fifth crowning at the Clambake.

Except that coronation will have to wait until Monday. Even by Crosby standards, Mother Nature was a fickle beast on Sunday, with heavy rains and hail causing a series of delays. Mickelson and Casey didn't tee off until 1:09 p.m., almost three-and-a-half hours behind their scheduled time, leaving the duo to fight the fading light on the second nine. Though Mickelson wanted to continue—more on this in a moment—play was called with Casey looking at a three-footer for par on the 16th green.

Pebble's closing holes lend themselves to theater, and Mickelson's past is littered with, ahem, interesting finishes. Nevertheless, weeks after letting one go at the Desert Classic, Mickelson is on the precipice of career PGA Tour win No. 44. At an age where professional golfers have historically been sent to pasture, Mickelson continues to scorn Father Time.

“I know a lot can happen in these two holes,” he said, “and they have happened in the past, so I want to stay focused and just come out tomorrow and try to finish it off. I wish we could do it tonight.”

Phil goes full Phil

Phil wanted to keep going. Needed to, tried his damnedest to. But while Mickelson attempted to Pass Go, Casey and officials raised a stop sign.

And … well, let's just say transparency is the residue of disappointment.

Just as delicious was what preceded it. As microphones picked up Casey saying he couldn't see his putt, Mickelson was heard chirping back, "I can see just fine." A more Mickelsonian response, there is not.

“I genuinely couldn’t see my putt there on 16,” Casey said. “[PGA Tour official] Mark Russell gave us the option to finish, which is why I marked it. So, hopefully, I can see what I’ve got for par, knock that one in, and then I’m going to smash it straight at it. Be aggressive on 17. And I played 18 beautifully on Thursday, good drive and hit a 3-iron into 20 feet, 15 feet. I’m going to try and do the same. And really I need to go kind of minimum birdie, birdie or birdie, eagle, and that might not be good enough, but that’s the plan.”

To Mickelson's credit, he was diplomatic afterwards, refusing to put more fuel on the fire. That Casey is one of the more respected players on the tour didn't hurt, or the fact, that, you know, it was so dark it appeared someone forgot to pay the electric bills.

That said, if Phil wins on Monday, you better believe we're in for a discourse of how the group could have finished if they would have taken his lead. It will be a thing of beauty.

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Adam Hadwin continues to cement status as top Canadian male golfer

At the Desert Classic, Adam Hadwin was due.

The native of Abbotsford, B.C., led with nine holes to go at this event in 2016, shot a 59 in 2017 and finished second, and was in the final group on Sunday a year ago.

He didn’t get the job done this year – while eventual winner Adam Long chipped in for birdie two holes in a row, Hadwin faltered down the stretch with a late bogey and a stubbed chip – but his tie for second proved why he’s cemented himself at the top of the group of ever-growing Canadian male professional golfers who are contending for PGA Tour titles.

It’s never been a more prosperous time for Canadian golf on the PGA Tour, and Hadwin showed this week why he’s the best of the bunch.

There were eight Canadians in the field at this week’s Desert Classic, and eight in the Sony Open the week before. It was the third time this season eight Canadians were in a PGA Tour field, the highest number for a non-domestic event since the PGA Tour began keeping track in 1970.

Last week Adam Svensson fired a first round 9-under-par 61 at the Sony Open to take the lead. This week it was Hadwin – who told The Canadian Press in early January his main goal this season was to return to the Presidents Cup – who rocketed up the leaderboard.

And it’s not just Adam’s who are playing good golf.

Corey Conners finished tied for third at the Sony Open last week after notching a runner-up at the Sanderson Farms Championship in the fall.

Roger Sloan had his best ever PGA Tour result at the Desert Classic, a tie for 12th.

Nick Taylor and Mackenzie Hughes have already won on the PGA Tour, and, like Hadwin, are now looking for their second victory.

Hadwin moved to 13th in the FedEx Cup standings with his tie for second – his best result on the PGA Tour since he finished tied for third at this event a year ago.

The 31-year-old spent a good chunk of 2018 getting more dialed in with his irons, but that came at the expense of his putting. He went from 21st in the putting average statistic in 2017 to 139th last year. He’s up in that stat already this year, so strides are being made on the green to get him back to where he was.

Up-and-coming PGA Tour pros describe Hadwin as a guy who “just takes care of business,” and his work ethic is something to emulate.

Jared du Toit, who shares an agent with Hadwin and made noise at the 2016 RBC Canadian Open by playing in the final group as an amateur, says it’s easy to see Hadwin’s good habits.

One of the first times they played a casual round together, it was late in the year and standard, du Toit says, to have a quick beer afterwards.

Hadwin passed on the post-round drink.

“He was the kind of guy who was obviously really focused. He had some stuff coming up and he said ‘no’ and that’s something I give him props for because not a lot of guys can say ‘no’ when you get pressured by a whole group,” says du Toit.

Du Toit says he talked to another Canadian professional, Riley Wheeldon, who has known Hadwin since junior golf in British Columbia. Wheeldon told du Toit that Hadwin wasn’t a great putter in college, but after spending a few years really working on his stroke and became one of the best on the PGA Tour.

“Any weakness he has, he addresses it,” says du Toit. “He does the right things on and off the course.”

Derek Ingram, the men’s national team coach for Golf Canada, says Hadwin is quick to separate himself from a lot of other guys. Hadwin, Ingram says, carries himself like one of the best players in the world, and has from a young age.

“Even when he was a junior player he had this belief that he was great and he could win the big event and he was just ultra-confident,” says Ingram. “That’s the one thing I love about (Hadwin) is that be believes in himself in such a deep, deep fashion… it’s a real separator.”

Combine an improved putting stroke with his already solid iron game, big-time confidence level, and efficient move off the tee and Hadwin is the most complete Canadian PGA Tour player out there.

A win this week would have moved Hadwin to No. 44 in the world, but instead he’ll slide up just a few spots from his current rank at No.70.

The next closest-ranked golfer is Conners at No. 181.

So while Hadwin didn’t take the title in the Desert Classic, he’s still very clearly at the top of the heap of Canadians on the PGA Tour.

