PGA Tour’s Pazder resigns just before FedEx Cup

• COURSE: Quail Hollow Club, 7,600 yards, par 71. Already a player favorite as host of the Wells Fargo Championship, Quail Hollow unveils a new look for its first step into the major spotlight. Tom Fazio’s latest upgrade created three new holes, including a new 524-yard opener made by merging the old first and second holes. Nos. 4 and 5 also are new, made from the previous par-5 fifth hole. There was no need to tinker with the “Green Mile,� already deemed perhaps the toughest closing three holes on the PGA TOUR. George Cobb built the original 1961 layout, with Arnold Palmer and later Fazio tabbed for modifications. Quail Hollow was the Kemper Open’s original venue (1969-79) and later staged the World Seniors Invitational (1980-89), with the Presidents Cup coming in 2021. • FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 600 points. • CHARITY: PGA Reach, formerly the PGA Foundation, has contributed more than $40 million over the past two decades to growth-of-the-game initiatives, ranging from establishment of The First Tee to teaching grants and funding for military veterans, disabled and special-needs golfers. • FIELD WATCH: Jordan Spieth, atop the FedExCup standings and pointing toward a shot at the career Grand Slam, is joined by No.2 Dustin Johnson and defending champion Jimmy Walker to headline one of the year’s deepest fields. … All but two of the top 115 in the world rankings are slated to compete, missing only No.63 Martin Kaymer (shoulder) and No.75 Scott Piercy (unspecified). … Spots remain for the winners of this week’s WGC Bridgestone Invitational and Barracuda Championship, if not already qualified. … The lineup also includes the top 20 finishers from June’s PGA Professional National Championship. • 72-HOLE RECORD: 265, David Toms (2001 at Atlanta AC). • 18-HOLE RECORD: 63, Bruce Crampton (2nd round, 1975 at Firestone CC), Raymond Floyd (1st round, 1982 at Southern Hills), Gary Player (2nd round, 1984 at Shoal Creek), Michael Bradley (1st round, 1993 at Inverness), Vijay Singh (2nd round, 1993 at Inverness), Brad Faxon (4th round, 1995 at Riviera CC), José María Olazábal (3rd round, 2000 at Valhalla), Mark O’Meara (2nd round, 2001 at Atlanta AC), Thomas Bjorn (3rd round, 2005 at Baltusrol), Tiger Woods (2nd round, 2007 at Southern Hills), Steve Stricker (1st round, 2011 at Atlanta AC), Jason Dufner (2nd round, 2013 at Oak Hill), Hiroshi Iwata (2nd round, 2015 at Whistling Straits), Robert Streb (2nd round, 2016 at Baltusrol). • LAST YEAR: Walker stood tall on the PGA Championship’s longest day, enduring a 36-hole finale at Baltusrol to hold off Jason Day’s late charge and complete a wire-to-wire victory for his first major title. Walker shot 68-67 on the final day, playing his final 29 holes without a bogey to stay one stroke clear of Day’s bid for back-to-back Wanamakers. A Day eagle at Baltusrol’s par-5 18th hole made it interesting, though, especially after Walker’s 3-wood from 289 yards came down in greenside rough. The 37-year-old Texan pitched to 30 feet, though, and two-putted from there to emerge triumphant. The win had special meaning for Walker and caddie Andy Sanders, who met at Baltusrol when both were competing in the 2000 U.S. Amateur. Eight years later, Walker turned his bag over to Sanders. • STORYLINES: Spieth, fresh off his adventuresome Open Championship triumph, needs only the PGA Championship to complete the career Grand Slam – and can best Tiger Woods as the youngest to do it if he wins at Quail Hollow. The Texan celebrated his 24th birthday just last week. … Rory McIlroy has been Quail Hollow’s master, using a final-round 62 to win his first PGA TOUR title there in 2010 and shooting 61 on the way to a 2015 victory. He also lost a playoff to Rickie Fowler in 2013. … Johnson, who took three consecutive wins into Augusta back in April, is down to his final chance to win a major in 2017. • SHORT CHIPS: Eight of the past 11 major winners have been first-timers, including Sergio Garcia and Brooks Koepka this year. The exceptions: Spieth (twice) and Zach Johnson at St. Andrews. … Before that, five of the previous six winners already had a major title on their portfolio. … This marks the 60th year in which the PGA Championship has been decided by stroke play, after match play was employed for the first 39 editions. • TELEVISION: Thursday-Friday, 1-7 p.m. ET (TNT). Saturday-Sunday, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. (TNT), 2-7 p.m. (CBS). • PGA TOUR LIVE: None. • RADIO: Thursday-Friday, noon-6 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 1-7 p.m. (SiriusXM).

