Quick look at the PGA Championship

Chez Reavie ... Horse for a course. Debuted at the Sony Open in Hawaii in 2008 and has gone 7-for-10 with a pair of top 10s among four top 25s. His personal best was a T3 in 2019 when he led the field in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green and par-4 scoring. The rub is that he's notoriously streaky and had only one top-25 finish in his last 10 starts of 2020 (T3, Safeway). However, not only has Waialae proven to reward experience to climb atop its leaderboard, it pays double in the context of retaining its challenge over time, so a veteran in a slump has reason to arrive with elevated expectations. C.T. Pan ... Perhaps the greatest added value of being your own boss is that you can set your own schedule. Generally speaking, as independent contractors, touring professionals can play whenever and wherever they want. Even when there are obligations, competing on courses that best fit one's skill set still is largely within the control of the PGA TOUR member. No doubt confidence everywhere is critical, but there's nothing wrong with logic having a position in the equation. That he has appeared at Waialae only once (MC, 2017) is mildly surprising. On paper, it make senses for the short knocker who ranges just five-and-a-half feet off the ground to seek out a par 70 with a pair of gettable par 5s and stretches to just 7,044 yards. Waialae doesn't comp directly to Harbour Town, site of his lone TOUR title in 2019 because that's a shot-shaper's track, but its test arguably is easier as a shot-maker's paradise. He committed this week and he's put last season's struggles behind him. He's 6-for-7 with a pair of top 15s in 2020-21, including a T7 at the Masters. Kyle Stanley ... It simple to understand why he was 7-for-7 with four top 25s at Waialae from 2011 through 2019. As a sharpshooter, he can stride to first tees cold and still split most fairways and contend for the field lead in greens hit. After missing the cut in last year's breezy conditions, the wind isn't forecasted to be as strong this week, so the course should play closer to how he's taken advantage of it in the past. In the middle of a modest string of three cuts made in the fall, he hung up a T6 at Sea Island and currently ranks eighth on TOUR in proximity to the hole. Tom Hoge ... The 31-year-had opened 2020-21 with 12 consecutive red numbers, but he had no better than a T24 (Shriners) to show for the consistency. Still, that start warranted attention as a Sleeper at THE CJ CUP @ SHADOW CREEK where he finished a pedestrian T38. After a mini-slump, he put it all together for a share of third place at Mayakoba. He currently co-leads the PGA TOUR with 23 rounds under par. His ability to step on the gas and retain control of the wheel explains how he placed third at Waialae in 2018 in the calm but also T12 in last year's challenging conditions. Henrik Norlander ... It's hard to believe that his 34th birthday is just a couple of months away (March 25) because he still carries a youthful swagger as he continues to figure out how to manage his game well enough to stay at this level where he belongs. Despite finishing the fall with a trio of missed cuts, the Swede gets the benefit of the doubt for a couple of reasons. First, COVID-19 prevented him from performing at Sea Island where he'd have been among the favorites to contend even as a non-winner. Second, in his last two trips to Waialae, he finished T20 in 2017 and T9 last year. He's a ball-striker's ball-striker by trade, but he led the wind-ridden 2020 edition in putting inside 10 feet and ranked second in Strokes Gained: Putting. NOTE: Sleeper is a relative term, so Rob uses unofficial criteria to determine who qualifies. Each of the following usually is determined to be ineligible for this weekly staple: Winners of the tournament on the current host course; winners in the same season; recent major champions; top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking; recent participants of team competitions.

