apaga tour

What Is the APGA Tour? Everything You Need To Know

Marcus Byrd at the 2022 APGA Tour Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines South

• DESCRIPTION Marcus Byrd at the 2022 APGA Tour Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines South
• SOURCE Ben Jared
• PERMISSION getty image license

The APGA Tour is the Advocates Pro Golf Association Tour. It is a non-profit organization founded in 2010 to provide African American and other minority golfers the opportunity to compete at the highest level of professional golf.

What Is the APGA Tour?

Since 2010, the APGA has grown from a three-tournament schedule and $40,000 in total prize money, to 18 tournaments at some of America’s most prestigious golf courses, and over $1 million in prize and bonus money in 2022. 

The tour’s success has fueled individual success. Or, maybe it’s the other way around. Either way, Willie Mack III , the 2021 APGA Lexus Cup winner, made a successful Q-School run in 2022 to earn his Korn Ferry Tour card for 2023, where he is one step away from  reaching the PGA Tour .

Kenneth Bentley is the CEO of the APGA, which also cites setting members up for success in the golf industry and offering career development and mentoring opportunities to members in its mission .

APGA Tournaments

The APGA offered an elite tournament schedule in 2022 , with over $1 million in prize and bonus money across 18 tournaments. Four of those 18 tournaments had purses of $100,000 or more, including the $150,000 purse at the APGA Tour Championship. Every purse on the 2022 APGA Tour was at least $25,000.

In addition to offering a healthy financial prize for its players, the APGA competes on some of America’s most prestigious golf courses for professional golfers. 

Check out some of the top courses that hosted APGA tournaments in 2022 alone.

The APGA Tour season begins in January, with the Tour Championship typically held in August, even though events run into November. 

RELATED:  How Hard is Torrey Pines South Course? The Data-Driven Answer

Do APGA Tour Events Get OWGR Points?

Despite the elite lineup of courses and proven talent in its events, APGA tournaments do not receive Official World Golf Ranking points. Tournaments are typically two-day, 36-hole events, which do not meet OWGR criteria. As a result, some of the most recognizable names from the APGA Tour, don’t hold impressive OWGR rankings. For example, before embarking on his first full Korn Ferry Tour season in 2023, Willie Mack III ranked 3064th in the world, with an all-time best ranking of 1685. Kamaiu Johnson, another huge APGA success, also has an all-time best OWGR of 1685.

The Path From the APGA to the PGA Tour

Willie Mack III talks to media after the final round of Korn Ferry Tour Q-School

• DESCRIPTION Willie Mack III talks to media after the final round of Korn Ferry Tour Q-School
• SOURCE Andrew Wevers

In 2021, Willie Mack III earned a scholarship to Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying School by winning the 2021 APGA Tour Lexus Cup. While Mack’s Q-School bid came ended in the second stage in 2021, he made it all the way through in 2022 to secure his 2023 Korn Ferry Tour card.

APGA Tour Farmers Insurance Invitational

Since 2020, Farmers Insurance has hosted the APGA Invitational and the PGA Tour’s Farmers Insurance Open simultaneously at Torrey Pines, and in 2022, the event became the first-ever APGA tournament to be broadcast on national television, appearing on the Golf Channel. 

The tournament, which kicks off the APGA season in January, includes 18 APGA Tour players who qualified via the previous season’s Lexus Cup points list, and offers an enticing $100,000 purse and a $30,000 winner’s check.

RBC Canadian Open

Hamilton Golf & Country Club

Changing the game

The APGA Tour, a decade after its founding, braces for its first shot at a national TV audience

Willie Mack II (center) poses with APGA Tour tournament director Cole Smith (left) and tour CEO Ken Bentley.

SAN DIEGO — The folks who run the Farmers Insurance Open like their surprises. In late 2020, Farmers CEO Jeff Dailey was on a video call with pro golfer Kamaiu Johnson under the pretense that they’d talk about his sponsorship deal with the company. Instead, Dailey delivered the news that Johnson—one of the top players on the Advocates Professional Golf Association Tour—would receive an exemption into the 2021 Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines.

This past fall, it was Johnson who was supposed to deliver the same good news to another APGA player, Ryan Alford, about an exemption into the 2022 Farmers. And once Johnson provided that announcement, he got a shock of his own. Farmers Open Executive Director Marty Gorsich told Johnson he’d also be exempt into the field.

