ON THE PGA TO UR
Schauffele ties course record and wins Sentry Tournament of Champions
ander Schauffele tied the Plantation course record at Kapalua with an
11-under 62, and he needed every shot to beat Gary Woodland by one
shot and win the Sentry Tournament of Champions. Schauffele started
the ¿ nal round ¿ ve shots out of the lead and opened with a bogey. His fortunes
turned quickly, and it got better with every hole. He ran off three straight birdies.
He chipped in from the front of the green on the par-5 ninth for eagle. He holed a
wedge from 107 yards for another eagle on No. 12. He took his ¿ rst lead with back-
to-back birdies on the 14th and 15th holes, both times coming close to chipping in
for more eagles. Tied with Woodland over the closing holes, Schauffele ¿ nished
birdie-birdie to match four players for the record. “It was a crazy day,” Schauffele
said after his fourth career PGA TOUR victory, and second in as many starts this
season. “I didn’t do much leaderboard watching. I knew it was going to be a
birdie fest at the end. We kept our head down and made a run for it.” Schauffele
wasn’t ¿ nished. He hammered a 3-wood onto the green at the 18th to about 12
feet, narrowly missing his third eagle of the ¿ nal round. He rolled it in for his 62
to ¿ nish at 23-under 269, and then had to wait. Before long, he had a lei around
his neck and the trophy in his hands, along with one other perk. “It means I get to
come back, which is even better,” Schauffele said.
Matt Kuchar wins the Sony Open
he Kuchar’s ¿ nally have a dog. It has been a long running promise from
Matt Kuchar to his sons Cameron (11) and Carson (9) that if he won
a major championship they could have a dog. While the Sony Open
in Hawaii at Waialae Country Club – which Kuchar won by four strokes on
Sunday for his ninth PGA TOUR win – is not a major it does come with a nice
perk for the champion. A state of the art AIBO robotic dog. Both Cameron and
Carson were all smiles as they accompanied their father on his tournament
winner duties.
“It’s going to be a great addition to the family. We are going to have some
fun with AIBO,” Kuchar beamed with his trademark smile. “We talk about
getting a real dog, but AIBO is going to have to be our little real dog for the
time being.” While clearly excited with his new pet Kuchar was obviously
more pleased to have collected his second win in three starts on the PGA
TOUR. The wait was not nearly as long between drinks as previously. The
40-year-old waited 1,667 days between his seventh and eighth TOUR wins
but it took just 64 days to get this one.
AUSSIE ADAM SCOTT STRIVES FOR NINTH PRESIDENTS CUP APPEARANCE
ustralia’s Adam Scott has made
qualifying for a record ninth
appearance for the International
Team in the Presidents Cup as one
of his top priorities for 2019. And he wants
to cap it by being on the winning side for a
change. The 38-year-old is ¿ red up to play a
leading role as the most senior International
Team member when the biennial competition
against the United States returns to The Royal
Melbourne Golf Club for the third time from
December 9 to 15, 2019. Since the Aussie
made his debut as a wide-eyed, upcoming
talent at the 2003 Presidents Cup in South
Africa, Scott has been frustrated with the
lack of team success, with the memorable tie
in his debut being the only highlight. Scott
and the International Team came close in
South Korea in 2015, losing by one point
in the last singles match of the competition.
The team’s lone victory in the series was
achieved in 1998 in Royal Melbourne. “For
me, considering Ernie is really a great friend
and mentor of mine, I really want to be on
that team. I feel like if I get back to winning
form I’m going to be on the team.” Scott
knows what the Presidents Cup means to Els,
whom he has forged a strong friendship with
over the years. The Australian enjoyed a front
row seat in 2003 when Els and Tiger Woods,
who will captain the U.S. Team this year,
duelled in the dark in a playoff to determine
the outcome of the Presidents Cup which
subsequently ended in a tie. After falling
outside the top-50 of the Of¿ cial World Golf
Ranking for the ¿ rst time since March, 2010
early last year, Scott has shown resurgence
in his game. He contended at the PGA
Championship in August before ¿ nishing
third and ¿ nished T5 in THE NORTHERN
TRUST during the FedExCup Playoffs. In
the early events of the 2018-19 PGA TOUR
Season, Scott ¿ nished T10 at THE CJ CUP
@ NINE BRIDGES in Jeju, Korea and T18
at the World Golf Championships-HSBC
Champions in Shanghai, China in October
before putting his tools down to recharge and
prepare for 2019.
“I feel like I’m in a really good place to
take on this year. I really want to get back to
winning. I feel like that’s something that I’ve
always prided myself on in my career, that I
was winning tournaments yearly. It’s been a
couple years now,” said Scott.
GolfPlus
FEBRUARY
2019
21