In Gee Chun leads LPGA Tour’s rainy Kingsmill Championship

The top 70 qualifiers for the second event of the FedExCup Playoffs have advanced to the BMW Championship at Wilmington CC. Keegan Bradley leads the tournament by one stroke after an opening round 64 on Thursday. It’s the first time the PGA TOUR has held an event in Delaware. Scottie Scheffler, who entered the Playoffs at No. 1 in the FedExCup, is coming off a missed cut, just his fourth of the season. Will Zalatoris grabbed the No. 1 spot after his dramatic win at the FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis at last week’s FedExCup Playoffs opener. Defending BMW and FedExCup champ Patrick Cantlay is in the field, as is Rory McIlroy, Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth, Tony Finau, Jon Rahm, Viktor Hovland, Sam Burns, Xander Schauffele, Hideki Matsuyama and Adam Scott. The winner will earn 2,000 FedExCup points. Tommy Fleetwood is skipping the event, and Cameron Smith withdrew earlier in the week with a hip injury. There is no cut this week. Here’s everything you need to know to follow the action, including Featured Groups for PGA TOUR LIVE and newly expanded and extended coverage on ESPN+. Click here for more details. Leaderboard Full tee times HOW TO FOLLOW (All times ET) Television: Friday, 3 p.m.-7 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday, 12 p.m.-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3 p.m.-6 p.m. (NBC). Sunday, 12 p.m.-2 p.m. (Golf Channel), 2 p.m.-6 p.m. (NBC) Radio: Friday, 1 p.m.–7 p.m. ET. Saturday-Sunday, 1 p.m.-6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio) For outside of the U.S., click here for GOLFTV powered by the PGA TOUR PGA TOUR LIVE FEATURED GROUPS Marquee Group Scottie Scheffler, Will Zalatoris Featured Groups Jon Rahm, Hideki Matsuyama Rory McIlroy, Sepp Straka Featured Holes: No. 2 (par 3), No. 7 (par 3), No. 13 (par 3), No. 15 (par 3) MUST READS FedExCup update: Adam Scott on track to burst bubble again Rory McIlroy keeps chin up despite momentum stealing triple 70 one-liners for each player at BMW Championship

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THE OVERVIEW ORLANDO, Fla. — When it comes to Tiger Woods and his comfort zone at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, a remarkable sense of symmetry surrounds his total of eight victories. To wit, there have been eight different standings after Round 1 and eight different players who have been his runner-up: Davis Love III, Phil Mickelson, Michael Campbell, Stewart Cink, Bart Bryant, Sean O’Hair, Graeme McDowell and Justin Rose. Where the story has achieved a semblance of consistency is Woods’ blueprint for success at Bay Hill. In his eight wins, he has fired a solid sub-par second round (scoring average: 66.63) to roar inside the top 10, then assumed even greater control in Round 3 (scoring average: 68.36) to get into at least a share of first (seven times) or second. That, in turn, has afforded Woods a position he relishes — the chance to pretty much go head-to-head against a reduced list of competitors. The result has been vintage Woods as his final-round scoring average in the eight wins is 68.63, while the 12 players who have been second to Woods through 54 holes and the one who led him (O’Hair) have a fourth-round average of 72.31. Uncanny stuff, especially when you consider that some high-octane names have been in position through 54 holes to outplay Woods here — Love, Sergio Garcia, Bubba Watson and Rickie Fowler, to name a few. Yet for all of that, Woods will be the first to polish some caution onto his story here. Mostly due to injuries, Woods hasn’t played in the last four tournaments at Bay Hill and the eight times when hasn’t won, he pretty much has been well back — five times outside the top 20, just once inside the top 10. “Just because I won here eight times doesn’t mean I’m going to win this week,â€� Woods said Tuesday, just three days after tying for second at the Valspar Championship. “I’ve got to do some serious homework (Wednesday) and really get to know and get the feel of how this golf course is playing this particular year.â€� THREE PLAYERS TO PONDER Jason Day Playing for the first time in a month, he’ll be well-rested on a course that’s treated him well (2016 win). Tommy Fleetwood Six top-10 finishes in his last nine worldwide starts for the new special temporary TOUR member. Rory McIlroy Hard to believe: In his last eight starts on American soil, he has exactly zero top-10 finishes. THE FLYOVER Want to make a birdie down the stretch at Bay Hill? Your best bet is the 511-yard par-5 16th. Last year, it was the only hole among the closing five holes at Bay Hill to play under par (4.393 stroke average). In fact, of the 900 holes on TOUR last season, it was the eighth easiest. THE LANDING ZONE The 458-yard par-4 18th isn’t the toughest closing hole in Florida – that belongs to the 18th at TPC Sawgrass – but it’s still one of the toughest on the PGA TOUR. A year ago, it ranked as the fourth toughest, playing to a stroke average of 0.283 over par as water on the right side challenges approach shots. Here’s a look at where all tee shots landed last year. WEATHER CHECK From PGA TOUR meteorologist Stewart Williams: “Below normal temperatures can be expected through Thursday as high pressure builds over the gulf and slowly moves east across Florida. Temperatures will be quite cool each morning, with lows in the low to mid 40s and highs generally in the upper 60s to low 70s each day. The high will shift east on Friday, producing more of a southerly flow. This will provide a quick warming trend with highs returning to the low 80s this weekend.â€� For the latest weather news from Orlando, Florida, check out PGATOUR.COM’s Weather Hub. SOUND CHECK “I thoroughly enjoyed being around him, being with him and we had so many great times — none more so than last time I won here. We were over there, I’m cleaning out my locker, and he’s over there having his ice tea thing and so he’s just sitting there and, hey, grab a seat. Absolutely, yes, sir. So we sat down, we just started to BS and have a great time together and I’m going to miss those times, for sure.â€�  BY THE NUMBERS 122.5 – Average clubhead speed off the tee for Tiger Woods this season. That’s more that 4 mph faster than his average in 2013 when he won five events. His average driving distance of 303.4 yards is 10 yards longer than his 2013 average. 0.478 – Strokes above par average for the field at the opening three holes at Bay Hill last year. That was the highest average of any opening three holes on TOUR last season. 72.890 – The field stroke average last year at Bay Hill. The 0.890 strokes above par made it the fifth toughest course on the PGA TOUR last season. 3,008 – Balls in the water at Bay Hill since 2003. The par-5 sixth has accounted for 21 percent of those balls (636). SCATTERSHOTS Australians enter on a two-year winning streak, with Jason Day winning in 2016 and Marc Leishman winning last year (when 10 Aussies were in the field). This week, there are six Aussies teeing it up – Day, Leishman, Stuart Appleby, Adam Scott, Cameron Smith and Curtis Luck. Matt Every’s two career PGA TOUR wins have been at Bay Hill. If he wins this week, he would become the first player to post his first three TOUR wins at the same tournament since 1934, when Leonard Gallett won his third Wisconsin PGA event. Bay Hill has some of the toughest par 3 holes on the PGA TOUR. When Tiger Woods won in 2013, he played the par 3s in 1 over – the worst par-3 performance of any Bay Hill champion in the last five years. On the flip side, Matt Every had the best performance at 3 under while winning his second consecutive Arnold Palmer Invitational in 2015. University of California junior Collin Morikawa is in the field this week thanks to the Arnold Palmer Cup exemption. The 20 participants of the Arnold Palmer Cup – a Ryder Cup-style tournament featuring the top male university/college golfers – vote on the player who best represents the “Arnold Palmer Legacy.â€�

