Kevin Sutherland was 9-under par after eight holes. It was GO time to see history at En Joie GC.

When I arrived at the media center around noon for Round Two of the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open and checked the leaderboard I saw Kevin Sutherland was 6-under par after five holes. Hmm I thought pretty good start. My plan was to write for a few hours, watch the leaders John Cook and Olin Browne tee off with Steve Lowery at 1:31 pm and then have a spiedie and wait for them to come around and walk with them on the back nine. Then the Champions Tour rookie continued his birdie barrage with three more on Nos. 6, 7 and 8. It was time to go! Nine-under through eight holes, this is more than a 59-watch! Like when your wife tells you it is time to go to the hospital, I thought it might be time to see a 59 or lower birthed on the senior tour.

Kevin Sutherland’s birdie putt on 9 green. Missed it to shoot 9-under on the front nine at En Joie GC.

When  arrived at No. 9 green I saw a ball not far from the green and two back in the fairway. As the players lined up with their ball I realized the one nearer the green belonged to Kevin Sutherland Thinking he somehow had to chip out of the woods and lay up I was informed that it was his drive. Impressive! He pitched up from about 70 yards to a back hole location and missed the putt. Ugh oh maybe I was going to jinx him like it seems so many television broadcasters do when they make a point that a player hasn’t missed a  3-footer in the last zillion rounds and he misses one. Kevin would say later in his interview that “I missed it, so my first par of the day but I turned at 9-under, so I wasn’t griping.”

I was surprised when the guy who shot 71 in the first round and is now on fire walked by me and continued down the road along billboard alley going countercurrent to a slew of spectators heading from the clubhouse area to the golf course. His playing partners Jeff Hart (71-70) and Gene Sauers (71-70) headed to the first fairway and opted to walk to the 10th tee (double tee with No. 1) inside the ropes. I could sense everyone, caddies included, except his own caddie Billy Lewis were giving Sutherland his distance. Everyone knew what was at stake but no one was saying anything to acknowledge it. In some way I thought of him being in a self imposed quarantine, a positive one, not like the ebola virus.

In the zone, Sutherland walks past and passes on a Lupo’s spiedie on the way to the 14th tee.

Sutherland nailed his hybrid on No. 10, lobbed up and made a 10-footer to get back on the birdie train. On eleven he pulled an 8-iron but drained the 45-footer like the bombs he made on the front side at Nos. 2 and 4. Other good memories of the front side for Kevin included a 6-foot eagle putt made on the par-5 fifth hole and a hole-out deuce from a difficult downhill lie in the bunker at No. 7. A bunkered drive on the par-5 twelfth hole dictated a layout and a missed a 25-foot birdie putt after a mediocre wedge. A missed 10-footer on No. 13 and all of a sudden it is three pars in a row with only five holes left to make the two birdies needed to shoot a 59. I watched him pass the Lupo spiedie girl on the way to the 13th tee. Lupo’s has the best spiedies in the Southern Tier and it is their custom to provide the local culinary creation on a complimentary basis to players, caddies and media. While Kevin said “No thanks, I am fine” to the smiling Jan Nolis I said “sure” and indulged in my  childhood favorite to the extent I wasn’t quite sure, when I saw from a distance, Kevin make a short putt on the 13th green if it was for birdie or par?

Sutherland’s pitch into the 15th green nearly spun back into the water.

It was for par. Four holes remaining, two birdies needed. Still good odds considering the scorecard up to this point included one eagle, four pars and nine birdies. On No. 15, the hole local hero Richie Karl birdied to beat Bruce Crampton in a playoff in 1974, Kevin hits an aggressive driver, then sand wedge to ten feet and drains the putt. Using the backboard on the approach shot, the rebound roll caught his full attention until the ball came to a rest safely above the water line near the front hole location. Better to drain a birdie putt than an approach wedge. Three holes left, only one birdie needed to shoot 59.

With a booming high fade drive, the fifty-year old drives the green on the short par-4 16th hole. It’s a good thing when a player takes his putter out of the bag on the tee after teeing off, especially on a par-4. Though a difficult 35-foot eagle putt missed he clanked in the 4-footer for birdie and now only needed two pars for the 59. A 6-iron that released over the ridge on the 17th green to tap-in birdie brought a light moment on the tee when Richie, the Golf Channel cameraman let him know it was only one foot away. Keith responded that he would take a 3-footer. Deuce made, par 18 for a 58 to start a new and better club than the 7-some in the professional Club 59.

