As Grant Hirschman made his way around the course at TPC Southwind, a group of supporters who’ve watched him chip and putt since he was a little kid in Collierville followed his every shot.

His mother, Lisa, and several family members wore Oklahoma hats that had “Go Grant” on the left side. A few more in the group had Oklahoma shirts.

Just one week ago, Hirschman played with the Sooners in the NCAA men’s golf championships. Now, he was in his first PGA Tour event surrounded by people that watched him grow up, at a venue that he’s played for years.

“This is what he’s always dreamed of,” said Lisa Hirschman. “It’s a culmination for him since he was on the Junior Tour at 6 years old.”

Hirschman had little trouble in the first two rounds, posting scores of 68 and 69 to finish at 3-under and make the cut to the weekend tied for 19th. If there were any nerves, they disappeared after a bogey on his first hole Thursday.

“After that I was good,” Hirschman said Friday. “I knew going into it that first hole would be nerve-racking and today I was fine.”

Close to 30 high school classmates and teachers from St. George’s showed up Thursday. Hirschman had a smaller group of supporters during Friday’s second round, but they made their presence known during two of Hirschman’s best moments.

When he converted a 37-foot putt for birdie on the par-3 14th hole following a bogey on No. 13, his family shouted “Way to go, Grant!” as he briefly acknowledged them.

He added another birdie to start his back nine, which drew even more cheers. He was bogey-free over his final nine holes.

“It’s definitely motivated me a little bit to get them cheering, so it’s been fun,” Hirschman said.

Adding to the familiarity is caddie Jonathan Fly, who might just be Hirschman’s secret weapon. Fly and his family not only live in the Southwind community surrounding the golf course, but the Memphis alum also received a sponsor’s exemption to play in the 2012 FedEx St. Jude Classic.

Hirschman has leaned heavily on Fly’s experience.

“He knows this place probably better than anybody here and he’s been telling me where to hit it and that’s all I can ask for,” Hirschman said.

His father, Kerry, said that starting next week, Hirschman plans to play on the Mackenzie Tour, which is Canada’s professional golf tour.

For now, though, Hirschman is just happy to be back home.

“It’s definitely been nice to sleep in my own bed playing in my first pro event,” he said.

Story Originally Published for The Commercial Appeal Website

Lanto Griffin made it through his first 31 holes in his U.S. Open sectional qualifier on Monday without a bogey, helping him build a big cushion that came in handy over his last five holes.

The Blacksburg High and VCU grad finished with three bogeys, a par and a birdie, which was good enough to claim one of 11 available spots available for the Open, which begins June 14, at Shinnecock Hills in New York. It will be Griffin’s first Open.

“One of my childhood dreams was always to play in a U.S. Open,” Griffin said in a phone interview Monday night with The Roanoke Times. “I played great today and I got it done! It’s setting up to be a great week since I will be turning 30 years old that week [birthday is June 15] at Shinnecock. I can’t wait to tee it up in our nation’s championship.”

Griffin had rounds of 65 and 69 at Ridway and Colonial country clubs in Memphis, Tennessee. He finished tied for fourth at minus-9, one shot behind regular PGA Tour members Mackenzie Hughes and Steve Stricker, and six behind sectional winner Sam Burns.

Grant Hirschman has signed with Fidelity Sports for exclusive and worldwide representation, marketing and management as he turns pro after a wonderful college career at the University of Oklahoma.

Hirschman played four years at the University of Oklahoma, playing in every tournament and serving as team captain for three of the four years. Hirschman was a three-time NCAA All-American, won three tournaments including the 2018 BIG 12 Championship and was the team leader of the 2017 National Championship Team.

Hirschman also finished 4th at PGA Tour Canada Qualifying Tournament, setting him up for full status for the 2018 season.

Hirschman is set to make his first professional start this week at the 2018 Fed Ex St. Jude Classic in his hometown of Memphis, Tennessee.

Tim Petrovic is enjoying a breakout season on PGA Tour Champions, in just his second full calendar year on the circuit after seventeen years on the PGA Tour.

Petrovic posted his second runner-up finish of the 2018 season at the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship thanks to rounds of 66-69-65-69. In February, Petrovic closed with a 64 on Sunday to finish T2 at the Chubb Classic in February.

Petrovic earned $347,000 with the second-place finish over the weekend, moving him to 11th place in the season-long Schwab Cup standings.