But, with solid play from a mixed group of proven winners, Tour veterans, and up-and-comers champing at the bit for their own piece of PGA Tour glory, it will be fun to see the others try to take the mantle from him.

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Matt Kuchar, social media, and stories that take on lives of their own

Matt Kuchar leaves Hawaii a winner, but not entirely unscathed.

That’s the prevailing sentiment from a sect of golf observers, the byproduct of an accusation by a former PGA Tour player on Saturday afternoon. The match was lit at 5:08 p.m. ET; by 10, Kuchar, a beloved and venerated personality by American crowds, had come on the business end of a Twitter roasting . . . over how much he paid a fill-in caddie.

Five hours is all it took. Five hours in which Kuchar was on the golf course, oblivious to the drubbing.

“It’s not a story,” Kuchar would eventually say. This statement was aimed at the rumors; time will tell if he’s proven right. Through another prism, Kuchar is already wrong. Because stories like this are a reckoning more and more athletes are forced to confront.

The past decade has shown that realities can come to life through social media. There are arguments for the virtues and vices of digital platforms, but there’s no debate over their capability. Facebook and Twitter have helped overthrow tyrannical regimes, brought improper behavior to light, given the oppressed a voice. Tangible paragons of speaking truth to power.

There’s an upshot, however. The mob mentality often found on Twitter and Facebook can go unchecked, taking on lives of their own. The forums are so emotionally driven that narratives can reach a fever pitch without consideration of context or facts, and the appetite for "owning" someone overtakes the crusade that's supposed to be fought.

For Kuchar, this materialized at the hands of Tom Gillis of the PGA Tour Champions. In a series of tweets, the 50-year-old Gillis claimed that Kuchar had stiffed David “El Tucan” Ortiz—the local caddie Kuchar had on the bag for his victory in Mayakoba—something fierce.

Now, while the list of athletes indiscretions is long, being tightfisted spurs a special kind of fury. Ours is a culture that implores the rich to spread the love; those failing are branded. Michael Jordan, Scottie (“No Tippin”) Pippen, Pete Sampras and, yes, Tiger Woods are some of the alleged stars with alligator arms.

Kuchar's case, however, felt different, for it wasn’t a tip as it was wages owed. The optics alone—a veteran with $46 million in career earnings low-balling a man who makes less than $46,000 a year—were damning. That Gillis’ previous blast of Ben Crane over an unpaid bet to Daniel Berger proved accurate wasn’t helping, nor was Australian pro Cameron Percy’s reply of, “It’s not out of character if true.” Several popular media personalities stoked the fervor with their Kuchar stories. The only notable name to defend Kuch was Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee, and he was promptly “ratioed"—the phantasm to describe the overwhelming amount of negative reaction to a tweet—in kind.

This outcry is predictable, and if Gillis is right, understandable. Save for one problem: neither Kuchar nor Ortiz had publicly spoken on the issue.

Golf Digest’s Brian Wacker was among a handful of journalists to approach Kuchar after the Sony Open’s third round about the Twitter rumors. This occurred around 11 p.m. ET, six hours after Gillis posted his claim. Kuchar was emphatic in denying the allegations (also worth noting when Gillis was asked how he got his information, he was light on specifics).

“That’s not a story. It wasn’t 10 percent, it wasn’t $3,000. It’s not a story,” Kuchar told reporters. Kuchar later approached Wacker in the media center saying, "We had an agreement to start the week. He was excited to go to work that week.” His remarks did nothing to stop the drama.

For what it’s worth, Ortiz told Golf.com after the Mayakoba win he had not received or discussed his pay with Kuchar, only that he was aware of the standard 10 percent. (At the time of writing, Golf Digest's attempts to reach Ortiz through the Mayakoba Resort were unsuccessful). What’s not as clear is Kuchar’s first point: does this constitute a story?

To be clear, scuttlebutt on athletes’ lives on and off the field is nothing new. Drug use, gambling, affairs, sexual orientation; the biggest sports figures have been subjected to it all. What has shifted, though, is where those questions are coming from.

The problem with narratives that emerge on social media is athletes have two options: response or silence. Neither is particularly desired. As Kuchar showed, a response never quiets the whispers, and silence only makes them grow louder.

Kuchar is not alone. Last June, Jimmy Walker self-professed to backstopping, the practice of purposely not marking a golf ball in order to give an opponent a potential advantage. It served as an archetype of the pluses and perils of mob mentality. Good in that it raised a dialogue, receiving the attention and engagement of a marquee name, providing an opportunity for discourse. Bad in that the conversation was less than civil, as Walker—who was forthright and level-headed about the manner—was roasted for admitting to doing something almost everyone does.

“I was just trying to shed some light on how it actually happens out here,” Walker said at the U.S. Open. He was guilty before charges were brought.

Fans aren't the only ones starting a fire. Tour pro Joel Dahmen took to Twitter after the Quicken Loans National to accuse Sung Kang of cheating. In 2017 then-rookie Grayson Murray called out Bryson DeChambeau for an injury withdraw at Riviera. Former major champ Steve Elkington aired some less-than-flattering remarks toward Rory McIlroy, and the Ulsterman did not take the shot lying down. Danny Willett's 2016 Ryder Cup was ruined by online remarks from his brother.

There are nuances to each, but those nuances are often lost in the commotion. A shame, as they contain truths. In defense of Kuchar, Chamblee made a handful of valid points. Alas, judging by the responses, they were points that fell on deaf ears. Chamblee wasn't so much scolded for the contention, but for the sheer audacity to go against the predominant sentiment. To counter, at least on social media, is to quarrel.

The fallout is real. Despite the tour releasing a statement that backed him up, Kang is forever marked as a cheat. The attention sparked by his bout with Elkington caused McIlroy, one of the more cerebral, candid voices in golf, to quit Twitter. "I don't need to read it. It's stuff that shouldn't get to you and sometimes it does," he said.

At least the above examples were related to competition. In the fall, an Instagram user noticed Dustin Johnson’s fiancee Paulina Gretzky had deleted Johnson’s photos from her social media accounts. Conjecture quickly spread about the status of their relationship, the gossip manifesting in the worst kind of tabloid speculation. The noise became so loud Johnson had to issue a statement. “Every relationship goes through its ups and downs, but most importantly, we love each other very much and are committed to being a family," Johnson said. "Thank you for your love and support."

