Dell Technologies Championship preview

JACKSON, Miss. – Notes and observations from the second round of the Sanderson Farms Championship at the Country Club of Jackson. LEADING LIGHTS Little more than a year ago, Cameron Champ and Norman Xiong were helping the United States dominate the Walker Cup at Los Angeles Country Club. Now they’re the co-leaders of a PGA TOUR event. Champ (65-70) and Xiong (68-67) are both 9 under par at the Country Club of Jackson. They’re one shot ahead of Shawn Stefani, Jonathan Byrd and Hudson Swafford. Champ, 23, is making his second start as a PGA TOUR member. Xiong, 19, is playing on a sponsor exemption between starts in Web.com Tour Q-School. Having a familiar face in the final group should help as they chase their first PGA TOUR title. “I would think it would help a little bit, … both of us being in this position for the first time really on the PGA TOUR,â€� Champ said. “You’re always rooting for your buddies, but at the same time you want to beat them, too.â€� Xiong has used a stellar short game to get in contention. He’s made just two bogeys despite hitting less than half his fairways and just 22 greens. He leads the field in Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green. Champ’s trademark length has helped him this week. He leads the field in driving distance, averaging 304.3 yards on all tee shots, and Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee. He made just two bogeys on his first 34 holes, then closed with consecutive bogeys to fall into a tie with Xiong. “Today was a struggle,â€� Champ said. “Off the tee, I just couldn’t find the fairways. … I just kept plugging away at it, getting up-and-down when I needed to. … I’ll take 2 under today the way I was hitting it.â€� After hitting 9 of 14 fairways in the first round, he hit four fewer on Friday. Champ turned pro almost a year ago, after advancing through the second stage of last year’s Web.com Tour Q-School. He won on the Web.com Tour this year and finished sixth on the money list. He opened his rookie season with a T25 at the Safeway Open. Xiong, college golf’s consensus player of the year in 2018, is soon headed to Q-School’s second stage. He’s scheduled to play next week in California, but that could be pushed back a week if he finishes in the top 10 and earns a start in the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. He isn’t just contending for the first time. This is his first made cut in seven starts as a professional. “I guess it finally proves that I belong out here, or hopefully one day eventually can be out here permanently,â€� Xiong said. “It definitely means everything is working and I’m learning a lot.â€� They say experience is the best teacher. Champ and Xiong will surely learn a lot this weekend. They just may pick up a PGA TOUR profile in the process. OBSERVATIONS FUN AND GAMES: Jonathan Byrd didn’t feel great about his game when he arrived at the Sanderson Farms Championship. A new outlook has paid off halfway through the week, though. “On Wednesday, I just went out and had a fun pro-am group and we were just jabbing each other back and forth and just having fun,â€� Byrd said. “I made seven birdies and shot 7 under. I’m like, ‘We just have to have more fun this week and just try to relax.â€� It’s working. Byrd opened with consecutive 68s and sits two off the lead entering the weekend. “I’ve hit plenty of poor shots, but I’ve battled back and made some good up-and-downs and hit some good iron shots,â€� he said. The five-time TOUR winner is in the field based on his past champion’s status. His win at the 2017 Web.com Tour Championship was his first victory since 2011, but he missed more than half his cuts on the PGA TOUR and finished 181st in the FedExCup. MISSISSIPPI MONDAY: Last year, Scott Strohmeyer finished fourth at the Sanderson Farms Championship after Monday qualifying. Chad Ramey is trying to follow in his footsteps. Ramey, a Mississippi State alum, is in fifth place after firing 67-70. He survived a 10-for-3 playoff Monday just to get in the Sanderson Farms. He finished 80th on this year’s Web.com Tour money list. BRYAN’S STRUGGLES: Wesley Bryan’s season is off to a tough start. He finished last for the second consecutive event after shooting 78-82 at the Country Club of Jackson. He has a 78.3 scoring average in four rounds this season. Bryan finished last in both Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee (-7.3) and Strokes Gained: Putting (-8.2) this week. He hit just nine fairways in two rounds while averaging 242 yards on all tee shots. He hit half his greens. Bryan