Day: October 4, 2017

Featured Groups: Safeway OpenFeatured Groups: Safeway Open

After going 3-0-1 at the Presidents Cup at Liberty National, 42-time PGA TOUR winner Phil Mickelson returns to wine country and the Silverado Resort and Spa after a T8 finish there a year ago. Mickelson headlines a field that also includes first-timer Zach Johnson and recent TOUR Championship contenders Tony Finau, Adam Hadwin and Webb Simpson. Others in the field at the 7,166-yard, par-72 North Course at Silverado Resort and Spa include Emiliano Grillo, the Safeway champion two years ago who is coming off his Presidents Cup debut at Liberty National; Kevin Na; Ryan Moore; Sangmoon Bae; and Sam Saunders. Arnold Palmer’s grandson, Saunders shot a 59 in the Web.com Tour Championship last week, while two-time TOUR winner Bae is coming off his mandatory two-year hitch in the South Korean military. Silverado was the estate of a Civil War general and later a U.S. Senator before Robert Trent Jones, Jr., built two courses there in the 1960s. It was the home of the old Kaiser International on the PGA TOUR for 13 years starting in 1968, and hosted The Transamerica on the PGA TOUR Champions from 1989-2002. Johnny Miller bought the resort in 2010 and made upgrades to both courses. The winner gets 500 FedExCup points. Jonas Blixt, Sangmoon Bae and Emiliano Grillo: This trio of global up-and-comers and past Safeway Open champions includes three-time TOUR winner Blixt, 33, a Swede who won the tournament in 2012 (and with Cameron Smith captured the Zurich Classic of New Orleans last season); Bae, the 2015 champion, who is returning from military service in South Korea; and Argentina’s Grillo, the 2016 champ, who like Mickelson played in the Presidents Cup at Liberty last week. Tee times: 3:30 p.m. ET off No. 1 on Thursday and 10:40 a.m. ET off 10 on Friday.   Phil Mickelson, Webb Simpson and Bryson DeChambeau: Mickelson, 47, is still seeking his first TOUR win since 2013, but things are looking up: He looked as vital as ever as he went 3-0-1 at the Presidents Cup at Liberty National. Simpson didn’t win last season, either, but was consistent as he finished 17th in the FedExCup standings. DeChambeau is coming off a wild summer in which he won the John Deere Classic and jetted off to The Open Championship as a result. Tee times: 3:40 p.m. ET off No. 1 on Thursday and 10:50 a.m. ET off No. 10 on Friday.   Cody Gribble, Mackenzie Hughes and Chris Stroud: Three first-time winners from 2016-17 PGA TOUR season, one of whom, Canada’s Hughes, came within a whisker of making captain Nick Price’s International Team at the Presidents Cup. Stroud, 35, had a summer in which he broke through at the Barracuda Championship and then added a T9 at the PGA Championship. (The Houstonian has lately been throwing himself into Hurricane Harvey relief.) Gribble, 27, looks to get back to the player who won the Sanderson Farms Championship. Tee times: 10:40 a.m. ET off No. 10 on Thursday and 3:30 p.m. ET off No. 1 on Friday.   Brendan Steele, Chesson Hadley and Zach Johnson: Defending champion Steele parlayed his early win last season into a deep run in the FedExCup Playoffs, getting all the way to the BMW Championship. Meanwhile, Web.com Tour Regular Season/Finals money-leader Chesson Hadley is coming off a victory at the Albertsons Boise Open and looking to make a splash in his return to the PGA TOUR, while two-time major winner Zach Johnson will be making his much-anticipated debut at Silverado North. Tee times: 10:50 a.m. ET off No. 10 on Thursday and 3:40 p.m. ET off No. 1 on Friday.

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