Petrovic’s sponsors include: Titleist, Vineyard Vines, ArGolf Putters and Credibility International

Lanto Griffin returned to the Web.com Tour’s The Nashville Golf Open benefitting the Snedeker Foundation to defend his 2017 victory

Lanto was joined in Nashville by fellow Fidelity Sports clients including Brandon Matthews, Brian Richey, and Mark Blakefield who all made the cut and finished 7th, 14th and 21st respectively.

In 2017, Griffin made the cut on the number in Nashville. Weekend rounds of 62-68 and a birdie on the first playoff hole against Abraham Ancer secured the victory for Lanto. The week was the start of a very strong summer on the Web.com Tour which ultimately would earn Lanto his PGA Tour card for the first time in his career. With an off week in his PGA Tour schedule, Lanto returned to Nashville and picked up where he left off in 2017 as he snagged a share of the first round lead with a 7 under par 65 on Thursday that included a 29 on the back nine including two eagles.

Lanto’s impressive play continued on Friday and Saturday earning him a three shot lead to start Sunday’s final round. A final round of even par left Lanto just short of forcing a playoff with eventual winner Cameron Davis. Lanto will carry the momentum in to US Open Qualifying on June 4th and the PGA Tour’s Fed Ex St Jude Classic in Memphis June 7-10.

Brandon Matthews’ 7th place finish was his fifth made cut in a row and his third Top 11 finish in the last five events. The finish moves Matthews to 46th on the Web.com Tour Money List. Matthews currently leads the Tour in driving distance, clocking in at an average of 337 yards with his longest tee ball of the season at 400 yards. Brandon is listed in the Power Rankings as one of the favorites at this week’s Rex Hospital Open.

Brian Richey’s 14th place finish was his best of his 2018 Web.com Tour campaign. In need of a good week with the impending reshuffle, Richey stepped up in a big way. firing rounds of 72-67-70-67 to finish in a tie for 14th in Nashville which was enough to guarantee his position and enable him to set his schedule for the remainder of the 2018 season. A fantastic putter, Richey’s driver has also become a strength in his game as he is 22nd on Tour in Driving Accuracy and averaging over 306 yards per drive. A winner on the 2017 PGA Tour Latin America, as Richey continues to hit more greens in regulation, look for him to be in contention regularly this summer.

Mark Blakefield, like Richey, also needed a solid week the Nashville Open and he too answered the call with rounds of 69-70-67-71 to finish 21st. The finish was his second Top 25 of the season to go along with his 25th place at The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at The Abaco Club in January. Well known as a talented ball striker, Blakefield has made great strides with the putter over the last few weeks and carries the momentum in to Raleigh, North Carolina this week for the Rex Hospital Open.

Saxon carded a 68 to finish at 10-under and two ahead of Japan’s Taihei Sato at the Hunan Dragon Lake International Golf Club, where officials suspended play twice Sunday afternoon due to severe thunderstorms. That forced 24 players to complete their rounds Monday.

Saxon was 9-under when he resumed on the 15th fairway at 7:15 a.m. on Monday, while Sato, playing in the group behind — the last grouping of the day — started at the 14th, two shots behind the leader.

Saxon won two titles in 2016 on his way to finishing second on the Order of Merit. The 25-year-old made sure lifting his third trophy became a reality by making three pars and finishing with a birdie on the par-5 18th, a hole Sato also birdied to post a closing 70.

“It was really kind of a dream finish. It was what I wanted to do when I went to bed last night, so I was happy to be able to do it,” said Saxon, whose 2016 Order of Merit finish earned him a place on the 2017 Web.com Tour.

“Those final holes are not easy at all. They’re playing straight in the wind and there’s disaster to be had on all of them. However, I didn’t really miss a shot coming down the stretch, played really solid holes, gave myself birdie looks, tapped in for par and then birdied the last so was really happy with that.”

Along with many of his fellow competitors, Saxon then headed to the airport to fly to tropical Hainan Island for this week’s Haikou Championship, the fourth event on the schedule.

“I’ll stay away from the golf course for a couple of days and play the pro-am Wednesday,” Saxon said. “I’m looking forward to the week. I heard it’s a good course and a good hotel, so it should be fun.”

Sato, 24, was disappointed not to catch Saxon but remained positive after an impressive performance in Hunan.

“It was a good week for me,” he said. “I’m playing very well, and I’m very happy.”

American Kurt Kitayama (75), who played with Sato in the last group, restarted in third place at 5-under and bagged a birdie at 14 before closing with two bogeys, retaining third place at 4-under.

