Top 30 Players to Watch in 2019: No. 16 Tony Finau

SAN DIEGO – Tiger Woods lit up the front nine of Torrey Pines on Saturday, allowing the raucous Southern California crowd to dream of an 83rd PGA TOUR win at the Farmers Insurance Open. RELATED: Leaderboard | Tiger’s chase for 83 | Morales relishes the time he took down Tiger at Torrey Pines The 44-year-old – who already has eight career wins at Torrey – had pulled within two of the lead and the fog that had delayed play earlier on the coastal course had no chance of returning such was the collective wind coming from the thunderous applause and thousands of cheers. The two hour delay to the start of play was not ideal for Woods who has undergone four back surgeries but he killed the time by sitting in his car with the heater dialed up. It seemed to do the trick. Woods started with revenge on the opening hole with a 13-foot birdie – the same hole he four-putted from 25 feet a day earlier for double bogey. He could’ve easily converted from a similar distance on the second but settled for par before hitting it stiff on the par-3 third to move to two under on the round. An important chip-in for par on the fourth kept the momentum and further birdies on the two par-5s on the front side had Woods rolling and the rest of the field taking notice. But then things stalled. Woods would make a sloppy bogey on the par-3 11th and then fail to make any birdies coming home. He did make an important par save on the last after a sloppy drive and wedge, leaving him with a respectable but not incredible 3-under 69. He now sits in a tie for 14th, five shots back of the lead held by 2017 champion Jon Rahm. If Woods is to take himself out of a tie with Sam Snead for the most TOUR wins of all time he will need to replicate his front nine heroics, but also continue the march down the stretch come Sunday. “The goal was to get to double digits at the end of the day. I figured that would be within maybe the last couple groups going out tomorrow,â€� Woods said. “Wasn’t quite able to get there, but hopefully tomorrow I can get off to another quick start and keep it going.â€� To do so Woods said he needs to get his approach game back to his lofty standards. After ranking 14th in Strokes Gained: Approach in round two, gaining +1.278 shots on the field, Woods dropped to 39th in the third round gaining just +0.231 strokes. “I missed my numbers a few times out there the last couple days and need to clean that up,â€� Woods said. “There were a couple times that we were talking about earlier with a new ball, it was going through the wind a little bit better and trying to get a feel for that. “You’re not going to win them all, and I’ve put myself there in the position to win a lot of events. I’ve lost my share of events, but in order to win them, you’ve got to be there a lot. Over the course of 20‑plus years out here, I’ve been pretty consistent.â€� Woods will have a chance to get out a little ahead of the lead pack and apply some pressure if he can start hot but he’s under no illusions it will be tough to reel in Rahm and the likes of FedExCup champion Rory McIlroy. TOUR winners Ryan Palmer, Sung Kang, Cameron Champ, Tony Finau, Patrick Reed, Marc Leishman, Brandt Snedeker and J.B. Holmes are also amongst those who will start above him. “I still got to go out there and post a low one tomorrow, still got to make a bunch of birdies tomorrow and move up that board,â€� he said. “No doubt it was important to make that putt (on 18). It was important to have some kind of positive momentum going into tomorrow.â€�

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WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W. Va. – To say Lanto Griffin was at a crossroads would have been an understatement. The year was 2014. Griffin had a mere $176 in his bank account. His credit cards were maxed out. He’d missed the cut in the last six mini-tour events he’d played. Several months before what is now known as A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier was to be played, though, Griffin had talked to his friend, Willy Wilcox. He suggested Wilcox go play in the tournament, he’d caddie and the two could stay at a cabin in the mountains owned by his surrogate mom and dad. “He was like, absolutely, let’s do it,â€� Griffin recalled. And as it turned out, the two were a pretty good team. Wilcox tied for fourth, which was his best finish of the year, seven strokes behind the winner, Angel Cabrera, and won just over $227,000. More importantly, he paid Griffin roughly $17,000 which enabled him to continue to chase his dream. “I was about done,â€� Griffin said. “I was about ready to give it up. I didn’t have any money left, so that kind of gave me a cushion.â€� Five years later, the well-traveled Griffin is back at The Greenbrier to begin his second season on the PGA TOUR. The lanky 31-year-old is in contention, too, just like Wilcox was in 2014. Griffin is tied at 8 under, just five strokes off the pace set by Scottie Scheffler and Joaquin Niemann. He followed up an opening 64 with a round of 2 under that included three straight birdies on the front and a lone bogey on the back. Griffin grew up in Blacksburg, Va., which is about an hour and 45 minutes from The Greenbrier. His father ran a health food store there and his mom was an organic gardener. He went to school at Virginia Commonwealth and is definitely among the favorites of the galleries at the resort this week. This week, Griffin is staying at that same cabin where he and Wilcox stayed five years ago. He’s got plenty of company with more than a dozen friends and family on hand. After hitting some balls on the range Friday afternoon, he planned to put the outdoor pizza oven to good work later that evening. “I will have plenty of distractions,â€� Griffin said. “I won’t be thinking about golf, which is great,â€� Griffin said he learned a lot being inside the ropes at The Old White TPC with Wilcox in 2014. He went on to caddie for Wilcox two times later in the year during what is now known as the Korn Ferry Tour Finals before Griffin headed off to play PGA TOUR LatinoAmerica. “it was fun being inside the ropes, watching somebody play really well,â€� Griffin said. “… I learned more that week caddying for him than I ever had playing in a week just because seeing it from a different perspective. “He didn’t over analyze anything, and he didn’t get to the course two hours early; we got here 45 minutes early and we left as soon as he was done. So, you know, it was one of those things where you learn, you don’t need to overdo it and, and you can hit bad shots and still be all right.â€� Bad shots have been few and far between this week at The Greenbrier. Griffin has made nine birdies, one eagle and just three bogeys. Through two rounds he’s hit 21 of 28 fairways, 27 of 36 greens in regulation and used just 56 putts. Griffin, who won the Robert Trent Jones Golf Championship on the Korn Ferry Tour last season on the way to regaining his TOUR card, is a long way from scraping it around on the mini-tours like the eGolf Tour and the Swing Thought Tour. “Those were good memories,â€� Griffin said. “It makes you appreciate free food and no entry fees and all that stuff. I think it kind of humbles you a little bit to look back on that and kind of appreciate where you are now.â€�

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Tiger Woods is trying to qualify for the season-ending Tour Championship and to do so he’ll try to play in three consecutive tournaments for the first time since 2013.

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