Viktor Hovland holds a two-shot lead at the half-way point of the Arnold Palmer Invitational after Rory McIlroy endured a disappointing finish.
Overnight leader McIlroy was not as sharp as he was on the opening day at Bay Hill but still looked in with a chance of retaining his status as pacesetter for much of the round.
That was until the 15th, when he needed three putts from 30 feet. He then missed a birdie opportunity on 16 and failed to save par from eight feet on 17.
The Northern Irishman ultimately finished at level par for the day with 72 – Hovland, who started on the 10th, carded 66, giving him the round of the day and the lead.
His score would have been even better had he not bogeyed the 13th, however he responded admirably to that set-back with three birdies in his next four holes.
Hovland added two more on the fourth and sixth to ultimately set the clubhouse lead as he moved to nine under for the tournament – McIlroy failed to rise to his challenge.
Joining McIlroy two shots back on seven under in a tie for second are Talor Gooch and Tyrrell Hatton, the latter of whom felt his four-under 68 was "pretty flattering".
Similarly, Hovland is not getting carried away with his position in the standings, particularly considering he was only two shots off the lead heading in the weekend last year and went on to finish 15 off the pace.
"I kind of try to forget the weekend here last year," Hovland told the PGA Tour. "I played really well the first few days, very similar to how I played so far this year.
"The course just gets harder and harder every single day, and it started blowing. A few too many bad swings and I ended up in bad spots and just didn't really take my medicine."
As for McIlroy, the four-time major champion was taken aback by how quickly conditions on the course changed from Thursday, adamant he will be better prepared on day three.
"Those are the sort of greens you expect to see late on a Sunday, not late on a Friday," McIlroy added. "It's going to be interesting to see where they go from here, but it's going to be a good test over the weekend.
"I'm glad I got 18 holes in those conditions because the course definitely changed a lot from when I played it yesterday morning to this afternoon. I'll be a little more prepared for it [on Saturday]."
Billy Horschel is one shot further back on six under, and then there's a three-shot gap to a group of seven – world number one Jon Rahm is at two under.
Patrick Reed, Henrik Stenson and Justin Rose were among those to miss the cut, which was set at three over par.
Bill Williams nurturing futures one swing at a time through Sandals Care for Kids Junior Golf Programme
For most children in and around St Ann, golf is more than just a game. Instead it is viewed as a lifeline, a discipline, and an opportunity.
At the heart of this transformative journey stands Bill Williams, a man deeply committed to changing the lives of young Jamaicans through the Sandals Foundation Care for Kids Junior Golf Programme.
Williams, the lead professional golfer at the Sandals Golf and Country Club, has for years been dedicated to empowering boys who are at risk of straying down troubled paths, introducing them to the game of golf, not just as a sport but as a means of character building and personal development.
“I love kids. There’s a duty in me to take care of kids. I always tell myself, if you can grow kids, you grow the country, and you’re growing something good. The guys tell me they love it because I take them off the streets and... them things,” Williams said in a recent interview.
“I’ve been doing this programme since 2002; that’s when I started. I went into my village where I live in Exchange and I see kids... and I bring them over and [guide] them,” he added.
Williams sees golf as more than a series of strokes and strategies. For him, it is a way to teach young men about patience, discipline, and respect—qualities that they can carry well beyond the green.
Bill Williams (centre) shares a photo opportunity with members of Team 13 during the Sandals US Travel Advisors Tournament.
The success stories he tells are numerous, as many of the boys who once faced uncertain futures have gone on to compete at the national level, among them are Zandre Roye, Romaine Evans, and Oshae Haye, just to name a few.
“I turn out some very good kids out of this thing here. And they are all over the world, global now. There [are] so many kids because I used to do this for eight years on my own before Sandals Foundation came on board. And even though they leave the programme at the age of 18, they still come back here, and I still try to offer advice because there is always room for improvements,” Williams shared.
Williams is especially enthusiastic about the future of the programme, as funds raised through the three Sandals Travel Advisors Golf Tournaments—Latin America, Canada, and the United States—the programme is set for significant expansion.
This funding will allow Williams and his team to reach more young men across the island, providing resources to further develop their skills and broaden their opportunities. The latest United States Travel Advisors tournament raised US$800 (about $127,000 Jamaican) for the programme.
“This is a very important tournament every year for us to get a little extra for the foundation because the kids [have] got to play tournaments and we use the money to fund them. We help who cannot really afford to go to school—we do help with that too. So, I think this programme will go much further and impact more youths,” Williams ended.
57th Jamaica Open Golf Championship launched
The Jamaica Golf Association (JGA) launched the prestigious 57th Jamaica Open Golf Championship on Thursday at the Constant Spring Golf Club in Kingston.
The championship will be held at the picturesque Tryall Golf Club in Hanover for the fifth consecutive year from November 10 to 12 while the pro-am tournament is scheduled for November 9 with an 8:30 am start.
It will feature the majority of the pros and the amateurs playing in teams, to share skills, generate camaraderie and introduce the course to the overseas based golfers.
Sixty players from United States of America (USA), Canada, Trinidad & Tobago, Bermuda, and host country Jamaica have completed their registration already, including the defending champion, professional Andrew Arft of the USA.
The playing format will be stroke play, 18 holes each day for a total of 54 holes.
“We are expecting a very successful event. Based on the entries so far, we have surpassed last year’s numbers. The difficulty we had with this tournament in terms of entries was from the pandemic, the numbers have been rising but have not gotten back to the level that they were,” said organizing committee chairman Peter Chin.
“We are hopeful every year to increase the prize money because that is what attracts the top professional golfers. The prize money this year if we have a full field is US$110,000,” added Chin.
