On Tuesday, when Furyk chose Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Bryson DeChambeau as three of his captain’s picks for the Sept. 28-30 matches in suburban Paris, he also named Duval (left) as one of his vice captains.
Duval, once the top-ranked player in the world, now is primarily known for his work as a golf analyst on the Golf Channel.
“He brings a lot to the table,” Furyk said of Duval, with whom he teamed in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans in April. “One, he comes from a different perspective. Two, he doesn’t sugarcoat things. David’s a good friend but he’s blunt and he’s honest, and I want him to be that way. I don’t want him to be the yes man.
“He has a significantly good relationship with a number of guys on the team, Tiger being one of them, that I felt like he was going to be really good as a vice captain. And it’s gone over really well.”
Other vice captains named on Tuesday were Zach Johnson and Matt Kuchar. Woods was once a vice captain, but played his way onto the team, opening an assistant’s spot for Furyk.
When Duval was offered the role last month, “I was shocked,” he said. “I really didn’t expect that. It’s something I would have wanted to do and glad to be doing, but I just felt like it was something that was too far down the road. It was hard to see how (Woods) wasn’t going to be playing, and (Furyk) wanted to bring somebody in that knows Tiger well and everybody’s comfortable with and can alleviate him of some of those extra duties he would have to have been shouldering.”
Duval, a 13-time winner on the PGA Tour, has lived in Colorado almost continuously since late 2003, with the exception being a brief move he made back to his longtime home state of Florida, before returning to the Centennial State within the last year.
]]>That’s certainly been the case with the 2012 U.S. Amateur that was hosted by Cherry Hills Country Club, with CommonGround Golf Course serving as the companion course for the stroke-play portion of the championship.
We’ve noted before how several competitors in that 312-man field have moved to the forefront in the world of golf, but the last few months have particularly reinforced the point.
And the PGA Tour’s SBS Tournament of Champions that concluded on Sunday in Maui really drove home the fact that Colorado spectators attending the U.S. Amateur 4 1/2 years ago were watching the budding of something special.
The top three finishers at the Tournament of Champions — winner Justin Thomas, runner-up Hideki Matsuyama and third-place Jordan Spieth — all competed at Cherry Hills and CommonGround in the 2012 U.S. Amateur. (Thomas is pictured above at Cherry Hills in 2012.)
But the Tournament of Champions is just the latest example of 2012 U.S. Am players thriving at the highest level of golf. In fact, four of the top eight players on this season’s PGA Tour money list competed in Colorado in August 2012: Matsuyama (No. 1 on the list), Thomas (No. 2), Cody Gribble (No. 7) and Daniel Berger (No. 8).
Some recent PGA Tour highlights from 2012 U.S. Am players:
— In his five official and unofficial starts on the PGA Tour during the current wraparound season, Matsuyama has finished no worse than sixth place. He’s won twice (HSBC Champions and the Hero World Challenge) and been runner-up twice.
— In five official and unofficial PGA Tour events this season, Thomas has notched two victories (CIMB Classic and SBS Tournament of Champions), a fifth and an eighth. And on Thursday at the Sony Open in Hawaii, he carded a cool first-round 59.
— Spieth won the Australian Open in late November, marking his third win worldwide in 2016.
— Gribble won the Sanderson Farms Championship in late October, marking one of two top-10s so far this season.
— Berger has posted a second in the HSBC Champions and a ninth in the Franklin Templeton Shootout in recent months.
— Former NCAA individual champion Thomas Pieters has recorded two top-15 finishes in two tournaments on the PGA Tour this season.
— Bryson DeChambeau, winner of the 2015 U.S. Am, posted two top-6 showings on the PGA Tour in 2016.
— Also recording top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour in 2016 were Zac Blair (third in the Sony Open), Oliver Schniederjans (sixth in RSM Classic) and Cheng-Tsung Pan (also sixth in RSM Classic).
Career-wise in official PGA Tour events, Spieth owns eight wins, Thomas and Matsuyama three apiece, and Gribble and Berger one each.
And, mind you, all of the aforementioned players are still in their young to mid-20s. Spieth, Thomas, Berger, DeChambeau and Schniederjans are 23; Matsuyama and Pieters 24; Pan 25; and Gribble and Blair 26.
All told, five of the top 50 players in the world rankings — and three of the top dozen — competed in the 2012 U.S. Am: Spieth (fifth), Matsuyama (sixth), Thomas (12th), Berger (32nd) and Pieters (48th). Also currently in the top 200 in the world are DeChambeau (123rd), Patrick Rodgers (148th), Gribble (181st), Schniederjans (187th) and Pan (200th).
In case you’re wondering, here’s how some of these notable players fared at the 2012 U.S. Amateur:
— Spieth: The winner of two U.S. Junior Amateurs and the low amateur at the 2012 U.S. Open lost in the round of 64 in match play, 1 up to Pieters.
— Matsuyama: Japanese standout shot 73-72 and missed a playoff to advance to match play by two strokes.
— Thomas: Advanced to the match play semifinals, where he lost to eventual national runner-up Michael Weaver, 3 and 2.
— Gribble: Shot 75-69 and missed a playoff to advance to match play by one stroke.
