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The Club at Nine Bridges, site of this week’s THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES, was the fourth-toughest venue on TOUR last season. High winds played a large part in the course’s difficulty, but so did its large, sloping greens and deep bunkers. According to several metrics, this week’s venue was the TOUR’s toughest on and around the greens. Players got up-and-down less than half the time at last year’s CJ CUP. The scrambling percentage at Nine Bridges (48.2 percent) was the lowest on TOUR last season. Nine Bridges also had the TOUR’s third-lowest sand-save percentage (39.3). “The ball, it has a tendency to not sit in great spots around the greens. You know, it always seems to kind of fall away or seems to go down into a bunker,â€� said last year’s champion, Justin Thomas. Nine Bridges also had last season’s highest average putts per round (31.3) – that’s almost 0.5 putts more than second-place Monterey Peninsula Country Club — as well as the lowest one-putt percentage (31 percent) and highest three-putt percentage (6.9 percent). The locals speak of the “Halla Mountain break,â€� a reference to the large mountain at the center of Jeju Island that influences the flow of the greens. “The whole golf course is on this side of the big mountain. Sometimes it can look flat but really everything is still going down the mountain,â€� said Adam Scott. Nine Bridges’ 73.2 scoring average was the second-toughest at a non-major last season (only PGA National, the site of The Honda Classic, was harder). Thomas also won The Honda, giving him victories at last season’s two toughest non-major venues. He opened last year’s CJ CUP with a 9-under 63. Then the winds, and harder hole locations, came and Thomas won by shooting even par over the final 54 holes (74-70-72). “Putting is so hard in this wind. You can have a 2- or 3-footer and if the wind picks up, you’re not going to make it and that’s just the fact of the matter,â€� Thomas said. “So that also goes into the statistics because you’re not making as many putts, percentages aren’t going to be as high. A lot goes into it, but the wind is definitely a huge factor, but the design of the golf course and the greens are also very influential.â€� Nine Bridges gets harder the closer a player gets to the hole. Many South Korean courses are claustrophobic, but Nine Bridges’ wide fairways were the third-easiest to hit last season (72.4 percent). Players hit nearly 70 percent of the greens last year, as well. Only 12 courses had a higher greens-in-regulation-percentage. The high winds and large greens impact the putting statistics because players who don’t hit it close are left with long, difficult birdie putts instead of chips and pitches from off the green. The rough is lower this year but the greens are firmer. And it’s going to be cool and windy once again. The temperature isn’t expected to exceed 62, and the winds could blow over 20 mph in the first two rounds. “It’s always windy here. It’s just a matter of how windy,â€� Thomas said. That means players will need to be precise with their ball-striking if they want to win this week. Saving par is no easy task at Nine Bridges.

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PATRICK CANTLAY, XANDER SCHAUFFELE TEAM FOR WIRE-TO-WIRE ZURICH CLASSIC VICTORY Defending FedExCup champion. Reigning Olympic gold medalist. Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele appeared a formidable duo from the get-go at this week’s Zurich Classic of New Orleans, the PGA TOUR’s only full-field team event, and they surpassed expectations across four rounds at TPC Louisiana. Cantlay/Schauffele set a tournament scoring record with a 13-under 59 in opening-round Four-ball, and the duo kept the pedal down, finishing 29-under for a two-stroke victory over Sam Burns/Billy Horschel. (The event featured a Four-ball format on Thursday and Saturday, with a Foursomes format on Friday and Sunday.) Not only did Cantlay/Schauffele become the first team to win the Zurich Classic in wire-to-wire-fashion, but they also set the tournament scoring record. Schauffele had recorded eight runner-up finishes on TOUR since his most recent victory (2019 Sentry Tournament of Champions), and he earns his fifth TOUR title alongside good friend and fellow Southern California native Cantlay, who secures TOUR triumph No. 7. Cantlay and Schauffele each earn 400 FedExCup points for their efforts – splitting standard first-place and second-place points. Cantlay ascends to No. 4 on the season-long FedExCup standings; Schauffele moves to No. 20. “We definitely bring out the best in each other,” Cantlay said after the victory was finalized, “and we really enjoy being out here together.” A strong recipe for a dynamic duo. TOUR HEADS SOUTH TO MEXICO The PGA TOUR added a second event in Mexico to its schedule with January’s announcement of the Mexico Open at Vidanta. Vidanta Vallarta will host the event for the next three years. Jon Rahm headlines the field with plenty of home-country talent trying to lift a trophy on Mexican soil. Abraham Ancer leads the Mexican contingent at Vidanta Vallarta alongside fellow TOUR winner Carlos Ortiz and Korn Ferry Tour winner Roberto Diaz. Major champions Gary Woodland, Graeme McDowell and Patrick Reed are set to tee it up. Multi-time TOUR winners Tony Finau, Daniel Berger, Cameron Champ and Kevin Na are in the field. Vidanta Vallarta opened in 2015 and features large landing areas off the tee, while the greens are protected by cavernous bunkers. The Mexico Open is considered the country’s national golf championship and was first contested in 1944. It boasts winners like Lee Trevino, Billy Casper, Roberto De Vicenzo, Ben Crenshaw and Stewart Cink. The winner will receive 500 FedExCup points. VIDEO OF THE WEEK MIC CHECK “That was probably as nervous as I’ve ever been over a putt of that length. It sounds silly just to have a chance to make the cut … to somehow shake that putt in on the last hole was something I’ll never forget. But just the whole week, playing with Bill, getting texts from all my kids, it’s just been a real charge.” – Jay Haas reflects on making the cut at the Zurich Classic while playing alongside son Bill. BY THE NUMBERS 59 – Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele combined for a tournament-record 59 on Thursday in Four-ball (best-ball) play. 68 – Jay Haas became the oldest player in PGA TOUR history to make the cut at 68 years, 4 months and 20 days old. 3 – Scott Parel was victorious at the ClubCorp Classic by winning a three-man playoff over Steven Alker and Gene Sauers. COMCAST BUSINESS TOUR TOP 10 The Comcast Business TOUR TOP 10 highlights and rewards the extraordinary level of play required to earn a spot in the TOP 10 at the conclusion of the FedExCup Regular Season as determined by the FedExCup standings. The competition recognizes and awards the most elite in golf.

