What would the NCAA tournament look like if it utilized college football’s rules? You probably wouldn’t like it.
While we wait for baseball’s offseason to pick up, we asked around the game for answers on big free agents and next season’s pressing questions.
Kids these days. They make it look so easy. The transition from schoolboy golf to the big leagues isn't supposed to be so simple. Sure, there are always exceptions, but they come along once every few years. Not anymore. It's fitting that Viktor Hovland won the final PGA TOUR event of 2020 because he and his peers have changed the game. They've permanently altered our perception of what's possible for the crop of prospects coming out of college each year. These players turned pro to big expectations and they've exceeded all of them. They continually sent us scouring the record books to put their accomplishments in context. Hovland has won twice before turning 24. Collin Morikawa is 23; he already owns three TOUR titles, including a major. And Matthew Wolff, who's still just 21, was a contender in two of this year's majors. Some 18 months after they turned pro, all three are in the top 15 in the Official World Golf Ranking. We can't wait to see what they have in store for 2021. So, as we look ahead to the new year, we ranked the top players on TOUR under the age of 25. 1. Collin Morikawa Age: 23 2020 FedExCup finish: 6th PGA TOUR wins: 3 The youngest winner of the PGA Championship since Tiger Woods. The lowest final two rounds by a winner in major championship history. All thanks to an incredible eagle on the third-to-last hole. Morikawa impressed with his victory at TPC Harding Park, which ensures he'll never have to wear that pesky "Best Player to Never Win a Major" tag. His ball-striking has become the stuff of legend and social media fodder, and for good reason. He finished second in Strokes Gained: Approach last season, behind only Justin Thomas. Morikawa got the best of Thomas at the Workday Charity Open, however, overcoming a three-shot deficit with three holes remaining. Then he made a 25-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole to answer Thomas' 50-foot bomb. Morikawa won two holes later. Iron play has often been the differentiator for the game's best players and Morikawa is proving to be no exception. 2. Viktor Hovland Age: 23 2020 FedExCup finish: 20th PGA TOUR wins: 2 Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus and Seve Ballesteros. That is some of the company Hovland has joined with the quick start to his pro career. Hovland won twice in 2020, displaying an ability to thrive in stressful situations at tropical locales where people traditionally go to relax. He won the Puerto Rico Open and Mayakoba Golf Classic presented by UNIFIN, making birdie on 18 both times. "I was pretty nervous throughout the day even though I hit a lot of good shots," he said after winning in Mexico. He sure didn't look anxious. Like Morikawa, he's known for elite ball-striking. Hovland ranked in the top 20 in both Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee and Approach-the-Green last season. He's added distance with swing coach Jeff Smith. And Hovland, who once declared, "I just suck at chipping," has shored up his short game after switching to a 10-finger grip on all shots inside 40 yards. His Mayakoba win was made possible thanks to an incredible up-and-down from a bunker on the 16th hole, proof that he's filling the one hole in his game. He'll start 2021 ranked third in the FedExCup. 3. Matthew Wolff Age: 21 2020 FedExCup finish: 35th PGA TOUR wins: 1 He didn't win this year but he accomplished something that hasn't been done since the 1800s. Wolff finished T4 at the PGA Championship and runner-up at the U.S. Open. Per 15th Club's Justin Ray, Wolff is the first player to finish fourth or better in his first two major starts since Ned Cosgrove at the 1880 and 1881 Open Championships. The U.S. Open was one of three second-place finishes for Wolff in 2020. Two came at the hands of Bryson DeChambeau. Two also were in back-to-back starts at Winged Foot and the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, which is why Wolff will start 2021 ranked ninth in the FedExCup. 4. Sungjae Im Age: 22 2020 FedExCup finish: 11th PGA TOUR wins: 1 The PGA TOUR's road warrior finally has a home. After living out of hotels for the past several years, Im has put down roots in Atlanta. It's a fitting residence because an annual trip to Atlanta's East Lake Golf Club, site of the TOUR Championship, seems likely for the steady Korean. Im, 22, has already played in the TOUR Championship twice. He's packed a lot into his three years of playing professional golf in the United States. He was the Korn Ferry Tour's Player of the Year in 2018. He was the PGA TOUR's Rookie of the Year in 2019 (becoming just the second player to win those events in back-to-back years). And he won his first PGA TOUR title in 2020. After winning The Honda Classic and finishing third at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, the PGA TOUR's Steady Eddie was the FedExCup leader when the season stopped because of coronavirus. Im struggled when the season resumed but is back in form, including a runner-up finish in his Masters debut. 