All the prizes up for grabs at LPGA Tour finale

After the PGA Championship moved to May last year, it returns to August because of the schedule shuffling caused by the coronavirus. For the first time since 1971, the PGA will be the first major championship of the season. Brooks Koepka looks for a PGA Championship three-peat at TPC Harding Park but will do so in front of no spectators. FIELD NOTES: Tiger Woods will make his return to action after finishing T40 at the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide. That is his lone start since February… Woods and Rory McIlroy have both won World Golf Championships at TPC Harding Park in the last 15 years (Woods in 2005 and McIlroy in 2015)… Ninety-five of the top 100 in the world are expected to tee it up at TPC Harding Park… Justin Thomas returns to the PGA Championship (a title he won in 2017) after not playing last year due to a wrist injury… Twenty PGA of America professionals will be in the field (from the 2019 PGA Professional Player of the Year standings)… Jim Furyk, Adam Scott, and Zach Johnson are the only golfers in the field who played both the 2009 Presidents Cup and both World Golf Championship events (2005, 2015) contested at TPC Harding Park. FEDEXCUP: Winner gets 600 FedExCup points. COURSE: TPC Harding Park, 7,234 yards, par 70. The first course on the west coast to host the PGA Championship since Sahalee in 1998, TPC Harding Park has a lengthy history with the PGA TOUR. Set against Lake Merced, the course was substantially renovated in the early 2000s, including adding 400 yards to make it a championship-ready golf facility. The course opened 95 years ago and was designed by Sam Whiting and Willie Watson and named after President Warren G. Harding. The course has hosted two World Golf Championships and the PGA TOUR Champions season finale – the Charles Schwab Cup Championship – in 2010, 2011, and 2013. TPC Harding Park was the also the home of the 2009 Presidents Cup and will once again play host in 2026. STORYLINES: The PGA is the penultimate event of the PGA TOUR’s regular season. After Harding Park, only the Wyndham Championship remains for players to jockey for position entering the FedExCup Playoffs and the conclusion of the Wyndham Rewards Top 10 race… Brooks Koepka looks to be the first golfer to win the PGA Championship three years in a row since Walter Hagen (who won four in a row from 1924-1927 during the match-play era of the championship)… Jordan Spieth will once again try for the career grand slam. This is his fourth crack at it… Golfers ranked No. 1 in the world at the time (Woods and McIlroy) won both of the PGA TOUR events held at TPC Harding Park… There hasn’t been a non-American winner of the PGA Championship since Jason Day in 2015… Tiger Woods looks to win his fifth PGA Championship title, which would tie him for the most all time with Walter Hagen and Jack Nicklaus. 72-HOLE RECORD: 264, Brooks Koepka (2018 at Bellerive CC) 18-HOLE RECORD: 63, Bruce Crampton (2nd round, 1975 at Firestone CC), Raymond Floyd (1st round, 1982 at Southern Hills), Gary Player (2nd round, 1984 at Shoal Creek), Michael Bradley (1st round, 1993 at Inverness), Vijay Singh (2nd round, 1993 at Inverness), Brad Faxon (4th round, 1995 at Riviera CC), José María Olazábal (3rd round, 2000 at Valhalla), Mark O’Meara (2nd round, 2001 at Atlanta AC), Thomas Bjorn (3rd round, 2005 at Baltusrol), Tiger Woods (2nd round, 2007 at Southern Hills), Steve Stricker (1st round, 2011 at Atlanta AC), Jason Dufner (2nd round, 2013 at Oak Hill), Hiroshi Iwata (2nd round, 2015 at Whistling Straits), Robert Streb (2nd round, 2016 at Baltusrol), Brooks Koepka (2nd round, 2018 at Bellerive; 1st round, 2019 at Bethpage Black), Charl Schwartzel (2nd round, 2018 at Bellerive). LAST TIME: Brooks Koepka finished at 8 under and joined Tiger Woods as the only back-to-back PGA Championship winners since the major went to stroke play in 1958. Koepka led wire-to-wire but stumbled home in the final round with a 4-over-par 74 at Bethpage Black. He had a record seven-shot lead heading into Sunday but lost most of it over a difficult and windy day in New York. It was Koepka’s fourth title in his last eight major championship appearances. Dustin Johnson had the full support of the crowd (at one point after Koepka made four-straight bogeys on the back nine they were chanting, ‘DJ, DJ, DJ’) but ended up two shots back at 6-under for the week. Jordan Spieth, Patrick Cantlay, and Matt Wallace finished T3. Luke List (-1) finished sixth alone, and was the only other golfer to be under par for the week. HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Thursday-Friday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. (ESPN+), 4 p.m.-10 p.m. (ESPN). Saturday, 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. (ESPN+), 1 p.m.-4 p.m. (ESPN), 4 p.m.-10 p.m. (CBS). Sunday, 10 a.m.-12 p.m. (ESPN+), 12 p.m.-3 p.m. (ESPN), 3 p.m.-9 p.m. (CBS) Radio: Thursday-Saturday, 4 p.m.-10 p.m. Sunday 3 p.m.-9 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio).

