One & Done: RBC Heritage

Two-time FedExCup champion Rory McIlroy and defending champion Webb Simpson lead a star-studded field seeking some valuable early-season FedExCup points at TPC Scottsdale in this year's Waste Management Phoenix Open. FIELD NOTES: McIlroy will tee it up in Phoenix for the first time in his career. It's part of a busy stretch for the two-time FedExCup winner, who is in the midst of playing nine events in 12 weeks... Fellow FedExCup winner Justin Thomas is looking to improve on his T3 finish in Phoenix from 2020... Simpson is one of four PLAYERS champions in the field, along with McIlroy, Si Woo Kim (who recently won The American Express) and former WMPO champion Rickie Fowler... Arizona State alum Jon Rahm is looking to keep his stretch of solid play going. Rahm has notched three straight top-10 finishes on TOUR and was T2 heading into the weekend at the Farmers Insurance Open... A trio of promising young players received sponsor exemptions. Zalatoris, who has already earned special temporary membership on the PGA TOUR, has three top-10s this season, including a T6 at the U.S. Open. He also leads the Korn Ferry Tour's Regular Season Points List. Davis Riley is No. 3 in the KFT's rankings after winning twice in 2020. John Augenstein, the 2019 U.S. Amateur runner-up, will be making his second pro start after missing the cut at The American Express. FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 FedExCup points. COURSE: TPC Scottsdale (Stadium), 7,261 yards, par 71 (yardage subject to change). Due to COVID-19 safety protocols, one of the most well-attended events on the PGA TOUR will reduce its capacity to just 5,000 fans per day. The Tom Weiskopf and Jay Morrish design opened in 1986 and every Phoenix Open since 1987 has been played at the par-71 layout just northeast of downtown Phoenix. STORYLINES: Long-time participants at the Waste Management Phoenix Open will likely have to adjust to the lack of noise in 2021, especially around the par-3 16th hole... One notable absentee for 2021 is three-time winner and one of Arizona's most famous sons, Phil Mickelson. A fourth victory would make Mickelson the winningest champion in the tournament's history... Simpson looks to defend a TOUR title for the first time in his career... Brooks Koepka looks to break his streak of three straight missed cuts on the PGA TOUR... Can Tony Finau capture his second TOUR victory? Finau shared the 54-hole lead at The American Express earlier this month and lost in a playoff last year at TPC Scottsdale. 72-HOLE RECORD: 256, Mark Calcavecchia (2001), Phil Mickelson (2013). 18-HOLE RECORD: 60, Grant Waite (4th round, 1996), Mark Calcavecchia (2nd round, 2001), Phil Mickelson (2nd round, 2005, and 1st round, 2013). LAST TIME: Despite a bogey on the par-5 15th, Simpson made two birdies in a row on the 71st and 72nd to slide into a playoff with Finau. Simpson rolled in a 17-footer for a birdie on the final hole of regulation to tie Finau — who had a one-shot lead entering Sunday after a sizzling 62 on Saturday — at 17 under before adding in one more birdie on the first playoff hole. It was Simpson's seventh PGA TOUR title, and first of two in 2020. Thomas, who shot a Sunday 65 (the round of the day) finished T3 alongside Bubba Watson and Nate Lashley. HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Thursday, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. (Golf Channel/PGA TOUR Live). Thursday-Friday, 3 p.m.-7 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday-Sunday, 1 p.m.-3 p.m. ET (Golf Channel), 3 p.m.-6 p.m. ET (NBC). PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Thursday-Friday, 9:15 a.m.-7 p.m. (Featured Groups). Saturday-Sunday, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. (Featured Groups), 3 p.m.-6 p.m. (Featured Holes) Radio: Thursday-Friday, 1 p.m.-7 p.m. ET. Saturday-Sunday, 1 p.m.-6 p.m. ET (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio).

