Featured groups: Valspar Championship

ATLANTA – Rory McIlroy is seeking history at this week’s TOUR Championship as he tries to become the first three-time winner of the FedExCup. McIlroy arrived at East Lake ranked seventh in the FedExCup after wins at THE CJ CUP @ SUMMIT and RBC Canadian Open. He had top-10s in all four majors and finished outside the top 25 just three times in his 15 starts, a level of consistency that was reminiscent of his second FedExCup-winning season, in 2019. “I’m back to playing the golf that I’m used to playing and the golf that I know that I can play,” McIlroy said two weeks earlier at the first event of the FedExCup Playoffs, the FedEx St. Jude Championship. “This year feels very similar to the way I played in 2019. It’s a carbon copy in terms of the consistency and the numbers and the strokes gained numbers, but my finishes in the majors have been better and that’s been a real positive looking ahead into next year and the future.” McIlroy started this week six shots back of FedExCup leader Scottie Scheffler, a large deficit but not an insurmountable one. McIlroy should know. He was five back to start the 2019 TOUR Championship, the first one using the Starting Strokes format. His 72-hole score of 267 was the lowest of the week by three shots and gave him a four-shot win over Xander Schauffele. The gap between McIlroy and Scheffler quickly grew Thursday, however, after McIlroy hit his opening tee shot out of bounds. He made a triple-bogey on the first hole and a bogey on the next. He didn’t make his first par until the seventh hole, sandwiching a bogey on the fourth hole between birdies on Nos. 3 and 5. Then he eagled the par-5 sixth by holing a 35-yard pitch shot from the rough. Another birdie on the eighth hole got him to even par for the day but he bogeyed No. 9 to make the turn in 1-over 36. McIlroy and Tiger Woods, who earlier this week announced a partnership to start an indoor, data-driven golf league, are the only players to win the FedExCup twice.

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Playoffs in professional sports, in general, are defined by certain elements. Heightened anticipation. Win-or-go home anxiety. High drama. Soaring dreams and crashing-to-earth defeats. Players feel the increased significance of every play — or in the case of the FedExCup Playoffs, shot — and all are poised to leave it all on the field of play in the pursuit of glory. Playoffs in professional hockey, in particular, are defined by one element: beards. The 1984-85 Detroit Red Wings were the first hockey entry in the catalog of playoff beards, and defenseman Brad Park is credited with the first utterance of the phrase. Odyssey is seeking to bring the scruffy spirit of the playoff beard from the ice to the FedExCup Playoffs with its “Survive and Advance” putter covers, which debuted this week at THE NORTHERN TRUST. “The tradition of hockey players not shaving during the postseason — letting their beards grow longer and longer as they advance — was an inspiration for these Odyssey headcovers,” Sean Toulon, SVP, Callaway Golf & GM of Odyssey Putters said. “We know how much every shot counts this time of year and the effort players need to put in to win the championship trophy at the end. We hope that this headcover can be a fun, motivational piece that inspires the pros who put it in the bag.” The covers, spotted in both blade and mallet variety, feature a helmeted hockey player sporting a few inches of black fuzz. Appropriately, both the helmets and the embroidered “Survive and Advance” feature FedEx’s signature orange and purple color pallet. Check out the covers below. We’ll see if the covers compel any PGA TOUR pros to abandon their razors.

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Country music star Jake Owen and retired U.S. men’s soccer star Landon Donovan will be teaming up with PGA TOUR professionals Tony Finau and Paul Casey in The American Express Charity Challenge to raise $1 million to support local charities. The exhibition event will pair Finau and Donovan against Casey and Owen for a 9-hole match play event with a modified alternate shot format. Each team will be representing a charitable initiative with winnings donated via The Mickelson Foundation, the tournament's host foundation. Finau and Donovan will play for ‘Youth Development and Education' charities while Casey and Owen will play for ‘Health and Wellness' charities. Here’s everything you need to know to follow the action: HOW TO FOLLOW When: Wednesday, Jan. 20 Time: 5 p.m. ET Broadcast/stream: Golf Channel, PGA TOUR LIVE, GOLFTV and on PGA TOUR social platforms

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