FedExCup update: Keegan Bradley eyes return to TOUR Championship

JUSTIN THOMAS RALLIES, WINS SECOND PGA Justin Thomas trailed by seven strokes entering the final round of the PGA Championship, but he trusted his game, knowing that a Sunday at a major championship is predictable in its unpredictability. The University of Alabama alum overcame a shanked tee shot at the par-3 sixth Sunday to match the day’s low round with a 3-under 67. Thomas posted 5-under total, soon thereafter matched by Will Zalatoris, then watched as 54-hole leader Mito Pereira, in just his second major start, made double bogey on the 72nd Jhole to finish one stroke shy. Thomas played the three-hole aggregate playoff in 1-under, edging Zalatoris by a stroke to earn his second major title and 15th PGA TOUR victory overall. Prior to this week, seven consecutive major winners at Southern Hills had led or co-led through 36 holes; Zalatoris fell just short in his bid to extend the streak to eight. Thomas, 29, adds a second Wanamaker Trophy to his collection after earning his first major title at Quail Hollow in 2017. He earns 600 FedExCup points for his victory, and he moves to No. 4 on the season-long standings. “I was asked early in the week about what lead is safe,” reflected Thomas after his victory in Oklahoma, “and I said, ‘No lead.’” With a dramatic late-afternoon comeback at Southern Hills, he proved just that. TIGER MAKES CUT, WITHDRAWS FOR FINAL ROUND Tiger Woods made the cut at the PGA Championship, but difficult conditions, pain and soreness following the third round led to Woods withdrawing after carding a 9-over 79 on Saturday. Woods’ 79 was his highest-ever score in a PGA Championship round. Woods was visibly in pain during Saturday’s cold conditions and his WD was announced shortly after the final group completed Round 3 at Southern Hills. Woods opened with a 4-over 74 and followed it with a second-round 69 to make the cut. Woods struggled from the start Saturday. He was 10-over through 13 holes before playing the final five holes in 1-under. Woods’ agent Mark Steinberg told Sports Illustrated that Woods was suffering from pain in his foot Saturday. This was just his second WD from a major championship and first as a professional. He also withdrew from the 1995 U.S. Open after injuring his wrist in the second round while hitting his ball out of the rough. TOUR MAKES FINAL STOP IN TEXAS The PGA TOUR makes its final stop of the season in Texas at the Charles Schwab Challenge. After a missed cut at the PGA Championship, Scottie Scheffler is back in action, headlining a field that features five of the world’s top 10. Will Zalatoris, Mito Pereira and Justin Thomas are set to be there after strong showings at the PGA Championship. Collin Morikawa will tee it up in Fort Worth. He finished T14 a year ago and lost in a playoff in 2020. Jason Kokrak returns to defend his title from 2021. Jordan Spieth is hoping he’ll continue his fine play around Colonial, as he has three runner-up results in Fort Worth plus a victory in 2016. Viktor Hovland is the other world top-10 player in the field alongside Scheffler, Morikawa, Spieth and Thomas. Colonial Country Club is a par 70 and plays to 7,209 yards. The PGA TOUR heads to the John Bredemus/Perry Maxwell design for the 77th time – it’s the longest-running non-major event on the PGA TOUR schedule to be contested on the same course. The winner will receive 500 FedExCup points. THE TURN VIDEO OF THE WEEK MIC CHECK “He’s feeling it. He’s feeling it on every swing, but he’s the ultimate pro. Looking at him yesterday, if that would have been me, I would have been considering pulling out and just going home, but Tiger is different and he’s proved he’s different. It was just a monumental effort.” – Rory McIlroy speaking on Tiger Woods’ effort in the PGA Championship before Woods withdrew after Round 3. BY THE NUMBERS 63 – Bubba Watson’s second-round score at Southern Hills, which tied the course record. It was also the 18th round of 63 recorded in PGA Championship history and the 38th overall in a men’s major. 2 – Wins by Steven Alker and Miguel Angel Jimenez on PGA TOUR Champions this season. No player has more in 2022, and they lead the Schwab Cup Standings at Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, entering this week’s KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship at Harbor Shores in Benton Harbor, Michigan. 1 – Times that Tiger Woods has withdrawn from a major as a professional. 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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In the early months of 1973, Tom Weiskopf’s schedule was clear. When his time on the golf course came to an end, he’d get in his car to go see his father, Thomas, at the Mayo Clinic. The two weren’t very close as the younger Tom grew into one of the game’s most recognizable figures. That would suddenly change when the elder Weiskopf developed terminal cancer, a disease which would ultimately claim his life in March of that year. But he didn’t go without one final piece of advice for his son. “He said, ‘Everybody thinks the world of you, Tom,’” Weiskopf once recalled in an interview with Golf Channel. “’You just don’t believe in yourself. … Just be a little more patient and let it happen. It will come.’” His father was right. Following his passing, Thomas Weiskopf’s son would put together one of the more remarkable seasons in TOUR history, winning four times, including The Open Championship, when he led wire to wire. He’d go on to win seven more times in his career. He can finally tell dad all about it now. Weiskopf—famous early in his career for a classic golf swing, and late in his career for his unforgettable golf course designs—died Saturday, August 20th in Montana at age 79 from pancreatic cancer. He is survived by his wife, Laurie, whom he married in 1999. He has two children—Heidi and Eric—with his first wife, Jeanne. “The PGA TOUR is saddened at the passing of Tom Weiskopf, a towering figure in the game of golf not only during his playing career but through his accomplished work in the broadcast booth and golf course design business,” said PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan. “Tom is leaving behind a lasting legacy in golf. The beautiful swing he showcased during his 16 career PGA TOUR victories is still