Winner’s Bag: Jordan Spieth at The Open

Carlos Ortiz (+10000) … He’d like a do-over, thank you. The native of Mexico will forever be forgotten as the 54-hole co-leader of the 2021 Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines because he blew up for a 78 to finish T29 while the other 54-hole co-leader, Patrick Reed, went on to prevail by five (with a closing 68). Despite four previous seasons with a PGA TOUR card, Ortiz really didn’t splash onto the scene until the experience generated his breakthrough victory in Houston last November, so he’s now on the ascent of the learning curve in the majors. The 30-year-old has the power and the precision not to be overwhelmed anywhere, including at Muirfield Village where he placed T16 in his last start. Chan Kim (+40000) … As it concerns American golfers who don’t compete on the PGA TOUR regularly, at T83 in the Official World Golf Ranking, he’s at the front of the pack with avid fan favorites John Catlin (82nd) and Kurt Kitayama (107th). All played collegiately in the United States – Kim at Arizona State University – but only Kim qualified for the 2021 U.S. Open. The 31-year-old was born in South Korea and he’s done the majority of his damage on the Japan Golf Tour where he’s a five-time winner, including once during the 2020-21 season. He’s 0-for-3 in this major but he’s on an international heater with a 2nd-T9-T15-T23 run upon arrival, the finale of that foursome at Kiawah Island. Currently fourth on the JGTO’s Order of Merit, fourth in scoring average, second in both distance and total driving, second in greens in regulation and first in ball-striking. Rikuya Hoshino (+10000) … He was the runner-up to fellow JGTO member Chan Kim at the U.S. Open sectional qualifier in California. That was Hoshino’s backup plan if he didn’t qualify automatically, which is what happened when he missed the cut in his PGA Championship debut at Kiawah Island. Like Kim, the 25-year-old from Japan also has five victories on his home circuit, but with three this season, he’s perched atop the Order of Merit. He ranks third in scoring. He also shares a notable birthday (May 12) among professional golfers with major champions Mike Weir and Jim Furyk, both of whom famously were born in 1970 (as well as two-time European Tour winner and current Sky Sports analyst, Andrew Coltart). Another emerging talent also born on that date was none other than Palmetto Championship at Congaree champion Garrick Higgo, who is three years younger than Hoshino. Guido Migliozzi (+30000) … The lean six-footer from Italy is making his PGA TOUR debut this week. He’s one of the 10 automatic qualifiers via the special three-event series on the European Tour during which he recorded a pair of runner-up finishes. With three silvers on the season, he’s ninth in the Race to Dubai. Just 24 years of age but already twice a winner on his home circuit and thrice a champion on the Alps Tour before that, he’s put it all together this season by ranking 30th in distance off the tee, 13th in greens in regulation and fourth in scoring average. Matthias Schmid (+10000) … It’s been 88 years since Johnny Goodman was the last amateur to win the U.S. Open, so ignore that line for Schmid to win. Rather, pivot to the easier task to make the cut. Since Tiger Woods prevailed at Torrey Pines in the 2008 U.S. Open, at least one amateur has made the cut in every edition. In fact, 34 have survived in the last 13 U.S. Opens combined. (Chambers Bay boasts the most with six in 2015.) Schmid qualified this week as a co-medalist at the Dallas sectional on May 24. The following week, he closed out his collegiate career at the University of Louisville with a T29 in the NCAA Men’s Championship. Then, while riding the wave of opportunities but undoubtedly running on fumes, the 22-year-old returned to his native Germany and missed the cut by a significant portion at the Porsche European Open. He’s the two-time reigning champion of the European Amateur Championship, an annual competition at which, notably, Viktor Hovland was a recent two-time runner-up (2016, 2018). Odds were sourced on Tuesday, June 15 at 5 a.m. ET. For live odds visit betmgm. NOTE: Sleeper is a relative term, so Rob uses unofficial criteria to determine who qualifies. Each of the following usually is determined to be ineligible for this weekly staple: Winners of the tournament on the current host course; winners in the same season; recent major champions; top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking; recent participants of team competitions.

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CROMWELL, Conn. — Zack Sucher made a 9-foot birdie putt in the last group of the day on the par-4 18th for a 6-under 64 and a share of the first-round lead on a rainy Thursday at the Travelers Championship. Ryan Armour, Bronson Burgoon, Mackenzie Hughes, Abraham Ancer, and Kyoung-Hoon Lee matched Sucher at TPC River Highlands. Lee had his lowest round on the PGA TOUR. Paul Casey, who gave up a four-shot lead in the final round a year ago, topped the group at 65. Defending champion Bubba Watson opened with a 69 in his bid for his fourth Travelers title. Two-time champion Phil Mickelson shot a 67 and Brooks Koepka, coming off his runner-up finish in the U.S. Open, had a 71.