5. Scottie Scheffler Age: 24 2020 FedExCup finish: 5th PGA TOUR wins: 0 A top-five finish in the FedExCup. A sub-60 round. Fourth-place finishes in a major and FedExCup Playoffs event. The Arnold Palmer Award. It was an eventful first year on the PGA TOUR for Scheffler, the All-Everything out of Texas. He became just the third player, joining Im and Stewart Cink, to win Korn Ferry Tour Player of the Year and PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year in consecutive seasons. "I felt like I had a really solid rookie season," the understated Scheffler said. He lets his clubs do the talking. It's been that way for years. Scheffler won the 2013 U.S. Junior, then finished in T22 in his hometown TOUR event, the AT&T Byron Nelson, while still in high school. He had a decorated collegiate career and was part of that 2017 U.S. Walker Cup team that also included future TOUR members Morikawa, Cameron Champ, Will Zalatoris, Doc Redman, Maverick McNealy and Doug Ghim. 6. Joaquin Niemann Age: 22 2020 FedExCup finish: 27th PGA TOUR wins: 1 His win at the Greenbrier made him one of just three players born outside the United States in the last 95 years who won on TOUR before turning 21. The others? McIlroy and Ballesteros. Good company. The Chilean continues to fulfill the promise he showed as the World's No. 1 amateur. And this year his success contributed to a good cause. He used his earnings from the final two events of 2020 to raise money for a life-saving treatment needed by his infant cousin. Niemann's downswing has so much lag it gives the clubhead whiplash, producing low lasers off the tee that are the envy of any amateur suffering from the balloon ball. He was especially effective in the latter half of 2020, finishing in the top 25 in seven of his last eight starts. That included a third-place finish on a demanding layout for the BMW Championship and a sixth-place finish against another strong field at THE CJ CUP @ SHADOW CREEK. 7. Will Zalatoris Age: 24 2020 FedExCup finish: N/A PGA TOUR wins: 0 What do you do when the Korn Ferry Tour Finals, the only source of PGA TOUR cards, are canceled by a pandemic. You play your way onto the PGA TOUR the hard way, cobbling together a schedule with a series of top-10 finishes and sponsor exemptions. That's what Zalatoris did late in 2020. He sat atop the KFT's points list in September after a record-tying 11 consecutive top-20 finishes, a streak that started when the season resumed. That earned him a spot in the U.S. Open, where he confirmed that he belonged at golf's highest tier. Zalatoris finished T6 at Winged Foot and the world was introduced to his accurate iron play. He made a hole-in-one in the first round and hit the flagstick with another approach. Zalatoris tied Dustin Johnson over 72 holes and led the field in Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green. That top-10 earned him a start in the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship, where he finished inside the top-10 once again. A missed cut at the Sanderson Farms Championship briefly slowed his run - it was his first finish outside the top 20 in any event since Februray - but he responded by finishing fifth in the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. He earned special temporary membership in his next start and now can accept unlimited sponsor exemptions for the remainder of the season. He would rank 30th in this season's FedExCup standings if he were a full-time member. He has to win to appear in the FedExCup standings, but that doesn't seem out of the realm of possibilities. 8. Aaron Wise Age: 24 2020 FedExCup finish: 150th PGA TOUR wins: 1 Wise turned pro at 20, right after winning the NCAA Championship, so it's easy to forget how young he is. He won his first TOUR title at age 21 - two weeks after dueling Jason Day down to the wire at the Wells Fargo Championship — and qualified for the TOUR Championship later that year. Wise had four top-10s in that 2018 season. He's had just four since, but things seem to be trending upward. He struggled in 2019 and 2020, finishing 114th and 150th in the FedExCup, but the phrase "sophomore slump" exists for a reason. It can be a tough transition when so much success comes at a young age. Many players feel pressure to tinker, and the same may be true for Wise. After playing with Brooks Koepka in the 2018 NORTHERN TRUST, Wise decided he needed to bulk up in order to better handle approach shots from thick rough. Wise transformed his body in 2019 but his results suffered. Things seem to be turning around. He contended at the Vivint Houston Open, then concluded the year with a runner-up at the Mayakoba Golf Classic presented by UNIFIN. He'll start 2021 ranked 19th in the FedExCup and back on the upswing. 