GREENSBORO, North Carolina – Cameron Percy almost did a double take before he teed off on Thursday. Aaron Baddeley had to reach in and get his smart phone out his golf bag. “When I hit my tee shot I turned around and saw it and I was like oh, man, I’ve got to get a picture of that,â€� Baddeley said. Sitting there on the first tee at Sedgefield Country Club were Jarrod Lyle’s golf bag, clubs and signature yellow bucket cap, a tribute to the popular Australian golfer who died last week after battling acute myeloid leukemia for 20 years. “That was awesome,â€� Percy said. “I was about to hit off and I was like who’s bag is that? And then I saw it and I said to Shane (Joel), who’s an Australian caddy in my group, that was pretty cool, wasn’t it, and he said, yeah, that was pretty cool. It was a nice touch.â€� The last PGA TOUR event Lyle played was the 2016 Wyndham Championship, and tournament officials wanted to honor his memory this week. There are also two bags in the locker room for players to sign that will be auctioned off later with the total proceeds going to Lyle’s wife Briony and their two children. Donations to the GoFundMe page, that has already exceeded its $200,000 goal may also be made on-site at The First Tee of the Triad’s tent on Expo Row at Sedgefield. The tournament is working with all of its constituents to raise $25,000 for the cause. “These are sad days for the PGA TOUR family,â€� tournament director Mark Brazil said.  “I knew Jarrod to be one of the kindest human beings on TOUR, and I know all the guys, especially the Australians, will really miss him.â€� Earlier in the week, Percy, Baddeley and the rest of the Australian players and caddies got together at a local Outback Steakhouse – where else? – to remember their friend. Sung Kang’s caddy, Jason Shortall, organized the gathering. “He sent out a big text message — let’s get the Aussie boys together and do something Jarrod would like,â€� Baddeley said. A beer and a yellow bucket cap were at the head of the table as the tight-knit group of Aussies reminisced. Lyle’s former caddy, Mick Middlemo, even drove up from Atlanta, where he now manages a bar. “He actually spoke to (Jarrod),â€� said Percy, who still had the yellow ribbon on his cap that he got at the Barracuda Championship when news broke that Lyle had entered palliative care. “And he said, look, he said to say thanks for everything everyone is doing. “He said, I’m in a better place now. I’ve had a great life and I’m just so happy everyone’s looking after my kids. It was really nice to hear.â€� The PGA TOUR’s January for Jarrod drive and the GoFundMe page started by the Golf Channel’s Tripp Isenhour aren’t the only campaigns to raise money for Lyle’s family. One of Percy’s friends, Craig Hutchison, owns SEN, a popular sports radio station in Australia. He called Percy a couple of weeks ago and said he wanted to hold a Jarrod Lyle Day. Percy helped supply some phone numbers and Hutchison took it from there.   “Famous sports stars say ok, you can come to the footy (soccer game) with me or I’ll go play tennis and cricket and people bid on it,â€� Percy said. “They raised $178,000. “That’s one of the things Jarrod wanted Mick to tell us was, he said what you guys did there was unbelievable. So at least he knew the kids were going to be looked after. That was a big relief for him.â€� The tribute to Lyle – who birdied the 18th hole at Sedgefield in his final round in 2016 — on the first tee will remain throughout the Wyndham Championship. Players have also been given yellow belts and bucket hats to wear this week. Yellow is the color of Challenge, the Australian charitable organization that supports kids with cancer. The Wyndham Championship’s sand artists are also creating a likeness of Leuk the Duck, the Challenge logo, with the words: “In Memoriam: Jarrod Lyle

