Best bets for the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town

MCKINNEY, Texas — Luke Donald hit every green in regulation Thursday in the opening round of the AT&T Byron Nelson, a first for the five-time winner on the PGA TOUR. But that wasn’t his only achievement. Donald, 43, posted his best first-round score in a regulation TOUR start since the spring of 2017. His 65 at TPC Craig Ranch featured seven birdies, zero bogeys, a stout 5.47 Strokes Gained: Approach and a generous serving of encouragement for the 658th-ranked player in the world. “It’s been a bit of a tough road this year,” Donald said. “Feel like I’ve been working hard on my game and seeing progress, so I wasn’t totally surprised that I threw in a good round.” Donald last won in 2012. He’s made only three cuts in 16 starts this year. His highest ranking in the biggest statistical categories is 102nd, in greens in regulation. His scoring average of 72.1 ranks 183rd this year on TOUR. Ten years ago, Donald was the PGA TOUR Player of the Year and the No. 3 player in the world. A back injury in 2018 limited his play through 2019, when he made six cuts in 12 starts. He appears to be back to a full schedule in 2021. His best finish so far is a tie for 40th in the Bermuda Championship. “Well, you know, this year been (I’ve) kind of chasing after cuts a little bit, so it was nice to come out here, play a good round today, and feel like I’m chasing trophies rather than cuts,” Donald said. “It’s a great start; nothing more than that. But takes a little bit of the pressure off tomorrow. I don’t have to chase after trying to play on the weekend. So different feeling. Hopefully a more positive one will lead to more birdies.”

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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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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – The Astros Golf Foundation and PGA TOUR announced today that Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE: HPE), an enterprise information technology company based in Houston, will become title sponsor of the Hewlett Packard Enterprise Houston Open for 2021 in support of tournament host and beneficiary, the Astros Golf Foundation. All four rounds of the Hewlett Packard Enterprise Houston Open, scheduled for the week of Nov. 8-14, will be televised on Golf Channel, featuring a 132-player field, 500 FedExCup points awarded to the winner and a $7.5 million purse. Carlos Ortiz is scheduled to defend his 2020 title. “We’re excited to partner with Hewlett Packard Enterprise to help further the Astros Golf Foundation’s impact in the Houston community,” said PGA TOUR President and EVP Tyler Dennis. “Since 1946, the Houston Open has enjoyed a rich history and the move to Memorial Park Golf Course last year set up the Hewlett Packard Enterprise Houston Open for long-standing success. Our players enjoyed competing at Memorial Park last year and being in the heart of Houston, a place that Jim Crane and the Astros Golf Foundation are so passionate about.” The Astros Golf Foundation, led by Houston Astros Owner and Chairman Jim Crane, operates and serves as the host organization for the event. The commitment to the Houston Open from the Astros Golf Foundation, with the support of several community partners, is in place through 2023. The Astros Golf Foundation completed a $34 million renovation to Memorial Park Golf Course and is set to host the tournament in the heart of the city for the second-straight year. “We are excited to have Hewlett Packard Enterprise on board as the title sponsor for the 2021 Houston Open,” said Giles Kibbe, President Astros Golf Foundation. “Based in Houston, Hewlett Packard Enterprise shares the same mission as the Astros Golf Foundation, and we are proud to have them join us in representing world-class PGA TOUR golf, while giving back to our local Houston community.” “HPE is honored to partner with the Astros Golf Foundation and the PGA TOUR as the Houston Open title sponsor in 2021,” said Hewlett Packard Enterprise President and CEO Antonio Neri. “Our culture of giving strengthens the communities where we live and work and empowers our team members to use their passion and expertise to serve others. We are committed to being a force for good in our communities and partnering with the Astros Golf Foundation for the Hewlett Packard Enterprise Houston Open furthers that commitment.” The Houston Open was first played in 1946, with the inaugural event captured by Byron Nelson at River Oaks Country Club. Other notable winners throughout the history of the event include World Golf Hall of Fame members Arnold Palmer, Jack Burke, Jr., Bobby Locke, Cary Middlecoff, Gary Player, Curtis Strange, Payne Stewart, Fred Couples, Vijay Singh and Phil Mickelson. One of Houston’s premier sporting events, the tournament has also made significant contributions to the Houston community through the work of the Astros Golf Foundation, giving back to the citizens and community of Houston through park improvements, charitable fundraising and investing in the local youth. The 2021 Hewlett Packard Enterprise Houston Open field promises to be a good one, with the likes of four-time major winner Brooks Koepka, Sam Burns, Jason Day, Patrick Reed, Shane Lowry and Scottie Scheffler already committed to the tournament. The past two winners in Ortiz (2020) and Lanto Griffin (2019) are also committed to play. General admission tickets and venue hopper tickets are on sale now for the 2021 Hewlett Packard Enterprise Houston Open. Visit www.houstonopengolf.com/tickets for information on ticket purchases. In 2021, the tournament features the first-ever Houston Open Concert Series, featuring world-renowned artist KYGO on Saturday, Nov. 13 at Minute Maid Park, and Jake Owen on Friday, Nov. 12. To purchase tickets, visit houstonopengolf.com/hoconcertseries.

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