Phil: ‘I do a lot of dumb stuff’ on the golf course

PGA TOUR STATEMENT Given the importance of the FedExCup Playoffs as the culmination of the season-long race for the FedExCup, and sequential nature of advancement from one event to the next based on competitive performance, the Commissioner has decided to modify the Bad Weather Guidelines as outlined in the PGA TOUR Tournament Regulations. The Commissioner has the authority to modify a Regulation if he deems it in the interest of the game of golf, the host organizations, the public or the players. As such, for THE NORTHERN TRUST, BMW Championship and TOUR Championship, play will be allowed to extend beyond Monday as is deemed necessary in order to complete 72 holes of competition, without regard to how much play is completed on Monday. This modification is consistent with the Tournament Regulation already in effect for THE PLAYERS Championship. Provided course conditions and the weather permit, the goal is to complete THE NORTHERN TRUST on Monday. As previously messaged, Round 4 tee times have been published for Monday with the first tee time on #1 and #10 at 7:30 am. Due to uncertainty with the forecast overnight, we will provide an update to players and caddies at 5:30 am.

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This is hilarious. There’s no other way to describe what arguably is the most obvious choice of any golfer in any tournament. No matter your philosophy, which tournaments you include or your current ranking, the only reason you don’t burn Hideki Matsuyama at the Waste Management Phoenix Open is because you already did in one of his four previous starts this season. OK, there are two reasons. The other is that you’ll forget to submit your pick. But that wouldn’t be funny at all. As of late Tuesday night, Matsuyama was chosen by 29 percent of all gamers in PGA TOUR One & Done. He’s projected to be selected almost twice as many times as the second-most chosen, three-time tournament champion, all-time earnings leader at TPC Scottsdale and World Golf Hall of Famer, Phil Mickelson. How do you say, “No big deal,” in Japanese? Truth be told, I went into this column with the intent to go against the grain. Short of the preposterousness of all pivots, it was going to be an exercise. Alas, after reviewing all of the options and angles, only four words are necessary. Hideki Matsuyama. The End. It’s a bedtime story that Sean Martin will read to his kids for years. If it puts smiles on their faces like Matsuyama initiates adoration from their devout daddy, sweet dreams and restless nights are guaranteed. Matsuyama at TPC Scottsdale is like Tiger Woods and Torrey Pines, Bay Hill or Firestone during his prime but minus the three-way coin flip. Look up “don’t overthink it” in any fantasy guide and you’ll see Sean pointing at the Japanese star inside The Coliseum. Now, because it’s my duty to connect with the 71 percent who can’t or won’t execute the obvious, there are eight legitimate short-listers who deserve a thought (or less). • For One & Doners who have already burned Matsuyama, Mickelson is the ideal alternative. The only reason you wouldn’t is because he loves Quail Hollow Club, host of the Wells Fargo Championship on the first weekend of May. The caution to consider is that he’s committed this week and there’s no guarantee that he’ll appear in Charlotte. • If Matsuyama and Mickelson are off-limits, Jon Rahm. The Spaniard checks all of the boxes. • Gary Woodland didn’t crack the top 30 in the tournament in the prior four editions before emerging from a playoff with Chez Reavie last year. The defending champion’s Future Possibilities are thin to none, but he’s been so consistently strong that the absence of more on the horizon transitions his value into that of a wild card. Think Lucas Glover, Tyrrell Hatton and Kyle Stanley in various forms. • Rickie Fowler is No. 9 in my Power Rankings out of respect for his capability and course history, but let’s see him connect for something special with the new golf ball first. • Matt Kuchar is humming along. I could have forced an argument on you, but Matsuyama is available