MORE: The mini-tour fighting to give minority golfers a chance

Finally, they saved the best “gotcha” moment for last. It was Dailey who called APGA founder and CEO Ken Bentley to share the biggest news: With the Farmers Open switching to a Wednesday-Saturday schedule for ’22 because of TV conflicts with the NFL’s conference championship games, Farmers, the PGA Tour and Golf Channel were offering a Sunday television slot for the final round of the APGA tournament that for the third year was being played on the same weekend, on the same grounds, as the Farmers Open.

“My excitement at hearing that was over the top,” Bentley said. “This will be a watershed moment for us.”

For the first time, the APGA, a tour founded by Bentley in 2010 to give minorities greater opportunities to play professional golf, will have a tournament televised nationally. Seventeen pros and one amateur were selected to play in the 36-hole APGA Tour Farmers Insurance Invitational. They are set to play the Torrey Pines North Course in the first round Saturday, followed by the final round Sunday on Torrey South, the site of two U.S. Opens and the annual Farmers Open.

For this Sunday’s event, there will be working electronic score boards, walking scorers and standard bearers. PGA Tour rules officials will oversee the proceedings. Everything will be as it is for a big-league golf Sunday, other than a bountiful gallery, which will be limited to a smattering of friends and family.

The money is historic, too. The total purse of $100,000 and winner’s share of $30,000 are both the highest the tour has ever offered.

Asked about his excitement leading into the event, Marcus Byrd, a second-year APGA player, said, “Well, for starters, the winner gets $30,000. That’s enough to change a kid’s life. Especially guys like me who are just starting out and getting into the swing of things. It keeps you going, gives you the chance to chase your dreams.”

Tim O'Neal is one of the most accomplished players on the APGA Tour.

Keyur Khamar

Byrd, the 2019 Conference USA Player of the Year while playing college golf at Middle Tennessee State, finished second in the APGA’s 2021 Lexus Cup season standings and estimates he made about $20,000. His check for winning the APGA’s New Orleans stop at TPC Louisiana, where he seized control with a first-round 64, was $8,000. Byrd would absolutely relish being on TV to battle down the stretch for the top prize. “I’m feeling more excitement than anything,” the 24-year-old said. “Let’s just say I’m more anxious to get out in front of them [on TV] than I’m not.”

MORE: APGA Tour POY Ryan Alfrod gets chance to live out his PGA Tour dream

The Farmers Invitational field features a couple of names that should be recognizable to golf fans. Tim O’Neal, who played in his first PGA Tour event after qualifying for the 2015 U.S. Open, is still grinding at age 49. He’s played for years on the PGA Tour's developmental tours and is hopeful for a shot at the senior circuit when he turns 50 in August. Willie Mack III is coming off perhaps his greatest golf year ever, having made the cut in two PGA Tour starts—the Rocket Mortgage Classic in his home state of Michigan and the John Deere Classic. Mack, 33, also won twice on the APGA, prevailing by six shots in the Tour Championship at TPC Sugarloaf and adding a victory in the Billy Horschel Invitational, played at TPC Sawgrass, home of the Players Championship.

Horschel, a six-time PGA Tour winner, has been an enthusiastic supporter of the APGA since he met Mack while they both worked a clinic at the Farmers Open two years ago.

“It’s going to be unbelievable,” Horschel said this week of APGA’s Sunday opportunity. “A lot of people are going to see how great these guys are.

“They’re going to play a course they haven’t played before—a challenging course that they’re not used to playing with that type of rough, the tight fairways, the firm and fast greens. Hopefully, everybody plays well. Realistically, some guys are going to struggle. But I hope the people watching at home, the people who want to have an impact on the game, when they see these guys, they want to do something about it. They’re going to get exposure they’ve never gotten.”

Notable to first-time watchers of the APGA: Not all of the players on the tour are people of color. Bentley said about 65 percent are African American, 15 percent are Latino, 15 percent are white and 5 percent are of Asian or Indian descent. Among the most dominating players last year, with two wins and top-seven finishes in all his starts, was Landon Lyons, a 30-year-old golfer out of LSU who will play much of his time on the Latinoamerica Tour in 2022 after earning his first tour card through Q School. Lyons, who is white, captured the APGA Torrey Pines event in ’21.

