Power Rankings: Zurich Classic

The great start to the Tour Championship was nice and all. But he arrived with no expectations, given the biggest part of the week, the birth of his and wife Erica’s first child, a daughter, had already happened.

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AVONDALE, La. – Among the key storylines at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans is the building of the International Team that will attempt to end the Americans’ dominance at the 2019 Presidents Cup in Australia. Captain Ernie Els is using this week not only as a bonding experience, but also to evaluate some of the players he’ll consider for his 12-man roster. Not including Els and his partner, fellow South African and assistant captain Trevor Immelman, there are 13 teams out of the 80 in the field in which both players are from countries representing the International Team (13 other International players are playing with non-International partners). Below is a quick look at how those 13 teams fared after the first round was completed Friday at TPC Louisiana, with each player’s International Team points ranking in parentheses. The top eight in points after the TOUR Championship will automatically qualify for the Presidents Cup, with Els making four Captain’s Picks at a date closer to the December event. JASON DAY (6)/ADAM SCOTT (11) – They were passionate earlier this week about wanting to play together in December, and this Aussie Superduo showed why with a solid 7-under 65. Day had five of the seven birdies while Scott is still getting accustomed to TPC Louisiana in his first start here. LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN (2)/CHARL SCHWARTZEL (72) – Among the two veterans from South Africa, Oosthuizen has been playing well lately, while Schwartzel has struggled to find his form. No shock who was most productive in the first round, with Oosthuizen notching an eagle and five birdies to Schwartzel’s two birdies in their 8-under 64. JUSTIN HARDING (7)/BRANDEN GRACE (15) – The Grace-Oosthuizen duo is 5-2-1 in the last two Presidents Cups, but will Grace-Harding get a look in December? Harding had four of the seven birdies as the South Africans shot 65. ABRAHAM ANCER (9)/JHONATTAN VEGAS (23) – Ancer (Mexico) was the better performer in the first round with four birdies, while Vegas (Venezuela) struggled most of the round in their 67. Vegas has some ground to make up if he hopes to earn a second straight Presidents Cup spot. SI WOO KIM (10)/SANGMOON BAE (73) – Kim, winner of the 2017 THE PLAYERS Championship, recorded four of the team’s six birdies as the two South Koreans shot 66. Both have made prior Presidents Cup appearances – Bae in 2015 (before his two-year military commitment), and Kim in 2017. COREY CONNERS (12)/MACKENZIE HUGHES (79) – Conners, the Valero Texas Open winner earlier this month, birdied two of the first three holes and four overall, but the Canadians could birdie only one of the four par 5s in shooting 67. SUNGJAE IM (13)/WHEE KIM (245) – Im, who has four top-10s on the PGA TOUR since the start of February, was the primary producer for the South Korean duo in the first round, posting seven of the team’s eight birdies in shooting an 8-under 64. DANNY LEE (25)/SUNG KANG (35) – Kang had five birdies to Lee’s two, but the team failed to post any birdies between holes 13-18 in shooting 65. Lee, representing New Zealand, played on the 2015 Presidents Cup team. DYLAN FRITTELLI (43)/JOAQUIN NIEMANN (117) – Both could be future Presidents Cup players, so it’s good they’re getting some experience together now. Fritelli (South Africa) had three birdies, while Niemann (Chile) had two in their 67. CARLOS ORTIZ (71)/SEBASTIAN MUNOZ (146) – Not a great day after a shaky start that included bogeys on two of the first four holes. Ortiz (Mexico) failed to record a birdie, leaving Munoz (Colombia) to carry the team with three birdies in their 71. SHUBHANKAR SHARMA (T-80)/ANIRBAN LAHIRI (172) – The up-and-coming Sharma has European Tour wins in each of the previous two years and could learn a lot from his veteran countryman from India, who has played on the last two Presidents Cups. Sharma had three of the team’s five birdies in their 67, but Lahiri was more consistent on the back nine. JULIAN ETULAIN (128)/ANDRES ROMERO (288) – Neither is close to competing for a 2019 Presidents Cup spot, but Els also has long-range goals in mind. Romero had four of the Argentines’ five birdies in shooting 67. JOHN SENDEN (T-255)/ROD PAMPLING (T-440) – The veterans from Australia obviously aren’t in consideration for Presidents Cup spots, but no doubt they had fun telling war stories en route to a 67.

