Winner’s Bag: Tom Kim, Shriners Children’s Open

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Byeong Hun An shot a 5-under 65 on Friday in the Wyndham Championship to take a one-stroke lead into the weekend. An was at 13-under 127 halfway through the PGA TOUR’s final event before the FedExCup Playoffs. Brice Garnett was a stroke back after a 64, and six players — including 2011 Wyndham winner Webb Simpson and first-round co-leader Sungjae Im — were at 9 under. Adam Svensson also was in that group after shooting the best round of the day — a 61 — and threatening to become the first player on TOUR this year to break 60. An, who shared the first-round lead with Im at 8 under, made his move up the leaderboard with three straight birdies late in his round. Finishing on the back nine, the 27-year-old South Korean who’s winless on TOUR had birdies on Nos. 3-5 and closed his second consecutive bogey-free round with four straight pars. “I came close last couple years and, you know, maybe this week might do it,” An said about that long-awaited first victory. “But still have two more days and there are a lot of players behind me. … Just do what I’ve been doing the last couple days and just hit a lot of fairways and greens and make some putts. If someone plays better than me, then he deserves to win it, but as long as I keep these bogey-free rounds going.” For a while, the story of the day was whether Svensson would become the 11th player in PGA TOUR history to break 60 — and the first since Brandt Snedeker opened this tournament last year by shooting a 59 on his way to a victory. Svensson birdied seven holes on the front nine and added two more on Nos. 12-13 to move to 9 under for the day. “I was kind of like, all right, I’m 9 under par (after No. 13) and there’s still four or five holes and a par 5,” Svensson said. “I was actually pretty calm. I thought I would be a little more nervous than I was.” His best chance to go even lower came on No. 15 but he missed a 7-foot birdie putt. Still, the 25-year-old Canadian who is winless on TOUR, had his second 61 this year. He also had one in the first round of the Sony Open in Hawaii. He started at No. 171 on the FedExCup points list but put himself in position to crack the top 125 and earn a spot in the field at the Playoff opener, THE NORTHERN TRUST, next week in New Jersey. That chase for playoff berths is a key subplot every year at Sedgefield, home of the bubble players’ last chance to make the postseason field and earn their TOUR cards for 2020, if they don’t already have them. Everyone from No. 103 to No. 137 is here, and in the Wyndham’s dozen years as the final pre-Playoff event, an average of 2.7 players have played their way into the postseason. Garnett, who at No. 121 is the very definition of a bubble player, put himself in good shape by opening the tournament with consecutive 64s, closing the second one with birdies on three of his final five holes. The pack of seven players two strokes back included two others on the Playoff bubble: Patton Kizzire, a two-time winner last year who is at No. 129 on the points list, shot a 64 that included consecutive eagles on Nos. 5 and 6. And Josh Teater, at No. 165, kept himself in contention with a 65 highlighted by five birdies — and a bogey — in a seven-hole stretch. The other storyline is the top players’ pursuit of spots in the top 10 and the Wyndham Rewards bonus money that accompanies those finishes. Nine players started this tournament with a shot at some of that cash, and at the midpoint, two of them — Simpson and Paul Casey — are in position to claim it. “I’ve got a really good plan for this golf course, a really good strategy, and … as long as we don’t get too much crazy weather coming in, going to try to execute that plan as I did the last two days,” Casey said. “Hopefully, get the speed of the putts a little bit better and make a few more birdies, and then try and figure out what everybody else is doing and attack on the last nine if I need to and try and win this thing.”