Johnson and Gretzky have not been shy about their relationship. They are also not foreign to controversy, which fueled the gossip. But even the most public of figures warrant privacy, and more than a few observers asked, "What does this have to do with golf?"

Of course, all public figures are subjected to a heightened level of scrutiny, and sometimes it serves a real purpose. Good can come of a herd mentality, as witnessed by the movements against harassment and assault. And if Ortiz really was shorted, he likely has a better chance at getting what's his thanks to Gillis.

But the pack can be so consumed by righting a wrong that, at times, it fails to ask where the wrong really lies...or if a wrong has even been had.

On Sunday the Golf Channel made a brief mention of Kuchar's Twitter drama. On social media, some saw it as rubbish, the tour and its partner putting their heads in the sand to a story that had become bigger than the tournament. Conversely, as bad as Kuchar looks at the moment, we still don't have definitive proof that the story is legitimate. A mere one-off by the broadcast would have given Gillis' accusation more merit and steam. Once that train leaves the station, there's no turning around.

So you give Kuchar the benefit of the doubt. Even if that doubt is raised.

These are awkward times, where suspicion and truth are blurred. But it's the new reality.

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Paul Azinger officially joins NBC/Golf Channel to take over for Johnny Miller

November 2018

It was a week ago Monday when Paul Azinger’s phone rang. The worst-kept secret in golf was out: Johnny Miller was retiring from NBC after nearly three decades as the network’s lead golf analyst. But the lesser known part of the plan was leaking as well: Azinger would be the man tapped to replace Miller.

Of course, Azinger had known about it all for months. Still, Miller was calling to congratulate him and in the process passed along a few words of wisdom.

“Continue to tell it like it is,” was the message Miller relayed to Azinger.

Sage words, and advice the 58-year-old shouldn’t have any trouble following. Though Miller has long been lauded by viewers and critics (sometimes to the disappointment of players themselves) for being direct in the broadcast booth, Azinger isn’t far behind when it comes to voicing his opinion.

That won’t change, he says, now that NBC has made it official, announcing on Monday that Azinger would be taking Miller’s spot as the lead golf analyst.

“I’m just going to be myself,” Azinger said. “I have nothing but praise for Johnny and his style and what he’s done, and that’s with respect to analysts in all sports. One thing he’s been great at is being himself. He left me a big spot to step into, but I’m excited about it.”

Azinger got his first taste of television two years after capturing his lone major, the 1993 PGA Championship. At the end of that year, he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and underwent months of chemotherapy and radiation treatment. Having missed out on the 1995 Ryder Cup at Oak Hill as a player, NBC producer Tommy Roy asked Azinger if he would join Miller and Dick Enberg in the booth. Azinger was happy for the opportunity.

“I imagined myself in everybody’s chair and what would I say,” Azinger recalls of the experience. “I loved it, and it morphed into this.”

The 12-time PGA Tour winner returned to playing, but in 2005 began his second career, joining ESPN and ABC Sports, where he worked alongside current NBC Sports play-by-play broadcaster Mike Tirico and CBS’ lead golf analyst Nick Faldo.

“That was a really experienced team and that helped a lot,” Azinger said. “And Tirico, he could get anyone through anything.”

That included one comedic moment together at the Open Championship. Azinger thought they were off air around 4 a.m. ET and was practicing his routine when Tirico grabbed his arm and informed him that they were indeed live. The two kept going without missing a beat.

Following a decade at ESPN, Azinger left to join Fox Sports in Year 2 of its 12-year deal with the USGA. Azinger replaced Greg Norman in the booth and was paired alongside Joe Buck beginning in 2016. Though Azinger will continue his duties with Fox, calling the U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open, his replacing Miller as the lead golf analyst at NBC is something he says he couldn’t even have dreamed.

“I’m just beside myself,” Azinger said. “Now I get to listen to [play-by-play announcer] Dan Hicks, who’s loaded with knowledge. I can’t believe I get to sit beside him.

“But at the end of the day, I’m just going to be myself. That’s all I can do.”

Miller, and golf fans, wouldn’t have it any other way.

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Happy New Year... golf's new modernized rules have landed! In no particular order, we list the most important golf rule changes you NEED to know about in 2019 and beyond...

#1 - SEARCH TIME REDUCED FROM 5 MINS TO 3 MINS #2 - BALL MOVED DURING SEARCH - REPLACE, NO PENALTY #3 - EMBEDDED BALL - FREE RELIEF ANYWHERE THROUGH THE COURSE #4 - MEASURING A DROP - USE LONGEST CLUB (EXCEPT PUTTER) #5 - TAKE DROPS FROM KNEE HEIGHT RATHER THAN SHOULDER HEIGHT #6 - BALL UNINTENTIONALLY HITS PLAYER OR EQUIPMENT - NO PENALTY #7 - DOUBLE HIT - NO PENALTY, NOW ONLY COUNTS AS ONE STROKE #8 - TOUCHING SAND IN BUNKER INCIDENTALLY IS PERMITTED #9 - LOOSE IMPEDIMENTS CAN BE REMOVED ANYWHERE INCLUDING HAZARDS #10 - DROPPING A BALL OUT OF BUNKER - TWO PENALTY STROKES #11 - WATER HAZARDS ARE NOW CALLED 'PENALTY AREAS', AND THERE IS NO PENALTY FOR TOUCHING THE GROUND IN A PENALTY AREA... REMEMBER, STILL NOT IN A BUNKER THOUGH! #12 - NEW 'LOCAL RULE' (THIS IS DOWN TO CLUB COMMITTEES TO DECIDE) ALLOWS GOLFERS TO DROP IN THE AREA OF WHERE A BALL IS LOST OR OUT OF BOUNDS UNDER A TWO-STROKE PENALTY #13 - BALL MOVES ON GREEN AFTER BEING MARKED - REPLACE WITHOUT PENALTY #14 - BALL ACCIDENTALLY MOVES ON PUTTING GREEN - REPLACE NO PENALTY #15 - ALL DAMAGE TO GREEN CAN NOW BE REPAIRED #16 - POSITIONING A CLUB FOR ALIGNMENT IS NOT PERMITTED #17 - CADDIE ASSISTING WITH ALIGNMENT IS NOW NOT PERMITTED #18 - PUTTING WITH FLAGSTICK IN HOLE IS NOW PERMITTED #19 - BALL WEDGED AGAINST FLAGSTICK AND SIDE OF HOLE IS NOW DEEMED AS HOLED

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From All Of Us Here...

