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Honoring A Gentleman – The HP Byron Nelson Classic
By Scott MacLeod, via Flagstick Golf Magazine (www.flagstick.com)
A week after delving into the mystique of Ben Hogan at Colonial, the PGA Tour caravan makes it’s a short way down the road from Ft. Worth to Dallas (Irving) to pay homage to one of the most likeable and respected men the game of golf ever saw, Mr. Byron Nelson.
To those who met the man in person, and I count myself among the fortunate, Mr. Nelson could not have been sweeter. I can recall approaching him in Florida one year and asked, with some trepidation, if I might have a sliver of his time for an autograph. To my delight what I received was a fifteen minute chat about a number of topics, mostly to do with Mr. Nelson’s enjoyment of his time in Canada, once he discovered I was from there. In just a few moments he left me with as warm of a feeling for a person as I can ever recall having, akin to having spoken with my own grandfather.
Nelson has that kind of touch, and the ability to play some excellent golf as well, so when players check the calendar each season, the HP Byron Nelson Classic gets a heavy circling by many.
Mr. Nelson is gone now, but his legacy remains. The tournament was named after him in 1968 and as the first winner, in 1944, he has always had a strong tie with the event that raises money for a group near and dear to his heart, the Salesmanship Club of Dallas. Funds raised at the HP Byron Nelson Championship enable Salesmanship Club Youth and Family Centers to serve more than 7,500 children and family members each year.
In 2004 the Byron Nelson was moved to the TPC Four Seasons Resort over both of their golf course and since 2008 has exclusively been conducted on their TPC Course.
In 2010 Australian Jason Day made the HP Byron Nelson Classic his first PGA Tour victory at the age of 22 years, 6 months, and 11 days. Day shot 10-under 270 (66-65-67-72) in a two-stroke victory over Brian Gay, Jeff Overton and Blake Adams. He became the youngest winner of the tournament since Tiger Woods turned the feat in 1997 at the age of 21.
Day came to the 72nd hole with a one-stroke lead over playing partner Adams and hit his second shot in the water near the green. Adams, playing from the right trees, then hit his second shot in the same hazard. Adams made double bogey and Day got up and down for bogey.
Although Day won the tournament though, he was not exactly the big story of the week as Dallas resident Jordan Speith became the 6th youngest player to make a cut in PGA Tour history at the age of 16 years, 9 months, and 24 days. Not only did he make the cut but he stayed near the upper half of the leaderboard all week, eventually finishing in a share of 16th place. The youngster is back again this year to see if he can replicate or improve on last year’s success.
Just four players in the top 10 of the FedEx Cup standings are in the field this week but they are a significant foursome. They include Nick Watney (6), K.J. Choi (7), Rory Sabbatini (9) and Gary Woodland (10).
Choi, of course, is coming off a big win at THE PLAYERS but it has been four years since he has played the Byron Nelson despite the fact that he now calls Dallas home. He just arrived back in the States from Korea yesterday so it is hard to say whether he will be in peak from come round one.
Of the top four FedEx players you might want to have an eye on Sabbatini. There is no denying that he has been on a hot streak of late, even amidst rumors of a PGA Tour conduct investigation. He set the tournament record of 261 back in 2009 on his way to a win. He is my lock for a win or at worst, a top five finish this week. He has played a stretch of four weeks in a row but he’s proven that he likes the course in Irving and plays well there.
International players have accounted for seven wins at the Byron Nelson since 2000 so don’t be surprised if that is the case again this year.
2011 HP Byron Nelson Championship
Dates: May 23-29, 2011
Where: TPC Four Seasons Resort Las Colinas; Irving, TX
Par/Yards: 35-35—70/7,166
Field: 156; Format: 72-hole stroke play
Defending Champion: Jason Day
FedExCup: 500 points to winner; Purse: $6,500,000; Winner’s Share: $1,170,000
This report provided to GolfWRX.com by Canada’s Flagstick Golf Magazine (www.flagstick.com)
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SuperStroke acquires Lamkin Grips
SuperStroke announced today its purchase of 100-year-old grip maker Lamkin Grips, citing the company’s “heritage of innovation and quality.”
