ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP payouts and points: Keegan Bradley picks up $1.980 Million and 500 FedExCup points

Wyndham Clark … After enduring a spring slump, which is common for rookies, the 25-year-old connected top 20s at TPC River Highlands and Detroit Golf Club to position himself for a return to the PGA TOUR in 2019-20. With two top 10s among six top 20s this season, he’s 99th in the FedExCup. At a glance, it’d seem logical that a sketchy tee-to-green game not only would get in the way of success, it’d apply too much pressure on his short game. But, wow, his short game. He’s ninth on the PGA TOUR in strokes gained: putting, first in putts per GIR, fifth in one-putt percentage, second in conversion percentage inside 10 feet, third in putting: birdies-or-better and first in three-putt avoidance. Yet, he’s hardly a one-trick thoroughbred at sixth in par-5 scoring. Denny McCarthy … No sophomore slump for this guy. Besides, when you’re exempt from the reshuffle and lead the PGA TOUR in strokes gained: putting, expectations are higher and there are no excuses. Save a week off in early March, he’s been positioned inside the top 125 of the FedExCup standings since a T7 at the Sanderson Farms Championship in his second start. Thrills and spills ensued, but a rock-steady T21 in Detroit last week lifted the 26-year-old to 110th. One more decent showing and he’s a lock to keep his card. Tom Hoge … Regional flavor. The 30-year-old from Fargo, North Dakota, could use a injection of the kind of confidence that guided him to state amateur titles in Minnesota in 2009 and 2010. He arrives with consistent form, albeit lackluster. Since late April, he’s 7-for-8 but without a top-30 finish. However, he did place T43 at the U.S. Open, so that demands some respect. Currently 170th in the FedExCup standings. Tyrone Van Aswegen … Buried in the same category out of which Nate Lashley emerged with victory at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, the South African is no stranger to playing for his job, it’s just that the deck is stacked against him this deep into this season. He’s just 3-for-11 with only one top 40 in 2018-19, and that was but a T29 at Colonial near his residence in late May. So, the bad news is that he’s 217th in the FedExCup standings. The good news is that he needs only 32 points to crack the current top 200 and qualify for the Korn Ferry Tour Finals to begin anew in 2019-20. He’s also gliding in on a T14 at the Utah Championship presented by Zions Bank where he led outright after 36 holes. Collin Morikawa … It’ll take some time before the Class of 2019 can be compared fairly to the Class of 2011 that includes Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth, Daniel Berger, Emiliano Grillo and others, but it has the makings. With Morikawa, Viktor Hovland, Matthew Wolff and Justin Suh all having turned pro in recent weeks, the clock has started. The very early leader as the most impressive is the 22-year-old who logged a decorated career at Cal. Morikawa already is 3-for-3 with a T14 at the RBC Canadian Open. His equivalent of 88.833 FedExCup points as a non-member would slot him 192nd among members and inside the bubble to qualify for the Korn Ferry Tour Finals. NOTE: Sleeper is a relative term, so Rob uses unofficial criteria to determine who qualifies. Each of the following usually is determined to be ineligible for this weekly staple: Winners of the tournament on the current host course; winners in the same season; recent major champions; top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking; recent participants of team competitions.

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HILTON HEAD, S.C. – The yellow shirt Webb Simpson wore on Sunday at the RBC Heritage wasn’t a casual fashion choice. He didn’t take it out of his closet because it would look good with that red tartan jacket that goes to the winner of the tournament, either. Of course, turns out that it did. RELATED: Final leaderboard | The clubs Simpson used to win No, Simpson wears yellow on Sundays because it was his late father Sam’s favorite color. And in an unusual quirk of scheduling due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the RBC Heritage, once canceled and later postponed, was concluding on Father’s Day. “This morning I thought about him, and when I was on the golf course, I thought about him,” Simpson would later say. “… So still feeling my dad all around me from memories. He loved golf. “He would have loved watching today.” Indeed. Sam’s son took control of the RBC Heritage on the back nine, making birdies on five of his last seven holes for a 64 to earn the seventh victory of his PGA TOUR career. With the win, Simpson climbed to the top of the FedExCup standings as well as to No. 5 in the world. Of course, the U.S. Open, which was postponed until September, usually is the tournament that ends on Father’s Day. So, this actually marks the second time Simpson has celebrated victory on that holiday – and Sam was still alive when his boy won the 2012 U.S. Open at the Olympic Club. “I’ll never forget calling my dad after on the way to the press conference, and when he picked up the phone, he just was laughing,” Simpson said. “That’s kind of what he did when he was happy, he would just laugh. So, I’m going to miss that laugh today for sure.” For Simpson, who lost his dad jn 2017, the ascent is part and parcel of the hard work he’s put in over the last three years after finding himself on the outside looking in when everyone else was playing in the TOUR Championship and making Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup teams like he used to do. “I really have a desire to be in that top 10 or 15 guys in the world ranking all the time and have chances to win, not just twice a year, but as many times as I can,” Simpson said. “So that led me to just look at every part of my game, whether it’s working out or the mental approach, and see if I can get better. “That was three years ago probably. So, yeah … it feels great to see the hard work pay off and see that the process I’ve put in place is working. But we’re nuts. We always think we can get better, and I think there’s room to grow.” Sunday’s final round was a roller coaster of emotions that featured as many as seven players tied for the lead. Turning up the heat, too, on this steamy afternoon was a different kind of race – this one to finish before darkness after a weather delay of two hours and 35 minutes. Simpson, who also won THE PLAYERS Championship in 2018 on Mother’s Day, had held at least a share of the second- and third-round leads. But he had to come from behind over the final nine holes, chasing Tyrrell Hatton, Abraham Ancer and Joaquin Neimann, among others to seal the win. “Honestly, the last kind of 10 holes were a blur because guys are making birdies, we’re trying to finish before night comes,” Simpson said. “And so, to finish with five birdies like that was really special, especially after going kind of yesterday and the first 10 holes, 11 holes today not making putts. “To see the putts go in when I needed them, that was really fun to see the ball going in the hole.” The feverish competition worked in Simpson’s favor, too. As he saw birdies being posted, he knew he had to be a little more aggressive after giving up ground on the front nine. He played the final nine holes with authority and confidence, and was rewarded at the end. “It’s typically not a golf course where you can force it, but today after the storm, it softened things out, not much wind, we could go attacking,” Simpson said. “Guys kept making birdies. I was blown away with the scores, but there I hit my run, 12 through 17, and ultimately that’s what made the difference.” And Simpson, who has five kids of his own, now has a new celebration for Father’s Day.

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Expert picks for the OHL Classic at Mayakoba

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