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A lot of Canadians have won on the PGA TOUR, but how many have done it more than once? Only six, as it turns out, led by Mike Weir and George Knudson with eight apiece. The latest multiple winner from Canada: Nick Taylor (70, 19 under), who twice holed out from off the green to win the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in wire-to-wire fashion over Kevin Streelman (68). It was the second TOUR win for Taylor and the first since the 2014 Sanderson Farms Championship. He held off five-time AT&T Pebble Beach champion Phil Mickelson in stiff winds that sent scores soaring to a 74.426 stroke average, and shot up to 13th in the FedExCup. Not bad for a guy who has been scrambling just to keep his TOUR card the last few years. Welcome to the Monday Finish. THREE KEYS TO SUCCESS 1. The hole-out at the sixth. Mickelson was on the green in two at the uphill par-5, while Taylor was in a greenside bunker. Advantage, Lefty? Nope. From just over 47 feet away, Taylor splashed out and watched his ball roll into the cup for eagle, and when Mickelson couldn’t convert from long range for his own eagle, Taylor had extended his lead from one to two. “I mean, Nick played better than I did,� Mickelson said. “That eagle on six, the putts he made on four, five and seven, and he just really played some great golf.� For more on Taylor, click here. 2. Taylor was an iron giant. Pebble Beach has notoriously small greens, and hitting them is imperative. The last five winners of the tournament had ranked in the top 10 in Greens in Regulation, and Taylor (54/72, T3) made it six straight. On the rare occasions when he failed to hit the green, he bounced back strong, typified by his nearly 36-foot chip-in from the rough to birdie the par-4 15th hole. The short-game magic came at an especially good time, what with Taylor having double-bogeyed the previous hole to cut his lead to two. 3. He made the most of his chance when it came. Taylor, who became the tournament’s first international winner since Vijay Singh in 2004, hadn’t exactly been knocking on the door. In nine previous starts this season, he had one top-10 finish. He was the third Canadian option, at best, for the International Presidents Cup Team last year, after Adam Hadwin, who was selected, and Corey Conners, who was not. And yet Taylor kept at it, undeterred. “I had to battle for my card the last few years,� he said after celebrating with his wife, Andie, and 3-month-old son, Charlie. “I think some of those rounds to keep my card helped me today for sure.�   OBSERVATIONS  Mickelson’s silver lining was for real. Whether it was the fatigue of playing overseas the week before, the swirling winds that made club-selection a guessing game, or something else, Phil Mickelson (74) just didn’t have it in the final round. “I got outplayed,� he said. Specifically, he suffered a rare short-game lapse and double-bogeyed the par-4 eighth hole, and played his last 12 holes in 5 over. And yet there was so much to be excited about. For one thing, this was his first top-10 finish on TOUR since he won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am last season. And it marked the 30th consecutive season he’s had at least one top-10 finish, making him one of just three players to have reached that number, along with Sam Snead (34) and Raymond Floyd (32). Although he admitted to struggling with the conditions, Mickelson was delighted just to be in the hunt again. “It was fun to get back in it,� he said. “And these last couple of weeks have really given me a lot of motivation and momentum to continue doing what I’ve been doing.� Spieth suddenly has momentum. It wasn’t just Taylor and Mickelson; plenty of other players were also trending in the right direction at Pebble Beach. Jason Day (75, solo fourth) registered his fourth straight top-five finish, Daniel Berger (69, T5) continued to bounce back from injury, and Maverick McNealy (66-68 weekend) went from T89 at the halfway point to a T5 finish. Also, Charl Schwartzel (T5) earned 96 FedExCup points and went a long way toward fulfilling the terms of his Major Medical Extension. Then there was 2015 FedExCup champion Jordan Spieth, who in shooting the day’s best score (67) went from T55 to T9. “This is what I’ve been seeing,� said Spieth, who shot just three final-round scores in the 60s last season. “It’s just today I finally had a lot of good numbers. I’ve just felt like the last few days I’ve been in between clubs a lot, and hard to commit, and then today it was just one of those days where it hit me kind of where I could commit to a lot of full shots.� His next start: this week’s Genesis Invitational.   QUOTEBOARD “I had to battle for my card the last few years.� – Nick Taylor, whose AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am win gives him a two-year exemption on TOUR. “I had a lot of looks on the front nine; almost every hole.� – Jordan Spieth (67, T9) after shooting his first final-round score in the 60s this season. “We just ham-and-egged it perfectly.� – Kevin Streelman (68, solo second), who won the pro-am portion with Larry Fitzgerald for the second time.  WYNDHAM REWARDS The Wyndham Rewards Top 10 is a season-long competition that offers a $10 million bonus for the 10 golfers who end the regular season at the Wyndham Championship inside the top 10 in FedExCup points. The player atop the standings will earn $2 million, with varying payoffs for the others through $500,000 for the 10th place finisher. Justin Thomas remains in the lead after the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am; Webb Simpson is still in second. Kevin Na finished T14 at Pebble to move from 13th to 10th, while Nick Taylor remains just outside the Top 10, going from 79th to 13th after his victory. Here’s how the standings look heading into this week’s Genesis Invitational. SOCIAL SNAPSHOT

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