A season unlike any other comes to a thrilling conclusion at the TOUR Championship

Welcome to the Monday Finish where everything old is new again as Justin Thomas continued his love affair with Asia, this time finding his way to the top of the leaderboard in Korea at THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES.  Here’s five observations and insights from the inaugural PGA TOUR event in Korea.  FIVE OBSERVATIONS 1. Reigning FedExCup champion Justin Thomas just moved to third on the new season points list. He also moved to third in the world rankings. But if we throw the current formula out the window and just tell it how it is… he’s the best player in the world right now. Thomas’ seventh PGA TOUR win, his third in Asia, caps off a dominant last few months. In the last 10 weeks, he won his first major at the PGA Championship; he claimed the Dell Technologies Championship; he won the FedExCup with his runner-up finish at the TOUR Championship; he was part of the dominant U.S. team at the Presidents Cup (3-1-1), he was rightfully voted PGA TOUR Player of the Year after a 5-win season; and now he’s kicked the new season off again with victory at THE CJ CUP. While Dustin Johnson and Jordan Spieth sit above him on the rankings, Thomas is the hot hand. It is going to be fascinating to watch him after he has his well-earned break and off-season to see if he can continue the roll and continue his rapid rise. He ended 2016 at 22nd in the world. He will probably end 2017 inside the top five. I don’t think many would be surprised if he ended 2018 at the top. 2. Some players are winners. Pure and simple. Justin Thomas is a winner. While he didn’t have his best stuff all week in Korea, he certainly stood up with the game on the line so to speak. After a penultimate hole bogey dropped him back into a tie for the lead, his approach shot on the par-5 72nd hole to set up a close-range eagle putt was epic stuff. The putt may not have dropped, but the swagger was palpable. While some players struggle in the moments, Thomas does not. He wasn’t thinking about making birdie to get in a playoff. He was thinking eagle and victory the whole time. Later in the playoff after Marc Leishman found water, Thomas didn’t think about playing safe for birdie. Once again, he pulled off another beauty from long range to secure his victory. Leishman also showed he’s not afraid to chase glory when it’s presented. While he may have found the water in the playoff, earlier he had also produced a brilliant approach on the final hole in regulation to set up an eagle try. His loose swing in sudden death came with his aggressive mindset. So while it will burn, it should at least make him happy to know he refused to take the soft option. He was playing to win. 3. Speaking of Leishman – the former PGA TOUR Rookie of The Year must be commended for the continuation of his career form. The year 2017 has been a banner one for the boy from Warrnambool in Australia, as he claimed victory in the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard and the BMW Championship. He’s moved from 56th in the world to 12th and is now pushing towards being the best ranked player from Down Under, chasing his mate Jason Day who sits eighth after starting the year at No.1. While Leishman has always been loved in his home country, he hasn’t been feted at the levels Day and Adam Scott have. This is beginning to change. His goals for 2018 are lofty, and rightfully so. He has major championships and another assault on the FedExCup clearly in focus and you’d be mad to count him out of either. 4. I will be accused of bias and I’m sure there is some … but I expect this new season to be a big one for Cameron Smith. Living in the time of Spieth and Thomas and the like puts high expectations on young players, but this 24-year-old can handle it. With a T5 at the CIMB Classic and a third place finish this week, he’s moved himself to sixth at this early stage in the FedExCup race. A winner with Jonas Blixt at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans last year, Smith now has his sights on an individual title. His shot into the penultimate hole in Korea was epic, given the wind and clear troubles others were having. While he’d like his birdie putt back, given it finished a few revolutions short of the hole, Smith can be proud of his fight that left him one shot shy of the playoff. As he becomes more and more comfortable with TOUR life, the Australian will prosper further. His schedule can seem limited to some, but this is because he likes to return to his native land to have a “normal life� with his mates and customs at times. Don’t be surprised if this kid upstages Jason Day and Jordan Spieth in the Australian Open in November. 