Chinese Taipei’s Chiehpo “Max” Lee (77), co-leader with Kitayama after the third round, also birdied 14 and finished fourth at 2-under, one ahead of Japan’s Yuwa Kosaihira (71).

FINAL LEADERBOARD

POS.	NAME	SCORES
1	Charlie Saxon (U.S.)	70-68-72-68 — 278 (-10)
2	Taihei Sato (Japan)	69-72-69-70 — 280 (-8)
3	Kurt Kitayama (U.S.)	69-65-75-75 — 284 (-4)
4	Chiehpo Lee (Chinese Taipei)	69-70-70-77 — 286 (-2)
5	Yuwa Kosaihira (Japan)	72-74-70-71 — 287 (-1)

Note: Originally posted on the PGA Tour China website.

Brandon Matthews led the field in average driving distance at the United Leasing Championship at 342 yards, and finished in a tie for 11th.

*The Dupont native shot a 3-over 75 in the final round of the Web.com Tour’s United Leasing & Finance Championship, leaving him at 2 over overall and tied for 11th place. As a result, he was projected to move up 21 spots into 53rd place in the tour money rankings.

The former Temple standout had an up-and-down back nine, recording three birdies but also carding two bogeys and a double bogey on the par-3 16th hole. He had five bogeys overall, including three on the front nine at the tournament in Newburgh, Indiana.

Jose de Jesus Rodriguez closed at 2 under to win the tournament, eight strokes ahead of Matthews.

The next tour event is the Knoxville Open, May 10-13 at Fox Den Country Club.

*Originally posted at for Citizens Voice

After finishing sixth on his European Challenge Tour debut in the Belt and Road Colourful Yunnan Open earlier this month, Charlie Saxon is targeting another top-ten finish at this week’s Turkish Airlines Challenge.

The American will tee it up at Gloria Golf Club this week after receiving an invitation from Challenge Tour Director Alain De Soultrait and is aiming to build on his solid showing in China.

Born in Oklahoma in the United States, Saxon has previously plied his trade on various tours including PGA Tour Latinoamérica, the China Tour and the Web.com Tour, enjoying relative success.

The 24 year old already has two wins under his belt this season, both of which occurred on the China Tour.

A final round 66 clinched a one-shot victory at the Shenzhou Peninsula Classic as Saxon triumphed in his first tournament of the year.

Saxon then claimed another superb win at the China Tour’s second event of the year, the Bo Ao Open, by shooting four sublime rounds of 65-69-64-67 to extend his lead at the top of the tour’s Order of Merit.

Although he believes putting himself under too much pressure could have an adverse effect on his game, Saxon has his sights set on another high finish at this week’s Turkish Airlines Challenge.

“Obviously I would love to finish in the top ten in order to get into the Challenge de España,” the American said.

“That would be my goal for the week but I don’t think you can put too much pressure on yourself.

“It’s a great opportunity and I’ll come out here and play as well as I can but at the end of the day, putting extra pressure on yourself really isn’t going to help.”

Saxon has expressed his gratitude to the Challenge Tour for the invitation to play in Antalya this week and is feeling confident in his own game.

“I’m thankful to the sponsors and to Alain De Soultrait and it’s another opportunity to hopefully earn more money on this tour and potentially get through the re-rank,” he said.

“The course looks wonderful and the hotel we’re staying at is great. Everybody’s been really friendly so it should be a really good week.

“I’m confident in my game and I’m confident in my ability. At the end of the day, golf’s a game against the course and on this tour there’s certainly more players of a higher calibre than on some of the other tours I’m used to playing.

“Good golf’s good golf and I know if I’m playing good golf then I can compete and contend.

“I obviously recognise how difficult it is out here on the Challenge Tour. These are some of the best players in the world and I’m happy to be out here playing and I’m just thankful for the opportunity.”

Article originally written and posted by The Challenge Tour website

Many professional golfers are extremely superstitious.

For Brandon Matthews, a 2016 adult and organizational development alumnus [of Temple University] and current player on the Web.com Tour, superstition starts with the quarter he uses as a ball-marker.

“I will never use a quarter that is above the year 1969,” Matthews said. “If I have a 1974 quarter, to me that is like shooting 74.”

Matthews moved from 103rd on the Web.com Tour to 74th after he tied for 10th at the North Mississippi Classic last weekend. He hopes to finish the season within the top-25 money winners to earn his PGA Tour card.

Matthews’s girlfriend Danielle Maslany gave him a special quarter for Christmas this year.