“It is with pride and great gratitude that we announce Lamkin, a golf club grip brand with a 100-year history of breakthrough design and trusted products, is now a part of the SuperStroke brand,” says SuperStroke CEO Dean Dingman. “We have always had the utmost respect for how the Lamkin family has put the needs and benefits of the golfer first in their grip designs. If there is a grip company that is most aligned with SuperStroke’s commitment to uncompromised research, design, and development to put the most useful performance tools in the hands of golfers, Lamkin has been that brand. It is an honor to bring Lamkin’s wealth of product innovation into the SuperStroke family.”
Elver B. Lamkin founded the company in 1925 and produced golf’s first leather grips. The company had been family-owned and operated since that point, producing a wide array of styles, such as the iconic Crossline.
According to a press release, “The acquisition of Lamkin grows and diversifies SuperStroke’s proven and popular array of grip offerings with technology grounded in providing golfers optimal feel and performance through cutting-edge design and use of materials, surface texture and shape.”
CEO Bob Lamkin will stay on as a board member and will continue to be involved with the company.
“SuperStroke has become one of the most proven, well-operated, and pioneering brands in golf grips and we could not be more confident that the Lamkin legacy, brand, and technology is in the best of hands to continue to innovate and lead under the guidance of Dean Dingman and his remarkably capable team,” Lamkin said.
Related: Check out our 2014 conversation with Bob Lamkin, here: Bob Lamkin on the wrap grip reborn, 90 years of history
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Tour Rundown: Pendrith, Otaegui, Longbella, and Dunlap soar
Take it from a fellow who coaches high school golf in metro Toronto: there’s plenty of great golf played in the land of the maple leaf. All the greats have designed courses over the USA border: Colt, Whitman, Ross, Coore, Mackenzie, Doak, as well as the greatest of the land, Stanley Thompson. I’m partial to him, because he wore my middle name with grandeur. Enough about the architecture, because this week’s Tour Rundown begins with a newly-minted, Canadian champion on the PGA Tour. Something else that the great white north is known for, is weather. It impacted play on three of the world’s tours, forcing final-round cancellations on two of them.
It was an odd week in the golf world. The LPGA and the Korn Ferry were on a break, and only 13/15 of the rounds slated, were played. In the end, we have four champions to recognize, so let’s not delay any longer with minutiae about the game that we love. Let’s run it all down with this week’s Tour Rundown.
PGA Tour: TP takes TS at Byron’s place
The 1980s was a decade when a Canadian emergence was anticipated on the PGA Tour. It failed to materialize, but a path was carved for the next generation. Mike Weir captured the Masters in 2003, but no other countrymen joined him in his quest for PGA Tour conquest. 2024 may herald the long-awaited arrival of a Canadian squad of tour winners. Over the past few years, we’ve seen Nick Taylor break the fifty-plus year dearth of homebred champions at the Canadian Open, and players like Adam Hadwin, Corey Conners, Adam Svennson, and Mackenzie Hughes have etched their names into the PGA Tour’s annals of winners.
This week, Taylor Pendrith joined his mates with a one-shot win at TPC Craig Ranch, the home of the Byron Nelson Classic. Pendrith took a lead into the final round and, while the USA’s Jake Knapp faltered, held on for the slimmest of victories. Sweden’s Alex Noren posted six-under 65 on Sunday to move into third position, at 21-under par. Ben Kohles, a Texan, looked to break through for his first win in his home state. He took the lead from Pendrith at the 71st hole, on the strength of a second-consecutive birdie.