Honorary Observers Kathi & Dr. George Roberts showing good MoJo on the 13th hole.

Though only a one-time winner on the PGA TOUR in the match play World Golf Championship, my observations of Sutherland was that of a seasoned finisher- walked slowly though usually off the tee first, kept to himself with a little distance from the pack of players, caddies, scorer, standard bearer and honorary observers and typically on the inside away from the gallery side (though walking to the 10th tee was an exception). Though he would say later he knew exactly where he was in relation to 59 after the eagle on the 5ht hole but thought nothing of his place on the leaderboard in terms of the 2014 Dick’s Sporting Goods Open. His use of a white towel, pre-shot and putting preparation seemed routine. Frequent use of chap stick, two trips to the port-a-john on the 12th and 15th tees, and interaction with his caddie all seemed normal and supportive of a horse that does not fade until the finish line is crossed.

Scorer Joann Matarese and Standard Bearer Brandon Wanchisen witnessed history!

With a 58 on the par horizon and at worse a Champions record 59 with a bogey he drove right to avoid water left on the dog-leg-right home hole at En Joie GC. Fairly deep in the trees and 110 yards to the front of the green he had a good angle from a bad position on the inside of a dogleg. How would the guy who I remember seeing in a wild playoff loss to Vijay Singh in the 2008 Barclays FedEx Cup playoff event at Ridgeway CC respond? On the first playoff hole Sutherland faltered and marked a 6-footer for par to watch Sergio first, then Vijay attempt rather lengthy birdie putts to win. Sergio drained his 27-footer with gusto and Kevin not only picked up his mark but seemed to congratulate Sergio on the victory. Singh, as patient as Olazabal on the 17th hole at Brookline in the Ryder Cup after Justin Leonard’s bomb goes in, made his 26-footer and won on the next playoff hole.

Sutherland played  his role to perfection with a recovery shot that stopped just four feet off the front of the green. This was his moment in golf history for sure, the only question was how big of a moment will it be? Chip putt in from 40 feet for a 57 and it is unthinkable, a less-than-four-minute-mile. Get it up and down for a par and 58 and it is huge, a new level of performance in professional golf. BE a bit nervous and roll it seven feet by the hole and miss the comeback putt for 59 and it is a remarkable feat. And that is what happened, a bogey on the last to shoot 59!

With the newest ‘Mr. 59’ Kevin Sutherland and ‘Mr. 61 Year Sportswriter’ John Fox.

Sutherland takes a one-stroke lead over Steve Lowery (66-65), two strokes over John Cook (65-67), three strokes over Scott Hoch who shot the day’s second best round, a 64, five strokes worse (69-64) and four strokes over the ever present, consistent and competitive Bernard Langer (67-67).

This is Kevin Sutherland’s moment. He is in the 59 club with the original ‘Mr. 59’ Al Geiberger, Chip Beck, David Duval, Annika Sorenstam, the only woman to do so, his buddy Paul Goydos, who with fifteen other golfers watched the grand finale on the 18th green, Stuart Appleby and Jim Furyk.

The first Kevin Sutherland’ signed ’59’ ball went to fan Mike Zwick.

This article is formatted like the 164th “Backwards Episode” of the NBC sitcom Seinfeld. Most recent at the start! Note that there are 27 additional stories in the picture show at the bottom of this post.

Evening:

The Zac Brown Band concert.

Afternoon:

Hello again John Fox, local sportswriter for 61 years!

After watching some golf I came back into the media center and found John Fox, longtime sports columnist for the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin Newspaper. By longtime I mean 61 years. I saw him here in 2010 and reintroduced myself and congratulated him like countless others when he wrote his final column on June 27th which was entitled “After so long, it’s ‘So Long.'” The man was ingenious with his thoughts, perspectives and words. Sixty-one years before, on June 27th, 1949, his first assignment on his first day was to cover an exhibition by Dr. Cary Middlecoff a few weeks after he won the U.S. Open at Medinah CC. It was played at the old Vestal Hills CC which was a 9-holer on the opposite side of the Susquehanna River a few miles upstream from the En Joie Golf Course. That golf course was moved into the hills to more accurately reflect its name. John Fox has kept himself moving ever since and hopefully for a long time more. What a delight to see John Fox today and here old stories about Ely Park and golf in the Triple Cities!

