Woodland sets PGA record, leads by one at Bellerive

KAPALUA, Hawaii – Dustin Johnson with a rescue club. Yep, you read that right. And he won’t be alone. Johnson has been spotted at the Plantation Course at Kapalua testing the new TaylorMade SIM range of woods and expects to play the driver, 3-wood and rescue club at the Sentry Tournament of Champions. RELATED: What you need to know for Kapalua | Players to Watch: Dustin Johnson It is of course not uncommon for the first event of the new year to provide new equipment on TOUR and Johnson is likely to be joined by Jon Rahm, Matthew Wolfe and Collin Morikawa with the new gear. Johnson has been spotted with the “SIM Maxâ€� version while the others have the “SIMâ€�. “I’m playing the Max. I’ve got the Max driver and 3-wood, and I’m actually going to play a rescue club which I never thought that would happen,â€� Johnson confirmed on tournament eve. “I’ve been hitting it the last few days. I hit it quite nicely. I don’t know, we’ll give it a run for a little while, see how it works.â€� Johnson says he last played a rescue club back and forth in his early years on the PGA TOUR depending on the course but the 20-time winner might make it a more permanent switch now. “I took out the 3-iron (this week). We’ll see. I don’t know, I’m going to go hit some on TrackMan and see how far it’s going,â€� he added. The new drivers landed on the USGA’s list of conforming driver heads on Monday morning and showed the unreleased product has a redesigned sole with a raised section in the back. There are three models with the “SIMâ€� appearing to have a weight that slides in a track toward the front of the sole. The “SIM Maxâ€� does not have the weight track, nor does the “SIM Max Dâ€�. It appears the clubs will still contain the “Speed Injectionâ€� and “Twist Faceâ€� type technology introduced previously to create more speed and also assist straighter shots. More details are expected over the coming days with other TaylorMade staffers, including FedExCup champion Rory McIlroy, also likely to bring the clubs into play.

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HONOLULU, Hawaii - Brendan Steele, Joaquin Niemann and Kevin Na can all smell a little redemption as they gear up for the final round of the Sony Open in Hawaii. But they can't all have it. The trio each have demons to bury at Waialae Country Club on Sunday and are in great position to do so. Steele and Na produced stunning 9-under 61s, while Niemann posted a 63 in Saturday's third round to become the players to beat. Steele has a two-shot lead at 18 under with Niemann and Na sharing second at 16 under. They won't be the only ones with a shot as five players share fourth at 15 under and four are just a shot further back at 14 under. RELATED: Full leaderboard But they'll start Sunday with the best chance. Steele has demons from a year ago, Niemann has his from a week ago, while Na has them from the last two years. Steele lost to Cameron Smith 12 months ago in a playoff - a result that still stings given he had a two-shot lead with two holes to play. On that day he bogeyed the 17th and then as Smith made birdie, Steele produced a wild hook from the fairway on 18 that made making the necessary birdie to win near impossible. After Smith drove his ball in the playoff into the rough, Steele looked in great shape in the fairway, but Smith punched a beautiful shot to 10 feet forcing him to go flag hunting. His wedge sailed over the green and when he failed to get up and down, it was an easy two-putt win for the Australian. "You hope that you come back and you play well and erase whatever negative memories there are, but all the memories are pretty positive. Playing great here last year was good, and I’m excited for the challenge tomorrow," Steele said. "I know it’s going to be really tough. Guys are coming after me. But I’ll just do my best and hopefully it will be enough." Steele kept a positive demeanor despite being asked about his failure a year ago multiple times. But the three-time TOUR winner admitted to getting a little annoyed earlier in the week. The last player to win a tournament after losing it in a playoff a year earlier was Ryuji Imada at the 2008 Atlanta Classic. "The first practice round we played was on the back nine and I was remembering some shots, some good and some bad, kind of kicking myself a little bit," the 37-year-old said. "I would have liked to hit a better shot into 18, but Cameron had a really tough up-and-down and made a great putt, and then hit a great shot in the playoff and forced my hand on the second shot there. I was very happy with everything I did, and I don’t feel like I did anything differently last year than the times that I’ve won. I would like to do the exact same thing tomorrow and hopefully it’s good enough." For 22-year-old Niemann, Sunday is a chance to shake off a playoff loss at the Sentry Tournament of Champions last week in Maui. Niemann failed to birdie either of the back nine par fives at Kapalua on Sunday and it proved costly. When he failed to birdie the 18th again in the playoff, it allowed Harris English to pounce and take the title. But on Saturday in Honolulu, Niemann hit two towering 7-woods on the last hole to set up a close-range eagle to finish off his round and bring him within two shots of the lead. The last player to lose at Kapalua and win the following week at the Sony Open was Jimmy Walker in 2015. "The eagle was huge. I wasn’t really satisfied on my first 16 holes. I thought I