won three times on the Web.com Tour in 2016 and won the 2017 RBC Heritage but finished 163rd in last season’s FedExCup standings. He had just one top-25 in 23 starts. QUOTABLE I saw a couple guys out here with stocking caps and stuff. Kind of made me laugh.With this weather, I would much rather be deer hunting.These college guys are such good athletes and they’re aggressive. It’s fun to watch. SUPERLATIVES Low round: Ben Silverman’s 65 was a 10-shot improvement over his first round. He moved up 80 spots on the leaderboard into a tie for 31st. He made nine birdies Friday – including six in a seven-hole stretch — after failing to make one in the first round. Longest drive: Cameron Tringale had the day’s longest drive, a 369-yarder on the 14th hole. He parred the hole in his second-round 73. Tringale is T15 at 5-under 139. Longest putt: Hayden Buckley holed a 66-footer for birdie on the 18th hole. The sponsor exemption shot a bogey-free 67 to make the cut after opening with a 75. All five of Friday’s birdies came on putts outside 15 feet. Toughest hole: The 411-yard, par-4 12th hole played to a 4.31 stroke average. There were nearly as many double-bogeys (10) as birdies (11). Easiest hole: The 540-yard, par-5 third hole played to a 4.57 scoring average. There were three eagles and 60 birdies on the hole. Seven players, including Champ, eagled the par-5 11th hole Friday. CALL OF THE DAY For play-by-play coverage of the third round of the Sanderson Farms Championship, listen at PGATOUR.COM. SHOT OF THE DAY

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The PGA TOUR announced today the four Featured Groups for the opening rounds of the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open at TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas. Full groupings and starting times for the first two rounds of the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open will be released officially at approximately 3 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Oct. 6. HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Thursday-Friday, 4 p.m.-8 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday-Sunday, 5 p.m.-8 p.m. ET (Golf Channel) Radio: Thursday-Friday, 2 p.m.-8 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, 3 p.m.-8 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio). FEATURED GROUPS Kevin Na, Patrick Cantlay, Rickie Fowler Notable: Na defeated Cantlay in a playoff to win the 2019 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open • Two of Na's four PGA TOUR wins have come at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open (2011, 2019); the Las Vegas resident will make his 14th start in the event • In three starts at TPC Summerlin, Cantlay has one win (2017) and two runner-up results (2018, 2019), losing in last year's playoff to Na • Fowler has never missed a cut in four starts in the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open where he owns two top-10s, most recently a T4 in 2018 Bryson DeChambeau, Cameron Champ, Matthew Wolff Notable: DeChambeau has two wins in his last eight starts; Wolff finished solo-second at both tournaments (2020 Rocket Mortgage Classic, 2020 U.S. Open) • DeChambeau, who captured his fifth of seven PGA TOUR titles at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in 2018, will make his first start since winning the U.S. Open; has three consecutive top-10s at TPC Summerlin, including a T4 in 2019 • Wolff finished runner-up at the U.S. Open, his lone start of the 2020-21 PGA TOUR Season; makes his second start in the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open (T18/2019) • Champ, who is making his second start of the season (MC/U.S. Open), has won in his second start in each of his first two seasons on TOUR (2018 Sanderson Farms Championship, 2019 Safeway Open) Webb Simpson, Collin Morikawa, Joaquin Niemann • Following two wins and a 12th-place finish in the 2019-20 FedExCup, Simpson finished T8 at the U.S. Open, his lone start in the 2020-21 season; the seven-time PGA TOUR winner won the 2013 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open • 2020 PGA Championship winner Morikawa will make his second start in the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open (T42/2019); the Las Vegas resident finished No. 6 in the 2019-20 FedExCup after his first multi-win season • Niemann has a T10 (2018) and missed cut (2019) in two previous starts at TPC Summerlin Sergio Garcia, Jason Day, Hideki Matsuyama • Garcia won his first PGA TOUR title since the 2017 Masters at last week's Sanderson Farms Championship; makes his first start in the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open since 2003 • Day, who seeks his first victory since the 2018 Wells Fargo Championship, will compete in Las Vegas for the first time since 2012 (4th) • Matsuyama has qualified for the TOUR Championship in each of his first seven seasons on TOUR; makes his third start at TPC Summerlin (T10/2014, T16/2019)

