For comments: ben.alberstadt@golfwrx.com

Good Tuesday morning, golf fans, as we head towards the AT&T Byron Nelson.

1. Furyk Ryder Cup vice captain

Reuters report…”United States Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson, looking for leadership and experience, named Jim Furyk as one of his vice captains on Monday for this year’s event in Italy.”

• “Furyk boasts a wealth of Ryder Cup experience having played in the biennial competition between the United States and Europe in nine consecutive editions from 1997 while serving as captain in 2018 and vice captain in 2016 and 2021.”

• “Jim and I have been friends for more than 20 years. He’s an amazing leader, mentor and someone I trust,” said Johnson.

2. Wyndham Clark

Golf Digest’s Shane Ryan…”Clark’s journey in golf to date has been one of significant struggles. In 2013, shortly after starting his college golf career at Oklahoma State, his mother, Lisa, died at age 55 from breast cancer. It sent Wyndham into a spiral that led him to transfer to the University of Oregon and coach Casey Martin, but not before he contemplated quitting the game entirely.”

• “There’s many times when I stormed off the golf course in qualifying or in tournaments and just drove as fast as I could, I didn’t know where I was going,” Clark said. “Just the pressure of golf and then not having my mom there and someone that I could call was really tough for me. And then professionally I’ve had multiple moments like that where you just, you miss multiple cuts in a row or you feel like your game is good and you’re not getting much out of it and you just contemplate doing it.”

• Clark healed as a person and recovered his game at Oregon, but despite making the PGA Tour in 2018, he struggled to win and often failed to deliver under pressure. His closest call came at the Bermuda Championship in 2020, when he lost to Brian Gay in a playoff, and in the past three years his raw talent has repeatedly come up against a variable mental game.

3. More on the same theme

Via Cameron Morfit at PGATour.com…”So began a journey in which he went all-in on the mental side, which meant not only seeing a sports psychologist but diving into books like “The Obstacle is the Way” by Ryan Holiday and “The Energy Bus” by Jon Gordon. You could say it’s worked nicely.”

• “After a nervous start in which Clark yanked his opening drive into the gallery, bogeyed the first hole and failed to birdie the par-5 seventh, Schauffele caught him and even took a one-stroke lead. Undeterred, Clark went 5 under in a 10-hole stretch to take a five-shot lead into 18.”

• “The old him? He would have gotten emotional and found a way to beat himself.”

• “I felt like today when I didn’t have the best start early on, I just told myself to relax, I have a lot more holes,” said Clark, whose first PGA TOUR win came in his 134th start and paid $3.6 million. “You can’t win the tournament after the first few holes on a Sunday – little things where in the past I would have gotten fast and quick and already my mind’s going forward.”

4. So Yeon Ryu gets USWO special exemption

Julia Pine for the USGA…”So Yeon Ryu, the 2011 champion from the Republic of Korea, has accepted a special exemption from the USGA into the field of the 78th U.S. Women’s Open Championship, to be contested July 6-9 at Pebble Beach (Calif.) Golf Links. Ryu, whose maiden major victory came in the U.S. Women’s Open at The Broadmoor (East Course) in Colorado Springs, Colo., will be making her 14th consecutive start in the championship.”

• “I am excited and honored to accept this special exemption into the U.S. Women’s Open,” said Ryu. “This championship means so much to me, and to be able to compete in it again, and to do so at a place as special as Pebble Beach, is thrilling, and I am so grateful to the USGA for this opportunity. I look forward to teeing it up there in July.”

• “Ryu’s U.S. Women’s Open victory came in a three-hole aggregate playoff victory over countrywoman Hee Kyung Seo that she won by three strokes (10-13) with two birdies and a par. It was her second start in the championship.”

5. Breakup via lawyer?

AP report…”A $30-million legal battle between Tiger Woods and his ex-girlfriend has escalated, with Erica Herman accusing the golf superstar of beginning their sexual relationship when she was his employee and threatening to fire her if she didn’t sign a nondisclosure agreement she now wants voided.”