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Justin Rose, who chased down Dustin Johnson a year ago to set his FedExCup-winning season into motion, makes his first start of the new PGA TOUR campaign when he defends his crown in at the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions in Shanghai. Johnson also is back for another shot at a second WGC-HSBC title, now five years after capturing his first. Newly crowned Player of the Year Brooks Koepka and fellow major titleholders Francesco Molinari and Patrick Reed also highlight the first WGC lineup of the 2018-19 TOUR season. FIELD NOTES: Rory McIlroy returns to Shanghai after a year’s hiatus, giving the field four of the top five in the current Official World Golf Ranking. McIlroy was fourth two years ago, but sat out the final three months of 2017 to let a rib injury heal. … In all, the lineup boasts 19 of the top 30 in the rankings. … Rose, McIlroy and the “MoliWood� duo of Molinari and Tommy Fleetwood headline a reunion of 10 members from last month’s winning European Ryder Cup squad. … Johnson and Koepka are among four U.S. Ryder Cup members headed to China, joined by Reed and Tony Finau. … Brandt Snedeker, winner at the Wyndham Championship two months ago, and Paul Casey are among 12 men set to play all three stops on the TOUR’s Asia Swing. … Snedeker, Chez Reavie and Emiliano Grillo are the only ones among that dozen who also teed it up at the Safeway Open to start the new season. … Haotong Li, winner of the Dubai Desert Classic last January, heads a faction of seven Chinese entrants. FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 550 points. STORYLINES: Johnson returns to the scene of last year’s staggering finish, where a closing 77 allowed Rose to overcome an eight-shot deficit entering the final day. Nonetheless, Johnson’s five career WGC titles are No. 2 all time behind Tiger Woods (18). … Rose, whose win last year was the first of three in the final 10 weeks of 2017, is heating up again. The FedExCup champ was no worse than fourth in each of the final three Playoffs events, a key contributor to Europe’s Ryder Cup triumph and eighth at the British Masters. … All but two of the previous 12 HSBC Champions winners have come from no lower than 30th in the world rankings. The exceptions: Y.E. Yang (77th/2006) and Russell Knox (85th/2015). … The HSBC Champions wraps up the PGA TOUR’s three-week Asia Swing and stands as the final stop in 2018 that brings together most of the top players from around the globe. … Three events follow on the TOUR calendar (Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, OHL Classic at Mayakoba, The RSM Classic), while the European Tour hits the homestretch of its Race to Dubai season pursuit. COURSE: Sheshan International GC (West), 7,261 yards, par 72. Set amid 1,000-year-old gingko trees, man-made waterways and a natural quarry, Sheshan International is one of China’s most exclusive clubs and has played host throughout the event’s 14-year existence except for a 2012 venture to Mission Hills. The Nelson & Haworth design, built in the shadow of Sheshan Mountain, opened in 2004 as the Shanghai region’s first golf club. Tiger Woods once praised the layout as “the crowning jewel of all of Asian golf.� To create the course’s drastic elevation changes, crews reportedly moved more than 2 million cubic yards of earth. 72-HOLE RECORD: 264, Dustin Johnson (2013). 18-HOLE RECORD: 62, Martin Kaymer (3rd round, 2013), Danny Willett (4th round, 2015). LAST YEAR: Rose became the beneficiary of Johnson’s stunning Sunday, as Johnson failed to make a birdie and watched his six-stroke lead dissipate to nothing. The English pro still found himself six shots behind with eight to play, but reeled off six birdies in that closing stretch on the way to a closing 67. A birdie at the par-3 17th, where his tee shot stopped 2 feet from the flagstick, pushed Rose to the front and left it for Johnson to answer. Needing an eagle at the par-5 18th to force a playoff, Johnson wound up hitting his second shot into the water. That left the world No. 1 to join Greg Norman (1996 Masters) and Sergio Garcia (2005 Wells Fargo Championship) for the largest final-round lead surrendered in PGA TOUR history. Rose prevailed for the first time since his Olympic gold medal in Rio de Janeiro, winning again a week later in Turkey and ending his year with victory at the Indonesian Masters. HOW TO FOLLOW TELEVISION: Wednesday-Thursday, 10 p.m.-4 a.m. ET (Golf Channel); Friday-Saturday, 11 p.m.-4 a.m. (GC). PGA TOUR LIVE: None. RADIO: None.

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