A Wentworth revival?

The Sanderson Farms Championship, in its first iteration as a full FedExCup event, gave us a 17-year-old in his pro debut (Akshay Bhatia), a veteran showing he might yet crawl out of a slump (Zach Johnson) and, ultimately, an exciting International shootout between a bevy of Presidents cup hopefuls. Ultimately, Sebastián Muñoz from Colombia nudged out PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year Sungjae Im in a playoff at the Country Club of Jackson. Welcome to the Monday Finish. Related: What’s in Muñoz’s bag? | The stats behind Muñoz’s first TOUR win THREE KEYS TO SUCCESS 1. A blistering 9-under 63 on Saturday was the catalyst to Muñoz having a chance at his first title. Having opened 70-67, it was Saturday’s nine-birdie effort that sent him surging into contention. 2. Recovery from missed fairways. Muñoz finished 42nd in driving accuracy after hitting 29 fairways, but he was 12th in greens hit (57 of 72). His iron play was good enough that he didn’t have to make a putt longer than 15 feet for any of his 21 birdies. 3. A little motivation and advice from a friend. After seeing Joaquin Niemann win the week before at A Military Tribute at the Greenbrier, Muñoz talked to his friend about closing the deal on the plane ride to Mississippi. “Him winning last week was the last piece of the puzzle that I needed to know that we’re good enough to compete, that we’re PGA TOUR members and we play to win,â€� Muñoz said. OBSERVATIONS The path to the PGA TOUR is clear cut for some. Some playera are born into golf families with unlimited access to facilities. Of course, they all work hard to get there – talent alone is never enough. But then there are the other stories, ones of players who had to overcome much steeper odds. Sebastián Muñoz never thought he’d make the PGA TOUR, let alone win. Do yourself a favor and read about his improbably journey here.  Ernie Els was probably a little concerned a month ago as he started thinking about the options for his four captain’s picks for December’s Presidents Cup at Australia’s Royal Melbourne. While there are plenty of eligible players he can choose from, including those with pedigree as impressive as Jason Day and Branden Grace, the play of those players had been a little questionable. Over the last two weeks, his smile must have grown, as more and more names are making a case to be selected. Joaquin Niemann and Sebastián Muñoz have both now won on the PGA TOUR. Sungjae Im continues to contend. Ben An has reemerged as a serious contender. The next few weeks are going to be huge for those trying to prove their worth. Read more about potential International team picks here. Akshay Bhatia may have missed the cut in his pro debut, but remember, he’s just 17. The youngster had a chance to make the weekend had he made birdie on his final hole – a pretty impressive feat in itself for the youngest-ever Walker Cup competitor. Ultimately, he missed out, but with starts over the next few weeks up his sleeve, it was a great learning experience. Should be fun to follow his on-course education. Read about Bhatia’s optimism moving forward here.  QUOTEBOARD “I never really thought I was going to be a PGA TOUR professional. I didn’t think I was that good.” – winner Sebastián Muñoz “I’m trying to treat each week as a phenomenal opportunity to get better.â€� – two-time major winner Zach Johnson, who had his first top-25 finish (T14) since April. “I haven’t played a skins format in quite some time, so it will be fun to try something a little different and add a few strategic elements as we compete. There has already been some friendly banter between us and that will continue until we get to the first tee.â€� – Tiger Woods after it was confirmed he will take on Rory McIlroy, Jason Day and Hideki Matsuyama in a skins game in Japan.  SOCIAL SNAPSHOT