“When we get change, we look at the date of all the quarters,” said Maslany, a 2013 journalism alumna who met Matthews through an interview she conducted for OwlSports Update. “I went online and found a 1959 quarter and bought it for him. I don’t think we will ever be lucky enough to find one in circulation, so I thought it would be cool to get him one to use.”

Maslany has seen several of Matthews’s most successful finishes. At Temple, Matthews won eight times as an individual. Just five months into his debut on the PGA Tour Latinoamérica, Matthews won at the Molino Cañuelas Championship in Argentina in March 2017.

He became the youngest American to win a PGA Tour Latinoamérica event.

“Winning so early took a lot of stress off of me,” Matthews said. “Throughout my career as an amateur, I always tried to be the best that I can be. Going out and winning was really nice but something that I expected as a competitor.”

Matthews ranked 10th on the PGA Tour Latinoamérica’s Order of Merit in October 2017, which allowed him to make it to the final stage of tour-qualifying school. His high finish at q-school qualified him for the first eight starts of the Web.com Tour.

Matthews only competed in five of those eight possible starts because of food poisoning and a back injury. He has had back problems since high school and regularly sees a chiropractor.

“It’s a learning process,” Maslany said. “He is identifying how to better care for his body, and we make changes to incorporate that into our life.”

Matthews said he stretches for an average of 30 to 45 minutes each morning while also watching what he eats and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

“It is an annoying thing because I have to do things 55-year-olds have to do in the morning as far as stretching goes,” Matthews said. “I shouldn’t have to do this at 23 years old.”

Despite back issues, Matthews’s average drive this season goes 313.3 yards, which ranks fourth out of more than 150 players on the Web.com Tour. He also has a 4.16 birdie average, which is 14th-best on the tour.

Matthews said he relies heavily on his caddy, Jon “Sunshine” Lehman, for direction, especially when it comes to putting.

During the Pinnacle Bank Championship in Omaha, Nebraska, in July, Lehman was on the bag for Armando Favela, who had a rib injury. Matthews qualified for the tournament through a sponsors exemption, a spot offered to a player by the tournament’s title sponsor when the player has not already qualified for the event. Matthews asked Lehman to be his caddy, and they have been together ever since.

“Brandon calls me in on nine out of 10 putts,” Lehman said. “He wants that opinion, and I love that because it makes me feel more involved.”

“Brandon is really good at driving the golf ball and is a superior ball striker,” Lehman added. “I have been with a lot of guys, and I have never seen anyone hit it as good as he does.”

Matthews has finished tied for 41st, tied for 56th, tied for 34th and tied for 10th in the four tournaments he made the cut for so far this year, resulting in a season’s earnings of $19,329.

Both Maslany and Lehman believe Matthews will make it to the next level. It is just a matter of when.

“I don’t want to jinx him or anything, but within the next year he will be on the big tour,” Lehman said. “He just has that kind of firepower and next-generation game that can kind of take over.”

“Realistically, it takes one really good week and one solid week to make it,” Matthews said. “I have 20 more tournaments left, and I think it is a reasonable possibility that I get there. It is all about fine-tuning my game and just putting it all together.”

Story Originally Written and Posted by www.Temple-News.com

The inaugural North Mississippi Classic on the Web.com Tour was shortened to 54 holes due to heavy rains Sunday. The final leaderboard after Saturday’s play held the event’s official results–Willy Wilcox tied for 2nd place, Brandon Matthews tied for 10th and Brian Richey tied for 33rd. Members of the Fidelity Sports Group family have had a chance to win on Sunday in five of the first eight events of the 2018 Web.com Tour Schedule.

Wilcox’s 2nd place was thanks to a course record-setting performance of eight under par 64 on Saturday which included nine birdies and a bogey. Wilcox led the field in birdies for the week with 20 thru 54 holes. An incredibly good break on Firday opened the door to Wilcox’s Saturday performance. On the 36th hole of the tournament, and his final hole of Friday’s round, Wilcox hit his tee ball out of bounds however it kicked off a tree back in play. He would go on to make par on the hole to make the cut–an out of bounds tee shot most likely would have resulted in a missed cut! The 2nd place finish moved Wilcox to 19th on the Web.com Tour Money List.

Brandon Matthews steady play all week notched him a 10th place finish, the best finish of his career on the Web.com Tour. A rookie on Tour in 2018, Matthews fired rounds of 72-69-70 and led the field in average driving distance (320 yards) and longest drive (345 yards) for the week. The finished moved Matthews to 74th on the Money List, and alleviates any stress regarding reshuffles for the remainder of the regular season.

