Brooks Koepka takes one-shot lead in chase for FedExCup

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – Davis Love III and Zach Johnson, two of Sea Island’s esteemed veterans, share a podium with ease. The coastal Georgia community has steadily built a reputation as one of the TOUR’s leading locales, with double-digit residents competing at their hometown The RSM Classic this week. Love and Johnson have been central forces in the island community’s growth in the professional golf landscape, mentoring countless young pros through the ups and downs of the journey. Their career arcs have been further synchronized in recent months, as Johnson prepares to serve as U.S. Ryder Cup captain at next fall’s matches in Rome. Love served as winning U.S. Team captain at this year’s Presidents Cup in his native North Carolina, with Johnson serving as a captain’s assistant. The U.S. Team defeated the International Team by a 17.5-12.5 margin at Quail Hollow, withstanding a spirited International Team charge over the weekend. As Johnson prepares for his first captaincy in Rome, he’ll have a familiar face for counsel. Love and Johnson plan for a summit of sorts this coming Monday, hopefully after a weekend in contention at Sea Island GC. Considering the TOUR’s calendar year of FedExCup competition concludes in their adopted hometown, there’s no better place. Not that Johnson intends to rip up the script. “I’ll say the beauty of what’s been established … is that we have a system,” Johnson said Wednesday, alluding to the growing synergy between the United States’ Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup strategic preparations in recent years. “The system for Team USA is really, really good right now. It doesn’t necessarily mean that we’re going to win, but it’s good, and it can take on the personality year-in and year-out of that leader, so you can stay on the same road and just have a different bus driver.” So what does that entail for Johnson? The Iowa native has carved out a legacy for maximizing his talent through hard work and preparation. Never one of the game’s longest hitters, he maintained status in the game’s upper echelon as the Tiger-inspired wave of young “bomb-and-gouge” pros entered the TOUR in the late 2000s and early 2010s. Johnson, 46, has won 12 times on TOUR including the 2007 Masters and 2015 Open Championship. He might be on the back half of his TOUR career, but he has maintained a full schedule and spends ample time with prospective U.S. Ryder Cup team members across the TOUR calendar. He could be considered a bridge captain between generations. “Knowing that my peers want me to do this is everything to me,” Johnson said. “I’m a guy that, I can’t stand drama, so it’s going to be my goal to avoid that. It’s not always easy, it’s not always practical, it’s not always going to happen. That’s No. 1. “No. 2 would be, I just want to give the guys the ability to enter the most uncomfortable week in a very comfortable manner. The system’s already in place, I’m going to follow it, I’m going to nuance it to Zach and Kim Johnson and represent that team as best I can.” Johnson played in five Ryder Cups and has served as a captain’s assistant in the past two Ryder Cups. Love played in six Ryder Cups and has served as both a captain and captain’s assistant. Johnson played a crucial role for Love at this year’s Presidents Cup – “Zach and I had a not-so-fun Saturday making pairings,” Love said of attempting to hold off the International Team after a Saturday surge. (The attempt was successful.) How does Johnson project as a captain? Love is well-equipped to answer. “He’s really good at time management,” Love said. “He’s really good at using his team to set up a game plan. He hadn’t hardly been named captain and I got two phone calls from other people that he already talked to about helping him with food and travel and things like that … the practice round thing, he’s already thinking about that, how to get guys more used to the golf course. He’s on it. “Now we have somebody smart and organized that’s a captain, so we can move forward.” Love may downplay his strengths as a captain, but the results at Quail Hollow suggest otherwise. And he’ll aim to guide his fellow Sea Island cornerstone to a similar outcome.

Click here to read the full article…

Phil Mickelson has already performed one miracle this year, but he could be on the way to helping with another if his message helps Josh Allen deliver the Buffalo Bills their first Super Bowl championship. The Bills quarterback dressed as Mickelson for Halloween as he arrived for their Sunday clash with the Miami Dolphins, a nod to the relationship struck up between the pair. It seemed simply a cute social media play, with the obligatory nod to Mickelson’s shapely calves, until the Bills signal caller orchestrated a second-half revival to beat the Dolphins 26-11 after the teams were locked 3-3 at the half. In the first half, Allen and his team looked anything but the group who now leads the AFC East with a 5-2 record, but in the second half they transformed into the team some say could finally bring upstate New York the title they’ve craved since the 1964 and 1965 teams won AFL titles in the pre-Super Bowl era. Allen helped the Bills to score on their last four possessions in a scrappy, yet crucial win, and arrived at his postgame press conference once again dressed as Mickelson. But it was more than theatre. Turns out Mickelson has given the Bills offensive star a mindset boost. He was used as a motivational speaker of sorts for the team in the pre-season after becoming the oldest player to win a major championship at 50 years, 11 months. “It was right after he won the PGA and he was right there with his trophy and the golf cart. He was on the golf course, and he took about 30 minutes to talk to the team and it was really cool,” Allen revealed after. “He talked about finding, kind of like your Zen, finding where you’re calm and early on, I’ve known this for a long time, I don’t play good when I’m pissed off and frustrated. (And) I think that was maybe kind of causing some issues early on and to that second half just trying to find that inner peace where I can just kind of go out there and relax and that’s what we did.” Mickelson has been a late but impressive taker to the social media scene. But for all his playfulness and fun – he clearly was able to convey a serious message to the golf mad Allen. “I think it’s just self-knowledge, understanding who you are,” Allen added. “I know I don’t play well when I’m frustrated, and again, hearing that from a Hall of Fame golfer, one of the best of all time, to say that type of thing, that resonated well with me, because that’s exactly kind of how I feel, too. It helped me today and hopefully it’ll help me in the future, too.” If it helps the Bills to Super Bowl glory you might just see Mickelson at the victory parade.