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Matt Kuchar just set a career milestone known only to him and his family (and his accountant)

The only number Matt Kuchar was thinking about on Sunday at the Mayakoba Golf Classic was eight, as in grabbing his eighth PGA Tour title. OK, maybe four, as well, as in ending a four-year victory drought.

But with a closing 69 at El Camaleon Golf Club in Playa del Carmen, Kuchar has a couple other numbers to smile about: 10 and 45 million.

Let’s explain: With the victory, the 40-year-old tour veteran earned $1.296 million. That brings his career tour earnings past $45 million ($45,019,237 to be precise), making him just the 10th player to ever break that threshold.

Indeed, Kuchar’s performance in Mexico allowed him to jump past Davis Love III ($44,666,934), Zach Johnson ($44,516,011) and Steve Stricker ($43,947,237) into the No. 10 spot in all-time career earnings.

The running gag with Kuchar is his ability to squeeze top-10 finishes out of nowhere on a regular basis (he now has had 99 in his 417 career tour starts as a professional). Suffice it to say, all those T-10s—back door, front door, doggie door, whatever—add up. Just ask Kuchar's accountant.

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Golf Is A Great Gift To Give

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Greg Norman hopes golf isn't going to put 'all their eggs in one basket again and be all Tiger'

The emotional journey for many golf fans during Tiger Woods’ 2018 comeback moved from tempered expectations to mild surprise to giddy excitement to out-and-out awe as the 14-time major winner had a pain-free season that culminated in his first PGA Tour victory in five years at Tour Championship. So what should we continue to expect from Tiger in 2019? At least one World Golf Hall of Famer worries it might go too far.

Greg Norman, speaking on the Yahoo Finance Sportsbook podcast, offered praise to Woods for all that he accomplished this past season before tempering his comments with a word of caution—wrapped with a hint of irritation.

“I think he’s done an excellent job of going from where he was over a year ago, saying I may never play the game of golf again, to where he is today,” Norman said. “Massive leap, quite honestly, in 12 months. God bless him. He did everything right, stepped up to the plate and won. It’s good for him, there’s no question. It’s good for the game of golf, no question. But I hope they don’t put all their eggs in one basket again and be all Tiger and forget about all this other wonderful, fantastic talent even coming out of Korea and Japan and South Africa and Australia. There is an unbelievable amount of talent bubbling up around the world, and I’d hate to see them get lost again in that Tiger talk.”

There is wisdom in Norman’s insight; relying too much on Tiger to move golf’s needle is a trap the sport should be wary of. Yet at the same time The Shark has made a habit of speaking out about the publicity that Tiger gets, causing his message to at times get lost by the delivery of the messenger.

Early in the year, as Woods was just making his latest return, Norman noted that he was “disappointed” that coverage of Woods was overshadowing other players and sounded skeptical that Woods could finally be competitive again after other failed comeback attempts.

It’s hard not to appreciate how Woods’ return has rekindled interest in golf among general sports fans. Audiences watching the events Tiger compete and contended in have jumped. Yet Norman doesn’t want to concede it all to Woods.

“TV ratings are up because of what Tiger Woods does to every other player,” Norman said while appearing on Yahoo Finance’s Midday Movers program. “It’s not just about the one player, it’s about all the supporting cast who are equal if not better than him. He’s just pulling them along to make them more standout.”

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Who Is Tiger Woods' Girlfriend Erica Herman? Everything to Know

Tiger Woods was the talk of the golfing world during the 2018 Tour Championship on Sunday, when the 42-year-old icon scored his first victory in five years by finishing the Atlanta tournament with a final round 71 and a two-stroke win over Billy Horschel.

The milestone marked Woods’ first win since the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in 2013 and his 80th PGA win, reminding fans of his once unquestionable dominance.

After finishing the 18th hole, Woods was greeted by his girlfriend Erica Herman, who gave him a celebratory hug and kiss. “Love you,” Woods was heard saying to Herman, 33, as she wrapped her arms around him.

The couple’s PDA was also on display during the PGA Championship in St. Louis in August. Though Woods didn’t win a new title, he did earn a smooch — and a few taps on the rear — from Herman. The loving moment between the couple, which was caught by cameras, became a topic of conversation for many fans on social media, as many commenters on Twitter expressed their confusion and surprise upon finding out Woods has a new flame.

But his relationship with Herman isn’t so new after all.

The couple has been together since at least last year, when they were pictured together at the Presidents Cup in New Jersey in September 2017. It was there at the tournament — where Woods served as an assistant captain for the United States squad — that Herman wore a badge reserved for the girlfriends and wives of players, according to the United Kingdom’s Golf Monthly.

Herman has accompanied Woods to many other events since, and was even featured in a photo taken during the Presidents Cup with former U.S. presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama (she can be seen standing directly behind Bush).

In December, Herman and Woods’ children — Sam, 11, and Charlie, 9, who he shares with ex-wife, Elin Nordegren, 38 — were pictured wearing matching red and black outfits as they cheered on the golfer during the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas.

The couple has also been seen enjoying romantic date nights, as they were pictured leaving the popular Malibu sushi restaurant, Nobu, following the Genesis Open in February.

For a time, Herman previously served as the general manager of the golfer’s restaurant, The Woods Jupiter, which opened at Florida’s Harbourside Place in August 2015. Since at least February, Herman no longer works for the restaurant, according to TMZ.

A friend of the golfer told PEOPLE in April that while Woods and Herman may not be tying the knot any time soon, he has developed a fondness for her.

“No one has signed any paperwork,” the friend said. “It’s not like they’re pledging their lives to each other. But she’s really nice and Tiger likes her.”

The source added: “Tiger doesn’t like to be alone… But he doesn’t like to settle. Not anymore. So when he’s with someone, he really needs to be into her.”