5. It was great to see the golf on display in Jeju this week and I’m looking forward to more visits to Korea in the future. The locals provided great support for their PGA TOUR heroes and you couldn’t help but get behind Whee Kim as he tried to make a Sunday surge before ultimately being the top Korean in fourth place. Seeing the likes of K.J. Choi get to play a TOUR event in front of his home crowd was certainly uplifting, as was the strong support behind Seung-Yul Noh after he announced he will be heading into his two-year mandatory military service after the event. Our game truly is a global one and as an international traveler myself I get a real buzz from seeing the TOUR make its presence felt in Asia. I’ve made no secret of the fact I’d love to see places like Japan, Australia and South Africa join Malaysia, Korea and China in this part of the season to truly celebrate our global TOUR. FIVE INSIGHTS 1. Thomas held the first-round lead by three after a 63 on the first day. His win made him three for four in converting first-round leads to victory. For comparison, only eight of 46 first-round leaders went on to win last season (twice by Thomas, at the CIMB Classic and the Sony Open in Hawaii). 2. Thomas is 5-for-7 when it comes to converting 54-hole leads in his career. He has now converted five of his last six. 3. The previous week’s CIMB Classic winner, Pat Perez, shot the low round of the day on Sunday and the only bogey-free round of the weekend with a 4-under 68 to finish T5. It allowed him to take the FedExCup lead over Brendan Steele with Thomas now third. 4. Thomas’ win gets the 20-somethings on the board after their dominant 2016-17 season. Last season, we had 28 wins by 19 different players in their 20s but the opening two events this season saw the 30-somethings (Brendan Steele) and 40-somethings (Pat Perez) strike the early blows. 5. Just 24 players have played in all three opening events of this new PGA TOUR season with Keegan Bradley being the pick of that bunch in terms of points. He sits fifth in the FedExCup standings after starting the year CUT-2-T47. Nick Taylor has been the model of consistency from the same group, posting T9-T13-T23 to sit ninth in the FedExCup. TOP 3 VIDEOS

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As the FedExCup Playoffs is concerned, the 11th edition isn’t presenting anything we haven’t seen before, but the combination of unusual facts is unprecedented all the while adhering to the chalk. Jordan Spieth is just the second golfer in Playoffs history to enter the TOUR Championship atop the FedExCup standings without a victory in the Playoffs. Tiger Woods was the first in 2013. Meanwhile, only five golfers who started the series outside the top 30 in points qualified for this week’s 30-man field at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. At least seven climbed in all but once since the first version of the current structure was introduced in 2009. That occurred in 2015 when only four converted. Points have been reset and each of the top five is guaranteed the FedExCup’s $10-million bonus with victory in the finale. So, Spieth, who won the FedExCup in 2015, controls his own destiny to become the second in history to capture multiple titles (Woods, 2007 and 2009). POWER RANKINGS: TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP RANK PLAYER COMMENT Top seed leads the Playoffs in adjusted scoring and strokes gained: tee-to-green. He’s manufactured a season similar to 2014-15, which he concluded with victory at East Lake. Opened 2017 with solo second at Waialae. T2 last week at Conway Farms. Nine top 15s in between. Two seconds and no worse than solo sixth in last four starts at East Lake. THE NORTHERN TRUST champ is third in points. Shared or led outright after all three rounds en route to T6 at East Lake in 2016. Fifth-place finishes in previous two trips. Co-runner-up at the BMW Championship was his eighth top-five finish since February. T5 in the Playoffs in adjusted scoring. One top 10 at East Lake in three appearances. Commanding performance at Conway Farms followed a solo third at TPC Boston. Hasn’t seen East Lake since a T28 in his debut in 2009, but it doesn’t matter. Able to absorb a T47 at Conway Farms as he’s second in FedExCup points. Shared sixth place in TOUR Championship debut last year (after T32 at BMW at Crooked Stick). Horse for the course, but that’s a narrative that could apply almost everywhere in 2017. Four top fives in the last three months alone. Top fives in all three tries at East Lake, too. Fair to label him as a mild surprise to get this far. Opened as the 49-seed and is now 15th. Top 10s in three of last four starts. Three top 10s at East Lake (2011, 2014, 2015). At No. 5 in points, he’s the first debutant since Chris Kirk in 2014 to begin TOUR Championship inside the top 5. The Spaniard has gone a respective T3-T4-T5 in the Playoffs. A T12 at the BMW Championship was his fourth top 15 in his last six starts. Co-led in his debut at East Lake last year before losing in a playoff. Phenomenal story post-anchoring ban and ranks ninth in the Playoffs in strokes gained: putting. Top 10s in three of last four starts. Two top fives at East Lake in four trips. Top 20s in seven of last eight starts dating back to U.S. Open breakthrough. T18 at TPC Boston; T12 at Conway Farms. Second in the Playoffs in birdie-or-better percentage. Remained slump-proof with a T5 at the BMW Championship, his eighth top 10 of 2017. Eighth appearance at East Lake where his only two top 10s are T10s (2012, 2015). In his field-high 10th appearance (ninth at East Lake) but first since a T9 in 2014. Sat out THE NORTHERN TRUST, but wiggled in on a T12 at the BMW Championship. First appearance and the