Leaderboard: Sentry Tournament of Champions

THE OVERVIEW It is said to be high enough to pull the universe, houses the oldest Buddhist temple on Jeju Island, and features five hiking trails. But for players at THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES, the inaugural PGA TOUR event in South Korea this week, there’s just one important thing to know about Halla Mountain, which is also known by Hallasan, among its many other names. It affects the way the greens play. “The whole golf course is on this side of the big mountain, sometimes it can look flat but really everything is still going down the mountain,â€� Adam Scott said. “So you just have to be a little bit aware of where down the mountain is. Sometimes it looks flat but it might be faster, sometimes it might be slower because you might be putting back up the mountain. It’s going to play a little part this week.â€� As we were reminded most recently at the Presidents Cup at Liberty National, golf courses can be built on all sorts of land — even an old dump. But if the Nine Bridges course can be readily compared to anything, it might be Kapalua, which hosts the Sentry Tournament of Champions and is also built into the side of a mountain. At its highest, Mount Halla measures 6,400 feet. Some have made it an object of worship, contending that gods and spirits live on it. That’s debatable, but what does live on it is a par-72, 7,196-yard course, with “rolling topographyâ€� (Golf Magazine) and closely mown runoff areas. It is legendary for its views, but even so it’s the challenge of the putting that is getting the most attention. Players have no institutional knowledge of the place, and are learning the lay of the land as fast as they can.    “The greens have a lot of slope on them,â€� FedExCup champion Justin Thomas said. “The greens are very big as well, so the slope can play a big factor and a big role in how you are going to play the course, if you want to use some of the slopes to get close to the holes, or if you want to use some to get into the spot where you want to putt from. But the hardest part is that you just have to play smart. You can’t be too aggressive and short sight yourself or have the putt above the hole.  “You want to try to leave it below the hole and have as many makeable putts with as little break as possible that you can out there.â€� Jason Day wasn’t as worried about the putting as he was everything else. “I actually asked the local caddie if there is a mountain break, and she said, ‘There’s a little bit but not much,’â€� Day said. “Saying that, we are at elevation of, I think Jeju is at the highest 6,000 feet, and I think the golf course is at 2,000 feet. When you have an elevation change of about 2,000 feet from sea level, you probably have zero to five yards in distance change and in how much farther you will hit it. “That’s one thing that we have to tackle this week. There’s a lot of elevation change from tee to green, or second shot into the green, so with that you will have to be wary as well.â€� THREE PLAYERS TO PONDER 1. K.J. Choi: Korea’s most successful male golfer is making his first appearance at Nine Bridges. Expect big galleries. 2. Justin Thomas: The FedExCup champ started his new campaign with a T17 last week. He’s just getting cranked up. 3. Pat Perez: Broke into the world’s top 20 players with last week’s win at the CIMB Classic. Wonder if he’s still celebrating. THE FLYOVER The 353-yard 14th is the shortest par 4 on the back nine and should offer players a chance to drive the green. “It’s possible to have an eagle chance, but there’s some danger to doing that,â€� said Adam Scott. “The right-hand side bunker has severe penalties. It’s always a question of risk and reward. If it’s not too windy and you’re playing well, I think it’s a good opportunity to attack.â€� Justin Thomas is looking forward to it. “That’s a hole that could create a little bit of drama,â€� he said. WEATHER CHECK When the LPGA played at Jeju Island more than a decade ago, the weather was a big factor several years. Cold temperatures and brutal wind made an impact. While wind will likely be a factor this week, it shouldn’t be extreme. PGA TOUR meteorologist Stewart Williams forecasts partly to mostly sunny skies each day. “Temperatures will remain cool, especially in the mornings,â€� reports Williams. “Otherwise, Typhoon Lan is expected to pass just east of Japan on Sunday. This may produce isolated showers and windy conditions across Jeju Sunday afternoon.â€� For the latest weather news from Jeju Island, Korea, check out PGATOUR.COM’s Weather Hub. SOUND CHECK If it’s tough, I could see 8- to 12-under winning. If it’s pretty calm, it could be something around 16- to 20-under. Like I said, I’m pretty bad at that so I wouldn’t go off with what I said. ODDS AND ENDS 1. 17 FAN FAVORITES. Seventeen Koreans are among the 78 players in the field, including reigning THE PLAYERS champion Si Woo Kim, who is sponsored by CJ, this week’s title sponsor. “I always want to do well in any event that I take part in,â€� Kim said. “But this event is a little bit more special for me, so yes, I do feel a little bit more pressure.â€� 2. HE KNOWS JEJU. Graeme McDowell should be worth keeping an eye on this week, particularly because he’s one of the few non-Korean players who have enjoyed success on Jeju Island. McDowell won the European Tour’s Ballentine’s Championship in 2008 at Pinx Golf Club, which is close to Nine Bridges. “Nice to be back in this part of the world,â€� McDowell said. 3. DIFFERENT FEEL. Marc Leishman has playing experience on Korean courses – he was a member of the International Team at the 2015 Presidents Cup outside Seoul – but this is his first look at Nine Bridges. “The course is very good,â€� he said. “It’s different than a lot of other Korean courses I’ve played. It’s a lot more generous off the tee, a lot wider. Greens are very good. It’s important to get it on the right section of the green. It’s a beautiful golf course.â€�

