Kupcho battles through migraine headache to share LPGA lead

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – The PGA TOUR announced today that Xander Schauffele has been named the 2017 PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year as voted on by the TOUR’s membership for the 2016-17 season. PGA TOUR members who played in at least 15 official money events this past season were eligible to vote. The balloting process ended on October 2. “On behalf of the PGA TOUR, congratulations to Xander Schauffele on being voted PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year,� said PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan. “Being recognized by your peers is one of the highest honors a player can receive, and Xander’s win at the TOUR Championship during the FedExCup Playoffs capped off what had already been a remarkable rookie season.� Schauffele, a 23-year-old resident of San Diego, California, capped off his season in record-breaking fashion by holding off FedExCup champion Justin Thomas to become the first rookie to win the season-ending TOUR Championship. By doing so, he finished the season third in the FedExCup. Schauffele is the fourth member of the high school class of 2011 to earn PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year honors, joining Jordan Spieth (2013), Daniel Berger (2015) and Emiliano Grillo (2016). Thomas, another member of that class, won the FedExCup this season by holding off Spieth and Schauffele, his nearest competitors. Having captured The Greenbrier Classic earlier in the season for his first TOUR victory, Schauffele was one of six multiple winners during the 2016-17 season, joining Thomas, Spieth, Dustin Johnson, Hideki Matsuyama and Marc Leishman. In 28 starts, he turned in four top-10 finishes among 20 made cuts. A 2016 graduate of the Web.com Tour, Schauffele was selected for the honor over Wesley Bryan, Patrick Cantlay, Mackenzie Hughes and Grayson Murray.    

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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. Scroll below for the Sony Open field list as of Friday, January 6th at 5 p.m. ET. Check here for updates. Winner of PGA/U.S. Open Championship (five-year exemption) Gary Woodland Winner of THE PLAYERS Championship (five-year exemption) Si Woo Kim Webb Simpson Winner of Masters Tournament (five-year exemption) Hideki Matsuyama Winner of The Open (five-year exemption) Jordan Spieth Winner of World Golf Championships event (three-year exemption) Billy Horschel Winner of Arnold Palmer Invitational, Memorial Tournament and Genesis Invitational (three-year exemption) Adam Scott PGA TOUR tournament winner (two-year exemption) Keegan Bradley Ryan Brehm Stewart Cink Cam Davis Tyler Duncan Harris English Lucas Glover Russell Henley Jim Herman Tom Hoge Mackenzie Hughes Sungjae Im Tom Kim Matt Kuchar K.H. Lee J.T. Poston Chad Ramey Chez Reavie J.J. Spaun Robert Streb Adam Svensson Nick Taylor Michael Thompson Brendon Todd Richy Werenski Career money exemption Zach Johnson Ryan Moore Rory Sabbatini Jimmy Walker Sponsor’s exemption (members not otherwise exempt) K.J. Choi Jerry Kelly Sponsor’s exemption (unrestricted) Blaze Akana Keita Nakajima Kohei Okada Taiga Semikawa Designated sponsor exemption Kazuki Higa Yuto Katsuragawa Kaito Onishi PGA Club Professional Champion – 6 Events Jesse Mueller PGA Section Champion/Player of the Year Michael Castillo Past Champion of Respective Event Patton Kizzire Top 30 on prior season’s FedExCup Brian Harman Corey Conners Top 125 on prior season’s FedExCup Denny McCarthy Maverick McNealy Keith Mitchell Kurt Kitayama Andrew Putnam Christiaan Bezuidenhout Emiliano Grillo Brendan Steele Troy Merritt Chris Kirk Alex Smalley John Huh Brandon Wu Adam Long Ryan Palmer David Lipsky Adam Schenk Aaron Rai Stephan Jaeger Patrick Rodgers Russell Knox Kevin Streelman Mark Hubbard Peter Malnati Danny Lee Hayden Buckley Sam Ryder Nate Lashley James Hahn Greyson Sigg Scott Piercy Max McGreevy Chesson Hadley Kevin Tway Matthias Schwab Kramer Hickok Austin Smotherman Doc Redman Kelly Kraft # Major medical extension Nick Hardy Kyle Stanley Zac Blair Korn Ferry Tour Points winner (The 25 and The Finals 25) Justin Suh Top-10 and ties from previous TOUR event Cole Hammer Robby Shelton David Lingmerth Erik Barnes Korn Ferry Tour graduates via The 25 and The Finals 25 (reshuffled) Taylor Montgomery Tyson Alexander Ben Taylor Ben Griffin Will Gordon Kevin Yu S.H. Kim Byeong Hun An Davis Thompson Joseph Bramlett Harrison Endycott Ryan Armour Zecheng Dou Paul Haley II Harry Hall Austin Cook Brian Stuard Eric Cole Ben Martin MJ Daffue Scott Harrington Nico Echavarria Carl Yuan Kyle Westmoreland Austin Eckroat Michael Kim Brice Garnett Brent Grant Tano Goya Vincent Norrman Trevor Cone Brandon Matthews Kevin Roy Matti Schmid Michael Gligic Carson Young Samuel Stevens Trevor Werbylo Augusto Núñez Anders Albertson Nos. 126-150 on prior season’s FedExCup Points List (reshuffled) Harry Higgs # = Latest medical extension information can be found here.

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Ahead of his return to competitive golf this week, Tiger Woods said Sunday he’s finally pain-free after spending years dealing with a bad back. “The fact that I don’t have any pain in my lower back anymore … it’s just remarkable,” he said.

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