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By USGA Communications

LIBERTY CORNER, N.J. and ST. ANDREWS, SCOTLAND – Cole Hammer, 19, of Houston, Texas, has won the Mark H. McCormack Medal as the leading men's player in the 2019 World Amateur Golf Ranking™ (WAGR). As the McCormack Medal recipient, Hammer earns exemptions into the 2020 U.S. Open Championship and 2020 Open Championship, conducted by The R&A, provided he remains an amateur.

Hammer, a sophomore at the University of Texas, has spent eight weeks as the world's No. 1-ranked amateur golfer. His standout freshman year included victories at the Southern Highlands Collegiate, Lamkin Grips SD Classic and the NCAA Austin Regional. He also achieved top-five finishes in the Amer Ari Invitational, Augusta Haskins Award Invitational, ASU Thunderbird Invitational, Big 12 Championship and the Northeast Amateur. He was the...

THE 30 HORSES ARE OUT OF THE GATE at East Lake Golf Club in the Tour Championship, the finale of the FedEx Cup Playoffs. The winner will take home the Cup and $15 million.

OK, so they're actually elite golfers, not racehorses. But imagine for a moment they are thoroughbreds. Let's pretend we're watching the Kentucky Derby and horses are spotted a lead, even a rather larger lead, over other horses.

In effect, that's the situation this week at East Lake in these revamped playoffs.

Rory McIlroy shared this thought with the media:
And Rory said this about the money:

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a historic stride forward to grow the game of golf, six-time NBA All-Star and Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation co-founder, Stephen Curry, announced his commitment to Howard University [on Monday], with a pledge to support the establishment of the university's first NCAA Division 1 golf program for the next six years.

Inspired by Howard senior and golfer, Otis Ferguson IV, whom Curry met during a campus visit earlier this year, Curry was compelled to act when Ferguson shared that his impassioned solo crusade to get a golf team at Howard proved...

JUSTIN THOMAS CARDED A BLISTERING 61 at Medinah Country Club on Saturday (highlights above) en route to a 3-shot victory at the BMW Championship, the second of three legs in the FedEx Cup Playoffs.

Thomas finished 25-under for the tournament, with rounds of 65, 69, 61 and 68. Patrick Cantlay finished second.

"Patrick played unbelievably, put a lot of heat on me," Thomas said. "In the end, it could have been good for me. It kept me focused, kept my head down."

He added: "I was really nervous going into today. I remembered that it's really hard to win a golf tournament, and I'm glad that I was able to do so."

Now it's on to East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta for the playoff finale, the Tour Championship, where a field of 30 will battle to be the FedEx Cup champion.

As part of the new playoff format, Thomas will step foot on East Lake as the No. 1 seed, and will be spotted a 2-shot advantage over the No. 2 seed. He will be 10-under on the leaderboard before he hits his opening shot....

By Golf Channel Public Relations

THEN NEWLY-ENHANCED FEDEXCUP PLAYOFFS continues this week, bringing the 2018-19 PGA TOUR season to a thrilling conclusion for the first time in the month of August. Coverage of the final two events will air exclusively on GOLF Channel and NBC with the BMW Championship and the TOUR Championship.

Following Patrick Reed's victory at THE NORTHERN TRUST, the FedExCup Playoffs have been narrowed to the top-70 players for this week's event, The BMW Championship, being staged at Medinah Country Club (No. 3) outside of Chicago and taking place Thursday-Sunday, Aug. 15-18. Complementing NBC Sports' linear live tournament coverage of the Playoffs, PGA TOUR LIVE coverage on NBC Sports Gold on Thursday and Friday morning will lead into live coverage on GOLF Channel (3-7 p.m. ET). GOLF Channel and NBC will combine to air live weekend coverage from Noon-6 p.m....

By Mark Vigil

Guest contributor Mark Vigil is The Wall Street Caddy.

LAMMAS IS A PAGAN FESTIVAL that was once celebrated throughout Ireland and Great Britain in early August to mark the harvest of the season's first wheat crop. It is also referred to as the Gule of August.

Shakespeare understood the importance of the pagan festival. In Romeo and Juliet (1.3.19) he says "come Lammas Eve at night she (Juliet) be fourteen" — a strong symbolic reference given Juliet's ultimate destiny.

Over time, the Catholic church recognized the holiday, and somehow on the liturgical calendar it coincided with the feast of St. Peter in chains, which recognizes Peter's deliverance from prison.

In medieval times it was customary for the congregation to bake fresh loaves of bread from the new wheat harvest and bring them to the church to be blessed by the priests. The loaves of...

FUN ANECDOTE FROM TIGER WOODS.

If Sam Snead told any other five-year-old to do something, I'd bet he'd do it. But not Tiger Woods.

Another thing: Playing the ball down on every course, no matter what, is pretty smart if you want to get better. It's too late for me, though. I'm rolling it over. And half the time I'm not keeping score.


Source: PGA TOUR Video: 'When Tiger Woods Met Sam Snead'

DUSTIN JOHNSON FOLLOWED AN OPENING 63 with a 67 on Friday to take a 1-stroke lead at the halfway point of The Northern Trust, the first leg of the FedEx Cup Playoffs. Jordan Spieth is in second at 11 under after rounds of 67 and 64.

"I'm in a good position heading into the weekend," Johnson said, "and if I can keep swinging the way I am, I think it's going to be a good weekend."

Woods exited Liberty National on Friday after shooting 75 in the first round.

"Due to a mild oblique strain that led to pain and stiffness, I have to withdraw from The Northern Trust," Woods said in a statement. "I went for treatment early Friday morning, but unfortunately I'm still unable to compete."

Tiger's participation at next week's BMW Championship is in doubt, although he is "hopeful" he can play the event at Medinah, where he has won two PGA Championships.

"Woods had played only 17 official tournaments after his first back surgery in April 2014," reported the Associated Press, "and the fusion...