being emulated today, while his golf courses remain as testaments to his love for the game. Our hearts and deepest sympathies are with his wife, Laurie, two children, Heidi and Eric, and the entire Weiskopf family during this time.” All told, Weiskopf won 16 times on the PGA TOUR, between 1968 and 1982, no small feat considering the legends of the era, with players like Jack Nicklaus, Johnny Miller and Lee Trevino roaming the fairways. He finished runner-up at the Masters four times—joined only by Ben Hogan and Nicklaus in that category—and tied for second at the 1976 U.S. Open. But nothing compared to that memorable weekend at Royal Troon Golf Club. “Even now, I wish my father was alive to see this,” he said after his victory. “I didn’t put out my best in front of him, and doggone it, as long as I’m playing this game I’m going to do my best. I really wanted to win this tournament more than any other major tournament I ever played in.” Weiskopf never took to the game as a child, despite the pedigree both his father and mother, Eva Shorb, brought to the family. Both had achieved considerable success in the Ohio area, and hoped to pass on their talents to the oldest of their three children. But his passion for the game suddenly changed when Weiskopf’s father took him to the U.S. Open for the first time, in 1957. “After we walked through the gate, he took me straight to the practice range and pointed out Sam Snead,” he said in the book Chasing Greatness. “The sound of Sam’s iron shots, the flight of the ball, thrilled me. I was hooked even before I started playing.” His own game took flight from there. He helped guide Benedictine High School to the Cleveland city championship as both a junior and senior in the late 1950s, adding an individual championship the latter year. Those performances were enough to attract the attention of Ohio State coach Bob Kepler, who already had one local Ohio kid on the roster with a decent skillset by the name of Nicklaus. NCAA rules prohibited him from playing as a freshman—the lone season he would have teamed with Nicklaus for the Buckeyes—but Weiskopf still managed to leave his mark the following season. As a sophomore, he posted the individual low score, 72-76, en route to OSU’s victory in the Ohio Intercollegiate Championship. Weiskopf finished third in the Big Ten Championship a few weeks later. He left Ohio State not long after, raising money to help earn his way onto the PGA TOUR, where Nicklaus had already become a star. Weiskopf consistently drew comparisons to The Golden Bear, given their Ohio roots and efforts at Ohio State, and Weiskopf earned his share of acclaim during their time competing against one other. Of his 20 all-time PGA TOUR and PGA TOUR Champions wins, Nicklaus finished as the runner-up in four of them. Even in Weiskopf’s 1973 Open Championship, all eyes centered on Nicklaus at the outset, who needed one more win to break Bobby Jones’ record of 13 major victories. That was, until, his friend and fellow Buckeye stole the show. Nicklaus finished fourth that week. “Tom Weiskopf had as much talent as any player I’ve ever seen play the TOUR,” Nicklaus told Golf Channel. After his time on the PGA TOUR came to an end, Weiskopf joined the PGA TOUR Champions in 1993 and promptly added another four victories—including the 1995 U.S. Senior Open when he edged Nicklaus by four strokes. He did it all largely on the strength of his classic golf swing. Renowned golf professional and instructor Bob Toski told the New York Times that Weiskopf’s was “about the best swing in the game.” Perhaps the highest compliment came from Snead, speaking with a writer in the locker room during the U.S. Open. As told in Chasing Greatness: “Tom Weiskopf. Now, there’s a boy who hits a ton. … He’s longer than Nicklaus. Go watch this boy.’” Despite that legendary swing, and despite those 28 professional wins, Weiskopf, perhaps, didn’t truly find his calling until after his playing days on the PGA TOUR were over. In 1984, the Massillon, Ohio, native teamed with the late golf course designer Jay Morrish to create Troon North in Scottsdale, Ariz. The rest was history. “I knew I had to get away from the game for at least a year, so I thought I’d see if I liked architecture,” he recalled to Golf Digest in 2009. “I could still go back on TOUR if I wanted, but I never did.” Weiskopf also entered the broadcast booth. He was part of the CBS team that called Nicklaus’ historic victory in the 1986 Masters. When asked to give viewers insight into Nicklaus’ thought process over the closing holes, Weiskopf famously replied, “If I knew the way he thought, I would have won this tournament.” Weiskopf later worked for ESPN and ABC, as well. He found success as both an announcer and architect, bringing his vision to life with such courses as Loch Lomond in Scotland—home for 10 years to the Scottish Open—TPC Scottsdale’s Stadium Course, which has hosted the PGA TOUR’s WM Phoenix Open since 1987, and La Cantera, which was home to the Valero Texas Open from 1995-2009. Other Weiskopf designs included TPC Craig Ranch (McKinney, Texas), Forest Dunes Golf Club (Roscommon, Mich.), Double Eagle Golf Course (Galena, Ohio), Forest Highlands Golf Club (Flagstaff, Ariz.) and The Ridge at Castle Pines in Colorado. And, of course, Torrey Pines North—home to not only the TOUR’s Farmers Insurance Open, but the site of Weiskopf’s first professional win on Feb. 11, 1968, where he beat 11-time PGA TOUR winner Al Geiberger by one stroke. “I look at golf courses a lot of different ways, but I look at the aesthetic course each course can offer,” he said at Torrey Pines in 2017. “You create aesthetic value by having big mature trees, beautiful vista water features and bunker styles. That creates the beauty of the golf course, I think. How could you find a better piece of property than this piece of property, for 36 holes of golf?” Weiskopf knew the importance of aesthetics, from his eye for scenic property to his elegant golf swing. They both made him a great contributor to the game.

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This year brings the biggest changes yet to the playoffs, with an earlier start, one fewer event and more money at stake — and an intriguing and controversial way to end the competition.

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