Leaderboard: Rahm shares lead in Bahamas

A star-studded field has gathered near Hollywood for the PGA TOUR’s annual stop at historic Riviera Country Club. That means this week’s Featured Groups are loaded with players who can be identified by just a single name. Tiger. Rory. JT. Phil. DJ. Jordan. They’ll all be on PGA TOUR LIVE this week. PGA TOUR LIVE’s broadcasts on Thursday and Friday will begin at 9:30 a.m. Eastern. After the Featured Groups, Featured Holes coverage will run from 3-6 p.m. on Thursday and 4-8 p.m. on Friday. The Featured Holes are Riviera’s famous 10th hole, a drivable par-4, and the par-3 16th. The weekend broadcasts will begin at 10 a.m. with Featured Holes coverage followed by the CBS simulcast. PGA TOUR LIVE also can be viewed on Twitter on Thursday and Friday. Coverage will begin at 9:30 a.m. Eastern and end at approximately 11 a.m. Here’s a closer look at the players you’ll see on PGA TOUR LIVE this week. (Note: FedExCup ranking in parentheses) THURSDAY Tiger Woods (175), Rory McIlroy (NR), Justin Thomas (10) Thomas and McIlroy are the past two FedExCup champions, while Woods is the only man to win the Cup more than once. Woods, who’s made 10 starts at Riviera, is still seeking his first victory in his hometown event. He first played here in 1992 as a 16-year-old but this will be his first appearance at Riviera since 2006. He is coming off a T23 finish in his return to the TOUR at Torrey Pines. Thomas, the reigning FedExCup champion, won earlier this season at THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES. Phil Mickelson (18), Matt Kuchar (83), Tommy Fleetwood (160) There could be some trash talk in this grouping of prospective Ryder Cup opponents. Mickelson and Kuchar have been stalwarts for the U.S. team in Presidents and Ryder cups, while Fleetwood seems like a lock to represent Europe for the first time this year. Fleetwood, who’s playing his first season as a PGA TOUR member, is coming off an impressive win in Abu Dhabi. He has finished no worse than sixth in his past four worldwide starts. Mickelson, a two-time winner at Riviera, seems to be closing in on his first win in nearly five years; he’s coming off a T5 at the Waste Management Phoenix Open and runner-up finish at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Kuchar, runner-up to Jordan Spieth at last year’s Open Championship, also finished fifth in Phoenix. FRIDAY Jordan Spieth (80), Patrick Cantlay (11), Kevin Chappell (48) UCLA is just four miles from Riviera, and Bruins fans will be able to cheer for two alums in this group. Chappell won the 2008 NCAA individual title while a Bruin, leading UCLA to the team title. Cantlay was the world’s No. 1 amateur during his tenure at UCLA. He won his first PGA TOUR title earlier this season at the Shriners for Children Hospitals Open. Spieth, the 2015 FedExCup champ, has good memories here. He led Texas to the 2012 NCAA title at Riviera in his lone full season for the Longhorns. Spieth beat Thomas in the championship match between Texas and Alabama, holing a 4-iron for eagle on No. 15 en route to a 3-and-2 win over his good friend. Dustin Johnson (3), Adam Scott (165), Bubba Watson (166) This group features three former winners of the Genesis Open, including the defending champ. Johnson won here last year after finishing 2nd-T2-4th in his previous three starts at Riviera. Johnson has a victory and two runners-up in his past three official PGA TOUR starts. Watson, who will participate in the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game this week at Staples Center, won the Genesis Open in 2014 and 2016. Scott won an unofficial victory here in 2005 after the tournament was shortened to 36 holes because of inclement weather.