Click here to read the full article…

Judging by the questions I’ve received since the start of the season, this is a good time to plug my full-membership fantasy rankings. See, the extended introduction serves as a reference board of sorts. Built in are all kinds of bits and pieces regarding membership, tournaments, provisions, exemptions and, whoa, even fantasy-specific information. Included in the latter is an adjustment made to PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO. Beginning in 2017-18, golfers who lose in playoffs are awarded bonus points based on actual finish. Marc Leishman was the first golfer impacted when he was defeated by Justin Thomas at THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES on Sunday. The Aussie’s fantasy bonus was 150 points, which is equal to one-half his actual haul in FedExCup points (since the tournament didn’t utilize ShotLink data). Until now, playoff losers were under the same bonus structure as the winners who beat them. The only wrinkle is that Leishman’s bonus points weren’t manually adjusted in the platform until Monday. It occurred at the usual time that all non-members who contributed to fantasy teams were credited with their equivalent bonuses. Please relay this to others if you’re a commissioner or if you know of anyone who isn’t yet aware. PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO My roster for the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions (in alphabetical order): Dustin Johnson Brooks Koepka Marc Leishman Hideki Matsuyama Jon Rahm Justin Rose You’ll find my starters in Expert Picks. Others to consider for each category (in alphabetical order): Scoring: Daniel Berger; Jason Day; Tony Finau; Brian Harman; Phil Mickelson; Pat Perez; Patrick Reed Driving: n/a Approach: n/a Short: n/a Power Rankings Wild Card Alex Noren … Turning points are visible only with hindsight, so it remains to be seen if the WGC-HSBC Champions is a launch pad or a flat tire for the Swede. It’s not often when a 35-year-old from anywhere debuts as a PGA TOUR member, but that’s his reality this week. Thanks to four wins in 2016 and a statement victory at the BMW PGA Championship five months ago, he’s secured a spot on all of the planet’s biggest stages for the recent past and near future. He descended for his fifth appearance at Sheshan International with just one top 25 in his last five starts, but he has a pair here, including a T12 last year. Strongest for his aerial approaches and greenside game, he occupies the inside lane for a mammoth 2017-18. Draws Tommy Fleetwood (all) Branden Grace (DFS) Bill Haas (all) Brian Harman (DFS) Matt Kuchar (all) Michael Lorenzo-Vera (DFS) Thomas Pieters (all) Haydn Porteous (DFS) Hyun-woo Ryu (DFS) Peter Uihlein (DFS) Bernd Wiesberger (DFS) Fades Wesley Bryan Adam Hadwin Russell Henley Charles Howell III Charl Schwartzel Jhonattan Vegas Returning to Competition Brandon Hagy … A sore wrist thwarted a start at the Safeway Open where he had committed. Last year’s T14 at the Country Club of Jackson was his second-best finish of 2016-17. Roberto Diaz … Had to call it quits during his second round in his rookie debut at the Safeway Open with a back injury. A T20 at the Web.com Tour Championship the week prior was his first top 25 in 15 starts dating back to June. George McNeill … Eked into the field of the Sanderson Farms Championship as the fifth alternate. Hasn’t pegged it since withdrawing during the final round of the Barbasol Championship. An explanation wasn’t released. The 42-year-old is embarking on his second straight season in the Past Champions category. He made only seven PGA TOUR starts in 2016-17 and hasn’t cashed since last year’s SFC. Notables WDs Louis Oosthuizen … Unexpected withdrawal from the WGC-HSBC Champions because he tweeted last Saturday that he was eager to resume playing. Mackenzie Hughes … Second consecutive early withdrawal (this time in China) due to the imminent birth of his first child. Luke Donald … Withdrew from the Sanderson Farms Championship with a sore rib. It would have been his first appearance in 14 years. It was in that event in 2002 when he broke through for his first of five PGA TOUR victories. Power Rankings Recap – THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES Power Ranking  Golfer  Result 1 Tony Finau T26 2 Justin Thomas Win 3 Paul Casey T19 4 Pat Perez T5 5 Xander Schauffele T72 6 Russell Henley T33 7 Rafa Cabrera Bello T11 8 Marc Leishman P2 9 Jason Day T11 10 Keegan Bradley T47 11 Cameron Smith 3rd 12 Chez Reavie T15 13 Anirban Lahiri T5 14 Sung Kang T54 15 Kyle Stanley T19 Wild Card Patrick Reed T11 Sleepers Recap – CIMB Classic Golfer  Result Scott Brown T5 Jinho Choi T36 Luke List T5 Ollie Schniederjans T19 Young-han Song T58 Birthdays among active golfers on the PGA TOUR October 24 … Marc Leishman (34) October 25 … Troy Merritt (32); Xander Schauffele (24) October 26 … none October 27 … Fabián Gómez (39) October 28 … none October 29 … none October 30 … none

Click here to read the full article…