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The PGA TOUR maintains a standardized system for determining event fields, based off the current season’s Priority Ranking while also including additional exemption and qualifying categories. Field sizes can vary by event, as can the number of event-specific exemptions. Fully exempt PGA TOUR members are guaranteed entry into all full-field events, with various conditional categories subject to periodic reshuffles based upon FedExCup Points accrued throughout the season. How the field qualified for the The American Express as of 1/14/2022: Check here for updates. Winner – THE PLAYERS Championship (prior to 1996) Davis Love III Winner – THE PLAYERS Championship (five-year exemption) Si Woo Kim Winner – Masters Tournament (five-year exemption) Patrick Reed Winner – U.S. Open Championship (five-year exemption) Jon Rahm Gary Woodland Winner – PGA Championship (five-year exemption) Phil Mickelson Winner – Open Championship (five-year exemption) Francesco Molinari Winner – World Golf Championship Event (three-year exemption) Abraham Ancer Winner – Arnold Palmer Invitational & Memorial Tournament (three-year exemption) Patrick Cantlay FedExCup Champion (five-year exemption) Justin Rose Member of most recent U.S. Ryder Cup Team Tony Finau Scottie Scheffler Career Money Exemption Luke Donald Bill Haas Rory Sabbatini Nick Watney Past Champion – The American Express Jason Dufner Brian Gay Andrew Landry Adam Long Hudson Swafford Mark Wilson PGA Section Champion Kyle Mendoza Sponsor’s Exemptions – Members not otherwise exempt Jonathan Byrd Camilo Villegas Sponsor’s Exemptions – Unrestricted James Hart du Preez Chan Kim John Pak T.J. Vogel PGA TOUR Tournament Winner (two-year exemption) Cameron Champ Corey Conners Jason Day Tyler Duncan Rickie Fowler Dylan Frittelli Lucas Glover Talor Gooch Lanto Griffin Jim Herman Charles Howell III Sungjae Im Sung Kang Patton Kizzire Martin Laird Nate Lashley K.H. Lee Graeme McDowell Sebastián Muñoz Carlos Ortiz C.T. Pan J.T. Poston Seamus Power Chez Reavie Robert Streb Nick Taylor Michael Thompson Brendon Todd Martin Trainer Kevin Tway Jimmy Walker Richy Werenski Matthew Wolff Top 125 on Prior Season’s FedExCup Points List Charley Hoffman Alex Noren Brian Harman Cameron Tringale Harold Varner III Tom Hoge Russell Henley Emiliano Grillo Jhonattan Vegas Chris Kirk Kevin Streelman Harry Higgs Troy Merritt Pat Perez Andrew Putnam Doug Ghim Brandon Hagy Peter Malnati Wyndham Clark Adam Schenk Kramer Hickok Brian Stuard Henrik Norlander Doc Redman Roger Sloan Brandt Snedeker Hank Lebioda Tyler McCumber Denny McCarthy Luke List Adam Hadwin Brendan Steele Sepp Straka James Hahn Zach Johnson Russell Knox Sam Ryder Matthew NeSmith Scott Piercy Anirban Lahiri Brice Garnett Scott Stallings Chesson Hadley Top 125 on Prior Season’s FedExCup Points List (Non-member) Will Zalatoris Major Medical Extension Danny Lee Kevin Chappell Ryan Moore Wesley Bryan Seung-Yul Noh Kelly Kraft Jonas Blixt Leading Points Winners – Korn Ferry Tour Joseph Bramlett (The Finals 25 — Finals Points) Korn Ferry Tour graduates via The 25 and The Finals 25 (reordered) Cameron Young Patrick Rodgers Hayden Buckley J.J. Spaun Taylor Pendrith Taylor Moore Vince Whaley Aaron Rai Alex Smalley Trey Mullinax John Huh Davis Riley Chad Ramey Sahith Theegala Max McGreevy Greyson Sigg Seth Reeves Curtis Thompson Andrew Novak Bronson Burgoon Austin Cook Lee Hodges Christiaan Bezuidenhout Nick Hardy Adam Svensson Justin Lower David Skinns David Lipsky Dawie van der Walt Peter Uihlein Michael Gligic Paul Barjon Dylan Wu Scott Gutschewski Brandon Wu Chris Stroud Austin Smotherman Ben Kohles Brett Drewitt Kurt Kitayama

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The PGA TOUR’s first full-field event of 2022 takes place this week at the Sony Open in Hawaii. Round 1 gets underway Thursday from Waialae Country Club. The deep field includes Cameron Smith, who won last week at the Sentry Tournament of Champions, Webb Simpson, Hideki Matsuyama, Sungjae Im, Marc Leishman, Corey Conners and Kevin Kisner. Here’s everything you need to know to follow the action, including Featured Groups for PGA TOUR LIVE and newly expanded and extended coverage on ESPN+. Click here for more details. Leaderboard Full tee times HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Thursday-Saturday, 7 p.m.-10:30 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Sunday, 6 p.m.-10 p.m. (Golf Channel). PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday, 12 p.m.-7 p.m. ET (Featured Groups), 7 p.m.-10:30 p.m. (Featured Holes). Saturday, 4 p.m.-7 p.m. (Featured Groups), 7 p.m.-10:30 p.m. (Featured Holes). Sunday, 4 p.m.-6 p.m. (Featured Groups), 6 p.m.-10 p.m. (Featured Holes). PGA TOUR LIVE is available exclusively on ESPN+ Radio: Thursday-Saturday, 5 p.m.-10:30 p.m. ET. Sunday, 5 p.m.-10 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio) FEATURED GROUPS Kevin Na, Cam Smith, Talor Gooch (Tee times) Marc Leishman, Sungjae Im, Matt Jones (Tee times) Hideki Matsuyama, Kevin Kisner, Webb Simpson (Tee times) Abraham Ancer, Billy Horschel, Harris English (Tee times) MUST READS The First Look Power Rankings Expert Picks Five things to know about Waialae Country Club

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