Olin Browne shot 64 in Round One and is tied for the lead with John Cook.

Olin Browne out at 10:53 am with Tom Pernice Jr. (74) and John Riegger (67) posted a 7-under 65 that was only tied later in the day by John Cook. Browne became the fifth player to win on the Web.com, PGA TOUR and Champions Tour when he won the 2011 U.S. Senior Open, his only age 50-plus win. ‘OB’ spoke of the cycles in golf: “Winning is hard, it’s really hard… all you can do is show up, keep making some putts, hit some good shots, and when it is your turn, it’s your turn (to win).” asked about his preparation for the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open he responded, “I really worked on my preparation last week. I went fishing with my daughter for three days and hung out at the beach.” Playing with Ed Stack, son of Dick’s Sporting Goods founder and CEO since 1984, he didn’t contribute on one hole, evidently saving all his birdies for Round One.

Woody Austin is loving life on the Champions Tour.

Woody Austin, the 1995 Rookie of the Year on the PGA TOUR, shot 5-under on the front nine and even par coming home to post a 67 good for a T6 position after Round One. After giving details of his brilliant front nine he joked that he made the turn and “unfortunately I woke up.” Austin, the 2007 President’s Cup ‘Aqua Man,’ won the PGA TOUR’s Sanderson Farms Championship last July and then turned 50 in January. In 22 tour events this year he has only one Top-25 finish. In his debut and only other Champions Tour competition he finished T3 at the U.S. Senior Open won by Colin Montgomerie. asked about his conflicting levels of performance he went into a rather logical explanation that centered on technology and skill. “I am no longer that guy that’s 40 yards behind everyone… I hit more sand wedges today than I’ve hit all year long.” Welcome to the Champions Tour Woody!

Steve Lowery has stopped fiddling with his swing and opened with a 66 in Round One.

Steve Lowery had nine birdies, five straight on holes five thru nine, and shot 66 in Round One to trail the leaders by one shot. David Frost and defending champion Bart Bryant also shot 66 and are tied for third place. A 15-footer for par on No. 11 kept the round going for Lowery who won three times on the PGA TOUR, all in playoffs, but is yet to win in 77 Champions Tour appearances. Steve admitted to fiddling too much with his swing: “I’ve been out there playing golf for a couple of years trying to work on my swing hoping it would work. It never does… I was trying to get better and I was getting worse.” No more fiddling Steve Lowery!

John Cook shot 65 and is tied for the lead with Olin Browne after Round One.

John Cook’s round was more balanced that Olin or Woody’s round as he shot 33-32=65 in the second to last pairing, with two birdies to finish, to tie Browne for the lead. It was a comfortable pairing with Jeff Sluman (67) and Jay Haas (71). It is amazing to me that ‘Cookie,’ with 11 regular tour wins and 9 on the Champions Tour has not won a major on either tour. He was sidelined for 10 weeks early in the season after slipping on carpet at home and literally cracking his back. The recovery did not require surgery only rest and he came back rusty. He is ready for the weekend at the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open and the home stretch of 10 straight tournaments in a row with only one off week.

Morning:

Bobby Clampett emerging from the ‘IMPACT ZONE.”

I arrived at the course a little after 8 am but didn’t make it to my spot the media center until well after 10 am. I wanted to see Jim Rutledge hit the first tee shot, the first of 81 golfers, off No. 1 in the 2014 Dick’s Sporting Goods Open. But I missed that too. When I volunteer at the World Golf Hall of Fame they call me the “Wanderer” as I admittedly seem to meander from one exhibit to another when my next new friend in golf has yet to arrive at my post. Today I was drawn, actually given a ride in a golf cart, by Dave Baker the man who presented the key to Endicott to Fred Funk yesterday and has been volunteering at En Joie for the last 39 years. That means he is 1976 vintage, the year Bob Wynn won, five years after Butch Harmon won the 36-hole inaugural Broome County Open and two years after Johnson City’s own Richie Karl became the last club professional to win a PGA TOUR event. I was 14 years old and remember being there on the 15th green and seeing Richie drain a 35-foot putt to beat Bruce Crampton in a playoff.

Anne Williams carrying on Dave Thomas’ legacy with Wendy’s Walk for Kids, Steps to a Brighter Future.

