Eif.pgatourhq.com

?Featured Groupings?Emiliano Grillo, Johnny Vegas, Charley Hoffman??Pat Perez, Kevin Chappell, Charles Howell III?Graeme McDowell, Henrik Stenson, Corey?Conners??Mackenzie Hughes, Adam Long, Keith Mitchell??Emiliano Grillo?Same swing coach (Chris Comio) as Bryson DeChambeau Born in?the city of Chaco, in the province of?Resistencia?in?Argentina,?he?grew up playing the?same course, Chaco Golf Club, as?PGA TOUR winners José?Cóceres?and Fabián Gómez?Left Chaco at age 14 to work on his game?and?then?left Argentina at age 16 to attend the?IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.???He loves soccer and is a diehard fan of Argentina’s River Plate football club. He always keeps track of big games or competitions?going on or coming for River.??Fishing?is?one of his biggest passions. Joking, he has even said that if he could earn as much as he does in?golf,?he would consider giving it a shot as his sport.?It’s something he has done his entire life, going out fishing at the river in?Chaco?since he was a little boy.???Member of famed "Class of 2011" and competed alongside Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Daniel Berger,?Xander?Schauffele?and Ollie?Schniederjans?during amateur golf days.?Jhonattan Vegas?Father, Carlos, worked as a restaurant manager at the Exxon Mobil plant in Quiriquire, Venezuela where the family lived by the time Jhonattan was a teenager. Jhonattan, who picked up the game by playing with a broomstick and a rock,?practiced golf on the 9-hole course located next door which was built for the factory’s employees.?When Carlos signed the?Tascón?List – a declaration to denounce then president Hugo Chávez in 2003 – the plant was expropriated and the golf course was closed as part of the late president’s war on the ‘bourgeois’ sport and that there was a better use for the land. Now, it is just an expanse of disused unkempt grass.?With no job, Carlos used his savings to pay for flights to California, so Jhonattan could play in the Junior Worlds at Torrey Pines. Jhonattan finished sixth using a hodgepodge of clubs and wearing thread-worn shoes. They left the tournament and traveled to Houston to visit Franci Betancourt, a former Venezuela pro who previously taught golf to children in the oil camps.?Betancourt,?was a three-time World Cup participant for Venezuela in 1966, 1968 and 1975.?Jhonattan, unable to speak any English, stayed in Texas and was soon competing on the state’s amateur circuit.?Jhonattan had not even been in the U.S. for two years when he was selected for a scholarship to the University of Texas, even though he couldn’t afford to make phone calls home; he didn’t have a car, a cell phone or computer, and he arrived with only a suitcase and well-worn clubs.?Through Betancourt, Jhonattan met Dick and Melissa Kemp who became surrogate parents for Jhonattan. Dick was a successful businessman in Austin with close ties to the golf program.?To navigate strict NCAA policies, Dick and Melissa became his legal guardians in the United States so they could provide?basic essentials, as well as pay for his six root canals needed during freshman year, a used Chevy Cavalier and his first cell phone.?The Kemps also became the legal guardians for Jhonattan’s younger brothers, Julio and Billy. Julio Vegas was one of the starting members of Texas’ 2012 NCAA title team.?His three brothers (Carlitos, Julio, Billy) and his parents (Carlos, Maritza) are all out of Venezuela and in the United States. The last time Jhonattan was in Venezuela was December 2014.Charley Hoffman??Played a lot with Xander?Schauffele?back in San Diego when Xander was just?coming?up.?Xander beats up on him so bad now that Charley refuses to put anything on the line during the games.?Nicknamed seagull?for the amount of?crap he gives his friends and fellow players.?Has known wife, Stacy, since attending high school together (Poway High School) in Southern California. Married in 2009?Member of the 1998 NCAA championship team at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Teammates included Chris Riley, Chad Campbell, Bill Lunde and Adam Scott.??Along with wife, Stacy, very involved with the Charley Hoffman Foundation, which supports children’s charities in San Diego and Las Vegas. In 2017, donated his entire paycheck from the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open to support the recovery effort from the Las Vegas shootings.??Charley Hoffman Foundation celebrated?10 years?(at 2019 Farmers Insurance Open) and raised a record $500,000.??