Golf fans may have been surprised by Herman’s presence at the tournaments since she is decidedly more low-profile than Woods’ most recent girlfriend, champion skier, Lindsey Vonn, 33.

Woods’ relationship with the Olympic gold medalist began in 2012 following his divorce from Nordegren, sparked by a sex scandal that revealed he had participated in numerous extramarital affairs. Woods and Vonn eventually split in 2015.

In the years since Woods’ affairs came to light, his performance on the golf course suffered dramatically. This, coupled with his DUI arrest in May 2017, left many wondering if he would ever make a comeback.

After his stunning performance on Sunday, with Herman there to cheer him on, 2018 Tiger Woods has captured his former magic — and happiness — once again.

“For a long time, there was a cloud over Tiger,” a source close to Woods previously told PEOPLE. “He had his surgeries, his setbacks. He’s only human, and those things were like a weight on his shoulders. But today, he’s happier than he’s been in years.”

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Things to love about golf in the fall

Fall golf is a double-edged sword, especially for those of us who live in areas that experience all four seasons.

On the one hand, it's bar none the most beautiful, most scenic time of the year to hit the links. On the other hand, it means that golf season will be ending... quickly.

As the temperatures drop and the colors of the leaves change, here are some of the things I love most about golf during the fall season.

The weather. It might be a little crisp at times, but isn't it a nice change of pace from those brutally hot summer days on the course? Isn't it also nice to not have your clothes sticking to you because of sweat while you try to take a swing? Everything about the fall is just a little more comfortable than the rest of the year.

Usually, it's less expensive. Yeah, that might mean having to deal with the necessary evil that is aerated greens, but the fall season typically offers some great deals at courses you may other wise skip over because of the cost of a round. Is there a course on your list that you usually believe to be out of your price range? Do yourself a favor and check out their fall rates.

Lowered expectations. That one might seem silly, but it could also be the key to help you post some great late-season goals. Playing late in the season, sometimes, is a bonus and you can appreciate the fact that you're out there more because the days are so much shorter. With leaves falling and maybe not the best of greens, you're probably not teeing it up with the thought that you're going to shoot lights out. That helps keep your mind off the score and frees you up to focus on the shot at hand.

The post-round drink. This is great any season, no doubt, but after a round in the fall -- instead of a beer or other libation -- it could be a nice, warm Irish coffee or a hot chocolate.

The course is usually firmer. As the temperatures go down (and if you haven't had much rain), the ground typically firms up. Catch a good drive in the right conditions and there's a chance you're going to see a lot more roll out in the fairways than you're used too... keep that in mind too for your approach shots. You might want to club down a touch hitting into the firmer greens.

The courses are less crowded. Pace of play is so much better in the fall since their just aren't as many players out there. If you're usually a cart golfer, this is a great time to walk instead. Aside from the obvious health benefits, it keeps the blood flowing and keeps you warm for that next shot. Also, when you're not having to focus on driving a cart, you can spend more time taking in your surroundings... which brings us to what we love most...

The surroundings. Trees with leaves covering all the hues of greens, yellows, reds and oranges. It's like playing golf in a painting, isn't it?

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Brandt Snedeker shoots 59 at Wyndham Championship

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Brandt Snedeker predicted low scores at the Wyndham Championship -- but not this low.

Snedeker shot an 11-under 59 on Thursday, falling 1 shot shy of matching the PGA Tour record.

He made a 20-foot putt on his final hole to become the ninth player in tour history to break 60. Jim Furyk, who has broken 60 twice, set the record with a 58 in the final round of the Travelers Championship in 2016.

"I better be smiling," Snedeker said. "I don't do this every day."

This is the third consecutive year the PGA Tour has had a sub-60 round. Snedeker is the first to shoot 59 since Adam Hadwin in the third round of the 2017 Careerbuilder Challenge.

It gave him a 4-stroke lead after one round. Ryan Moore and John Oda shot 63s, and Martin Flores, D.A. Points, Brett Stegmaier, David Hearn, Abraham Ancer, Ollie Schniederjans and Jonathan Byrd had 64s.

Snedeker -- who said a day earlier that the tournament would turn into a "birdie-fest" -- began the round at par-70 Sedgefield Country Club with a bogey at No. 10, and took off from there. He played the front nine in 27, including an eagle 2 on the par-4 sixth hole when he holed out from 176 yards.

After that shot, Snedeker said a 59 felt like a real possibility. He remembered a non-tour event he played in China in which he was one putt from that score, but those thoughts "got in the way."

"To know what you're trying to do and step up and have a 20-footer (on the final hole) and know what it means, I was very aware of what was going on, and to knock that putt in was really special," Snedeker said. "To know I'm a part of a small club on tour and not very many people have done this, really cool feeling right now."

Snedeker became the first to break 60 after starting his round with a bogey. While four PGA Tour players have broken 60 in the past three years, there were only four to do it in the previous 24 years.

The 2012 FedEx Cup champion, Snedeker won the Wyndham in 2007. He broke Si Woo Kim's two-year-old Wyndham record of 60 and had the best opening round in this event's history. Arjun Atwal had a 61 in 2010.

"The trick for him is, he's playing great. Now he's just got to rest, relax and start over tomorrow from scratch and go play three more good rounds," said Furyk, who also shot a 59 at the BMW Championship in 2013. "It's awesome to see."

It's been a somewhat frustrating, turbulent year for Snedeker. He has three top-10 finishes and two missed cuts in his past seven events and has not won on tour since 2016. During his first 16 tournaments of the season, he finished in the top 10 just once.

"Nobody could see this coming -- trust me," Snedeker said. "As much as I tried to positive self-talk myself into playing good, I didn't see 59 coming today, to be honest with you. ... Luckily, it kind of clicked all day today, and hopefully it will keep clicking for the next three days."

At No. 80 on the points list entering the final event of the tour's regular season, he's nowhere near the playoff bubble and his spot at The Northern Trust next week in New Jersey seems safe. But that ranking is his lowest since the tour's postseason format debuted in 2007.

During his tie for 42nd at the PGA Championship last week in St. Louis, Snedeker says he "kind of found something" when he simplified some swing fundamentals and began to feel better about that part of his game.

Then, he spent the first round showing it off.

