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 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.