Click here to read the full article…

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – Winning on the PGA TOUR didn’t seem possible a few months ago. Tyler Duncan was just worried about regaining his TOUR card. He needed an 11th-hour Hail Mary, a T4 in the final event of the recent Korn Ferry Tour Finals, to do it. RELATED: Final leaderboard | Winner’s Bag Professional golfers are always days away from a life-changing achievement, though. And that was the case for Duncan, who won his first PGA TOUR title Sunday at The RSM Classic. The 30-year-old turned pro in 2012. This was his first win in more than 150 starts on PGA TOUR-sanctioned tours. “You never know, this is a crazy game,â€� Duncan said, “It can go several different directions.â€� His biggest win before this week was the Indiana State Amateur. Duncan started the week ranked 378th in the world. On Sunday, he held off the highest-ranked player in the field and the hottest player on the PGA TOUR. Duncan made a 25-foot birdie putt on the final hole of regulation, then birdied the second hole of a sudden-death playoff with Webb Simpson to win his first PGA TOUR title. Duncan finished at 19-under 263, shooting a first-round 67 at Sea Island’s Plantation Course before shooting 61-70-65 in the final three rounds on the Seaside Course. He moved from 151st to 11th in the FedExCup standings and earned invitations to events such as the Sentry Tournament of Champions, THE PLAYERS Championship, the Masters and the PGA Championship. He also is exempt on the PGA TOUR through the end of the 2022 season. Duncan led at the halfway point after shooting a second-round 61 that included a hole-out from 106 yards. He made 18 pars on a low-scoring Saturday at Sea Island, though, and got lapped by Brendon Todd’s 62. The final round was played in cold, windy conditions, which played to the strengths of the Duncan, who grew up in colder climes. His 65 matched the low round of the day. “When I saw (the forecast), I was like it’s going to be great because you just go out and play solid golf. And one of my strengths is ball‑striking, controlling my ball and I did a pretty good job of that,â€� Duncan said. “Anytime there’s wind, you have to be able to really control your ball and it definitely worked in my favor.â€� Duncan has to rely on accuracy to succeed. Listed at 5-foot-8 and 150 pounds, he ranked 150th in driving distance last season (288.2 yards). He missed just one fairway and two greens Sunday, and finished the week ranked fourth in greens hit and sixth in driving accuracy. He spent most of the final day outside the spotlight, though. Todd was seeking to become the first player since Tiger Woods to win three consecutive PGA TOUR events. He blocked his approach into the marsh on the fifth hole, though, and made double-bogey. His 2-over 72 ended a streak of 12 consecutive rounds of 68 or lower. He will enter the new year with a 140-point lead in the FedExCup after finishing fourth. Simpson, the former U.S. Open and PLAYERS champion who is soon to represent the U.S. in the Presidents Cup, took a two-shot lead into the back nine. Recent winner Sebastián Muñoz caught Simpson in the middle of the back nine, but Simpson holed a 22-footer for birdie on 16 to take a one-shot lead. He stared down the putt before pumping his fist when it dropped in the hole. After Simpson teed off on 17, a roar went up from 18 for Duncan’s closing birdie. Simpson holed five-foot par putts on the final two holes to tie Duncan. Duncan hit his approach inside Simpson on each playoff hole. Duncan missed from 22 feet on the first extra hole before making a 13-footer for the win. He made his only bogey of the week on the first hole Sunday, but made six birdies and no bogeys the rest of the day. He preceded his birdie on 18 by holing a 7-foot birdie putt on the 192-yard, par-3 17th. “He’s very strong mentally,â€� said his caddie, Zach Guthrie, who was the assistant coach at Illinois while Duncan was playing for Purdue. Duncan proved that Sunday and it resulted in his first PGA TOUR title, an accomplishment that once felt far away.

