Power Rankings: Wyndham Championship

Denny McCarthy … Don’t forget about this guy. After finishing atop the money list in the Web.com Tour Finals, he stumbled and missed the cut at the season-opening Safeway Open. After a two-week break, the 25-year-old regrouped and finished T7 in Mississippi and T15 in Vegas. That kind of extended confidence makes sense both in the context of how he performed in the Finals and with the added comfort of fully exempt status north of the graduate reshuffle category throughout 2018-19. Making his return to Mayakoba where he eked out a T68 thanks primarily to a bogey-free, 6-under 65 in the second round when no one went lower. Adam Hadwin … Now that he’s again outside the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking (at 61st), he’s back on the radar to qualify for this space. After a tough three-month run to close out 2017-18, he recorded three straight top 25s in the FedExCup Playoffs to total 10 on the season. Since, he’s added a T10 at THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES. That matches the result of his last trip to Mayakoba in 2016 when he ranked T4 in fairways hit, T3 in greens in regulation at T1 in par-5 scoring. Nick Taylor … Since rallying to keep his job by finishing the 2017-18 regular season with six consecutive cuts made, he’s turned the page and opened the new campaign by going 3-for-3. The 30-year-old Canadian opened last fall similarly strong before signing for a second-round 75 at Mayakoba to miss the cut by two, but he had connected five straight red numbers at El Camaleón dating back to a share of 15th place in 2016. Adri Arnaus … The 24-year-old from Barcelona was the recipient of one of the four designated sponsor exemptions reserved for golfers of Latin descent, and he’s comin’ in caliente! He traveled from the United Arab Emirates where on Sunday he captured his breakthrough title on the Challenge Tour at the Ras Al Khaimah Grand Final. It vaulted him to season-ending second on circuit’s order of merit and yielded a European Tour card in 2019. He also paced the 2017 Alps Tour in earnings on the strength of two victories, including at its season finale as well. Currently 134th in the Official World Golf Ranking, he’s making his PGA TOUR debut in the same field as former Texas A&M teammate and recent Sanderson Farms Championship winner Cameron Champ. Viktor Hovland … The last amateur to make his PGA TOUR debut with arguably as much fanfare was Joaquin Niemann at the 2017 U.S. Open. Hovland, a 21-year-old from Oslo, Norway, doesn’t splash with the same pedigree as the Chilean who turns 20 on the Wednesday before the Mayakoba Golf Classic begins, but you’ll be seeing quite a bit of him all season as the reigning U.S. Amateur champion. The title yielded exemptions into the Masters, U.S. Open and Open Championship in 2019 as long as he remains an amateur, as well as others invitationals. The junior at Oklahoma State University currently sits No. 4 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking and he’s fresh off tri-medalist honors at the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate in Texas where his Cowboys prevailed by 32 strokes. (Senior teammate Zach Bauchou also received a sponsor exemption to compete this week.)

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HONOLULU, Hawaii – The assembled writers were sent scrambling to the PGA TOUR media guide after Canadian Adam Svensson found his way to the top of the leaderboard at the Sony Open in Hawaii. It happens sometimes at the beginning of seasons as the new rookie class finds its feet – some of them haven’t found a way into the mainstream consciousness yet. Keen followers of the Web.com Tour know the 25-year-old greenhorn won The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic about a year ago and leveraged that into a PGA TOUR card. But even they might not know the story that caught the eye of the scribes who awaited him after his career low 9-under 61 at Waialae Country Club gave him a one-shot lead. It wasn’t the fact Svensson recorded nine individual titles and played on two NCAA Division II championship teams at Barry University in Miami. Or that he claimed the Phil Mickelson Award as Division II’s Most Outstanding Freshman in 2013 or the Division II Jack Nicklaus Award in 2014. Instead it was one that revolves around his first golfing memory. “I was three or four years old and my dad was teeing off and I guess I decided to drive the cart right into the lake,â€� Svensson said of his toddler days. “Well I drove it in and then I hopped out and my dad was trying to grab his clubs and stuff like that, but it ended up sinking to the bottom.â€� Svensson said his dad was able to rescue his driver and putter but that was it and to this day it is a story his dad remembers, and perhaps recounts, most. Perhaps in a few days he will have a stronger one to draw on. RELATED: Round 1, Sony Open in Hawaii The 61 was easily Svensson’s best in 11 previous PGA TOUR starts but it also bettered anything he had done prior on the Web.com Tour or the MacKenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada. He did however shoot another 61 in his prolific college days. Only Justin Thomas has opened the Sony Open with a lower score in previous years (59 in 2017). Svensson sits 163rd in the FedExCup at the moment after missing three of five cuts this season. While very happy with his efforts he knows one good round is not enough to win on the TOUR where his best result this season is a T39 at the Sanderson Farms Championship and his career best remains a T34 from the 2015 RBC Canadian Open. He is hopeful the education learnt last year has prepared him for the next three days. “I really do think the Web has helped me a lot just with nerves and know how to play the game pretty much, how to get around, how to score, stuff like that,â€� he said. “It’s huge. The Web … obviously traveling to different countries and just getting to know what have to do each week. “Winning on the Web.com Tour is extremely hard because you have go so low. I think that mentality out on the PGA TOUR is the great thing to have.â€�

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SHEBOYGAN, Wis. — The Americans haven’t opened with a lead this large in the Ryder Cup since Jack Nicklaus and Lee Trevino were playing, and before Tiger Woods was even born. RELATED: Full recap from Day 1 | Pairings, preview for Saturday morning That didn’t seem to be big enough to satisfy U.S. captain Steve Stricker. Dustin Johnson and Xander Schauffele each won two matches, Bryson DeChambeau smashed a drive that had everyone talking and the Americans were relentless Friday at Whistling Straits in losing only one match to build a 6-2 lead. “It’s a great start. We are happy with the start,” Stricker said. “But my message to the guys is tomorrow is a new day. Pretend today never happened, and let’s keep our foot down and continue to play the golf that we know we can play.” Oh, how Europe would like to forget this day ever happened. Rory McIlroy never made it to the 16th hole in losing both his matches on the opening day for the first time. The lone bright spot was Jon Rahm, living up his No. 1 ranking by winning in foursomes with Sergio Garcia and keeping Europe in a tight fourballs match long enough for Tyrrell Hatton to birdie the last hole to at least salvage a half-point. Europe has never trailed by four points after the first day since the Ryder Cup was expanded to include the continent in 1979, the modern era of these matches that Europe now dominates. Go back to 1975 to find the last time the U.S. had a four-point lead in the Ryder Cup. “No doubt, it was a tough day,” European skipper Padraig Harrington said, attributing the difference to a putt here, there and pretty much everywhere. “There’s obviously still 20 points to play for.” Suddenly, though, there seems to be a sense of urgency. The Americans were delivering big moments and the big smiles, waving up hands to get the one-sided gallery to cheer even louder, cupping hands to their ears to urge them along. They are looking for a fresh start after a quarter-century of losing, and its youngest team in history took a big step to creating their own memories. “They fought hard every single shot out there, from what I saw,” DeChambeau said after he and Scottie Scheffler earned a halve in fourballs. “This is a great start, but the job’s not over. We have two more days. A lot more golf. And we cannot lose our mindset to win.” The first point of the 43rd Ryder Cup, postponed one year by the pandemic, went to Europe and its new “Spanish Armada” of Rahm and Garcia. The final match ended in a halve when Justin Thomas delivered a late eagle putt that allowed him and Patrick Cantlay to come all the way back from a 3-down deficit. Through the morning chill, the midday warmth, a ferocious wind in the afternoon and even a little rain, the one constant was American red scores filling the boards across Whistling Straits. “We can come back from 6-2,” said McIlroy, trying to summon calm and confidence after losing both matches. Europe will have to do it without him. McIlroy is not part of the foursomes lineup Saturday morning, the first time he has sat in a Ryder Cup. Both captains stuck to their plans, and it only worked out for one of them. Even with a 3-1 start in foursomes, Stricker broke up all his American teams as planned and still won the afternoon fourballs session with two wins and two draws. Johnson and Schauffele never trailed together, while the high-spirited Tony Finau made six birdies as he and Harris English trounced McIlroy and Shane Lowry. DeChambeau still hasn’t won a Ryder Cup match, but he delivered quite a show. He pounded a drive to where no one had dared to go on the par-5 fifth hole. It cleared a massive bunker complex and stopped rolling at 417 yards, setting up a 72-yard flip wedge for an easy eagle. “There are two towers behind the green — I can’t even describe to you — they are like 250 or 200 yards right of where I’m trying to hit my drive,” Scheffler said. “And it’s crazy for him to be able to commit to that shot. “It was great. That was a good spark for us and good momentum for the rest of the day.” DeChambeau and Scheffler were poised for a 1-up victory until Hatton hit 5-iron into a hard left-to-right wind that landed near the hole and settled 7 feet away. He made the birdie putt to scratch out a halve and could only hope it was worth more. “Things like this can turn the tide,” Rahm said. After one day, it already feels like a strong tide, and that makes Saturday and another round of foursomes and fourballs more important than ever. Harrington also broke up all his pairings. This was the first time since the Ryder Cup was expanded to include all of Europe in 1979 that no one from the morning played together in the afternoon from either team. Cantlay and Schauffele were tough as ever in foursomes, which set the tone for the Americans. They were 5 up through five holes against McIlroy and Ian Poulter, and closed out their impressive 5-and-3 win with four straight birdies, the last one conceded. “I don’t know if anyone could have beat Xander and Patrick today,” McIlroy said. Only one shot went into the lake — a pull-hook from Tommy Fleetwood on the par-5 16th. And there almost was one player who went into Lake Michigan. That would be Jordan Spieth, facing an impossible shot beneath the 17th green with the ball on a severe slope in the morning round. He swung so hard with a 52-degree wedge that momentum sent him backward, scrambling to keep his footing and then running down toward the edge of the bank until he could get his balance. The shot? Remarkable as ever, plopping down 6 feet away. Thomas missed the par putt and the match was over. That was one of the few moments that didn’t go the American’s way.

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