Odyssey debuts Survive and Advance FedExCup Playoffs putter covers

Tiger Woods has committed to the opening two FedExCup Playoff events, starting with THE NORTHERN TRUST at Liberty National in New Jersey next week. The 81-time PGA TOUR winner and two-time FedExCup champion announced via his social media his intention to also tee it up at the BMW Championship at Medinah Country Club Aug. 15-18 as he tries to play his way into the TOUR Championship. “Ready to begin the FedExCup playoffs starting with @TheNTGolf and then the @BMWChamps. Hope to see you there,� he tweeted Wednesday. Woods is the defending champion at East Lake, but currently sits 27th in the FedExCup standings and is at risk of not being in the top 30 for Atlanta. With just three Playoff events this season, the top 125 players will play THE NORTHERN TRUST before the top 70 advance to the BMW Championship. The final 30 players will move on to the TOUR Championship. Woods will be confident in making his run towards an unprecedented third FedExCup, given his history at the venues. He was runner up at THE NORTHERN TRUST both times it was previously held at Liberty National (2009, 2013). In 2009, it took a huge upset – including a clutch 20-foot par save on the 72nd hole – from Heath Slocum to deny him the trophy. In 2013, Woods was seemingly heading for a victory on Sunday when his back seized up and sent him to the ground in agony. Despite the clear and obvious pain, Woods managed to battle his way to having a putt from the fringe on the 72nd hole to force a playoff, but his ball stopped a revolution short of going in. It was the start of serious back injuries for Woods that would result in multiple surgeries. Since winning the Masters this past April, Woods has been on a limited schedule as he protects his body. THE NORTHERN TRUST will be just his fifth start since his vintage display at Augusta National. Woods was last seen at The Open Championship in Northern Ireland, where he missed the cut. Should Woods play in back-to-back weeks, it will be the first time since the 43-year-old has done so since the Genesis Open and the World Golf Championships – Mexico Championship in February. If he makes it all the way back to East Lake, it will be the first time he’s put his fused back through three straight weeks since last year’s Playoffs. But given he’s a two-time winner and four-time runner up at the course, even a tired Woods can’t be discounted. His record at Medinah is also pretty decent. Woods won the PGA Championship there in 1999 and 2006.

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ORLANDO - The tournament itself will not begin until Saturday, but there was no shortage of anticipation as the main act - a duet - took the stage for pro-am day at the chilly, breezy PNC Championship at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club Grande Lakes on Thursday. And there were two immediate reactions. The first impulse, only human, was to smile as 11-year-old Charlie Woods warmed up alongside his dad on the range. Although he'd won some junior tournaments, he had largely eluded the cameras. Now, though, his fundamentals, tempo, mannerisms - heck, even the Nike Golf shoes - were a sight to behold. Here, before the world, was a sort of Mini Me version of Tiger Woods. "They're very similar," said Justin Thomas, a friend of the Woods family in South Florida. "I mean, who wouldn't want to be like your dad if your dad was Tiger Woods? He definitely has all the mannerisms. I think people at home, and you all, will get pretty good entertainment out of watching him twirl the club and walk putts in and fist pump." RELATED: How to watch | Expert Picks | LaCava and son to caddie for Team Woods The second impulse, also human, was to tap the brakes. Tiger is arguably the greatest golfer of all-time, and any comparisons seem patently unfair. This week is meant to be fun, nothing more. Heck, it's not even clear yet whether Charlie likes golf more than his first love, soccer. "It's so much fun for me to see him enjoying this, enjoying the game," Woods said. But is he old enough to be doing this? "He's been playing junior golf tournaments," Woods said, "and he's been out in front and having people video him. This is a different world we live in now; everyone has a phone." The important thing, he added, again, was that Charlie is enjoying himself. Clearly Woods is trying to do what Mike Thomas, a longtime PGA teaching professional in Goshen, Kentucky, did for his son Justin. Above all, both have stressed, kids need to have fun. "He obviously has all the tools already," said Mike, who helps Charlie with his game in South Florida and who also will play the PNC, with Justin. "The two things that