Grand Slam: Majors record book

OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Rory McIlroy found his energy level low amid the busy schedule and stifling summer heat. A good night of sleep and posting his lowest start in nearly a year at the BMW Championship on Thursday seemed to do the trick. RELATED: Full leaderboard | FedExCup update: Bubble boy Rory McIlroy edges closer to TOUR Championship McIlroy holed an eagle putt from just outside 10 feet on the par-5 16th at Caves Valley on his way to an 8-under 64, giving him a share of the lead with Jon Rahm and Sam Burns. Three days after heaving his 3-wood over the fence on his final hole at Liberty National, McIlroy used his new club — an old 3-wood he found in his garage — to smash a 285-yard shot up the hill and over a bunker that set up his eagle putt to move into a share of the lead. McIlroy hasn’t opened with a score this low since a 64 at the TOUR Championship last year, and that’s where he’s trying to return. He is No. 28 in the FedExCup, and only the top 30 after the BMW Championship make it to East Lake. “I’ve went through playoff stretches before where you’re always in that lead group. You’re either 1, 2 or 3 in the FedExCup, and that can sort of take its mental toll,” he said. “I’m in a position where I need to play well just to play next week. There is an element of free-wheeling.” As for Rahm, he is rested and relentless as ever. The U.S. Open champion and world No. 1 had five birdies on the front and kept bogeys off his card for a 64. It was the 15th time in his last 17 rounds dating to Sunday at the PGA Championship that he shot in the 60s. Rahm is coming off a third-place finish in the FedExCup playoffs opener last week at Liberty National, losing a two-shot lead on the back nine. That might have bothered him more in the past, except that he was thrilled for Tony Finau, and he’s become a fan of Ted Lasso. The Spaniard as strong as a bull prefers to be a goldfish. “Happiest animal in the world is a goldfish. You know why? He’s got a 10-second memory,” Rahm said, reciting a famous line from the Ted Lasso series. “Played great golf last week, just a couple of bad swings down the stretch, and that’s the most important thing to remember.” Burns also played bogey-free in posting his fourth score of 64 in his last eight rounds. While he’s set for the TOUR Championship, a big week at Caves Valley might make him a popular topic for one of the six captain’s picks for the Ryder Cup. It’s a tough position for several players either trying to get the sixth and final automatic spot on the U.S. team this week, or at least get Captain Steve Stricker’s attention. Burns is among those trying to think only of task at hand, whatever that may be. “Right now I’m focused on trying to give you the best answer I can, and after that I’ll try to figure out what I want to eat and just continue to do that over and over,” Burns said. What’s for lunch? “I haven’t seen the menu,” he said. Players were feasting on Caves Valley, just like they did at Liberty National last week, and that was to be expected. The course was soft from the rain Hurricane Henri dropped over the weekend, and players were allowed to lift, clean and place their golf balls in the short grass. Eighteen players were at 67 or lower, a group that included Sergio Garcia (65), Patrick Cantlay (66) and Finau, Xander Schauffele and Dustin Johnson (67). Is there anything to stop the best in the world? “Not a course that has fairways this wide,” Cantlay said. Finau won The Northern Trust last week in a playoff after he and Cameron Smith finished at 20-under 264. That looks to be what it will take at Caves Valley in these conditions. It was hot, dry and fast at Olympia Fields south of Chicago last year in the BMW Championship. Rahm won a playoff over Dustin Johnson at 4-under 276. Only three other players broke par. Such is the nature of an outdoor sport dependent on weather. Cantlay couldn’t be stopped once he saw a 15-foot putt drop for par on the ninth hole. He ripped off six birdies over his next seven holes, all but two of them from 18 feet or longer. “Hit it pretty average, chipped it pretty average and made everything,” he said. That recipe works anywhere. The heat and humidity could sap energy from anyone, and McIlroy has been feeling fatigued as much from his schedule. He went from the British Open to Tokyo for the Olympics — the heat index topped 100 degrees just about every day — and then to that cooler climate of Memphis, Tennessee in early August. After a week off, he faced as many as three straight FedExCup playoffs events. “I was super tired yesterday. But you get a good night’s sleep and you feel a little bit better the next day and you can go out and play well,” McIlroy said.