to me and I wanted to respect myself in the morning. • Even I’m a little surprised that the WMPO slots second in Webb Simpson’s Future Possibilities, and most of his success at TPC Scottsdale occurred either when he could still anchor or before he became one with his putter. • Bubba Watson deserves a mention for his allegiance to and success at the tournament, but c’mon, the Travelers Championship is his quality jam. • Martin Laird presents best as a tail of the tandem in two-man games, but you’re going to miss him in Reno. Other two-man options include Reavie, Byeong Hun An, Sam Ryder and Vaughn Taylor. FUTURE POSSIBILITIES NOTE: Select golfers committed to the tournament are listed alphabetically. Future tournaments are sorted chronologically and reflect previous success on the courses on which the tournaments will be held in 2018-19. The numerical values in parentheses represent the order of relative confidence of where to use each golfer if multiple sites are listed (e.g. 1 for strongest, 2 for next-strongest and so on). To present weighted confidence in real time, numerical values will not change all season no matter how many tournament remain listed for each golfer. All are pending golfer commitment. Byeong Hun An … Waste Management (2); Honda (3); Memorial (1) Daniel Berger … Waste Management (2); WGC-Mexico (3); Travelers (1) Keegan Bradley … Memorial (5); Travelers (4) Tony Finau … Valero (5); Memorial (2) Rickie Fowler … Waste Management (1); Honda (3); Arnold Palmer (8); Masters (2); Wells Fargo (6); PGA Championship (9); Memorial (5); U.S. Open (10) Branden Grace … Heritage (1); Valero (3); Byron Nelson (5); U.S. Open (4) Emiliano Grillo … Arnold Palmer (2); Charles Schwab (3) Bill Haas … Genesis (3); WGC-Match Play (8); Heritage (4); Charles Schwab (2); Wyndham (6) Adam Hadwin … Waste Management (4); Genesis (3); Valspar (2); John Deere (5) Brian Harman … Arnold Palmer (7); Charles Schwab (1); Travelers (5); John Deere (4) Russell Henley … Honda (4); Masters (3) Charley Hoffman … Genesis (5); Arnold Palmer (2); Masters (4); Heritage (7); Valero (3); Charles Schwab (6); Travelers (1) J.B. Holmes … Waste Management (3); Pebble Beach (2); Genesis (4); Wells Fargo (5) Billy Horschel … Honda (4); Arnold Palmer (7); Valero (2); New Orleans (3; defending); Wyndham (6); TOUR Championship (1) Zach Johnson … Waste Management (6); Arnold Palmer (7); Valero (4); Charles Schwab (5); John Deere (1); Open Championship (2); TOUR Championship (8) Si Woo Kim … PLAYERS (3); Heritage (1) Chris Kirk … Valero (3); PLAYERS (5); Charles Schwab (2) Kevin Kisner … Heritage (3); New Orleans (5); Charles Schwab (2); Memorial (6) Russell Knox … Heritage (2) Matt Kuchar … Waste Management (4); PLAYERS (5); Valspar (9); Masters (6); Heritage (2); Charles Schwab (7); Memorial (1); Open Championship (8) Martin Laird … Waste Management (1); Genesis (3); Valero (5); Reno-Tahoe (2) Hideki Matsuyama … Waste Management (1); Genesis (10); Arnold Palmer (11); PLAYERS (9); Masters (4); PGA Championship (13); Memorial (8); U.S. Open (14); Wyndham (7); TOUR Championship (5) Phil Mickelson … Waste Management (4); Pebble Beach (5); Genesis (6); WGC-Mexico (1; defending); Masters (9); Wells Fargo (2); Open Championship (8); WGC-St. Jude (3) Ryan Moore … Waste Management (12); Genesis (5); Valspar (3); Valero (7); Masters (13); Memorial (11); Travelers (6); John Deere (8); Wyndham (2); TOUR Championship (9) Kevin Na … Genesis (2); Valspar (6); Charles Schwab (3); Wyndham (5) Ryan Palmer … Valero (2); Charles Schwab (4) Scott Piercy … New Orleans (1; co-defending); Canadian (7; last winner at Hamilton in 2012) Jon Rahm … Waste Management (4); Masters (5); Charles Schwab (1); TOUR Championship (7) Xander Schauffele … Genesis (6); PLAYERS (5); U.S. Open (3); Open Championship (4); TOUR Championship (1) Webb Simpson … Waste Management (2); Honda (10); PLAYERS (5; defending); Heritage (6); Wells Fargo (7); Charles Schwab (8); Travelers (9); Wyndham (1) Cameron Smith … Wyndham (3) Brandt Snedeker … Waste Management (8); Pebble Beach (2); Masters (10); Heritage (6); Charles Schwab (7); U.S. Open (5); Travelers (9); Wyndham (1; defending) Brendan Steele … Waste Management (2); Honda (7); Valero (8); Wells Fargo (9); Travelers (4); Reno-Tahoe (3) Kevin Streelman … Pebble Beach (1); Valero (9); Heritage (5); Memorial (4); Travelers (7) Justin Thomas … WGC-Mexico (2); Honda (7; defending); PLAYERS (11); PGA Championship (9); Memorial (8); TOUR Championship (3) Jimmy Walker … Pebble Beach (1); Valero (2); Byron Nelson (6) Bubba Watson … Waste Management (4); Genesis (1; defending); WGC-Match Play (6; defending); Masters (5); Memorial (7); Travelers (2; defending); TOUR Championship (8) Gary Woodland … Waste Management (3; defending); Memorial (4)

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GREENSBORO, N.C. — Harold Varner III, Tom Hoge and Roger Sloan each shot 8-under 62 on Thursday to share the first-round lead at the Wyndham Championship, the PGA TOUR’s final regular-season event before the FedExCup playoffs. Varner started the go-low parade at at Sedgefield Country Club with an eight-birdie, no-bogey round that matched his career best on the PGA TOUR. RELATED: Leaderboard | Simpson, Todd feed off friendly energy in Round 1 | FedExCup update Hoge and Sloan, playing together, followed suit later in the round, Hoge also matched his career low on TOUR, while Sloan’s score set his personal best. There were 33 players on the course who had not finished when the round was suspended due to bad weather. Hoge looked like he might have a shot at 59 after he went eagle-birdie on the 15th and 16th holes to reach 9 under. But Hoge, who first played on the PGA Tour in 2015 and has never won, missed a 10-footer for birdie on the 17th before his only bogey on No. 18 to drop into the tie. Sloan had birdies on the 16th and 17th holes and had a chance at 9-under to take the lead alone, but came up short on a 15-foot birdie try on the final hole. The strong start was especially crucial for the 33-year-old Canadian, who came into the TOUR’s last regular-season event at 178 in FedEx Cup points — well out of the 125 cut off to make next week’s first postseason event, THE NORTHERN TRUST in Boston. Sloan is projected to rise into the top 50 should he maintain his position. “Honestly, I don’t have to do anything,” he said. “I’m very blessed that I have status on the PGA TOUR next season. That’s important. I’m going to get starts, I think that frees you up.” All three leaders are seeking their first TOUR wins. The trio were two shots in front of Harris English (64). A large group was at 5-under led by former Masters champion Patrick Reed. Past U.S. Open champion Webb Simpson led another pack at 4-under 66. Paul Casey, who tied for second last week at the PGA Championship, was at 67. Some other PGA Championship contenders last week were not as fortunate. Both Brooks Koepka and Justin Rose, each in the mix in the final round of the year’s first major, could not keep that going in this one. Koepka was 10 shots behind after a 72. Justin Rose finished a stroke worse at 73. Koepka said he was flat after playing several weeks in a row. “A bit tired, to be honest with you, so definitely came out flat,” he said. “But I’ve got to play, I’ve got no other option.” Koepka said even moving up a spot or two in FedExCup standings is helpful to advance, so that’s why he passed up a week off to compete. PGA Championship winner Collin Morikawa is off. Varner had eight birdies, including four in a row midway through the round, without a birdie his first 15 holes. He finished with three pars. Varner, who went to high school in Gastonia about two hours away and college at East Carolina, was disappointed he couldn’t play in front of friends and family due to the ongoing pandemic. “It’s unfortunate this year because I enjoy the cheers and stuff,” he said. “But we’ll get through this year and figure it out. Yeah, it’s just good to be close to home.” Hoge started crunching the numbers after he reached 9-under with two holes left. “I thought we could birdie the last two, but you’ve got to put it in the fairway,” he said after his tee shot on No. 18 went into the rough leading to bogey.

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