‘Our Story’ wins the third season of the FedEx Junior Business Challenge

FORT WORTH, Texas – Phil Mickelson stared down at his ball for several seconds. He switched clubs. A difficult shot from the deep bunker guarding Colonial’s 18th green would decide if his victory lap at the Charles Schwab Challenge would last two more days. The shot landed gently but rolled 10 feet below the hole. Mickelson needed to make that par putt to make the cut. His ball started left of his intended target and broke just below the hole, coming close enough that Mickelson jerked his knees straight and swung his putter between his legs as the ball burnt the edge. RELATED: Full leaderboard | Could Tiger and Phil both be at the Ryder Cup? A miss of mere millimeters sent Mickelson home early from the Charles Schwab Challenge, a tournament he has won two times. “I love this tournament and am sad I won’t be here for two more days,” Mickelson said. He shot 69 on Friday, four shots better than his score in a windy opening round. After his emotional win at last week’s PGA Championship, Mickelson was paired at Colonial alongside local favorite Jordan Spieth and defending champion Daniel Berger. It was Mickelson who received the largest cheers on many holes, even though Spieth played well enough to hold the 36-hole lead. Next up for Mickelson is an extended preparation for the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines Golf Club in his hometown of San Diego. Mickelson isn’t playing the next two weeks so he can spend extra time preparing for the one major that stands between him and the career Grand Slam. Last week’s win in the PGA Championship was his sixth major title, but none of those wins have come at the U.S. Open. He has a record six runner-up finishes in the one major that has eluded him. The same short game that helped Mickelson win at Kiawah Island almost carried him across the cutline Friday. He hit just eight greens Friday but saved par several times to keep his weekend hopes alive. After making a bogey on his first hole, he made four birdies and no bogeys over his next 14 holes. That final birdie, at the par-4 15th, put him 3 under for the day and one inside the cut line. He failed to get up-and-down from greenside bunkers on both 16 and 18, however, and missed a 12-foot birdie putt on 17. Other players to miss the cut include Patrick Reed (68-74), Sungjae Im (71-71), Texas alum Scottie Scheffler (70-73), Lee Westwood (75-69), Cameron Champ (75-70) and Michael Visacki (77-72), the Monday qualifier who went viral at the Valspar Championship. He competed this week on a sponsor exemption.

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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Jon Rahm, the second-ranked player in both the FedExCup and the Official World Golf Ranking, said the enormity of potentially reaching No. 1 in the world caught up to him at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines last weekend. Rahm opened with scores of 68-66, but with the No. 1 ranking tantalizingly close, he shot 75-77 on the weekend at the difficult South Course, ultimately finishing tied for 29th. Several other players struggled at Torrey as the wind picked up on the weekend, especially Sunday, but at the Waste Management Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale on Wednesday, Rahm said the potential ramifications of his situation seemed to hit him all at once. “In my case, it was just a lot to process in a few days,� he said. “I felt like up until Friday I didn’t realize anything, and then it all hit me and on the weekend, what happened, happened.� Rahm was No. 137 in the OWGR going into the Farmers last season, and won to begin a dizzying rise through the rankings. He picked up his second PGA TOUR victory at the CareerBuilder Challenge two weeks ago, and said he didn’t realize until Wednesday of Farmers week that with another victory at Torrey he would take the No. 1 ranking from Dustin Johnson. “I mean, there’s nothing to do but learn from it,� said Rahm, who finished T5 as an amateur at the Waste Management in 2015, and was T16 here a year ago. “Now, every time I go to a tournament, I know that the possibility of becoming No. 1 in the world is there.� As for why it would mean so much, Rahm, who is from Spain but attended Arizona State and still lives in Scottsdale, said the answer is simple. “It’s a goal I’ve been working for over 10 years, and I’m only 23,� he said. “So close to half my life, I’ve been working to get to that point.� Rahm will tee off with fellow Sun Devil Phil Mickelson and Rookie of the Year Xander Schauffele at 9:56 a.m. ET Thursday.