“I never want to be in a position where a guy like Landon Lyons can’t play on our tour,” Bentley said.

With a television slot of 5-7 p.m. EST on Golf Channel, the APGA will be going against the NFC Championship Game between two California teams, with the Los Angeles Rams hosting the San Francisco 49ers. Bentley is realistic enough to know that his event may draw only the hard-core golf viewer, though he added, “We’re hoping some people will step over from the football game to watch us.”

No matter the audience, the Torrey Pines tournament is one more big step ahead for the APGA, which has grown dramatically in only the last two years. The 17 events on the 2022 schedule are the most in tour history, and the total prize money is $700,000—up from $250,000 in 2020. The venues include eight TPC courses and two other well-known major venues beyond Torrey—Baltusrol and Valhalla. Farmers also announced this week that it signed a five-year extension in its support of the APGA, which includes the insurance company sponsoring the tour’s four Fall Series events.

Other big companies have taken interest in supporting the circuit, including Cisco, MasterCard and World Wide Technology, the largest black-owned company in the U.S. It feels for Bentley as if the tide has turned very much in the tour’s direction.

“Last year was a dream for us,” Bentley said. “From a publicity standpoint. From a fundraising standpoint. From how our guys played better than they ever have. And I think going into this year, the excitement from our board, from our players, and I think the golf community, it’s like a dream.”

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'Up and Down: Life on the APGA Tour': How to watch series about the 2022 season

The apga tour focuses on preparing african american and other minority golfers to compete at golf's highest levels.

CBS Sports and the Advocates Professional Golf Association (APGA) Tour are joining forces to bring golf fans an in-depth look at life throughout the season for players on the APGA Tour, which aims to bring diversity to the sport. The series will be narrated by GRAMMY Award-winning singer Darius Rucker and be broadcasted on June 11 at 1 p.m. ET on the CBS Television Network.

The special will also be available to stream on Paramount+ .

The APGA Tour, originally founded in 2010, is a non-profit organization that focuses on preparing African American and other minority golfers to compete at golf's highest levels. "Up and Down: Life on the APGA Tour" will highlight the journeys of multiple APGA Tour players, including Aaron Beverly, Kamaiu Johnson, Tim O'Neal and Trey Valentine during the first half of the 2022 season.

“That’s why I still grind, because I know it’s still there for me.” For Black & minority golfers, the @APGA_Tour provides a path to the dream: the PGA TOUR. This is “Up and Down: Life on the APGA Tour.” ( @Wagoneer ) June 11th | 1 PM ET | @CBS pic.twitter.com/Bgb8HvxF0a — GOLF on CBS ⛳ (@GOLFonCBS) June 6, 2022

"We are honored to partner with the Advocates Professional Golf Association (APGA) to highlight the many incredible stories on the APGA Tour," CBS Sports Vice President of Original Programming and Features Emilie Deutsch said in a press release. "CBS Sports is committed to utilizing our various platforms to increase diverse storytelling.

"We are excited to create awareness and tell the powerful stories of the players on the APGA as we to continue our ongoing efforts to showcase impactful content and shine a light on the many untold stories in Sports."

The APGA Tour will host 17 tournaments this season. That adds up to $700,000 in potential price money and almost $100,000 in bonus money throughout the campaign. In addition, the APGA Tour is also starting a Player Development Program that will "provide assistance both on and off the course to young minority golfers as they chase their goals in professional golf."

How to watch "Up and Down: Life on the APGA Tour"

Date : Saturday, June 11 Time : 1 p.m. ET TV:  CBS, streaming on  Paramount+

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Two-day event held at THE PLAYERS Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass

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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – There are days when Jan Auger watches Kamaiu Johnson play golf and finds it difficult not to cry. Friday at THE PLAYERS Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass during the inaugural Billy Horschel APGA Tour Invitational presented by Cisco was one of those mornings.

Auger, general manager of two golf courses for the City of Tallahassee, frequently reflects to her chance meeting years ago with Johnson. As does he, and both are grateful the universe put them together. Johnson was a 12-year-old who already had dropped out of middle school in the small town of Madison. He did not have a father figure in his life, and had no direction. He was swinging a stick like a golf club, walking on the fringes near the fourth hole of Hilaman Golf Course, where Auger works, imitating the golfers he would see each day outside the two-bedroom unit he shared with his grandmother and six others.