The honouree for this year’s event is Johnny Bloomfield who won the Jamaica Open three times.
JGA president Jodi Munn-Barrow expounded on the choice of Bloomfield as honouree.
“Johnny is the only one to win three consecutive Jamaica Opens on two different golf courses. He won his first one at Caymanas (2006) and then the last two (2008 and 2009) at Half Moon Golf Course when we had it at Half Moon. So that itself is a feat. Seymour Rose is another three-time winner but not consecutively so we thought it was just right to award him as the honouree this year for that feat.”
She said that the Tryall Golf Course was “excellent as usual."
"I got word from them that they are ready to go. The superintendent is on top of the preparations. The rough will be grown in again like last year so it will make it a little bit more difficult for the pros and the amateurs but Tryall is challenging on its own and if the wind comes up it will be even much harder so I think Tryall is the perfect spot for championships such as the Jamaica Open.”
Two of the sponsors, Tourism Enhancement Fund and Sports Development Foundation were represented by Dr. Carey Wallace and Alan Beckford respectively. They endorsed the open.
Wallace, executive director of TEF said “golf tourism is of course an important diamond amongst diamonds that we have here in Jamaica and so investing in this tournament which is an international tournament, in fact it is the number one international tournament here in Jamaica for golf. We believe that it is necessary for us to support the outstanding associations, stakeholders that are putting it together for them to have the resources to take it to higher levels.”
Beckford, the SDF’s general manager said “the Sports Development Foundation has historically supported the sport of golf and it goes more than just supporting the golf federation. We also have had a summer camp that we have supported in collaboration with Insports and we have had this camp for a number of years where we have students from the community around Caymanas Golf Course coming out to participate in the camp. We have sponsored a pro-am tournament a couple of years as well too so we see golf to be a very important sport among the sports in Jamaica. We think it’s an excellent sport and we wish them the best with this tournament.”
Aqua Bay Resort returns as presenting sponsor for the fifth consecutive year. The major sponsors include the TEF, Tryall, JTB, Jamaica Tours, Grand Palladium, SDF and Vybwear while the product sponsors are Wata, Juici Patties, Café Blue, Honey Bun and Rainforest.
Garth Laird celebrates resilience, camaraderie as Team Six top Sandals US Travel Advisors Golf tourney
Rain may have dampened the first day of the Sandals US Travel Advisors Golf Tournament, but it couldn’t wash away the spirit of the event or the competitive resolve of players.
In fact, Garth Laird, Sandals Vice President of Trade and Sales, underscored that the significance of the annual tournament is intended to celebrate just that—the resilience and camaraderie of travel advisors who are essential to the success of Sandals and, by extension, brand Jamaica.
“This tournament itself goes beyond just a game of golf,” Laird shared passionately.
He continued: “It's really about bringing advisors down. It's about reengaging with the product and what it has to offer, and if I can use three words, it's love, legacy, and learning. Love of the product, love of Jamaica, the legacy that Sandals offers to the greater audience of the travel agency community, and it's also about learning.
“It was only one day of golf; we still got the educational component built into it. In the last few months we've also taken a bigger approach because when you add this number together, we've brought about a thousand people to the destination over the last eight weeks because there's so many things that are happening in Jamaica that people aren't aware of. So there's so many new things that's going on, and our responsibility is to educate the advisors so that they can educate their customers,” he added.
Thought rain threatened to wash out the two-day event entirely, the clouds parted on the second day and the advisors got their swing on in the four-man scramble format, which ended with Team Six taking the title with a nine-hole score of 61 at the Sandals Golf and Country Club. They won ahead of Team 13 and Team Five, which ended with scores of 62 and 64, respectively.
That team, captained by Jeremy Lee and included father and son duo David and Adam Anderson, as well as David Schutz, was particularly determined to clinch the top spot this year.
After securing the championship in 2022 but narrowly missing out last year, they entered the tournament with renewed focus, and Lee said the win was the culmination of hard work and the camaraderie they’d built over the years of competing together.
“I think in general, we all could have shot a little bit better, but the weather played into it. Thankfully, there was no thunder or lightning, and we ended up coming out okay. This is the same team we had last year, and two years ago we had one different player, but three of us have been together every year,” Lee, who is based in Alabama, said.
“Just to get an invite to the tournament means a lot to me. This is my third year. Like I said, it's a huge deal. We're really competitive, but really we're here to have fun, learn more about Sandals and Beaches products, and learn to sell more. I sell destinations all over the world, but when people call me and ask what's my favourite place, I say Jamaica because the people are so genuine and nice,” he declared.
Meanwhile, Welton Bowie and Donna Tanner won the men’s and women’s closest to the pin awards, while Schutz and Megan Sams won the respective longest drive awards.
Close to US$800 (about $126,000 Jamaican) was also raised for the Sandals foundation.
With representatives from various regions, Laird explained that the tournament also serves as an informal networking event, bringing together travel advisors and Sandals executives to share industry insights and foster connections in a relaxed environment.
“We're going to do one in St. Lucia next year. So it's the Canadian winners, the winners of the US Tournament, and the winners of the Latin American Tournament, plus we'll sprinkle in some other four folks, like a long-drive person. This is to showcase that it is more than one event. It's more about getting together, doing what we do, which is hospitality and travel,” Laird shared.
“We have the luxury of being probably the most popular brand across the Caribbean right now because of our impact globally as well as within the United States, with our sales team, with our marketing, with our advertising. So when we do something in the Caribbean, it really stands out as a company that continues to reinvest in the people that make us who we are,” he noted.
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