9. Sam Burns Age: 24 2020 FedExCup finish: 111 PGA TOUR wins: 0 He's best known as the kid who beat Tiger Woods in the final round of the 2018 Honda Classic. Before that, he was the NCAA player of the year and finished T6 in a TOUR event while still an amateur. One wrong step derailed his pro career, though. He graduated from the Korn Ferry Tour in 2018, then finished third in his second TOUR event as a member, the Sanderson Farms Championship. He kept his card despite suffering a season-ending ankle injury in July. He broke his right ankle while playing pickup basketball with kids in his neighborhood. Burns returned for the start of the new season but admits that may have been premature. He said it wasn't until this January that the ankle stopped bothering him. Two months later, the season was paused by the coronavirus pandemic. He is 53rd in this season's FedExCup, however, thanks to two top-10s in five starts. He's been gaining valuable experience atop the leaderboard, as well. He was the 36-hole leader at the Safeway Open and led after the Vivint Houston Open's third round. 10. Doc Redman Age: Turns 23 on Dec. 27 2020 FedExCup finish: 71st PGA TOUR wins: 0 He has the pedigree, as a former U.S. Amateur champ and Walker Cupper. He earned his way on TOUR the hard way, by Monday qualifying for the 2019 Rocket Mortgage Classic and finishing second. Still just 22 years old, Redman has been knocking on the door of a TOUR win. He has three top-4 finishes in his last eight starts. That includes a T3 in the season-opening Safeway Open and T4 in the Bermuda Championship. He'll start 2021 ranked 41st in the FedExCup. Iron play is the strength of his game. He finished 12th in Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green last season. That bodes well for his future.
It's convenient practically for the end-of-year Official World Golf Ranking to be used to help fill the field at the next Masters, but it's also a coincidence that it occurs during the holiday season. For all intents and purposes, it's the gift that keeps on giving, even in an unprecedented year like 2020 as the world deals with the impact of a pandemic. With rare occasion to the contrary, all tours around the world take two weeks off to honor the holidays of Christmas and New Year's. So, once two tournaments on minor tours concluded this weekend and with no action around the world until January, the last OWGR of the calendar year was determined. Now that it's official, 2021 Masters invitations can be printed. Ten golfers in the top 50 of the OWGR through Dec. 31 have qualified for the Masters via this provision. Exemptions range from Matthew Fitzpatrick (16th) and Tommy Fleetwood (17th) through Ian Poulter (48th) and Matt Wallace (50th). All 10 have competed in at least once Masters previously. Those on the immediate outside of the top 50 and not yet eligible for the Masters include Erik van Rooyen (51st), Kevin Streelman (52nd), Rickie Fowler (53rd), Robert MacIntyre (55th), Chez Reavie (56th), Russell Henley (57th), Andy Sullivan (58th) and Will Zalatoris (59th). Those who made the largest leaps from the opening OWGR of 2020 to crack the top 50 in the final OWGR of the year include Daniel Berger (154th to 13th), Matthew Wolff (117th to 15th), Harris English (183rd to 28th) and Mackenzie Hughes (264th to 49th), but each already qualified for the 2021 Masters via another exemption. If you haven't visited this page since before the conclusion of the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai, you missed the 15 additions to the World Golf Championship-Mexico Championship via the 2020 Race to Dubai. Also, an update on Dec. 18 added 109 golfers to The Open Championship when the R&A released its qualifying criteria for a unique build of the 2021 edition of its major. Because it existed for only two days before this update for the Masters, the recap of the exemptions into The Open remains published in its entirety. PREVIOUS UPDATE (Dec. 18): The R&A today released the field for The Open Championship on July 15-18. Exemptions for all qualifiers for the 2020 edition that was canceled are honored, while adjustments necessary due to the impact of the pandemic were made. Because the shutdown occurred before the 2020 Open Qualifying Series concluded, none of the 2021 editions of the contributing events