Dave drove me to the front gate area where I visited with each exhibitor. The very first one was I met was Anne Williams of Wendy’s Walk for Kids. A franchiser of 17 Wendy’s Restaurants in the Central New York region with partner Jeff Coghlan, she wanted to do something for children during the National Children’s Awareness Month of June. Dave Thomas, founder of Wendy’s was born to a young unmarried woman he never knew. Adopted six weeks later, the philanthropist became a well-known advocate for adoption.  Five years ago, when the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open was in June, Anne teamed up with Tournament Director John Karedes and Broome County Catholic Charities and simply started to walk for the kids on tournament Sunday morning, taking steps to a brighter future. In 2009 they raised $40,000, last year $245,000 and likely will cross the $1 million mark this year. I can see why the PGA TOUR awarded Wendy’s Walk for Kids and Broome County Catholic Charities the Champions Tour 2012 Charity of the Year Award. The charitable donations from the generous people of the Central New York Region have funded an adoption recruiter. Somehow I think Dave Thomas is smiling down from above, just like Wendy, knowing his spirit is alive and well both in a tasty  Dave’s Hot ‘N Juicy 1/4 lb. Single and a young child finding a home.

One of Bobby Clampett’s ‘BC’ Endicott Johnson spikeless shoes sold on EBAY.

I missed Rutledge’s tee shot but did manage to say hello to Bobby Clampett and watched him tee off at 10:09 with Hal Sutton and John Inman. Right now Bobby is 1-under through eleven holes. He mentioned to me that Endicott-Johnson Shoe Company sponsored him back in the day and he was one of the first to wear soft-spike shoes. Sure enough I googled him and EJ’s and there was a pair of his size 11s for sale on EBAY. They went for $11.50 a couple of months ago. I liked the ‘BC’, what we would have called ‘Whatchamacallit’ back then or crocs jibbitz™ strap charms today. ‘BC’, Bobby Clampett or ‘BC Open,’ originally Broome County Open. then Johnny Hart’s BC comic strip, now the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open. Maybe a hunch that Bobby Clampett will win this week at En Joie?  Right now he is even par through seventeen with Sandy Lyle leading at 7-under through tweleve holes. The final threesome of Colin Montgomerie, Bernard Langer and Mark O’Mara have teed off. Morning is over. It is officially afternoon.

Twenty-seven more stories from today in the picture show:

[Show slideshow]

Dick’s Sporting Goods Open, the 8th edition, but really the 44th!

If you want to fully experience the Champions Tour then you may want to consider a trip to the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open, contested on the En Joie Golf Club in Endicott, New York.

Why? Because there are the plaques that say it is so. That the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open, now in its eight year, is one of the best events on the Champions Tour. In reality, the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open, is older than the Champions Tour itself which began in 1980. The precessor regular tour event, the B.C. Open, was played at En Joie dating back to 1971. With the same precision, progression and persistence that the Charles Schwab Cup points leader Bernard Langer demonstrates on the golf course, Tournament Director John Karedes and his team have taken this smaller-market extravaganza to new heights of “together, everything is possible.” Hanging in the En Joie clubhouse are the 2012 and 2013 Champions Tour President’s Award plaques, an acknowledgement from those who know that the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open is doing some pretty amazing things inside and outside the ropes.

Bernard Langer is the guy to beat in the 2014 Dick’s Sporting Goods Open.

It is good to be back in my hometown and yes, maybe I am a little biased. I reminded Joey Sindelar this afternoon that it was here at En Joie that he and Mike Hulbert beat me by many strokes in the Section IV high school golf championship. I let people think it was only a few and maybe that it was even a four-day tournament but that is not so. Those guys were and are good, better than most and certainly way further up any leaderboard than this John Daly-Jim Furyk like swinger with no results other than a club championship or member-guest here and there.

It’s another great field this year with Bernard Langer, Colin Montgomerie, Jay Haas, Jeff Sluman, Gene Sauers,  and Michael Allen present and amongst the contenders for the Charles Schwab Cup. Understandably a guy like Kenny Perry, who competed all four rounds at the PGA Championship at Valhalla and won in Minnesota the week before, is taking a week off. After all if you are from the state of Kentucky you know that some times you have to rest the horse. As for Tom Watson, well, we need the Ryder Cup Captain to focus on his Tiger Woods-less team and his strategy for the competition that is only six weeks away.

Fred Funk has the key to Endicott, presented by John Karedes and Dave Baker.