Click here to read the full article…

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – He was a global superstar with his own clothing line; a garage full of Bentley, Aston Martin, and Ferrari showpieces; and a home worthy of Architectural Digest. But somewhere along the line Ian Poulter lost his game. An injured foot forced him to attend the 2016 Ryder Cup as a Vice Captain, not a player, and by March of last year he was mired in a joyless slog to try to fulfill the terms of his Major Medical Extension. With his PGA TOUR card in the balance, it was time to have the Big Talk with his manager, Paul Dunkley. “It wasn’t just a meeting, it was like five days of really working out a plan,â€� Poulter said Wednesday from TPC Sawgrass, where he’ll try to improve on his T2 finish last year and become the first Englishman to win THE PLAYERS Championship. “… My life, my on-course, my off-course businesses, just really restructure what it is I have, I have to do, put some emphasis on the important things, and the stuff that really isn’t that important, just get rid of it. And clear up the distractions.â€� Poulter jettisoned his clothing line; narrowly fulfilled his Major Medical to keep his TOUR status for the rest of last season (more on that later); and, unburdened and reenergized, finished T2 at THE PLAYERS after a 116-yard shot through the foliage on 18 helped him salvage a crazy bogey. The rest is history. His run to the quarterfinals at the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play earlier this season, when he was erroneously told his world ranking would get him into the Masters. His 20-foot birdie putt to force a playoff with Beau Hossler at the Houston Open, Poulter pounding his chest “like some mad gorillaâ€� (his words) before winning the playoff to punch his ticket to Augusta. Today, Poulter, 42, is 25th in the FedExCup, 26th in the Official World Golf Ranking. He looks like a solid bet to make the European Ryder Cup team, and is contending regularly again. He took a one-shot lead into Sunday at the RBC Heritage last month, but playing for the sixth week in a row he bonked with a 75 to finish T7. No harm done; he was back. Success has many fathers, but you’d have to say the Poults Revival Tour traces back to THE PLAYERS last year, and specifically that 116-yard shot through the trees on 18. “I definitely think it was a huge part of 2017 for me,â€� he said. “Just to be told I was exempt to play was a huge bonus, and obviously to then kick on from that and play well, finishing runner-up, obviously enabled me to go back to Europe and play a bit more and really kind of work on a schedule. And that was obviously very helpful into the start of 2018, which has been a pretty good start to the year.â€� The key word there is schedule. Poulter likes to have one, and when his ranking bottomed out at 207th after The Honda Classic last year, things weren’t looking good. Easing into his 40s, he seemed to be headed for that no-man’s land in which players rely on sponsor’s exemptions, past-champion status, and/or career earnings to get tournament starts.   “Someone who’s quite OCD, to not know what they’re doing, is not very good,â€� he said. “So, to have stuff mapped out is quite nice.â€� On the subject of maps, Poulter will play on the other side of the Atlantic this summer, which he feels will give him the best chance to make his sixth Ryder Cup team. In the Year of the Comeback (Tiger, Phil, Jason, Rory et al) a revitalized Poulter seems to bode especially well for Europe. “I’m so happy for him,â€� said McIlroy, who was the fiery Englishman’s partner when Poulter’s birdie rampage resuscitated Europe at the 2012 Ryder Cup at Medinah. “Poults is one of the best guys out here.â€� When he was a boy, Poulter tested the patience of his teachers. One of them, he says, told him he would never amount to anything while jabbing him in the chest hard enough to leave a mark. He remembers the name of the teacher, remembers the whole thing like it was yesterday. He kept at it, which meant trying and mostly failing to beat his older brother, Danny. Poulter began his golf career as a lightly regarded club pro in England, selling sweaters, giving lessons, and gaining more infamy than fame for rarely making it to work on time. He kept at it. The last 18 months brought more turbulence, starting with the threat of losing his TOUR card, which seemed especially real when it seemed he hadn’t done enough through the 2017 Valero Texas Open, the last start of his Major Medical. (A math irregularity revealed he had, in fact, earned enough FedExCup points.) He was told he had done enough to make this year’s Masters, and then told he hadn’t. He kept at it. It drives Poulter crazy to be told he can’t, but it also has fueled his surprising, sui generis career. And he might be just coming into his own. He’s more than the bug-eyed Ryder Cup killer, or the guy who trails only Tiger Woods in all-time matches won (27) and played (41) at the WGC-Dell Technologies. With two runner-up finishes at THE PLAYERS, he knows TPC Sawgrass suits him. And beyond that? If history is any guide, you’d have to say anything is possible. “There’s still things I’m working on to try and get better,â€� Poulter said. “And I feel I’ve got a lot more in me to give. With that in mind, I think I can still win big tournaments. I still think I can win a major. Other guys have done that over the age of 42, and I would like to think I still can.â€� As the old chestnut goes, whether you think you can or you can’t, the surest way to help Ian Poulter win THE PLAYERS is to tell him he has no chance.

Click here to read the full article…