Snedeker, who began his round on the back nine, reeled off four consecutive birdies on Nos. 13-16. He then got even hotter on his final nine holes, with six birdies in addition to the shot of the day on No. 6. But he missed a 3-foot birdie putt on No. 8 that would have made a 58 possible.

"Could have been even more special," he said, "but happy with the way everything turned out."

Moore, who won here in 2009, made a move up the leaderboard in the afternoon with five birdies in a six-hole span on the front nine. Oda, a second-year pro coming off a tie for third earlier this month in the Barracuda Championship, had three consecutive birdies on the back nine to pull even with Moore.

"You see a round like (Snedeker's) and maybe kind of encourage you there's birdies out there, that the course is playing scoreable and there's rounds to be had," Moore said. "I kind of took that mindset of, well, better get out there and make some birdies if you don't want to be 10, 11 shots behind by the end of this day. Like, let's try and close that gap a little bit."

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How Justin Thomas Became One of Golf's Rising Stars

At a slight 5-foot-10, 145 pounds, Justin Thomas is one of the biggest hitters in golf — maybe the game's biggest pound-for-pound hitter. And in 2017, with a breakout year that included five wins and his first major championship trophy, Thomas' public profile went from being Jordan Spieth's only slightly less talented buddy to, just like Spieth, one of the game's brightest young stars.

Thomas' Tour Wins PGA Tour: 9 (wins are listed below)

Major Championships: 1 Awards and Honors for Justin Thomas PGA Tour Player of the Year, 2017 PGA Tour money leader, 2017 Member, Team USA, 2017 Presidents Cup Member, Team USA, 2013 Walker Cup Born Into a Golf Family Justin Thomas was born on April 29, 1993, in Louisville, Kentucky. Was he destined to be a golfer? The fact that Thomas' father and grandfather were both PGA Professionals certainly increased the odds that Justin would himself take up the game.

Thomas' grandfather, Paul Thomas, played in some PGA Tour events in the late 1950s and qualified for three major championships in the early 1960s. He later became a club professional and instructor, teaching, among other, LPGA Tour winners Michele Redman and Tammie Green.

Thomas' parents are Mike and Jani Thomas; Mike is a club pro at Harmony Landing in Louisville, where Justin grew up playing.

While it was always likely, given that family background, that Thomas would become a golfer, he said his parents didn't push him:

"I was so lucky to have very supportive parents that didn't push me; that didn't ... kind of force me to play golf. Obviously I'd say it was set up for golf to kind of be in my bones and to grow up to play that. But they treated me the same, whether I shot 66 or 76."

Justin Thomas' Junior and Amateur Golf Thomas quickly rose to prominence in junior golf, including, at age 14, winning the 2007 Evian Junior Masters tournament in France.

In high school, Thomas was Kentucky's Player of the Year in 2008 and 2010, his sophomore and senior seasons, respectively. His team, Saint Xavier, won the state championship in 2008 and 2009.

Thomas won three tournaments on the American Junior Golf Association circuit (and, after reaching the PGA Tour, began hosting his own AJGA event in Kentucky). He was a two-time Junior All-America selection.

In 2012, Thomas began playing college golf at the University of Alabama. He won the Phil Mickelson Award as freshman of the year, and the Haskins and Nicklaus awards, both for Player of the Year. Thomas also played for a victorious Team USA in the 2012 World Amateur Team Championship and 2013 Walker Cup.

Thomas decided to leave college and turn pro after his sophomore season at Alabama. In two years, he won six individual NCAA titles.

Thomas and Spieth: Friends and Rivals Justin Thomas became friends with the golfer he has usually, over the early part of his career, been linked with at age 14, at that 2007 tournament at Evian. Thomas and Jordan Spieth have been friends ever since.

But, although they are the same age, Spieth always seemed a little bit ahead of Thomas in his career development. For example, as a 16-year-old amateur, Thomas played in his first PGA Tour event, the 2009 Wyndham Championship, and became one of the youngest-ever to make a PGA Tour cut.

But Spieth had already done the same thing a couple months earlier at the Byron Nelson Championship. Spieth turned pro earlier than Thomas, won on the PGA Tour earlier, won a major championship earlier.

Combined with the fact that Thomas is physically smaller than Spieth, these things contributed to a kind of "Jordan's little buddy" attitude about Thomas early on.

Did that ever frustrate Thomas? Was he ever jealous of Jordan's faster career path?

"Frustration probably isn't the right word," Thomas said. "Jealousy definitely is. I mean, there's no reason to hide it. ... I wanted to be doing that, and I wasn't."

Thomas wasn't, until his breakout 2017 PGA Tour season.

Thomas Goes Pro, Wins His First Major Thomas turned professional following the 2013 Walker Cup. His first tournament playing as a pro was the PGA Tour Frys.com Open, in October 2013, where he earned his first career paycheck ($9,600).

He won once on the Web.com Tour in 2014 and finished fifth on that tour's money list. That was good enough to earn Thomas his PGA Tour card for the 2015 season. And in that rookie year, Thomas recorded seven Top 10 finishes and placed 32nd on the FedEx Cup points list.

His first PGA Tour victory followed in 2016, at the CIMB Classic in Malaysia. And Thomas improved to 12th in the FedEx Cup standings.

That upward trajectory exploded into full-on stardom in the 2016-17 PGA Tour season, in which Thomas posted five victories. Among them was his first major championship win at the 2017 PGA Championship. And Thomas even outdueled his friend and rival Spieth to win the Dell Technologies Championship, part of the FedEx Cup playoffs.

Early in 2017, months before his major win, Thomas announced the big year to come by shooting 59 in the Sony Open and winning that tournament with a total score of 253 — the lowest score in PGA Tour history.

It was in 2017 that Thomas began living out what he'd previously cited as his motto: "No excuses — play like a champion."

He ended the season with a runner-up finish in the Tour Championship that earned Thomas the FedEx Cup Trophy.

Justin Thomas Trivia When Thomas won the 2017 PGA Championship, he became the eighth son of a PGA Professional to win that major run by the organization for PGA Professionals. When Thomas shot 59 in the 2017 Sony Open, he was the seventh golfer in tour history to record that score. In the third round of the 2017 U.S. Open, Thomas carded a round of 63 — just the fifth such score in that tournament's history. List of Justin Thomas' PGA Tour Wins Here are the PGA Tour tournaments won by Thomas so far in his career.