“When the foundation fundraiser first began, it was so small, and our charity get-togethers were in backyards. So, we were like, ‘Don’t fall in the pool’,” laughed Stacy. “Now, we’re holding them at these amazing venues with live music components and holding the pro-am at Torrey Pines."??Avid snow skier and enjoys jet skiing. He and Stacy are also big music enthusiasts.?Began playing golf at age 7 with friend?and?grandfather of former TOUR player (Bill Lunde)?Competed in San Diego Junior Golf Association with fellow TOUR member Pat Perez. 1994, 1995 winner of the California state high school championship, becoming the first player to win twice.???Pat Perez??Cut his long hair before the 2020/21 Safeway Open - all his time during quarantine at home with his wife and daughter and had the chance to unpack and get situated in the house they moved into over Christmas. Made it a point to cook and spend a couple hours having dinner each day – talking and decompressing.??“Yard work has been the only routine; getting outside and sweating—digging, chopping down branches with my chainsaw, working with H (caddie, Mike Hartford) on the irrigation system."??If you were leading a tournament and the network wanted to provide a behind-the-golf world look at you, what would be the top-three things you would want those watching to know??—?(1) Perez is proud of his working-class upbringing.?Self-made player,?didn’t come from money, not a country club kid. Takes pride in working at Torrey Pines as a teen, “earning” his playing time and fending for himself. (2) Pat is proud to be a bit of an outlier and march-to-a-different-beat kind of guy. Ties to brands like?Jumpman?(with Michael Jordan) and William Murray Golf (with Bill Murray)—it’s a badge of honor; being involved with guys he looked up to (in sports and film) as a kid. (3) Proud of keeping PGA Tour card for 18 consecutive seasons, despite only three wins—Pat is a grinder and a fighter. Same spirit was also shown when returning from shoulder surgery and winning at 40 years old. Takes a lot of pride in his comeback from a late-career injury.????Wife, Ashley; Daughter, Piper, was born in September of 2018; withdrew after 54 holes of the Dell Technologies Championship to be able to support Ashley during the birth???Played collegiately at Arizona State University;?member of the golf team and helped propel the squad to a National Championship in 1996.????Supports military initiatives. A charity that is very special to Pat is?Operation Game On. Wounded troops returning stateside are given a chance to take up golf and move forward with their lives. This charity is founded and run by his?father, Tony???Father Tony is a long-time starter at the Farmers Insurance Open???Huge collection of Air Jordan shoes. Estimates he has 1000 pairs.???Interests - Cars, heavy metal music, hip-hop, well-versed in classic 80’s comedies (re: connection with Bill Murray.)???Kevin Chappell?Kevin asked Benji Thompson (long time caddie for Lexi Thompson, no relation) to caddie for him full time to start the 20/21 season.?Donated to Red Cross Creek Fire fund?during the Safeway Open?for every eagle and birdie?he made?to?help?support those affected by the?wildfires?near his hometown of Fresno.??Third child and second daughter, Scottie Grace Chapell was born 7/27/20 -? through back pain much of 2018. After playing three events in the fall of 2018, decided to have a microdiscectomy in December 2018.?A microdiscectomy is a minimally invasive surgery?to remove a?fragment of vertebrae that may be pressing on nerves and creating lower back pain. It's an option that multiple PGA TOUR players have chosen, including Tiger Woods who had three microdiscectomy procedures before opting for?his?spinal fusion.?Did not make a start on the PGA TOUR until the 2019 season-opening A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier.?Kevin has a special place in his heart for Special Olympics. Every summer growing up, he volunteered at his godmother’s summer program for the organization.?Kevin believes a ball only has one birdie and therefore changes balls after each birdie.???Kevin is a West Coast guy, he was born in Fresno and played college golf at UCLA. He loves the Bruins and is a huge San Francisco Giants fan.?Wife, Elizabeth, is very active. She was a collegiate athlete?at the University of Montana and was a trainer for the football team.??Charles?Howell??In July?2020?made a commitment to?help?the APGA?Tour. After being paired with one of its founders and?finding out his caddie played on the?Tour?a few times – not to mention the state?our country is in in terms of equality – Charles thought this was a good way to do his part.?? up near Augusta National GC,?home of the Masters, and was a member of Augusta CC, which?is adjacent to Amen Corner.????Next-door neighbor, Graham?Hill, first introduced?him to golf at age 7. Won five tournaments before?his 11th?birthday.????Shot 79 at Augusta National at age 12????Winner at RSM Classic in 2018 to snap 4,291 days without a win (11 years, nine months covering 333 starts)???16 career runner-up finishes?????He and?his father, who is the chief of pediatric surgery at the Medical College of Georgia, learned the game together—Charles starting at age 7,?his father as an adult.????Howell?rarely talks about?how successful?he?has been as a golfer.?He likes to say that?his dad is, “A much?better pediatrician than I am a golfer.”