PGA TOUR Rookie Xander Schauffele is a big fan of the beaches in his native San Diego.

A few of their favorite things

PGA TOUR Rookie Xander Schauffele is a big fan of the beaches in his native San Diego.

They are involved in a game that ties them to a golf-course setting for large chunks of time, but professional golfers find ways to alleviate the monotony. Most of them love other sports and pay close attention, but plenty of them derive pleasure from other interests and none of them would want you to think that golf defines them.

So, toward the end of a long season, knowing there was more substance to these players and coaches, the question was asked: “What are your top three . . . “\

KEVIN KISNER

Kevin Kisner went to the University of Georgia and he’s a South Carolina boy through and through. His three favorite things about living in the south:

  1. The pretty women
  2. Manners
  3. No traffic

ADAM HADWIN

When he joins his mates on the International Team at next week’s Presidents Cup, Adam Hadwin will be in his glory. That’s because he loves to experiment in the kitchen, particularly when it comes to spices, herbs and various marinades, and he figures the food will be adventuresome at Liberty National.

“I’m very, very basic,” he said of his cooking skills, “but I love to try things out.”

His favorite three meals:

  1. Chicken in a marinade on the grill, with rice
  2. Chicken fajitas in his own ingredients
  3. Salmon

Of the latter, Hadwin conceded: “I love salmon, but I’m not very good at it.”

BRIAN HARMAN

Golf pays the bills, but Brian Harman concedes that his passion is in the great outdoors, rifle in hand. “I’m a start-to-finish hunter,” he said, “meaning I don’t want a guide pointing out something just to shoot it.” Harman plans his hunt, scouts the area, and chooses prey that he can “clean and eat.” What’s tops on his list:

  1. Elk
  2. Duck, in Canada
  3. Turkey, in the Midwest

RUSSELL KNOX

Russell Knox is more than “the ultimate driving machine,” as his childhood friends and college roommates used to call him in tribute to his straightness off the tee. The Scotsman is also an avid hiker. (Or maybe his wife, Andrea, is and Russell goes along.) Anyway, the top three spots he’d like to hike:

  1. The Inca trail to Machu Picchu in Peru
  2. Anywhere in the Scottsdale (Arizona) area
  3. Here, Knox paused. Couldn’t think of a third. Someone suggested Mt. Everest, but Knox seemed to cringe.

“That’s not hiking, that’s climbing. I don’t climb.”

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XANDER SCHAUFFELE

What are the three things that Xander Schauffele loves about his hometown of San Diego:

  1. The beach
  2. The weather
  3. The vibes

LUCAS GLOVER

Few PGA TOUR members are as cerebral as Lucas Glover. There’s enormous depth to the man from Clemson. His top three Frank Sinatra songs:

  1. “Summer Wind”
  2. “I’ve Got the World on a String”
  3. "Mack the Knife” (He knows others sing it, but he prefers Sinatra’s version.

Oh, and Glover’s top three books:

  1. “The Pillars of the Earth” by Ken Follett
  2. “Count of Monte Cristo” by Alexandre Dumas
  3. Greg Iles’ two-parter, “Natchez Burning” and “The Bone Tree.”

BUTCH HARMON

Famed golf swing instructor Butch Harmon has taught the game to hundreds of golfers and he has seen it all. These are the three golf swings that he considers the best he’s ever seen:

  1. Sam Snead
  2. Jeff Sluman (“So simple.”)
  3. Tiger Woods (“in 1999-2000,” which is when the incomparable one who four majors and 17 PGA TOUR tournaments).

CLAUDE HARMON III

When Claude Harmon III, Butch’s son, was asked, here are the three golf swings that he favored:

  1. Lee Trevino (“Uncanny.”)
  2. Bubba Watson (“I’m all about guys whose swings produce results.”)
  3. Adam Scott (“Maybe the prototype swing for today’s golfer.”)

GEOFF OGILVY

Years ago, Australia’s Geoff Ogilvy started traveling with a guitar, giving himself something to do to break up the boredom. He’s grown to love the instrument and offered a peek at his top three guitarists:

  1. Jimmy Hendrix
  2. Jimmy Page
  3. Tommy Emmanuel

Of Hendrix, Ogilvy was effusive in his praise. “He may not have been the sound you wanted to hear, but you couldn’t stop listening. There’s no parallel in golf; maybe Sam Snead, because he was so gifted.” Of Emmanuel, Ogilvy smiled and said, “Look him up on You Tube. Incredible.”

GARY WOODLAND

Gary Woodland played collegiate hoops at Washburn and has a passion for the game at that level. His three top college hoop rivalries that he watches:

  1. Duke and North Carolina
  2. Kansas-West Virginia
  3. Louisville and Kentucky

He’s a Kansas guy and choosing ACC schools as No. 1 made him cringe, “but it’s got to be that one,” he said. If Kansas and Missouri still played, Woodland would have picked that one, and so far as Louisville-Kentucky goes, the fact that Rick Pitino has coached both programs enriches the rivalry.