After three decades of fan intervention, golf wisely changes course

Round 3 of The Genesis Invitational takes place Saturday from storied Riviera. Sam Burns leads by five with Dustin Johnson, Joaquin Niemann, Patrick Cantlay and Jordan Spieth all contending after 36 holes. Here’s everything you need to know to follow the action. Leaderboard Full tee times HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Saturday, 1 p.m.-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3 p.m.-6 p.m. (CBS). Sunday, 1 p.m.-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3 p.m.-6:30 p.m. (CBS). PGA TOUR LIVE: Saturday, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. (Featured Groups), 3 p.m.-6 p.m. (Featured Holes). Sunday, 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m. (Featured Groups), 3 p.m.-6:30 p.m. (Featured Holes). Radio: Saturday, 1 p.m.-6 p.m. Sunday, 1 p.m.-6:30 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, Nick Taylor, Nate Lashley Matthew Wolff, Francesco Molinari, C.T. Pan MUST READS Sam Burns builds five-shot lead DJ poised for weekend run McCumber shakes off emergency surgery Kim wins third Genesis car in four months Mack III holds his own at tough Riviera Revisit Tiger Woods’ pro debut and the 25 years since Look back on the classic six-man playoff at Riviera in 2001 Bubba Watson opens up about mental health struggles CALL OF THE DAY

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Karma. Inspiration. Good vibes. Jon Rahm was feeling all three at the 121st U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, his home away from home since capturing his first PGA TOUR win at the 2017 Farmers Insurance Open. His parents were in attendance. His wife and baby boy were there. He’d watched friend Phil Mickelson win the PGA Championship, and gotten a green light to get out of quarantine after testing positive for COVID-19 at the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday two weeks earlier. It all lined up. Instead of letting the bogeys stop him, Rahm, 26, kept his head up, and when it was time to seize the tournament, he did so with curling, left-to-right birdies on 17 and 18. “It was something I knew I could do,” he said. Here are five stories you may have missed from the U.S. Open. 1. Jon Rahm left no doubt Rahm, who moved to No. 1 in the world and No. 2 in the FedExCup, already looked like the best player in the world coming into the week. He’d built up a six-shot lead through 54 holes at the Memorial before having to withdraw after receiving a positive COVID-19 test result, and after getting out of quarantine he remained the pre-tournament favorite despite inevitable rust. Now, though, there’s no doubt he’s playing better than anyone in the game. He became the first player from Spain to win the U.S. Open, and the fourth Spanish player to win a major after Sergio Garcia, Jose Maria Olazabal and Seve Ballesteros. And his sixth PGA TOUR victory came on the site of his first, at the 2017 Farmers Insurance Open. That, Rahm said afterward, explained the victory as well as anything else. He proposed to his wife Kelley on a hike just north of the course, and she loved La Jolla before they even met. “This one is very, very incredible, very hard to believe,” said Rahm, the first player ever to twice win the Ben Hogan Award as the nation’s top collegiate (Arizona State, 2015-16). “That this story can round up and end up so good. It almost feels like it’s a movie that’s about to end and I’m going to wake up soon. With the setback I had a couple of weeks ago, to end up like this, it’s incredible. I do love Torrey Pines, and Torrey Pines loves me.” For more on Rahm’s victory, click here. 2. Louis Oosthuizen played to win Although he moved from 27th to 10th in the FedExCup and held his ground with a final-round 71, Louis Oosthuizen was having a hard time finding the silver lining in solo second place. It was the sixth runner-up in a major for the 2010 Open Championship winner. “Right now, I didn’t win it,” he said. “I’m second again. “No, look, it’s frustrating,” he continued. “It’s disappointing. I’m playing good golf, but it’s not – winning a major championship is not just going to happen. You need to go out and play good golf. I played good today, but I didn’t play good enough.” The turning point came when his drive at the par-4 17th hole bounded into the lateral hazard, from which he took a drop and made bogey. Now he needed to eagle the last, which wasn’t to be. “I took the tee shot on at 17, and I knew it was a crucial hole for me to take it on and give myself a birdie opportunity,” he said. “I didn’t pull it off, but standing on that tee again, I’ll probably do the same thing, taking a driver and taking the shot on. “I feel like I had my shots,” he added, “I went for it, and that’s what you have to do to win majors. Sometimes it goes your way, and other times it doesn’t.” 3. Bryson DeChambeau looked relatable Leading midway through the final round, Bryson DeChambeau had to like his chances to repeat. Alas, two back-nine bogeys, a double-bogey, and a quadruple-bogey added up to 44 and a T26. Never had he looked more relatable. What happened? “Unfortunately, had bad break after bad break happen,” DeChambeau said. He also hit just three fairways. DeChambeau came to the par-5 13th with a chance to get one of his dropped shots back, but his drive sailed into the right rough, and he stayed there as he hacked his way toward the green. Each lie seemed worse than the last, and his shots became increasingly erratic on the way to a double. The par-4 17th was an even crazier misadventure, his drive winding up in the hazard left, leading to a penalty. “I