Click here to read the full article…

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Thursday’s first round at the Wyndham Championship started poorly for Brandt Snedeker, as he snap-hooked a 3-wood off the 10th tee, leaving him on the wrong side of the cart path left of the fairway. It was 7:40 a.m. at Sedgefield Country Club, and already he was in scramble mode. Not to worry. His next 58 shots were of significantly higher quality. The final stroke was a birdie putt from 20 feet, 4 inches, just off the fringe and below the hole at the par-4 ninth, and it put Snedeker in the record book with the 10th round of 59-or-better on the PGA TOUR. Thanks to his opening bogey, Snedeker’s 59 is the first in which a player was over-par at any point of the round. “Crazy day,� he said, still wrapping his head around the 11-under round — and an 8-under 27 coming in — that left him with a substantial first-round lead. On one hand, it’s not surprising that Snedeker joined the 59 Club. You might even make the argument that it was inevitable, given that when he heats up, he runs hotter than most. He’s shown that on several occasions, most notably the third round of the 2012 HSBC Champions in China, when he reached the 18th hole with a chance to shoot the first 59 on the European Tour. He couldn’t convert the birdie putt, leaving him with a 60 — still tied for the lowest score on that tour. He also showed early in his TOUR career that he can go super-low. In just the eighth round of his first full season in 2007, he shot an opening 61 at Torrey Pines North that included seven birdies and an eagle for a 27 in his first nine holes. Of the TOUR’s 13 nine-hole scores of 27-or-better, Snedeker is the only player to do it twice (Corey Pavin is the only one to record a 26). He knows how to produce lots of birdies. In three of the previous seven seasons, he’s finished inside the top 10 on TOUR in birdie average. Most of the damage he does with his flatstick. “That putter,� said his caddie, Travis Perkins, not feeling the need to elaborate. Plus, it’s no surprise that Snedeker went low at Wyndham. Of his three previous career-low rounds of 61 on TOUR, one of those was at Sedgefield in 2015. And his lowest final round on TOUR was also in the Wyndham, albeit at Forest Oaks in 2007. He shot a 63 that Sunday to win his first TOUR event. On the other hand, Snedeker entered this week hardly in the best shape to shoot a 59. His last win was two years ago. His eight missed cuts this season are in his most since 2011, and he’d only finished top-3 just once in 22 starts, last month at The Greenbrier. He tried to convince himself that his game was coming around, but he acknowledged on Wednesday that it has been a frustrating season, that his hard work on the range had yet to be rewarded. His play during the pro-am was nothing to get excited about. “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,� Snedeker said. “But I kind of found something late yesterday on the golf course that kind of built on what I was working on earlier in the week.� Even later that night, he was on the range at Sedgefield. He hit five balls, was thrilled that his swing seemed to be properly syncing up, and called it an evening. He left thinking he could take an aggressive approach into Thursday. He didn’t let the wayward opening tee shot derail him. He rolled in a putt from 26 feet, 3 inches for birdie at the 13th and followed with a birdie from practically the same distance on the next hole. Two more birdies immediately followed, but the key stroke might have been his bunker shot at the 18th. He blasted to within 8 feet and made the putt for par. “Probably not many guys are going to get up-and-down out of that bunker today,� Snedeker said. “It’s just a death place to be. Hit a great bunker shot and to make that putt to keep the momentum going.� Said Perkins: “He made a couple of long putts, but he wasn’t hitting it that great. Then something clicked right as we made the turn.� Indeed. His approach at No. 1 finished inside 4 feet. Birdie. His approach at No. 2 finished inside 2-1/2 feet. Birdie. His tee shot at No. 3 finished inside 5-1/2 feet. Birdie. His third shot to the par-5 fifth finished inside 2-1/2 feet. Birdie. “You can see why I shot 59,� Snedeker said, smiling. “I had a lot of tap-ins.� Then came the par-4 sixth. He didn’t even need his putter. From 176 yards on his approach shot, he cut a 7-iron and the ball sailed into the hole for eagle. He didn’t even see it go in; in fact, he didn’t realize it until he reached the green. Once there, he also realized his ball had “destroyed the cup a little bit.� Damage to the cup forced tournament officials to first, try to fix the issue (to no avail), then eventually moving the cup 18-20 inches. Snedeker was now 9 under through 15 holes. The unusual delay as the hole was re-cut allowed him to take an emotional breather and contemplate his legitimate chase at history. “I’ve got two birdie holes left I know of — that’s 8 and 9,� Snedeker recalled. “It’s not crazy to shoot 59. Like that’s why we’re here. Let’s keep going. Don’t be complacent now because you’re 9-under par. Take advantage of the opportunity.� Which he did with a 5-iron to inside 3 feet at the par-3 seventh. Now he was 10 under and headed to the shortest and easiest par-4 on the course, the 352-yard eighth. At that point, playing partner Billy Horschel figured 59 was now inevitable. “Almost made a hole-in-one,� Horschel said. “Oh my gosh, he’s going to shoot 59. This is awesome.� Actually, 59 was no longer the biggest target. Snedeker now had a shot at joining Jim Furyk, the only player on TOUR to shoot 58. He turned to Perkins and said simply, “C’mon, two more.� His approach at the eighth finished inside 3 feet. Another tap-in, right? Only this time, he missed the delicate birdie putt. “We left it on the wrong side of the hole,� Perkins said. “It was downhill, right to left. That was a tough putt to make.� The missed putt could have easily been the momentum killer, an emotional deflater. Snedeker refused to let it carry over to his final hole. “Try to tell myself, listen, it’s not the end of the world,� Snedeker recalled. “You still have a birdie hole left. I kind of had in my mind if I make this putt, I’ve got one more birdie to shoot 58 and tie Jim Furyk for 58. “So when I missed the putt, I got a little disappointed right away, but I said, you know what, if I hit the fairway on 9, I’m going to have a birdie opportunity. I’m going to figure out a way to get it done.� So he found the fairway, then hit a 9-iron that left his ball clinging on the fringe. It was uphill, right to left, into the green. Snedeker could be aggressive with the putt. He told himself one thing. You’re not going to leave this thing short. You don’t know when this is going to happen again. His stroke was solid and pure. The ball was still 6 feet from the cup, but he knew it was going to fall. He knew 59 would be the number written on his scorecard. He celebrated with handshakes and hugs from both playing partners, Horschel and Hideki Matsuyama. Horschel had never seen a 59 in person. His smile was almost as big as Snedeker’s. “I was jacked up for him,� Horschel said. “I said, ‘Oh dude, that was awesome. Special playing.’ I was thrilled. I mean, I was speechless.� Snedeker wasn’t speechless. More like satisfied. An opportunity had presented itself — and now he was in the record books. “It’s very rare out here when you have something you’re trying to do and you step up with this pressure and all the stuff on you and you do it,� he said. “You hit the shots you’re supposed to hit and you make the putts you’re supposed to do. “If you don’t get excited for that, then you need to find another job.�

Click here to read the full article…