Monahan defends bans, jabs at LIV with Rory

The PGA TOUR’s Return to Golf continues Thursday in Round 1 of the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands. The star-studded field features players such as Rory McIlroy, Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson and Jordan Spieth. Here’s everything you need to know to follow the action. Round 1 leaderboard Round 1 tee times HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Thursday-Friday, 3 p.m.-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday-Sunday, 1 p.m.-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3 p.m.-6 p.m. (CBS). PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday 6:45 a.m.-6 p.m. ET (featured groups), Saturday-Sunday 8 a.m.-3 p.m. ET (featured groups). Saturday-Sunday 3 p.m.-6 p.m. ET (featured holes). Radio: Thursday-Friday, 12 p.m.-6 p.m. Saturday-Sunday 1 p.m.-6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio). FEATURED GROUPS Bryson DeChambeau, Rory McIlroy, Phil Mickelson Thursday: 7:35 a.m. ET (No. 10); Friday: 12:50 a.m. ET (No. 1) Brooks Koepka, Xander Schauffele, Justin Thomas Thursday: 12:50 p.m. ET (No. 1); Friday: 7:35 a.m. ET (No. 10) Jon Rahm, Chez Reavie, Webb Simpson Thursday: 7:25 a.m. ET (No. 10); Friday: 12:40 p.m. ET (No. 1) Dustin Johnson, Collin Morikawa, Jordan Spieth Thursday: 12:40 p.m. ET (No. 1); Friday: 7:25 a.m. (No. 10) MUST READS Power Rankings Expert Picks The First Look Brooks Koepka trending nicely Chase Koepka Monday qualifies

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On paper, the odds are stacked against the underdog International side at the 14th Presidents Cup. With an average age of 28.8, it’s the youngest group to compete in the history of the event. The average Official World Golf Ranking for the roster is 48.9, the highest number in the event’s history. Their opposition has 10 players ranked better currently than the International side’s leading man, Hideki Matsuyama. But three years ago at Royal Melbourne, facing similar pre-event numbers, the International side nearly pulled off one of the biggest upsets in team golf history. A record eight rookies will help fuel captain Trevor Immelman’s efforts to finish the job this week in Charlotte, and pick up the second win all-time for the International Team. Tom Kim As the third-youngest player ever to compete at the Presidents Cup, Tom Kim is inarguably one of the most exciting talents to watch this week in Charlotte. With his win at last month’s Wyndham Championship, the 20-year-old became the youngest PGA TOUR winner from outside the United States since Harry Cooper in 1923. Kim is literally trying to lead the International side to something he’s never seen in his lifetime: the only time they have won the Presidents Cup was in 1998, four years before Kim was born. Kim put on a ball-striking show this summer: from July 1 through the TOUR Championship, Kim ranked No. 2 among all qualified TOUR players in Strokes Gained: Approach per round (+1.15). In that same span, he ranks 10th in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green and 14th in scoring average. Kim would have ranked in the top-20 on TOUR in Strokes Gained: Total per round (+1.09) if he had enough rounds to officially qualify. Taylor Pendrith One of the only players on TOUR ahead of Kim in Strokes Gained: Ball Striking since the beginning of July is fellow International Team rookie Taylor Pendrith. The long-hitting Canadian ranked No. 4 overall on TOUR in that statistic from July through the TOUR Championship, the best of any player competing this week at Quail Hollow. Pendrith finished the 2022 season ranked inside the top-10 in both driving distance and greens in regulation. Former world No. 1 Jon Rahm is the only other player with that distinction last season. Mito Pereira The lofty ceiling of Mito Pereira’s immense talent was on full display earlier this year at the PGA Championship, when he got within one hole of becoming a major champion. Though the finish to that championship wasn’t what he wanted, the 27-year-old Chilean vaulted himself into the conversation as one of the potential future pillars of the International Team. His full 2022 statistical profile reveals a player with elite iron play: No. 9 on the PGA TOUR in Strokes Gained: Approach, 14th in greens in regulation and sixth in average proximity from the rough. Pereira finished the 2022 season ranked 19th on the PGA TOUR in Strokes Gained: Total, the fifth-best position for any player without a win. Corey Conners As one of the most known commodities on the International roster, it’s easy to forget this is Corey Conners’ first Presidents Cup appearance. Since the beginning of 2019, Conners has been statistically among the best players in the game tee-to-green. In that span, he ranks fourth in Strokes Gained: Ball Striking, sixth in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee and ninth in Strokes Gained: Approach. Conners is the only player on the PGA TOUR since 2019 to average at least +0.60 Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee and +0.60 Strokes Gained: Approach per round. Sebastián Muñoz There are only six players in PGA TOUR history to record multiple rounds of 60 or lower in their entire careers. In 2021-22, Sebastián Muñoz became the first player to record two such rounds in the same season, carding 60s at both The RSM Classic and AT&T Byron Nelson. Muñoz, who has qualified for the FedExCup Playoffs in each of the last four seasons, has been consistently solid for months now, making 15 of his last 17 cuts. In terms of sheer number of birdies made, Muñoz is one of the most prolific on TOUR in recent seasons. Over the last three years, only two players have recorded more birdies than Muñoz (1,070) – world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and teammate Sungjae Im. K.H. Lee Another player with a propensity for red numbers is K.H. Lee – who ranks 11th in total birdies made since the 2020 season. Earlier this year, Lee won the AT&T Byron Nelson at 26 under, one year after winning it with a score of 25 under. With the victory, Lee became the first player in TOUR history to win the same event in back-to-back years with a score of 25 under or better. At the 2021 Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow, Lee recorded four hole-outs from off the green, most of any player in the field. Can he rediscover that magic this week? Cam Davis Statistically, the defining line of when Cam Davis’ 2022 season turned around was Sunday at the RBC Heritage, when he shot a closing 63 to vault into a tie for third place. Heading to Harbour Town, Davis was ranked 178th on TOUR in scoring average and was outside the top 125 in both Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green and Strokes Gained: Total. He’s been a different player since then, though – from the RBC Heritage through the end of the PGA TOUR season, Davis had one missed cut and seven top-20s in 12 starts. In that span, he ranked top-30 on TOUR in Strokes Gained: Ball Striking, Tee-to-Green and Total. Christiaan Bezuidenhout Coming off a season with 10 top-25s and just four missed cuts in 24 starts, Christiaan Bezuidenhout might be the best putter competing this week at Quail Hollow. He ranked sixth on TOUR in Strokes Gained: Putting per round for the 2022 season, the highest mark of any player on either team this week. When isolating the numbers just since the beginning of July, it’s even more impressive: from July 1 through the TOUR Championship, Bezuidenhout averaged 1.59 Strokes Gained: Putting per round, by far the best of any qualified player.

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