was playing great. I thought I could put myself in a better position, and then finishing that way and making eagle on 18 made me really happy and gave me a bit of motivation for tomorrow," Niemann said. "I took a lot of experience from last week. I’m just going to try to put everything I took from last week into this week and hopefully try to win it. I’m playing great. Just need to keep doing the same stuff I’ve been doing these two weeks and hopefully get a good round tomorrow, and you never know." Niemann is now 41 under in his last seven rounds on TOUR with a 37.3% birdie or better percentage so far in 2021 (47 of 126 holes). For Na, it's just good to be playing at all. Two years ago he had to miss the tournament after breaking his finger in the lead up to the Sentry Tournament of Champions. A year ago, he hurt his neck, and once again was forced out of the field. "I actually pulled my rib Wednesday before the Pro-Am and was like, here we go again, but I’m just happy to be playing. Maybe that’s the attitude I need," Na said of how he almost found himself sitting out again. When he made his fourth consecutive birdie on the 14th hole - his sixth of the round to go with an eagle - Na needed to play the final four holes in 3 under to shoot 59. He made life tough by missing a 10-footer on the 15th and the dream was over when he missed a seven-footer on the penultimate hole. "I played great. I made my share of putts. But on 17, you’re thinking, OK, I make birdie here, eagle the last and I have a 59 and how often do you get a chance for that magic number," he said. "And it’s definitely in your head. If you’re a professional golfer, it’s in your head. It was fun and exciting. Unfortunately, we misread that putt totally." He'll have a chance to atone on Sunday. They all will.

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In light of today's announcement that the Presidents Cup is headed to Medinah Country Club in 2026, we decided to convene writers from both sides of the aisle to analyze the move and what it means for both teams. Below are Sean Martin's look at the U.S. Team and a potential Tiger Woods captaincy and Ben Everill's take on how Geoff Ogilvy's involvement could help the International Team. U.S. TEAM Augusta National. St. Andrews. Medinah. What do these courses have in common? They're the three venues where Tiger Woods has won multiple majors. Now the 2026 Presidents Cup is headed to Medinah. A Woods captaincy was the first thing that sprung to my mind after today's announcement. There are a lot of factors that go into determining the Presidents Cup captain, and it's a role that comes with a lot of responsibility, but it just seems like a perfect fit. The 1999 PGA Championship at Medinah was Woods' second major victory. It came after a memorable duel with a teen-aged Sergio Garcia. Woods blew away the field when the event returned seven years later, winning by five strokes. That victory was one of seven consecutive starts Woods won, the longest winning streak of his career and second-longest in TOUR history. Woods will be 50 when the Presidents Cup is played at Medinah. Medinah could potentially be the first time Woods leads a team on U.S. soil and holds solely the captain's role. He performed masterfully as the playing captain last year at Royal Melbourne, leading the United States to victory while arguably being the best player on the course. But even he will admit that, just weeks from turning 45, the end of his playing days is only drawing nearer. Phil Mickelson's incredible streak of playing in every Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup since 1994 finally came to an end last year at age 49. Woods has shown a passion for a coaching role, starting with his willingness to fulfill even the most menial tasks as a captain's assistant. During his most dominant days, the thought of Woods fetching sandwiches for another PGA TOUR player was unfathomable. But he loves the camaraderie and competition of team events, even when he isn't able to play. The U.S. captain for the next two Presidents Cups - at Charlotte's Quail Hollow Club in 2022 and Canada's Royal Montreal two years later - is still to be determined. Woods is obviously the top choice every year, but leading four consecutive teams seems unlikely for a player who's still balancing a playing career with parenting and other professional ventures. There's also the inevitable Ryder Cup captaincy to balance. If Woods returns to the captaincy in two years, it would give him a chance to exact revenge on International Captain Trevor Immelman. Woods was runner-up in Immelman's two PGA TOUR wins (2006 Western Open, 2008 Presidents Cup). Woods is a past champion at Quail Hollow, as well. A certain Canadian lefty who thrilled the home crowd by beating Woods in a singles match at Royal Montreal in 2007 seems a good bet to lead the Internationals there in 2024. But of all the upcoming venues, Medinah makes the most sense. It doesn't seem unfathomable that Woods would relinquish the role for the next two Cups, only to return to the helm in 2026. He wouldn't be the first legend to captain multiple Presidents Cup teams. Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Peter Thomson, Nick Price and Fred Couples all did it. The 2026 Presidents Cup falls on the 20th anniversary of his second win at Medinah. The upcoming renovation by Geoff Ogilvy (see below) will lessen Woods' local knowledge but Woods also excels on the type of courses that Ogilvy loves to emulate, ones with wide fairways that emphasize proper angles and use short grass to befuddle players. Think Augusta National, where Woods has won five times, or Royal Melbourne, which was a canvas for Woods to display his artistry last year. Woods doesn't have to be in charge to be an invaluable asset at Medinah, however. He can still share his experience as a captain's assistant. No matter the role, having Woods on site is always a boost for the event and the U.S. Team. Outside of Los Angeles, where Woods made his PGA TOUR debut and hosts the Genesis Invitational, there may not be another metropolis to which he has stronger ties than Chicago. It started with the 1994 Western Amateur, Woods' biggest amateur win until he claimed his first U.S. Amateur weeks later. Woods won the BMW Championship and its predecessor, the Western Open, five times. He has had a longtime friendship with Michael Jordan. And Woods' TGR Design is working on a transformational project at Jackson Park on Chicago's South Shore, just 35 miles from Medinah. Jackson Park also is the scheduled site of the Barack Obama Presidential Center. It was President Obama who called Woods and asked him to take on the Jackson Park golf project. "If we can pull this off, I think it can benefit so many people," Woods said. "Hopefully we can do it.” Woods as a Captain in Chicago? It seems like a perfect fit. And, before we go, we'd be remiss if we didn't mention that Woods' buddy, Justin Thomas, must be licking his chops. Thomas dominated the last tournament to be held at Medinah, the 2019 BMW Championship. He tied the course record with a 61 in the third round and took a six-shot lead into the final round before winning by three strokes over another player who could be on that 2026 U.S. team, Patrick Cantlay. Thomas would still be just 33 years old when the Presidents Cup comes to Medinah, while Cantlay would be 34. Dustin Johnson, the reigning Masters and FedExCup champion, would be 42. And Charlie Woods would be 17. Just saying. INTERNATIONAL TEAM International Team fans rejoice. This is great news. Well, as good as it can be for a visiting team. Medinah Country Club in Chicago will host the 2026 Presidents Cup, a place where demons haunt the U.S. Team after their collapse in the 2012 Ryder Cup, but even more importantly a place that is scheduled to undergo a renovation by none other than former U.S. Open winner and International captain's assistant Geoff Ogilvy. And, of course, there's the chance that the man behind the changes to Medinah could also captain the International side in 2026, giving his team invaluable insight. Ogilvy seems certain to captain the International side one day, so why not in 2026? When Ernie Els took over the captaincy for the Internationals in 2019, one of the many awesome implementations he oversaw was creating a one-and-done captain model that will help move assistants through the process and into the big job. Nothing formal has been announced but Els' assistants in Melbourne were Immelman, Mike Weir and Ogilvy. Immelman will captain at Quail Hollow in 2022. With 2024 set to be contested at Royal Montreal in Canada, Weir seems an obvious choice to lead there. So it doesn't take much to speculate Ogilvy can take charge at Medinah. Ogilvy, with his OCM (Ogilvy, Cocking and Mead) firm, are set to reimagine Medinah's famed No. 3 course and create a test that can once again challenge the best in the world. They'll use the past to do so as the firm uses the "Golden Age" designers as inspiration. "We want more questions asked of the golfer during the course of the round," Mike Cocking recently told the design-focused podcast, The Fried Egg. "Sometimes these questions will be obvious, but at other times they will be confusing, with a lot of different clubs and options in the player's hands." So while the U.S. fans might point to the 2019 BMW Championship, which Thomas won at 25 under, the fact is it will not be as easy a test come 2026. It will require strategy and thinking. The lush, tree-lined course doesn't look much like places Ogilvy grew up around in Australia, but the new course should share some characteristics with places like Royal Melbourne after the redesign. "The best way to achieve (our goals) is with a combination of width, short grass, interesting bunker positions, and of course brilliant green complexes that tilt or slope in a way that reinforces the strategy back down the fairway," Cocking told The Fried Egg. No one will know more about the new course than Ogilvy and if he's in the ear of the International players, it's an advantage they'll take with open arms as they continue to try to turn around U.S. dominance that has spawned a 11-1-1 record. And then, just to add a little spice, there are those aforementioned Medinah demons for the U.S. It's unlikely anyone who played for the U.S. team that coughed up a 10-6 lead in the 2012 Ryder Cup at Medinah will play in 2026, but the ghosts still remain. The narrative will follow them. It will be a focus for media in the days and weeks leading into the tournament. The U.S. will try to spin it into a chance for redemption. For revenge. They'll say it's motivation. Or perhaps they'll just say it's irrelevant. Old news. Different players from a different time. But in the back of their minds it will still be there. That potential sliver of doubt. And maybe that's all it will take for the International team to get one over their long-dominant rivals.

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