I’m one of the reasons we lost Ryder Cup, says Woods

The three-week FedExCup Playoffs begin with THE NORTHERN TRUST at TPC Boston. The 125-man field will be cut down to the top 70 at the end of play Sunday, then the top 30 at the culmination of next week's BMW Championship in Chicago. As always, the season-ending TOUR Championship in Atlanta will then determine who wins the FedExCup, as current No. 1 Justin Thomas looks to join Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy as the only players to win it more than once. Woods, who has slipped down the standings some since winning the inaugural ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP in Japan last fall, returns to action at TPC Boston. So does last year's FedExCup winner McIlroy, while Patrick Reed defends his title from 2019 at THE NORTHERN TRUST. FIELD NOTES: A few spots in the top 125 will be confirmed this weekend at the Wyndham Championship... For now, all 125 golfers who are eligible to play THE NORTHERN TRUST are committed... Current FedExCup points leader and Wyndham Rewards Top 10 winner Justin Thomas will lead the pack in Boston... Collin Morikawa will return to action for the first time since winning the PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park... There will be eight past winners at TPC Boston in the field, including Woods, McIlroy, Webb Simpson, Bryson DeChambeau, Adam Scott, Phil Mickelson, Rickie Fowler, and Charley Hoffman. FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 1,500 FedExCup points. COURSE: TPC Boston, 7,342 yards, par 71. Originally an Arnold Palmer design, the course was established in 2002 and redesigned five years later by Gil Hanse with eight-time TOUR winner Brad Faxon serving as a consultant. Golf Digest named the effort by Hanse and Faxon as the Best Private Remodel in 2007. TPC Boston's par-5 18th hole was altered in 2012 to feature a smaller, elevated green. STORYLINES: Only the top 125 golfers in the FedExCup standings are eligible for THE NORTHERN TRUST. The field for the BMW Championship gets trimmed to the top 70, while the TOUR Championship features only the top 30... THE NORTHERN TRUST will rotate between TPC Boston and Liberty National Golf Club. It will return to TPC Boston in 2022… This is the second year the FedExCup playoffs feature only three events, so look for it to be a sprint to East Lake... Tiger Woods is making just his sixth start this season after a T37 at the PGA Championship. He withdrew from last year's THE NORTHERN TRUST, citing a mild oblique strain. This will mark the 11th time Woods has played TPC Boston; he won in 2006... THE NORTHERN TRUST is the only FedExCup event to feature a 36-hole cut. 72-HOLE TOURNAMENT RECORD: 261, Jason Day (2015 - Plainfield Country Club) TPC BOSTON RECORD: 262, Henrik Stenson (2013), Charley Hoffman (2010), Vijay Singh (2008). 18-HOLE TOURNAMENT RECORD: 61, Brandt Snedeker (3rd round, 2011 - Plainfield Country Club). TPC BOSTON RECORD - 61, Vijay Singh (2006), Mike Weir (2008). LAST TIME: Patrick Reed won his second THE NORTHERN TRUST title by one over Abraham Ancer. After an up-and-down opening nine Sunday that featured three birdies and three bogeys, Reed birdied two of his final five holes for 69 and the victory. The runner-up was Ancer's best on the PGA TOUR. Harold Varner III, Jon Rahm, and Adam Scott rounded out the top five. Past FedExCup champs Jordan Spieth, Brandt Snedeker and Rory McIlroy (who would go on to win the 2019 FedExCup) tied for sixth with Louis Oosthuizen. HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Thursday-Friday, 3 p.m.-7 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday, 1 p.m.-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3 p.m.-6 p.m. (CBS). Sunday, 12:30 p.m.-2:30 p.m. (Golf Channel), 2:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m. (CBS). PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday 7:10 a.m.-7 p.m. (Featured Groups). Saturday, 7 p.m.-3 p.m. (Featured Groups), 3 p.m.-6 p.m. (Featured Holes). Sunday, 7:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. (Featured Groups), 2:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m. (Featured Holes). Radio: Thursday-Friday, 12 p.m.-6:30 p.m. Saturday, 1 p.m.-6 p.m. Sunday, 1 p.m.-6:30 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio).