Auger could have told Johnson that he was trespassing. She easily could have sent him on his way. Who knows how his life would have turned out but for a random act of kindness? She made him an offer from the heart. She sent him to the clubhouse, fetched a 9-iron and gave him a bucket of balls to hit. From there, Johnson was hooked. The club let him play for $1 a day, and it changed his life. Completely. Today, Johnson, 28, is a professional golfer, a man who rises each day chasing a dream. He started his own foundation (My My Foundation) to help introduce inner-city minority youths to golf. Johnson opened with a 1-under 71 on Friday, two shots behind leader Willie Mack III.

“He’s like my son,” Auger said as she watched Johnson play the back nine. Johnson lives in Orlando now, but the two talk or text most every day. “It’s emotional for me to watch him. I told him last week, we’re going to come and see you play, and I don’t care if you shoot wide receiver (high) numbers. I just love watching you play.”

This week at TPC Sawgrass, Johnson is competing among a select field of minority golfers (17 professionals and 15-year-old amateur Awesome Burnett comprise the field) in a two-day shootout, playing an event organized by Horschel, his management team and his generous sponsors under the umbrella of the 11-year-old Advocates Pro Golf Association Tour. The APGA was formed to try to make golf more diversified, and to provide playing opportunities that would help to develop Black golfers and other minority players to reach higher levels. Ken Bentley, a retired Nestle USA executive who serves as the unsalaried director of the APGA, once said that when he looks into his crystal ball, he sees “America out on the golf course. That’s our goal.”

Horschel, 34, is a successful PGA TOUR professional, a six-time winner with $28.2 million in career earnings who remembers his own humble lower-middle-class beginnings. He wasn’t always able to afford the junior tournaments he wanted to play. He acknowledges how financially challenging the game can be, and he is passionate about giving back. Know this: He doesn’t attach his name to any venture without diving in fully.

Horschel said he wants to see more minorities playing on the PGA TOUR in five or 10 years, and for that to happen, young golfers will need role models in order to make golf their choice. All efforts with his new tournament are aimed to help create those role models.

“These are the guys who are going to reach kids in the inner cities, to reach kids that have a different background than what mine is, of my skin color, and how I grew up,” Horschel said. “These players are how the game is going to be, and that’s how the game is going to grow.”

Horschel has been hanging around with players at TPC Sawgrass the last few days. He played in the pro-am and sat with players at lunch on Friday, answering their questions. He plans to work with a few on the practice tee. He is making sure that players will leave one of America’s iconic courses with more than just the memories of birdies and bogeys and how they performed on TPC Sawgrass’ famed island 17th. There was a pro-am for players to network with business executives on Thursday, and a business roundtable that featured big corporate hitters such as CEOs Jeff Dailey (Farmers Insurance) and Chuck Robbins (Cisco). Players rotated to different tables during dinner. This week is all about connections.

The golf is a great opportunity, too: Experience one of the best tests on the PGA TOUR each year, where all the great players have competed, and play for an $80,000 purse that includes a winner’s check of $25,000.

“We’re fortunate to be able to play pro-ams (on the PGA TOUR),” Horschel said. “You connect with sponsors and other people in the corporate world, and if you’re able to create relationships and grow them organically, then these people are going to want to help you with your dream of chasing the PGA TOUR.

“Maybe they’ll sponsor you. If that dream (to play) doesn’t come to fruition, those people who you have met, who you have created this relationship with, more than likely are going to be there to help you if you need to figure out that next path in life.”

Willie Mack III, who made the cut in his two most recent summer PGA TOUR starts (Rocket Mortgage Classic and John Deere Classic), shot 3-under 69 on Friday to take the tournament lead. Johnson, Troy Taylor II and APGA rookie Mahindra Lutchman, who recently graduated from Florida A&M University, will start Saturday’s final round two shots back.

Kevin Hall is one of the APGA’s more seasoned players at age 38, and has been with the APGA since the start. When the tour began, there were three events on public courses and total purses of $40,000. Hall shot 73 on Friday. Ten days earlier, a closing 63 at TPC John Deere in Silvis, Ill., lifted him to his first APGA victory since 2018.

Why still chase the dream? “Every morning I have fire in my belly,” he said. “What can I do today to get better? When I win, this game just pulls me back in.”