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The third round of the Valero Texas Open takes place Saturday. Cameron Tringale leads by two with Matt Wallace, Jordan Spieth, Brandt Snedeker, Matt Kuchar and more close behind. Here’s everything you need to know to follow the action. Live leaderboard Full tee times HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Saturday, 1-3:30 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3:30-6 p.m. (NBC). Sunday, 1-2:30 p.m. (Golf Channel), 2:30-6 p.m. (NBC). PGA TOUR LIVE: Saturday, 10:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. (Featured Groups), 3:30 p.m.-6 p.m. (Featured Holes). Sunday, 8:15 a.m.-2:30 p.m. (Featured Groups), 2:30 p.m.-6 p.m. (Featured Holes). Radio: Saturday-Sunday, 1-6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio). TOURCast: Get shot-by-shot info in real time with shot tracks and video with TOURCast. TOUR Pulse: Get the PGA TOUR app to utilize TOUR Pulse, which provides users the ability to experience a mix of content, such as video highlights, written hole summaries and stat graphics on every player after every hole they complete. FEATURED GROUPS Rickie Fowler, Charl Schwartzel, Keegan Bradley Hideki Matsuyama, Keith Mitchell, Charley Hoffman MUST READS Tringale leads by two at Valero Texas Open For surging Spieth, progress means a return to swing of his youth Win probabilities: Valero Texas Open How the Valero Texas Open changed Corey Conners’ career CALL OF THE DAY

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For decades, players and fans alike have shared the colloquialisms common with Augusta National strategy. From the hilly terrain to the nuanced putting surfaces, “missing it in the right place,” and all points in-between. In recent years, the advent of Strokes Gained and its application in the major championships have provided a deeper understanding of what is required to win. That includes at Augusta National, where analytics have helped supplement the recent on-course stories played out by the world’s best. Its reputation as a ‘second shot’ golf course becomes even more fortified with a deep dive into the numbers. Little Penalty for Missing Fairway In order to best explain the significance of approach play at the Masters, the story begins with what players don’t have to worry about off the tee: rough. Annually, Augusta National yields the lowest penalty for missing fairways among major Tour venues around the world. Consider the rate at which players make birdie or better on certain holes across the last 10 Masters. On seven of 14 holes (par 4s and 5s), there is a difference of less than 10% in birdie-or-better rate depending on whether or not a player hits the fairway. For example, at the fifth hole, players who hit the fairway make birdie or better 8.7% of the time. Players who miss the fairway, 4.7%. Since 2010, players to finish in the top 10 at the Masters have averaged 9.6 fairways hit per round. Every other finisher at Augusta in that span has averaged almost the same total: 9.5. So while nobody wants to be stuck behind a pine tree, the numbers say that accuracy off the tee isn’t a significant advantage at the season’s first major. Approach Play Paramount In any given PGA TOUR season, a look at the Strokes Gained: Approach leaders often closely resembles the top of the Official World Golf Ranking. Six of the top-12 in this week’s OWGR are also ranked 12th or better in Strokes Gained: Approach per round this season on TOUR. That is to say, strong iron play is a prerequisite for great golf almost all the time. That is even more true at Augusta National, where five of the last seven champions have ranked top-five in the field that week in Strokes Gained: Approach. Jordan Spieth leads all players in that statistic since 2015, averaging 1.17 Strokes Gained: Approach per round. It’s no coincidence that he’s also the leader in cumulative score to par (45-under) and birdies-or-better (141) in that same stretch. Over the last eight PGA TOUR seasons, tournament winners have gained 35.4% of their strokes against the field with their approach play, the highest percentage of the four Strokes Gained disciplines (Off-the-Tee, Around-the-Green and Putting being the others). At the Masters in that span, that number is a bit higher, 36.0%. While this doesn’t seem like an enormous gap, the margin at which the best iron players can separate themselves from the pack is clearly larger at Augusta than at the typical PGA TOUR venue. How about the more traditional metric of greens in regulation? Since 2012, nine of 10 Masters winners have ranked inside the top-seven that week in greens in regulation, averaging a stout 73.6%. The field average in that span is 61.3%. For the winners of every other PGA TOUR event in that span, the average GIR rate is 74.1% – not quite as high an advantage over the field (about 66%). There have been 10 Masters victories by three or more strokes since 1996. All 10 of those champions ranked sixth or better for the tournament in greens hit, with four of them leading the field outright. The Greens at Augusta National How does the significance of approach play compare to putting? Again, the margins are small, but they add up quickly when it comes to determining who wins the Green Jacket. For the last seven winners (as far back as the data goes), 33.6% of the strokes gained by tournament winners have come on the greens, a bit less than on approach (36.0%). In seven of those 28 rounds, winners have had negative Strokes Gained: Putting. That is only the case for five rounds when it comes to approach play. Five of the last six Masters winners have ranked outside the top-five that week in Strokes Gained: Putting; only two have done so in Strokes Gained: Approach. The four players with the most Strokes Gained: Putting per round at the Masters since 2015 are Rickie Fowler (+1.60), Russell Henley (+1.47), Matt Fitzpatrick (+0.85) and Justin Rose (+0.82). Tiger Woods’ 2019 Triumph Three years ago, Tiger Woods won his fifth Masters title thanks to a week of exquisite, vintage approach play. Woods hit more than 80% of his greens in regulation, most of any player in the field and the most by an April Masters champion since Tiger himself 18 years prior. He also led the field in Strokes Gained: Approach, gaining more than a full stroke in Rounds 1, 2 and 3, and a whopping 2.87 on Sunday. In all, more than 57% of Woods’ total strokes gained against the field for the week came from his approaches. Whoever authors their winning Masters story this week will likely follow a similar formula.

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