From testing to prize money, the biggest takeaways from the PGA Tour’s plans for a return

ATLANTA – Joaquin Niemann was 24 shots off the lead, and the tension was thick. Playing as a single and determined to beat Kevin Na’s speed record (1:59) for an 18-hole round at the TOUR Championship, Niemann had the clubhouse in sight, and he was flying. A group of 30 to 40 supporters, many of them college kids and younger, were running with him, witnesses to history. Na, waiting for his tee time on the practice putting green next to the 10th tee, kept up with the breathless commentary and the timed splits on his phone. “Oh, he’s breaking it,” Na said. He smiled. “He needs a ruling on 18.” There was no such hinderance. Niemann creamed his drive – about a foot or two from being too far and in the water – found the front greenside bunker with his second, blasted out to 6 1/2 feet, missed the birdie, and tapped in for a 2-over 72. Elapsed time: 1:53. He’d made history. “I’m tired,” Niemann said, out of breath and smiling at his ridiculous feat. Asked about the intrepid fans who legged it right along with them on the back nine, Gary Matthews, his caddie, said, “It felt like the Tiger Woods time here.” Andy Pazder, Chief Tournament/Competitions Officer for the PGA TOUR, met them in the scoring trailer and notified Niemann that he would be receiving a $10,000 fine for his conduct. Before a fuming Niemann could say anything, Pazder said he was only kidding. “I was like, ‘Oh, I hate you,’” Niemann said with a laugh. The rushed round required some preparation. “He had three golf balls,” said caddie Matthews, when asked if he’d strategically emptied out the bag. “He didn’t have the usual nine. He didn’t have a rain cover. He didn’t have any little instruments that we had. He only had one glove, five tees.” And if it had rained? “Umbrella was gone,” Matthews added. Niemann rubbed the caddie’s belly. “Didn’t have breakfast this morning so he was light.” Wesley Bryan has the fastest round on record on the PGA TOUR, 1:29 at the BMW Championship. The record-breaking round was a welcome diversion amid the tension of Patrick Cantlay and Jon Rahm trading blows with the $15 million FedExCup first prize on the line. It also won Niemann some fans. Brendan Reilly and Will Arsenault, students at the University of Miami who were in town for the Hurricanes’ football game against Alabama on Saturday, were sweating and out of breath on 18. “We saw him at 11 and realized he was only an hour into his round,” Reilly said. “He picked up the pace and next thing you knew he was on 14 already, and it was on from there.” Added Arsenault, “There were a good 30 to 40 kids like us running with him. Never in my life did I see myself participating in a Tiger moment like this. He really grew a following.” Tyler and Evan Henley, teenagers from Beaufort, Georgia, carried the scoring standard and were also exhausted and pushing fluids by the end of the round. “I wrestle,” said Tyler, 17, “so I’m probably in the best condition I’ll be in, and it still wore me out.” Did they know on the first tee what Niemann was going to do? “No,” Tyler said. “He was talking to his caddie; me and my and my brother heard the word ‘run.’ Then he kind of took off and then stopped, so we thought he was jokin’ around and he was gonna take it kinda slow. And then on 10 and he just took off.” Told at the turn he was off the pace; Niemann knew he had to step on it. He had double-bogeyed the eighth hole, a misadventure that seemed to take forever. It was time to blow off some steam. Although he professes to hate running since his school days, when he ran track, he took off down the 10th fairway, telling the brothers over his shoulder, “We’re beating this record!” The next five holes were a blur. When Niemann reached the watery, par-3 15th hole, Stewart Cink and Hideki Matsuyama, who’d started 10 minutes behind him, were teeing off at the eighth. Niemann and Matthews resolved to finish the round before Cink and Matsuyama finished the front nine. Niemann hit the 15th green and made a 29-foot birdie putt, his shot of the day. Really, though, it was the time that he would remember, and being on the clock – in a good way. “It’s been a long week, a long three or four weeks,” he said, “and I wasn’t playing my best golf this week. I was in last place and wasn’t going to win. I was pretty far behind from the guys in front of me, so I was like, let’s make it fun and have fun. It was a lot of fun.”