Hall is a huge inspiration and terrific role model. He is deaf, and answers questions through his saintly mom, Jackie, who translates a writer’s questions into sign language. Hall is a great barometer to measure how golf is doing as the sport tries to better diversify its playing field. He marvels at the quality of venues on this season’s schedule, which include courses that play host to big-time events. The APGA is at the home of THE PLAYERS this week, and earlier competed at Valhalla, site of four PGA Championships a Ryder Cup.

“To have a tournament at TPC Sawgrass … five, six, seven years ago, I never thought this would happen,” Hall said. “All 18 of us that are here are very blessed to have Billy and his sponsors do this.”

Mack, 32, from Flint, Mich., has seen momentum in his game this summer growing with each new opportunity. After missing the cut in his first two PGA TOUR starts, he played solidly for three rounds at the Korn Ferry Tour’s BMW Charity Pro-Am, shooting 66 in the third round, and played on the weekend at the PGA TOUR’s Rocket Mortgage Classic and John Deere Classic.

How different can life be in the big leagues? At the Rocket Mortgage, Mack tied for 71 st and collected $15,000. It’s nice to have some money in the bank. In order to keep his dream alive, Mack has slept in his car when finances were tight.

“I was excited when I heard about this event, not only for me, but for everybody else,” Mack said. “To play for that kind of money, and to play in this environment, it’s really special.”

For Mack, with each start at a big tournament, big venue, the lights do not seem to feel so bright, and the stage is not nearly as intimidating. His next step when the APGA season wraps up will be Korn Ferry Q-School, which can be a path to the PGA TOUR.

It’s just golf,” Mack said, smiling. “I’ve talked to Billy a lot, and Rickie (Fowler), played with them a couple of times. I feel I have the game, I just have to get those opportunities. When I do, I just need to play well, and to have fun.”

Fun wasn’t really on the radar on Friday for Awesome Burnett. He is a 15-year-old from Flower Mound, Texas, who doesn’t yet have his learner’s permit. On Friday, on an incredibly difficult test of golf, he struggled off the tee with the driver. For a player out of position, the Stadium Course can less forgiving than an IRS audit.

Burnett is a nice story though, a player to watch, and he has a long runway ahead as he takes his own journey in golf. He and his parents, Brittany and Mark (Awesome’s caddie this week), are immersed in the game. (“Even our family dog plays with golf balls,” Brittany says, laughing.) Already their son has made most every sports fans’ All-Name team. Awesome Burnett? It’s, well, awesome. There is purpose in the name.

Said Brittany, “I tell him all the time, you have a chance to wake up in the morning and be Awesome.” She and Mark also have a 13-year-old daughter named Amazing. Brittany smiles. “I tell her, ‘When you go to bed, you’re Amazing. And you’ll be Amazing when you wake up. You have no choice.’ So when Awesome is having some troubles on the course, I just tell him, ‘Go out and be Awesome. Be you.’”

Awesome shot 89 on Friday, losing a couple sleeves of balls in Stadium Course penalty areas. He hung tough, holing a beautiful pitch for birdie at 15 and hitting it onto the green at No. 17. It’s golf, and he is very, very young. He dealt with a neck injury earlier this year, and a growth spurt has pushed Awesome to nearly 6 feet to carry his 122 pounds. He’ll add muscle. He is getting used to swinging with his new body. Before Wednesday, he’d only seen the Stadium Course when he played video games at home. And despite a tough day, he was a happy kid at the end of it.

“I’ve been having a great time,” Awesome said. “It lets me see a lot of different things, meet people, and see what has to be improved in my game.”

Playing alongside him was Johnson, who offered encouragement when he could. Johnson has had his share of tough days, too. Johnson knows Awesome Burnett and others like him represent the future of golf. Johnson could only imagine trying to take on such a difficult test of golf at age 15.

“Fifteen,” Johnson said, pausing, thinking, looking back. “Kind of reminds me of how I was stepping out on the PGA TOUR this year.”

With that, he smiled. Fortunately, with opportunities such as this one so graciously hosted by Billy Horschel, things will only get better. Johnson finds himself in a pretty good place these days.

“He is such a good person,” Auger says as she stands in the shadows on a hot day and watches Johnson play. “Kamaiu could have gone down the wrong road, and he knows that. Golf saved him.”

