Page 18 - ARUBA TODAY

A18 SPORTS
Saturday 23 March 2019

Casey shares halfway lead in title defense at Innisbrook

By DOUG FERGUSON Casey and Cook, who shot ence from top to bottom is thought he might have had double bogey on his last
AP Golf Writer a 67, were at 6-under 136. the smallest since the Wells too much club on the par- hole for a 71 and missed
PALM HARBOR, Fla. (AP) — Luke Donald holed a bun- Fargo Championship at Ea- 3 13th and was stunned to the cut by two shots. Wood-
Paul Casey drove into Inn- ker shot for birdie on the gle Point in 2017. learn that it had come up land had the longest active
isbrook and saw his picture par-5 fifth to briefly take the Among those very much in short enough to catch the cut streak on the PGA Tour
on posters and programs, lead, only to miss a 4-foot the mix is Jon Rahm, three slope and roll down toward at 22, last going home on
just what he needed to for- par putt on the next hole shots behind, who is mak- the water, leading to dou- the weekend at The Players
get the cut he missed last and drop another shot on ing his Innisbrook debut. ble bogey. Championship last May.
week. He played Friday the par-3 eighth. He shot 70 Casey last year ended On the next hole, a par 5 On the other side of the
as though he wants those and was one behind, along eight years without winning where he had to lay up course was 17-year-old Ak-
photos to stay there. with Scott Stallings (68) and on the PGA Tour when he from the rough, Johnson shay Bhatia in his PGA Tour
Casey holed a 30-foot ea- Sungjae Im (67). closed with a 65 and had had a 104-yard wedge for debut. Playing on a spon-
gle putt on the 599-yard Dustin Johnson overcame to wait to see if Tiger Woods his third shot that traveled sor exemption, he was at 3
fifth hole and made short a rough patch early in his and Patrick Reed could only about 50 yards. There under for the day and even
birdie putts on the other round with five birdies on catch him. It was the cen- was a reason for that. par for the tournament
three par 5s on his way to the front nine to salvage a terpiece of a resurgence “As soon as he hit it, he through eight holes until a
a 5-under 66, giving him 69. for Casey, a 41-year-old said, ‘Just don’t go in a div- muffed chip and a missed
a share of the lead with Johnson, the No. 1 player from England who is back ot,’” said Austin Johnson, putt led to double bogey
Austin Cook in the Valspar in the world, was two shots among the top 15 in the his brother and caddie. at No. 9 that killed his mo-
Championship. behind on a Copperhead world. It found a divot. mentum.
No one has ever won back- course he hasn’t seen in He opened in the morning “It was big,” Johnson said, Bhatia bogeyed his last two
to-back at the Valspar nine years. calm with a 10-foot birdie holding his hands about holes for a 72 and finished
Championship since it be- Also at 4-under 138 was putt and did the rest of his a foot part, which might at 4-over 146 to miss the cut.
came a PGA Tour event in Curtis Luck, the former U.S. damage on the par 5s. The have been a slight exag- He plans to turn pro later this
2000. Amateur champion and eagle putt followed a blind geration. “I mean, it was year after the Walker Cup
“I’ve never defended a last man in the field when shot over a hill on the lon- long. It was deep. It wasn’t if he makes the team. The
professional event. I would Kevin Na withdrew 30 min- gest hole at Innisbrook. He ... I don’t think it was from a cheers he heard in some
love to do that,” Casey utes before his tee time. went bunker-to-bunker on professional.” corners of Innisbrook were
said. “Mentally last year I Luck had never seen In- his final hole at No. 9 and He managed to get that inspiring, especially behind
was hoping I would win, nisbrook until his opening made bogey to slip into a up-and-down by making a the 12th green, where the
wanting to win. This year, tee shot. “It does show you tie with Cook. 5-footer to avoid losing an- rowdy fans chanted his first
knowing that I have won what a good job they do “Everybody is going to other shot. Johnson started name to make it sound like
around here, I have a slight- with the yardage books,” make bogeys. If you can the front nine with four bird- the “Ole” cheer at the Ry-
ly different approach to it, Luck said. just minimize those, it puts ies in five holes, including der Cup.
and I played today quite The course is so demand- you in a good position,” one birdie putt from 35 feet “It was sick. That was
aggressively and tried to ing, and typically tougher Casey said. on No. 3, and is back in the dope,” Bhatia said, add-
take advantage of the golf in the afternoon, that the He spent the opening two game. ing that he hopes he can
course that I knew was go- tournament is wide open. rounds with Johnson, who Gary Woodland also hear that at the Ryder Cup
ing to get very, very tough The cut was at 1-over 143, had to maximize his bird- played with them and “in five, six years down the
this afternoon.” and the seven-shot differ- ies after his start. Johnson three-putted from 7 feet for road.”q

PGA Tour suspends Robert Garrigus for failed drug test

By DOUG FERGUSON He made it to the PGA Tour quences if you use it,” he
AP Golf Writer in 2006 and had his most said.
PALM HARBOR, Fla. (AP) — consistent year in 2012, “I will use this time away
Robert Garrigus became when he had four runner- from golf to be with my
the first PGA Tour player up finishes, made it to the family and work on regain-
suspended for a drug of Tour Championship for the ing my sobriety.
abuse, saying on Twitter only time and cracked the It doesn’t matter if you are
that he had a relapse with top 40 in the world ranking one day, one week or nine
marijuana. by the end of the year. years clean; one misstep,
The tour announced Friday In his Twitter message , one lapse in judgment can
that the 41-year-old Gar- Garrigus apologized to his impact your life in monu-
rigus, whose only PGA Tour family, fans and sponsors mental fashion.
victory was at Disney at the and said he hopes he can “I hope this new chapter in
end of the 2010 season, has make it up to them. my life will now show peo-
been suspended for three “After a long period of so- ple to never relax in their
months under the conduct briety, I had a relapse and battle with addiction.”
policy that applies to sub- subsequently failed a drug Garrigus, who is married
stances of abuse. test for marijuana,” Garri- with two sons, finished 131st
While marijuana is legal gus said. in the FedEx Cup last year
in some states, it is on the He says he pointed out that and was playing this year
banned substance list un- In this March 15, 2014, file photo, Robert Garrigus looks at his marijuana is legal in many on conditional status. He
der the PGA Tour’s anti- golf ball during the third round of the Valspar Championship golf states not to make an ex- has played four times this
doping policy. tournament at Innisbrook in Palm Harbor, Fla. cuse, but as a warning. year, missing the cut in
Garrigus has spoken openly Associated Press “Legal doesn’t meant it three of them and tying for
about his history of addic- He checked himself into a 2003 and said, “I spent 30 isn’t addictive and legal 64th in the Genesis Open.
tions, which began before 30-day program at Calvary days to change the rest of doesn’t mean there aren’t He last played a month ago
he reached the PGA Tour. Ranch near San Diego in my life.” potentially severe conse- in the Puerto Rico Open.q