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To finish inside the prize money in PGA TOUR Pick ‘Em Live at the AT&T Byron Nelson, you needed to be on the pre-tournament line of K.H. Lee to win at +10000. And yet, even that may not have been enough. The top-eight performers all connected on Lee at that kickback, but since only the top five pay, it required more than just that. Since cashing in this game can require considerable luck, it’s the best reminder and example that everyone wins at PointsBet when you nail the selection. Consider finishing inside the money in Pick ‘Em Live as a bonus to whatever you can wrangle on your own. Repeating the message at which our resident experts grimace, Rob and Glass are ineligible. Remember, when Rob finished third at The Honda Classic, the $750 reserved for the bronze slid to the next-best gamer. When Rob decides on his picks, he assigns a dollar value to his confidence and makes a note of it as a way to get a feel for the experience of the real thing. As a result, he estimates that, with “phantom bets” of $10-$100 on a variety of his selections in real time since the game launched at The Genesis Invitational, he’d have grossed about $20K by now. That includes what would have been a $50 bet on K.H. Lee to win when his odds were +5000 at the conclusion of the third round. (Don’t worry, he’s not quitting his day job.) That bet on Lee lifted Rob to 27th place at TPC Craig Ranch. So, he now has six top 30s in 12 events, and it all starts here, in Pick ‘Em Preview. This week’s early edition is special for the PGA Championship. Because the interface will not begin reflecting the tournament until Tuesday and perhaps not until tee times are released, only the three weeklong bets and the R1 leader are included below. When Glass and Rob decide on the R1 bets used in Pick ‘Em Live, look for their selections on their Twitter pages. Glass goes by, what else, @MikeGlasscott, while Rob’s corners the market on o’s for @RobBoltonGolf. Register for PGA TOUR Pick ‘Em Live here and monitor their progress as Influencers. For a broader explanation of the format and FAQs, click here. TOURNAMENT TO WIN Rob … Matt Fitzpatrick (+5000) Jordan Spieth (+1800) tops my Power Rankings, but I’ll open with value as usual. Southern Hills promises that a household name will be posing for pictures with the Wanamaker Trophy on Sunday. Last time I checked, there are households in Fitzpatrick’s native England. He’s also in my PR. Fairways won’t punish him, while the challenging greens and surrounding areas will allow his short game to shine (when necessary). And when par is a worthy score, the gritty Brit doesn’t quit. Glass … Hideki Matsuyama (+2800) Phil Mickelson’s odds notwithstanding, there haven’t been many longshots in major championship golf holding the trophy at the end of 72 holes of grit and grind. Like Rob, I expect that to continue again this week. The 2021 Masters champion has plenty of firepower to get it around. Plus, his short game doesn’t get the credit it should for as sharp as it can be. With a recent major on the shelf and injuries (knocks on wood) behind him, he’s rested and ready to add to his collection of two wins this season. TOP 10 Rob … Talor Gooch (+800) Right? I might as well. Local boy does good. A top 20 is a smarter play at an actual betting window, but I don’t even care if this winds up being a push among the set-and-forget crowd. I just want a piece of this action. Glass … Matt Kuchar (+1100) I was just as shocked as you were to learn that his top 10s at the PGA Champions have come TWICE at Whistling Straits (T7, T10), plus once each at Quail Hollow and his last in 2019 at Bethpage Black in what were less than stellar conditions. Firm and fast will help, as will his incredible short game. Flying under the radar this week, but his recent form suggests he shouldn’t be that far out of sight. TOP 20 Glass … Harry Higgs (+1200) Not exactly the hometown hero but Kansas City isn’t that far away. His recent form suggests this isn’t the play, but … his first major was T4 at Kiawah Island. The next was T14 at Augusta National a month ago. If you’re concerned with windows closing/opening, I’d take a look at Jhonattan Vegas at +500. Remember, I had Sebastián Muñoz as my “back-up” as a Top 10 last week. Rob … Min Woo Lee (+900) The 23-year-old Aussie was so scared in his debut at Augusta National that he went ahead and finished T14. He hasn’t played since and I don’t care. Swagger that can generate that doesn’t rust. He’s played only in the U.S. since February, so his focus is singular as he chases a PGA TOUR card. ROUND 1 LEADER NOTE: When Pick ‘Em Preview was filed on Monday night, tee times weren’t yet released. For this bet, Glass and Rob always pluck a guy in the early wave, so if either selection lands in the late draw, it’s likely that what you see on their cards among the Influencers will not match what you read below. Glass … Joaquin Niemann (+5000) In his last six individual stroke-play events starting with 63 at Riviera, the Chilean has broken 70 in five of them. Posting 67 at TPC Sawgrass and 65 at Harbour Town, he “stumbled” last week with just 67 at TPC Craig Ranch. I guess I could have just told you he’s second on TOUR in first-round scoring average, but that’s not as much fun! Jason Day would also get a look here as his PGA pedigree is very solid. Rob … Justin Thomas (+3000) I love that Glass omitted that Niemann shot 2-over 74 on Sunday at TPC Craig Ranch … because it’s exactly the kind of zag that plays into his mitts. He stole my guy on the upbeat! Not that falling into JT constitutes but a consolation prize, however. The 2017 PGA champ leads the PGA TOUR in second-round scoring average, so there’s that, and he’s first in actual scoring average, thank you very much. He also leads in … well, you get the picture. It’s what makes JT JT. Yes, he can be a slow starter, but that’s my sharp angle.

