Tiger birdies last hole to make first cut since ’15

THE OVERVIEW By Ben Everill, PGATOUR.COM One guy who might have hoped the holiday break didn’t come when it did is Justin Rose. During the FedExCup Playoffs, he posted top-10 finishes in each of the four tournaments. Then in his first start of the 2017-18 PGA TOUR season, he won the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions. He immediately followed that with a win on the European Tour at the Turkish Open, followed by three more top-10 finishes in non-TOUR events. The Englishman is keen not to be forgotten among the surge of young talent in the world of golf and is ready to show that those in their 30s – Rose is 37 — should not be forgotten. It’s easy to forget sometimes that this guy now has eight PGA TOUR wins and five European Tour wins. Oh, and also wins on tours in South Africa, Japan and Australia, not to mention an Olympic gold medal. While he’s already won this season, the 2016-17 season was one of near-misses as he notched up three runner-up finishes on TOUR as part of eight top-10s. Most famous was his playoff dual with Sergio Garcia at the Masters and then his impressive FedExCup Playoffs run that read T10, T10, T2 (at the BMW Championship) and T10. It sent him into the fall with tremendous confidence … and now he’ll roll into 2018 with even more momentum. In 2018 the sublime ball-striker will have lofty goals. Nothing short of multiple victories and a FedExCup are on the former U.S. Open champions radar. BY THE NUMBERS How Justin Rose ranked in Strokes Gained statistics during his last full season on the PGA TOUR. FEDEXCUP Current 2017-18 position: 6th Playoff appearances:11 TOUR Championship appearances: 8 Best result: 5th (2011) INSIGHTS FROM THE INSIDERS PGATOUR.COM’s Insiders offer their expert views on what to expect from Justin Rose in 2018. TOUR INSIDER by Cameron Morfit Rose is still in bloom, and how, with a productive fall. As usual, look for Rose to make a strong run at Augusta National, where he fell to Sergio Garcia in an epic Masters last season, and to lead the European Ryder Cup team in Paris in the fall. FANTASY INSIDER by Rob Bolton You’re not going to find another athlete more comfortable in his own skin than the 37-year-old Englishman. And rightly so, he’s done it all. That includes receiving the MBE after winning the gold medal in the 2016 Olympics. You’ll have to cover for occasional spells when his average putting weighs down his world-class ball-striking, but they don’t turn into droughts. EQUIPMENT INSIDER by Jonathan Wall Rose added a custom low-spin TPT 15LKP-LT-LW shaft to his TaylorMade M1 2017 driver last season. Split P-Series iron setup includes a P790 4-iron and P730 “Rose Proto” blades. The major champion played an integral role in the design of the company’s first muscleback in three years. Made a putter change in China, swapping TaylorMade’s TP Red Chaska for TP Red Ardmore 2 (double-bend hosel).  STYLE INSIDER by Greg Monteforte Rose bounced between Ashworth and Adidas over the past few years before becoming the front man for the Three-Stripes brand’s new adiPure line. He debuted the new collection at the 2017 Masters en route to a runner-up finish. Look for Rose to continue to rep the line in 2018, as the luxurious performance fabrics, traditional colors, and classic styles are a perfect fit for him.

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ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — Robert Streb birdied his last two holes on the Plantation course at Sea Island and matched his career low with a 9-under 63, giving him a two-shot lead over Camilo Villegas on Friday in The RSM Classic. RELATED: Final leaderboard | The healing has begun for Camilo and Maria Villegas Villegas had an even better finish to stay in range going into the weekend. His tee shot on the par-5 18th on the Plantation course hit a cart path on the right side of the fairway and bounced enough that he only had a 9-iron left over the water to a front pin. He was urging it to clear the water, and it landed just on the green and left him about 12 feet away for a closing eagle and a 66. The final two rounds move to the Seaside course, which Joel Dahmen lit up Friday for a 9-under 61 that took him outside the cut line to just outside the top 10. The last four winners at The RSM Classic each had the 36-hole lead. "I don’t want to be the one that breaks it," Streb said. "There’s still a lot of golf left, and we’ll see what happens." Streb was at 14-under 128 at the only tournament he has won on the PGA TOUR. It was the fourth time he shot 63, the most memorable in the second round at Baltusrol in the 2016 PGA Championship. Villegas has the same attitude — go play, count up the scores, see where he stands — though he is not oblivious to the attention on his for all he has been through this year. The 38-year-old Colombian missed all of 2019 recovering from a shoulder injury, and then his world was torn apart when his 2-year-old daughter, Mia, developed tumors on her brain and spine. She died in late July. Villegas has his brother as a caddie — Manny, who also played professionally — and that helps keep his mind on the golf. "I’m going to be very honest with you, there’s so much happening on the golf course, you’re so focused, and that’s what I’ve been doing all our life. Having my brother on the bag has helped, too. He keeps me in check and we try to play golf when we’re out there." On Thursday, he saw a rainbow on the range and it made him think of his daughter. "Once you get on that first tee, you try to focus on golf," he said. "I think I’ve done a good job of it." Villegas is a four-time PGA TOUR winner — his last victory was six years ago — and knows not to get too caught up at the halfway point. Even so, he is building confidence mainly from his shoulder feeling good and knowing he has put in the work. "It’s not a two-day thing, it’s a process," Villegas said. Bronson Burgoon also had a 63 at Plantation and was three shots behind with Sea Island resident Patton Kizzire, who had a 66 at Plantation. Harris English, another Sea Island resident, shot 66 at Plantation and was four shots behind with Kyle Stanley (65 on Plantation). Of the top 10 on the leaderboard, past Sea Island winner Kevin Kisner was the only one who played the par-70 Seaside course, where he made a 35-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole for a 66. Sixty-five players made the cut at 3-under 139. Among those missing the cut was Justin Rose, who birdied three straight holes before ending with a bogey from the bunker on the 18th hole at Seaside to miss by one. Sungjae Im, a runner-up last week at the Masters, shot 69 at Seaside and missed the cut by two shots.