????Graeme?McDowell?Will miss the Irish Open to defend this week – played in the previous 18 Irish OpensMcDowell is a huge football fan, especially of Manchester United.?Skipped the Par-3 contest at the 2011 Masters so he could watch a game.???In addition to playing golf, McDowell co-owns a modern tavern restaurant called Nona Blue. There are two locations:?Orlando and Ponte?Vedra?Beach – adjacent to TPC Sawgrass.???The restaurant offers food such as seafood, steaks, and shepherd's pie. McDowell personally says to try the G-Mac and Cheese???Hit Kevin?Kisner’s?mother with an errant tee shot at the 2015 RSM Classic.??McDowell hired interior designer Kristin?Stape?to work on his home in Lake Nona, Florida. The two eventually started dating and were married in September 2013??He attended Queen’s University in Belfast, but then transferred to University of?Alabama Birmingham, in which he graduated?in 2002 with degrees in Economics and Engineering.???Ended a 40-year drought for Europeans when he won the 2010 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.???Appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE)?and?received?an honorary degree from University of Ulster?in 2011 for services in golf.????Family is very important to McDowell; after his first professional win, McDowell bought his parents a home.??Henrik Stenson?Nobody in his family played golf when he was growing up. He played Soccer and badminton.Was dropped off at the golf course in the morning and picked up in the evening. “All my friends were also on the course all day. We played short game competitions and searched for balls in ponds and ditches. My Mom soon got so tired of washing and drying dirty, wet clothes and shoes that she offered to buy balls instead.Silver medalist at the 2016 Summer Olympics, finishing two shots behind Justin Rose?His wife, Emma?(they?married in 2006), played golf at the University of South Carolina?from 1996-2000 and earned All-Southeastern Conference honors in 1999.?She has also?caddied for Henrik.?????Donates portions of his earnings to the Henrik Stenson Foundation, helping needy children get a leg up in life. The Foundation has assisted such organizations as The Childhood Foundation, Friends Foundation, SOS Children’s Villages, FIFH and Kids Swing International. In?addition?the Foundation has created an annual scholarship, named?Handigolfer?of the Year,?to encourage disabled golfers to not give up on their dreams. Wife, Emma, is on the board for the TOUR Players Foundation, the charity linked to the European Tour.????In late 2016, launched his own eyewear brand, Henrik Stenson Eyewear (),?designed with golfers in mind.?????His appreciation for golf course architecture and design has increased over the years. As a result, he has?his own design company,?Henrik Stenson Golf Design?().????Fan of cage fighting and skiingNatural?left-hander, but?learned to play golf right-handed.?Corey?Conners??He was a?semi-finalist?at the 2013 US Amateur and he took down some big names to do it:??Shot 70-73 to qualify for match play, then beat Mexico's Rodolfo?Cazaubon?5&4 in the round of 64, Bryson?Dechambeau?2&1 in round of 32, Patrick Rogers 5&3 in round of 16, and Neil Raymond 5&3 in the quarterfinals. Finally lost to eventual champion Matt Fitzpatrick 2&1 in the semifinals.?????Wife Mallory, she's a teacher and they're both from the same small town of?Listowel, Ontario - a?town with about 8,000 people; Home golf course was Listowel Golf Club.???.?????Corey’s grandparents’ house was across the street from Malory, who he would marry on October 20, 2018 in Kitchener (45 minutes from their hometown of Listowel) with 100 guests in attendance.?You could?say?that she was his “day one”.?