Day: September 11, 2019

McIlroy named PGA Tour player of the yearMcIlroy named PGA Tour player of the year

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Quick look at A Military Tribute at The GreenbrierQuick look at A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier

Wake up! Time to get back to work. The 2019-20 season is upon us, starting with this week’s event, A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier. It’s a new date for the event, which skipped a year in the schedule reshuffling and now becomes the PGA TOUR’s kickoff event. Consequently, that means rookies in the field. In fact, all 21 rookies this season will be at The Greenbrier. So the chances of seeing a first-time winner this week? Higher than usual. The Flyover The 615-yard 17th is the last of the two par 5s on the back nine (but it’s not necessarily the last scoring hole, as the 179-yard par-3 18th played under par in 2018). Despite its length, the 17th is reachable for long hitters. Howard’s Creek guards the right side of the fairway, and bunkers surround the four corners of an undulating green. Landing Zone Beware of the “principal’s noseâ€� that sits in the middle of the fairway at the 385-yard 10th, the shortest – and easiest – par 3 at The Old White TPC. The nose is about 315 yards from the tee, so most players will land short – although J.B. Holmes had a tee shot two years ago that finished just left of the two bunkers. Here’s a look at where all tee shots landed in 2018. Weather check From PGA TOUR meteorologist Kyle Koval: “The threat for thunderstorms will persist into tonight, with highest chances before midnight. Another warm and humid day on Thursday may allow isolated shower/T-storm development over the higher terrain, again chances of impactful weather at the course is low. Shower and T-storm chances will increase Friday and Saturday as a front moves through the area. Rainfall amounts could exceed 0.50 inch. Drier conditions should return for Sunday but this will depend on the positioning of the front. Areas of morning fog are possible each day and could become dense after recent rains.â€� For the latest weather news from White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, check out PGATOUR.COM’s Weather Hub. Sound Check When you think about a bad season, really was it a bad season? I kept my job and I get to play golf for a living. When I look at it from that perspective it wasn’t a bad year at all. By the numbers 50 – Strokes under par by Kevin Na in his Greenbrier career (20 rounds). That’s the best cumulative score to par by any player in the tournament’s history. The next closest to Na is Russell Henley and Pat Perez, each at 39 under. 7 – Cuts made by Scott Stallings at The Greenbrier, the most of any player (he’s never missed a cut). Keegan Bradley is next with six made cuts. Stallings won the first of his three TOUR titles at Greenbrier in 2011. 480 – TOUR-leading total birdies made by Sungjae Im in his rookie season in 2018-19. It’s the third highest total in a single season on TOUR since 1980. Scattershots New cut line: This will be the first TOUR event since the change of the cut line from top 70/ties to now top 65/ties. Had the top 65/ties rule been in place the last time the Greenbrier was played, well, it would not have changed anything. A total of 77 players made the cut that week, with 18 players landing on the cut number of 3 under, leaving that group T-60 going into the weekend. Elusive Top 10: Although Bubba Watson has a house at Greenbrier, The Old White TPC has not treated him so kindly in his five starts. His best finish is a T-13 (in 2015 and 2018). A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier is one of just four events in which Watson has made five or more starts without at least one top-10 finish. (The rest of the list includes 12 starts at THE PLAYERS Championship, 11 starts at The Open Championship and five starts at the John Deere Classic). Zach’s 50th: Zach Johnson is playing A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier for the first time. It will be the 50th different tournament that Johnson has played on TOUR. His lone win in a tournament debut came in the 2008 Valero Texas Open. He has 24 top-25 finishes in those 49 previous debuts. Fall winners: Of the 43 players who have won fall events since the start of the wrap-around schedule for the 2013-14 season, 39 have finished inside the top 70 in the final FedExCup standings. That’s a 91% conversion rate. Of those who reached the BMW Championship, 25 advanced to the TOUR Championship. With 11 tournaments this fall, it’ll be interesting to see how those numbers are affected.

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