WEDNESDAY,OCTOBER16,2019| THEGLOBEANDMAILO B19
J
ordan Spieth returns from his
longest break during a calen-
dar year hopeful that a fresh
start will end his longest
drought.
Spieth hasn’t won since the
2017 British Open at Royal Birk-
dale, a span of 54 tournaments
worldwide. He last played in Au-
gust at the BMW Championship,
where he failed to advance to the
Tour Championship for the sec-
ond straight year.
Spieth is at the CJ Cup in South
Korea, and plans to stay in Asia
another week for the PGA Tour’s
first event in Japan.
“I certainly want to get back in
the winner’s circle,” Spieth said.
“It’s been a little while and I
would like to be more consistent
this year, being able to tee it up
on Sundays with chances to win
more consistently, and that
comes from better ball-striking.”
Spieth said that he has spent
time at home in Dallas working
on his tee-to-green game. He is
coming off one of his best years
with the putter – and there have
been some good ones – and be-
lieves once he gets the rest of his
game in order, he’ll have more
chances.
He had only four top-10 finish-
es last year, often hurting himself
with poor final rounds. The clos-
est he finished to the winner was
four shots behind in the North-
ern Trust, the first FedEx Cup
playoff event.
“Each part of my game at dif-
ferent points in my career has
been toward the top of the PGA
Tour at different times, and
sometimes at the same time,”
Spieth said.
“So I know that I’m capable of
doing it. It’s just a matter of the
normal ups and downs of the
game and addressing them, and
quickly turning the downs to ups
and then maintaining when
those parts of the game are on
top.”
WORLDCHALLENGEExcept for the location, the
“World” in Hero World Challenge
seems to be lacking this year.
Tournament host Tiger Woods
released the names of the 16 play-
ers who qualified for the 18-man
field on Dec. 4 to Dec. 7 in the Ba-
hamas. With two sponsor exemp-
tions still to award, all but two
players are Americans – defend-
ing champion Jon Rahm of Spain
and Justin Rose of England,
whose main residence is at Alba-
ny.
That would be the fewest inter-
national players since 2012 at
Sherwood Country Club in Cali-
fornia, when the only non-Amer-
icans were Graeme McDowell of
Northern Ireland, Jason Day of
Australia and Ian Poulter of En-
gland. McDowell won the tourna-
ment.
The field has two of the major
champions in Woods (Masters)
and Gary Woodland (U.S. Open).
It doesn’t help that the Presi-
dents Cup in Australia is the fol-
lowing week, and International
captain Ernie Els is encouraging
his prospective players to com-
pete in the Australian Open theweek before, opposite the Hero
World Challenge.
Nine international players
from outside Europe were among
the top 50 on Aug. 26, the world
ranking used to determine the
Bahamas field. The most obvious
absence is Hideki Matsuyama,
who had played the World Chal-
lenge every year since 2015. Day
had played only twice, while
Adam Scott played only in 2016.
The two sponsor picks must
come from the top 50 from the
Aug. 26 ranking.LPGAROOKIESouth Korea has made it five in a
row thanks to a player named
Six.
With five tournaments re-
maining in the LPGA Tour sea-
son, Lee6 Jeongeun already has
wrapped up the points-based
Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the
Year. It’s the fifth straight year a
South Korean rookie will win the
award, and Lee6 was the third of
those who won a major.
She captured the U.S. Women’s
Open in South Carolina in early
June.“For five consecutive years, Ko-
rean golfers have won this Roo-
kie of the Year award. I’m part of
that list, and I am so proud and
honoured,” Lee6 said.
She follows Ko Jin-young, Park
Sung-hyun, Chun In-gee and Kim
Sei-young.
Lee6 spent three years on the
Korean LPGA before coming to
the United States, winning the
money list her past two years.LANGER’STASKBernhard Langer, who has won
the Charles Schwab Cup five
times, considers himself a “wild
shot” to win again, and he has
good reason.
Even with two more victories
this year bringing his career total
to 40 wins on the PGA Tour
Champions, the 62-year-old Ger-
man goes into the postseason at
No. 7. That’s his lowest ranking –
he had never been anything but
No. 1 since the Schwab Cup play-
offs began in 2016.
Even before the postseason,
Langer has finished out of the top
five only once in his 11 previous
seasons.“Not quite where I was the last
few years, but still within a shout-
ing chance to do something,”
Langer said.
