Cameron Champ’s driving stats were off the charts in his debut as a PGA Tour member

K.J. Choi … Since first qualifying for this tournament in 2001, he hasn’t missed an appearance. The now-47-year-old hasn’t missed a cut, either. He’s perfect in 17 trips, nine of which have resulted in a top 25. In fact, a T5 in 2016 and the T17 last year are his top-two finishes on the PGA TOUR in the last 24 months. With a scoring average of 69.91 in 66 rounds and a red number in each of the last 10 finales, you could say that Riviera is right up his alley. Brian Gay … I’ve suggested before that there’s a Fountain of Youth at the Mayakoba Resort what with the litany of veterans who have connected with form that defined their prime. Gay is in that bin with an 8-for-8 record that includes victory at the 2008 OHL Classic at Mayakoba. There’s little correlation between El Camaleón Golf Club and Riviera, but he’s been on a tear since a T25 south of the border in November. Sparked by that, he’s survived six consecutive cuts, three of which for a top 10. That already equals last season’s total. It’s exactly the kind of momentum he needs to reverse the curse at the Genesis Open where he’s missed the cut in five straight appearances since 2007. J.B. Holmes … If not for the headlines shadowing his solo fourth at the Farmers three weeks ago, you wouldn’t see him coming, but he still warrants this attention on his fit alone. In 11 appearances, he’s rattled off six top-12 finishes and has missed just one cut. In short, he and the handful of household names for whom Riviera is their personal playground have bomb-and-gouged their way to the spoils. Adam Hadwin … While his breakthrough victory at last year’s Valspar Championship leaps off the page, it’s forced further focus on the scope of his successes. What you find is a quilt of varietal tests that wouldn’t seem to merge en masse with his profile as tremendous putter. From Muirfield Village to El Camaleón to the Coachella Valley to Copperhead to Bay Hill to Firestone to TPC Boston, all sites of top-15 finishes since 2016, he’s adapted the other areas of his game to ascend on those leaderboards. Due to a sturdy record, Riviera presents as the next logical spot to join the club. He’s 3-for-3 with a pair of top 25s and a scoring average of 70.08. Led last year’s field in scrambling. Brandon Harkins … The 31-year-old impressed in the fall with a trio of top-25 finishes, but he picked up where he left off before the holiday break with another four already in 2018. It’s landed him considerable attention in the weekly Rookie Ranking given he’s either shared or earned low-rookie honors in three of the last four tournaments, each of which has been a struggle for his class. With an even-keeled temperament and quiet confidence, inexperience has been shrouded by patience and moxie. An artful touch around and on greens hasn’t hurt, either.