are most incredible to me are how much speed he has - I mean he's a small person, and he gets that club moving fast - and his golf knowledge is unbelievable. I get that his dad is Tiger, but he's 11! "He hits fades, draws, low shots and high shots," he continued. "He sees kicking balls into a bank and stuff. Most 11-year-olds just want to hit one shot; he's got a lot of shots in his arsenal. It's going to be interesting to see what happens with him because he's got a ton of talent. What's cool is he looks like he's enjoying the game. He doesn't get all worked up over a bad shot." The PNC will feature major winners (Bernhard Langer and son defend) and family members (mostly sons, but also fathers and a father-in-law), and utilize a scramble format for all 36 holes. Team Woods and Team Thomas will play together, which makes sense. Charlie had expressed an interest at the same time that Mike confessed to Justin, "I'm not getting any younger." Mike, who with wife Jani recently moved into a winter home in South Florida, is Charlie's only teacher other than Tiger. "He's helped from the word go, he's been a part of it," Woods said. At the same time, Justin, 27, has taken on a sort of big brother role. Indeed, if Charlie is to become a golfer, if he makes a career of it, Thomas told a story that will likely endure. "I was over at Tiger's house, and us three were having a putting contest and we played nine holes, us three, straight-up, (Charlie) didn't get any sort of advantage," Thomas said. "I think he was 8 years old, 9 years old at the time. And it was one of the three combined total weeks I've held No. 1 in the world, around that time. And Charlie was leading going into the last hole. "He was 2 under, I was 1 under, and I think Tiger was even or 1 under or something like that," Thomas continued. "Charlie was mouthing off, you know, he's like, ‘Here I am, I'm 9 years old beating the No. 1 player in the world and supposedly the best golfer of all time.' And he three-putted and I made it, so I beat him. And that shut him up pretty quick." Thomas laughed, as did his audience, and there we were again, with those two competing impulses. Awe at the thought of a 9-year-old beating his father and Thomas, and caution for an 11-year-old entering the hype machine. "I'm hoping Charlie will be comfortable," Thomas said. "I'd love to see him play well. I'd love to see him, you know, hold his own, if you will. But at the same time, he's just 11 years old. He doesn't need to be compared to Tiger; he doesn't need to be compared to anybody. He needs to enjoy the game. Hopefully we'll be able to help him enjoy it Saturday a little bit more." The PNC won't start until Saturday, but the word of the week, the E word, is already clear.

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ERIN, Wis. – The top three players in the world are gone for the first time since rankings began in 1986. It’s the first major championship without Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson since 1994. But there are plenty of reasons to get pumped up for this U.S. Open weekend at Erin Hills. There’s the young talent that already sits on the “best player to have not won a major listâ€�. There’s the journeyman veteran who has knocked on the door plenty of times but hasn’t closed the deal. There’s the PGA TOUR rookie. The European star you should know more about but you don’t. The star player who could bring his country its first ever major championship. The amateur looking to smash history. The pint-sized lefty looking to become the first south paw to win a U.S. Open. The guy whose wife almost died – which would have seen him quit golf to be a full-time dad. There’s the former prodigy who disappeared for a time thanks to injuries and is now back on track. There’s the recent PLAYERS champion who is proving not to be a one-hit wonder. There’s the former FedExCup champion whose dad played 86 majors without winning one. And there’s the guys who have won majors before, one of which is the only guy who can continue the grand slam dream alive. All of these are within four shots of the lead with 36 holes to play at Erin Hills. So buckle up – it’s the really open Open. The past six major winners have been first timers and given the top 18 on the leaderboard through 36 holes are yet to taste major victory the streak could well be alive. Rickie Fowler, Hideki Matsuyama, Brooks Koepka and Brandt Snedeker have all had their names tossed up as the best active players without a major championship. Koepka is part of a four-way tie for the lead at 7-under. Fowler sits one shot back while Matsuyama and Snedeker are just two off the pace. “It (the weekend) will be good. I feel pretty confident. And I’m