Brandt Snedeker leads halfway through Safeway Open

Here are nine tidbits from the third round of the TOUR Championship gamers can use tomorrow, this weekend or down the road. East Lake Golf Club just outside Atlanta plays 7,362 yards to Par-70. Know Thy Enemy These were the top-10 selected golfers in the PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf game presented by SERVPRO. I included all players who were owned by 20 percent or more. Front-Running The best front-runner in history will take a three-shot lead into the final round as his 12-under-par 198 leads Justin Rose and Rory McIlroy by three shots. Tiger Woods’ round of 65 was the best of the day and was keyed by birdies on six of his first seven holes. Leading by five with three holes to play Woods made bogey while Rose circled a birdie to trim the lead and keep it interesting on Sunday. This will be Woods’ 45th, 54-hole lead and his record is 42-2. Looking to pick up career win No. 80 he’ll need to continue to keep the tee ball in play (T3 fairways) and roll in putts (No. 1 in both putting metrics). Chasing European Ryder Cup teammates Justin Rose and Rory McIlroy will try and run down Woods this weekend and next at Le Golf National in Paris. Both have fantastic records at East Lake and both will be looking to lay down a marker for next week as well. McIlroy, for the first time ever, will be paired with Woods in the final round as he was the first to post nine-under. Rose, No. 1 in the world, had his chance on Saturday but was beaten by three. He’ll have the easier pairing with Kyle Stanley in the penultimate group. Case in Point Paul Casey has put himself in position to cash another top-five check at East Lake after 66 in Round 3. In his previous four trips his worst payday is T5. Last year he led by two after 54 holes but closed with 73. He won’t have to worry about winning the event this year! No. 1 – Bryson DeChambeau Dechambeau was one shot better than last place entering Round 3 but signed for a pair of eagles and his two birdies washed out two bogeys for 66. His problems this week have been finding GIR and getting up-and-down when he doesn’t. He rebounded nicely today, as did Brooks Koepka as he carded 67 beginning from the basement. Moving Day It seems like I reiterate this point three out of every four events but Dustin Johnson doesn’t have to have his best to find a result. His 67 moved him into the top 10 and he will have a real chance, with another decent round tomorrow, to bully his way into the top five. His last six final round totals on TOUR have all been in the 60’s. … He’s not going to be this year’s version of Xander Schauffele but Aaron Wise continues to prove his worth. He was one-over thru 11 before circling four birdies in his last seven holes to join Johnson on four-under. Moving Day: Wrong Way Patrick Cantlay hit it OB with his first swing of the day and it never improved. Opening with a triple he went out in 41 before coming home in even-par 35. With only one birdie on the card, he pushed with Phil Mickelson for the worst score of the day with 76. He’s T6 in GIR so I’ll let you guess what the problem has been this week! Fading Fowler Tied with Woods after 18 holes, Rickie Fowler has cooled off over the middle two rounds signing 72 and 73. He dropped nine more spots on Saturday as he only could find two birdies against five more bogeys. It didn’t help that he only hit five of 18 GIR and only seven fairways. Solo eighth in 2014 is his only top-10 result in four previous attempts. Study Hall Round 3 was the easiest of the week as the average score was 69.067 as 23 of the 30 placed rounds at par or lower. … 65 is the lowest round of the week but Woods is the only player to do it twice. … Cantlay’s triple was the only “other” of the day. … Sepp Straka has a one-shot lead heading into the final round of the Web.com Tour Championship.

Click here to read the full article…

Lanto Griffin’s goal of starting his own charitable foundation didn’t just suddenly click on after posting his first PGA TOUR win last month at the Houston Open. Griffin actually thought about it four years ago when he won a SwingThought Tour event in South Carolina, having entered the tournament late after barely missing out on Monday qualifying for the Wyndham Championship on the PGA TOUR. After winning the first prize of $20,000, Griffin spoke to a couple of people about how to create the foundation. Unfortunately, his pocketbook could not yet match his eagerness. “Looking back,� Griffin said, “I didn’t have any of the resources to do it.� But now he’s on the verge of having plenty of resources. Griffin enters this week’s The RSM Classic as the leader in the Birdies Fore Love standings, a competition held during the fall portion of the TOUR’s schedule that rewards players who make the most birdies or better by making donations to the players’ charities. The player with the most birdies or better at each weekly event receives $50,000 for his charity, and so Griffin already has that in the bank by virtue of his field-leading 24 birdies or better in Houston. There is also a fall competition, with the top three players making the most birdies during the 11-event early portion of the 2019-20 schedule receiving charitable payouts. First place after the conclusion of The RSM Classic is $300,000, with $150,000 for second and $50,000 for third. Griffin enters Sea Island with 127 birdies or better this fall, eight more than his closest pursuers (Maverick McNealy, Scottie Scheffler and Xinjun Zhang, each with 119). If Griffin maintains the lead after Sunday, he’ll have at least $350,000 to start his foundation. “That would be a dream for me,� said Griffin, who adjusted his playing schedule to add starts at the Bermuda Championship, last week’s Mayakoba Golf Classic and the RSM Classic just so he could maximize his opportunities to win the Birdies Fore Love top prize. “Having that capital to disperse to different areas that need it, that means a lot to me.� Griffin already knows the two causes he wants his foundation to focus on – helping financially challenged youth to play sports (“Doesn’t have to be golf,� Griffin said) and helping families that are battling terminal illnesses. Griffin saw first-hand how challenging that can be, as his mother had to go back to work after his dad passed away instead of being able to stay at home and raise the four children. “Cancer research is important to me, too, but you have to donate a lot of money for that to do anything,� Griffin said. “So I feel like if I can help some families immediately when they’re in the time of crisis – obviously there’s plenty of instances like that.� With Griffin starting this week with a hefty lead, the most intriguing competition could come down to the second- and third-place finishers. All three players currently tied for second are in the field, as are four of the next five players in the standings. Click here for full standings, weekly winners and more information on the Birdies Fore Love competition.

