After big payday, Im’s caddie eyes return as player

Scroll below for the Genesis Scottish Open field list as of Sunday, July 3: Check here for updates. Top 30 on prior season’s FedExCup Patrick Cantlay Jon Rahm Justin Thomas Xander Schauffele Viktor Hovland Billy Horschel Jason Kokrak Cameron Smith Sam Burns Harris English Jordan Spieth Sungjae Im Scottie Scheffler Corey Conners Erik van Rooyen Collin Morikawa Hideki Matsuyama Stewart Cink Joaquin Niemann Current leaders in FedExCup Will Zalatoris Max Homa Matt Fitzpatrick Tom Hoge Cameron Young Sepp Straka J.J. Spaun Luke List Mito Pereira Keegan Bradley Cameron Tringale K.H. Lee Sebastián Muñoz Keith Mitchell Maverick McNealy Mackenzie Hughes Lucas Herbert Matt Kuchar Marc Leishman Chris Kirk Si Woo Kim Harold Varner III Tyrrell Hatton Sahith Theegala Anirban Lahiri Troy Merritt Gary Woodland Joel Dahmen Matthew NeSmith Brian Harman Tommy Fleetwood Alex Smalley Kurt Kitayama Alex Noren Danny Lee Aaron Rai Patrick Rodgers Justin Rose Russell Knox David Lipsky Jhonattan Vegas Christiaan Bezuidenhout Andrew Putnam Brandon Wu Nick Watney Wyndham Clark Taylor Moore Lucas Glover Dylan Frittelli Nick Taylor Ryan Palmer Lee Hodges Players from DP World Tour Eligibility Ranking Francesco Molinari Henrik Stenson Danny Willett Min Woo Lee Brandon Stone Thorbjørn Olesen Chris Wood Haotong Li Kalle Samooja Victor Perez Adria Arnaus Ewen Ferguson Ashun Wu Ryan Fox Nicolai Hojgaard Rafa Cabrera Bello Rasmus Hojgaard Garrick Higgo Dean Burmester Jorge Campillo Sami Valimaki Steven Brown Sebastian Soderberg Andrea Pavan Marcus Kinhult Mikko Korhonen Stephen Gallacher Scott Hend Thriston Lawrence Joachim B Hansen Jeff Winther Kristoffer Broberg Johannes Veerman Grant Forrest Daniel Gavins Nacho Elvira Jonathan Caldwell Marcus Armitage John Catlin Daniel van Tonder Antoine Rozner Padraig Harrington Thomas Bjørn Luke Donald Robert MacIntyre Alexander Björk Guido Migliozzi Jason Scrivener Thomas Detry Jamie Donaldson Adrian Meronk Francesco Laporta Sean Crocker Masahiro Kawamura Joakim Lagergren Maximilian Kieffer Tapio Pulkkanen James Morrison Andy Sullivan Edoardo Molinari Fabrizio Zanotti Matthieu Pavon Shubhankar Sharma Jordan L Smith Kiradech Aphibarnrat Richie Ramsay Matthew Jordan Jazz Janewattananond David Horsey Jack Senior Matt Wallace Maverick Antcliff Rikard Karlberg Wil Besseling Three Korean Players from KPGA Bio Kim Joohyung Kim Jaekyeong Lee Sponsor’s exemption (restricted) Charley Hoffman Callum Tarren Alternate List Rickie Fowler Michael Thompson

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SAN ANTONIO — When Charley Hoffman approached a veteran television reporter for a post-round interview, the broadcaster greeted Hoffman with a smile. “I knew at some point this week you were going to come and talk to me,” the reporter said. Hoffman, 42, grinned. This is his 14th career start at the Valero Texas Open and in addition to being the 2016 champion, Hoffman has recorded a runner-up, a third and five top-10 finishes in this event. In other words, he’s a world-beater at TPC San Antonio, where he’s also never missed the cut, and has become accustomed to conducting interviews as one of the tournament leaders. “The old saying ‘Horses for courses,’ it’s not a fluke. I think it’s something,” Hoffman said. “I really enjoy San Antonio. I really enjoy the (J.W. Marriott) Resort. My family loves coming here and hanging out.  I think we’re always in a good frame of mind this week. Even after a tough start to the year, I came with a good head on the shoulders and it’s showing.” Hoffman rocketed up the leaderboard on Saturday, shooting an 8-under 64, the low round of the tournament and his career-best at TPC San Antonio. He started with two birdies and finished even hotter, closing with two birdies and an eagle at 18 to climb into third place at 13-under 203 and two strokes behind 54-hole leader Si Woo Kim. Hoffman, a four-time PGA TOUR winner, said he had hoped playing at TPC San Antonio would give his season a spark. He hasn’t recorded a top-10 finish since the 2017 WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, and has missed the cut in more than half of his 11 starts this season and three of his last four coming into this week. He blamed his pedestrian play of late on a balky putter. Hoffman said instructor Derek Uyeda and Greg Rose noticed he was getting too fixated on his alignment. Rose, who runs the Titleist Performance Institute, doesn’t usually look at Hoffman’s putting, but compared his stroke to that of Jack Nicklaus.  “He said Nicklaus is always tracing the line back and forth to the ball and you’re just standing over the ball stagnant,” Hoffman said. “He said, ‘I don’t care how good you are lined up over the ball. You don’t have any feel.’ It was pretty easy once he showed me and I worked on it last week and it’s been going great.” Hoffman added, “I think I’m a fairly good putter when I used my instincts and just visualize the putt going in instead of getting honed in on a line.” Hoffman led the field in Strokes Gained: Putting on Saturday (+3.953) and ranks 13th for the week. Hoffman rolled in birdie putts early and then survived the onslaught of the rain in the middle of his round. He chipped in at No. 11 to keep his momentum going and played his last five holes in 5 under. “Once the sun came out again, the birdies did also,” Hoffman said. “It was nice to finish off the round birdie‑birdie‑eagle.” At the par-5 18th, Hoffman had 284 yards from the right rough and drew a good lie. He ripped 3-wood to 10 feet and sank the eagle putt. “This finish is where you get this golf course,” Hoffman said. “I was able to take advantage of my good golf shots and hopefully carry that momentum, that finish into tomorrow’s round.”

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Phil Mickelson is the host this week at The American Express. That got our experts to thinking — can he produce more magic in 2022? Plus, a look at the next breakthrough 40-something and more.

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