2016 CIMB Classic 2017 CIMB Classic 2017 SBS Tournament of Champions 2017 Sony Open in Hawaii 2017 PGA Championship 2017 Dell Technologies Championship 2017 JC Cup 2018 Honda Classic 2018 WGC Bridgestone Classic Before joining the PGA Tour, Thomas won on the Web.com Tour in 2014 at the Nationwide Children's Hospital Championship.

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The “Open” Format Changes Over The years

The Open is a 72-hole stroke play tournament contested over four days, Thursday through Sunday. Since 1979 it has been played in the week which includes the 3rd Friday in July. Currently, 156 players are in the field, mostly made up of the world's leading professionals, who are given exemptions, along with winners of the top amateur championships. Further places are given to players, amateurs and professionals, who are successful in a number of qualifying events. There is a cut after 36 holes after which only the leading 70 players (and ties) play in the final 36 holes on the weekend. In the event of a tie after 72 holes, a four-hole aggregate playoff is held; if two or more players are still tied, it continues as sudden-death until there is a winner.

Timeline of format changes[edit] 1860: Contested over 36 holes, played on a single day 1892: Extended to 72 holes, played over two days 1898: Cut introduced after 36 holes. Those 20 or more strokes behind the leader were excluded 1904: Extended to a third day with 18 holes on each of the first two days. Cut rule unchanged 1905: Cut rule changed to exclude those 15 or more strokes behind the leader 1907: Qualifying introduced, replacing the 36-hole cut and the contest reduced again to two days 1910: Cut reintroduced instead of qualifying, play being extended to three days again. Top 60 and ties made the cut. 1911: With an increase in the number of entries, the first two rounds were spread over three days, with 36 holes on the fourth day 1912: Qualifying reintroduced to replace the cut. Contest reduced again to two days 1926: Cut reintroduced. First Open with both qualifying and a cut. Extended again to a third day with 18 holes on the first two days. Those 15 or more strokes behind the leader were excluded from the final day. Days standardised as Wednesday to Friday 1929: Cut rule changed to ensure that at least 60 made the cut even if 15 or more strokes behind the leader 1930: Cut rule changed to top 60 and ties 1937: Cut rule changed to top 40 and ties 1938: Cut rule changed to be a maximum of 40 players. Ties for 40th place did not make the cut 1939: Cut rule changed to be a maximum of 44 players. Ties for 44th place did not make the cut 1946: Cut rule changed to be a maximum of 40 players. Ties for 40th place did not make the cut 1951: Cut rule changed to be a maximum of 50 players. Ties for 50th place did not make the cut 1957: Leaders after 36 holes go off last, replacing the random draw 1963: Cut rule changed to top 45 and ties 1964: Playoff reduced from 36 holes to 18, followed by sudden-death if still level 1966: Play extended to four days, 18 holes per day from Wednesday to Saturday. Cut rule changed to top 55 and ties 1968: Cut rule changed to top 70 and ties after 36 holes and then top 45 and ties after 54 holes 1970: Cut rule changed to top 80 and ties after 36 holes and then top 55 and ties after 54 holes 1971: Cut rule changed to top 80 and ties after 36 holes and then top 60 and ties after 54 holes 1973: Play in groups of three introduced for the first two rounds 1974: Use of "bigger ball" (1.68 in, 42.67 mm) made compulsory 1978: "10-shot rule" introduced so that players within 10 shots of the leader make the cut even if outside the top 80/60 1980: Play from Thursday to Sunday 1986: 54-hole cut discontinued. Cut rule changed to top 70 and ties after 36 holes. Four-hole playoff introduced 1996: "10-shot rule" dropped

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Slow play is scourge of the PGA Tour

Two years ago, Jim Furyk backed off a putt at the Memorial tournament three times before calling in his caddie, Fluff Cowan, for a consultation. After much deliberation, he finally got over the ball … only to back off again. When he finally hit the putt, from five feet, the ball didn’t even touch the hole. "Next time, don’t rush it," a spectator yelled as Furyk walked off the green. Laughter followed but slow play in professional golf isn’t funny. It is, as world no. 1 Luke Donald tweeted after watching the interminably long final round of the Hyundai Tournament of Champions on Monday, the game’s biggest scourge. "Slow play is killing our sport," he wrote. As anyone who’s had to play behind a group of turtles can attest, it’s no fun taking five and a half hours to do something that the Scots used to do in two. And it’s driving players from the game. Why does the recreational golfer think it’s OK to mark a putt from nine inches instead of finishing, or plumb-bombing a two-footer, or standing in the fairway for several minutes, throwing up blades of grass before deciding on which iron to pull? Because they see the pros do it on television every weekend. It’s the trickle-down theory and until the PGA Tour takes a hard stance on slow play, nothing’s going to change. "I could rant all day long," Donald tweeted. "Don’t think anything will ever change as the slow players don’t realize they are slow." I beg to differ. Unless they’re in total denial, most of them know they’re slow. The real problem is that they’re just too self-absorbed to care. And they’ve got their sports psychologist telling them not to hit till they’re ready and to stick to their routine so even if they wanted to change, they’re scared of hurrying and costing themselves money. Hence you have situations like the one at last year’s Transitions Championship in Palm Harbor, Fla., where Webb Simpson, who with garlic, parsley and a splash of wine could easily be turned into escargot, bemoan the fact he cost himself a chance of winning because he hurried. Simpson’s just one of at least 20 players on the tour who are serial slowpokes. Players who wouldn’t dream of hitting a shot until they’re ready; players the television commentators euphemistically call "deliberate." The list includes Jason "All" Day, who’s constantly backing off shots, J.B. Holmes, who has to visualize a shot before he hits it – apparently in slow motion – Simpson, Zach Johnson, Jonathan Byrd, Sean O’Hair, Padraig Harrington, Ben Crane, Sergio Garcia and pretty much any Swede. The worst of them all, however, is Kevin Na, whose selfish slow-play antics have made him about the most disliked player on the tour. In a quasi-scientific study done by Golf magazine last year, Na topped the list of players who took more than the allotted 40 seconds to hit a shot and 60 seconds to hit a putt. Not surprising given the fact that he has his caddie plumb-bob his putts with a wedge. A number of players have campaigned against slow play, like the bombastic Rory Sabbatini, who infamously finished the 17th hole at Congressional in 2005 as a sign of protest while his playing partner, Crane, was still putzing around in the fairway. But no matter how much is said, nothing ever happens. And that’s because there’s no consquence for playing at a snail’s pace. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the last time a player — Dillard Pruitt — was assessed a one-stroke penalty for slow play on the PGA Tour. And next year will mark the 21st anniversary. That’s because today’s Pruitts know that, at worst, they’ll be handed a $20,000 fine at the end of a season for multiple "bad times." Twenty grand doesn’t even pay for the fuel on the Gulfstream jets favored by today’s touring professionals. To these guys, it’s just another cost of doing business. Nothing’s about to change as Tim Finchem, who it was announced on Wednesday will run the PGA Tour for another four years, is a lawyer-politician who doesn’t like making these kinds of waves. Though he’s acknowledged in the past that "slow play is a legitimate issue," Finchem sees it merely as "bad etiquette." He needs to listen more to the majority of his players. "Sort it out," said Donald, "Please."