[Photo from 2012]????Malory gained notoriety for her?wild display of emotions?while following Corey in the final round of the 2019 Valero Texas Open?en?route to his first PGA TOUR win.????Attended Kent State University.??One of the smartest players on TOUR, graduating with a degree in Actuary Mathematics.????When Corey won the 2019 Valero Texas Open, Nick Taylor and Mackenzie Hughes were there to greet him with a cold one. Perhaps Corey would have preferred a glass of wine, as the “wine connoisseur” (as?Pendrith?calls him)?actually took?a wine appreciation course during his time at Kent State University.??Mackenzie?Hughes???Mom is a vascular access nurse at Hamilton Health Sciences in Ontario, Canada:? with NFL QB Alex?Smith??(Alex got the all-clear?this season to play after the horrific?leg injury)??Hughes?and Smith were partnered at Pebble Beach and worked out together during that week.??Got his start in golf when his parents decided to take him to the range instead of getting a?baby sitter.??Played at Kent State with Corey Conners??First player to win on the Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada,?Korn Ferry?Tour and the PGA TOUR.???Was a standard bearer in Mike Weir's group at the 2004 RBC Canadian Open, shortly after he won the Masters.???Toronto Maple?Leafs?fan???Dislikes anything with chocolate in?Adam Long?Grew up playing ice hockey; played on a competitive travel team until he broke his leg in the 7th?grade, then quit playing; still a huge hockey fan.?Met his wife Emily in high school, but were dating different people at the time; reconnected after college through the game “Words with Friends”; Adam reached out to Emily through direct message and asked her on a date; Adam borrowed his grandfather’s corvette to pick up Emily and texted her when he arrived at her house, but she never texted back or showed up for the date. Turns out she was out on another date the same night and mixed up the dates with Adam. Adam gave her a second chance and the rest is history?Adam and Emily are close friends with Corey and Mallory Conners?Whole family is wrapped up in aviation; dad and one of his uncles are pilots, another uncle is an airplane mechanic; another uncle is a retired air traffic controller; one aunt is a flight attendant; one of his cousins is a pilot in the Air Force and based in South Korea?Adam’s dad taught Adam’s uncle to fly and he remembers his dad taking him up in St. Louis in a little two-seater plane; Adam sat on a stack of phone books while his dad taught him how to fly; Adam doesn’t have must interest in flying now?Keith Mitchell??Mother, Cynthia, plans her girls’ trips to Keith’s golf tournament. Along with her best friends – all who have known Keith his whole life – travels to tournaments every few months. They call themselves the “Auntorage;” they have hats they wear.??Sister, Brindley, is 14 months older; Keith says she is smarter and better at golf than he is. She attended the University of St Andrews in Scotland from 2009-13.?Has known his caddie, Pete?Persolja?(or Crunchy Pete), since he was 8 years old. Pete was a caddie at The Honors Course in Chattanooga, Tennessee and caddied for Keith’s father, Jerry.?Growing up, Keith hired Pete for club events and U.S. Amateur qualifiers. Reconnected in 2015 and became full time caddie for Keith in 2016.???Ryan?Lavner?(GOLF Channel) wrote a story on Pete after?The Honda Classic, titled?“Wherever the road takes him: The legend of ‘Crunchy Pete’?Persolja”???Is one of four current PGA TOUR members from the Baylor School, a private school in Chattanooga, Tennessee, along with Harris English, Stephan Jaeger and Luke List (was on the same team as Jaeger and English); LPGA player Brooke Pancake also attended the school. English was the reason he later attended University of Georgia for college golf.??Knows Peyton Manning through The Honors Course; first met Peyton when he was age 4; has a photo with Peyton when he was 4 wearing a Tennessee jersey; Peyton was one of two of the most famous people who texted him when he won 2019 Honda Classic; Condoleezza Rice was the other.??Played college golf at the University of Georgia (graduated in 2014); he barely played during his first season in 2011, so he would go visit his sister Brindley who was studying at the University of St Andrews; his freshman year, the roster included Harris English, Hudson Swafford and Russell Henley; he played with teammates Sepp?Straka?and Joey Garber for three years, and roomed with?Straka; he played with Lee McCoy for two years.??Is a huge foodie! His favorite thing to do while traveling is?find?new restaurants??Bought a 1977 Jeep; he and Michael Thompson have been gradually restoring it when home in St.?Simons;?here’s a look at his restored Jeep!???Posted this Instagram?photo?of a sleeping Phil Mickelson, which went?viral?and won an?internet blue ribbon??? ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download