Pick ‘Em Preview: 3M Open

The PGA Tour heads to Dublin, Ohio June 9-12 for the Workday Charity Open. Here are our experts’ best bets.

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NORTON, Mass. – Tuesday was the 22nd anniversary of “Hello, world.� Soon after, Tiger Woods started winning – and dominating – golf tournaments at an unprecedented rate. That part of his career, he says now, went by fast. As for the last part? The injury-plagued part, the part that required four back surgeries, the part that has kept him from the winner’s circle for the last five years and derailed his chase of Sam Snead’s 82 wins and Jack Nicklaus’ 18 majors? “Seemed like it took centuries,� Woods said Thursday on the eve of this week’s Dell Technologies Championship. Now, of course, it’s “Hello, again.� Hello, first, to just being back on the PGA TOUR, and now to being back in contention, feeling the heat down the stretch as he did most recently at the PGA Championship when he finished solo second. And also hello, again, to managing a busy end-of-season schedule that will have him playing six of the last eight weeks – and then topping that off the next week with a probable playing spot on the U.S. team that competes at the Ryder Cup. It’s an underappreciated aspect of his comeback, made even more challenging by the fact that he’s five months away from his 43rd birthday and about to make his 344th TOUR start. He’s saying hello, again, but not with the same body he had 22 years ago when he made his first TOUR start in Milwaukee. Not that Woods is complaining. In fact, he’s grateful for the opportunity, considering that a year ago, he wasn’t sure if he’d ever play again. “The hardest part is, I didn’t have any inkling of what this year might be,� he said. “Normally if I have a good off-season or a good practice or feel healthy, I can reasonably expect what might happen the following year. “This year was a complete unknown. I didn’t know if I was going to play. I didn’t know how many events I was going to play. What swing I was going to use. I didn’t know any of these things – and a lot of adjustments on the fly.� He added one new event, the Valspar Championship, and then managed to qualify for the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, trying to juggle his schedule while being careful not to overload it. “Those are nice options to have,� Woods said, “because the beginning of the year, going into this year, I had no clue what was going to transpire. So it’s all been positive.� Now he’s in the heat of the FedExCup Playoffs for the first time in five years. He tied for 40th last week at THE NORTHERN TRUST and dropped from 20th to 25th in points. He sounded like he may be second-guessing his decision not to give himself a week of rest like Rory McIlroy and Henrik Stenson did, although those two also dropped in the standings – McIlroy from 21 to 28, Stenson from 50 to 55. Now he enters this week’s Dell Technologies Championship knowing that he needs a good performance either here or at next week’s BMW Championship to secure his spot inside the top 30 for the TOUR Championship. It’s hello, again, for TPC Boston, a course he’s played nine times – including a win in 2006, the year before the debut of the FedExCup Playoffs. “I know they’ve made a few changes since the last time I played,� said Woods, whose last appearance resulted in a tie for 65th in 2013. “I know I’ve really played well on this golf course over the years. Hopefully it will be one of those weeks again. “In general, it sets up for a guy that hits it long and high – and I’ve done that pretty much my whole golf career.� With the extra day this week due to the Dell Technologies’ Labor Day finish, Woods used the time to focus on his children while getting away from golf. It’ll probably be the same approach he’ll use for the off-week after the BMW Championship. He also knows that he’ll soon get extended time off, allowing him to make a big push now. “I know that my golf is not going to be much, if anything, post-Ryder Cup,� he said. “And not just myself, but for a lot of guys. We’re just pushing it to that point and then shutting it down. Just trying to get to that point so that when I shut it down, I’ll be able to shut it down.� That means he’s running out of chances this season to end his victory drought. Of course, given where he was a year ago, he seems grateful just to have made his presence known on the back nine of a few Sundays this year. “Just a matter of giving myself enough opportunities,� he said. “I’m not going to win them all. In order to win them, you’ve got to be there. And I’ve been there enough this year and obviously want more of it.� Twenty-two years ago, he began the journey – and at times, it seemed like he did win them all. “When I first turned pro, I felt like … I would never get to, at the time, the Senior Tour,� Woods said. “I had three decades to go. “And now I’m eight years away.� Eight years away, that is, from saying hello to PGA TOUR Champions, when he’ll once again battle the guys he used to beat so frequently in his earlier days. For now, though, he still has business to attend to on the PGA TOUR. Saying hello again to the FedExCup trophy wouldn’t be such a bad way to end the season.

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AVONDALE, La. – Upon reflection of his near-historic performance earlier this month in the final round of the Masters, Jordan Spieth realized one thing – his ball-striking was good enough to shoot 59. “Actually thought I truly could have shot 59 without doing much more other than making a few more putts,� Spieth said Wednesday on the eve of this week’s Zurich Classic of New Orleans with partner Ryan Palmer. “I put myself in opportunities on each hole to shoot 59 that day, which is really, really cool.� Just nine rounds in the history of the PGA TOUR have been 59 or lower – and none have come in majors. The lowest in major championship history came at last year’s Open Championship, when South Africa’s Branden Grace shot 62 on the par-70 Royal Birkdale. Spieth didn’t need 59 to win, but he did need 62 to force a playoff with eventual champion Patrick Reed. Spieth started the day nine shots off the lead but had come all the way back to grab a share of the lead. Through 16 holes, he was 9 under on his round. He needed one more birdie in his last two holes to tie Grace’s record, and force Reed to make a birdie down the stretch in order to avoid a playoff. Instead, Spieth’s tee shot at 18 clipped a tree branch and he ultimately bogeyed the closing hole for an 8-under 64 that left him at 13 under and solo third, two shots behind Reed. Had Spieth won, it would’ve been the greatest final-round rally in Masters history. As it was, he tied the record for lowest score in the final round. Spieth said Wednesday he went back and watched video of his Sunday performance. “I wanted to learn a bit from it,� Spieth said. “I felt like Houston [the week before] but really at Augusta was the best my swing has ever held up under the gun. Especially my driving, I really felt like I drove the ball beautifully on Sunday, especially when I started to get closer and closer and could feel being in the tournament.� He also “was interested in kind of how it looked from the viewer’s perspective. It was really cool to see. I knew how I was feeling and thinking, and I didn’t realize the timing of when I tied it up.� Spieth was most encouraged by the way he was striking the ball, saying he was “a little more stable and patient in the swing.� That’s something he hopes to continue as he enters the heart of the 2017-18 PGA TOUR season, as well as improve his performance on the greens; he ranks a surprising 183rd in strokes gained: putting this season. Perhaps the 30-foot birdie putt at he made on the 12th hole – which had not treated him well in recent visits – will help flip the switch. “To hit some of those putts under pressure and see some go in I think will be very beneficial going forward this year,� Spieth said. “It very well could be a spark for a really solid year.�

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