2017 Barracuda Championship, Round 1: Leaderboard, tee times, TV schedule

LIUZHOU, CHINA — This one was never in doubt. Amateur Cheng Jin shot a tournament-low 5-under 67 to secure a (you-read-that-correctly) 17-stroke, wire-to-wire win at the PGA TOUR Series-China Mainland China Qualifying Tournament. It wasn’t easy, but Jin made it look that way. Jin, 19, eagled the par-5 18th Friday to post his fourth successive sub-par round at Wolong Lake Golf Club and finish with a 12-under total of 276. Fellow teenage amateur Zihong Zhang (75) and Cilin Zhou (73) tied for second, at 5-over, a shot ahead of Basiteng Fang (71) and Bin Yan (71). Zehao Liu, 17, shot a 69 to join Zhi Xing (73) and Dihao Piao (73) in a three-way tie for 13th, securing the last full cards reserved for the top 15. Another 15 players secured conditional status, which was awarded to the next 14 and ties. Many leading Chinese players already have status on this year’s PGA TOUR Series-China through the 2016 Order of Merit or their China Golf Association ranking. The top-five players on this year’s Order of Merit will earn status on the Web.com Tour, the path to the PGA TOUR. Jin was the star from day one, leading by two, three and nine shots, respectively, after the first three rounds before saving his best for Friday. After setting off with birdies on Nos. 1, 4, 5 and 9, he dropped shots on 11 and 17, but birdied 16 and closed out a memorable week with an eagle. “I played great today. I started really well and finished really well,� said Jin, a University of Southern California sophomore. “I made four birdies on the front nine, hung in during the middle of the round and fortunately was able to finish in a great way.� Jin remains the youngest champion and only amateur to win on the PGA TOUR Series-China after the-then 16-year-old won the 2014 Nine Dragons Open in Zhejiang province, one of five top-10 finishes he recorded in the first two years of the Series. In 2015, he won the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship in Hong Kong to earn a spot in the Masters Tournament the following year, his PGA TOUR debut. He won the 2016 Players Amateur in South Carolina to earn an invitation to the PGA TOUR’s RBC Heritage last April in Hilton Head. Although Jin has not confirmed if or when he will turn pro, he said he’s looking forward to returning to the PGA TOUR Series-China, which resumes this month after a one-year hiatus. “It’s a great tour. PGA TOUR and the China Golf Association put such a great effort into this Tour and getting players to the next big stage. I played this Tour in 2014 and 2015, and had a lot of great memories out here, so I’m looking forward to a great new season,� said Jin, whose compatriots Haotong Li and current PGA TOUR players Zecheng Dou and Xinjun Zhang all progressed from the Series to the Web.com Tour. “We are friends and I know them pretty well. I haven’t had a chance to talk to them recently, but I do see them on TV and on the Internet. They are great role models for me and I’m just trying to catch up to them.� Looking ahead, Jin has stated that he’s likely to finish his second season with the Trojans and is targeting the NCAA Championships in Oklahoma in late May. USC was the No. 1-ranked team for most of 2017, making it to the quarterfinals of team match play before losing to Illinois. USC is currently 14th in the 2018 rankings. “Our main goal this year is to win a national championship, and we also have a couple of regular tournaments coming up. We’re hosting a big conference tournament and there’s a lot coming up,� Jin said of the Pac-12 Conference championship at Rolling Hills Country Club. “So I’m excited and going it give it my best. “There are also some midterms coming up so good luck to me!� added Jin, who will return to California just in time for exam week. The 6-foot-6 Zhang was happy to finish second and earn his full card, but the 18-year-old believes his game still needs work if he wants to build a career at the pro level. “Actually, every part of my technique needs to improve, but I think my putting was pretty good. I finished 17 shots behind, so there’s still a long way to go,� said Zhang, who made his first PGA TOUR Series-China cut at last year’s Clearwater Bay Open in Hong Kong. Zhang said he has even considered turning pro before this month’s Chengdu Championship but admits he still needs to get approval from his family before any big decisions are made. “I will really consider it and will talk to my parents and we will see.�

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It’s only fitting Rory McIlroy snapped a 539-day funk by winning a championship on a course named after the man he admired so much, Arnold Palmer.

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The Aloha Swing could be mistaken as a brand name for a hammock, but as we witnessed on Sunday, a trip to the 50th state isn’t always devoid of the pressure that the weightless feel of a relaxing sway alleviates. The back half of the fortnight to open the calendar year is this week’s Sony Open in Hawaii. Reservations for 144 golfers give it the distinction of the first full-field after the holiday break, so the midseason grind will continue with a standard cut after 36 holes. Waialae Country Club in Honolulu has been the only host site in tournament history. For what’s expected on the short par 70, cemented patterns and more, scroll past the ranking of 15 who are projected to contend for the title. Kevin Kisner, Cameron Smith and former champions Zach Johnson (2009) and Jimmy Walker (2014, 2015) will be among the notables reviewed in Tuesday’s Fantasy Insider. Of the 34 participants in the Sentry Tournament of Champions, 23 have made the short trip to Oahu to take full advantage of the 2019-20 season resuming in Hawaii. Only four of those committed as of midday Monday finished inside the top 10 last week, but since Kapalua first hosted the winners-only event in 1999, 15 of the 21 champions of the Sony Open in Hawaii competed the previous week on Maui. That’s the value of hitting the islands running. The trend dates back to Jimmy Walker’s first of two consecutive titles in 2014. The year prior, then-rookie Russell Henley became the first entrant since the tournament’s inaugural edition in 1965 to prevail in his first appearance at Waialae. Just as gusty winds governed scoring last week at Kapalua – the 14-under 278 that was good enough to get into the playoff was the highest winning aggregate in regulation in 13 years – the field at Waialae is bracing for similarly challenging conditions. Strong trade winds and an elevated threat of rain hog the forecast for the first three rounds. Typically in these elements, patience and the experience borne from it are rewarded more than anything strategic, but the low ball flight of defending champion Matt Kuchar is the preferred method for cutting through and soaring beneath the breezes. It’s been 10 years since the field averaged over par at Waialae (70.06 in 2010), but it cannot be ruled out this week. Distance off the tee on the 7,044-yard test is all but irrelevant, but piling up the par breakers on the pair of par 5s (Nos. 9 and 18) is all but a prerequisite for success. (Kuchar ranked T4 on them en route to victory.) As a set, they’ve ranked as the easiest par 5s in each of the last five seasons. That includes a PGA TOUR record-low 4.30 in 2018. In advance of last year’s edition, the 551-yard finisher was fitted with a new green that was one-third larger than its previous iteration. Its scoring average of 4.486 established a four-year high, but only as a matter of fact as it remained the second-easiest hole in relation to par. There are no significant changes for this year’s tournament. TifDwarf bermudagrass greens are prepped to run no longer than 11 feet on the Stimpmeter due to the impact of the wind. ROB BOLTON’S SCHEDULE PGATOUR.COM’s Fantasy Insider Rob Bolton recaps and previews every tournament from numerous angles. Look for his following contributions as scheduled. MONDAY: Rookie Ranking, Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Medical Extensions, Power Rankings TUESDAY*: Sleepers, Fantasy Insider * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf, which also publishes on Tuesday.

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