The First Look: Workday Charity Open

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Why is Tommy Fleetwood – and not Rory McIlroy — in the final group Sunday at THE PLAYERS Championship? “I think I’m the better-looking one, so they put me in the last group,â€� Fleetwood said with a wry smile. Well, Fleetwood does have the most-impressive hair on the PGA TOUR, but that’s not the reason why. It actually goes back to the fact that he finished Friday’s second round approximately 40 minutes earlier than McIlroy. Fleetwood was the first player to sign for 12 under that day and assumed the clubhouse lead. McIlroy eventually joined him as the co-leader and in the final group for Saturday. Since Fleetwood was first in on Friday, that meant he had the honors off the first tee Saturday. Eighteen holes later, Fleetwood and McIlroy stood on the 18th green, each at 14 under, with the final twosome still undecided. Leader Jon Rahm, at 15 under, was guaranteed one spot. McIlroy could’ve joined him at that number but missed his 10-foot birdie putt, then finished off his tap-in par. Fleetwood followed with his par putt from 5 feet. RELATED: Pins and needles | Why Woods and Na were laughing at 17 | St. Patrick’s Day finish | How Island Green is playing Usually, it’s first-in, last-out, except when both players are in the same group and finish with the same score. Then it reverts to whoever struck the first tee shot. Hence, Fleetwood will join Rahm at 1:35 p.m. ET on Sunday, while McIlroy tees off 10 minutes earlier with Jason Day, who is at 12 under. It might seem like a small issue, except for the fact that McIlroy has been in the final group nine times in worldwide events the last two years and failed to convert a single one into victory. McIlroy seems more concerned about taking advantage of the four par 5s at TPC Sawgrass. He was 6 under on those holes in the first two rounds but played them at even par on Saturday. “Definitely an area that I need to really concentrate on and try to make the most of those holes because it is getting difficult out there,â€� McIlroy said. “Definitely with the conditions the way they might be tomorrow, you’ve got to take advantage of the easier holes.â€� As for being in the final group with Rahm – taking his first 54-hole lead in his TOUR career – Fleetwood said it doesn’t make much difference to him. “The course is the same and the atmosphere between the second to the last group or the last group won’t really change,â€� said the Englishman. “It’ll be good to be in the final group again. That will be all weekend that I’ve played in the final group, so that’s something to be very happy about.â€�

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The PGA TOUR uses a standardized system for determining event fields, based off the current season’s Priority Ranking while also including additional exemption and qualifying categories. Field sizes can vary by event, as can the number of event-specific exemptions. Fully exempt PGA TOUR members are guaranteed entry into all full-field events, with various conditional categories subject to periodic reshuffles based upon FedExCup Points accrued throughout the season. Categories with ‘reshuffle’ notation indicate that a reshuffle period has occurred. How the field qualified for Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard as of 2/25/2022: Check here for updates. Former Winners of the Bay Hill Invitational Bryson DeChambeau Tyrrell Hatton Marc Leishman Rory McIlroy Winner of Masters Tournament (five-year exemption) Sergio Garcia Hideki Matsuyama Patrick Reed Winner of THE PLAYERS Championship (five-year exemption) Si Woo Kim Winner of U.S. Open Championship (five-year exemption) Jon Rahm Gary Woodland Winner – WGC Event -Dell Technologies Match Play (2019 & 2021) Billy Horschel Kevin Kisner Winners of The Genesis Invitational (2020-2022) Max Homa Adam Scott Winner – Tournament Winner in the Past Year Sam Burns Cameron Champ Cam Davis Lucas Glover Talor Gooch Lucas Herbert Garrick Higgo Tom Hoge Viktor Hovland Sungjae Im Matt Jones Jason Kokrak K.H. Lee Luke List Seamus Power Scottie Scheffler Hudson Swafford Erik van Rooyen Member of most recent European Ryder Cup team Paul Casey Matt Fitzpatrick Tommy Fleetwood Ian Poulter Lee Westwood Winner – Prior Year U.S. Amateur Championship James Piot Winner of Arnold Palmer Award from Prior Season(Rookie of the Year) Will Zalatoris World Golf Ranking Top 50 Kevin Na Thomas Pieters Matthew Wolff Russell Henley Corey Conners Justin Rose Cameron Tringale * Sponsor’s exemption (Korn Ferry Tour Finals) Paul Barjon Stephan Jaeger Sponsor’s exemption (members not otherwise exempt) Doug Ghim Padraig Harrington Anirban Lahiri Graeme McDowell Sean O’Hair Brandt Snedeker Henrik Stenson Danny Willett Sponsor’s exemption (unrestricted) Sam Bennett Nicolai Hojgaard Charles Howell III Zach Johnson Takumi Kanaya Min Woo Lee John Pak Davis Thompson Top 70 on prior season’s FedExCup Keegan Bradley Carlos Ortiz Aaron Wise Charl Schwartzel Sebastián Muñoz Branden Grace Maverick McNealy Robert Streb Chris Kirk Patton Kizzire Kevin Streelman Keith Mitchell Top 70 on current season’s FedExCup Cameron Young Lanto Griffin Denny McCarthy Danny Lee Sahith Theegala Brendan Steele Kevin Tway Troy Merritt Andrew Putnam Nick Watney J.J. Spaun Scott Stallings Hayden Buckley Taylor Moore C.T. Pan Beau Hossler Patrick Rodgers Aaron Rai Michael Thompson Taylor Pendrith Peter Malnati Adam Long Lee Hodges Adam Schenk PGA Section Champ/Player of the Year Greg Koch Below 70th position from Current FedExCup Points List Vince Whaley Jason Day Rickie Fowler Brendon Todd Pat Perez Alex Smalley Christiaan Bezuidenhout Henrik Norlander Martin Laird Chez Reavie Matt Wallace Rory Sabbatini Greyson Sigg Sam Ryder Davis Riley Dylan Frittelli Sepp Straka Adam Svensson Nick Taylor * = If all prior year Korn Ferry Tour graduates are eligible for event, exemptions become unrestricted # = Latest medical extension information can be found here. $ = Category breakdown can be found here.

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