that were canceled or rescheduled in 2020 will be utilized. Instead, exemptions for the top 10 in the 2020 FedExCup and the top 10 in the 2020 Race to Dubai have helped fill the field. The R&A also extended Alex Noren's exemption for winning the 2017 BMW PGA Championship another year. The only previous automatic qualifier who isn't an eligible former champion and isn't listed below is 2019 U.S. Amateur champion Andy Ogletree. He forfeited his exemption when he turned professional this fall. REMAINING QUALIFYING CRITERIA for The Open has been updated below the alphabetical list. UPDATE (Dec. 22): As anticipated, the qualifying criteria for the two stroke-play World Golf Championships has been updated for 2021. WGC-Mexico Championship The traditional exemptions for the top two on the Japan Golf Tour's season-ending Order of Merit are honored - Yuki Inamori (first) and Chan Kim (second). Of the pair, only Kim has qualified previously(2018), but he elected not to compete. If either climbs into the top 50 of the Official World Golf Rankingon Feb. 15 or Feb. 22, then Takumi Kanaya (third in the Order of Merit) would be exempt. If both are positioned inside the top 50, then Rikuya Hoshino (fourth) also would be exempt. As of the final OWGR of 2020, Inamori is 157th and Kim is 74th. The Australasian Tour also sends its top two on the season-ending Order of Merit, but the circuit extended its season to conclude with the NSW Open on March 28 due to the pandemic. So, the top two in the year-ending Order of Merit have received the exemptions. Both Brad Kennedy (first) and Min Woo Lee (second) will be first-timers at Club de Golf Chapultepec. (In Lee's only start on the Australasian Tour in 2020, he won the ISPS Handa Vic Open on Feb. 9.) If Kennedy (157th in the OWGR) and/or Lee (170th) crack the top 50 of the OWGR on Feb. 15 or Feb. 22, then Ryan Fox (third in the Order of Merit) would gain entry. If both are inside the top 50, then Nick Flanagan (fifth) also would gain get in. Lucas Herbert (fourth) already has qualified. Because the Asian Tour canceled its 2020 season, the exemptions customarily reserved for its top two in the season-ending Order of Merit now will go to the top two in the Order of Merit on Feb. 8. WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational The last four exemptions have been defined. The winners of the Dimension Data Pro-Am (Feb. 14) and the Japan Golf Tour Championship (TBD) will gain entry. They will fulfill the exemptions traditionally reserved for the Sunshine Tour and Japan Golf Tour, respectively. Meanwhile, in lieu of winners of specific events on the Australasian and Asian Tours, the Order of Merit leaders on March 28 and July 12, respectively, will receive the exemptions. NOTE: Golfers are omitted if they recently haven't competed in majors for which they are eligible (e.g. PGA Championship=David Toms; The Open Championship=Justin Leonard). TPC = THE PLAYERS Championship MAS = Masters (Second edition of the 2020-21 PGA TOUR season) PGA = PGA Championship US = U.S. Open (Second edition of the 2020-21 PGA TOUR season) OPEN = The Open Championship MEX = WGC-Mexico Championship MP = WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play SJI = WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational Recent Additions TPC — none MAS — Christiaan Bezuidenhout; Matthew Fitzpatrick; Tommy Fleetwood; Matt Kuchar; Victor Perez; Ian Poulter; Justin Rose; Matt Wallace; Lee Westwood; Bernd Wiesberger PGA — none US — none OPEN — 109 golfers as recognized below MEX — Yuki Inamori; Brad Kennedy; Chan Kim; Min Woo Lee MP — none SJI — none REMAINING QUALIFYING CRITERIA Criteria are listed in chronological order where possible. Best estimates are given but all are subject to change. MASTERS (MAS) @ Augusta National Golf Club - April 8-11 • Winners of PGA TOUR events that award full FedExCup points allocation for the TOUR Championship from the originally scheduled 2020 Masters (April 9-12) through the week before the 2021 Masters. • Top 50 from Official World Golf Ranking (March 29). • Special invitations to international players per Masters Tournament Committee at its discretion. PGA CHAMPIONSHIP (PGA) @ The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort - May 20-23 • Winners of PGA TOUR events thru the final week before the 2021 PGA Championship. • Top 20 from PGA Professional National Championship (TBD). • Top 70 from special money list (i.e. “PGA Championship Points”) on PGA TOUR from 2020 WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational/Barracuda Championship thru 2021 Wells Fargo Championship (May 9). • *All 2018 Ryder Cup members, provided they are inside Top 100 of Official World Golf Ranking (May 10). • Special exemptions per PGA of America. (This likely will