‘It would be borderline unfair:’ Can anyone stop Scottie Scheffler if he’s turned his putting around?

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - Justin Thomas, a 13-time PGA TOUR winner at age 27, seemed to have very little left to learn on TOUR until last month. He's been learning ever since. After Thomas missed a par putt in the third round at the Sentry Tournament of Champions, microphones caught him using a homophobic slur. Told later that the outburst had made the broadcast, he was mortified. He called it humiliating, embarrassing and inexcusable. Now making his first PGA TOUR start since Kapalua, Thomas was apologetic and said he has been working to try and answer the questions from Kapalua. Questions like how the word wound up in his head, how it came out in a burst of anger, who it affected, and why. "I apologized many times for what I said," Thomas said from the Waste Management Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale, where he finished T3 and solo third the last two years. "But I didn’t publicly say - which I feel terrible about - that I didn’t apologize to the people that were affected and offended by what I said, and I feel like I should take the time now to say that." Thomas was dropped by his clothing sponsor Ralph Lauren but has said he respects the decision. His first priority has not been to find a replacement, he said Tuesday, but to use the episode as an opportunity to grow as a person even as he competes on the game's biggest stage. "I’m continuing to try to progress and get better each and every day and each and every week," Thomas said. "I’ve had some great conversations with a lot of friends, and the amount of support and sponsors and family friends that have reached out, that’s probably meant a lot more than a lot of people know. That’s kind of what’s helped me get through all this." Rory McIlroy, who is making his first start at the Waste Management this week, said in Abu Dhabi that Thomas "realized he made a big mistake ... and completely owned up to it. He said he messed up; he's going to try to be better. And you know, Justin is true to his word." Thomas said his parents, other friends, and remaining sponsors also have reached out. "Even for instance like last night," he said, "I had a talk with Titleist and a lot of the high-ups in their company just in terms of the stuff that they’ve done as a company and diversity and inclusion training, and now I have the opportunity to kind of be a part of that training with them. "They sent that invitation out to me," he continued, "and that’s - it’s stuff like that to where just like they’re wanting themselves to get better, they are offering me if I want to be a part of that, too. Again, like I said, it’s stuff like that that kind of has really kept me upbeat and kept me in a great mood and kept me very optimistic about the growth that I can have."

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Nicklaus: Tiger faces ‘very hard’ return to golf

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The PGA TOUR uses a standardized system for determining event fields, based off the current season’s Priority Ranking while also including additional exemption and qualifying categories. Field sizes can vary by event, as can the number of event-specific exemptions. Fully exempt PGA TOUR members are guaranteed entry into all full-field events, with various conditional categories subject to periodic reshuffles based upon FedExCup Points accrued throughout the season. Categories with ‘reshuffle’ notation indicate that a reshuffle period has occurred. Mexico Open at Vidanta field list as of Friday, April 22nd at 5 p.m. ET: Check here for updates. Winner of U.S. Open Championship (five-year exemption) Jon Rahm Gary Woodland Winner of Masters Tournament (five-year exemption) Patrick Reed Winner of World Golf Championships event (three-year exemption) Abraham Ancer PGA TOUR tournament winner (two-year exemption) Daniel Berger Cameron Champ Tyler Duncan Tony Finau Lanto Griffin Charles Howell III Matt Jones Sung Kang Nate Lashley Adam Long Graeme McDowell Sebastián Muñoz Kevin Na Carlos Ortiz C.T. Pan J.T. Poston Chad Ramey Chez Reavie Robert Streb Nick Taylor Michael Thompson Brendon Todd Martin Trainer Kevin Tway Richy Werenski Career money exemption Luke Donald Bill Haas * Sponsor’s exemption (Korn Ferry Tour Finals) Isidro Benitez Rafa Cabrera Bello Sponsor’s exemption (members not otherwise exempt) Matt Every Grayson Murray Sponsor’s exemption (unrestricted) Santiago De la Fuente Ben Griffin Jose Cristobal Islas Jose Antonio Safa Designated sponsor exemption Roberto Díaz Armando Favela Manuel Inman Alvaro Ortiz PGA Section Champion\Player of the Year Ben Willman Monday qualifiers Patrick Flavin Jeffrey Kang Bryson Nimmer Turk Pettit Top 125 on prior season’s FedExCup Charley Hoffman Cameron Tringale Aaron Wise Emiliano Grillo Chris Kirk Kevin Streelman Pat Perez Andrew Putnam Doug Ghim Brandon Hagy Peter Malnati Wyndham Clark Adam Schenk Kramer Hickok Brian Stuard Roger Sloan Hank Lebioda James Hahn Russell Knox Matt Wallace Scott Piercy Anirban Lahiri Brice Garnett Scott Stallings # Major medical extension Danny Lee Seung-Yul Noh Jonas Blixt Korn Ferry Tour Points winners (The 25 and The Finals 25) Stephan Jaeger Joseph Bramlett Korn Ferry Tour graduates via The 25 and The Finals 25 (reshuffled) Davis Riley Sahith Theegala Alex Smalley Hayden Buckley Lee Hodges Patrick Rodgers Aaron Rai Christiaan Bezuidenhout Taylor Moore Max McGreevy Vince Whaley Adam Svensson Kurt Kitayama David Lipsky Greyson Sigg John Huh Trey Mullinax Brandon Wu Austin Smotherman Andrew Novak Curtis Thompson Paul Barjon Seth Reeves Justin Lower Dylan Wu Ben Kohles Austin Cook Callum Tarren Nick Hardy Scott Gutschewski Jared Wolfe Kelly Kraft Peter Uihlein David Skinns Michael Gligic Kiradech Aphibarnrat Dawie van der Walt Brett Drewitt Joshua Creel Nos. 126-150 on prior season’s FedExCup Points List (reshuffled) Mark Hubbard Vaughn Taylor Ryan Armour Chase Seiffert Satoshi Kodaira Jim Knous Camilo Villegas Bo Van Pelt Bo Hoag Ryan Blaum $ Reshuffle within categories 34-38 Jonathan Byrd Ben Martin Kevin Chappell Tommy Gainey Aaron Baddeley Robert Garrigus Wesley Bryan Jason Dufner David Lingmerth Mark Hensby Scott Brown Greg Chalmers Ricky Barnes David Hearn Johnson Wagner D.J. Trahan D.A. Points Sangmoon Bae The PGA TOUR uses a standardized system for determining event fields, based off the current season’s Priority Ranking while also including additional exemption and qualifying categories. Field sizes can vary by event, as can the number of event-specific exemptions. Fully exempt PGA TOUR members are guaranteed entry into all full-field events, with various conditional categories subject to periodic reshuffles based upon FedExCup Points accrued throughout the season. Categories with ‘reshuffle’ notation indicate that a reshuffle period has occurred. * = If all prior year Korn Ferry Tour graduates are eligible for event, exemptions become unrestricted # = Latest medical extension information can be found here. $ = Category breakdown can be found here.

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