Sleeper Picks: THE CJ CUP @ SUMMIT

TORONTO — Wyndham Clark closed with an unlikely par save Friday to take a one-stroke lead over defending champion Rory McIlroy and four other players into the weekend in the RBC Canadian Open. After bogeying Nos. 15 and 16 in windy conditions at St. George’s, Clark got up-and-down from about 50 feet from a semi-plugged lie on the downslope in a greenside bunker on the par-4 18th. He was 7 under after an even-par 70. “Really had no chance,” Clark said. “And I would love to say I was trying to do what I did, but I was trying to punt a little bit out to the right and somehow how when I came into the ball it like plopped up to the left and landed in the rough and trickled down to 4 feet. It was definitely the best save I’ve had of the year. It was pretty awesome.” McIlroy (68) was tied with Matt Fitzpatrick (70), Alex Smalley (67), Keith Mitchell (67) and Jim Knous (67). McIlroy had to wait three years to defend his 2019 title because of the COVID-19 pandemic that canceled golf’s fourth-oldest championship the last two years. “Challenging,” McIlroy said. “I think the only thing this golf course needs for it to feel a little more major like is just a bit of length. I think that’s the only thing that’s missing. The rough is very penal, the greens are tricky, the wind’s up, it’s drying out a little bit because of the wind. All of a sudden you’ve got a pretty testing golf course.” Fitzpatrick closed double bogey-birdie-bogey-bogey-bogey. “Just a poor finish,” Fitzpatrick said.” Just didn’t hole the putts I needed to on the last three. Just pathetic. Yeah, just pathetic finish really with the putter.” Clark birdied the par-14th to reach 9 under, then bogeyed the next two. On the par-5 15, he drove into the right fairway bunker and saved bogey with a 10-footer. On the par-3 16th, he missed a 7 1/2-foot par try after hitting short and right into a bunker. “Honestly, I played really well,” Clark said. “It was tough out there. It was windy, there was some tough pin placements. You guys have seen, these greens are very tough and you get into some tough spots where you have to be defensive even from 10, 15 feet.” Clark opened with a 63 on Thursday after rallying Monday in a 36-hole U.S. Open qualifier to get into the field next week at The Country Club outside Boston. Masters champion Scottie Scheffler was 4 under after a 67. Aaron Cockerill and Nick Taylor were the top Canadians, tied for 21st at 2 under. Cockerill, making his PGA TOUR debut, shot a 68. Taylor had a 70. “First PGA TOUR event and I’m in a decent position going into the weekend,” Cockerill said. “Kind of where I want to be and see if we can throw a low one on the board tomorrow and see what happens.” PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas also was 2 under after his second 69.

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The nostalgia of Tiger Woods being at the 150th playing of The Open brought hope that he could find some old magic. He never did, and everyone, including him, will have to get used to that.

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The ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP was Tiger Woods’ first tournament in two months. It was his first start since knee surgery. He bogeyed the first three holes. It didn’t matter. Woods still earned his record-tying 82nd win. The ShotLink team broke down Woods’ 82 wins here. Today’s Stats Insider will focus on last week’s performance in the first PGA TOUR event in Japan. 1. BOUNCE BACK: Woods became the first player in the ShotLink era (since 2003) to win after making bogey on his first three holes of a tournament. Woods is the fifth player since 2003 to win after playing his first three holes in +3 or worse. Highest score to par on first three holes to start event among PGA TOUR winners since 2003 2. IRON IT OUT: Woods’ impressive iron play was on full display in Japan. He was in full control of his ball, finishing third in greens hit (55 of 72, 76.4%). This shouldn’t be a surprise. Among players with at least 300 measured rounds, Woods has the highest career Strokes Gained: Approach per round, and it’s not even close. He’s averaged +1.1 strokes gained per round. Jim Furyk is second with +0.74, while ZOZO runner-up Hideki Matsuyama is third with +0.72. 3. HAPPENS IN THREES: Here’s further proof of Woods’ stellar iron play last week: he played the par-3s last week in 9-under-par. It marked his career-best performance on par-3s (in relation to par). He is one of six players since 1983 to play the par-3s in 9 under or better en route to victory. Best Par-3 performance among PGA TOUR winners since 1983 4. GOING LOW: Woods finished three shots ahead of Matsuyama. Third-place finishers Rory McIlroy and Sungjae Im finished six shots back. The 10th-place finishers were 10 shots back. Woods’ 36-, 54- and 72-hole scores this week were among the best of his career. Yes, one of the par-4s was shortened to a par-3 for one round, but it was still an incredibly impressive performance. This was the 25th consecutive time that Woods converted a 54-hole lead of 3+ shots into a victory. He’s never lost in that scenario. 36 HOLES: 64-64—128 (5th-best of his career) 54 HOLES: 64-64-66—194 (3rd-best) 72 HOLES: 64-64-66-67—261 (3rd-best) 5. TAKE ME TO YOUR LEADER: Woods led the field in birdies (27) and putts per green in regulation (1.62). The latter is proof of strong ball-striking and strong putting. It means you’re hitting it close enough to one-putt, and rolling it well enough to convert. There was no ShotLink in Japan, but wasn’t necessary to show us that Woods was the cream of the crop.

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