The First Look: World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba

Jason Kokrak starts the final round one shot behind but holds steady with an even-par 70 for a two-shot victory over Jordan Spieth (73). Meanwhile, Charley Hoffman (65) makes a big move to finish in a four-way tie for third in his bid to move up in the Official World Golf Ranking and avoid U.S. Open sectional qualifying. Here are five stories you might have missed from the Charles Schwab Challenge. 1. Jason Kokrak is a late bloomer Jason Kokrak, 36, had never won a tournament on the PGA TOUR, but now he’s won two, joining Bryson DeChambeau and Stewart Cink as the third to win at least twice this season. In a way, Kokrak said, the second victory was harder than the first. That was due in no small part to the fact that he was playing against Jordan Spieth, who is always the people’s choice in Texas. “But I’ve got a high school buddy and my cousin’s friend was out here supporting me,” Kokrak said. “So I had a couple people rooting me on. It’s just one of those things. You stay in the moment and it’s a golf course. You’re playing the golf course. You’re playing yourself. You’re not really playing Jordan. “But for where we got to in comparison to some of the other players,” he continued, “I knew it was going to be a boxing match and see who was going to come out on top.” For more on Kokrak, click here. 2. Jordan Spieth briefly lost his swing Runner-up Spieth, whose 15-under 195 equaled his lowest 54-hole score on TOUR, began the tournament by playing 40 straight holes without a bogey. But he struggled Sunday, when he bogeyed three of his first four holes and never felt confident over the ball. He went into the 18th hole just a shot back but hit his second shot into the water left of the green, all but ending it. He faulted his tee-to-green game after hitting just 27 of 56 fairways, which was 63rd in driving accuracy. He fell to 10-for-20 at closing it out with a 54-hole lead/co-lead. “I didn’t play well at all, quite simply,” he said after moving into second in the FedExCup with his eighth top-10 this season. “I could have shot even par today and won the golf tournament but from the very get-go, just a really bad start, and then tried to fight my way through it. “But I was just really off with my golf swing,” he continued. “I really lost it this weekend. You just have to be in control around Colonial.” It was Spieth’s seventh top-10 finish at the Charles Schwab. For more on Spieth, click here. 3. Charley Hoffman’s 65 was big San Diego’s Charley Hoffman began the week at 69 in the world, and with aspirations to play his way into the top 50 so as to avoid having to qualify for the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. He went a long way toward doing exactly that with a final-round 65 and T3 finish. That moves him up to 60th in the Official World Golf Ranking, and the top 60 as of June 7 get in. “There’s only one goal,” Hoffman said. “I’m playing Muirfield next week, but hopefully this week was enough to get me inside the U.S. Open. Sitting just outside the (top 60 in the) World Ranking, near my hometown where I group playing Torrey Pines, I’m obviously trying to win golf events but getting in that U.S. Open is a key.” 4. Patton Kizzire is heating up Patton Kizzire went into the Schwab at 150th in the world and 60th in the FedExCup, but things are looking up. His final-round 67 left him in a four-way tie for third, which was his second straight T3 finish (AT&T Byron Nelson) in his last two starts. With his T9 at the Valero Texas Open, he has three top-10s in his last six starts. He’s up to 106th in the world and 46th in the FedExCup. “I had some good stuff happening out there,” he said. “Kept my head down and hit some really good shots and made a few putts, and I’m proud of the way I battled. “My confidence has been building a lot lately,” he added. He isn’t yet in the field for the U.S. Open in three weeks. He will play in this week’s Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide and next week’s Palmetto Championship at Congaree. 5. Mark Russell, Slugger White will be missed The Charles Schwab marked the last time Slugger White and Mark Russell will work together. The two longtime PGA TOUR rules officials are retiring after four decades of service. White played the TOUR himself into the late 70s before turning to the rules. Russell started in 1980. They became two of the most recognizable faces on TOUR, even if sometimes people had trouble telling them apart. “Slugger was still playing when I started,” Russell said, “and then he came along a year or so after me, but I’ve known Slugger since mid ’70s, we’ve been friends a long time.” For more on Russell and White, click here. COMCAST BUSINESS TOUR TOP 10 The Comcast Business TOUR TOP 10 highlights and rewards the extraordinary level of play required to earn a spot in the TOP 10 at the conclusion of the FedExCup regular season. The competition will conclude prior to the FedExCup PLAYOFFS where the top 10 FedExCup points leaders will be recognized and awarded as the most elite in golf. Week after week, shot after shot, each event matters more than ever before. Who will finish in the Comcast Business TOUR TOP 10? Click here to follow the weekly action.