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Matt Kuchar turned on the afterburners during the closing holes to claim a ninth PGA TOUR win and second win in three starts. Welcome to the Monday Finish where Kuchar pleased his family by booking a return trip to the Hawaiian Islands a year from now and by adding a family pet, albeit a robotic one. FIVE OBSERVATIONS 1. Matt Kuchar has a killer instinct to go with his killer smile. Don’t be fooled by Kuchar’s trademark grin. He’s a stone-cold killer sometimes on the golf course. After looking like he was wobbling with three bogeys in his opening five holes on Sunday, Kuchar found a way to stare down his competitor and claw out of a hole when it mattered. He made a very important birdie putt on the ninth hole to stay in touch with Andrew Putnam, and when Putnam looked to make his move on the 13th hole, Kuchar responded with back-to-back birdies from 12 and 11 feet. Making putts down the stretch is not easy to do but Kuchar made it look so. The result was a comfortable four-shot triumph. 2. The old guys on the PGA TOUR still have fire. Kuchar now has two wins since he turned 40 and believes he still has plenty more in him. While it might be tough to replicate what Vijay Singh did in his fifth decade (win 22 times including a FedExCup) there is nothing to say he can’t continue a renaissance of serious note. “I would certainly like to (do what Singh did),â€� Kuchar said. “He set a great example. Certainly showed that is possible. A number of guys showed that it is possible. It’s nice to know that. It’s not like you hit 40 and you have to go away. There are guys that have done great.â€� Another of those guys is his good friend Davis Love III. The 54-year-old grabbed his first top-10 finish since the 2017 Wyndham Championship at Waialae. Love III is already the third oldest PGA TOUR winner of all time from his 2015 Wyndham triumph at 51. Maybe he can set a new benchmark this season. 3. Putnam can putt the dots off it. Andrew Putnam is clearly disappointed with his runner up result but if he keeps putting like he did at Waialae it won’t be long before he does claim his second PGA TOUR title. Over the course of the four rounds he gained 10.894 strokes on the field in Strokes Gained: Putting to lead the field. His first round gained an impressive 6.871 strokes on the field, one of the more impressive performances we’ve seen. By the end of the week Putnam had made 447 feet, 7 inches worth of total putts. Now replicating this sort of week will be very tough, but the fact he has this in his memory bank should give him plenty of confidence on the greens going forward. 4. Keep an eye on Marc Leishman and Hudson Swafford over the next two weeks. Swafford was the 2017 champion at the Desert Classic and now he returns off the back of a T3 at Waialae Country Club. Last week he ranked fifth in Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green and was second in proximity to the hole at 26 feet, 10 inches. If he brings that ball-striking again and gets hot on the greens he is certainly a great chance at another victory. Leishman has to be penciled in as a red-hot chance at the Farmers Insurance Open where he’s been runner up twice, in 2010 and 2014, and has two other top 10s. The winner of the CIMB Classic in the fall Leishman was T4 at the Sentry Tournament of Champions and T3 at the Sony Open over his two weeks in Hawaii. Prior to that he was runner up at the Australian PGA Championship and the ISPS Handa Melbourne World Cup of Golf. More wins are imminent. 5. Charles Howell III should buy a house at Waialae. That is if he hasn’t already. He’s now made the cut in all 18 trips to the Sony Open in Hawaii and his T8 last week was his 10th top 10. While he has yet to win the event he has two runner-ups and two thirds. Earlier in the week Howell III explained that winning isn’t everything for him but even still a trophy at Waialae would seem very fitting on his resume. “If I stay healthy I’ll never miss this one,â€� Howell III said. “I can control the showing up part… The finishes, I don’t know…. but it would be awful special to one day win here.â€� FIVE INSIGHTS 1. Kuchar won his ninth PGA TOUR event in his 430th career start on TOUR and moved from ninth to second in the FedExCup standings. It is the first time since week 33 of the 2013 PGA TOUR season where he has ranked inside the top two of the FedExCup. 2. Since 2009 Kuchar is the seventh player to win on the PGA TOUR after opening with two consecutive rounds of 63 or lower and first since Jason Day (2015 BMW Championship). Kuchar’s 258 total score marks a career-best and ties the 10th-best on the PGA TOUR in 72-hole stroke play events. 3. Kuchar is the 103rd player with 100 or more top 10s in official PGA TOUR events and just the fifth player to reach this mark since 2001. 4. Kuchar ranked inside the top 10 in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee, Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green and Strokes Gained: Putting, becoming the fifth Sony Open in Hawaii Champion to accomplish this feat since 2004. 5. Almost three quarters (74-percent) of Kuchar’s total strokes gained for the week came from his approach the green and putting performance. Kuchar hit a field leading 83.33-percent of the greens in regulation, averaging 29 feet, 6 inches in proximity to the hole on all approach shots which was 5 feet, 2 inches closer than the field average. Kuchar made 63.64-percent of his putts from 10 to 15 feet (seven of 11) and each of his made putts were birdies from this distance. WYNDHAM REWARDS The Wyndham Rewards Top 10 is in its first season and adds another layer of excitement to the FedExCup Regular Season. The top 10 players at the end of the FedExCup Regular Season will earn bonus payouts from the Wyndham Rewards Top 10. Xander Schauffele remains in top spot while Matt Kuchar moves to second with his second win of the young season. Andrew Putnam goes from 31st to 10th after his runner-up finish.

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