Click here to read the full article…

In a season devoid of a traditional rookie class, it's predictable that there will be lulls in attention for golfers who could crash the conversation for the potential to trigger voting for an Arnold Palmer Award winner. In fact, that Will Zalatoris already has achieved Special Temporary Membership is a bonus. Alas, there's no news out of The RSM Classic. The only non-member who made the cut was Bernd Wiesberger, and he finished T4, but the 35-year-old Austrian exhausted his rookie eligibility with 11 starts during the 2014-15 season. Only four others in the field of 156 at Sea Island still have rookie eligibility, but Michael Hebert now is a career 0-for-4 on the PGA TOUR, Brandon Crick is 0-for-2, PGA Georgia Section representative Anthony Cordes was making his TOUR debut, and Davis Thompson is an amateur. Of that smattering, the only golfer who presents as a strong possibility to contend for ROY at some point is Thompson, a 21-year-old senior at the University of Georgia. He was No. 1 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking at the start of the week of the RSM. In the latest update of the WAGR (in which Thompson slots second), Andy Ogletree rose to a career-best fourth. It's also where he finished his amateur days since he turned professional after finishing T34 at the Masters. Only professionals collect the equivalent of FedExCup points, so hejoins the play-for-pay ranks with zero. Elsewhere, Takumi Kanaya outlasted Tomohiro Ishizaka in a playoff to determine the winner of the Dunlop Phoenix in southern Japan. After trading a par and two birdies on the par-5 18th hole, Kanaya's birdie on the fourth time through secured the title. It was Kanaya's third start since turning professional, but it's already his second victory on the Japan Golf Tour. He's now 126th in the Official World Golf Ranking. Remarkably, both Kanaya and Ishizaka still are college students. Rafael Campos (only 2020-21 PGA TOUR rookie) Starts = 3 Cuts Made = 0 FedExCup Points = 0.000 FedExCup Rank = n/a Last Week = DNP Next = TBD ^ – The value beside Will Zalatoris reflects where he would rank among members with his total of equivalent FedExCup points. If he’s inside the top 125 at the conclusion of the Wyndham Championship, he’ll earn PGA TOUR membership in 2021-22. He can become a member this season with a victory on the PGA TOUR or with two more wins on the Korn Ferry Tour. Non-members: Through the 2020 RSM Classic * – Because the 2019-20 season was contracted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this season’s target for Special Temporary Membership is 288.035 FedExCup points. It’s what Martin Kaymer totaled en route to ranking 150th in the FedExCup during the 2018-19 season. Non-members who achieve STM receive numerous benefits, three of which are primary as it concerns opportunities to compete on the PGA TOUR: 1) Unlimited sponsor exemptions; 2) Unlimited starts; 3) Position in the Beyond 150 Reshuffle. However, a non-member who achieves STM remains ineligible for the FedExCup Playoffs unless he wins a tournament. NOTE: The Player Advisory Council and the Player Directors nominate annually a list of first-season PGA TOUR members for the PGA TOUR members for the PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year. A player's rookie season ("Rookie Year") is defined as the season in which he becomes a PGA TOUR member (including Special Temporary Members) and plays in 10 or more events as a member or finishes in the Top 125 on the official FedExCup points list or qualifies as a Top 125 non-member, whichever occurs first. Further, for purposes of this definition, a new member (including Special Temporary Members) shall not be eligible to be a rookie if he has previously played in more than seven official PGA TOUR money events as a professional in any prior season. PGA TOUR members who have played in at least 15 official money tournaments vote on this award. The Ryder Cup, Presidents Cup and Olympic Games each count as one the 15. In their discretion, the Player Advisory Council and Player Directors may determine that circumstances (the potential lack of nominees due to the absence of 2020 graduating class from the Korn Ferry Tour) may not warrant the selection of an award recipient in the 2020-21 season

Click here to read the full article…