Brian Richey posted his best finish of the 2018 Web.com Tour season in Oxford, Mississippi as well–a tie for 33rd. Richey fired rounds of 72-69-73 for the finish–a nice momentum builder as the schedule becomes more consistent from week to week.

Wilcox, Matthews and Richey will be joined by Justin Hueber, Grant Leaver, Mark Blakefield, Justin Lower and Jim Renner this week for the Web.com Tour’s United Leasing Championship in Newburgh, Indiana.

#FidelityFam.

Charlie Saxon continued his fantastic start to 2018 by carding a five under par round of 66 to take a share of the first round lead at the Belt and Road Colourful Yunnan Open.

The American, who is making his European Challenge Tour debut this week, has already won twice on the China Tour this season and arrived at Yulongwan Golf Club knowing he can perform there having finished as a runner-up at the Kunming course in the PGA Tour China Series in 2016.

Despite dropping a shot on the first after an errant tee shot, the 24 year old rallied with birdies at the third, fifth, sixth and ninth to reach the turn in 34 and keep in touch with morning leaders Sunil Jung and Borja Virto, who set the clubhouse target at five under par.

Three further gains over the back nine followed with Saxon tying the lead after holing a tricky 15-foot putt at the par four 15^th.

Although he was unable to convert another birdie chance at the 18^th – Saxon had hit a stunning approach to five feet from a difficult lie at the corner of a bunker 120 yards from the pin – the American joined England’s Matt Ford, Canada’s Jung and Spain’s Virto at the top of the leaderboard.

One adrift of the leaders are Denmark’s Joachim B Hansen and China’s Xue-wen who both signed for four under par rounds of 67.

One further back is a pack of six players including Sweden’s Sebastian Soderberg, who has continued his good start to the 2018 campaign by following his tied sixth place finish in the season-opening Barclays Kenya Open with a three under par opening 68 today.

“It was a really good day,” said Saxon. “The conditions out there were difficult and it is a tough course – there’s a lot going on around the greens and with the wind picking up that makes it more challenging – so I just came out and tried to play a solid round of golf.

“My Dad always says ‘you can’t win it on the first day but you can shoot yourself out of it’ so I was happy not to shoot myself out of it.

“I did everything well today. The only mistake was hitting it into the hazard on my first hole but after that I didn’t make any.

“China has been really good to me. For some reason I always play my best golf here and I also have good memories of this course after finishing as a runner-up here two years ago. I’m excited for the rest of the week.”

Read more at http://www.europeantour.com/challengetour/season=2018/tournamentid=2018714/news/newsid=345279.html?utm_source=t.co&utm_medium=referral#kH866w4EOxtvUQU7.99

Charlie Saxon won the Bo Ao Open, the 2nd event of 2018 China Tour in Hainan on the 1st of April with a 23-under par, securing his second continuous triumph in this season’s Tour. Luke Toomey from New Zealand finished 2nd with 21 under par and Suteepat finished 3rd with a -20.

Saxon started the final round in the leading position and grabbed five birdies and no bogeys all day, which is the best performance among the leader’s group.

“I had some bad putting strokes today, especially those 12 to 15 feet ones, but I managed to avoid any bogeys today and played steady throughout the day,” said Saxon after the final round.

“It’s a long season, and there’s a bunch of outstanding players here, who also have the chances to win as well so I need to play as well as I can throughout the year.”

With his career goal set to enter the PGA Tour by the age of 30, Saxon participated in the event at the Yulongwan Golf Club 2 years ago during the 2016 season and finished 2nd. He said he had some good memories of the course and certainly will enjoy it in the coming event this month.

Luke Toomey from New Zealand, who grabbed four birdies and no bogies today, finished in the second place, said the 17th hole was the most intense one of the day. “ After the birdie at the 16th hole, I was just 1 show behind Charlie. However, he played well at hole 17, and that gave me a lot of pressure.”

Charlie’s outstanding start on the China Tour affords him three starts on the Challenge Tour, the European Tour’s version on the Web.com Tour. Those starts include:

April 12-15: Belt & Road Colorful Yunnan Golf Open, Kunming Yulongwan Golf Club,Kunming, Yunnan Province,China
October 11-15: Hainan Open, Sanya Haitang Bay Peninsular GC,Sanya, Hainan Island,China
October 18-21: Foshan Open Foshan Golf Club, Shishan Town, Nanhai District, Foshan City,China

If Charlie is able to maintain if #1 position on the China Tour at the season end, he will earn status on the 2019 European Tour.