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Billy Mayfair is the reason Tiger is 11-1, rather than unbeaten, in PGA Tour playoffs. And the 51-year-old is rather proud of it. What’s Tiger think about that 1998 anomaly that happened so near his hometown?

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NASSAU. Bahamas – In two weeks, Rickie Fowler no longer will be a 20-something. His birthday on Dec. 13 will be his 30th, and with that milestone comes a change in perception. Gone are the days of being considered of the TOUR’s young guns who represent the game’s future. Now the time has arrived to craft his legacy.  The clock, whether symbolic or real, is ticking. “I’ve always heard that 30s were your prime,� Fowler said on the eve of his title defense at this week’s Hero World Challenge. “So we’re just getting into it.� But does that ticking clock come with an increased sense of urgency? Not yet, said Fowler, who has four PGA TOUR wins since getting his card in 2010. While the 2015 PLAYERS Championship remains his signature victory, Fowler has yet to reach the lofty heights of still-in-their-mid-20s friends Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth, who’ve collected two FedExCups, four majors and 19 overall TOUR wins in the last four seasons. The comparisons may be a bit unfair, but the difference in pace can’t be discounted. “I look at the next 5-10 years as the time to take advantage of things and make sure that we’re not sitting back and just relaxing,� Fowler said. “Go out and take care of what we want to take care of and see what can happen.� Fowler comes off a 2017-18 season in which he recorded six top-10 finishes in 20 starts, including two seconds (one of which was the Masters). It was, in his words, a “fairly consistent� season. “Put myself in contention a lot, put myself in great positions at the majors,� he added. “Just never got the job done.� Now as he turns 30, it’s time to start completing more jobs. He insists, though, that his definition of a successful season has not changed. “I think as long as you’re always seeing improvement and it’s not just based off wins,� he said. “Yes, I want to win more. If I went off of my checklist or what I ultimately want to do, I haven’t had a successful season. “So I want to win more majors. I want to win more golf tournaments. But in golf, other than Tiger winning at a 30 percent rate, that doesn’t just happen. So you have to kind of look at the glass half full, especially if you’re talking about staying motivated and keep wanting to move forward. If you look at the negatives or downside of not winning, man, it’s going to be a long road. … “I’ve just always tried to go kind of a glass half-full, keep moving forward.� So get ready for a big push the next 10 years for Fowler. His legacy is on the line. When he celebrates his 40th birthday on Dec. 13, 2028, he’ll have a much better understanding of how he rates as a pro golfer. “I would say 40s is a little bit more of where we’d look at prime … in the rearview mirror. So I’m looking forward to these next 5-10 years of taking advantage of them and making them count.� STENSON AND HIS CADDIE: Henrik Stenson will continue to work with new caddie Scott Vail while he takes a break from Gareth Lord, who has been on Stenson’s bag since 2013. Stenson and Vail first worked together at the European Tour event in Dubai two weeks ago. Stenson said the partnership could remain for the foreseeable future. “There’s a high chance Scotty will continue,� Stenson said Wednesday. “We’re in the dating stage. We’ll see where it takes us.� Stenson, who took five weeks off after playing the Ryder Cup, finished tied for 12th in Dubai. LAST MAN IN: Keegan Bradley wasn’t originally scheduled to compete in the Hero World Challenge, but he got the last-minute invite when Tommy Fleetwood withdrew. It’ll be his first start in this event since 2015, when he finished when the host course was Isleworth in Florida. “Coming to this tournament’s a no-brainer for us,� said Bradley, who won the BMW Championship during the FedExCup Playoffs. “It’s a real testament to how you’ve played not only this year, but over the past two years because of how the world ranking points work. It’s a big deal to play in this tournament. It’s a great way to close out the year, a great place to come.� Bradley didn’t even mind the additional travel, even though it’s already been a busy fall of travel. He made the trip to Malaysia to play the CIMB Classic, flew back to the U.S. for a week, then flew back to Asia for the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions in China. Asked why he didn’t just go ahead and play THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES in Korea while he was already in Asia, Bradley just shrugged. “Now looking back on it, it might have been a mistake,� he said. WINNERS IN THE FIELD: Of the 18 players in Albany this week, two already have posted wins on the PGA TOUR – Xander Schauffele (at WGC-HSBC Champions) and Bryson DeChambeau (Shriners Hospitals for Children Open). Both players are ranked inside the top 10 in the FedExCup standings.

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