Trophies – of any kind – fueling Bubba Watson’s return to form

With the West Coast Swing firmly in the rear-view mirror and four consecutive weeks in Florida ahead, World Golf Championship No. 2 will provide a quick trip south of the border for four more rounds on Poa annua and kikuyu grass. Club de Golf Chapultepec in Mexico City will host for the fourth consecutive season since the event moved from Miami for the 2017 edition. Stretching to 7,345 this par-71 will play quite shorter than advertised as the elevation on the property is around 7,500 feet above sea level. With smaller-than-average greens and tree-lined fairways, ball-strikers will shine again this week. The special invitational field of 72 will all get a chance to play all 72 holes (no cut) to claim their share of a $10.5 million purse. The winner receives $1.82 million and 550 FedExCup points plus a three-year exemption on TOUR. RELATED: Power Rankings | Expert Picks RECENT WINNERS 2019: Dustin Johnson (-21, 263) Won his sixth WGC championship by five over Rory McIlroy at the age of 34. … Led the field in GIR, Strokes Gained: Putting and Par-4 scoring. … All four rounds 67 or better. … Just one of three players with all four rounds in the 60s. … There were six, bogey-free rounds on the week and Johnson had two of them. … Johnson made one bogey and one double in four rounds and was second in birdies with 22. Notables in the field this week: McIlroy (2nd), who led after 18 holes opening with 63, led the field in birdies (25) and became the third such to do so and not win the tournament. … Paul Casey (T3) finished ten shots back but closed 65-65, his best two rounds in three visits. … Cameron Smith made his debut with all four rounds under par and tied sixth with Sergio Garcia. .. Justin Thomas closed with 62, tying his own course record, to claim solo ninth. 2018: Phil Mickelson (-16, 268) Entered the week red-hot (T6-T2-T5) but needed 66 on Sunday to run down 54-hole leader debutant Shubhankar Sharma.  … Closed 65-66, his best two rounds at the event, and defeated Thomas in a one-hole playoff. … Short game was on point as he was second in converting birdie chances, third Strokes Gained: Putting and second in scrambling. … His 22 birdies were second on the week. … Oldest WGC winner at 48 (did NOT qualify 2020). Notables in the field this week: Thomas set the course record (62) for a first time on Saturday and backed it up with 64 on Sunday to force a playoff after an incredible hole-out on the 72nd hole. … Rafa Cabrera Bello and Tyrrell Hatton shared third, one shot out of the playoff. … 2017 winner Johnson signed for four rounds in the 60s but that was only good enough for T7, tied with Garcia. … Tommy Fleetwood circled 23 birdies, most on the week, and cashed T14. 2017: Dustin Johnson (-14, 270) First event in Mexico City. … Johnson entered the week Win-3rd-MC-2nd-T6 in his previous five starts. … Defeated Fleetwood by one. … Played in the final group one back of Thomas (T5) and beat him 68-72. … Led the field in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green, proximity and Par-5 scoring. … Made 22 birdies (T2). Notables in the field this week: Fleetwood closed 66-66 but fell one shot short of a playoff. … Jon Rahm (T3) hit the podium in his first-ever WGC event. … Thomas led the field in birdies with 24. … Brandt Snedeker (T7) figured it out on the weekend (66-65). … 36-hole leader Rory McIlroy settled for T7 after 70-71 weekend. … Hatton claimed 10th. Key stat leaders Top golfers in each statistic on the 2018-19 PGA TOUR are listed only if they are scheduled to compete this week.  * -  previous top 10 finish here since 2017 Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green  1  *Rory McIlroy  2  *Justin Thomas  3  Hideki Matsuyama  4  Adam Scott  6  *Paul Casey  7  Byeong-Hun An  8  *Dustin Johnson  9  Corey Conners 10 *Jon Rahm 11 Xander Schauffele 13 *Tommy Fleetwood 14 Jason Kokrak 16 Gary Woodland 18 Matthew Fitzpatrick 20 Webb Simpson 24 *Sergio Garcia Strokes Gained: Putting  2  Jordan Spieth  4  Graeme McDowell 11 Webb Simpson 12 *Brandt Snedeker 16 Billy Horschel 20 Kevin Kisner 24 *Rory McIlroy 28 Bryson DeChambeau Scrambling  1  *Tommy Fleetwood  2  Webb Simpson  7  Sungjae Im 12 Hideki Matsuyama 16 Marc Leishman 25 *Rory McIlroy 26 Matt Kuchar 27 *Brandt Snedeker 28 Francesco Molinari 28 Patrick Reed 30 Charles Howell III Caballos Dustin Johnson: Posted 66 or better in 5 of 12; 47-under (WIN-T7-WIN). Justin Thomas: Three top-10 finishes (9th-P2-T5) and has set the course record 62 twice; 64 birdies in 216 holes. Rory McIlroy: Led after 18 last year en route to T2 and was the 36-hole leader in 2017 before T7. Figuring it Out Paul Casey: T16 followed by T12 followed by T3. Weekend rounds are 9 under, 9 under and 12 under. Be patient! Sergio Garcia: 29 under (T6-T7-T12) with 11 of 12 rounds in the red. The outlier is an even-par round. Tyrrell Hatton: Back-to-back top-10 paydays halted by T19 last year. Of 12 rounds, 11 are in the red, including 64 in 2018. Tommy Fleetwood: Along with his runner up he’s cashed T19 and T14. Signed for 67 or better five of 12. Regulars – Players making visit No. 4 (not mentioned above) Matthew Fitzpatrick – T27, T30 and T16 Branden Grace – T33, T30 and T32 Kevin Kisner – T27, 29th and 11th Matt Kuchar – 50th, T58 and T20 Francesco Molinari – T25, T17 and T20 Louis Oosthuizen – T25, T30 and T48 Patrick Reed – T14, T37 and T61 Jordan Spieth – T54, T14 and T12 Gary Woodland – T17, T50 and T38