hit a great second shot – well, third shot, and the ball just spun too much,” he said. “The wind died down and it landed short and came back off that front edge into a really, really bad lie. I tried just chopping it out, and I caught the hosel just from a weird lie.” The quad was the highest score of any player on 17 all week. Overall, though, DeChambeau said he was pleased to have contended. “It’s golf,” he said. “It’s life. I’m just proud that I can hold my head right now. I’m OK.” For more on the carnage Sunday, click here. 4. Rory McIlroy liked his progress Although he three-putted the 11th hole for bogey, and double-bogeyed the 12th to all but end his chances, Rory McIlroy (73, T7) was anything but down about his performance. The changes he’s made under new coach Pete Cowen appear to be yielding good results. “I keep saying, I’m on the right path,” McIlroy said. “I feel way more comfortable with what I’m doing way out on the course, especially in a situation like this.” He added that he got slightly unlucky on the double-bogey on 12, where his second shot from the fairway bunker wound up in a nearly impossible lie in a greenside bunker up ahead. He could barely get a club on the ball and watched it squirt sideways into the thick rough. From there he could only manage to hack it onto the green and two-putt for a routine U.S. Open double. Also, he didn’t make much on the greens. “The way I hit the ball tee to green today,” McIlroy said, “I just felt much more comfortable and in control of everything than the previous few times that I’ve been in this position… Considering where I’ve been the previous few majors, it’s a big step in the right direction.” 5. Guido Migliozzi was a revelation South Africa’s Garrick Higgo and Wilco Nienaber were the up-and-comers getting the most buzz at the start of the week. But it was Guido Migliozzi who stole the show amongst lesser-known players. The 24-year-old Italian, who came to Torrey Pines having finished second in his last two starts on the European Tour, called Torrey South “a monster course” but slayed the monster. Fist-pumping his way through his first major, he shot a final-round 68 to finish 2 under and in a three-way tie for fourth with Brooks Koepka and Collin Morikawa. As a result, Migliozzi will be making his first start in the Masters Tournament next April, and also will get into the 2022 U.S. Open at the Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts. More immediately, he qualified to represent Italy in the Olympic Games in Japan next month. “I grew up watching the Olympics on TV,” he said. “To be able to play in an Olympics game is a dream come true. It will be another monster week. A lot of feelings, a lot of vibes, can’t wait.” COMCAST BUSINESS TOUR TOP 10

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The PGA TOUR said goodbye to the West Coast last week as Bubba Watson claimed his third title at Riviera. The TOUR shifts this week to Florida and Palm Beach Gardens for The Honda Classic. The Champion Course at PGA National will present 12 water hazards, over 75 bunkers, palm trees and TifEagle Bermuda grass greens for the pros to navigate. We say goodbye to Poa annua, kikuyu, Cypress and Eucalyptus trees and benign California weather as the TOUR descends on south Florida. Full kudos to the American Honda Motor Corporation for continuing the longest sponsorship of a PGA TOUR event as their commitment dates all the way back to 1982, a span of 37 years. The Champion Course at PGA National has been the exclusive host to The Honda Classic since 2007, so any data before then won’t be of much use this week. As pointed out above, it is important for gamers to know that conditions facing the pros this week will be quite different than the conditions over the few weeks in California and Arizona. For the first time this season we’ll see water in play on the majority of holes and plenty of sand to catch errant ball-striking. Although just playing 7,140 yards to a par 70, the Champion Course has been annually one of the toughest on TOUR due to the water hazards, closely-mown areas around the greens, the “Bear Trap”, holes Nos. 15-17, and the uneven weather. This time of year in Florida, the weather can swing violently but the one constant is the wind. Its ever-presence is noted, as there have been no multiple victories and obviously no repeat champions. The winners have posted double-figures under-par just three times in 11 tries with Camilo Villegas going lowest at 13-under-par 267 to set the tournament scoring record. Brian Harman didn’t take very long to acclimate here when he set the course record, 61, in just his second competitive round in 2012 (T12). Rickie Fowler set the 54-hole record last year en route to the biggest winning margin since Villegas in 2010. His 12-under-par 268 included 21 birdies, as he became only the third winner to hit double-digits under-par. The numbers above show how he did it, but the key for Fowler was his putter. He holed all 57 tries inside seven feet for the week, which helped tremendously. He also sank a pair of monsters on the back nine on Sunday for birdies when the train was getting off the tracks. Over the last three editions of this tournament, there have been exactly 16, bogey-free rounds. Fowler owns three of them including one last year and two from 2016. Avoiding bogeys is not one-dimensional golf; it takes a complete bag and Fowler has one of the deepest in the game. The weather was excellent last year with temperatures in the low 80’s for most of the week. With Adam Scott and Sergio Garcia tied after 54 holes and holding a four-shot advantage on third place, Sunday 2016 felt