Live leaderboard: Round 1 of CJ Cup

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Ollie Schniederjans was still a little raw, and a little hurt. Two hours earlier, with the eyes of the world watching intently, he had worked his way into a tie at the top at THE PLAYERS Championship. Two hiccups on the back nine, though, including a triple-bogey 6 at the most famous hole in American golf, had given him an even-par 72 and a T16 finish. “I cost myself a lot of money on 17,â€� he said, “so that’s hard to deal with right now.â€� Now, though, he looks ahead to this week’s Valspar Championship, and, big-picture, he likes what he sees. Because Ollie Schniederjans 2.0 is finally achieving liftoff. He has a new swing coach (Butch Harmon), a new trainer (Brendan McLaughlin, who also works with Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson), and a new caddie (Damon Green, formerly with Zach Johnson). At TPC Sawgrass, Schniederjans, who stands out for his conspicuous lack of headwear and his feathery brown bangs, was even sporting a new mustache. “Just since today,â€� he said after the wild final round. “Yesterday I had a goatee.â€� Not long ago, it appeared Schniederjans didn’t need to change anything. He was a member of golf’s heralded Class of 2011—Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas were co-valedictorians—and marked for greatness as he mowed through the amateur ranks and was an All-American at Georgia Tech. But his early professional career fizzled. While Spieth and Thomas were racking up a combined 20 PGA TOUR titles, Schniederjans was running in place. He was 60th in the FedExCup in 2017, when he had his best chance to win before finishing runner-up at the Wyndham Championship, and 98th last season. If anything, he felt himself getting worse. “I wasn’t hitting it good enough,â€� he said at THE PLAYERS. “I couldn’t work it both ways. I couldn’t get it in the air real well. I lost a lot of speed last year.â€� What’s more, he added, he was stubbornly clinging to his old ways. “A lot of time was wasted,â€� he said, “and energy was wasted just trying to figure things out on my own.â€� He went to see Harmon for the first time in December, traveling to the renowned teacher’s home base in Las Vegas. He began working with Green at the Sony Open in Hawaii, in January, and made a second pilgrimage to Vegas for another full-day visit with swing coach Harmon. All the while, McLaughlin was overseeing his new program to strengthen his body for golf. That’s a lot of changes all at once, and the results were slow to come. Schniederjans came into last week languishing at 193rd in the FedExCup and 239th in the Official World Golf Ranking. He kept at it, though, not content to be mediocre and unwilling to quit before the changes had had a chance to take hold. They did so at THE PLAYERS, where Schniederjans, who took up golf at the relatively advanced age of 12, seemed to play better as he got closer to the lead. “That was the one thing Zach was good at, too,â€� caddie Green said. “We’ve talked about it a lot, how you have to be the guy who wants the ball and wants to take the shot at the end of the game. He really does, and you could see it. I’ve been telling him for the last month, ‘You’re going to peak at TPC, I can just feel it.’ Just tryin’ to get in his head and give him a little confidence.â€� Schniederjans has certainly never lacked drive; he burns to be one of the best in the world and is constantly having Green film his swing. Green calls him “an old soul for a 25-year-old,â€� such is his low-key, studied approach to improvement. His physical tools are also impressive. It’s one thing to reach the par 5s in two shots at TPC Sawgrass, but quite another to reach with a 9-iron, like Schniederjans. (He’s 11th on TOUR in driving distance, averaging 309.5 yards.) “He’s got around 125 mph ball speed, which is sick,â€� Green said. “If he can hit a few more fairways and improve on his putting, which let us down a little at TPC, he’s gonna do damage.â€� Schniederjans’ big weekend at THE PLAYERS was the long-awaited affirmation that he’s on the right path. With the leaders faltering early, he birdied three of the first six holes to tie for the lead, rising to the occasion like old times. This was exactly what was predicted for him. Alas, he double-bogeyed the 10th, rallied with three birdies, then rinsed his tee shot on 17, the resulting 6 a buzz-kill at the end of an otherwise electric weekend run. Still, these are early days, and the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook, which has given us first-time winners like Adam Hadwin, Kevin Streelman and Gary Woodland, awaits. Schniederjans calls caddie Green a huge help, and says the same for Harmon and McLaughlin. He’s got the right support team, and his decision to change everything is finally paying off. “I played extremely well – I had two terrible holes that cost me the tournament,â€� he said. “I know when I get in the mix, I can get the job done. I’ve just got to keep putting myself in this position.â€�

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FARMINGDALE, N.Y. – Seventy-two holes is a small sample, tiny enough to produce outlier results, but it also provides ample time for regression. That’s what happened to Brooks Koepka on Saturday at Bethpage Black. His record-setting pace slowed, but he still played well enough to put the PGA Championship to a premature end. This thing is over after Koepka shot 70 on Saturday to keep his seven-shot advantage. He sits at 12-under 198 (63-65-70). It’s the largest 54-hole lead in this tournament’s history, one that would require a historic collapse for Koepka to not leave Bethpage Black with the Wanamaker Trophy in hand. “I’m definitely not going to let up,â€� said Koepka, who continued to bash driver with abandon even as his lead neared double-digits early in Saturday’s round. Bethpage Black may feature single-file fairways, but they’re no match for Koepka’s combination of length and accuracy. It was the putter that let him down in the third round. Even though the putts didn’t fall, he still beat the field scoring average by more than two shots on a day when an inconsistent breeze blew through the Black Course. Six shots is the largest 54-hole lead lost in PGA TOUR history. It was done most recently by Dustin Johnson, at the 2017 World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions. Johnson is in the pack of Koepka’s closest pursuers, and he’s the only one with a PGA TOUR victory, let alone a major, to his name. Luke List, Harold Varner III and Jazz Janewattananond also are 5-under par. “I know guys are going to have to push on this golf course, and if you have to push, you’re going to make mistakes,â€� Koepka said. He seems immune to them because he has the strength to recover even on the rare occasions that he does miss his mark. He hit just half his fairways Saturday, but still hit 14 greens. He’s made just five bogeys in 54 holes. The 15th hole provided the perfect example of the advantage that his strength provides. Both he and playing partner Jordan Spieth missed the fairway on that long, uphill par-4. Spieth had to swing with all his might just to get his ball in the front bunker. Koepka was able to give himself a 15-foot birdie putt. Koepka leads the field in greens hit (43 of 54) and proximity (26 feet, 1 inch). His Strokes Gained: Approach is +11.16, four more than the next-best player. “When I’m over the shot, I’m very confident,â€� Koepka said. His iron play was good enough for him to shoot even-par Saturday despite losing more than two strokes on the greens. Two of Saturday’s three bogeys were three-putts, including a miss from 3 feet on the ninth hole. Players can be deserted quickly by a hot putter. It’s less likely that their ball-striking will leave them when they need it most. That’s why it seems unfathomable that Koepka’s incredible week at Bethpage Black would end with him setting an ignominious mark. When asked if he had any doubt that he would win, Koepka was quick to answer. “No.â€� It was the only reasonable answer, even if players are taught to hide behind humility.” “I feel confident. I feel good. I feel excited,â€� Koepka said. “I was excited to get to the golf course and try to build the lead.â€� He did, with birdies on two of his first five holes. But then he had to grind as the wind picked up and he entered Bethpage’s toughest holes. He made back-to-back bogeys on 9 and 10 after making just two in his first 44 holes. Playing the last eight holes in even par, with a birdie on 13 and three-putt on 16, was enough for him to regain a seven-shot advantage. “He’s tough. Major championships are about heart and taking pain,â€� said his instructor, Claude Harmon III. “You ask any of the guys who do it, you’re going to have these runs. He made two bogeys back-to-back and then he made birdie when he needed to and had good looks on 15 and 17. He stands up and hits good shots when it counts.â€� That may be an even bigger asset than his strength. Even brutish Bethpage Black has yet to get the best of him. His demeanor never changed, even when the New York fans booed after he missed short putts. “I know what I’m doing. It’s simpler than what guys think,â€� Koepka said. “It’s just focus. It’s grind it out, suck it up and move on.â€� Koepka kept doing that Saturday, and with each step he got closer to another major championship.

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