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GREENSBORO, N.C. – This time last year, Brandt Snedeker was back home in Nashville, nursing a nagging rib injury and wondering what his future held. He hadn’t played on the PGA TOUR since June, missing the final two majors of the season. And he couldn’t tee it up in the Wyndham Championship, the tournament which his long-time sponsor hosts and where he’d picked up his breakthrough victory, either. On the eve of that tournament at Sedgefield Country Club, Snedeker tweeted that he was going to shut it down until he was 100 percent healthy. “My sternum joint has become unstable and does not allow me to hit a golf ball without pain,â€� he explained. Small wonder, then, that Sunday’s win at the Wyndham Championship was so special. Snedeker knew he was completely back, and he proved it with a wire-to-wire victory that included a phenomenal 59 in the first round. “To be injured, to be away from the game for five and a half months, to not know what the recovery was going to look like, to not know if you’re going to be 100 percent again and still dealing with it to this day,â€� Snedeker said. “Still not 100 percent, but I’m way better than I was. “I guess it’s the facts of life as you get older out here, you’re going to have to deal with certain nagging injuries all the time.â€� Snedeker had to play 29 holes on Sunday. He came back in the morning – with former Wyndham CEO Steve Holmes picking him up at the hotel at 6:15 a.m. — and finished off a 68 in the third round, then shot 65 over the final 18 holes on a steamy afternoon for the three-stroke win. The victory didn’t come easily, though. C.T. Pan gave chase with a 66, taking the lead on the back nine, while Webb Simpson closed with a 62. At one point, all three were tied for the lead. But Snedeker came up with a clutch chip from a “horribleâ€� lie at the 15th hole to within 3 feet for birdie. Then he rolled in a 19-footer for birdie on the 18th hole, which Simpson bogeyed and Pan doubled, to seal the win. The comeback was complete. “When you don’t have your health out here and you’re trying to fight through it, it’s really tough because you know what you’re capable of and your body’s not letting you do what you think you should be able to do.,â€� Snedeker said. “Fortunately enough, I felt good enough to be able to practice and put the time in and it came through today. “Today’s when you find out, okay, am I going to hold up, is the stuff I’m working on working, is it TOUR-tested in a sense, and it was great to hit some quality shots down the stretch.â€� All in all, Snedeker, a nine-time TOUR winner now, called the week the “most stressfulâ€� he’s ever had as a professional golfer. The 59 in the first round, just the ninth ever shot on the PGA TOUR, sent his expectations “through the roof.â€� His wife and two young children decided to come in for the weekend and he didn’t want to disappoint. His father and brother were here, too. The Wyndham executives he’d grown so close to were rooting hard for him, as well. But he got it done. And he was able get that trophy – the Sam Snead Cup – that his kids have been clamoring for now that they finally understand what their daddy does for a living. “It means the world to me that I have not failed them finally,â€� Snedeker said. “It’s a great teaching lesson for them. They’ve seen how hard I’ve worked. They’ve seen the amount of time I’ve spent away from them trying to get to this point, so it’s good for them to see, hey, it works, pays off. “If you keep your head on straight and do stuff the right way and keep working your tail off, you do get rewarded. So I think more than anything else, I’m more proud of that fact.â€� NOTABLES Webb Simpson teed off 40 minutes ahead of Brandt Snedeker on Sunday afternoon, trailing by a formidable six strokes. But the reigning PLAYERS champion fired a 62 and was briefly tied for the lead at 19 under before faltering when he bogeyed the 18th hole after nearly hitting his drive out of bounds. As it turns out, the bogey was academic since Snedeker birdied two of his last four holes to win by three. And regardless, Simpson saw lots of positives in his performance on Sunday as he tried to win the Wyndham Championship for the second time. “I feel great about 62,â€� Simpson said. “I had a great time out there making a push. Wish I could have the swing on 18 back, but if you had told me I would play 18 holes and swing it great except for one tee shot, I would have taken it starting the day. So all in all, I feel great going into next week for the first Playoff event.â€� Simpson moved to No. 7 in the FedExCup with the tie for second, inching closer to the magic top 5 who can win the $10 million bonus with a victory at the TOUR Championship. “Pretty high,â€� Simpson said when asked about his confidence level heading into the Playoffs. “I’ve played just consistently, I feel like, pretty well for a while now. … It is a lot of golf, but excited to get the Playoffs started.â€� C.T. Pan admitted that a “voice in my headâ€� got him on the 18th hole Sunday when he hit his tee shot out of bounds. He was 20 under and tied for the lead at the time and ended up making a double bogey. Even so, the 26-year-old from Taiwan saw many positives in the week that saw him finish tied for second with Webb Simpson. “I love the feeling being in contention. That’s what I’m working for, what I’m striving for,â€� Pan said. “You know, obviously the nerves got me on the last tee shot, which is very unfortunate, but I think I can learn something from it. This is only my second year on the TOUR, I’m still trying to learn from the best players out there.â€� The tie for second, which matches the best finish of Pan’s career, sends the second-year pro into the FedExCup Playoffs with momentum. He moves from No. 108 to 63rd entering THE NORTHERN TRUST next week. “(This) helps me a lot in the FedExCup points. It helps me and helps my game, my confidence. … This tournament proves I can still go out there and shoot some low scores,â€� Pan said. QUOTABLES I forget how many I have, but it’s fun to see them out here.My wife told me it’s beginner’s luck. She’s caddying for her first time, I’m in contention, she’s getting the whole experience of being caddie, so I’m really happy for her. SUPERLATIVES Lowest round: Webb Simpson shot a 62 that included seven birdies, one eagle and a bogey at the 18th hole. Longest drive: Jonas Blixt hit a 386-yard drive on the fifth hole. Longest putt: Ryan Armour made a putt of 40 feet, 11 inches on the 14th hole Hardest hole: The 418-yard, par-4 first hole was the hardest with 10 birdies, 43 pars, 18 bogeys and one double bogey. Easiest hole: The 529-yard, par-5 fifth hole was the easiest with nine eagles, 44 birdies and 19 pars. SHOT OF THE DAY CALL OF THE DAY

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GERMANTOWN, Tenn. – Late in a major-winning season may seem like an odd time to make an equipment change, but Justin Thomas has a new driver in the bag at this week’s FedEx St. Jude Championship. This week at TPC Southwind, where Thomas won the 2020 World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, is Thomas’ first with Titleist’s new driver. Why change now? Titleist first brought the TSR drivers out on TOUR at the Travelers Championship, which Thomas had to withdraw from because of a back injury. He had the new driver at home but wasn’t able to sufficiently practice with the club before back-to-back events in Scotland because he wanted to rest his back. With three weeks off after The Open, he was able to put the new club through its paces and was ready to debut it this week. “The biggest difference is the spin,” Thomas said after his first-round 67 in Memphis. “When I heel it, it doesn’t spin crazy high and when I toe it, it’s somehow spinning a little more. It’s unbelievable in terms of misses.” Mishits on the heel of a driver tend to have more spin while misses on the toe tend to have less. Consistent launch conditions were one reason Thomas made the change, said Titleist tour rep J.J. Van Wezenbeeck. Thomas also saw an uptick in ball speed, according to Van Wezenbeeck, and liked the TSR3’s “classic shaping” and “clean look.” Thomas is using a 10-degree Titleist TSR3 with a Mitsubishi Diamana ZF 60 TX driver. The head is on the D1 setting, which takes three-quarters of a degree of loft off the face. Decreasing the loft also opens the face, which is a look at Thomas prefers. “I like it being a little bit open,” Thomas said. “I don’t like when I can’t see a lot of face because then I feel like I have to get it up in the air and then I start getting underneath it and that gets the two-way miss going. I feel like when I’m driving it my best, although I like to work it both ways, I feel like I aim at something and rip it and it goes pretty straight and falls right. Kind of letting the openness in the club let it fade a little bit.” Thomas entered the week at No. 8 in the FedExCup standings after a season that included his second PGA Championship win and top-10s in half his starts. He was sixth in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee (+1.5) on Thursday. He’s trying to join Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods as the only two-time winners of the FedExCup. Thomas won his first FedExCup five years ago, the same year that he won his first PGA Championship.

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