Expert Picks: Charles Schwab Challenge

Believe it or not, International Captain Ernie Els can turn the unfortunate loss of Jason Day into a positive for his Presidents Cup team. Sure, the list of what he has lost is vast, with the news that Day has succumbed to a back injury that will keep him sidelined for two months … • The experience of four previous Cup appearances • A 12-time PGA TOUR winner • A major winner • A former PLAYERS Championship winner • A former world No. 1 • A two-time winner of the World Golf Championships – Dell Technologies Match Play • A World Cup winner at Royal Melbourne • The best statistical putter on the team from last season • An Australian with a huge following But there are also gains to be had with the introduction of Byeong Hun An into his first Presidents Cup. Stay with us… RELATED: An in as Day bows out of Presidents Cup | Presidents Cup provides bonding experience for Hadwin, Weir | The unlikeliest Presidents Cupper Better form While Day is pure class, the fact remains he has had just one top-10 finish since The Masters Tournament in April – a T8 at the Travelers Championship in June. He hasn’t won since the Wells Fargo Championship in May of 2018. Now An hasn’t won on the PGA TOUR, but just since Day’s last top-10 finish the Korean has two third-place finishes on the TOUR and contended throughout the recent Asian swing. He was T6 at THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES and T8 at the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP before a T14 at the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions. He sits 16th in the FedExCup while Day, who ended his fall with a missed cut at the Mayakoba Golf Classic, is 139th. An ranked first on the PGA TOUR last season in Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green and seventh in SG: Tee-to-Green. The injection of new blood The International team has a 1-10-1 record in all Presidents Cups. Certain players have been there for a while and been unable to come up with a much-needed win. Now of course, the strength of the U.S. Team is the major factor here. They have always been a far superior team on paper. But a lot of European Ryder Cup teams have looked inferior but won. Day played in 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2017 for an individual record of 5-11-4. For all his match play talent, Day hasn’t been able to turn it into Presidents Cup team success. In 2015, Day had won four of his last nine starts leading into the competition and was no worse that T12 over a stretch that included three majors, a WGC and the FedExCup Playoffs. But in Korea he went 0-4-1 and the Internationals lost by a single point. An is now one of seven rookies on the International Team. They don’t have the scars of losing. And An has his own match play history. He remains the youngest winner of the U.S. Amateur, a title previously held by Tiger Woods and then Danny Lee. The underdog status Even with the loss of the world No. 1 Brooks Koepka, the U.S. Team is stacked. Matt Kuchar, at 23rd, is the lowest-ranked American player in the world, and only Adam Scott (18th) and Hideki Matsuyama (20th) sit above him from the Internationals. Haotong Li, at 63rd, is the lowest-ranked International. Everyone expects the U.S. to win. They have dominated in the past and are led by Tiger Woods. But Els can harness that underdog mentality. (No one gives you guys a chance. They don’t respect you. They think they can just turn up and win.) Sport is full of underdog triumphs. There is an entire Hollywood movie genre on it. Maybe Els should play Rocky movies on the team bus. Or highlights of real-life upsets like when Buster Douglas knocked out Mike Tyson or the New York Giants beat the previously undefeated Patriots in the Super Bowl. They have an opportunity to create a unique legacy here… the team that finally knocked down the juggernaut. Freedom with pairings Els has stated for months that he will use analytics when making his partnerships and with another rookie he will have more freedom to do so. Day was expected to pair with fellow Australian Adam Scott – a unit that played together at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans and wanted to do so again. It looked a good duo, despite a missed cut in New Orleans, taking away some options from Els’ plans. Now Scott is freed up to go where the numbers best suggest – something that might help him avoid adding to the unwanted record of having the most losses in Presidents Cup history. Maybe it will be another ball-striker like An or Louis Oosthuizen. Or will it be a fiery rookie with putting prowess like Sungjae Im or Joaquin Niemann? An also brings a balance as he can seamlessly partner with the other Asian players as well as others. So while it certainly isn’t good news that Day won’t return to his native land this December, it is not as dire as it might seem. Els will make sure his team knows it.