With victory in site, Kohles found a way to make bogey at the last, without submerging in the fronting water. His second shot was greenside, but he could not move his third to the putting surface. His fourth was five feet from par and a playoff, but his fifth failed to drop. Meanwhile, Pendrith was on the froghair in two, and calmly took two putts from 40 feet, for birdie. When Kohles missed for par, Pendrith had, at last, a PGA Tour title.
360° and in!
A nervy par save by @TaylorPendrith to remain one back as he seeks his first PGA TOUR victory @CJByronNelson. pic.twitter.com/LVFXUSidSg
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 5, 2024
DP World Tour: China Open in Otaegui’s hands after canceled day four
It wasn’t the fourth round that was canceled in Shenzhen, but the third. Rains came on Saturday to Hidden Grace Golf Club, ensuring that momentum would cease. Sunday would instead be akin to a motorsports restart, with no sense of who might claim victory. Sebastian Soderberg, the hottest golfer on the Asian Swing, held the lead, but he would slip to a 72 on Sunday, and tie for third with Paul Waring and Joel Girrbach. Italy’s Guido Migliozzi completed play in 67 strokes on day three, moving one shot past the triumvirate, to 17-under par.
It was Spain’s Adrian Otaegui who persevered the best and played the purest. Otaegui was clean on the day, with seven birdies for 65. Even when Migliozzi ceased the lead at the 10th, Otaegui remained calm. With everything on the line, Migliozzi made bogey at the par-five 17th, as his principal competitor finished in birdie. To the Italian’s credit, he bounced back with birdie at the last, to claim solo second. The victory was Otaegui’s fifth on the DP World Tour, and first since October of 2022.
.@adrianotaegui birdies the 16th to tie the lead at -17 ?#VolvoChinaOpen pic.twitter.com/p4tfE5DRJa
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) May 5, 2024
PGA Tour Americas: Quito’s rains gift title to Longbella
Across the world, superintendents and their staffs will do anything to prepare a course for play. Even after fierce, nightime rains, the Quito TG Club greeted the first four groups on Sunday. The rains worsened after 7 am, however, and the tour was forced to abort the final round of play. With scores reverting to Saturday’s numbers, Thomas Longbella’s one-shot advantage over Gunn Yang turned into a Tour Americas victory.
64 held the opening-day lead, and Longbella was not far off, with 66. Yang jumped to the top on day two, following a67 with 66. He posted 68 on day three, and anticipated a fierce, final-round duel for the title. As for Longbella, he fought off a ninth-hole bogey on Saturday with six birdies and a 17th-hole eagle. That rare bird proved to be the winning stroke, allowing Longbella to edge past Yang, and secure ultimate victory.
.@TBalla21 eagles 17, shoots 65 on Saturday to take a one-shot lead into the final round of the KIA Open. pic.twitter.com/TTOL2LxSdh
— PGA TOUR Americas (@PGATOURAmericas) May 4, 2024
PGA Tour Champions: Dunlap survives Saturday stumble for win
Scott Dunlap did not finish Saturday as well as he might have liked. After beginning play near Houston with 65, Dunlap made two bogeys in his final found holes on day two, to finish at nine-under par. Hot on his heels was Joe Durant, owner of a March 2024 win on PGA Tour Champions. Just behind Durant was Stuart Appleby, perhaps vibing from his Sunday 59 at Greenbrier on this day in 2010. Neither would have a chance to track Dunlap down.
The rains that have forced emergency responders into action, to save hundreds of lives in the metro Houston area, ended hopes for a third day of play at The Woodlands. Dunlap had won once previously on Tour Champions, in 2014 in Washington state. Ten years later, Dunlap was the fortunate recipient of a canceled final round, and his two days of play were enough to earn him TC victory number two.
Off the green? No worries for @ScottDu12500063
8-under solo leader @InsperityInvtnl pic.twitter.com/hoj5OujL5C
— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) May 4, 2024
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Morning 9: Pendrith’s maiden Tour win | Morikawa back with former coach | Brooks victorious
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