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Tiger Woods makes his first start of the calendar year – and takes his first crack at breaking the PGA TOUR’s all-time victories record — at a place where he’s had plenty of success. Woods is a seven-time winner of the Farmers Insurance Open. He also won the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. His eight victories at this course perched on the cliffs above the Pacific Ocean match his PGA TOUR record for most wins at one site. He has also won eight times at Bay Hill Club & Lodge, which hosts the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, and Firestone Golf Club, the former site of the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational. Woods also is making his first official start since winning a record-tying 82nd title at the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP and being a victorious player-captain at The Presidents Cup. He’ll need to top a world-class field if he wants to break the record he shares with Sam Snead. FIELD NOTES: Defending champion Justin Rose will make his first start of the calendar year. He last teed it up on the PGA TOUR at the WGC-HSBC Champions in November, finishing T28. Rose is coming off a second-place finish Sunday at the Singapore Open, where he finished three strokes behind Matt Kuchar. … Reigning FedExCup champion Rory McIlroy tees it up on TOUR first the first time since winning the WGC-HSBC Champions. He finished T3-1 in the two tournaments he played in the fall and took a six-week break over the holidays, returning to Northern Ireland. He is sixth in the FedExCup standings as he seeks to become the first three-time winner of the season-long competition.… Two-time Farmers Insurance Open winner Jason Day will make his return to the TOUR after having to withdraw from the Presidents Cup due to injury after receiving a captain’s pick… Rose, Day, and Woods are three of the eight past champions in the field including Brandt Snedeker, Scott Stallings, Bubba Watson, Phil Mickelson, and world No. 3 Jon Rahm. FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 FedExCup points. COURSE: Torrey Pines GC (South), 7,698 yards, par 72. A longtime PGA TOUR venue, the South Course at Torrey Pines received an upgrade from Rees Jones in 2001 to help secure the 2008 U.S. Open. The South Course recently underwent another renovation to prepare for next year’s U.S. Open. The North Course (7,258/72) also will be used for the first two rounds. STORYLINES: Tiger Woods will be seeking a record-setting 83rd PGA TOUR victory at a course where he’s been winning since his junior days. … Some California connections at Torrey Pines next week include Xander Schauffele, who is from La Jolla and was in attendance when Woods sank his famous birdie putt on the 72nd hole of the 2008 U.S. Open. … Rickie Fowler, from Murrieta, has two top-10s at the Farmers Insurance Open but also has four missed cuts in 10 starts. … And of course, Phil Mickelson – who has won this tournament three times and was born in San Diego –  will be playing his second event in a row after playing and hosting last week’s The American Express… Justin Rose looks to become the event’s fourth back-to-back champion. He’d join Woods, Mickelson, and J.C. Snead if he could manage to lift the trophy again… Rose was the first winner since Ben Crane in 2010 to start the week on the North Course. Winners from 2011-2018 all started on the South Course. 72-HOLE RECORD: 266, George Burns (1987), Tiger Woods (1999). 18-HOLE RECORD: 61, Mark Brooks (2nd round, 1990) and Brandt Snedeker (1st round, 2007) at Torrey Pines North, predating the Weiskopf redesign. South course record: 62, Tiger Woods (3rd round, 1999). Redesigned North record: 62, Jon Rahm (1st round, 2019). LAST TIME: Despite a record-setting first round by past champion Jon Rahm, he couldn’t keep the momentum going through Sunday and Justin Rose took the title, finishing at 21 under for the week. He got off to a tough start Sunday, bogeying three of his first five holes, but he was 5 under for his final 12. But Rose eventually topped Adam Scott by two shots for his 10th PGA TOUR win. Hideki Matsuyama and Talor Gooch finished T3, while Rory McIlroy finished T5 alongside two past Farmers Insurance Open champions – Rahm and Jason Day. HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Thursday-Friday, 3-7 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday, 1-2:45 p.m. ET (Golf Channel), 3-6 p.m. ET (CBS). Sunday, 1-2:45 p.m. ET (Golf Channel), 3-6:30 p.m. ET (CBS). PGA TOUR LIVE: (Featured Groups, Featured Holes) Thursday-Friday 12 p.m. – 7 p.m. ET. Saturday, 10:30 a.m.- 6 p.m. ET. Sunday, 11:15 a.m.-6:30 p.m. ET. Radio: Thursday-Friday, 1 p.m.-7 p.m. ET. Saturday, 1 p.m.-6 p.m. ET. Sunday, 1 p.m.-6:30 p.m. ET (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio).