Justin Hueber posted a Web.com Tour career-best third place finish Sunday at the Savannah Golf Championship. Justin fired rounds of 67-67-69-68 for 17 under par over the four days at The Landings Club’s Deer Creek Golf Course in Savannah, Georgia.

Hueber started the final round 1 shot off the lead of eventual champion Sam Burns. Justin got off to a strong start with birdies on holes 1, 5, and 8 to tie for the lead heading the back nine. On the back nine, eight pars and a two-putt birdie on the par 5 14th secured a tie for 3rd place for the week. Sam Burns caught fire on the back nine firing a 6 under par 30, including birdies of 4 of his final five holes to win by a shot over Roberto Castro.

The finish moves Hueber to 21st on the Money List thanks also to a 25th place at The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at The Abaco Club, a 13th place at El Bosque Mexico Championship by Innova and a 28th place at Chitimacha Louisiana Open presented by NACHER.

Justin’s 96 birdies on the season and 1 top ten finish have raised over $2,400 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society thanks to his partnership with Credibility International.

Justin and the Web.com Tour have the next two weeks off before returning to competition in Oxford, Mississippi April 16th thru 22nd.

Justin Lower posted his best career finish on the Web.com Tour over the weekend. Rounds of 65-73-67-64 and a final score of 15 under par secured a third-place finish at the Chitimacha Louisiana Open presented by Nacher.

The finish made Lower $37,400 and moved him to 23rd on the Web.com Tour Money List. The Top 25 earners are the end of the regular season earn PGA Tour membership for the 2017-2018 season.

Lower noted that he “found something” in his swing during Friday’s difficult round in blustery conditions. After a rough start of 5 over par thru this first nine holes, Lower focused the final 54 holes on a smooth tempo which led him to make 14 birdies and no bogies in his final 54 holes.

Justin’s 20 birdies for the week raised $2,000 for Ohio Guidestone as Modern Woodmen Financial donates $100 for every birdie Justin makes during the 2018 season to the organization!

Lower’s next start is this week, March 29th thru April 1st at the Savannah Golf Championship in Savannah, Georgia.

PGA Tour player Lanto Griffin is proud to announce a new partnership with IES Communications. Lanto will serve as a worldwide ambassador for IES Communications, sporting the company logo on the chest of his apparel during PGA Tour competition and engaging with IES executives, employees, partners, and clients off the course.

Lanto Griffin is a native of Blacksburg, Virginia and a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University where he played on the Men’s golf team. Lanto started playing golf professionally upon graduating college in 2010. His career to date has taken him to Europe, North, Central and South America. Lanto played full time on the 2017 Web.com Tour, and he had a breakthrough victory at the Nashville Open with rounds of 72-70-62-68 and a birdie on the first playoff hole to secure the win. The 2017/2018 season marks Lanto’s rookie season on the PGA Tour, and he has already had success with a 12^th place finish at the difficult Torrey Pines, site of the Farmers Insurance Open in January 2018.

“Playing on the PGA Tour has been a dream of mine since I was playing junior golf in Blacksburg, Virginia. To have achieved that, and to be able to partner with a company such as IES, which is nationwide but has roots in my hometown community is an honor” said Griffin, “I am so excited to represent such a great company on the PGA Tour and look forward to a long-term partnership with them!”

IES Communications was created as a structured cabling provider in 1984. Matt Simmes, President, joined in 1992. IES Communications has added new product lines and services and is now a leading provider of network infrastructure products and services for data centers and mission-critical environments across North America.

Matt Simmes, President of IES Communications stated, “IES admires the PGA Tour for its strong charitable foundation and Lanto for his unparalleled dedication to training and precision to accomplish his goals. These values are the driving force that established this partnership. We at IES strive for mirror integrity which is a hallmark to the IES business. The sponsorship of Lanto is an ideal way to reach a global audience who watch and play golf in the U.S. and around the world, as well as the opportunity to be associated with the PGA’s great tradition.”

MEDIA CONTACTS:

For IES Communications:
Gilbert Romo
Vice President of Sales and Marketing
IES Communications
[email protected]

For Lanto Griffin:
Drew Carr
Fidelity Sports Group, LLC
[email protected]

# # #

Charlie Saxon won the Shenzhou Peninsula Classic with a total score of 277 (-11) on the 10th of March. Chunil Jung from Canada and Fraser Wilkin from New Zealand finished 2nd with a tie at -10. Top 2 Chinese players Jin Daxing and Ye Jianfeng both finished at -7.