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You’d have to be a cynic to believe that there was room for improvement at the Sentry Tournament of Champions. Throughout the year, Maui is the destination cited by winners before the applause has ended post-victory. The smiles that thought generates reminds us that only winners qualify. For that reason, it’s the most exclusive tournament on the PGA TOUR schedule. So, let’s agree to agree that what already was great is simply greater after every square inch of the Plantation Course at Kapalua Resort on the northwestern edge of the Hawaiian island was reshaped, updated and/or modified in some fashion for the first tournament of calendar-year 2020. It’s still a perfect vision. For details on the work, how it expects to impact this year’s field of 34 and more, scroll past the ranking of the projected contenders. The other 19 in the field will be ranked 16-34 in Tuesday’s Fantasy Insider. Since the conclusion of the last edition of the Sentry TOC, original designers Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw returned to overhaul the Plantation Course that opened in 1991. Attention was comprehensive. In addition to numerous changes to tees, fairways and rough, all were fitted with Celebration bermudagrass. Primary rough is trimmed to two inches. Bunkers were removed, repositioned, added or upgraded to align with today’s talent. All 93 have new support, drainage and sand imported from Vietnam. In many cases, surfaces of greens were flattened to create new or reintroduce original hole locations that elevate the quality of approach shots. On average, targets are still expansive, but many either were enlarged or shrunk to balance challenge with playability. All greens feature TifEagle bermuda. They figure to be a bit springy in their debut, but strong trade winds (from the northeast) should restrict Stimpmeter readings to a customary 10 feet, although a slicker reading is hopeful in the future. After a relatively tame opening round on Thursday, gusts from 30-40 mph (and maybe higher) will settle in as the norm for the remainder. Rain is almost never ruled out here, but it won’t be an issue. Daytime highs will camp out at a seasonable 80 degrees notwithstanding the impact of passing clouds. With just three par 3s and the full complement of four par 5s, the Plantation Course is the only par 73 on the PGA TOUR. Its fresh look includes 78 more yards that results in a competitive walk capable of stretching 7,596 yards. Numerous new tees will be in play, but not all result in longer holes. For example, while the par-4 third (+44 yards), par-5 ninth (+29) and par-4 10th (+30) have new back tees, shorter tees at the par-4 13th (-24) and par-5 15th (-14) help neutralize distance overall. Despite its length, significant elevation changes present the opportunity for all games to thrive. A proper test rewards every style of good golf, and this one does. However, once upon a time and not unlike the value of lessons learned at places like Colonial and Augusta National, experience on the Plantation Course was a primary factor in victory. Yet, four of the last five champions prevailed in just their second appearance. That fact in conjunction with the restart of the learning curve for veterans raises hope for the 15 first-timers in the field. Eight qualifiers elected not to compete: Brooks Koepka, Shane Lowry, Rory McIlroy, Phil Mickelson, Francesco Molinari, C.T. Pan, Justin Rose, Tiger Woods. ROB BOLTON’S SCHEDULE PGATOUR.COM’s Fantasy Insider Rob Bolton recaps and previews every tournament from numerous angles. Look for his following contributions as scheduled. MONDAY: Rookie Ranking, Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Medical Extensions, Power Rankings TUESDAY*: Sleepers, Fantasy Insider * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf, which also publishes on Tuesday.

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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Haotong Li held off Rory McIlroy to win the Omega Dubai Desert Classic Sunday by a single stroke, denying the Northern Irishman’s bid to win his first title in 17 months. Haotong finished on a tournament record 23-under-par 265 after a final-round three under 69 to win by one shot over McIlroy, who also shot a 69. The 22-year-old from China made a ten-foot birdie putt on the last after McIlroy had ramped up the pressure by reaching the par-5 18th hole in two shots. Haotong started the day one ahead of his Northern Ireland rival and that advantage was quickly gone on the first hole when he made a bogey. However, it was a bogey on the par-5 10th by Haotong that led to a two-shot swing when McIlroy made a birdie there, and the advantage remained with the four-time major champion when his bogey on the 11th was matched with another dropped shot by Haotong on the 12th. But the momentum swung Haotong’s way when he dropped a 20-feet birdie putt on the par-3 15th from the back fringe and McIlroy made a bogey on the 16th after hitting his three-wood off the tee into the waste area. Both players then birdied the last two holes. Haotong’s second European Tour win will lift him to around 32nd in the world rankings, making him the first Chinese player to break into the top-50. England’s Tyrrell Hatton finished third on 20 under after hitting his second shot into the water on the 18th hole, while France’s Alex Levy was fourth with a 269.

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