Brooks Koepka got himself a much-needed birdie at the Tour Championship, and a butterfly was there for an up-close look the whole way.
Click here to read the full article…
| Do you like online slot and want to know more about the best payouts? Slots with the hightest payouts can be found here! |
“I’m thinking out loud and I’m talking to myself, hopeful one moment, helpless the next, wondering if anybody hears me,” writes Damon Hack.
THE OVERVIEW By Ben Everill, PGATOUR.COM Professional golfers have to be sure of themselves to compete with the elite and Daniel Berger is among the most confident players on the PGA TOUR. Just ask him. This is not a slight at Berger — he has the talent to back up his bravado, as evidenced by his back-to-back wins at the FedEx St. Jude Classic and his big efforts in the Presidents Cup.  He was unlucky not to win twice last season with only an epic Jordan Spieth bunker hole-out in the playoff at the Travelers Championship cutting him down. “I played great,â€� Berger said afterwards. “I mean, I’m here to win tournaments. I’m not here to finish second place, so it’s disappointing.â€� TOP 30 PLAYERS TO WATCH IN 2018: We’ll countdown our list with one new player each day in December. Click here for the published players. MORE: Top 30 explanation and schedule Berger grew up around sporting excellence with his father heavily involved in elite tennis and it certainly rubbed off.  He spent basically all of last season inside the top 30 of the FedExCup race, making it to the TOUR Championship for the third straight season since coming on as a rookie standout.  His goals now? Make it back to Atlanta but in a better position to contend for the FedExCup. He also wants to pick up his performances in major championships.  In 10 major starts as a professional, Berger has just one top-25 result — a T10 at the 2016 Masters. He also knows he needs to lift his chipping and pitching game. While he’s more than adequate off the tee and on approach to the green, it’s when he misses the dancefloor that he needs to sharpen up. In his three seasons on TOUR, his best rank in Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green was last year’s T-128. Expect all goals to be checked off in 2018 as the now 24-year-old leverages his experience and also controls the fiery nature and competitive drive within. Seeing friends like Spieth and Justin Thomas getting it done has lit a fuse in Berger that won’t be quenched until he matches their exploits. BY THE NUMBERS How Daniel Berger ranked in Strokes Gained statistics during his last full season on the PGA TOUR. FEDEXCUP Current 2017-18 position: 127 Playoff appearances: 3 TOUR Championship appearances: 3 Best result: 11th (2015) INSIGHTS FROM THE INSIDERS PGATOUR.COM’s Insiders offer their expert views on what to expect from Daniel Berger in 2018. TOUR INSIDER by Cameron Morfit A superb iron player, Berger proved last season he is almost the equal of Jordan Spieth when he’s on. In one electrifying summer stretch, Berger successfully defended his title at the FedEx St. Jude Classic; lost to Spieth in a sudden-death playoff at the Travelers Championship; and finished T-5 at the John Deere Classic. That he also made his first Presidents Cup team, going 2-1-0 with a well-played singles victory over Si Woo Kim, should further bolster Berger’s confidence going into 2018. FANTASY INSIDER by Rob Bolton Just like No. 24 Kevin Kisner, Berger’s fantasy value exceeds his placement in this series. He enters his fourth consecutive season on the PGA TOUR having qualified for the last 10 majors and nine World Golf Championships, streaks that will be extended in 2018. He’s also 3-for-3 in advancing to the TOUR Championship. Book him for six top 10s, another half-dozen top 25s and your One & Done at the FedEx St. Jude Classic. And go ahead and cross off the angle about him having success only on Bermuda greens. He’s cited comfort on them over northern grasses, but the results prove that he’s adapted to all types. EQUIPMENT INSIDER by Jonathan Wall Berger was one of the first players to start using an Odyssey O-Works Red putter. The prototype has a single black circle that gives it a similar look to his old TaylorMade Ghost Corza putter. Carries three different iron models, including a single Callaway Apex Pro ’16 5-iron that offers a better distance and offset transition between game-improvement Apex CF ’16 and better-player MB1. STYLE INSIDER by Greg Monteforte Berger has established himself as one of the best dressed players on TOUR. Round after round, he gives us modern interpretations of classic sporting looks from bygone eras. The keys to his success are pinpoint tailoring, wide stripes, and traditional colors.