This is the opening match of the China Tour 2018 season, held by China Golf Association. Saxon started the final round with -5 on the 8th position. He had a fairly impressive start, coming to the leading position of the scoreboard after the first 3 holes. He finally finished the day with a -6.

The former champion says the bad weather on the second and third day of the tournament was actually no problem for him.

“I really enjoyed the weather change,” said Saxon after the match. “ I was really happy when it started getting windy. Where I live back in the U.S, it’s very windy.”

Saxon said the Dunes golf course is absolutely fantastic and it is one of the best-condition course he has ever played on.

Sunil Jung, who led the leaderboard for the first 3 days and most time of the final day, admitted that he got nervous at the last hole. “ I saw Charlie catching birdie at the last hole and I got a bit nervous cause I didn’t want the match to be extended. And then the ball hit the water and I was not able to make it to the green, so I got a bogey there.”

The China Tour is an independent international tournament series, based on the nation’s comprehensive economic strength, representing the highest level of the development of Chinese professional golf. In 2018, the Tour runs throughout the year, consisting around 20 events including regular tournaments, co-sanctioned events and a flagship event – Tour Championship.

Story originally published: CGA Website

Saxon’s first two wins in China were on PGA Tour China in 2016, where he also won Rookie of the Year honors.

Tim Petrovic posted a career best finish at the 2018 Chubb Classic on the PGA Tour Champions February 16th thru 18th in Naples, Florida at the Twin Eagles Club. Petrovic fired rounds of 71-66-64 for a 15 under par total. The finishes moves Petrovic to 15th in the Charles Schwab Cup Standings.

GREAT ABACO, Bahamas – Will Wilcox has made 149 starts across the PGA TOUR and Web.com Tour, in addition to countless other amateur, college and mini-tour events.

Wilcox considers last week’s The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic at Sandals Emerald Bay — playing on a sponsor invite and knowing he needed a top-25 finish to keep his season going — as one of the most stressful weeks of his golf career.

Will Wilcox found himself tied atop the leaderboard at 6-under-par at The Great Abaco Classic after feeling intense pressure at the Great Exuma Classic. (Kevin Prise/PGA TOUR)

“My hands were shaking when I first teed off last week,” said Wilcox, who entered the season with only past champion status. “It was a lot of pressure … just a do-or-die moment. I’ve had a few in my career, and I’ve been lucky enough to get it done.”

Indeed, Wilcox rose up with a T13 finish to extend his season to this week’s The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at The Abaco Club. Most importantly, the finish will ensure him a strong position in the reshuffle that takes place after next month’s Club Colombia Championship.

Wilcox teed off at 6:55 a.m. Sunday in the opening round at The Abaco Club, and the peaceful setting matched his demeanor. Knowing that his season isn’t on the line this week, like it was in Exuma, the Alabama native produced a 6-under 66 to hold a share of the opening-round lead, with play suspended due to darkness.
The 31-year-old struggled to find success for the majority of 2017; he struggled to find a comfort level on the greens, and he missed all four cuts in the Web.com Tour Finals.

Wilcox discovered an alignment problem during the offseason, though. With the help of a mirror and some alignment tools, as well as Golf Channel’s Martin Hall, he got ‘going in the right direction.’

“I’ve always been lucky enough … to make putts just doing whatever felt right,” Wilcox said. “Basically what happened is I went too far in one direction. I kept opening my stance, opening my stance, and then the clubhead was aimed incorrectly.

“So you’ve got two competing factors, and then you have no idea where the putter face is with the ball. Fortunately, it was something that simple, but it took 30 days to where it felt normal. Now, it feels great.”

The three-month break between the Web.com Tour Championship and the season opener allowed Wilcox to ‘really grind on my putting’ – he figures he averaged two or three three-putts per round in 2017, and he knew that needed to change if he wanted to see better results this season.

So far, so good. Markedly improved putting, coupled with a swing tweak made about a month ago, give Wilcox reason to believe that better days are ahead.

“I knew that what I was working on was good, and you can feel it in your hands and the way the ball was coming out, and increased distance when you start hitting it better.” Wilcox said. “And the putting was just getting better and better and better throughout the offseason.