excited. I’m driving the ball really well,â€� Koepka said. He has just one PGA TOUR win to his credit from the 2015 Waste Management Phoenix Open but has two runner-up finishes in each of the last two seasons and is currently 19th in the FedExCup. He also won the 2014 Turkish Open on the European Tour and the 2016 Dunlop Phoenix Open on the Japan Tour. He’s long been touted as a star. Fowler has four TOUR wins to his credit including the 2015 PLAYERS Championship. Thanks to a victory at the Honda Classic earlier this year he currently runs eighth in the FedExCup and is ninth in the world. He also has two European Tour wins. The 28-year-old is arguably the most popular player on TOUR and would be an extremely popular winner. He has six previous Top-10 finishes in majors and started the final round just one shot off the lead at the Masters this year before fading to 11th. “I haven’t had the best showing in majors the last couple years so it’s nice to get back up there,â€� Fowler said. “It’s our National Championship, so to be in a good position to go play well this weekend and have a chance to win it, it’s special.â€� Matsuyama is ranked fourth in the world and therefore is technically the best player right now without a major. His country, Japan, has never had a major winner. He does have four PGA TOUR wins and seven Japan Tour wins and sits third in the FedExCup this year. “I really can’t think about it until maybe after I win. But anytime a Japanese player wins a major, it would be great for the golf world in Japan,â€� Matsuyama said after a sublime 7-under 65 on Friday. Snedeker has eight TOUR wins and a FedExCup title. He has eight top-10s in majors, half of which have come in U.S. Opens. Then there is the case for Paul Casey, another of the co-leaders. The Englishman is closing in on his 40th birthday. He has 12 European Tour wins and one PGA TOUR win. His major record boasts nine top-10s although his best U.S. Open result since 2008 is T39 in 2015. On Friday he found his way to the lead despite having a triple bogey eight on his card. “There will probably be more nerves, more excitement, there is a lot of golf to be played here,â€� Casey said. “I’ve shown what can happen with one bad swing. So you’ve got to be very, very patient and stay in the moment. I know it’s cliché, but the last thing you need to be doing is thinking ahead, especially on this golf course.â€� His fellow Englishman Tommy Fleetwood, that you may not have heard about but you should know, joins him in the lead. Fleetwood has two European Tour wins including the 2017 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. He was runner-up at the World Golf Championships – Mexico Championship earlier this year and also added a top-10 finish at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Coming into the week he had made just one cut in seven major starts. Brian Harman is trying to become the first left-hander to ever win the U.S. Open. Would be ironic to come in the first Open since 1993 that “Leftyâ€� Mickelson is missing. He is part of the lead crew. Joining Fowler just one back is his former Walker Cup teammate Jamie Lovemark. Lovemark was the alpha dog in the 2007 team despite playing with Fowler, Dustin Johnson, Billy Horschel, Webb Simpson and Chris Kirk among others. Injuries have curtailed his progress but now he’s back and he has eight top 10s on the PGA TOUR in the last season and a half as he builds towards the promise of his youth. Si Woo Kim is looking to become just the second player in history to win the PLAYERS and U.S. Open in the same year. He’s two back. Xander Schauffele ranks 135th in the FedExCup in his rookie year on the PGA TOUR. That could change exponentially as he starts Saturday two off the lead. Amateur Cameron Champ is also two shots back. The last amateur to win a major was John Goodman in the 1933 U.S. Open. Marc Leishman was on the verge of losing his wife to toxic shock syndrome and quitting the game two years ago. He starts Saturday three back despite ranking 121st in hitting fairways. Bill Haas’ father Jay had 86 cracks at majors without success. Can Bill atone starting three off the lead? And then sitting four back is two-time major winner Martin Kaymer and recent Masters winner Sergio Garcia. Garcia is looking to be just the third player in the last 44 years to win the first two majors of the season. “To be 3-under par with a chance on the weekend – I’m proud of that,â€� Garcia said. “And I’ve got to keep hopefully keep the confidence going, keep the momentum and see if we can have a good weekend and have a chance on Sunday.â€� Whatever storyline plays out. You don’t want to miss it.

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