Cantlay corrals FedEx Cup at Tour Championship

What were you reading in 2020? According to the metrics, it was a diverse lineup of stories that was by turns predictable (two of the top three stories featured Tiger Woods) and unpredictable (a feature about Rory McIlroy's reading habits). There was triumph (the astounding comeback of Brendon Todd, among others) and tragedy (the courage of Camilo Villegas, wife Maria, and their foundation Mia's Miracles). Here are the 10 most read stories of the year on PGATOUR.COM: 1. My first time playing with Tiger Woods One player nearly drove off the road upon learning that he would be playing his first round with Tiger Woods, whose legendary exploits attracted so many TOUR pros to golf in the first place. A future Hall of Famer recalled, "I've never said ‘good shot' as much in my life ... as I did that day." And yet a third player was so awed by Woods he reconsidered turning pro. Read the full story here. 2. How MJ became a golfer In this deep dive into the golf obsession of the most famous basketball player of all time, you'll learn the name Buzz Peterson; meet the man who taught Michael Jordan how to play (hint: it wasn't Davis Love III); and find out why Jordan's future in the game was so tied to North Carolina's loss to Indiana in the 1984 East Regional semifinals. Read the full story here. 3. Tiger's (arguably) greatest shot ever Grant Waite had already reached the par-5 18th green in two; now Tiger Woods had to do the same if he wanted to assure himself a birdie and a one-shot victory at the 2000 RBC Canadian Open. Between his ball and the pin: 218 yards, a row of bushes and a gaping water hazard. The lie: wet sand. What happened next was jaw-dropping even for longtime caddie Steve Williams. Read the full story here. 4. Rory McIlroy gets a good read "I spend enough time around a lot of impressive people," Rory McIlroy said in an interview at the WGC-Mexico Championship, "and one of the common denominators, always, is that they read a lot." Here, McIlroy details how he has improved his life by reading and in particular by embracing stoicism, which says to temper the big reaction and take the long view. Read the full story here. 5. The healing has begun Doctors couldn't save their daughter Mia, who died of cancer last summer, but Camilo and wife Maria Villegas are turning tragedy into something more hopeful and purposeful. They renamed their foundation Mia's Miracles, which will keep their daughter's memory alive as it supports families battling pediatric cancer in the United States and Colombia. Read the full story here. 6. Whatever happened to the right club today? "Be the right club today." The microphones caught Hal Sutton saying that to either his ball or the golf gods on the 18th hole as he won THE PLAYERS Championship in 2000. But what ever happened to the right club, the 6-iron he used to set up his tournament-clinching par? Where is it? And which of Sutton's clubs now lives in a time capsule? Read the full story here. 7. Collin Morikawa has a golf IQ beyond his years Collin Morikawa became golf's newest young superstar when he drove the par-4 16th hole at TPC Harding Park on the way to winning the PGA Championship last summer. But what really sets him apart is his head. The man who recruited him to Cal said he never once saw Morikawa pull the wrong club, while a former rival remarked, "There are no holes in his game - at all." Read the full story here. 8. The fabulous dad life of Mike Thomas In a lengthy interview with PGATOUR.com, Mike Thomas explains what it was like raising golf-obsessed Justin; explains why it's so vitally important to make it fun for kid golfers; and details why of all the famous people he's met through his son, it was a pair of guided tours of the USS Abraham Lincoln and USS Houston that impacted him the most. Read the full story here. 9. The Super Bowl of Monday qualifiers The Honda Classic Monday qualifier has the deepest field of any PGA TOUR Monday qualifier, so it's beyond special to get through. In 2019, for example, the Honda's Monday sprint featured 24 players with at least one TOUR win. In 2020, there were 13 different TOUR winners in the Monday field with a combined 23 European Tour and 41 Korn Ferry Tour victories. Read the full story here. 10. The brotherhood of the slump Which player was so lost he resorted to hitting shots blindfolded on a driving range in Dubai? Which one consulted a book by a Major League pitcher who had been felled by the throwing yips? This story explains why slump-busting is a team effort (wives, coaches, psychologists) and why the ultimate victors are sometimes "the guys that can muster through it the longest." Read the full story here.

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FORT WORTH — Scott Stallings has seen some birdie putts fall this week in Texas. He saw eight of them Thursday in the first round of the Charles Schwab Challenge, where he shot 3-under 67 to end in a share of seventh. He took only 26 putts on a warm and breezy afternoon at Colonial Country Club. Some of them he would like to have back. “Made a lot of birdies,” Stallings said. “Made a lot of bogeys.” (Five, to be exact.) “Part of it, man,” he said. Also part of it: making birdies when they really matter personally. Stallings watched plenty of those Monday in Dallas, where he shot 8 under in a U.S. Open qualifier at Lakewood CC and Royal Oaks CC. His solo 11th-place finish got him into the season’s third major at The Country Club outside Boston. He tweeted a photograph of his official notification from the USGA and added: “This one means a little bit more.” “That day was something I had circled,” Stallings said Thursday. The U.S. Open represents a homecoming for the three-time PGA TOUR winner. He was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, less than an hour from Brookline. He left as a youth and now lives in Tennessee. But he has family there, he said, and he looks forward to playing in front of them in June. “That was probably my biggest goal of the year, to play the U.S. Open,” Stallings said. “That’s somewhere that’s near and dear to my heart.”

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Round 3 of the Butterfield Bermuda Championship takes place Saturday from Port Royal GC. Ben Crane tops a crowded leaderboard to take a one-shot lead into the weekend. Here’s everything you need to follow the action. Leaderboard Tee times HOW TO FOLLOW: Television: Thursday-Sunday, 1:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m. ET (Golf Channel) Radio: Thursday-Friday, 11 a.m.–4:30 p.m. ET. Saturday-Sunday, 12 p.m.-4:30 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio) MUST READS Ben Crane shoots 62 to lead by one at Butterfield Bermuda Championship Forgotten clubs and a missed flight, Adam Schenk’s bizarre start in Bermuda TOUR winner Aaron Baddeley contending in Bermuda after Monday qualifying Nick Jones honoring father’s legacy at Butterfield Bermuda Championship Inside John Daly’s wild golf bag and recent gear changes Five Things to Know: Port Royal GC

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