Fred Funk was presented a key to the Village of Endicott for being the first and only golfer to earn $1 million competing on the En Joie Golf Course. Again the acknowledgement of what the history of the BC Open and Fred’s popular win in 1996 means to the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open. The presenter of the key was Dave Baker, the Deputy-Mayor of Endicott and longtime head of the volunteers. He complimented Fred two ways as a favorite of the marshals. One, he hits it straight, so the marshals are safe with minimal work moving gallery ropes (probably also why he does so well on the tight fairways of En Joie). Two, he always smiles.

Something else caught my attention. Tournament Director John Karedes acknowledged and thanked the tournament sponsors including the spectators. The spectators are sponsors too? What a great perspective to consider the patrons, the paying public, as a sponsor, someone who expects to receive a benefit, and then work feverishly to fulfill that customer expectation. It takes me back to the Valley of Opportunity that the Triple Cities is and was way back when with George F. Johnson running Endicott Johnson Shoe Company and Tom Watson running the International Business Machines Company.

En Joie GC is all set for the golfing competition and the stage is set for the Zac Brown Band concert Friday night.

It is only Thursday and the 2014 Dick’s Sporting Goods Open is already a success. What great fun and entertainment I witnessed today. From Phil Brook getting Scott Hoch’s autograph to consuming a tasty Mario’s Pizza from Owego meatball sub. I had a spiedie for breakfast. a meatball sub for lunch and have reservations with some good friends for dinner at the hsitoric Oaks Inn on Oak Hill Avenue. The golfing competition starts tomorrow with two-time 2014 major winners Colin Montgomerie and Bernard Langer in the marque group with two-time major champion Mark O’Meara. Plus Friday with the Zac Brown Band is sold out and 27,000 people will be having a good time on the 18th fairway. It doesn’t get anybetter than this.

There was a loving interchange between Langer and Monty in back-to-back interviews on Thursday. Colin, when asked how he thinks the Schwab Cup race will play out responded: “I think it’s going to play out very poorly for me for the rest of the year.  Knowing how well he’s (Langer) playing, I think it’s going to pan out very poorly.  I think he’s playing marvelously well.” By the way someone with great intuition asked that question!

Langer, when informed of Monty’s gesture returned the favor graciously. “Well, he’s being very nice but Colin is a great champion himself.  He won two majors this year and he can outplay any of us when he’s on.  Depends on who’s at the top of the game, who gets the breaks.”

John Karedes and his wife Michelle and two sons. The Dick’s Sporting Goods Open is a family affair whether it comes to the Sponsor, Tournament Director and his team or the charities served.

Besides those two President’s Award, two of the many charities supported by the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open, Broome County Catholic Charities and Wendy’s Walk for Kids, won the Champions Tour 2012 Charity of the Year Award. When Bart Bryant won here in 2013 he became the 1,000 winner on the Champions Tour. Perhaps this year’s competition will set a new record somehow as well. Zac Brown Band and their 27,000 fans surely will. So come out and enjoy one of the finest, if not the finest, tournaments on the Champions Tour. You deserve it! Enjoy it at En Joie!

There are several other storylines told in the captions of these pictures:

[Show slideshow]

Rory is all smiles in the Media Center after winning his second straight Major Championship.

The proclaimed motto of the 96th PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club was “This is Major.” It use to be “Glory’s Last Shot.” At this point in his life, Rory McIlroy is rewriting golf’s history like Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods did before him. Rory roared to his fourth Major in the PGA Championship as he won his third event in a row after winning the British Open, his third major, only three weeks ago and a World Golf Championship, a pseudo Major like THE PLAYERS Championship, last week at Firestone CC. His goal now is to become Europe’s best all-time golfer surpassing Seve Ballesteros and his five majors and Nick Faldo and his six majors. Rory is Major and this is his first shot at Glory in golf!

With host Andrew Catalon and analyst Billy Ray Brown at the 2014 PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club.

I had an awesome week at the PGA at Valhalla assisting host Andrew Catalon and analyst Billy Ray Brown for DIRECTV’s par-3 coverage. It is a lot of fun to do so and being around such talented people on the golf course and in the broadcast booth. I do what ever is needed to help them make the broadcast the best possible from getting them a bottle of water to pretend I am at home watching and providing supplement information that they may or may not use on the air. Either way it is a blast. a bonus this weekend was that the last par-3 was the 14th and the TV compound was located near the 15th green so I could follow the leaders in as they finished their rounds. On Saturday Jason Day had a putt to take the lead on the 14th and finished three strokes behind Rory. On Sunday, well, you know what happened! Rory eagles the 10th and passes three golfers- Henrik Stenson, Rickie Fowler and Phil Mickelson to embrace the Wannamaker Trophy on the 18th green.

