Golf

    Ted Potter suffered through a miserable 36 holes at the Fortinet Championship in Napa, California, first leg in the new FedExFall series, a series of seven tournaments that will help players rack up points and exemptions for the 2024 season.

    Ted posted rounds of 79-80-159, and missed the cut by a mile. Sahith Theegala collected $1,512,000 for his two-stroke victory over S. H. Kim. Sahith shot 21 under par at the Silverado Resort, closing with a 4-under-par 68 on Sunday.

    Gator Tyson Alexander had an up-and-down adventure with rounds of 73-67-75-66-281, 7 under, and tied for 30th, earning $42,532. Seminole Hank Lebioda tied for 19th at 9 under and collected $99,540, while Gator Brian Gay missed the cut at 1 over.

    Central Floridian Eric Cole, one of the surprises of the 2022-2023 season, continued his excellent play, finishing fourth at 16 under par.  

    The Tour Championship is now history, and Ted Potter remains in exempt limbo. While sitting out most of the PGA Tour events in 2022-2023, he wound up 214th on the FedEx Cup points list, leaving him on the outside looking in, with opportunities mostly when there are two events scheduled for the same week, and he can squeeze into the lesser of the two. He's also eligible for the Pebble Beach Pro-Am as a past winner (2018).

    As for the Gator group, Billy Horschel had a sub-par season, finishing in 90th place. Tyson Alexander took full advantage of his rookie season, finishing 104th and earning more than $1 million. Making the top 125 assures him of getting a full schedule in the upcoming season. Brian Gay wound up 204th but he's okay due to his past success, and he'll continue playing the Champions Tour, too. Camilo Villegas is in trouble; he finished 224th. Seminole Hank Lebioda was 199th. 

    Next on the new agenda is the $8 million Fortinet Championship in Napa, California on Sept. 14. Max Homa has won the last two, played at the Silverado Resort North. 

    Finding up-to-date statistics for LIV golf isn't easy; they are usually one or two events behind in keeping the stats through the current week. For instance, the latest stats listed are through July 21, and there have been two more tournaments to be included since. Prior to the events at Greenbrier and Bedminster, Talor Gooch was the leading money-winner with individual earnings of $13,504,183, plus team payouts of $1,750,000, a total of $15,254,183. Dustin Johnson was second with $7,388,150 plus $2,750,000, a total of $10,138,150. Seminole Brooks Koepka was fourth with $8,903,833, plus $375,000, a total of $9,278,833. 

    Ocala's Louis Oosthuizen was 13th with $4,487,797, plus $1,375,000, a total of $5,862,797. 

    In the Greenbrier, Bryson DeChambeau had an unreal week, winning at 23 under par, including rounds of 58 and 61, and that was worth $4 million. Oostie tied for 25th at 8 under and collected $163,000. 

    In the event at Trump National in Bedminster, New Jersey that ended Sunday, Cam Smith picked up the $4 million with a 12 under effort, seven better than Anirban Lahiri, who picked up $2,250,000. Oostie had an off-week and tied for 33rd at 5 over; his check was $155,500. Brooks was seven over, tied for 38th, and earned $141,250. Phil Mickelson, who hasn't made an impact, had one of his best weeks, tieing for ninth at 1 under and banking $437,500.

    After 54 holes, the Gators are still in the running for big paychecks at the 3M Open in Blaine, Minnesota.

    Billy Horschel's 66-67-68-201, 12 under par, has him tied for fifth, although 8 strokes behind runaway leader Lee Hodges. Tyson Alexander's 69-67-68-204, 9 under par, is tied for 15th. Hodges has posted incredible rounds of 63-64-66 and is 20 under par, leading by five over J. T. Poston and six over Tony Finau. The $7.8 million event is his to win or lose. 

    The two Tour surprises are both going well - Seminole Vincent Norrman is tied for 55th at 5 under par, and Peter Kuest is tied for 39th at 6 under. Both were total unknowns just a couple of months ago. 

    Gator Tyson Alexander tries to increase his already-over-$1-million bank account beginning today in the $7.8 million 3M Open in Blaine, Minnesota. Other former Gators in the field are Billy Horschel and Brian Gay, the senior who continues to collect paychecks on the PGA Tour and with the Champions.

    There are two former Seminoles who will tackle the TPC Twin Cities, Hank Lebioda and newcomer Vincent Norrman, who has taken the Tour by storm after beginning the year without an exemption. Also in the field is senior Tom Lehman, the architect who built the golf course at the Ocala Preserve, which no longer sports a Trilogy sign, on Highway 27.   

    Ted Potter and Tyson Alexander both made it through Sunday at last week's Barbasol Championship, and both turned in entries for this week's Barracuda Championship in Truckee, California. Tyson's exempt status got him into the field, but Ted was relegated to third alternate. By Wednesday afternoon, though, Ted had moved up to No. 1, and he wound up in the field by Thursday morning.

    The Barracuda scoring is by the Modified Stableford system which awards no points for a par, two for a birdie and five for an eagle, while subtracting one point for a bogey and three for a double. Neither Ted nor Tyson was able to reach the required number of points to make to the weekend, Ted shooting 72-77 and winding up with minus 3, and Tyson shooting 70-74 and reaching plus 4. Both were knocked out by posting too many doubles. 

