Charley Hoffman is closing in on making the Presidents Cup team for the first time. He has reached as high as No. 20 in the world, the best of his career. He is headed back to the Tour Championship. By all measures, the 40-year-old is having his best year.
Except for one.
"I haven't won this year," Hoffman said. "At the end of your career, you look at how many wins you had, not if you finished 10th in the FedEx Cup. You base your career off wins, and I haven't won."
Just don't get the idea the disappointment of not winning is bringing him down. Hoffman has never been more upbeat, which correlates to good golf.
Along with spending more time with Jay Brunza, the psychologist who worked with UNLV when Hoffman was part of its national championship team, he has been traveling this year with wife Stacy and their two young daughters.
"I have a better attitude," he said. "Having your kids, you don't have time to worry about what you did on the golf course."
Hoffman goes into the Dell Technologies Championship at No. 10 in the Presidents Cup standings, just 23 points ahead of Kevin Chappell, a slim margin when the points count quadruple during the FedEx Cup playoffs. Even if he doesn't get one of the automatic spots, he has made it hard for U.S. captain Steve Stricker to ignore him.
He has two runner-up finishes, including a playoff loss in Canada. He was in contention at the Masters and U.S. Open until the back nine Sunday. He showed how much winning means to him at the Bridgestone Invitational, when he told his caddie while discussing whether to hit 3-wood to the par-5 16th green: "I'm trying to win a tournament. I'm tired of finishing second."
Ice bucket honor
The man who inspired the ice bucket challenge has been honored by the Roman Catholic prep school he attended in Massachusetts.
St. Johns Prep on Wednesday announced Pete Frates as its 2018 distinguished alumnus.
The headmaster also announced the dedication of the school's baseball diamond in Frates' name and the retirement of his No. 3 jersey in football, hockey and baseball.
Frates called it a "tremendous honor." He graduated from the all-boys school in Danvers, Mass., in 2003.
Frates inspired the ice bucket challenge that has raised more than $220 million for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis research since 2014.
The former Boston College baseball star was diagnosed in 2012 with ALS. There is no known cure for the disease, which weakens muscles and impairs physical functioning.
Hot-hitting rookie
In a span of 14 games beginning Aug. 14, Philadelphia Phillies rookie Rhys Hoskins smashed 11 home runs and drove in 24 runs -- equaling the best 14-game stretch by home run leader Giancarlo Stanton of Miami.
No other player in history had hit 11 home runs in his first 22 big league games. Hoskins had that many in his first 18. It seems only a matter of time before Hoskins surpasses Ted Williams for the most home runs by a player who made his season debut after Aug. 1. (Williams hit 13 in 1953, the year he missed most of the season while fighting in the Korean War.)
Only hardcore Phillies fans, or a family member or a friend of Hoskins, had probably heard of the rookie until this month. That's not surprising. At almost no time in his life has Hoskins been considered someone who might someday become a household name.
"I'm not an exciting player," Hoskins said. "I don't have tools that jump off the page as far as scouting goes. And I understand that. But the beauty of this game is you don't have to jump out of the gym or run a 4.2 [-second] 40 [-yard dash]. It helps, of course. But I think there are a lot of people in this game who have made impacts who aren't the greatest athletes. I think that's one thing that sets baseball apart from other sports."
Sports quiz
Who is the youngest player to hit a home run in MLB history?
Sports answer
Tommy Brown (Brooklyn Dodgers) was 17 years, 8 months and 14 days old when he hit his first home run on Aug. 20, 1945, off of Preacher Roe (Pittsburgh Pirates).
Sports on 08/31/2017