More experiences and more pictures to come from an exciting week in Louisville, Kentucky!

With Sidney Wolf, Tournament Chairman of the Puerto Rico Open presented by SeePuertoRico.com.

I first came to the Puerto Rico Open three years ago in 2011 with The Golf Channel. This time I am back with a media credential as “Andy’s Golf & Travel Diary” to report on the tournament competition, tourism in Puerto Rico and the Island Chapter of the PGA of America (including the history of golf in Puerto Rico through the Puerto Rico Golf Association). This posting will focus on the tournament proper and who better to start with than the Tournament Chairman Sidney Wolf?

CLICK here for the VIDEO INTERVIEW with Sidney Wolf, Tournament Chairman.

Sidney Wolf, Tournament Chairman & President of the PRGA.

As the picture above shows we had a fun and entertaining interview. Sidney is involved with golf in Puerto Rico like no one else. In addition to being Tournament Chairman of as he puts it “where the PGA TOUR plays this week,” he has been the President of the Puerto Rico Golf Association (PRGA) since 1995. Interestingly, 2014 marks the 60th anniversary of the founding of the PRGA by Jim Teale and the 30th anniversary of Sidney starting to play the game of golf. In the interview Sidney touches all the bases as far as major stake holders in staging the Puerto Rico Open including himself and his committee, the Puerto Rico Tourism Company (www.SeePuertoRico.com), the Diaz family with their Grand Melia Golf Resort and of course Mr. Donald Trump whose name brands the Trump International Golf Club.

The Paella Pa’ellos Competition resulted in tasty mouth watering servings all for charity.

The award-winning fan-friendly event continues to out do itself again this year with a players’ fishing derby, a junior golf tournament, a Paella (recipe based rice cooked with other foods in a wide frying pan) cooking contest, and a performance by the El Grand Combo (“the most popular Salsa group that has existed for over 50 years”). All this for charity, including the golf tournament, which has raised over three million dollars in only six years of existence.

Five hundred years after Columbus discovered the Americas, the Government of Puerto Rico established The Puerto Rico Tourism Company  to make Puerto Rico the first choice for world travelers and business in the Caribbean. As the presenting sponsor for the Puerto Rico Open they have brought Puerto Rico into the homes of 500 million Golf Channel subscribers around the world. This year the television broadcast was spectacular with aerial videos of the beautiful natural habitat that is Puerto Rico.

CLICK here for the VIDEO INTERVIEW with Ingrid Rivera Rocafort, Executive Director of the Puerto Rico Tourism Company.

With Ingrid Rivera Rocafort, Executive Director fo the Puerto Rico Tourism Company.

I had the distinct privilege to interview Ingrid Rivera Rocafort, the Executive Director of the Puerto Rico Tourism Company. With an extensive background in consumer marketing, she came out of retirement (sorry but it must have been a real early retirement as she looks quite young) to be appointed by Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla. I met a handful of the Puerto Rico Tourism Company folks and I can tell you this is not like any mainland government agency you have known. See the video for yourself but Ms. Rocafort is simply a native of Puerto Rico that loves her 5-star island and knows in her heart that Puerto Rico is the “best brand ever.” I counted 27 reasons stated by the head of tourism in the “Land of Enchantment.” The anchor reasons were ones like convenient travel requiring no passport, the people, the weather, the golf, the water, remember it is an island! The subtle and news ones for me were the dry forest, the desert climate in some areas and the paradors (quaint country inns) in the mountains where it can be a chilly 65 versus the automatic year-round 85-degree weather. How many reasons to visit Puerto Rico do you hear in Ingrid’s interview?

With Jorge Diaz,host of the Puerto Rico Open.