lowest opening seed (78th) to qualify. He’s gone T10-T13-T9, respectively. T2 in the Playoffs in greens in regulation and first in scrambling. Solid not spectacular Playoffs run secured his fifth appearance at East Lake. Top 10s in his last two (2014, 2016). Ranks fourth in these Playoffs in greens in regulation. Making TOUR Championship debut at 41 years young. Enters in spirited form with T6 at TPC Boston and T12 at Conway Farms. Seventh in the Playoffs in strokes gained: putting. First FedExCup points leader at the start of the Playoffs to sit outside the top 5 at East Lake since Nick Watney in 2011. Matsuyama (No. 7) has gone MC-T23-T47 since. Last man inside the bubble dropped 10 slots during the Playoffs despite a T20 at Glen Oaks. Top 10s in his last two appearances at East Lake (2013, 2016). T12 (2015) and T15 (2016) at East Lake, but stumbles in this year without a top 30 in his last four starts. He’s given away nearly two shots in putting per event in the Playoffs. Inside favorite for Rookie of the Year has enjoyed a strong three months since U.S. Open. Includes a pair of top 20s in the Playoffs in which he’s No. 1 in par-5 scoring. Always a threat as a terrific putter, but he’s making his first appearance at East Lake and has just two top-35 finishes in the last four months. After falling outside top 30, got back in with a T7 at the BMW where he ranked third in strokes gained: putting. Fair to wonder how he’ll fare in first go on East Lake’s greens. Scuffling in advance of his debut, surrendering strokes in every facet of the game in the Playoffs. Chased MC at Glen Oaks with T65 at TPC Boston and T40 at Conway Farms. He’s 12th in the Playoffs in strokes gained: tee-to-green, but he may have peaked too soon. Only one top 25 in his last four starts (T17, THE NORTHERN TRUST). Fourth appearance buoyed by late surge, but he’s yet to solve East Lake where his scoring average is 71.75 and he hasn’t broken par in his last eight rounds. One of the quieter qualifiers with only one top 10 in over five months and only one top-35 finish in the last two. Solo 12th in only previous look at East Lake in 2014. Zero top 50s in these Playoffs and no top 25s in last nine Playoffs starts, including both of the last two TOUR Championships, a shocker given East Lake’s Bermuda greens. Tournament debut. Form upon arrival is just OK for the 29-year-old ball-striker. Opened the Playoffs with a pair of T25s before a T47 at the BMW. Capitalized on the format with timely form. Win at Glen Abbey and T3 at Glen Oaks yielded his second trip to East Lake (T24, 2016), but he’s made little noise elsewhere. Returning to the TOUR Championship isn’t easy, but 14 in this week’s field were here last year. However, defending champion Rory McIlroy didn’t qualify. In fact, of all former champions, only Spieth (2015) is in the field. Eight are making their debuts. Aside from the voids left when many mature trees were felled over the winter, East Lake’s changes were minimal, but it will look and set up just as it did last year as a par 70, this time measuring 7,362 yards. That reflects a reduction of 23 yards. The MiniVerde Ultradwarf Bermudagrass greens may run as fast as 12-and-a-half on the Stimpmeter and the Bermudagrass rough has been trimmed to two-and-a-half inches. The 2016 edition of the TOUR Championship was the first in which the nines were reversed for competition. The old par-3 finisher became No. 9. In its place, a par 5 tipping at 590 yards served as the stage for potential heroics. Alas, McIlroy scored a respective 5-5-4-4 on the hole in regulation, while eventual playoff victims Kevin Chappell and Ryan Moore settled for pars in every round. The playoff went four holes, the first two of which at the 18th where McIlroy and Moore pushed with 4-5. Chappell was eliminated with an opening par. Despite the absence of fireworks, the hole averaged 4.581, lowest in history. Among the 117 scores recorded (Jason Day withdrew after one round), three eagles were recorded. Overall, East Lake yielded a scoring average of 69.615 last year. That was a typical split in benign weather conditions. This week’s forecast includes the threat for rain and storms, the greatest landing on Friday. Otherwise favorable elements will serve merely as a backdrop in which the FedExCup champion will be crowned. Tuesday’s Confidence Factor will examine the skills rewarded at East Lake to help identify the latest to join the club. ROB BOLTON’S WRITING SCHEDULE PGATOUR.COM’s Fantasy Columnist Rob Bolton will be filing his usual staples leading up to this week’s event. Look for the following columns this week. MONDAY: Rookie Ranking, Reshuffle, Power Rankings TUESDAY*: The Confidence Factor, Fantasy Insider WEDNESDAY: One & Done THURSDAY: Ownership Percentages in PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf and One & Done presented by SERVPRO * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO, which also publishes on Tuesdays.

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Brendon Todd has a 54-hole lead for the second time since the PGA Tour’s return to play and is up 1 shot after shooting a 1-under 69 on Saturday in the FedEx St. Jude Invitational.

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