BMW Championship, Round 1 updates: FedExCup Playoffs

LAS VEGAS – Kamaiu Johnson, whose journey against adversity amidst mutliple PGA TOUR sponsor exemptions captivated golf fans this winter, shot a final-round 70 to overcome a top-tier field and capture the APGA Tour Las Vegas tournament Tuesday at TPC Las Vegas. The 28 year-old from Tallahassee, Florida, started the day in a three-way tie for first place and managed his way at even par around the 7,081-yard, par-71 TPC layout until carding a birdie three on the 14th hole to eke out the one-stroke victory over Nyasha Mauchaza of Port St. Lucie, Florida, with a two-day total of 138. The players navigated winds estimated at 25 mph in pursuit of the title as the APGA Tour made its debut at the prestigious PGA TOUR-owned course. Tommy Schaff of Ridgeland, South Carolina, was another stroke back at 140 after his three-under 68 with Marcus Manley of Kissimmee, Florida, and Rovonta Young of Huntsville, Alabama, tied for third at 141. In fourth place were APGA Tour stalwarts Willie Mack and Landon Lyons at 142. Young and Lyons have APGA Tour victories this year and longtime APGA Tour star Mack played as a sponsor exemption in two PGA TOUR events this winter. Johnson was selected for a sponsor exemption into the PGA TOUR’s Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in January but his dream was shattered when he contracted COVID-19 and had to withdraw. The AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and The Honda Classic responded with exemption invitations later that week and Johnson was able to compete on the big stage in those events. International media picked up on the narrative of dream shattered and revived, introducing Johnson to golf fans around the world. He sank a 15-footer for the birdie at 14 and then knocked in an eight-footer at 18 to avoid a playoff with Maukaza and pocket the $7,500 top prize out of the $25,000 purse. “The whole experience of playing at the PGA TOUR level has been a great process,” said Johnson, who dealt with 40 mph winds in the Korn Ferry Tour’s Emerald City Classic last month. “I went back to all those events and relied on what I learned. It all has made me believe in myself and it helped me today.” The APGA Tour title is his first since winning the APGA Tour Championship tournament last September, leading to his sponsor exemption adventures. Johnson and the full field of the APGA Tour’s top players will now travel to Arizona next week for APGA Tour Scottsdale April 18-20 at TPC Scottsdale. The APGA Tour then travels to PGA of America-owned Valhalla Country Club for APGA Tour Louisville in May before playing two more PGA Tour-owned prestige venues, TPC New Orleans and TPC Deere Run (Silvis, Illinois) in June and July. The 59-player field included Alfonso Ribeiro, the TV personality and host of America’s Funniest Home Videos, who supports the APGA Tour’s mission of bringing greater diversity to the sport of golf. Ribeiro is a top-notch celebrity golfer and he represents the PGA TOUR as a Brand Ambassador for the PGA TOUR Champions circuit. The tournament was conducted under social-distancing and health/safety guidelines in conjunction with regional authorities.

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2020 the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide, Round 2 Top 10 win probabilities: Jon Rahm (3, -8, 28.7%) Tony Finau (T1, -9, 20.9%) Ryan Palmer (T1, -9, 11.3%) Gary Woodland (T4, -6, 6.2%) Chez Reavie (T4, -6, 4.4%) Patrick Cantlay (T8, -4, 4.2%) Justin Thomas (T16, -3, 3.6%) Viktor Hovland (T8, -4, 3.5%) Jason Day (7, -5, 3.0%) Rory McIlroy (T21, -2, 2.0%) Top Strokes-Gained Performers from Round 2: Putting: Danny Willett +5.5 Around the Green: Mackenzie Hughes +2.8 Approach the Green: Gary Woodland +4.6 Off-the-tee: Abraham Ancer +2.0 Total: Jason Day +7.1 NOTE: These reports are based off the live predictive model run by @DataGolf. The model provides live “Make Cut”, “Top 20”, “Top 5”, and “Win” probabilities every 5 minutes from the opening tee shot to the final putt of every PGA TOUR event. Briefly, the model takes account of the current form of each golfer as well as the difficulty of their remaining holes, and probabilities are calculated from 20K simulations. To follow live finish probabilities throughout the remainder of the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide, or to see how each golfer’s probabilities have evolved from the start of the event to the current time, click here for the model’s home page.