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – It was during Friday’s second round at Monterey Peninsula, and Phil Mickelson had just escaped potential trouble with another magical bunker shot. The reaction from his amateur partner, Hall of Fame 49ers quarterback Steve Young, was either a look of disbelief or a look of awe. Probably both. Mickelson then turned to Young. “I’m pretty good at this,â€� Mickelson said. “I have a DVD out.â€� It was a funny moment, but Mickelson is showing this week at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am that he’s deadly serious about defending his title. After his Saturday 5-under 69 at Pebble Beach, he’s 16 under and in solo second, one behind leader Nick Taylor. The two will be paired for Sunday’s final round at Pebble Beach, with Mickelson seeking a record sixth win in this event. RELATED: Leaderboard | Pro-am leaderboard | TOUR Insider: Five wins and Phil’s lucky silver dollar Driven by his competitive juices, Mickelson is even more serious in proving that at 49 – his 50th birthday is just four months away – his golf skills will not be hampered by his age. Certainly his skills with a wedge in his hands remain unequaled by anybody on the PGA TOUR. One day after his joke to Young, Mickelson displayed a short game that goes down as one of his best for a single round. Time and time again, he delivered that’s-just-Phil magic. He holed out twice for birdies on the back nine – from the bunker at the 13th and from 90 feet away at the 14th — and successfully scrambled eight of nine times, including memorable shots around the fifth green (from the rough), the sixth (from the fairway), and the 18th (after he was given relief when his second shot landed in pine straw near an obstacle). Oh, and he produced a shot for the ages out of the back bunker on the iconic 110-yard par-3 seventh. With his ball plugged into the sand, he told his caddie, brother Tim Mickelson, that he thought he could hit it low and catch the rough in order to slow down the ball and let it trickle to the pin. Few would’ve tried it, but he pulled it off, leaving him 2 feet to save his par. Mickelson called it, “No. 2 in my all-time greatest bunker shots.â€� And No. 1? “I made one in the final round at Memorial, Muirfield Village, the old 16th hole from under the lip, plugged, and I holed that one,â€� Mickelson said. “This one didn’t go in, but it was the second best I’ve ever hit. “I was just trying to not make 5. I was trying to get on the green and just make a 4, give myself a putt at a par. But it came out great.â€� Brandt Snedeker, the other pro in the foursome, didn’t see the shot. But he knew it was plugged – and he wasn’t surprised that Mickelson pulled it off. “For Phil, that’s probably run of the mill,â€� Snedeker said. “For most of us out here, it’s once in a lifetime.â€� But as Young found out in these first three days playing next to Mickelson, it’s no accident. Mickelson may be producing art, but there’s a science behind it. “If that was me, I would’ve just hit into the ocean and dropped,â€� Young said of the plugged lie at 7. “But he kind of thought about it. … It’s not like he lucked into it. He’s calling it. That’s what he wanted to do.â€� “As someone who can appreciate other athletes,â€� Young added, “for me this has been a special three days. I’ve never seen anything like this.â€� The fact that Mickelson is doing it at age 49 is a testament to his will to win and his ability to continually reinvent himself. Currently, that means a dramatic weight loss due to a nutritional diet. He’s doing what it takes and is motivated to prove that he’s not finished winning. “If you think it’s over at 45, 50, 55, he’s going to press into those numbers,â€� said Young, who played in the NFL until concussions forced his retirement at age 38. “It shows you how much he cares,â€� added Snedeker. “… I wish more guys out here had the passion he does for the game of golf. He really loves it. Loves the competition.â€� And he loves producing short-game magic. After all, he’s got the DVD to prove it.