Points count double in the
three playoff events, starting this
week in Virginia. Even so, Langer
is 1,060,106 points behind Scott
McCarron and likely would have
to win the next two events to
have a chance. He has won the
Schwab Cup four of the past five
years.LET’SPLAYTWOAsked to list his favourite course
in the world, Justin Rose is in-
clined to pick a place where he
isn’t limited to one round.
“I try to pick a venue where I
can play 36 holes in a day,” Rose
said.
He picked two in the London
area – Sunningdale [Old and
New] and Walton Heath [Old and
New]. And in America, he went to
Long Island – National Golf Links
and Sebonack, which border
each other. His other choice was
literally a stretch – Merion and
Pine Valley, one northwest of Phi-
ladelphia, the other so far to the
southeast that it’s in New Jersey.
“A 40-minute drive from one
another,” Rose said. “But if you’re
really keen, you can do that in a
day.”DIVOTSNo one has turned his season
around like Bernd Wiesberger of
Austria. He was No. 389 in the
world going into the Made in
Denmark event in late May. He
won in Denmark, won the Scot-
tish Open and won the Italian
Open to reach a career-best No.
22.
That’s an improvement of 367
spots in five months. ... One year
after Europe won the Ryder Cup
at Le Golf National outside Paris,
Alex Noren is the only player
from either team playing in the
French Open. Noren is the de-
fending champion. ... Steve
Stricker finished No. 4 on the PGA
Tour Champions money list, de-
spite playing nine tournaments,
none over the past three months.THE ASSOCIATED PRESSSpiethreturnsfrombreakwithhighhopes
Americanhadonlyfour
top-10finisheslastyear,
oftenhurtinghimself
withpoorfinalrounds
JordanSpiethoftheU.S.shootsfromasandtrapduringtheNorthernTrustinJerseyCity,N.J.,lastAugust.
TheAmerican,whosayshe’seagerto‘getbackinthewinner’scircle,’hasspenthisdowntimeinDallas
practisinghistee-to-greengame.KEVIN C. COX/GETTY IMAGESDOUGFERGUSON
S
teve Prater can recall only one time
in more than 30 years as a PGA pro-
fessional that he refused payment
for a golf lesson.
Lanto Griffin doesn’t know where he
would be without it.
He certainly would not be spending six
hours Tuesday scrolling through 475 text
messages of congratulations in between a
dozen interviews as the Houston Open
champion. He would not be looking out
the window at the TPC Sawgrass and real-
izing he’ll be part of the field next March at
The Players Championship, followed by
his debut a month later at Augusta Nation-
al for the Masters.
It explains why Griffin, not long after he
rolled in a six-foot par putt with eerie calm
to win on the PGA Tour, fought back tears
when asked how he got to this point.
His family always opened one gift on
Christmas Eve and Griffin was age 8 when
he got a putter. The next morning, he got
the rest of his starter set – a 5-iron, 7-iron,
9-iron and a 3-wood. No one in his family
played golf. Until then, his only experience
was whacking balls in a field with a per-
simmons club his father had bought from
a barrel of clubs that sold for a dollar each.
A mile from their home in Blacksburg,
Va., was a nine-hole course called The Hill,
where he could spend all day for US$9.
And then one day, Griffin was invited to
Blacksburg Country Club, where he no-
ticed Prater, the head pro, conducting a
clinic for a small group of kids.
Prater took it from there.
“I wouldn’t be here without him,” Grif-
fin said. “He opened every door in golf that
I ever had – teaching me for free, giving me
a membership. He’s had my back my en-
tire journey.”
Prater, who now works at Roanoke
Country Club, remembers a young boy
who asked if he could come to the clinic.
He didn’t know much about the family’s
financial situation except it was clear that
Griffin could use the help and that he had
a passion for the game.
When Griffin’s father died of a brain tu-
mour, Prater called the house that day and
offered the 12-year-old boy a free member-
ship to Blacksburg Country Club. Prater’s
son is five years younger, and he and Grif-
fin became friends.
“He stayed at my house quite a bit be-
cause he could walk to the course,” Prater
said. “I took him on as another son. He was
sad, and I think him coming down and
staying with me some and getting away
from things that reminded him of his fa-
ther ... he pulled from playing golf. That
was his way of getting away.”
Griffin says he would leave the house at
7 a.m. and stay at the course until 7 p.m.
“That’s what made me fall in love with
the game at a young age,” Griffin said. “If
Steve didn’t bring me in at that real vul-
nerable part of my life, then there’s no
chance that I would be playing golf in col-
lege – or winning the Hous-
ton Open.”