like match play. The Aussie became one of the few in the history of the PGA TOUR to make a quadruple bogey (Round 3) and go on to win. He dominated the ball-striking numbers and was excellent in avoiding bogeys, minus the quadruple! Fowler was in the mix again as he was bogey-free through 36 holes and led by one at the halfway point. His 74-71 weekend saw him finish T6 and he finished T3 in bogey avoidance for the week. Justin Thomas stuck all four rounds in the 60’s to collect T3. The cool-ish weather saw only the top 10 break par for the week. Sponsor’s exemption Padraig Harrington picked up the big check in 2015 in a playoff over then-rookie Daniel Berger as both ended up 274 (-6). Berger fired 64, joint lowest round of the week, in the final round to force the two extra holes. The Monday finish was a byproduct of the instable weather mentioned earlier. Harrington became the oldest winner at 43 even though he tried to give the tournament away twice in the final round with a pair of double bogeys. There’s a reason why getting to double-figures is a big deal here! It’s simply not an easy track. Just ask 54-hole leader Ian Poulter (-9) His final round 74 saw him drop to T3. NOTE: Golfers inside the top 25 in each statistic on the 2016-17 PGA TOUR are listed only if they are scheduled to compete in The Honda Classic. * – Finished inside the top 10 at The Honda Classic since 2013. Strokes-Gained: Tee-to-Green Rank  Golfer  6  *Justin Thomas  8  *Rory McIlroy 12 *Sergio Garcia 13 *Luke List 16 *Rickie Fowler 17 *Gary Woodland 18 Byeong-Hun An 19 *Adam Scott 20 *Lucas Glover 21 *Ryan Palmer 22 *Ian Poulter 24 Webb Simpson 25 Bud Cauley Bogey Avoidance Rank  Golfer  2  Chad Campbell  7  *Ian Poulter  9  Charles Howell III 10 *Lucas Glover 11 *Rickie Fowler 13 Webb Simpson 17 *Sergio Garcia 20 Martin Flores 21 *Justin Thomas 23 Seamus Power 24 John Huh 25 Ryan Armour Par-4 Scoring Rank  Golfer  2  *Justin Thomas  6  Stewart Cink  6  *Rickie Fowler  6  *Lucas Glover  6  Webb Simpson 15 *Daniel Berger 15 *Keegan Bradley 15 *Sergio Garcia 15 Robert Garrigus 15 Jamie Lovemark 15 *Ian Poulter 15 Brandt Snedeker Scrambling Rank  Golfer  1  *Ian Poulter    4  Webb Simpson  5  Chad Campbell  8  *Rickie Fowler 10 John Huh    12 Seamus Power 15 Brian Harman 16 Brandt Snedeker 18 Louis Oosthuizen 25 Charles Howell III Taming the Champion Course, as shown above, will take more than being a one-trick pony. There were plenty of categories to choose from to highlight this week, but I stuck with the ones that didn’t have a true outlier. With the wind blowing annually, it’s not a surprise that the last three winners have been veteran, world-class players. They know how to handle adverse conditions and have the tools in the bag to navigate the most difficult of courses. PGA National will also require patience and thought as playing shots with, across and into the wind also tests the space between the ears. The course will also force decisions on when to pull driver and when to leave it in the bag. The test is similar to Riviera, firm and fair, but with different, more penal hazards (wind, water). I’ll point out that Michael Thompson is the only winner out of 11 not to have multiple TOUR victories. Winning experience counts this week. The Champion Course is going to reward those who miss it in the right place and can avoid the big, crooked numbers. The TifEagle Bermuda grass will be a welcome sight to more than a few this week, as they return to their native grass. Breezy conditions shouldn’t bother the plethora of players who call this part of the world home or make their winters in Sea Island or Orlando; wind is a part of golf in paradise. Champion Course ratings since 2015: 2015: Second-toughest, non-major playing 1.832 strokes over-par; fourth-hardest course on TOUR. 2016: Second-toughest, non-major playing 1.768 strokes over-par; fifth-hardest course on TOUR. 2017: 16th-most difficult of the 50 courses used on TOUR playing .556 strokes over-par. I’ll let you guess which one of the three had the best weather! The Champion Course has two three-hole stretches that rate annually in the five toughest on TOUR. Hole Nos. 15 through 17, “The Bear Trap” gets all of the publicity as it was the major part of Jack Nicklaus’ redesign. Don’t sleep on the stretch from hole Nos. 5 through 7 either as they rank just behind “The Bear Trap” in difficulty. Throw in some of the toughest par-4 holes, water left and water right plus difficult scrambling conditions around the greens and gamers and pros alike will be hanging on for dear life Sunday afternoon. The international contingent has won seven of the 11 trophies since the move to the Champion Course, which reinforces the ball-striking and scrambling angles even more this week. Rob Bolton’s Power Rankings will give you more juice for the week, so make sure you stop by. It’s also who I trust with the weather each week so pay attention! Be sure to look for my post-round recap EMERGENCY 9 each night shortly after the conclusion of play! NOTE: The groups below are comprehensive to assist in data mining. Inclusion doesn’t imply automatic endorsement in every fantasy game as all decisions are specific to your situation. CONFIDENCE MEN Selected golfers with multiple cuts made sorted by rank on the tournament’s money list. BUILDING CONFIDENCE Sorted by best finish, selected golfers who are either finally finding form on the course or are still relatively new to the tournament but have enjoyed some success. OTHER SIGNS OF CONFIDENCE Sorted by most recent top 10s, selected golfers for whom it’s been a few years since their last.

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