— Berger: Shot 75-69 and missed a playoff to advance by match play by one stroke.
— Pieters: A round after defeating Spieth, lost 4 and 3 in the round of 32 to Canadian Albin Choi.
— DeChambeau: Three years before winning the U.S. Amateur, he lost in 19 holes in the match play round of 64 to Andrew Presley.
— Blair: The 2011 Colorado Open low amateur lost 2 and 1 in the match play round of 64 to Weaver, the eventual runner-up.
— Schniederjans: Lost 2 and 1 in the match play round of 64 to Adam Schenk.
— Pan: Lost in the quarterfinals 4 and 3 to Brandon Hagy, another current PGA Tour player.
Ed Mate had been to Augusta National Golf Club during Masters week once before, about a decade ago. But that was as a spectator for the practice rounds.
This time around, the CGA’s executive director left feeling like he’d wrung the whole nine yards out of the Masters experience.
“I did take full advantage of being there,” Mate said on Monday after serving as a rules official for the four rounds of the Masters. “The whole thing was a lot of fun. It was a lot more enjoyable and less stressful than I anticipated.
“I would describe everything about the tournament as welcoming. They’d ask, ‘Do you have anything you need?’ ‘Is there anything we can do for you?’ They appreciate you being there, and anybody there will tell you that. They just make you feel good. And if everyone around you treats you courteously, you can’t help but reciprocate.”
As with former CWGA executive director Robin Jervey from 2008-11, Mate earned the chance to be a Masters rules official by virtue of serving as an advisory member of the powerful USGA Rules of Golf Committee, representing state and regional golf associations. Mate, the CGA’s executive director since 2000, joined the Rules of Golf Committee last fall, and figures to serve up to four years on it.
According to the Augusta Chronicle, while dozens of people served on the Masters Tournament Rules Committee in 2016, the only representative from Colorado this year was Mate, though former Coloradan Thomas Pagel was also on the committee.
In his rules official role, Mate said he worked the par-4 17th hole on Thursday, the par-3 sixth on Friday, the par-4 ninth on Saturday, and the par-4 third on Sunday. He said he had just three interactions with competitors overall — with Charl Schwartzel on Friday, Dustin Johnson on Saturday and low-amateur Bryson DeChambeau on Sunday.
“It was very simple stuff, but enough to make you feel you contributed,” Mate noted.
Schwartzel’s ball at No. 6 on Friday ended up right next to a pair of sunglasses, leading to an interaction with Mate, though Schwartzel was just confirming how to proceed. He marked his ball, moved the sunglasses and played on.
As for Johnson, after he hit his approach on Saturday right of the hole on No. 9, he couldn’t get his ball to stay in place on the sloping green when he tried to replace it in front of his ball mark, and asked Mate about the proper procedure. Mate told him to find a spot as close as possible where the ball would stay put, and Johnson did just that.
On Sunday, DeChambeau hit his ball behind a temporary immovable obstruction on No. 3, and Mate helped him find his point of relief.
“I felt comfortable” overall, Mate said. “All the rulings I had were so straightforward. I’ve worked a couple of U.S. Opens, and it’s still just golf. I didn’t think of the potential of everyone watching. And I knew if I did have any doubt (about a ruling), I’d just go on the radio.”
Indeed, this certainly wasn’t Mate’s first rodeo — which is to say, major championship. He worked the U.S. Open in 2009 and ’10, and has also served as a rules official at U.S. Women’s Opens and U.S. Senior Opens. He likewise had the opportunity to work this year’s U.S. Open at Oakmont, Pa., but can’t commit to that one.
At Augusta National, Mate also enjoyed interacting with — and picking the brains of — rules officials who have worked dozens and dozens of major championships over the years. Also memorable from last week was just the general feel of being at the Masters.
“It was amazing — everything you’ve heard about the Masters,” Mate said. “From the experience standpoint, it’s unlike anything, so unique. It’s like you’re in a time warp, with no cell phones (allowed for fans on the grounds) and the food costs ($2.50 for a Masters club sandwich, $2 for a soft drink and $1.50 for a Georgia Peach ice cream sandwich). It’s the spirit of Bobby Jones and Cliff Roberts: They don’t measure themselves against what everyone else is doing. They do stuff their own way. It’s not a coincidence they’re viewed the way they are.
“There was a great quote (uttered) at a rules meeting: ‘We strive for everything to be the best, and if it’s not, we’ll figure out how to make it the best.’
“And then when you come up to 9 and 18 (greens), there are no corporate sky boxes. On 9 you’re struck by the fact the only things around the green are a bunch of chairs. It’s like a well-attended CGA Stroke Play.”
Mate took advantage of being situated on hole 17 Thursday to take in the experience of the ceremonial opening tee shots by Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player, with Arnold Palmer also on hand.
“That was a highlight to be there,” Mate said. “How many other times are you going to get to see (those three greats together)? It was packed. And (Masters chairman) Billy Payne exudes charisma. He’s very impressive, so well spoken and gracious. He didn’t drone on (in introducing Palmer, Nickland and Player), but said just enough.”
All in all, suffice it to say Mate is looking forward to a return trip to Augusta National next spring. After all, as they say, it’s a tradition unlike any other.