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A condensed PGA TOUR schedule has one benefit: a wild race to determine the Wyndham Rewards Top 10. That competition doles out $10 million in bonus money to the top 10 in the standings on Aug. 16, when the PGA TOUR’s regular season concludes at the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, North Carolina. RELATED LINKS: 15th Club There are only four events left on the schedule before the TOUR visits historic Sedgefield Country Club for the Wyndham Championship, but there’s still plenty of time for rapid movement into, and out of, the Wyndham Rewards Top 10. Using projected tournament fields, player performance data and other forecasting tools, 15th Club ran more than 20,000 simulations of the remaining events on the PGA TOUR’s regular-season schedule. Below are some players to keep an eye on as they try to burst into the Wyndham Rewards Top 10. Abraham Ancer Current FedExCup position: 15 Odds of finishing in Wyndham Rewards Top 10: 19% Currently five spots out of the $500,000 bonus for 10th place, Ancer came out of the gates hot when the Return to Golf began. The Presidents Cup participant finished in the top 15 at the Charles Schwab Challenge, RBC Heritage and Travelers Championship. His scoring average since the restart (68.6) ranks third among players with at least 10 rounds. While his iron play may have drawn more attention in recent weeks (he hit all 18 greens in the final round at Harbour Town), his putting has improved too. Ancer has more than doubled his Strokes Gained: Putting per round since the resumption of play. The 15th Club predictive model says Ancer has a 6% chance of finishing in the top five of the Wyndham Rewards Top 10. Tyrrell Hatton Current FedExCup position: 16 Odds of finishing in Wyndham Rewards Top 10: 17% With just six starts this season, Hatton has played the least of anyone in the top 40 of the FedExCup standings. The Englishman has made the most of his opportunities, though. He has yet to finish outside the top 15 this season. He leads the TOUR in Strokes Gained: Total and has the best scoring average (67.0) of any player with eight or more rounds since the Return to Golf. He has averaged fewer than two bogeys per round during that stretch. Hatton has a 7% chance of finishing in the top five of the Wyndham Rewards Top 10, and a 17% chance of winning the $500,000 bonus in tenth place. Viktor Hovland Current FedExCup position: 22 Odds of finishing in Wyndham Rewards Top 10: 8% The captivating former U.S. Amateur champion is assembling quite the ball-striking profile as a professional. Since last June, Hovland ranks fifth on the PGA TOUR in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green, fourth in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee and third in Strokes Gained: Approach. He currently sits just outside the top 20 in the FedExCup standings, but our model is bullish on his potential finish to the season, giving him a nearly 10% chance of leaping into the Wyndham Rewards Top 10. Hovland is taking this week off after making the cut in each of the first six PGA TOUR events since the Return to Golf. Tommy Fleetwood Current FedExCup position: 81 Odds of finishing in Wyndham Rewards Top 10: 1% So, you’re saying there’s a chance? Fleetwood is teeing it up in Minnesota this week, making his first start worldwide since the Arnold Palmer Invitational back in March. At 81st in the FedExCup, Fleetwood is the lowest-ranked player that our model gives a 1 percent chance or better to finish in the Wyndham Rewards Top 10. Fleetwood is currently the top-ranked player in the OWGR without a PGA TOUR victory. How’s half-a-million dollars as a bonus incentive to break through? Bryson DeChambeau Current FedExCup position: 4 Odds of winning Wyndham Rewards Top 10: 7% The PGA TOUR’s new king of driving distance had his run of seven straight top 10 finishes on the PGA TOUR snapped when he missed the cut at last week’s Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide. Currently fourth in the FedExCup, our analytical model gives DeChambeau a reasonable chance at jumping into the top spot of the Wyndham Rewards Top 10, at 7%. He has an 80% chance of staying in the top five. Since the Return to Golf, DeChambeau leads the PGA TOUR in Strokes Gained: Total, greens in regulation, and of course, Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee. Webb Simpson Current FedExCup position: 2 Odds of winning Wyndham Rewards Top 10: 16% A North Carolina native, there may be a $2 million homecoming gift for Simpson next month. Simpson, who earned his first career victory at the 2011 Wyndham Championship, held the top spot in the Wyndham Rewards Top 10 until Justin Thomas finished runner-up to Collin Morikawa at the Workday Charity Open. Simpson’s strong history at Sedgefield could help return to the top spot in the Wyndham Rewards Top 10. Simpson has nine top-25s in 11 starts at Sedgefield, including seven top-10s. He’s finished third, second and second in the last three Wyndham Championship. Simpson’s career renaissance has been well-documented. In each of his last two starts, he has entered the week with a mathematical possibility of becoming No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking. Simpson is averaging a career-high 4.88 birdies per round this season. He has six top-10s in just nine starts this season, including four top-3 finishes. He has two wins (RBC Heritage, Waste Management Phoenix Open), making this his first multiple-win season since 2011. Justin Thomas Current FedExCup position: 1 Odds of winning Wyndham Rewards Top 10: 67% The current leader of the Wyndham Rewards Top 10 has a stellar opportunity to earn the $2 million first place bonus. He holds a 229-point lead over Simpson and a 347-point lead over No. 3 Sungjae Im. DeChambeau, who trails Thomas by 375 points, is the only other player within 500 points of the lead. In more than 20,000 simulations run by 15th Club, Thomas’ average finishing position is 1.38. He’s a mathematical lock to finish in the top five and has a 67% chance of finishing in the top spot. Thomas leads the PGA TOUR in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green and will be on the short list of favorites at TPC Harding Park for the PGA Championship. He’ll be a tough man to catch, but there’s still plenty of opportunity for volatility as the race to the finish heats up.

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