• “Herman, in court documents filed late Friday, also accused Woods of having his lawyer break up with her at an airport in October after falsely telling her they were going on a weekend trip. The lawyer then evicted her from Woods’ $54 million mansion north of Palm Beach.”

• “The documents were filed in advance of a scheduled Tuesday hearing where Woods’ attorneys are expected to ask Circuit Judge Elizabeth Metzger to halt Herman’s lawsuit against their billionaire client. They say the former couple’s nondisclosure agreement requires all disputes be settled privately by an arbitrator, not in court.”

6. “Welcome to the major club”

A quote from Collin Morikawa in a Golfweek PGA Championship preview piece…“I would not place myself in the same category quite yet. Winning one major is a hard target in itself, but having won two and hopefully, many more to come, remains a challenge. It is only a small category of people and that you are able to compare to, and to be able to talk within the same category. I remember two weeks after winning my first major, Tiger came up to me and said ‘Welcome to the Major Club,’ and I got chills just from hearing that.

• “Then winning another major, the Open Championship in 2021, it places you in another club, and being part of this shared history, and the names that you will be associated with for the rest of your life is so special. It cannot be taken away from you as you earned that trophy through hard work. It is really hard to describe.”

7. Welcome to penalty hell

Our Jason Daniels…”DP World Tour player Julien Brun had a day to forget at the third round of the Italian Open last weekend.

• “The TCU alumnus has had a solid start to his 2023 campaign, with just seven starts showing a yield of a top-5, seventh place, 12th and two top-25 finishes. He was probably expecting to add to those and improve his top-20 ranking on the season-long Race To Dubai Rankings, especially after an opening two days left him on 1-under and in 25th place.”

• “The card will show a 12-over 83, with six bogeys and four doubles being the worst of his career, but it doesn’t tell the full tale.”

• “Due to conditions, the DPWT had permitted lift, clean and place for the first two rounds, but sent out a memo saying these allowances had been removed for the third round. Only Brun and his caddy missed it.”

• “On his very first hole, he received a penalty stroke for breaking the amended ruling, but then repeated his error again on the 6th. Down and out on the Marco Simone course – this year’s Ryder Cup venue – he compounded his errors with lost balls on numbers 11, 12 and 14 to add seven more shots onto his card. The shot-tracker available on the DPWT site makes ugly reading.”

8. WITB Time Machine: Bowdo at the 2015 AT&T Byron Nelson

Driver: TaylorMade AeroBurner TP (9 degrees)

Shaft: Fujikura Pro 63 Tour Spec X

3-wood: TaylorMade JetSpeed (15 degrees)

Shaft: Fujikura Motore Speeder 8.2 TS X

Hybrid: Adams Pro Mini (18 degrees)

Shaft: Fujikura Motore Speeder 9.8

Irons: Mizuno MP-4 (4-PW)

Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100

Wedges: Cleveland 588 Precision Forged (50, 54, 60)

Shafts: Nippon N.S. Pro WV 125 (50), Project X 7.0 (54, 60)

Putter: Bettinardi Queen B Model 6 prototype

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

9. Spieth out of Byron Nelson

Patricia Duffy for Golf Channel…”Jordan Spieth withdrew from this week’s AT&T Byron Nelson on Monday, citing a left wrist injury that has him “week-to-week.”

• “Over the weekend, I had severe pain in my left wrist and had doctors confirm an injury that requires rest and limited movement,” Spieth said in a statement he shared on Twitter.”

• “The AT&T Byron Nelson means the absolute world to me and I’m disappointed to miss it this week. Playing in front of family & friends in Dallas is one of the highlights of my year, and the tournament staff and volunteers are second to none. I look forward to being back next year and many years after.”

• “I’m focused on healing as quickly as possible and will have to evaluate my recovery week to week. Sincere thanks to the medical professionals who have supported me over the weekend.”