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DALLAS – Trinity Forest members Jordan Spieth and Tony Romo – two of the biggest sports names in Dallas — are seeking progress in their golf games. After two rounds of the AT&T Byron Nelson, each walked away feeling positive steps were made. Only one, however, advanced to the weekend. Spieth, the 11-time PGA TOUR winner, followed his opening 68 with a 4-under 67, leaving him at 7 under through 36 holes. The good news is that just a handful of players are higher up on the leaderboard. The bad news is that leader Sung Kang is 11 strokes ahead of him. “Very pleased,â€� Spieth said after his round. “I felt like I improved on yesterday, which was already a solid day. .. In a position to fire away a little bit on the weekend.â€� Romo, the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback-turned-NFL-analyst, followed his opening 76 with 3-over 74. That left him at 8 over and near the bottom of the leaderboard but given that he’s the only amateur in the field and currently known for his predictions more than his pars, it was a good step. Of his four nines, he played two of them in even par, including his opening nine (he started on the 10th hole) Friday. Asked what his takeaway was in his third start at a PGA TOUR event (and his first in Dallas), Romo – who played on a sponsor exemption this week — replied: “Really just the ability to continue to improve. I think more than anything, I got a sense to be able to hit a lot of high quality shots under what is a pressure situation for me. “That’s encouraging and shows that the work you’re doing holds up when it counts and from there, you just got to find the little things that allow you to keep things going and not derail the round … technique-wise, we’re coming on.â€� Spieth’s first two rounds are his most consistent start since the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, when he opened with 66-68. But on the weekend at Pebble Beach Golf Links, he faded away, shooting 74-75. That’s been a common occurrence this season for Spieth. He ranks T-38th on TOUR in first-round scoring average and third in second-round average. But in third-round average, he ranks T-202nd, and his final-round scoring average ranks 207th. Related: Tee times | In cold weather, Kang produces hot round | A chip-in eagle – and then reality – for Romo | Nine holes blind, but Koepka still walks away with a 65 at Trinity Forest | Leishman withdraws with back injury | Origin story: Arm-lock putting Staying in contention and carrying over his good play into the weekend will be a good sign for Spieth, who has yet to produce a top-20 finish in his first 12 starts this season. “The idea is to try to get better each day,â€� Spieth said. “Sometimes the score reflects that, sometimes it doesn’t. This year, even if I’ve had a poor weekend, I felt like I found something to make me better long-term. … Oftentimes it’s looked at as negative or down, but I don’t see it that way. “I know what I’m supposed to be doing, I know what I’m supposed to be working on and I know over the course of a long career, that whether it’s short-term results or not, it doesn’t matter. It will bring better long-term results.â€� One thing Spieth definitely would like to avoid is a double bogey. He’s had one in each of his first two rounds, which has eaten away at the 14 birdies he’s made thus far. “I’d like to play a bogey-free round here or there and really get something going,â€� he said. “Clearly everybody would like that.â€� As for Romo, well, he will continue to work on his game, try to qualify for the U.S. Open and put himself in competitive situations that test his consistency. He was pleased with the way he struck the ball at times the first two days. “This game is small when it comes to your ability to improve from even one day to the next or one week or one month,â€� Romo said. “You can really make a ton of improvement with the right technique or practice.â€� He did get some golf tips from Nick Faldo, who – like Romo – works at CBS. “I think he knows a little bit about the golf swing,â€� Romo said. “I think we may listen to him a little bit. He’s got some good bits.â€�

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