    At the halfway point, Ryan Gerard led with plus 30, Patrick Rodgers was second with plus 26 and ex-Seminole Vincent Norrman third with plus 23.  

    The Ocala/Gainesville duo both made the cut with strong finishes yesterday at the $3.8 million Barbasol Championship in Nicholasville, Kentucky.

    Ocala's Ted Potter added a 4-under-par 68 to his opening-round 69 for 137, 7 under par, and he's tied for 24th heading into moving day. Gator Tyson Alexander tacked on a 5-under-67 to his opening 70 and he's tied with Ted at 7 under. 

    The highlight of Ted's round was making three birdies and an eagle for 5 under par on the par 5s. He was still in jeopardy of missing the cut of minus 4 after blowing a par putt of 3 feet, 11 inches on No. 14, but he finished birdie, birdie, par, birdie to cement his position. Tyson flirted with the cut line until making birdies on his final two holes, 8 and 9. 

    Lucas Glover, whose position at No. 93 on the FedEx points list was best in the field going in with all the top guns at the Scottish Open, is the halfway leader with 63-68-131, 13 under par. There's a trio in second at 11 under.  

    Brett Stegmaier's rounds of 67-70-69-69-275 at the Rocket Mortgage Classic put him at 13 under par, good for a tie for 29th place and his second nice check in two weeks after his long layoff on the PGA Tour. The ex-Gator collected $58,960, and added to his $46,000 haul from the previous week at the Travelers Championship, he was able to bank $104,960. 

    Brett is absent from this week's John Deere Classic in Silvis, Illinois, since he's still not exempt, and will have to again rely on Monday qualifying to play in future events, or gain a sponsor's exemption.

    Tyson Alexander is representing the Gators this week, and he began on Thursday with a 2-under-par 69 (34-35) and is tied for 41st. Tyson made four birdies and two bogeys over the TPC Deer Run course, in the event that doesn't feature even one player in the top 19 on the FedEx Cup point list. No. 20, Taylor Moore is the highest in the field. Ocala's Ted Potter began the weeks as the No. 10 alternate, and after seven defections, wound up at No. 3.

    The first-round leader is Jonas Blixt with a blixtering 62, 9 under, followed by Grayson Murray at 7 under and six others at 6 under. 

    The unlikely saga of Brett Stegmaier continues.

    Last week, the ex-Gator who spent three years on Tour through 2018, then lost his exemption, Monday qualified for the Travelers Championship with a 6-under-par 66. He then shot 68-67-71-68, 6 under par, and collected $46,000, his first paycheck in five years. 

    Buoyed by that success, Brett traveled to Detroit for the $8.8 million Rocket Mortgage Classic and on Monday he qualified for the second straight week. Kyle Reifers was best in the qualifier with a 64, but Brett tied for second with three others, including Peter Kuest, and they played off for the three remaining spots. Brett made it, so did Kuest, and both took advantage of the opportunity on Thursday. 

    Kuest, who has conditional Korn Ferry Tour status, shot an 8-under-par 64, and is tied for first with Taylor Moore. There's a seven-way tie for third at 65, and Brett's 5-under-par 67 put him in a tie for 14th. He made seven birdies and two bogeys, including birdies on three of his last five holes. Reifers also made it through Monday qualifying last week and wound up tied for 38th. 

    The other ex-Gator in Detroit is Tyson Alexander, and he posted an even-par 72, with three birdies and three bogeys. 

  For those of you who have not heard, one of Ocala's golfing icons passed away on June 15 and that icon is Bo WIlliams. There is a service being held on Friday, June 30 at The First Presbyterian Church, 511 SW 3rd St., at 4:00 p. m. I was very fortunate to have a private sit-down interview in 2010 with Bo that I am sharing with you below.

    In 1950, while attending the University of Florida, Reuben Sharp Williams III, better known as "Bo Williams,” needed one more elective and chose golf as part of his Physical Education studies. When he made that decision, little did he know that he would develop a driving love for the game.

    After college it was on to the US Army where Bo spent most of his leisure time honing his golfing skills. He quickly became good enough to win his first title - the club championship at Ft. Jackson, SC. In 1958 Bo moved to Ocala and brought with him the desire and skill which he used to produce a much storied amateur golfing record.

    With his wife Sally at his side, Bo’s golfing achievements were many. He won over 100 tournaments with the most prestigious being the 1986 and 1989 United States Senior Amateur Championships. Also included in the long list of wins are: seven Florida State Championships (three Senior Amateurs, four Senior Four-Ball Championships), 11 Doug Oswald Championships, four Henry Camp Tournaments, and one Marion Masters.

    Bo qualified for, and played in, six USGA Senior Open Championships, making the cut three times. One of Bo’s memorable US Senior Open moments came when he was paired with professionals Orville Moody and Miller Barber. Moody let Bo know that they didn’t like amateurs playing “their game.” Bo quickly eased the tension when he answered back “I’ll tell you what, I'll play all four rounds, and when I leave, I won't take any of your money with me.” 

    Bo’s exceptional golf life culminated in 2006 when he was elected into the Florida State Golf Association Hall of Fame. Even though Bo isn’t able to play the game that once gained him recognition as Golf Digest’s best Senior Amateur Golfer in the country, he can still be seen at one of the local tournaments as a much interested spectator.