The APGA began in 2010 to bring greater diversity to golf through playing and other career opportunities. “We are proud to expand our commitment to the sport of golf and work together with the APGA towards a shared vision of fostering greater inclusivity,” said Mark Patterson, senior vice president at Cisco. Cisco already has deals with Nelly and Jessica Korda and Danielle Kang on the LPGA Tour, and PGA Tour players that include Viktor Hovland, Keith Mitchell and Maverick McNealy.Īlong with continuing its sponsorship of the Billy Horschel APGA Invitational, which has the largest purse on the APGA Tour at $135,000, Cisco will be the title sponsor of a new APGA event at Baltusrol in August. Kevin Hall, Aaron Beverly, Troy Taylor and Olajuwon Ajanaku will join Cisco’s stable of golfers.
It’s the major that has gone the longest since its last playoff.Ĭalifornia-based Cisco has expanded its presence in golf with a partnership announced Tuesday with the Advocates Professional Golf Association that will create endorsements for players and bigger purses at two APGA Tour events. Open playoff was Tiger Woods beating Rocco Mediate in 19 holes at Torrey Pines in 2008. The USGA now has a two-hole aggregate playoff. “How is this modern golfer going to adapt, or are they just going to let it rip?”Īnother change: The previous three Opens at Brookline have gone to an 18-hole playoff. “The Country Club is an old-school golf course: small greens, very tight fairways,” said Jeff Hall, the USGA’s managing director of rules and open championships. The 14th, previously 450 yards, is now 619 yards as a par 5. The 10th hole has been shortened from a 515-yard par 5 to a 499-yard par 4. This year’s championship course will add the 11th hole from the main course, a par 3 at 131 yards, and lose No. The course used for major tournaments, including the 1999 Ryder Cup, is a composite of the one played by members and a third nine. Open, won by local amateur Francis Ouimet in 1913. The Country Club was a par 73 when it first hosted the U.S. It was a par 71 in 1988 and when Julius Boros won in 1963. The USGA said it will play 250 yards longer at 7,264 yards, and it will play to a par 70. The Open returns to Brookline on June 16-19 for the fourth time, but the 140-year-old club outside Boston will have some changes from when Curtis Strange won in 1988. The Country Club will have a slightly new look for the U.S. He hopes that starts at Southern Hills, where English plans to be as long as there is no soreness. But I was looking at the next eight to 10 years of having a chance to compete and win golf tournaments.” “It sucked to miss the Masters and Match Play and tournaments I really like. She played nurse for a couple weeks when I couldn’t move that well,” he said. “I was ready to nip it in the bud,” English said. He was diligent with his trainers to prevent further back pain, which got him through the Ryder Cup.Įnglish played both Hawaii tournaments, was off for three weeks of rest and treatment, and when he returned in Phoenix and went to test equipment at Ping headquarters, his body wouldn’t allow him to hit more than 20 golf balls.
On a scale of 1 to 10, he said his “normal” pain level was around 5.
Open, winning the Travelers Championship in a playoff and losing a late lead in the FedEx St. He had to withdraw from The Players Championship after two holes of a practice round when he couldn’t hit a 3-wood much more than 100 yards.Įnglish made it through the major championship season, finishing third at the U.S. I knew the day would come when I needed surgery.”Īnd then he started having back trouble last year. “He said there was going to come a time when this stopped working. “I had (platelet-rich plasma) injections, a band-aid to keep the inflammation down,“ English said. He said doctors described it as a bone growth on his femur. His first year on the PGA Tour, he had it checked in Vail. I’ll prepare as much as I can to win.”Įnglish said he has had issues with his right hip dating to college at Georgia, which he treated with dry needle. He’d rather not return at a major, but as English said: “You’ve got to start somewhere. The plan at this point is to return at the PGA Championship, which runs from May 19-22 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. “It feels like there’s definitely light at the end of the tunnel.”Įnglish has been taking long walks with his Cavalier King Charles Spaniel to build up stamina and has started hitting short irons under the watch of Justin Parsons, his swing coach. “They liked where everything was at,” English said from his home in St.