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The Asian Swing ends with the first World Golf Championships event of the 2018-19 PGA TOUR season. It’s a stellar field – 20 of last year’s final 30 in the FedExCup standings are in China, including FedExCup champ (and defending HSBC champ) Justin Rose. Also, 35 of the world’s top 50, including Player of the Year and new No. 1 Brooks Koepka. Call it the Shootout in Shanghai. THE FLYOVER The shortest par-4 on the PGA TOUR last season is the drivable 288-yard 16th at Sheshan International. In fact, just four of the 551 par-4s played on TOUR were less than 300 yards — and yet the shortest hole wasn’t the easiest. The 3.716 stroke average on the 16th last season ranked it as the 14th easiest par-4 on TOUR. LANDING ZONE Based on recent history, it’s likely the 603-yard eighth will be the toughest par-5 on the TOUR this season. In two of the past five seasons, it has ranked as the toughest par 5. A year ago, it ranked second among the 163 par-5s played on TOUR, playing to a stroke average of 5.113. Only the 14th at Pebble Beach was a harder par-5, and just seven par-5s on TOUR played to an over-par score. The eighth generally is not reachable in two, with water potentially impacting tee shots and second shots into a shallow green. WEATHER CHECK From meteorologist Guy Nestor: “Good weather conditions continue into Wednesday and most of Thursday before another frontal system moves through the area. Rain will be likely Friday morning then high pressure follows with great weather setting up for the weekend.â€� For the latest weather news from Shanghai, China, check out PGATOUR.COM’s Weather Hub. SOUND CHECK I’ve only been world No. 1 for three days. I haven’t found too many challenges in those three days.Love. Hair. And humor. But love first. I’m in a much better place this year than I was this time last year. BY THE NUMBERS 550 – FedExCup points available for this week, 50 more than a regular PGA TOUR stop. 7 – Chinese golfers in the field, including Hao Tong Li. The 23-year-old from Hunan is ranked 54th in the world. 150 – Number of career PGA TOUR starts Rory McIlroy has made, including this week. He’ll be seeking his 15th TOUR win. SCATTERSHOTS A year ago, Justin Rose was playing the pro-am round at Sheshan when he turned to his manager and declared that it was time to put together a run and play “some great golf here.â€� Recalled Rose: “I felt very hungry and motivated to just try and find another level.â€� Rose won the HSBC, the first of four wins in a 15-start stretch that would eventually lead to the FedExCup and a brief stint at world No. 1. “This tournament absolutely did kick-start some great golf for me that’s lasted the best part of the year,â€� he said. Dustin Johnson is making his only appearance in the fall. After this week, he will not play again until the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Hawaii the first week of January. And he won’t start practicing again until early December. “That’s when I get excited and fired up and get ready to get back to work,â€� he said. Taiwan’s C.T. Pan has played Sheshan International, but it wasn’t in competition. After missing the cut at the 2007 Volvo China Open at nearby Shanghai Silport, he had a free Saturday, so he made the 15-minute drive to play Sheshan International, which had opened three years earlier. It took him 11 years, but he’s finally back. “I remember it vividly. I told myself, I wish I could be here any time soon, and today I’m here and that means a lot to me,â€� Pan said.

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2021 THE CJ CUP @ SHADOW CREEK, Round 2 Top 10 win probabilities: 1. Xander Schauffele (1, -14, 61.3%) 2. Tyrrell Hatton (2, -11, 15.6%) 3. Russell Henley (3, -10, 5.2%) 4. Collin Morikawa (T5, -8, 4.2%) 5. Justin Thomas (T8, -6, 2.5%) 6. Jason Kokrak (T5, -8, 2.3%) 7. Talor Gooch (4, -9, 2.1%) 8. Matthew Fitzpatrick (7, -7, 1.7%) 9. Hideki Matsuyama (T8, -6, 1.5%) 10. Jon Rahm (T15, -4, 1.0%) Top Strokes-Gained Performers from Round 2: Putting: Jason Kokrak +4.7 Around the Green: Xander Schauffele +2.5 Approach the Green: Justin Thomas +2.8 Off-the-tee: Joaquin Niemann +2.4 Total: Xander Schauffele +6.8 NOTE: These reports are based off the live predictive model run by @DataGolf. The model provides live "Make Cut", "Top 20", "Top 5", and "Win" probabilities every 5 minutes from the opening tee shot to the final putt of every PGA TOUR event. Briefly, the model takes account of the current form of each golfer as well as the difficulty of their remaining holes, and probabilities are calculated from 20K simulations. To follow live finish probabilities throughout the remainder of THE CJ CUP @ SHADOW CREEK, or to see how each golfer's probabilities have evolved from the start of the event to the current time, click here for the model's home page.

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