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Bubba Watson has opened up about his struggle with mental health issues.
The two-time Masters champion confirmed in an interview with PGATour.com that he has suffered from both Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and anxiety issues for much of his life, and that after a stellar year in 2018 his condition worsened to such an extent he began to think he might die.
“My mental issues had a good hold of me for a while,” he admitted ahead of his appearance at last week’s Genesis Invitational. “But I fought out of it and came back from it.”
His condition has led to Watson being misunderstood by both his peers and the public at large, which is something he regrets.
“In the past there have been times I’ve slipped up and people have blasted me … people have made fun of me and it’s definitely hurtful,” he said. “The big thing for me now is that I’m accepting it more. One of the many problems was I held things in for far too long that it hurt me. It hurt when people would write things about me without knowing me.
“Now I’m at the point where I can say let’s just talk about it. I don’t need to hide that I’m a man who sometimes cries. I’m a man with issues just like everybody else. There’s ups and downs to life no matter if you are a tour golfer or a person that nobody sees.
“It’s OK to not be OK sometimes.”
Maja Stark’s six-shot victory in the Heroes Ladies Intercollegiate at the Founders Club in Sarasota, Florida, takes the Swede to an all-time high on the World Amateur Golf Ranking. Stark, who plays college golf for Oklahoma State University, makes a three-ranking rise to No 5.
Virunpat Olankitkunchai becomes Thailand’s third-best player behind No 47 Pimnipa Panthong and No 67 Jaravee Boonchant. Olankitkunchai, who plays for the University of Maryland, matched Stark’s feat with a six-shot triumph of her own at the FAU Paradise Invitational, and rises 35 places on the WAGR table to No 107.
South African Casey Jarvis breaks into the world top 40 for the first time, with a nine-ranking move to No 40 after his historic victory in the African Amateur Stroke Play Championship. The 17-year-old is the first player to win South Africa’s three flagship amateur tournaments; he won the South African Stroke Play and South African Amateur Championships last year.
English amateur Angus Flanagan earned the chance to test his game against the top professionals when he qualified for last week’s Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles, California.
The University of Minnesota senior carded a level-par round of 71 to tie San Francisco’s Tim Wilding in the tournament’s annual Collegiate Showdown. He then beat the Swede with a birdie on the third extra hole to claim a spot in the star-studded field alongside Dustin Johnson, Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka.
“It’s pretty surreal,” Flanagan said. “Being able to tee it up against the best players in the world, players I’ve looked up to, is incredible. It’s probably not going to sink in till tomorrow morning when I come back out here and I have my player’s badge.”
Flanagan missed the cut at Riviera.
The R&A’s hopes of staging the Men’s Home Internationals ahead of the Walker Cup have been dashed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The event featuring teams from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales was moved to April to help the Walker Cup selection process, but that plan has been shelved. The contest now will be played from 15-17 September at a venue still to be confirmed.
The R&A’s Girls’ U-16 Amateur Championship, also scheduled for April, also has been postponed and will take place at Enville Golf Club from 21-23 October.
“There is still a degree of uncertainty as to when the current health and safety measures throughout Great Britain and Ireland will be eased, and so we have decided to reschedule both events until later this year when hopefully the situation with the pandemic has improved,” explained Phil Anderton, chief development officer at The R&A.
Greg Norman and his wife, Kiki, have wasted no time finding a buyer for their $60 million home in Jupiter Island, Florida.
Several US media outlets report the property has been purchased by the family of billionaire Les Wexner, the founder of L Brands, which owns Victoria’s Secret, Pink and other brands, just two weeks after it went on the market.
The former Open champion bought the home in 1991 for $6.4 million and since has expanded it considerably. The spectacular seaside property includes seven dwellings: the main house, a coach house, a pool house, a tennis house, a boat house, a carriage house and a beach house.
The Ladies European Tour has announced Titleist as an official partner for the next three years.
Starting at the season’s opening event in May, Titleist will provide golf balls for practice ranges at all tour events. The balls then will be allocated to national golf federations, junior programmes or the host venues to support the development of new talent. The deal formalises a relationship established last year when Titleist supplied Pro V1 balls for the LET’s return to play after the enforced COVID-19 break.
Alexandra Armas, chief executive officer for the LET, said: “Titleist is committed to supporting the women’s game on all levels and we are delighted to welcome such a prestigious brand to the LET family. It is really exciting when relationships like this flourish.”
Sir Nick Faldo has teamed up with the Hurricane Junior Golf Tour to stage a series of junior events across the United States.
The new Faldo Hurricane Series, which starts in May and runs until October, will feature 20 events across 20 states, with the winners of six age-group categories in each event progressing to one of five regional finals and then on to a Grand Final to be televised on CBS Sports. Winners of each age-group category at the Grand Final will receive an invite to either the Faldo Series Europe or Asia Grand Final..
The new five-year deal with the Hurricane Junior Tour will help the Faldo Series raise its profile across the US.
“The HJGT are a well-established and respected junior tournament organiser, and after a number of discussions we felt that our aims and objectives were very much aligned,” Faldo said.
Commenting on the new partnership, HJGT executive director and founder Mario Conte said: “This ground-breaking series is going to sweep through the country like no other series ever created. We couldn’t be more honoured to partner with six-time major champion Sir Nick Faldo and his team to bring a one-of-a-kind series to the United States.”
Colin Callander and Alistair Tait