“On the first tee today, I was totally relaxed, other than it being pretty dark out. Now that last week is over with, I’m really feeling alright.”

Written by Kevin Prise. Published on PGATour.com/webcom.html

THE POWER OF THREE

PRO GOLFER AND FINANCIAL TITAN TO SUPPORT OHIO NON PROFIT

Cleveland, Ohio, January 12, 2018 – Modern Woodmen – Fraternal Financial and OhioGuidestone, a nonprofit that serves over 36-thousand families, announce a partnership with professional golfer and Ohio native, Justin Lower.

Partnership

The collaboration offers various components such as raising funds to help children and families served by OhioGuidestone and public awareness of the excellent work of both OhioGuidestone and Modern Woodmen, Fraternal Financial.

Specifically, Modern Woodmen plans to donate $100 per birdie Justin Lower makes on the 2018 Web.com Tour to OhioGuidestone. In addition, Lower plans to sport both organization logos on his apparel during the Web.com Tour. For Lower, the partnership is part of his journey.

“I had the opportunity to visit some of the youth served by OhioGuidestone,” said Lower. “I was so impressed with the work OhioGuidestone is doing to help break the cycle of poverty for Ohio children and families, I knew I wanted to find a way to be involved and help out. It really put things in perspective for me, of just how fortunate I am to chase my dream as a professional golfer.”

Justin Lower, professional golfer

Since 1883, Modern Woodmen – Fraternal Financial, a financial planning giant, has brought people together and supported communities. They are the nation’s third -largest fraternal benefit society in terms of assets. This new partnership builds upon its current relationship with OhioGuidestone,

“Supporting OhioGuidestone’s children and families has been an honor and a privilege for our fraternal members. Our joint passion to strengthen families and communities continues to grow through our partnership, and we are delighted to give back in this new and innovative initiative.” – Brian Souder, Managing Partner, Modern Woodmen – Fraternal Financial.

OhioGuidestone is a 154-year-old non-profit organization that helps families, children and individuals who face some of life’s most challenging situations, including mental illness, addiction, abuse and behavioral issues. Headquartered in Berea, Ohio, we have grown to serve over 36,000 children and families in Ohio.

“We are honored to have this national platform to showcase the great work we accomplish in Ohio and grateful for the generosity of Modern Woodmen – Fraternal Financial. We give Justin all of our heartfelt support as he golfs for our kids.” – Cindy Naegele, Vice President of Advancement and Communications for OhioGuidestone

Justin Lower

Justin Lower is a native of Canal Fulton, Ohio and a graduate of Malone University where he was crowned National Champion, and was recognized with the Jack Nicklaus and David Toms Award as one of the top college collegiate golfers in the country. In 2018, Justin will play full-time on the Web.com Tour. PGA Tour stars such as Jim Furyk, Keegan Bradley, Zach Johnson, Jason Day and many more once competed on the Web.com Tour on their path to the PGA Tour.

Tour

Grant Hirschman in Contention at Hometown PGA Tour Debut

Lanto Griffin Qualifies for US Open at Shinnecock Hills

National Champ and All American Grant Hirschman Signs with Fidelity Sports

Tim Petrovic finishes 2nd at Senior PGA Championship, Moves to 11th in Schwab Cup Standings

Fidelity Sports Clients finish Top 20 in Nashville, Griffin leads the way finishing 2nd

Saxon Snags 3rd Win of 2018 in China

FINAL LEADERBOARD

Brandon Matthews Finishes 11th at United Leasing Championship

Saxon Shooting For The Stars Ahead of Turkish Airlines Challenge

Brandon Matthews Strives For PGA Tour

Wilcox 2nd, Matthews 10th at North Mississippi Classic on Web.com Tour

Saxon Continues Hot Streak in China; Grabs 1st Round Lead on Challenge Tour

Charlie Saxon Wins Again, 2 for 2 on China Tour in 2018; Eyes European Tour for 2019

Justin Hueber Finishes 3rd at Savannah Golf Championship; Inside Top 25 on Money List

Justin Lower Finishes 3rd at Web.com Tour’s Chitimacha Louisiana Open

Lanto Griffin Partners with IES Communications as Global Brand Ambassador

Charlie Saxon Wins for Third Time in China

Tim Petrovic Finishes 2nd on Champions Tour

Wilcox Uses Off Season to Return to Fundamentals; Back in Contention in 2018.

Justin Lower Partners with Woodmen Financial to Raise Funds for Ohio Guidestone

THE POWER OF THREE