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HAMILTON, Ontario – As Rory McIlroy was coming up to the 18th green Saturday at the RBC Canadian Open, the crowd interspersed “Let’s Go Roryâ€� chants in with “Let’s Go Raptors.â€� It’s been that kind of week for McIlroy, with the crowd support being firmly behind the Ulsterman – and the local basketball team. “It’s probably the best atmosphere I’ve played in a long time,â€� said McIlroy. “I think what they’ve been able to do here is like right on the limit of fun but still in keeping with the traditions of the game, so I think it’s been awesome. I’ve really enjoyed my time here. “I seem to get pretty good support most places I go, but for whatever reason here I think there are a lot people with Irish roots who seem to be very vocal out there. It’s great to see. I’m really enjoying myself out there.â€� McIlroy’s enjoyment of his time in Canada shone through Saturday after he shot a 6-under 64 to move into a tie for the lead heading into Sunday. He didn’t make a bogey in the third round, the first time he went bogey-free on the PGA TOUR since THE PLAYERS Championship, which he went on to win. McIlroy missed the cut at the Memorial Championship presented by Nationwide last week, but said he was actually grateful for the opportunity to work on his game more last weekend, especially as he headed to a golf course he had never played before. “I’m much happier than I was Saturday morning last week,â€� McIlroy said with a smile, as his 64 was tied for the low round of the day. “A week can make a big difference.â€� McIlroy said he got his driver going better last weekend and tightened his wedge game as well. He described those two as things that are “definitely neededâ€� around Hamilton Golf and Country Club. McIlroy also spoke with Brad Faxon about Hamilton, as Faxon – who works occasionally with McIlroy on putting – lost in a playoff there in 2003. McIlroy was 4-for-4 in Scrambling on Saturday and was ranked No. 1 in both Strokes Gained: Off the Tee and Strokes Gained: Tee to Green Saturday. he said he was able to put three P’s into practice again Saturday, a complete round thanks to patience, persistence, and perspective. “They’ve done me well to this point. They’re things I have to keep reminding myself of,â€� he said. “You know, whether I hit a good shot or bad shot or in a good spot or not, if I just keep preaching that to myself it just makes things — it eases the tension and makes things a bit simpler.â€� Although he said he started the week doing some preparatory work for Pebble Beach, that’s gone out the window as he looks to win on the PGA TOUR for the second time this season. “You’re here to try to win a golf tournament. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t want to give it my all and try to compete,â€� he said. “I think the best preparation for tournaments ahead is to get yourself into contention and feel the heat of battle, and going down the stretch hitting the shots when you need to.â€� If McIlroy did go on and win Sunday, it would be his sixth national open title from around the world (Irish, Hong Kong, The Open, the U.S. Open, and the Australian Open are the others). “They’re very important,â€� McIlroy said of national opens. “They’re the oldest championships in our game for the most part. “If I were able to win tomorrow, that would be my sixth, and that would be something I would be very proud of.â€� Through three days, the fans have been cheering McIlroy on as one of their own, so not only would he be proud to win the RBC Canadian Open, the fans would be thrilled to have him as their winner. “I’ve had a wonderful reception from everyone,â€� he said, “and I’m just excited to get to play in front of them again tomorrow.â€�

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