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Begay back in action to learn more about APGA Tour

FILE - Golf Channel and NBC on-course analyst Notah Begay, left, talks with Charlie Woods, son of golfer Tiger Woods, as they walk on the 18th fairway analyst during the final round of the PNC Championship golf tournament, Sunday, Dec. 20, 2020, in Orlando, Fla. Notah Begay III is competing in a tournament for the first time in nearly 10 years, and the score isn’t what matters to him. His appearance on the Advocates Professional Golf Association Tour in Arizona has been a mixture of inspiration and appreciation. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack, File)

Jennifer Kupcho, center, jumps in the water with her husband Jay Monahan, right, and caddie David Eller after Kupcho’s win in the LPGA Chevron Championship golf tournament Sunday, April 3, 2022, in Rancho Mirage, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Camilo Villegas, of Colombia, hits out of a bunker on the seventh green during the second round of the RBC Heritage golf tournament, Friday, April 15, 2022, in Hilton Head Island, S.C. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)

Patrick Cantlay watches his drive down the ninth fairway during the final round of the RBC Heritage golf tournament, Sunday, April 17, 2022, in Hilton Head Island, S.C. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)

Jordan Spieth watches his shot from a bunker on the 18th hole during a one-hole playoff at the RBC Heritage golf tournament, Sunday, April 17, 2022, in Hilton Head Island, S.C. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)

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Notah Begay III is competing in a tournament for the first time in nearly 10 years, and the score isn’t what matters to him.

His appearance on the Advocates Professional Golf Association Tour in Arizona has been a mixture of inspiration and appreciation.

Begay, a four-time PGA Tour winner and now an on-course reporter for NBC Sports, was on the broadcast crew for the APGA Tour event on the Sunday after the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines.

“I was impressed by the caliber of play out there. I wanted to get to know more about the tour, the players, and what their objectives are going forward,” Begay said. “There’s no better way than to be a part of it.”

Back injuries cut short his career. Begay’s last tour event was in August 2012 at the Reno-Tahoe Open. He wasn’t sure what to expect on the Champions course at the TPC Scottsdale, though he acquitted himself nicely with a 1-over 72 on Monday and was tied for 16th in the 51-man field.

The final round was Tuesday.

Begay has always been about access, which includes his NB3 Junior Golf Tour, in which kids compete in tournaments throughout New Mexico and surrounding states, culminating with regional and national championships. Financial assistance is available.

“We didn’t say ‘no’ to one player,” Begay said. “This game has been saying ‘no’ for a long time.”

The APGA Tour began in 2010, established to prepare Black golfers and other minorities to compete and build careers on tour or in the golf industry. It has gained momentum in recent years with sponsor exemptions at PGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour events, and with a schedule that is starting to include TPC courses for its 36-hole events.

The one at Torrey Pines on Sunday — the PGA Tour event ended on Saturday this year to avoid conflicts with NFL conference championships — was the first one to be televised live.

Begay was working and watching.

“I’ve been doing some research, just seeing the records they’ve had and where they come from,” he said Sunday evening. “I’m just trying to be more informed.”

Plus, the competition might serve him well. He turns 50 in September and will be eligible for the PGA Tour Champions.

PRESIDENTS CUP

The leadership for the International team in the Presidents Cup now represents every continent that make up the team facing the United States.

International captain Trevor Immelman (South Africa) announced Tuesday his four assistant captains will be K.J. Choi (South Korea), Geoff Ogilvy (Australia), Mike Weir (Canada) and Camilo Villegas (Colombia).

The matches are Sept. 22-25 at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Choi, Ogilvy and Weir are serving as assistants for the third time. The newcomer is Villegas, whose lone appearance in the Presidents Cup was in 2009 at Harding Park.

“Although it has been over 10 years since I played the event, I still have fond memories that are unforgettable, so joining on the other side as a captain’s assistant will be a highlight of my career,” Villegas said.

U.S. captain Davis Love III last week said Zach Johnson — the next Ryder Cup captain — and Fred Couples would be his assistants. He hasn’t announced the other two, though Love said Tiger Woods could have any role he wanted. Woods was captain at the last Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne in 2019 and chose not to return.

The International team has only one victory, in 1998 at Royal Melbourne, since the matches began in 1994. The 2003 event ended in a tie.