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Born in Charlotte and an alumnus of UNC, Davis Love III is a Tar Heel through and through. North Carolina has been the site of on-course success for Love, as well. He’s a three-time winner of the Wyndham Championship, claiming the trophy in three different decades. The 2015 Wyndham Championship, which he won at the age of 51, was the last of his 21 TOUR wins. He also won the Wyndham in 2006 and 1992. Only Sam Snead, who won the event a record-tying eight times, has had more success in this event. Next month, Love also will captain the U.S. Presidents Cup team at Charlotte’s Quail Hollow Club. In preparation for that role, he’s competing for the second consecutive week on TOUR – a luxury afforded him as a life member – to get a closer look at prospective players. “I’m thrilled to be back,” Love III told the press on Tuesday. “(I) won it at Forest Oaks across town, and won here (at Sedgefield Country Club), so it always gives me good vibes when I come back to a place that I played well. … I always do play better when I get to North Carolina for some reason.” In celebration of the 30-year anniversary of Love’s first Wyndham first win, we wanted to look at what’s changed in his equipment setup between now and then. As you can expect, the changes have been drastic. He was still using a persimmon wood when he first won in Greensboro, as well as two classic equipment lines, the Tommy Armour 845 irons and Ping Eye 2 wedges. Love used a 2-iron back then, when he was one of the longest hitters on TOUR, but now a 4-iron is the longest iron in his bag. Love’s 1992 driver was a far technological cry from what he uses now: a weight-adjustable Titleist TSi3, equipped with a graphite Fujikura Ventus Red shaft. He was one of the last players to wield a persimmon driver, using a Cleveland Classic until 1997. “The Cleveland has been in my bag since 1985,” Love III wrote in his 1997 book, “Every Shot I Take.” “It was given to me by a good friend, Bob Spence. I experiment with metal drivers often; I find – for me, and not necessarily for you – they go marginally longer than my wooden driver, but they don’t give me any shape. I find it more difficult to create shape to my drives off the metal face, which is important to me. …I also love the sound my ball makes as it comes off the persimmon insert of my driver. “I’m no technophobe,” he added. “My fairway ‘woods’ have metal heads … but when it comes to my old wooden driver, I guess the only thing I can really say is that I enjoy golf more with it, and I think I play better with it…golf is somehow more pleasing to me when played with a driver made of wood.” Love III changed his tune later in 1997, though, when he switched into a Titleist 975D driver made of titanium instead of wood. Flash forward to this year’s Wyndham Championship, and Love III still has a Titleist driver in his bag. Check out the full specs below from Love III’s win in 1992 versus what he has in the bag this week! DAVIS LOVE III WITB 1992 Driver: Cleveland Classic Oil Hardened RC85 3-wood: TaylorMade Tour Spoon Irons: Tommy Armour 845 (2-PW) Wedges: Ping Eye 2 (SW, LW) Putter: Ping Anser DAVIS LOVE III WITB 2022 Driver: Titleist TSi3 3-wood: Titleist TS3 Utility: Callaway Apex UW Irons: Titleist AP2 718 (4-9 iron) Wedges: Titleist Vokey SM9 (46-10F, 50-08F, 56-14F and 60-10K) Putter: Scotty Cameron Masterful Golf Ball: Titleist Pro V1 2021

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Bryson DeChambeau has withdrawn from the Sony Open in Hawaii with a sore wrist. The Golf Channel’s Ryan Lavner reported the news. According to Brett Falkoff, DeChambeau’s agent, he was experiencing wrist soreness and not prepared to play in back-to-back weeks. DeChambeau faded with a final-round 72 to finish 16 under par and tied for 25th place at the Sentry Tournament of Champions on Sunday. The popular power hitter, who led the PGA TOUR in driving distance the last two seasons, is eighth in the world and coming off a season in which he won twice (U.S. Open, Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard) and lost in a playoff to Patrick Cantlay at the BMW Championship. He also drove the first green in beating Sergio Garcia in singles at the Ryder Cup. Only twice had DeChambeau teed it up at the Sony, but he tied for 10th in his most recent appearance in 2019.

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