include all golfers inside Top 100 of the Official World Golf Ranking on May 10.) • If necessary to complete the field of 156, golfers outside Top 70 from special money list (three lines above) will gain entry in order of position. U.S. OPEN (US) @ Torrey Pines Golf Course (South) - June 17-20 • TBD THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP (OPEN) @ Royal St. George’s Golf Club - July 15-18 • Winner of THE PLAYERS (March 14). • Order of Merit leader on the Australasian Tour (March 28). • Order of Merit leader on the Sunshine Tour (March 28). • Winner of the Masters (April 11). • Winner of the Asia Pacific Diamond Cup (May 16). • Winner of the PGA Championship (May 23). • Top 50 from Official World Golf Ranking (May 24). • Top 2, not otherwise exempt, at The Mizuno Open (TBD). • Winner of British Amateur, if still an amateur (June 19). • Winner of U.S. Open (June 20). • Winner of the European Amateur Championship, if still an amateur (TBD). • Top 5 and ties, not otherwise exempt, inside Top 20 in Race to Dubai thru the BMW International Open (June 27). • Top 5 and ties, not otherwise exempt, inside Top 20 in FedExCup points thru the Travelers Championship (June 27). • Minimum of eight spots via Local Final Qualifying (June). WGC-MEXICO CHAMPIONSHIP (MEX) @ Club de Golf Chapultepec - Feb. 25-28 • Top 2 from Asian Tour Order of Merit, not otherwise exempt (Feb. 8). • Top 10 from Race to Dubai (Feb. 15). • Top 50 from Official World Golf Ranking (Feb. 15). • Highest-ranked golfer from Mexico in the Official World Golf Ranking. If already eligible, the second-highest-ranked inside the Top 300 of the OWGR (Feb. 15). • Top 10 in FedExCup points (Feb. 22). • Top 50 from Official World Golf Ranking (Feb. 22). • If necessary to complete the field of 72, golfers outside the Top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking on Feb. 22 will gain entry in order of position. THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP (TPC) @ TPC Sawgrass (Stadium) - March 11-14 • Winners of PGA TOUR events thru the final week before THE PLAYERS. • Top 125 in FedExCup points from the start of the 2019-20 season thru the 2021 WGC-Mexico Championship/Puerto Rico Open. Points in the 2020 Playoffs are weighted the same as a WGC (Feb. 28). • Top 10 in FedExCup points in 2020-21 only (March 1). • Top 50 from Official World Golf Ranking (March 1). • If necessary to complete the field of 144, golfers outside the Top 10 in FedExCup points in 2020-21 only on March 1 will gain entry in order of position. WGC-DELL TECHNOLOGIES MATCH PLAY (MP) @ Austin Country Club - March 24-28 • Top 64 inside Top 100 in the Official World Golf Ranking (March 15). WGC-FEDEX ST. JUDE INVITATIONAL (SJI) @ TPC Southwind - Aug. 5-8 • Winners of official tournaments from the Federation Tours with an Official World Golf Ranking strength-of-field rating of 115 points or more. • Winner of Dimension Data Pro-Am (Feb. 14). • Order of Merit leader on the Australasian Tour (March 28). • Winner of Japan Golf Tour Championship (TBD). • Order of Merit leader on the Asian Tour (July 12). • Top 50 from Official World Golf Ranking (July 26). • Top 50 from Official World Golf Ranking (Aug. 2).
The Jacksonville Jaguars made a roster move on special teams Monday by placing punter Logan Cooke on their Reserve/ COVID-19 list. The transaction came after Cooke didn’t travel with the Jags to Baltimore Sunday because of an illness and was ruled …
Wide receiver Josh Gordon has been added back to the 53-man roster of the Seattle Seahawks after he was preliminarily reinstated from his indefinite suspension earlier this month. Fellow wide receiver Penny Hart was waived to clear a spot for Gordon's addition to the roster. Gordon is returning to the team after an indefinite suspension [more]
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger discusses his team’s recent struggles after losing to the Cincinnati Bengals on “Monday Night Football” in Week 15. This game is streaming live on the Sports Betting News mobile app, or on NFL Network
Giovani Bernard scored two first-half touchdowns after turnovers and the Cincinnati Bengals held on to stun the badly slumping Pittsburgh Steelers 27-17 on Monday night. The Bengals led 17-0 at halftime and survived a rally by the Steelers, who lost their third straight after 11 consecutive wins to start the season. Pittsburgh didn’t get a first down until more than halfway through the second quarter.
Pittsburgh went from being the league’s only undefeated team to three very bad consecutive losses. There are red flags everywhere for Mike Tomlin’s squad.
Here’s the good news for the Rams: Losing to the winless Jets, while embarrassing, didn’t alter their playoff picture too much. But Jared Goff needs to play up to his salary.