MISSION HILLS REPLACEMENT

Mission Hills lost the LPGA Tour’s first major to Houston under a new sponsorship deal. In its place will be a PGA Tour Champions event next year, the first tournament in the California desert for the senior circuit since 1993.

The PGA Tour Champions announced a partnership with healthcare company Grail to sponsor The Galleri Classic, named after Grail’s multi-cancer early detection test. The tournament will be March 24-26 on the Dinah Shore Tournament course at Mission Hills, which had hosted the LPGA Tour for 51 years.

That PGA Tour Champions was last in the Coachella Valley in 1993, when Raymond Floyd won the final edition of the Gulfstream Aerospace Invitational at Indian Wells. The PGA Tour has been in the Palm Springs area since 1960 in what began as the Bob Hope Classic and now is the American Express.

WHAT A HOOT

John Daly and his son now have an endorsement deal with Hooters.

Daly has had a long relationship with Hooters. John Daly II, a freshman at Arkansas, signed as a name, image, likeness ambassador. It’s the first NIL for Hooters. The company said Daly and son, who won the PNC Championship in December, will promote the brand through various marketing activities, such as social media and other digital channels.

“Hooters is the ideal place for me to go and unwind after a long day on the course or in the classroom,” Daly II said in a release. “I have seen my father’s great relationship with Hooters over the years, and I am proud to continue my family’s association with this iconic brand.”

The restaurant, which dates to 1983 in Florida, is famous for hiring young women as servers wearing skimpy uniforms. The menu specialty is chicken wings.

Just over a year after Anna Davis won her first AJGA title, the 16-year-old from San Diego County is about to make her LPGA Tour debut.

Davis earned national acclaim by winning the Augusta National Women’s Amateur three weeks ago as the only player to finish under par. She has received a sponsor exemption to play in the Palos Verdes Championship next week in Los Angeles.

The exemption came from Bank of America, the presenting sponsor of the Palos Verdes Championship. Bank of America also is one of the presenting partners of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur.

Also getting an exemption was Wake Forest junior Rachel Kuehn, who won the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge last month at Palos Verdes Golf Club, the host course of next week’s LPGA stop.

Davis, the left-hander in a bucket hat, has put together an impressive year. After winning that AJGA title, she recorded a seven-shot win in the Girls Junior PGA Championship at Valhalla and was named to the Junior Solheim Cup and Junior Ryder Cup teams. She has finished among the top four in all five of her World Amateur Golf Ranking starts this year.

Jordan Spieth and Under Armour have extended their partnership through 2029, meaning he will be with the Baltimore-based shoe and apparel company for at least the first 17 years of his career. Under Armour also is giving $1 million to the Spieth Family Foundation over the next eight years. ... Alexa Pano has turned pro and makes her debut on the Epson Tour this week in Utah. ... Texas teammates Cole Hammer and Pierceson Coody, along with Eugenio Chacarra of Oklahoma State and Sam Bennett of Texas A&M are among the 10 semifinalists for the Ben Hogan Award that goes to the top male collegian. Three finalists will be named May 5. Coody was a finalist last year. ... Augusta National Women’s Amateur runner-up Latanna Stone, Amari Avery, Megha Ganne and Emilia Migliaccio were chosen to fill out the U.S. team for the Curtis Cup at Merion on June 10-12. They join Rose Zhang, Rachel Heck, Rachel Kuehn and U.S. Women’s Amateur champion Jensen Castle.

STAT OF THE WEEK

Jordan Spieth was the seventh player this season to come from at least three shots behind in the final round to win on the PGA Tour.

“There always will be exceptions — Tiger still being able to win majors in his 40s, (Tom) Brady being able to win Super Bowls in his 40s. But I think in general, as a rule, careers will be shorter and guys will play better younger.” — Patrick Cantlay.

More AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Apaga Projects is a working title for a combined business of Apaga Tour LLC , operating through the brands of “Apaga Resort”, “Apaga Tour” and “Apaga Events'', and Yell Extreme Park LLC .

The combined business of the companies offers a unique set of services, comprising a wide range of adventurous and extreme sports activities (including the renowned first ever Zip Line in Armenia), lodging a respectable d recreation, and MICE activities.

Established in 2005 and 2015 respectively, the two companies with their recognized brands are firmly established in Armenia’s tourism and hospitality sector.