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• COURSE: Sea Island GC (Seaside), 7,005 yards, par 70. Sea Island’s original layout dates back to 1929, a nine-hole links on the southern tip of St. Simon’s Island created by English architects Harry Colt and Charles Alison. Among its early enthusiasts was Bobby Jones, who described Seaside as among the best nine holes he’d ever played. Joe Lee added the “Marshside Nineâ€� in 1973, and the two nines were combined in a 1999 Tom Fazio project. Entrants also play one of their first two rounds at the par-72 Plantation course, which joined the format two years ago after Rees Jones fused two other nine-hole layouts into an 18-hole test. • FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 points. • CHARITY: Special Olympics and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeast Georgia are primary beneficiaries, as the host Davis Love Foundation focuses its attention on programs centering on children and families. More than 70 other charities receive funds via the tournament’s “Birdies Fore Loveâ€� pledge program. • FIELD WATCH: St. Simon’s Island resident Patton Kizzire, just off the two-day lead in Mexico, and 2015 champion Kevin Kisner head a lineup that includes five of the top 30 in last season’s FedExCup standings. … A dozen St. Simon’s pros are entered, including tournament host and new World Golf Hall of Famer Davis Love III, two-time major champion Zach Johnson and 2017 winners Brian Harman (Wells Fargo) and Hudson Swafford (CareerBuilder). … Reigning NCAA champion Braden Thornberry is in on a sponsor exemption given to the winner of the Jones Cup. … Invitations also were handed out to former Texas A&M standout Cameron Champ, making his second pro start, as well as Love’s son Dru. • 72-HOLE RECORD: 260, Kevin Kisner (2015). • 18-HOLE RECORD: 60, Tommy Gainey (4th round, 2012). • LAST YEAR: Mac Hughes went wire-to-wire and then some, prevailing in a five-man playoff that spilled into Monday for his first PGA TOUR victory. The Canadian rookie won on the third extra hole, draining an 18-foot par save from just off the green at Seaside’s par-3 No.17. He then watched in disbelief as Blayne Barber, Henrik Norlander and finally Camilo Villegas all missed their par attempts from 10 feet and closer. Billy Horschel was the fifth man in the playoff, but went home early after a three-putt on the first extra hole. Hughes became the first rookie in 20 years to go wire-to-wire for his first PGA TOUR win, fueled by an opening 61 that was one stroke off Tommy Gainey’s course record. The last rookie to notch his first victory wire-to-wire was Tim Herron at the 1996 Honda Classic. • STORYLINES: Though past champions Kisner and Chris Kirk (2014) have been part-time residents, the tournament is still looking for its first true hometown winner. The closest a fulltimer has come was Love’s tie for fourth in 2012. … Chesson Hadley, with three top-four finishes in the new season, and Whee Kim are among a handful with a chance to displace Pat Perez atop the FedExCup standings before the holiday break. Perez is taking the week off. … It’ll be Love’s first home start as a Hall of Famer, following September’s enshrinement ceremony in New York. Aside from his 2012 performance, he hasn’t finished better than 33rd. • SHORT CHIPS: Six of the tournament’s first seven editions have been decided by no more than one shot, the lone exception being Kisner’s six-shot romp in 2015. Hughes’ triumph was the third resolved in a playoff. … The fall schedule typically is populated with first-time winners, but it hasn’t been the trend this season. The season’s first six stops produced just two – Ryan Armour (Mississippi) and Patrick Cantlay (Las Vegas). … Though nobody will have played all seven weeks of the new season’s fall schedule, Villegas and Kim are among a half-dozen set to head into the break with six starts. • TELEVISION: Thursday-Sunday, 1:30-4:30 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). • PGA TOUR LIVE: None. • RADIO: Thursday-Friday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, noon-5 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com).

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