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The PGA TOUR heads to Delaware for the first time, as the BMW Championship tees off at Wilmington Country Club. FIELD NOTES: Only the top 70 in the FedExCup standings will earn their way to the BMW Championship… Scottie Scheffler, who entered the Playoffs at No. 1 in the FedExCup, is coming off a missed cut at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, just his fourth of the season… Other notables looking to bounce back after a missed cut in Memphis are past FedExCup winners Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth… The TOUR’s biggest stars will continue their quest for the FedExCup at Wilmington Country Club including world No. 1 Scheffler; defending BMW and FedExCup champ Patrick Cantlay; The Open and THE PLAYERS winner Cameron Smith and Sam Burns and Xander Schauffele, who each have three wins this season… Five TOUR rookies — Cameron Young, Davis Riley, Taylor Pendrith, Mito Pereira, and Sahith Theegala – advanced to the second Playoffs event with eyes on finishing their first TOUR season at East Lake… The BMW Championship field will be confirmed when the FedExCup standings are set after Sunday’s conclusion of the FedEx St. Jude Championship. FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 2,000 FedExCup points. COURSE: Wilmington Country Club (South Course), par 71, 7,534 yards. Designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr. in 1959 (the original Wilmington Country Club, on a different site, was established in 1901), the course was re-worked by Andrew Green in 2021 after a tornado ripped through the area in August 2020. In just five minutes, 300 trees were felled by the tornado including a 250-year-old white oak, which allowed Green to move the 14th green back by 60 yards. The tournament routing will intertwine the front and back nines of the course (e.g. Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 4 are actually the 10th, 13th, 14th, and 15th, holes for the members). Green was originally contracted by the club to redesign its North Course, but following the tornado the club had Green work on the South Course as it prepared for the TOUR’s arrival, as well. The club has hosted six USGA events in the past, along with the 2013 Palmer Cup competition between Europe and the United States. That American team featured Justin Thomas. STORYLINES: A dramatic cut to the FedExCup field will occur after the BMW Championship, with only the top 30 in the FedExCup standings making it to the season finale at East Lake…The automatic qualifiers for the Presidents Cup teams will be determined after the BMW, as well, with six Americans and eight Internationals securing spots on their respective teams… Unlike the FedEx St. Jude Championship, there is no cut at the BMW Championship… No golfer has defended his title at the BMW Championship since it became a FedExCup Playoffs event in 2007… The last two, and three of the last four, BMW Championships have been won in a playoff… Olympia Fields, which hosted the BMW Championship in 2020, will return as host next year. 72-HOLE RECORD: 261, Patrick Cantlay/Bryson DeChambeau (2021 – Caves Valley Golf Club) WILMINGTON COUNTRY CLUB RECORD: N/A 18-HOLE RECORD: 59, Jim Furyk (2nd round, 2013) WILMINGTON COUNTRY CLUB RECORD: N/A LAST TIME: Patrick Cantlay rode a hot putter to top Bryson DeChambeau in a dramatic and thrilling six-hole playoff to capture the 2021 BMW Championship en route to winning the FedExCup. Cantlay closed with a 6-under 66 on Sunday, making putts of 8 feet for par on 16, 8 feet for bogey on 17 after his tee shot found the water and a 20-footer on the 72nd hole to force a playoff with DeChambeau, who shot his own 66 on Sunday. Cantlay gained 14.6 strokes on the greens that week, the most at a single event since that statistic debuted in 2004. The pair finished at 27 under for the week, with DeChambeau becoming the first golfer in TOUR history to fire a score of 261 and not take home a title. Cantlay and DeChambeau made matching pars for the first four playoff holes before rolling in birdies on the par-3 17th, the fifth playoff hole. DeChambeau had a chance to win in regulation but missed a 12-foot birdie try on 18. He had three other birdie tries in the playoff and missed them all. Cantlay rolled in an 18-foot birdie on the sixth and final playoff hole for the win. It was a two-horse race through Sunday, as Sungjae Im, who finished third, was four shots out of the playoff. Rory McIlroy finished fourth while Erik van Rooyen finished fifth. HOW TO FOLLOW (All times ET) Television: Thursday-Friday, 3 p.m.-7 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday, 12 p.m.-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3 p.m.-6 p.m. (NBC). Sunday, 12 p.m.-2 p.m. (Golf Channel), 2 p.m.-6 p.m. (NBC) Radio: Thursday-Friday, 1 p.m.–7 p.m. ET. Saturday-Sunday, 1 p.m.-6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio) For outside of the U.S., click here for GOLFTV powered by the PGA TOUR PGA TOUR LIVE PGA TOUR Live is available exclusively on ESPN+ • Main Feed: primary tournament-coverage featuring the best action from across the course • Marquee Group: new “marquee group” showcasing every shot from each player in the group • Featured Groups: traditional PGA TOUR LIVE coverage of two concurrent featured groups • Featured Holes: a combination of par-3s and iconic or pivotal holes

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Here are all the ways to watch the Genesis Scottish Open this week on ESPN+.

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