A big win at stake for Jordan Spieth, Matt Wallace at the Valero Texas Open

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – One of the advantages of being the Presidents Cup’s home captain is the ability to dictate the order of the proceedings. Given that choice, Love decided to start this year’s Presidents Cup with Foursomes play. Because of its unique nature, Foursomes, otherwise known as alternate shot, is the most intriguing of the formats used in international team competition. For the most part, players can go about their business as usual in Four-balls and Singles, playing their own ball until it is holed. Foursomes requires a higher level of coordination, communication and strategy. Captains and players must set their strategy from the first tee, deciding which player will tee off on even-numbered holes and which will tee off on the odd-numbered holes. But even the best-laid plans can go awry; several times has a player begged off the assignment of teeing off on No. 1 because of the pressure inherent to these international competitions. There are many factors that go into forming a successful Foursomes team, and the golf ball is one of them. That variable has decreased in significance over the years as the competitions have gone away from the one-ball rule that required teams to stick to a single brand for the entire match. That often required these finely-tuned players to adjust to a new ball and its launch conditions and created a power dynamic when deciding whose ball was used. The simplest answer was usually to pair players who used the same, or similar, balls. The one-ball rule is not in effect this week. Teams will be able to switch their ball each hole. They’ll usually defer to the player who is hitting the approach shot because of the importance of having the proper spin and trajectory on those shots. But that still means a player will need to tee off, and possibly hit short-game shots, with a ball that may not be perfectly-suited for him. Titleist leads the way with 17 of the 24 players at Quail Hollow using its balls, though different models of the ProV1 that have different characteristics. Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas both play the Pro V1x, adding another item to the list of reasons why they are a perfectly compatible pairing. Potential partners Kevin Kisner and Billy Horschel both play the Pro V1. On the International side, Tom Kim and Sungjae Im both play the Pro V1x; that combined with their good friendship makes them a good fit for the International Team. To prepare you for Thursday’s Foursomes session, we’ve compiled a list of the balls used by every player at Quail Hollow. U.S. TEAM CALLAWAY Chrome Soft X – Sam Burns Chrome Soft X prototype – Xander Schauffele TAYLOR MADE TP5 – Collin Morikawa TITLEIST Pro V1 – Max Homa, Billy Horschel, Kevin Kisner, Scottie Scheffler Pro V1x – Patrick Cantlay, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas Pro V1 Left Dot – Tony Finau, Cameron Young INTERNATIONAL CALLAWAY Chrome Soft X prototype – Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Si Woo Kim SRIXON ZSTAR XV – Hideki Matsuyama, Taylor Pendrith TITLEIST Pro V1 – Corey Conners, Mito Pereira, Adam Scott Pro V1x – Cam Davis, Sungjae Im, Tom Kim, K.H. Lee Pro V1x Left Dot – Sebastian Munoz

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A month after undergoing an arthroscopic procedure on his left knee, Tiger Woods has been cleared to start full practice. During an interview with Good Morning America’s Michael Strahan earlier this week, Woods said he “got the clearance last week to start full practiceâ€� and “played nine holes the other day.â€� RELATED: Tiger chases Snead’s 82 PGA TOUR wins Woods underwent the latest procedure on his knee last month, the fifth knee surgery of his career. Dr. Vern Cooley, who performed the surgery, said at the time he expected Woods to make a full recovery. Woods said the knee is “soreâ€� after his recent practice round but looks forward to getting back into playing shape. “Now I can start lifting and getting my muscle back and getting my weight up and doing all that stuff again,â€� Woods said in the interview. Woods’ next start on the PGA TOUR is expected to be The ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP in Chiba, Japan, Oct. 24-27. He’s also the U.S. captain for The Presidents Cup in December and has not ruled out the possibility of being a playing captain. Woods will make his four captain’s picks in early November after the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions. Although his back has been the focus of concern for much of the last six-plus years, this marks the fifth time that Woods, 43, has had his left knee operated on.  Woods’ first left-knee operation was to remove a benign tumor in 1994. The second and third were arthroscopic procedures in 2002 and in April of 2008. He was told of two stress fractures in his tibia in May of 2008, won the U.S. Open in June, and eight days later had a fourth surgery, on his ACL. He missed the remainder of the 2008 season. For a player who missed significant time from 2014-17, when he had successful back-fusion surgery, Woods has been relatively healthy the last two seasons.     At the 2018 TOUR Championship at East Lake, he notched his long-awaited 80th victory, the exclamation point on a terrific comeback season for a player whose career once seemed to be over. His 2019 season was highlighted by his Masters win, his 15th major title. With 81 PGA TOUR wins, he’s now one behind Sam Snead’s record. That was mostly it, though, for his 2018-19 season as Woods admitted to being worn out by the heroic victory at Augusta National. He missed the cut at the PGA Championship at Bethpage Black and was T21 at the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, despite having won on both courses. He missed the cut at The Open Championship and withdrew from THE NORTHERN TRUST with a mild oblique strain. Although he won the 1999 and 2006 PGA Championships at Medinah, Woods never contended there, either, with a T37 at the BMW Championship. At 42nd in the FedExCup, his season was over.

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Justin Thomas beat Australia’s Marc Leishman on the second playoff hole Sunday to win THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES in South Korea. Thomas sealed his first victory of the 2017-18 season when he birdied the second playoff hole and Leishman made bogey after finding the water. The pair went to a sudden-death playoff after completing the first U.S. PGA TOUR regular-season event in South Korea tied at 9-under 279. Cameron Smith of Australia finished one stroke back in third place at 8-under with Whee Kim, the highest placed finisher of the 16 South Korean players in the field, finishing fourth at 7-under after closing with a 72. Thomas won five times times last during the 2016-17 season, including his first major at the 99th PGA Championship, which he won in August.

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