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In a Hall of Fame career where he has found success at venues all over the world, Phil Mickelson has found a surprising fit in Memphis, Tennessee. This week will mark the tenth career start at TPC Southwind for Mickelson, and the ninth time he’s teed it up here since 2013. In those previous eight starts, he’s finished in the top-three four times and finished worse than 12th only once. Mickelson has played eight or more rounds on more than 25 PGA TOUR courses since 2013. In that span, his best scoring average (68.47) and Strokes Gained: Total per round (+1.92) have come at TPC Southwind. So what is it about this course that brings out the best in the reigning PGA Champion? THE BENEFIT OF BOMBS We all know Lefty’s love of hitting – in his words – both bombs and hellacious seeds. That can be a good thing when playing in Memphis: aggressive choices off the tee have been beneficial to players at TPC Southwind over the years. Distance has proven to be more valuable than hitting the fairway at TPC Southwind. Over the last six years, players who hit one more driver off the tee than normal gain about two-tenths of a stroke on the field. In the last eight years, Mickelson has averaged just over three misses left per round with his tee shots at TPC Southwind, and just over two misses right per round. Both of those averages are more than what he’s done on every other PGA TOUR course in that span. Despite that, his Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee numbers are almost identical – 0.35 per round on this course, 0.37 everywhere else. Mickelson’s aggressive play is unlikely to come back to bite him at TPC Southwind – in fact, it’s helping him succeed. SIGNIFICANCE OF APPROACH PLAY Since 2013, Mickelson gains about twice as many strokes per round on approach at TPC Southwind (+0.57) than he does on all other courses in that span (+0.29). That is important on a golf course that rewards strong approach play more than normal. Traditionally, the greens in regulation rate by the field at this course are between 3-6 percent lower than the PGA TOUR average that given season. Since 2010, players who have won at TPC Southwind rank about 29 percent better in Strokes Gained: Approach than the average PGA TOUR winner during that same span. Four of the previous six winners at TPC Southwind ranked either first or second that week in Strokes Gained: Approach. Mickelson has had positive Strokes Gained: Approach in 68.8 percent of his rounds at TPC Southwind since 2013. Everywhere else in that span, it’s a rate of 57.3 percent. PUTTING NUMBERS SKYROCKET “I think it’s (TPC Southwind) the most underrated course we have on TOUR,” Mickelson said in 2015. “It’s such a straightforward, fun test of golf. And if you hit good shots you get rewarded with good putts and birdies.” Mickelson would know – he’s made a ton of birdies at TPC Southwind. He’s averaged 4.41 birdies-or-better per round, in fact, since 2013, the third-highest average among players in that span. And while his performance through the bag has been stellar at this course over the years, it’s his putting that really takes off when he gets to Memphis. Mickelson consistently makes more short to mid-range putts at TPC Southwind. From four to eight feet, Mickelson has made 82.3 percent of his attempts since 2013 at this course. Everywhere else, it’s 70.1 percent. From five to ten feet, it’s an improvement of 12 percent. From ten to fifteen feet, his make rate jumps 5.1 percent. The strokes really add up over the course of the week. Since 2013, Mickelson has averaged 0.92 Strokes Gained: Putting per round at this course, the second-highest average of any player in that span with a dozen or more rounds played. That is more than three-and-a-half times more Strokes Gained per round on the greens than he’s racked up on all other PGA TOUR courses during that same stretch (+0.24 per round). There are 193 players with ten or more PGA TOUR rounds at TPC Southwind since 2010 – the summer Mickelson turned 40 years old. Of that group, only three players have a better scoring average than Mickelson (68.5). Less than 13 percent of those players have averaged a full stroke or more gained tee-to-green per round at TPC Southwind in that span – Mickelson is one of them. Aggressive tee shots and agreeable putting surfaces have made Mickelson and Memphis a perfect match.

