Tiger, caddie sued over alleged Valspar incident

OVERVIEW Trying to find weaknesses in Justin Rose’s recent play, and assessing how he might improve in 2019, is like trying to find fault with a rainbow. Still, Rose dealt himself a mild criticism at the World Golf Championship-HSBC Champions in October, when he said, “It would be great to get in the winner’s circle more regularly.â€� Well, OK. But the fact remains, Rose, 38, has won a whole lot lately: A major (2013 U.S. Open), a gold medal (Rio Games, 2016), and most recently the FedExCup in late September, which he secured with a clutch birdie on the 72nd hole at the TOUR Championship at East Lake last season, keeping Tiger Woods from sweeping both the tournament and season-long trophies. Rose has also hit No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking multiple times in recent months What’s next? He finished third at the WGC-HSBC Champions to start his 2018-19 PGA TOUR campaign, when he will try to be the first to successfully defend his FedExCup title. No, he didn’t get into the winner’s circle, but contending goes a long way; in winning the FedExCup, Rose notched seven top-10s, five of those top-fives, in his final nine starts last season. Hard to believe this is the guy who missed 21 straight cuts around the world after turning pro in 1998. He has said it’s kept him from taking anything for granted, and kept him working hard. That hard work is paying huge dividends. — By Cameron Morfit Click here to see who else made the Top 30 list. BY THE NUMBERS FEDEXCUP UPDATE Current 2018-19 position: 30th Playoff appearances: 12 TOUR Championship appearances: 9 Best FedExCup result: Won the FedExCup in the 2017-18 season SHOTLINK FUN FACT With his next PGA TOUR win, Justin Rose will have 10 career PGA TOUR victories, which would be the most by any Englishman since 1945. INSIDER INSIGHTS PGATOUR.COM’s Insiders offer their expert views on what to expect from Justin Rose in 2019. TOUR INSIDER: Rose has 11 top-15 finishes but no wins in the majors and THE PLAYERS Championship since winning the 2013 U.S. Open. Last season he shot up to 17th in Strokes Gained: Putting after ranking 123rd in 2017, a quantum leap that led to his FedExCup title. In addition to putting better, he has also learned to manage occasional back pain. Last summer, as a precaution, he WD’d from the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, then came up big in the Playoffs. Those improvements, should they continue, could net Rose more trophies in ’19, maybe even a green jacket at the Masters, where he’s done everything but win. — By Cameron Morfit FANTASY INSIDER: While he’s made just 18 PGA TOUR starts in each of the last three seasons, gamers still have trouble rationing them in formats in which they’re restricted. And now, he’s coming off a career season at age 38 and giving no reason why he won’t continue to excel. His improved putting serves as the easy explanation for both his ability to capture the FedExCup without winning a Playoffs event – the first to do so – and his ascent to No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking, but it was just the final box to check on one of the most fulfilling careers of his generation. Continue to expect a frugal schedule, but he’s announced that he’ll be returning to the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play for the first time in three years. — By Rob Bolton EQUIPMENT INSIDER: Rose has been on staff with TaylorMade for … well, pretty much forever. In 20 years as a professional, TaylorMade is the only equipment company he’s been on staff with. That will likely change in 2019, as reports and rumors are circulating about Rose switching to Honma. And Rose has done more to fuel those rumors than to quell them when discussing the matter. Assuming he does in fact switch to Honma, that leaves a number of questions including, how many Honma clubs will he put into play, which TaylorMade clubs will he leave in the bag, and will he put any clubs in play that aren’t Honma or TaylorMade? Rose’s equipment decisions early in 2019 will be the top equipment story to start the year. — By Andrew Tursky STYLE INSIDER: Rose’s style is a great example of how golf apparel and footwear have evolved. His simple, classic-looking threads have a high tech component as they are crafted from luxurious performance fabrics. Rose pairs his apparel with contemporary trainer-style shoes that feature a spikeless molded outsole for comfort and traction. — By Greg Monteforte