In the peak year of 2019 Yell Extreme park welcomed over 18 thousand visitors, while Apaga Tour accommodated over 9.5 thousand tourists (both inbound and local). Presently the companies are undergoing major restructuring to establish a joint corporate entity and build a new corporate structure and management.

Our Journey

Founded in 2005.

Apaga Resort

Founded in 2015

Yell Extreme Park

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$150 / Per person

Armenian highlights, day 1: arrival to the zvartnots international airport yerevan.

• Transfer to the hotel
• Overnight in hotel

Day 2: Yerevan, sightseeing tour (Vernissage, Ararat Brandy Factory, Matenadaran)

Breakfast in the hotel. We begin our tour of the capital of Armenia - Yerevan. For centuries, this city has been known as a city of pink volcanic stone .Therefore, Yerevan is called the “pink city”. Then we will visit Republic Square, Mashtots Avenue, Aram Khachaturian Opera and Ballet House, Cascade Park. Then we will visit the Museum of Armenian Manuscripts, which is called Matenadaran, where all ancient Armenian manuscripts are kept. A visit to Vernissage is an open-air market-exhibition. Tasting at the brandy factory Ararat. Transfer to the hotel. Night in Yerevan.

• Ararat Brandy Factory
• Matenadaran

Day 3: Yerevan, Sevan, Dilijan, Yenokavan

Breakfast in the hotel. After breakfast, we will drive to Lake Sevan, which is one of the largest lakes in the world. It stands out for its sweet and surprisingly blue water. Afterwards we will visit the Sevanavank monastery, which is located on the Sevan peninsula. We continue our tour to the city of Dilijan, known as a mountain resort in Armenia. Walking along Sharambeyan Street, we will come across many museums, souvenir markets, small shops and so on. We will continue our way to Yenokavan village where we will stop for the night. Overnight at Apaga resort.

Day 4: Yenokavan active day, Yerevan

Breakfast in the hotel. Located in the heart of the amazing Yenokavan Mountains, Yell Extreme Park is a real paradise for those who want to combine adrenaline and ecology. The park offers more than 10 unusual and creative activities and is recognized as one of the most unique amusement parks in the region (Zipline, horseback riding, viaferata, ropes park, etc.). In the evening there will be a transfer to Yerevan.

• Yenokavan active day

Day 5: Yerevan, Khor-Virap, Noravank, Areni, Yerevan

Breakfast in the hotel. A trip to the Khor Virap monastery (4-18 centuries). For the whole of Armenia, the monastery of Khor Virap is a significant historical place, because it was here in 301 that the ruler of the country converted to Christianity, then making it the state religion. Today in Khor Virap you can visit the Church of the Holy Mother of God, go down to the underground prison where St. Gregory the Illuminator was kept. Here we can enjoy a breathtaking view of the sacred Mount Ararat, which is the immortal symbol of Armenia. We continue our tour to Noravank - a monastery of the XII century, which is located among bizarre sheer cliffs on the ledge of a winding gorge. On the way back we will visit the village of Areni, which is considered an important center of the wine industry, with a history of more than 6000 years. Here you can taste excellent Armenian wines. And it was here that archaeologists discovered the oldest example of leather shoes. Return and overnight in Yerevan.

Day 6: Garni and Geghard, Yerevan

Breakfast in the hotel. A trip to the temple of Garni and the monastery of Geghard - the most beautiful creations of Armenian architects of the XIII century. The name of Geghard Monastery is associated with the Holy Spear, which Jesus Christ would have been pierced on the cross. The monastery complex includes several temples carved out of impregnable rock. There is an amazing atmosphere of Christian Eternity here. The monastery is included in the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List along with the upper reaches of the Azat River and the Garni temple. The Hellenistic temple of Garni of the 1st century is located on the territory of the fortress of the same name, which is surrounded on three sides by the gorge of the Azat River. From here, a beautiful view of the “symphony of stone” opens - basalt rocks resembling organ pipes. After that, we will go to a local house where you can see and take part in the preparation of the Armenian national bread: lavash. It is very thin, usually sold in very large molds, and prepared as tonire. In 2015, it was included in the UNESCO Intangible Heritage List. Return to Yerevan. Overnight at the hotel.

Day 7: Departure

• Breakfast in the hotel
• Airport transfer

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