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Jason Day expects he’ll be praising Brooks Koepka’s layup game as the pair get closer to the par-5 16th at TPC Southwind this week. The 530-yard hole will be a pivotal one in the World Golf Championships – FedEx St. Jude Invitational, but also doubles as the site for a potential $1 million showdown. The pair are in a battle with Dustin Johnson, and potentially a few others, for the season long Aon Risk Reward Challenge – worth $1 million to the winner. Paired with Day over the opening two rounds, Koepka laughed that he won’t fall for the Australian’s reverse psychology and has his driver, along with his verbal jab game, warmed up if he needs it. While Ian Poulter, Jason Kokrak, Justin Thomas, Alex Noren, Gary Woodland and Cameron Smith all have mathematical chances of winning over this week and next, the odds suggest a three-man showdown in Memphis. The Aon Risk Reward Challenge has seen players on the PGA TOUR (and LPGA Tour) record their best two scores on the designated hole of the week throughout the season and an average-to-par calculated. Players must have played 40 rounds at the eligible events to qualify, a feat Day and Koepka have already achieved, while Johnson will hit that mark this week. As it stands, all three are tied at the top, with an average of exactly 1-under par. If they make at least two birdies in their four rounds on the 16th hole this week, their average will stay on that mark. If either of them can make an eagle and a birdie as their best two scores, or perhaps even two eagles, they’d go a long way to securing the title. None of the three have committed to the Wyndham Championship next week, meaning this is their last chance to improve their average unless they join the field in Greensboro by Friday afternoon. Those behind would need to play exceptionally well on the 16th this week, and again at Sedgefield Country Club’s par-5 15th next week to track them down. While the birdie average over the entire season has been impressive by the trio, they have a better score in mind this week. The dogleg left 16th is certainly reachable in two in Memphis. “I think I’ll need at least one eagle and a birdie to get it done and to have four cracks at it is nice. I’m definitely thinking about it,â€� Day said. “The reality is I just have to put it to one side though and execute some good shots. In the last month or two I noticed I was leading and paid more attention to it.â€� Playing for $1 million on a hole is not something taken lightly by Day. His first golf club came from a landfill, and he often had to bathe with water heated by kettle in his childhood. His mother infamously cut the lawn with scissors, as they couldn’t afford a lawnmower. “It’s amazing the opportunities we get on the PGA TOUR and I am extremely grateful,â€� Day added. “It should create some good banter between Brooks and I in the opening few rounds, and I’ll be watching DJ for sure also.â€� Koepka, the FedExCup leader, is deep in a battle to win the $2 million season-long Wyndham Rewards battle also, and as such, promises to be switched on mentally. But he expects the 16th will provide some light-hearted moments. “I’m sure if myself or Jason makes eagle, I’m sure it will ring in the other person’s head,â€� Koepka said. “Anytime you can get a little bit of jabbing going on on the course where it’s lighthearted, it makes it fun, it makes it enjoyable. I like to be jabbed on the course, poked fun of, whether it be a bad shot, great shot, whatever. So it’s fun. Jason’s a good dude, he can laugh and joke and have a good time and that’s what you want.â€� Should there be a tie at the top, a tie-breaker scenario would be imposed. Only the rounds where the players played in the same tournament would be taken into consideration in the tiebreaker. You can follow the scores for the Aon Risk Reward Challenge here.

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