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SAN FRANCISCO – When it mattered most, being short proved a great advantage for Collin Morikawa. This is not about his diminutive stature but rather his length off the tee. TPC Harding Park was a bombers’ paradise until the critical moment of the PGA Championship on Sunday. When Morikawa reached the short par-4 16th. RELATED: Final leaderboard | The clubs Morikawa used to win | So close but so far for Koepka, Casey, others At 294-yards on Sunday the hole was inviting players to have a crack, particularly as nine of them had been part of the lead during a frantic final round. Someone had to step up. Problem was, in these modern times of big hitters, for most of them, 294 yards is too short to wail away with driver. Bryson DeChambeau hits his drives over 350 yards, so to Tony Finau. Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Jason Day, Matthew Wolff, Cameron Champ … the list of long hitters in contention was long. But they’d have to take 3-wood, or try to take something off their longest club, finesse the ball in the soupy heavy air. Morikawa had the perfect number for his driver. The same driver that had helped him to lead the field in driving accuracy for the week. Funny thing is, pre-tournament he was certain he wouldn’t be going for that green at all. “I told Colt Knost, he saw me Wednesday afternoon practicing on there, and he asked me if I was ever going to go for it. I told him a quick no, it’s too much into the wind, why go for it. I didn’t think the pin was going to be where it was,” Morikawa said. But with the tee up and pin sitting in the middle where a ball rolling up onto the green would feed towards it was just too tempting. Particularly given just a few weeks back, at the Workday Charity Open at Muirfield Village, he’d had similar success when the 14th hole was played from a similar distance. Morikawa decided to go for it. And the rest will live in golf history forever more. His ball landed perfectly and rolled up to seven feet. Soon after Morikawa buried the eagle putt and took a commanding lead he would not relinquish. At just 23 he is a major champion. A three time PGA TOUR winner already in just 29 starts. He has more wins than missed cuts. “Those are moments I’m always going to remember. I want to say it was 278 front, 294 hole. My ball went 291, exactly how I played it. It just had to be a normal driver for me. I didn’t have to do anything special. Thankfully I don’t hit it 330,” he grinned. The only downside was only a small smattering of people were there to see it live thanks to these COVID-19 times. It was a shot that deserved a roar to rival anything Tiger Woods heard in his prime. And he would have received it. After all he’s a California kid who went to college at Cal Berkeley. They would have been going berserk. “This is the one time I really wish there were crowds right there,” Morikawa said. “I heard some claps. Obviously not a ton. But the claps could mean I’m on the green and I’ve got 50 feet. Walking up I knew it was right above the tier, and you had to make it. I had to make that putt. Two strokes is a lot different than one stroke coming down 18.” Indeed it was. It was in the end unassailable for anyone else. And it secured history. At age 23 years, 6 months, 3 days, he becomes the third-youngest PGA Championship winner since World War II, behind only Rory McIlroy and Jack Nicklaus. Woods won a PGA at 23 also. “It’s great company. It’s been crazy, because this entire start of my professional career, I see all the things comparing to Tiger … but Tiger is on a completely different level. I think we all know that,” Morikawa gushes. “But any time you’re in the conversation of the greats, Jack, Rory, Tiger, no matter who it is, if you’re in that conversation, you’re doing something well.” He is also just the third player since 1970 to win a major in two or fewer major starts after his U.S. Open appearance last year and is just the ninth player to win the PGA Championship in their tournament debut. His weekend rounds of 65-64 for 129 sets the lowest closing 36-hole score in PGA Championship history, beating Woods 130 from 2018 and the 64 ties the PGA Championship record for lowest final-round score by a winner with Steve Elkington (1995). The win sent Morikawa to second in the FedExCup standings and fifth in the world rankings. While the golf world continues to be a little taken aback by the quick success, it’s not a surprise to the man himself. “I’ve believed in myself since day one. I haven’t let up from that,” he said. “When I woke up today, I was like, this is meant to be. This is where I feel very comfortable. This is where I want to be, and I’m not scared from it. I think if I was scared from it, the last few holes would have been a little different.” Morikawa was an amateur standout so his confidence is not misplaced. Clearly he has the game to back up any bravado he brings to the course. It’s not arrogance, it’s just pure will to win. And with the FedExCup Playoffs upcoming and another six majors and a PLAYERS among tournaments in the next 11 months he is ready to continue his rise. “It doesn’t stop here. I’ve got a very good taste of what this is like, what a major championship is like,” he said. “The majors are going to be circled in, just like everyone else, but I’ve got to focus on every single week. I’m trying to win every single week. I’m not trying to come out and just win the majors. I’m 23. This is my first full year. “I love golf. I love every part of it. I love being in this position and I love just being able to come out here and play with a bunch of guys that love the sport, too.” The sport loves him back. And will for a long time to come.

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