Every PGA TOUR event needs a host. With the Puerto Rico Open being contested at the Trump International Golf Club one might think that host is Donald Trump. Wrong would that person be. Actually the host is the “Donald Trump of Puerto Rico” but his name is Jorge Diaz. He, his brother Arturo and the Diaz family own the Trump International Golf Club (paying rights to the brand to the Donald), the Grand Melia Resort and a lot more in Puerto Rico. Though elusive in terms of a video interview, Mr. Jorge Diaz gave me plenty of time to get a sense of his family and their humble contribution to the betterment of Puerto Rico. The family business started with his father Arturo Sr. who was “100% Puerto Rican” and pursued a construction business “before, during and after” the 1952 transition from a Territory to a Commonwealth. He started with a truck and 75 dollars. The family’s Sunday drive was Jorge driving with Dad taking notes of the status of various construction sites. The Diaz family asphalt business literally paved most of Puerto Rico in addition to building bridges and hotels. The helicopter pad at Trump International is Jorge’s not Donald’s. After all even the Donald can’t be in two places at one time on the PGA TOUR.

CLICK here for the VIDEO INTERVIEW with Jim Teale, the founder of the Puerto Rico Golf Association (PRGA).

Jim Teal, who founded the PRGA in 1954 with his wife Consualo.

One cannot tell the story of the 2014 Puerto Rico Open without telling the story of the Puerto Rico Golf Association (PRGA) and its founder Jim Teale. Born in Ohio, Jim moved to Minnesota where he became a Big 10 Golf Champion and caught the eye of Gene Sarazen when, as a No. 64 seed he beat the No. 1 seed in the NCAAs. Jim served his country in the United States Navy in the South Pacific and liked the part about no snow in the tropics and palm trees. He came to Puerto Rico in 1949 to settle down and has never left. Back then they were putting on circular sand greens that were treated with coconut oil and had to be mopped with a burlap sack to smooth them out for putting. At nearly age 92, this Jimmy Stewart-look alike lets the memories take him back to friends of “all creeds and cultures” that he has made through the game of golf. He lies though when he says his “golf game is not very good.” I played with him at Dorado Beach East and his game is solid tee to green and on the 6th green I saw him make a nice 20-footer for par. I left a noninterview segment in at the start of his video interview. Now you see when he is so successful and why the PRGA has been all these sixty years… it all started with the right seed!

CLICK here for the VIDEO INTERVIEW with Gabriel Palerm, VP Sales, Media & Marketing for Liberty Business.

With Michele Maranges (Marketing & branding Director) and Gabriel Palerm (VP Sales, Media & Marketing) of Liberty Puerto Rico, a Liberty Global Company.

Another sponsor with the Puerto Rico Open since the start has been Liberty, the largest cable television company outside the United States. I met Gabriel Palerm, VP Sales, Media & Marketing and had to interview such a lively character. A native of Puerto Rico he was excited as anybody right after Rafael Campos finished playing the 18th hole on Sunday and posted a 9-under par score. Liberty sees this golf tournament as the “premier sporting event in Puerto Rico” and enthusiastically supports it like Sidney Wolf, the Diaz family, the Puerto Rico Tourism Company and the other sponsors. I liked Garbiel’s viewpoint of Olympic Golf- not understanding why it wasn’t in the Olympics and sees golf as an individual and team sport like any other Olympic Sport.

Chesson Hadley wins the 2014 Puerto Rico Open presented by SeePuertoRico.com

Every PGA TOUR event needs a champion golfer and the 2014 Puerto Rico Open received a fine one with Chesson Hadley finishing birdie-birdie to win for the first time on the PGA TOUR. I went out to see him finish the second round late on Friday. He made a nice up-and-down on the 9th green (his 18th) to save par and post a 65 and trail by only one stroke at the midway point. In the after-round interview I remember his empathetic use of the word “pathetic” when describing an early season streak of five missed cuts. His wife Amanda held the camera for my interview with Miguel “Junior” Colon for the Island Chapter of the PGA of America. Players Services volunteer Mayra Moreno helped out with Baby Hughes during the week. Chesson went out and shot a pair of 67s on the weekend to win in only his 13th PGA TOUR event.

Media day on Wednesday. Strong community support behind this golf tournament!

If there was ever a “feel good” week on the PGA TOUR this was it. The folks I was introduced to at the Wednesday Media conference became friends by Sunday as they shared their beautiful island home, their tournament and most thankfully themselves with me. Puerto Rico is definitely a five-star golf and tourist destination. Ditto that for the Puerto Rico Open and its 2014 Champion Chesson Hadley.

Enjoy the pictures and the rest of the stories from the 2014 Puerto Rico Open presented by SeePuertoRico.com

[Show slideshow]

1 2 ►