The Symetra Tour returns to Atlanta national in the suburbs of north Fulton County for the fourth year, with the 2019 event scheduled for May 9-11 and featuring some new faces in the field after playing their college careers in Athens. Among the players expected to tee it up on the intriguing Pete and P.B. Dye design are Bailey Tardy and Jillian Hollis, who would be closing … [Read more...]
Royak Looks to Defend Yamaha Georgia Senior Open Title on Home Course
The annual battle between Georgia’s strong groups of club professionals and amateurs continues May 6-7 at St. Ives CC in the Yamaha Georgia Senior Open. Amateurs have won two of the last three Georgia Senior Opens, the first wins in the event by a non-pro since back-to-back amateur victories in 2007 and ’08. Although the Georgia PGA includes a number of outstanding … [Read more...]
Skinner, Claxton Lead 6 Georgians in National Club Pro Championship
Six Georgia PGA members will be among 312 of the country’s top club professionals who will compete in the 52nd PGA Professional Championship, which will be played April 28-May 1 at Belfair in Bluffton, S.C. The tournament is a relative home game for the Georgia PGA contingent, with recent national club pro championships played on the West Coast and the Northeast. The last … [Read more...]
Scott McCarron Scores Third Career Victory at TPC Sugarloaf, This Time on Champions Tour
Scott McCarron was a big fan of TPC Sugarloaf when he played it for the first time more than two decades ago, and still has a strong bond with the Greg Norman-designed layout, even though the course he played last week was 50 percent new to him. Scott McCarron won the Mitsubishi Electric Classic, which concluded Sunday in sunny, pleasant weather after two mostly miserable … [Read more...]
Woods Rallies for First Time in a Major to Take Fifth Masters Title
While he was winning 14 majors between 1997 and 2008, Tiger Woods established a 100 percent predictable model for divining whether he was going to win a Grand Slam event going to the final round. When leading or sharing the lead after 54 holes, Woods was 14-0 in Grand Sam events. When he was trailing going to the final round, he was 0-for-everything else. His spotless … [Read more...]
Masters preview: McIlroy the Favorite, No Green Jacket for Tiger or Phil
The list of potential 2019 Masters champions is long, with a clear but not overwhelming favorite who comes into the tournament as the game’s hottest player, but who does not have the best relationship with Augusta National. Everything points to a Rory McIlroy victory in Augusta next week. He has finished sixth or better in each of his six starts in PGA Tour stroke play … [Read more...]
Howell, Cink back in Masters after lengthy absences; Mitchell to make Augusta debut
Two veterans who haven’t played in Augusta in some time and a second-year PGA Tour member making his first ever start in a major are among 10 golfers with ties to Georgia who will be competing in the 2019 Masters. Augusta native Charles Howell is playing in the Masters for the first time since 2012 and making just the second start in his hometown in more than a decade, … [Read more...]
Reed fought off more popular challengers to capture 2018 Masters title
Last year’s Masters victory by Patrick Reed may not have been the most well-received conclusion in the tournament’s 80-plus year history, but it was certainly one of the most well-earned. At various stages during Sunday’s final round, Reed was challenged by three of golf’s highest profile performers, each of whom would have been a much more popular champion. Even though … [Read more...]
Masters Memories: Woods, Mickelson dominated for 2 decades
For more than two decades from the mid-1990s to the mid-2010s, golf fans could count on seeing the names of Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson on the leader board at the Masters on an annual basis. From 1995 to 2013, either Woods or Mickelson (and frequently both) finished at least seventh in the Masters. After that streak ended when Woods did not play and Mickelson missed the … [Read more...]