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ATLANTA – The road to the FedExCup title began with Starting Strokes, with No. 1 seed Patrick Cantlay staked to an early lead at the 30-man TOUR Championship. RELATED: Final leaderboard | What’s in Cantlay’s bag? But really, the road to the FedExCup began earlier than that. Much earlier. In fact, Cantlay (final-round 69, 21 under total) began mapping out his one-shot victory over Jon Rahm (68) years ago, at Virginia Country Club in Long Beach, California. Already an accomplished junior, he would study the older, more accomplished players like Paul Goydos and John Cook. What did they do well? What could he learn? That maturation process has now gone into overdrive, first with Cantlay’s lights-out putting and overtime victory over Bryson DeChambeau at the BMW Championship – earning a new moniker, “Patty Ice” – and now with his wire-to-wire victory at the TOUR Championship, where he lived into the new nickname to win the FedExCup. “You know, as good as it felt to feel like I slept on the lead for two straight weeks darned near, it feels good to not necessarily have the lead anymore and be done and closed out,” he said. “It was a long year … just a ton of golf and a ton of pressure golf. “But I’m very grateful and happy to be here,” he continued, “and I’m really proud of myself for staying in the moment and delivering when it counted.” Oddly, the nickname, which was emblazoned on the back of an Atlanta Falcons jersey for this week, was a factor. It wasn’t the name itself; it was the feeling behind it. “It could have been a different nickname, but he really appreciated that the fans got behind him,” said Matt Minister, Cantlay’s caddie for the last four and a half years. “Because up until last week, everybody else was being cheered for, and then they really started cheering for him. That’s what made the difference, that they got behind him.” Cantlay’s old nickname? “Sheldon, from ‘Big Bang Theory,’” Jamie Mulligan, his coach, said with a laugh. Let the record show that your new FedExCup champ has traveled a long road that was by turns predictable and ghastly. Through it all, though, he has held tight to perhaps his greatest strength: knowing precisely what to let soak in, and what to let slide by. An old soul, Cantlay is 29 going on 84, according to his coach. “He hasn’t probably ever listened to a full song that was written after 1979,” Mulligan said. “He’s listening to Led Zeppelin, Jackson Browne, Cream.” He reads biographies about influential figures much older than that. Then again, Cantlay isn’t entirely swayed by the wisdom of his elders. His parents went to USC; he went to UCLA, where he won the Fred Haskins and Jack Nicklaus awards. He shot a second-round 60 at the 2011 Travelers Championship, the first 60 or better by an amateur in PGA TOUR history, announcing his arrival as a force. Cantlay turned pro after his sophomore year in June, 2012. He played the Korn Ferry Tour, took the odd sponsor’s exemption on the big TOUR. It was all going according to plan. Then it wasn’t. Cantlay was at Colonial Country Club in Texas, warming up for the second round of the Charles Schwab Challenge, when it felt like someone had knifed him in the back. He WD’d, but his nightmarish odyssey was just beginning. After a seven-month break, his back still wasn’t right. Cantlay struggled in 2014, sat out 2015 entirely, and still wasn’t feeling well at the outset of 2016. Then came tragedy. Cantlay and his best friend, Chris Roth, had drawn up plans back at Servite High School in Anaheim: Cantlay would play the TOUR, Roth would be his caddie. But those plans were cut short. Out one night, out with Cantlay, Roth was hit by a car and killed while crossing the street on the way to a restaurant in Newport Beach. “Just a freak, one-in-a-million type deal,” Cantlay later called it. He spent the rest of 2016 rebuilding emotionally and physically. He returned in 2017, and in limited action out of concern for his L5 vertebrae, fulfilled his Major Medical Extension in just his second start. The turning point came seemingly out of nowhere: a runner-up finish to Adam Hadwin at the Valspar Championship. “I think the biggest thing is it’s given me great perspective,” Cantlay said Sunday of his trials. “I think for a long time, everything just went great. Growing up, I felt like I got better and better in golf and life got better and better, and then it got as bad as it could have been. I felt as low as it could have been for a little while. “Coming out on the other side of that, I feel like I am a better person having gone through those dark days,” he continued. “But it gives me great perspective and it makes me very grateful to be in the position I’m in today, because it wasn’t always a sure thing. I was very close to going back to school and putting golf behind me.” He got his first win at the 2018 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. He moved to South Florida, where he could be around peers like Justin Thomas. His maturation gathered even more momentum when he had a chance to win the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide but finished fourth. He sought the counsel of Jack Nicklaus and was told to look up and enjoy himself the next time he was in such a situation. He won the Memorial the next year (2019). “First off, the way his body has matured,” Minister said, when asked to run down the changes he’s seen in his boss. “When I first met him, he was around 180 pounds. Now he’s 200 pounds. He’s bulked up and turned into a man. He’s so much stronger. He hits the ball not as far as some of the long hitters, but he can hold his own.” As his turnaround at the Memorial suggests, the change has been more than physical. “With each passing year, he’s been better in these situations, better dealing with the crowds, better in the media,” Minister said. “His interviews are fantastic; you see it with each passing year, his maturity and how comfortable he is being out here.” Staked to a lead over the rest of the 30-man field at the TOUR Championship, Cantlay got perhaps the greatest test of mental stamina of his career. He passed with flying colors, making no worse than bogey and refusing to help the chase pack. The scariest moment came at the 17th hole Sunday, but Rahm missed his 11-foot birdie putt, and Cantlay, out of position after missing his drive and approach right, and a duffed chip, made from six feet for bogey, limiting the damage to a shot. When it was over, all the lessons at the knees of his elders, the hard times, the move to South Florida, the newly won “Patty Ice” handle – Cantlay had soaked up and lived into every ounce of whatever could help him. And he’d let slide the rest. The old soul was a man in full, a complete player, and a FedExCup champion.

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