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ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – Cole Hammer turned pro this year after compiling a resume that’d be the envy of any college golfer. He first made headlines when he qualified for the U.S. Open as a 15-year-old. Then he developed into the No. 1 amateur in the world, winning prestigious events like the Western Amateur and Big 12 Championship. He capped his career at the University of Texas by helping the Longhorns win their fourth national championship. The transition to pro golf is often a tough one, though, even for the best amateurs. Hammer saw that firsthand, missing the cut in his first six PGA TOUR starts as a pro. He was a combined 29 over par in those 12 rounds. “This summer was tough on the PGA TOUR,” Hammer said. “I just had about zero patience. As soon as I made a bogey, I felt like the world was ending.” The beauty of professional golf is that a player’s career can change drastically in a single week. Hammer has also experienced that firsthand after a T5 finish at The RSM Classic, the final official PGA TOUR event of 2022. Hammer, who was in the field on a sponsor exemption, also earned a start in the first full-field event of next year, the Sony Open in Hawaii, and valuable non-member FedExCup points. He was atop the leaderboard after each of The RSM’s first two rounds after shooting 64-66 but had two bogeys and a double on his first five holes Saturday to tumble down the leaderboard. He made two birdies and was bogey-free for the remainder of the round, then shot 65 on Sunday. “What a rollercoaster, so many ups and downs,” he said. “I’m just so proud of the way that I fought and battled out there. It gives me a lot of confidence moving forward and leaves a great taste in my mouth going to the offseason.” Only four players bettered Hammer’s Sunday score, and they all shot 64. He finished the week ninth in Strokes Gained: Putting, gaining more than three strokes on the greens Sunday. He holed a 30-footer on the 13th hole and half of his six attempts between 10-20 feet. His Strokes Gained: Putting doesn’t include a 77-foot hole-out from the fringe on the third hole Sunday, either. “It’s big for … me moving forward in terms of confidence,” Hammer said. “It had taken a while to get there, to get comfortable enough to be able to trust myself on the biggest stage, but I think I do now. Actually, I know I do because I proved it to myself today under a lot of pressure.” Hammer, who finished fifth in this year’s class of PGA TOUR University presented by Velocity Global graduates, also has conditional Korn Ferry Tour status for 2023 after finishing T59 at the Korn Ferry Tour Q-School two weeks ago. It was his position in the top five of the PGA TOUR University Velocity Global Ranking that earned Hammer his spot in Q-School’s final stage. Hammer is uncertain how many starts he’ll get on the Korn Ferry Tour next year, but his amateur success could make him a popular candidate for sponsor exemptions. As should his recent success. Hammer made three of four cuts on the Korn Ferry Tour last year, including one top-10. He also made his first PGA TOUR cut at last week’s Cadence Bank Houston Open in his hometown. A second-round 65 earned him his first weekend tee time and he shot a 68 on Sunday to finish T27. He heard last Friday that he was a candidate to get an invitation to The RSM but his spot wasn’t confirmed until Sunday evening. This was his fourth sponsor exemption of the season, leaving him three more until he hits the non-member limit of seven. He is uncertain what his schedule will be in 2023, but he knows one thing. He can compete on the PGA TOUR.

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AUGUSTA, Ga. – Sergio Garcia didn’t make another octuple-bogey Friday, but he still struggled at Augusta National. Garcia shot 78 to set a dubious record in the defense of his emotional victory at last year’s Masters. Garcia’s 78 on Friday gave him a two-day total of 15-over 159, the highest 36-hole score ever shot by a defending champion. His 81 matched the highest score by a defending champion who missed the cut. Nick Faldo also shot 81 in 1997. Garcia’s 13 at the par-5 15th hole, which matched the highest single-hole score in tournament history, sealed his fate. He hit five shots into the pond that fronts the green on the hole nicknamed Firethorn. On Friday, he made six bogeys and a double-bogey. A birdied at the last allowed him to break 160 for the week. He’ll need to find a way to pass the time this weekend as he waits to return to Augusta National to slip the Green Jacket on this year’s champion. This is the 11th time in Masters history that the defending champion missed the cut, and the second consecutive year. Danny Willett missed the cut last year. The cut fell at 5-over 149, the lowest since 2015. Fifty-three of the 87 players who started this week will play on the weekend. The odd number of weekend participants means that an honorary marker will be used in the first tee time. That role is traditionally filled by club member Jeff Knox, who famously beat Rory McIlroy when they were paired in the 2014 Masters. U.S. Amateur runner-up Doug Ghim was the only one of the six amateurs to make the cut. The Texas senior, who made two eagles Thursday, shot 72-76 to clinch low-amateur honors. Among the players to miss the cut by a single shot were past champions Charl Schwartzel, Sandy Lyle and Jose Maria Olazabal. Here’s a look at other notables to miss the cut: — Thomas Pieters (73-78), who finished fourth last year in his Masters debut. — Patrick Cantlay (75-76), winner of this season’s Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. — Shubhankar Sharma (77-74), who received a special invitation to play this year’s Masters. — Danny Willett (75-76), the 2016 Masters champion. He’s missed the cut in both Masters starts since his win. — Patton Kizzire (76-76), a two-time winner this season. — Joaquin Niemann (76-77), the world’s No. 1 amateur. This is his final tournament as an amateur. — Mark O’Meara (78-81), the 1998 Masters champion. He said this will be his last Masters.

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