McKINNEY – For a few minutes, the drizzle that had been intermittent for much of Sunday transitioned to rain. AT&T Byron Nelson tournament director Jon Drago glanced skyward.
“I think we’ll be OK,” he said, “as long as the lightning doesn’t get too close.”
The hovering threat was a metaphor for this Nelson tournament week at TPC Craig Ranch and the event’s bigger-picture status with the looming loss of ninth-year sponsor AT&T.
Despite drenching rain during the final two holes, 35-year-old Jason Day not only earned his first PGA Tour win since 2018 with a final-round 62, but gifted the Nelson with a feel-good Mother’s Day story, winning in front of wife Ellie and their four children – and just 14 months after losing his mother, Dening, to lung cancer.
Day’s two-foot birdie tap-in on the 18th hole gave him a 23-under total and a one-shot victory over Si Woo Kim and Austin Eckroat. The Australian’s 13th career PGA Tour win came days shy of the 13th anniversary of his first win, the Byron Nelson Championship on May 23, 2010 at the TPC Four Seasons at Las Colinas.
“Delayed gratification is probably the best feeling of all-time,” Day said. “Instant gratification is great, but delayed gratification is the best.”
Day’s nine-birdie, no-bogey round enabled him to break from a logjam on a soggy day on which lift-clean-and-place rules were in effect. As of 1:50 p.m., with all the contenders on the back nine, six players were tied for the lead and 17 players were within two shots of the lead.
Among those dueling with Day was hometown favorite Scottie Scheffler, who pulled into a tie with Day at 20-under with a birdie on No. 14.
Scheffler, No. 2 in the world, would have returned to No. 1 with a win. He led by one stroke after two rounds, but finished in a tie for fifth at 20-under, his 12th straight top 12 finish on tour.
“I didn’t swing it my best this weekend, but I’m sure that’ll be an easy fix going into next week,” said Scheffler, alluding to this week’s PGA Championship at Oak Hill.
There was a time when Day, too, was a fixture near or at the top of the World Golf rankings.
He rose to No. 1 in the world after winning his first and still only major title, the 2015 PGA Championship. He was No. 1 as recently as Feb. of 2017, but soon after his mother was diagnosed with cancer and Jason moved her from Australia to Ohio to begin treatment.
Along with that stress and heartache, Day suffered through bouts of vertigo and back problems and as of last October he had fallen to No. 175 in the world. Entering this week he was No. 35, finally seeing the results of his revamped swing since teaming with Dallas National-based coach Chris Como.
“You definitely learn a lot about yourself through the lows more so than the highs obviously,” Day said. “I learned that I can handle the pressure still, and focus. And I’ve still got the game to win.
“But a lot of that success today was based off a lot of the groundwork six months ago, a year ago, two years ago, that built my game to where it is today, where I can succeed on a level like this.”
The tournament concluded with thunderclaps drawing closer and a wet Jason and pregnant Ellie and their kids watching from inside the clubhouse as Eckroat’s 46-foot eagle putt missed, clinching victory for Day.
Despite forecasts of rain all week, every round of this Nelson concluded on schedule, and despite less than ideal conditions, Sunday’s final round produced a compelling finish and a leaderboard that included not only Scheffler, but fellow area residents Marty Dou (T-5) and Ryan Palmer (T-8).
And like Day’s career, perhaps earlier week indications of gloom and doom for the Nelson were premature or at least exaggerated.
Tournament director Drago on Sunday confirmed a Friday report by Golfweek that AT&T indicated a desire to end its sponsorship of the Nelson after this year’s tournament, despite an agreement with the Nelson’s host organization, the Salesmanship Club, that runs through 2024.
Drago, though, told The News that he and Salesmanship Club officials and the PGA Tour have received significant title sponsorship interest from multiple companies that already have relationships with the tournament on a corporate-sponsorship level.
“We feel very good about the tournament’s future, and we are confident that we’ll have a strong title sponsor, although in reality it’s the PGA Tour that does the negotiating and ultimate makes those decisions,” Drago said.
Drago stressed that AT&T “has been a great partner for nine years,” adding that in the event another title sponsor is not finalized in the coming weeks “AT&T has affirmed its commitment through 2024.”
The News contacted AT&T, but the Dallas-based telecommunications giant declined to comment. AT&T also sponsors the PGA Tour’s Pebble Beach Pro-Am, the Masters and Dallas’ Jordan Spieth.
Golfweek reported that Raytheon was on track to become the Nelson’s new sponsor, but that PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan canceled the deal at the last minute because Raytheon sells missiles to Saudi Arabia — the financial backer of LIV Golf.
This Nelson tournament, the third in a five-year contract to play the event at TPC Craig Ranch, began ominously when Dallas native Spieth withdrew because of a left wrist injury that he sustained during the previous week’s Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow.
With Will Zalatoris out for the season because of back surgery, the Nelson was without two of North Texas’ Big Three golfers. It also was going head to head with LIV Golf’s event in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and with the competitive disadvantage of being sandwiched between the Wells Fargo and PGA Championship.
Those events are two of the PGA Tour’s 17 Designated Events, with purses of $20-million-plus and guaranteed star-studded fields.
Despite these built-in disadvantages and losing Spieth, Drago said that this year’s Thursday, Friday and Saturday rounds project to be higher revenue producers than the first three rounds of last year’s Nelson at Craig Ranch, which produced the tournament’s first sellout since 2008.
“Today might be slightly down from Sunday of last year, with Mother’s Day and the weather, but if it is down, it won’t be by much,” Drago said. “We’ve had a great week and couldn’t be happier or more appreciative of the community and sponsor support.”
When the PGA Tour announced the remainder of the 17 designated tournaments last year, Nelson officials were told by the tour that the tournament would be considered for one of the four designated tournament revolving spots as the Tour’s schedule evolves in future years.
Drago, though, said on Sunday that the Tour has told tournaments that all current 17 designated tournaments likely will remain in place for the 2024 schedule, which is expected to be announced in early June.
The potential good news for the Nelson, however, is that the Tour has told the Nelson and other tournaments that it will work to have a 2024 schedule that “untethers” tournaments like the Nelson, which found itself sandwiched between the Wells Fargo and PGA Championship.
Drago said that what he believes will happen is that the Wells Fargo and Nelson will switch places in the 2024 PGA Tour schedule. That would mean the Nelson being played in early May, two weeks before the PGA.
Twitter: @Townbrad