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Jim Herman picked up his 3rd PGA TOUR title after a sizzling weekend at the Wyndham Championship. The vet went 61-63 to outlast Billy Horschel by one shot. Here are the clubs he used to get it done. RELATED: Final leaderboard Driver: TaylorMade SIM (10.5 degrees) Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD DI 7 X 3-wood: TaylorMade M6 (15 degrees) Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD DI 8 X 5-wood: TaylorMade M4 HL (20.5 degrees) Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD DI 8 X Irons: Mizuno JPX 919 Hot Metal Pro (3, 4), Mizuno JPX 919 Tour (5-9) Shafts: KBS Tour C-Taper 125 S+ Wedges: Cleveland 588 RTX 2.0 (48, 52, 56, 60) Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 Putter: Bettinardi Inovai 5.0 Tour Ball: Titleist Pro V1 Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A week ago, U.S. Presidents Cup Captain Steve Stricker asked Phil Mickelson to show him something. To make a positive statement with his golf game. Stricker wasn’t entirely comfortable with the request. After all, Mickelson has played for his country more times in team competition than any other golfer. Oh, and he’s also won five majors and 42 PGA TOUR events, and already has a spot in the World Golf Hall of Fame. But when Mickelson – who has played in every Presidents Cup since its inception in 1994, as well as every Ryder Cup since 1995 — told Stricker he really wanted to make this year’s U.S. team, the captain had no choice but to respond the way he did. Mickelson was 17th on the points list in which just the top 10 automatically qualify. There was work to be done. “I told him I would like to see him play well here on out, to show me something basically,â€� Stricker said. “That doesn’t sound right coming from a guy like me talking to Phil. ‘Hey, show me something.’ That doesn’t sound right. That’s basically what I said. “Show me that you are playing good at the end of the year.â€� Unfortunately for Mickelson, he showed nothing this week in his brief stay at the PGA Championship. He followed Thursday’s 8-over 79 with a 3-over 74 that left him at 11 over. The 153 strokes he needed to complete two rounds is the second-highest total in the 13 major cuts he’s missed in his career. He shot 79-76—155 in the 1999 Open Championship. The good news (if you can call it that) was he made three birdies Friday after failing to make a birdie the previous day. The bad news is he missed the cut at the PGA Championship for the first time since 1995. The worst news is that at a key time of the season, with his U.S. team streak on the line, Mickelson is at a loss for answers. And has lost his focus. “It’s not like I’m hitting the ball crooked,â€� a glum Mickelson said outside the Quail Hollow clubhouse Friday. “I’m just hitting it in the wrong spots. Not really controlling my thought process, where I want the ball to go. “I’m not real focused out there. I’m having a tough time visualizing the shot. I’m having a tough time controlling my thoughts and not letting it wonder to what I don’t want to have happen.â€� That’s not exactly what Stricker wants to hear. Unaware of when Mickelson played on Friday, Stricker was told of the missed cut. “He’s got a couple of events, probably in the FedExCup Playoffs,â€� Stricker said. “That’s all we’re going to have before we make the pick. Hopefully he can get hot in there.â€� Mickelson’s next start with be the FedExCup opener, THE NORTHERN TRUST, which starts Aug. 25 at Glen Oaks. Although Mickelson will likely drop from his current spot of 45th in FedexCup points, he’s guaranteed to advance to the second FedExCup event, the 100-man field at the Dell Technologies Championship. The top 10 players in Presidents Cup points after TPC Boston will earn guaranteed spots. Two days later, Stricker will announce his two captain’s picks. That means Mickelson has two events to climb inside the top 10. Otherwise, his fate – and that string of 23 consecutive years of representing the U.S. – will be left in the hands of others. “If I can play well in those, I have a chance to get on the team on my own,â€� said Mickelson, who won at TPC Boston in the inaugural FedExCup year of 2007. “If I play well in them and don’t make it, I have a chance to be a pick. “But I’ve got to play well in them is the thing.â€� Two years ago, Mickelson needed a captain’s pick from Jay Haas to make the U.S. team. At that time, Mickelson was 30th in Presidents Cup points and had not been particularly impressive in those first two FedExCup events. But he did have a couple of top-20 finishes in the last two majors that year … unlike this year, when he’s missed the cut at The Open and the PGA. It was the first time Mickelson had needed a captain’s pick since 1994, but Haas and his assistants recognized the value of Mickelson’s intangibles, as well as his experience. Mickelson rewarded them by going 3-0-1 and handily beating Charl Schwartzel 5 & 4 in singles to help the Americans retain the Cup. Stricker is well aware of those intangibles. While he has the final decision on the captain’s picks, he plans to have buy-in from his assistants as well as the 10 players who automatically qualify. If Mickelson is not one of those 10, then he must rely on support in the team room. “We need the best guys playing the best at the end of the year going forward,â€� Stricker said. “That’s what we’re going to be looking at. … “I think it’s important to get the whole team vested in those other two players that we’re going to pick.â€� The decisions won’t be easy. Stricker said he’s keeping a close eye on anybody inside the top 20 in Presidents Cup points, and even players beyond that. He specifically mentioned Zach Johnson, who is currently 28th and has played well in his last three starts – including a second-place finish at last week’s World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational. Johnson was creeping up the leaderboard Friday afternoon when play was suspended due to weather. “If he can have another good solid run here through the rest of the year, he’s a guy I’m looking at too,â€� Stricker said of Johnson, a four-time Presidents Cup team member – and Mickelson’s partner two years ago in Korea. “Anybody, if they can get hot, we’re all going to give a good look to.â€� Mickelson is not hot. But he will spend next week seeking to regain his focus. “I don’t feel like I did two years ago where I’m searching for my game or I’m trying to find it or trying to strike it well,â€� Mickelson said. “I have great practice sessions. Drove it fine. Just not real focused when I’m out there.â€� So, Mickelson was asked, how does he work on something mental like that? “That’s a good question,â€� he said. “I’ll have to figure it out.â€� Hopefully it’s soon. He’s running out of time.

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