Griffin shot 51 for nine
holes in his first junior event
at the club. By the time he
finished high school, he was
good enough to play four
years at Virginia Common-
wealth and told Prater he
wanted to try playing for a
living.
Just like everything else in
life, nothing came easily.
Griffin made US$975 in his
first mini-tour event, minus the US$950
entry fee. He picked up experience, along
with plenty of debt. He thought about
quitting more than once and he might
have done that if not for Will Wilcox –
whom he met at that first mini-tour event- asking Griffin to caddy for him at The
Greenbrier in 2014. Wilcox tied for fourth.
Griffin made US$17,000, at the time his
largest paycheque in golf.
Prater, who gleaned everything he
could about instruction during stints at
Sailfish Point and Jupiter Island Club in
Florida, kept teaching through phone calls
and texts, and whenever he could get out
to a tournament. He also knew Griffin
needed more than he could offer.
“I mostly teach juniors and members. I
build golf swings,” Prater said. “When he
was in Latin America, he was starting to
spin his wheels. He needed some confi-
dence. He needed other opinions.”
Prater hooked him up
with noted instructor Todd
Anderson because they have
similar philosophies, and
Griffin became more pol-
ished. He still leans on Prater
for the short game, and they
keep in touch through texts,
phone calls and the occa-
sional video.
“Todd has been a huge
help for Lanto,” Prater said.
“It’s a team now, and it
works really good.”
And yes, it’s finally work.
“He hasn’t charged me in 17 years,” Grif-
fin said. “He would never let me pay. I gave
him a bonus at the end of last year and at
the beginning of this season, I put him on
the payroll – 1 per cent of everything, and I
put in a US$25,000 bonus for a PGA Tour
victory.
“It’s going to be the easiest cheque I
write.”THE ASSOCIATED PRESS‘Wouldn’tbeherewithouthim’:Griffincredits
agenerousprowithlaunchinghisgolfcareer
DOUGFERGUSON
PONTEVEDRABEACH,FLA.
LantoGriffincriesasherestshisheadonhisputterafterwinningtheHoustonOpenon
Sunday.TheplayerfirstmetfellowprofessionalStevePraterasachildwhenhewasinvited
toBlacksburgCountryClubinVirginia.MICHAEL WYKE/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS[Steve Prater] didn’t
know much about
the family’s financial
situation except it
was clear that Griffin
could use the help
and that he had
a passion for
the game.STOCKHOLMCanada’s Brayden
Schnur lost 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 to Ger-
man qualifier Cedrik-Marcel
Stebe in the first round of the
Stockholm Open on Tuesday.
Schnur, from Pickering, Ont.,
was playing his first main-draw,
tour-level tennis match since
late August, when he lost in
straight sets to Benoît Paire of
France at the U.S. Open.
Schnur, ranked 97th on the
world, hasn’t won a main-draw
match at the tour level since a
run to the New York Open final
in February.
World No. 213 Stebe converted
on four of 13 break-point oppor-
tunities. Schnur had just two
chances at breaks, converting on
one.
No. 4 seed Denis Shapovalov
of Richmond Hill, Ont., received
a first-round bye at the ATP Tour
250 event.
THE CANADIAN PRESSCANADIANSCHNUR
OUSTEDINFIRSTROUND
OFSTOCKHOLMOPENHIROSHIMA, JAPANThe Canadian
men’s volleyball team settled for
a ninth-place finish at the World
Cup after losing 3-2 (22-25, 25-20,
25-23, 23-25, 15-9) to host Japan
on Tuesday.
Canada was 4-7 at the 12-
team, round-robin event, which
is held every four years. Canada
finished seventh at the past
World Cup in 2015.
Stephen Maar of Aurora, Ont.,
led Canada with 26 points
against Japan, while captain
Nicholas Hoag of Sherbrooke
had 18. Kunihiro Shimizu led
Japan with 25 points. Japan (8-3)
finished fourth.
“My guys played so well,”
Canada coach Dan Lewis aid.
“We fought really, really hard. It
was a difficult atmosphere at the
beginning because the guys are
so fatigued and they’re trying so
hard to get the energy going.”
Brazil won the tournament
with a perfect 11-0 record.
Canada will now gear up for
its Olympic qualification tourna-
ment, Jan. 10-12 in Vancouver.
THE CANADIAN PRESSCANADA’SMEN’S
VOLLEYBALLTEAMFINISHES
NINTHATWORLDCUPREPORTONBUSINESS |