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The Talk of Golf: Francesco Molinari's gamble pays off, but will he pay the ultimate price with Ryder Cup omission?

Francesco Molinari is on a high after becoming the first Italian to lift a PGA Tour title in more than 70 years, courtesy of a stunning 62 to win by eight at Tiger Woods’s event.

But at the back of his mind there must also be, at the very least, a trace of grievance that his latest victory is not worth a bean in the Ryder Cup standings. Otherwise, he would be all but guaranteed his berth.

Of course, Molinari knew the score when opting to play at the Quickens Loan National in Washington DC rather than the France Open at Le Golf National, the Versailles course where he has finished second three times and which will host the biennial dust-up in three months’ time.

In his bid to strengthen his status on the PGA Tour, this was a calculated decision on Molinari’s part and he can congratulate himself on a successful gamble.

But he would not be human if he did not analyse the rankings and berate the fact that for this qualification race, the European Tour has introduced a regulation which states that tournaments on other tours taking place opposite Rolex Series events do not count for the Ryder Cup.

It is a complicated scenario, but instead of being in a position where he is precariously hanging on to the last automatic qualifying place on the European points list, Molinari would be so high on the world points list then his return to the Ryder Cup after a six-year absence would be almost confirmed.

Molinari has won twice and chalked up a second in his last four tournaments and could even be classed as the hottest player in the world. But it is quite conceivable that his form could drop in the next month or so and, even if it does ever so slightly, then he could be pushed out of the automatic placings.

He could still easily find himself requiring one of Thomas Bjorn’s four captain’s picks and with names such as Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter, Henrik Stenson, Rafael Cabrera Bello and Matt Fitzpatrick all currently on the outside looking in, that would be far from a comfortable situation.

It would be a great shame for Molinari and, indeed for Bjorn and Europe, if this were to prove the case and, to be frank, it would be absurd, as well.

This rule was brought in to encourage the top names to play in the eight Rolex Series events, which boast purses of $7m or more. Fair enough. But over the years, Molinari has been one of the Tour’s most loyal servants. He is exactly the sort of character the regulations should not be discouraging.

Not that Molinari should be entertaining the negatives. He is in the best streak of his career and there is no reason why he cannot carry this confidence into the Open at Carnoustie in two weeks’ time and/or the USPGA Championship at Bellerive three weeks’ later and make his major breakthrough.

Certainly, Turin’s finest can beat the best. He has shown so in his last magical month. At the BMW PGA Championship, Molinari saw off Rory McIlroy down the stretch and on Sunday, a certain Woods, himself, was back in fourth.

Naturally, that only brought the Ryder Cup even more into focus as in his two appearances tonight, Molinari has twice been drawn against Woods in the singles.

He was on the wrong end of a 4&3 scorline at Celtic Manor but two years later, in played a crucial role in the Miracle of Medinah grabbed the crucial half against Woods that ensured Europe won.

That is yet another impressive note on Molinari’s CV, but Bjorn knows that his friend is a far more accomplished player nowadays. Under Denis Pugh, his ball-striking has reached such heights it must be wondered if he has a current superior in the accuracy and distance-control departments.

And his recent work with another coach in putting guru Phil Kenyon has dramatically improved his stats on the green. He is beginning to look the full package, especially when one factors in his unflappable temperament.

Molinari did not flinch as he lengthened clear to record the biggest margin of victory on either of the two main tours all year. Woods, who also acts at the tournament host, was flabbergasted. “What Francesco's done back there is just awesome,” Woods said.

"I came here obviously because I was right on the bubble in the FedEx Cup [the PGA Tour ranking] and I wanted to gain a better position, so I guess job done," Molinari said. "It was a big risk, but when you play two tours, you need to balance the two things. It wasn't an easy decision, I thought until the last minute whether to go to France or to come here but seems like it was the right choice in the end."

Indeed, it was and somewhere Toney Penna would have nodded. He was the last Italian to triumph on US soil – in Atlanta in 1947. A flamboyant figure, Penna was best friends with Bing Crosby, who sang “Straight Down The Middle”. That could be Molinari’s theme tune.

Shot of the weekend Molinari’s 50-foot eagle putt on the 10th sparked an incredible five-hole run in which he was six-under. This is where the Quickens Loan National was won.

Flop of the weekend The American journalist who predicted that the Ryder Cup is “on the verge of irrelevancy”, such is the strength of the US team, was made to look an even bigger fool on a weekend which not only saw Molinari blow away a PGA Tour field, but Swede Alex Noren win the France Open at the host venue. Molinari’s win meant that six different Europeans have won on the PGA Tour this year. Inferior, indeed.

Quote of the weekend “One of the neat things about playing The Open Championship, they don't really care what par is, they just let whatever Mother Nature has. If it's in store for a wet Open, it is, if it's dry, it's dry. They don't try and manufacture an Open.”

Tiger Woods could not resist taking a subtle swipe at the USGA, the US Open organisers, as he looked forwards to the Open at Carnoustie in two weeks’ time.

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