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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Shriners Hospitals for Children, which has sponsored the PGA TOUR tournament in Las Vegas since 2008, has signed a three-year extension that carries its commitment to the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open through 2020. “Shriners Hospitals for Children is an awe-inspiring organization that truly saves children’s lives,� said PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan. “The PGA TOUR is honored to continue working with the Shriners to raise awareness of the wonderful work done at these hospitals.� The Shriners Hospitals for Children Open will be held for the 35th time when it returns to TPC Summerlin the week of October 30-November 5, 2017. “The Shriners Hospitals for Children Open provides tremendous media exposure and opportunities for our organizations, as well as a perfect setting for our Shriners to come together for fun and fellowship,� said Gary J. Bergenske, Imperial Potentate (CEO) of Shriners International, and Chairman of the Board of Directors, Shriners Hospitals for Children. “We are very pleased to continue our tradition of hosting a professional golf tournament in Las Vegas, and to continue our relationship with the PGA TOUR for another three years.� The Shriners Hospitals for Children Open has become a valuable platform to share patients’ successes, and the amazing work and expertise of the health care system. “Shriners Hospitals for Children strives to provide our unique brand of compassion and care to as many children as possible. The worldwide media exposure provided by the Shriners Hospitals for Children helps us reach many who might not otherwise learn about our health care system,� said Jerry G. Gantt, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Shriners Hospitals. “The Open also gives us an outstanding opportunity to share the stories of our patients in a powerful, visual way, clearly demonstrating our ability to impact and improve lives. We are extremely pleased to be part of the PGA TOUR, which provides these opportunities, through 2020.� The PGA TOUR looks forward to working with the Shriners organizations for another three years. “The Shriners have really grown their activation and patient involvement around the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open over the past several years, and it is exciting to see how they plan to further extend their patient activation around other PGA TOUR events in hospital markets,� said Brian Oliver, PGA TOUR Senior Vice President of Sponsorship and Partnership. “We are thrilled to have the opportunity to continue working with this group.�  Rod Pampling is the defending champion of the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, winning by two strokes over Brooks Koepka with a closing round of 65. About Shriners Hospitals for Children Shriners Hospitals for Children, a health care system of 22 hospitals that provides specialty pediatric care, conducts innovative research and offers outstanding medical teaching programs, was founded in 1922 by the Shriners fraternity, Shriners International. Every year, Shriners Hospitals for Children provides care for thousands of kids with orthopaedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries, and cleft lip and palate, in a family-centered environment, regardless of the families’ ability to pay. The health care system also provides medical educational opportunities and conducts research to improve the lives of children. For more information, please visit shrinershospitalsforchildren.org.

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COLUMBUS, Ohio – There are very few people who can really truly comprehend what Tiger Woods has achieved since having back-fusion surgery. One of those is two-time Super Bowl champion and five-time NFL MVP Peyton Manning. Manning famously returned to the heights of the NFL after sitting out a season following neck-fusion surgery in 2011. Having won his first Super Bowl with the Colts before the injury, he won another with the Denver Broncos after having surgery. RELATED: Watch Tiger exclusively on PGA TOUR LIVE on Thursday morning Getting there was not easy and plenty doubted he could. Woods finally succumbed to back-fusion surgery after multiple previous surgeries failed to fully address the issue. Now Woods has two wins since the surgery (TOUR Championship, Masters). Manning joined Woods for a pro-am appearance at the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide on Wednesday, the second straight year they have played together. But this year came after Woods won PGA TOUR title No. 80 at East Lake and No. 81 at Augusta National Golf Club, replicating the amazing comeback success of Manning. “It’s hard to make comparisons. And I don’t think that anybody can speak to it from a physical standpoint, injury-wise. Only you know what it feels like. And I know how hard he worked,� Manning said of Woods, who will try to join Sam Snead with a record 82 PGA TOUR wins this week. “The most impressive thing is how he’s been able to adjust and be adaptive to playing in a new physical state. And that’s what I did. And maybe to use a baseball analogy … I couldn’t throw the 100 mile-an-hour fastball anymore, but you can still work the outside edges of the plate and you can still strike a guy out that way. “And he struck a lot of guys out down there at Augusta a few weeks ago and came home with the win. That to me is the most impressive thing, how adaptive he’s been. As a golf fan, like everybody, I liked watching that Sunday. It’s great having him out here watching him play again.� Woods’ chase for 82 has ramped up lately. While he missed the cut at the PGA Championship, this week he’s at a venue where success has come in buckets. There was a time that Muirfield Village was as much Tiger’s place as it was Jack’s. From 1999-2012, Woods finished no worse than T22 at the beautiful course Jack Nicklaus built near his Ohio roots. Woods won the Memorial Tournament five times and finished inside the top four on three other occasions. Three of his wins came in consecutive years between 1999-2001. So perhaps it would be somewhat fitting for Woods to claim his 82nd and record-tying PGA TOUR win this week. “To get into those numbers it takes longevity and it takes years. I think it’s been 10 years where I’ve won five or more tournaments. You need multiple win seasons like that and be able to do it for decades so that’s something I’m very proud of because it’s not something that happens overnight,� Woods said of his win chase. “To be able to come this close to get to one behind Sam Snead has been pretty amazing. It has been a pretty amazing run during my 20-some odd years out here. Hopefully I have a few more.� Woods was under the weather at Bethpage Black, but insists his health is fine this week. “I lost quite a bit of weight and wasn’t feeling my best, but I was able to put most of it back on,� he said. “I’m feeling a lot better. I just need to play a little bit more now. Hopefully it will be four solid days this week.�

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