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The first redesign by noted course architect Tom Doak for the PGATOUR is featured this week as Memorial Park in Houston assumes the role host of the Vivint Houston Open. The TOUR returns to its roots as this municipal track is back on the schedule for the first time since 1963. The inaugural event in Houston took place in 1946 and the first one at Memorial Park debuted the following year, running until 1963. The Houston Open sat as the preparatory exam for Augusta National, for most of the last 15 years and returns to that position on the schedule, albeit accidentally, this time around. Tom Doak and Brooks Koepka (player consultant) have positioned only 19 bunkers through 7,432 yards on this Par-72 (36-36). The focus this week will be on excitement and scoring chances rather than grinding out pars and surviving. With five Par-5 holes, five Par-3 holes and a pair of Par-4 holes that can possibly be driven, a full array of shots will be required, not to mention a bunch of birdies, to pick up the trophy this week. Think ZOZO but with a few hundred additional yards and Bermuda on the greens. We all remember who was on the podium that week (Cantlay, Rahm and Thomas). RELATED: Power Rankings | Expert Picks | Sleeper Picks With a new test it’s always the ball-strikers who move to the forefront. With 28 acres of fairway, less than three inches of rough and only four holes with water, I would think scoring will be a major focus this week. Greens are large, averaging 7,000 square feet, and running slick with Mini-Verde Bermuda so hitting plenty of them will be the angle. The more GIR will give more scoring chances and it won’t hurt to have shorter clubs into those scoring holes. Lanto Griffin is the defending champion at the event and will lead the field of 132 as they look to get their hands on $1.26 million (winner) of the $7 million prize pool plus 500 FedExCup points. The winner won’t get into the Masters next week but will be eligible in 2021. Event Winners at Golf Club of Houston Recent Winners 2019: Lanto Griffin 2018: Ian Poulter (not entered) 2017: Russell Henley Key stat leaders Top golfers in each statistic on the 2019-2020 PGA TOUR are listed only if they are scheduled to compete this week. Those listed in BOLD deserve deeper inspection if not already on your RADAR. Strokes-Gained: Tee-to-Green 2 Hideki Matsuyama 4 Sergio Garcia 8 Harold Varner III 9 Dustin Johnson 10 Scottie Scheffler 11 Tony Finau 13 Tyrrell Hatton 14 Russell Henley 16 Corey Conners 20 Viktor Hovland 21 Luke List 24 Emiliano Grillo 25 Cameron Tringale Par-5 Scoring 6 Wyndham Clark 6 Matt Jones 10 Hideki Matsuyama 10 Dustin Johnson 10 Kevin Streelman 10 Tyrrell Hatton 10 Ryan Palmer 10 James Hahn 18 Alex Noren 21 Cameron Davis 21 Sam Burns 21 Jhonattan Vegas 21 Sungjae Im 21 Scottie Scheffler Strokes-Gained: Putting 1 Denny McCarthy 3 Andrew Putnam 4 Kristoffer Ventura 8 Mackenzie Hughes 9 Maverick McNealy 11 Patrick Rodgers 14 JT Poston 16 Wyndham Clark 23 Troy Merritt 24 Beau Hossler 25 Patton Kizzire Top players at Bermuda Championship (entered this week) 1 Brian Gay P2 Wyndham Clark 3 Ollie Schniederjans 4 Matt Jones 4 Stewart Cink 4 Denny McCarthy 4 Doc Redman 8 Ryan Armour 8 David Hearn 14 Scott Piercy 16 Russell Knox 21 Maverick McNealy 21 Brice Garnett 21 Andrew Putnam 21 Sepp Straka 26 Paddy Harrington 26 Beau Hossler Top 25 ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP @ SHERWOOD (entered this week) 4 Russell Henley 4 Ryan Palmer 8 Corey Conners 11 Tony Finau 11 Dylan Frittelli 11 Lanto Griffin 17 Alex Noren 17 Scottie Scheffler 26 Brian Harman

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