Olympic Medalists Rose and
Stenson to team
All the 2016 Olympic golf medals
will now be represented in the 2018
Zurich Classic.
Olympic gold medalist Justin
Rose and silver medalist Henrik
Stenson have teamed up again for
the 2018 Zurich Classic and will be
competing against bronze medalist
Matt Kuchar and his partner Bubba
Watson, announced Steve Worthy,
CEO of the Fore!Kids Foundation,
producer of the tournament.
“Justin has been a fan favorite for
years at the Zurich Classic and is a
former champion,” said Worthy. “He
and Henrik were among the first
teams to commit to our new team
format last year, which helped launch
our field to be one of the strongest
in our tournament’s history,” added
Worthy.
The Rose/Stenson team has a
prestigious record of accomplishment
beyond their Olympic success two
years ago. Rose won the Zurich
Classic in 2015 and the U.S. Open in
2013. Stenson won the 145th Open
Championship at Royal Troon in
2016 just prior to his success at the
Summer Olympics that year.
Rose is currently ranked fifth in
the world, and Stenson is ranked
14th. Both have represented Europe
in the Ryder Cup four times.
Rose has won eight times on
the PGA TOUR and has claimed
another 11 international victories.
His titles include two World Golf
Championships, including this year’s
WGC-HSBC Champions, when he
came back from eight shots behind
on the final day to win with a closing
round of 67.
Other top finishes this season
include a third in the Arnold Palmer
Invitational, a fifth in the Valspar
Championship and a tie for eighth
in the Farmers Insurance Open. In
fact, Rose has finished in the top 10
in four of the five tournaments he
24
has played this season to rank third
in FedExCup points to date.
He ranks 12th in all-time winnings
on the PGA TOUR with more than
$43 million.
In addition to qualifying for the
Ryder Cup four times, he has also
made three World Cup teams, two
Seve Cup squads and at age 17
played in the Walker Cup, becoming
the youngest player in that event’s
history.
He won the Silver Medal as
leading amateur in the 1998
Open Championship and turned
professional the next day.
Stenson has won six times on the
PGA TOUR, including a World
Golf Championship title, The
Players Championship and the 2013
TOUR Championship presented
by Coca Cola to win the FedExCup
that season. He has also claimed 13
international wins.
This year he tied for second in the
WGC-HSBC Champions that Justin
Rose won and earned a fourth in the
Arnold Palmer Invitational.
In addition to playing on four
Ryder Cup teams, he also made four
World Cup teams and three Royal
Trophy squads.
Justin Thomas and Fellow Bama
Alum Bud Cauley enter; Berger and
Woodland team
Justin Thomas, 2017 PGA TOUR
Player of the Year and currently
ranked second in the world, will
team again with fellow University of
Alabama alum Bud Cauley to play
the Zurich Classic of New Orleans,
announced Steve Worthy, CEO of
the Fore!Kids Foundation.
“We welcome Justin and Bud
back to our tournament after their
successful performance last year
and excellent starts to the current
season,” said Worthy. “Daniel Berger
and Gary Woodland will also be a
formidable team, as both are highly
ranked and are explosive players,”
Worthy added.
Thomas is off to a torrid start
this season after posting a historic
year in 2016-17, when he won five
tournaments, including the PGA
Championship. So far this season, he
has already won twice and finished
second in a playoff for the WGC-
Mexico Championship after he
holed a 119-yard pitch on the 18th
hole Sunday to take the lead. He sat
11 strokes behind the lead on Friday,
then went 16-under on the weekend
to match the 36-hole record for the
tournament.
He finished last season ranked first
in both FedExCup points and money
winnings, and currently holds the
same position at the top of both lists
this season.
His second place at the WGC-
Mexico Championship moved him
up to second in the world. In the
eight tournaments he has entered
this season, he has placed in the top
25 in every one.
During the Sony Open in 2017,
he became the youngest player in
TOUR history to break 60, when he
carded a 59 in the first round on his
way to a seven-stroke victory.
A native of Louisville, KY, he
led the University of Alabama to
the NCAA championship in 2013,
his sophomore year. He was named
a first-team All-American in 2012,
when he won the Phil Mickelson
Award as the top collegiate freshman
to go with the 2012 Haskins Award
and 2012 Nicklaus Award, presented
annually to the top college player.
As an amateur, he played on the
2013 Walker Cup and the 2012 World
Amateur Team Championship.
He made the 2017 Presidents Cup
team after his third year on the PGA
TOUR.
Thomas, who will turn 25 during
the Zurich Classic, finished tied for
fifth with teammate Cauley in last
year’s tournament, the first time the
team format had been played in a