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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – J.B. Holmes roared through the fan-packed closing stretch at TPC Scottsdale on his opening nine Friday, then grabbed the lead on the mellower side of golf’s biggest party. Six months after a final-round collapse at The Open Championship, Holmes took a one-stroke lead into the weekend at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. He shot a 6-under 65, a day after making a hole-in-one in an opening 64. “There’s going to be a lot of people. It’s going to be really loud,” Holmes said. “Just keep doing what I’ve been doing, hopefully, keep making putts and not change the strategy. It’s worked pretty good so far.” In July at Royal Portrush, Holmes had a share of the second-round lead with winner Shane Lowry, then shot 69-87 to tie for 67th. The setback spoiled an otherwise successful season highlighted by an early victory at Riviera Country Club. Related: Leaderboard | Amy paying it forward | Spieth misses cut, continues search for his best The 37-year-old from Kentucky got away from the game during the offseason, playing only two rounds in four months leading into the new year. He shook off the rust at Kapalua and got back in form last week at Torrey Pines with a tie for 16th. Holmes played a five-hole stretch on his first nine in 5 under with birdies on the par-5 13th and 15th and par-3 16th, and an eagle on the short par-4 17th. He made a 16-footer from the back fringe on the stadium 16th, then drove to 6 1/2 to set up the eagle on the 319-yard 17th. “I was just worried about it maybe going too far left,” Holmes said. “But when I hit it, I thought I hit it about right and hopefully it would hit into that bank or bounce just up and it did.” He bogeyed the par-4 18th and took the lead from Wyndham Clark with birdies on the par-4 first and par-5 third. Holmes chipped in for birdie on the par-4 sixth and gave back the stroke on the par-4 ninth after hitting into a greenside bunker. “Hit it really good in the middle of the round,” Holmes said. “Didn’t hit it quite as good toward the end, but putted really well and was able to make some birdies.” Holmes won at TPC Scottsdale in 2006 and 2008 for the first of his five PGA TOUR titles. “That was when I just came out, so I could move it a little bit better,” Holmes said. “I still get it out there, but the golf course has changed more than anything. Like, 12 holes are different.” Clark was second, following a career-best 61 with a 69. He finished with birdies on 17 and 18. “It was kind of a rough start. I was all over the place,” Clark said. “I didn’t feel great with my swing, but then I kind of hit two good shots on eight and nine that led to the back side.” Bill Horschel was third at 11 under after rounds of 63 and 68. He eagled No. 3 for the second straight day. “I’ve just hit really good fairway woods in there,” Horschel said. “Hit a perfect 5-wood in there yesterday and today was a perfect high, cut, soft 3-wood into that green and landed it in the only soft spot I guess there is on that green early in the morning when the greens are rock hard.” Byeong Hun An also was 11 under, holing a 20-foot birdie putt in fading light on 18 for a 66. Scott Piercy was 10 under after a 65. He had a hole-in-one on the 194-yard seventh and eagled 13. “Whenever you make a hole-in-one in Phoenix it’s pretty awesome,” Piercy said. “But I just did it on the wrong side where everybody didn’t see it.” Jon Rahm was 7 under after a 68. After five straight birdies, he bogeyed two of the last three. “Frustrated is a very light way of putting it right now,” Rahm said. “I put a great swing on five birdies, playing great golf, and then just an absolutely terrible finish.” Defending champion Rickie Fowler rebounded from an opening 74 with a 65 to get to 6 under. He eagled the par-5 13th and 15th. “Just put myself in play and was able to just work my way around the golf course,” Fowler said. Fourth-ranked Justin Thomas was 6 under after his second straight 68. Jordan Spieth missed the cut with rounds of 74 and 69. “Historically, I’ve had a really hard time putting, reading these greens and it just continued this week,” Spieth said. “Felt like I put good strokes on it and then I would look up and I missed them by like a foot off line. But overall I’m really happy with the progress I’ve made off the tee. That was the best I’ve driven the ball in a couple years.”

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