Berger holds off St. Jude field from clubhouse

The 2018-19 PGA TOUR season moves into the Asia Swing this week with the CIMB Classic in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It’s the second of 43 regular season events, to be followed by the reformatted three-event FedExCup Playoffs next August. The Golf Channel will provide live coverage for all four rounds, with the first two rounds starting at 10:30 p.m. ET (10:30 a.m. local time) on Wednesday and Thursday. The final rounds will begin at 11:00 p.m. ET on Friday and Saturday. Here’s a look at the Featured Groups for the first two rounds (FedExCup ranking in parentheses): Keegan Bradley (T84) – Hot off his victory in last season’s FedExCup Playoffs the former major champion is set for a resurgent year. Three top 10s here in four starts including runner up last season. Kevin Na (T84) – Looking to make it five trips to the season finale in six years with another good season. Three top 10s here in six starts. Gary Woodland (T84) – Runner up here in 2014 and 2015. Returned to winners circle last season and enjoyed the taste of victory. Tee times: Rd. 1 (9:40 p.m. ET); Rd. 2 (8:30 p.m. ET) Brandt Snedeker (T2) – Heartbreaking fade over the back nine Sunday last week has him fired up to atone in the heat of Malaysia. Paul Casey (T84) – Buoyed by Europe’s Ryder Cup win Casey is set to prove last season’s win in Tampa was not his final act. Marc Leishman (T84) – His breakout 2016-17 season was followed by a solid, yet winless, 2017-18 leaving the Aussie motivated to find a higher gear once more. Tee times: Rd. 1 (9:50 p.m. ET); Rd. 2 (8:40 p.m. ET) Kevin Tway (1) – Riding high after a breakout maiden PGA TOUR win last week at the Safeway Open. Billy Horschel (T84) – Just as his beloved Florida Gators continue to improve Horschel’s intensity is lifting for the start of a new season. Si Woo Kim (T84) – Former PLAYERS champion looking for a fast start in Asia to better his 55th place finish in the FedExCup last season. Tee times: Rd. 1 (8:40 p.m. ET); Rd. 2 (9:40 p.m. ET) Justin Thomas (T84) – Two-time winner of the event after coming out on top in 2016 and 2017. Gave up his FedExCup crown last season and wasn’t happy about it. Can kickstart his chase here. Pat Perez (T84) – Defending champion who played insane golf a year ago. Scoring average an incredible 66 over the four days. Ryan Moore (T2) – His last four trips here include two wins and another top 10. Worst result was T17. Oh … and he’s coming off a T2 playoff loss in Napa. Primed. Tee times: Rd. 1 (8:50 p.m. ET); Rd. 2 (9:50 p.m. ET)

Click here to read the full article…

Winning on the PGA TOUR never is easy, but even though Dustin Johnson has 20 titles, including at least one in every season since debuting as a member in 2008, that he’s been shut out since his video game-like performance at the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship last year is surprising. DJ has averaged one victory in every 13 starts of his career. His title defense at Club de Golf Chapultepec is his 17th start since his five-shot romp, so there’s a narrative that he’s due. Scroll past the extended ranking of projected contenders for how Johnson got the job done, how the host course challenges and more. POWER RANKINGS: WGC-MEXICO CHAMPIONSHIP Jordan Spieth, Marc Leishman, Gary Woodland, Sungjae Im, Kevin Kisner and Tyrrell Hatton will be among the notables reviewed in Tuesday’s Fantasy Insider. Johnson already is going for his third title in the event since its relocation to Mexico City in 2017. Last year, he led the field in both greens in regulation (58 of 72) and Strokes Gained: Putting. He gave back only three strokes (with one bogey and one double) en route to 21-under 263. To classify it as vintage DJ would be understating it. Lights-out performances occur far and few between, but he proved that it’s possible on deceptively cozy Club de Golf Chapultepec. The par 35-36–71 can stretch to 7,355 yards, but it plays about 10 percent shorter given its altitude north of 7,500 feet. (The course is 10 yards longer than it was in the last two years due to the extension of the par-5 11th hole to 632 yards.) Naturally, because of the thinner air, every ball in it flies further than at sea level, so you’d expect the course to ranked among the longest on average off the tee. In fact, at 303.6 yards last year, it easily was the longest of 35 measured. Adjusting every club by converting cover distance is more important than getting it as far from the tee as possible. Course management is critical. Primary rough is allowed to grow two-and-a-half inches and the Poa-bentgrass greens are small on average. They’re also among the most undulating the field of 72 will attempt to solve all season. Approach-putt performance isn’t a statistic discussed much, but it can reveal various levels of experience and challenge. Last year, Club de Golf Chapultepec was the stingiest track with an average of two feet, seven inches. Given that small measurement, a single inch can affect overall ranking considerably, but consider what it means in an of itself. Even in its third spin as host, the greens continued to serve as the primary defense. They also might be allowed to run as long as 12 feet on the Stimpmeter, so they will be faster than before. Mother Nature will do her part in seeing to it, too. Sunshine dominates the forecast. Winds will be moderate at worst, and not steadily influential. DJ’s impressive work aside, last year’s field still averaged 70.861 last year. Even-par 284 finished T39. There is no cut. The winner receives 550 FedExCup points and a three-year membership exemption. All bunkers were upgraded with new sand and drainage since last year, but they essentially present the same challenge from the same spots of bother. ROB BOLTON’S SCHEDULE PGATOUR.COM’s Fantasy Insider Rob Bolton recaps and previews every tournament from numerous angles. Look for his following contributions as scheduled. MONDAY: Rookie Ranking, Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Medical Extensions, Power Rankings TUESDAY*: Power Rankings (Puerto Rico), Sleepers (WGC-Mexico), Fantasy Insider * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf, which also publishes on Tuesday.

Click here to read the full article…

SILVIS, Ill. – Francesco Molinari is the only Italian to win the Italian Open, lives in London with his wife and two kids, and speaks Spanish to his Basque caddie. One thing, though, was lost in translation. His putter wasn’t listening to him. After a lackluster T25 finish at the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship, Molinari decided he had had enough. He called Englishman Phil Kenyon, putting coach to Justin Rose, Henrik Stenson and others, and asked if Kenyon could take on another client. “I thought the game was good early in the season, but there seemed to be something not quite right,� Molinari said after shooting a second-round 66 to get to 11 under par and in contention yet again at the John Deere Classic at TPC Deere Run on Friday. “Everything is coming together now,� Molinari added. Yeah, you could say that, if being arguably the hottest player in golf is your thing. Molinari shot a final-round 62 to win the Quicken Loans National two weeks ago, by eight shots. It was the first victory by an Italian on the PGA TOUR in over 70 years, and included an eagle, birdie, birdie, birdie, birdie turbo boost that left everyone else far behind. His tee-to-green performance was statistically the best by a winner on TOUR this season, and came on the heels of his big win at the European Tour’s BMW Championship. (He plays both tours.) And yes, he also rolled it well on the greens at 17th in Strokes Gained: Putting. “He’s more scientific,� Molinari said of his new putting coach, Kenyon. “We analyzed video and looked at the machines that measure the face angle, and my stroke wasn’t very good. Little by little be began to change things at Bay Hill, and it’s slowly gotten more consistent.� All of which helps explain why Molinari, 15th in the world and the highest-ranked player at the Deere, has become a force to be reckoned with even on a course he’d never seen before this week. He decided to play the Deere because he needed to add a new event, and wanted to play his way into The Open Championship instead of taking this week off. “Last year I didn’t play before The Open; I went to Birkdale to study the course, and it didn’t work out,� said Molinari, who missed the cut. “I had to play an event I hadn’t played in the previous four years, and thought it would be good to keep it going right until The Open.� Next week he will be back on his home side of the Atlantic, where he lives with his wife, Valentina, and their kids, Tommaso, 7, and Emma, 2. Molinari said they thought of moving last year, maybe establishing a base in the United States, but they’ve been in London nine years. They have friends, and Tommaso goes to school there. It’s home, and you can’t argue with that. Besides, in the midst of the best season of his career, in which he reached “the next level� with his eight-stroke romp at the Quicken Loans, Molinari would be crazy to change anything else. OBSERVATIONS HEARN LOVING TPC DEERE RUN. Canada’s David Hearn is no stranger to success at the John Deere, having advanced to a playoff with Zach Johnson and eventual champion Jordan Spieth in 2013. This week, Hearn is at it again, making 230 feet of putts over the first two rounds (66-64) to get into contention. “I guess I’m putting too well,� he joked after being asked by an official to demonstrate his stroke with the long putter after the round. (He was determined not to be anchoring.) “I just have a good feeling around here,� said Hearn, a member of the University of Wyoming Sports Hall of Fame who came into this week 152nd in the FedExCup. “I read the greens well. I’m just really trying to not think about too many things and try to point and shoot. Right now, they’re going in, so hopefully that continues on the weekend.� NOTABLES DAVIS LOVE III – Never got anything going (73-74) to miss the cut and lose to his son (below). DRU LOVE – Improved with a second-round 68 but was still likely to miss the cut at 1 under. WHEE KIM – Birdied three straight holes to close out the front nine and had it all the way to 11 under before a double bogey at the last gave him a second-round 68 and left him with some work to do on the weekend at 9 under. He’s 89th in the FedExCup. SAM RYDER – Playing three groups behind Kim, Ryder eagled the 10th hole and got to 12 under before also making double on 18. He is coming off a missed cut at A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier and at 148th in the FedExCup needs to make a move. JOHN HUH – Roared back from a double-bogey on his last hole Thursday with an 8-under 63 on Friday. He’s 9 under overall, and 104th in the FedExCup. QUOTABLES I think that’s why I play so well. I’m not thinking about golf. I’m thinking about living. You can die in this heat.

Click here to read the full article…