Cameron Young makes statement with Open Championship runner-up

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In the final round of The RSM Classic, Web.com Tour graduate Austin Cook shoots a final-round 67 for a four-shot victory over J.J. Spaun at the Seaside Course at Sea Island Resort. Welcome to the Monday Finish, where Cook broke through in just his 14th PGA TOUR start, and his fourth with a TOUR card, to end the eight-tournament fall swing of the 2017-2018 season. We now get a six-week break before the Sentry Tournament of Champions at Kapalua. Herewith, some key takeaways from the fall. FIVE OBSERVATIONS 1. Fall success doesn’t just lead to FedExCup rewards; the reverse is also true. Justin Thomas and Pat Perez parlayed fall victories into career firsts last season, Thomas winning the FedExCup and Perez making it to his first TOUR Championship. But that, in turn, seems to have led to more wins this fall, Perez at the CIMB Classic at TPC Kuala Lumpur, Thomas at THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES, a new event in South Korea. Winning breeds winning, and now others hope to follow their example. “The FedExCup is a big deal to me,â€� said OHL Classic at Mayakoba champion Patton Kizzire, who leads the FedExCup with 659 points. “… I’m really excited to get a leg up and be No. 1 right now and be able to really try to push for that TOUR Championship.â€� 2. The “great eightâ€� fall tournaments change the narrative and change lives. Already we’ve seen four first-time winners this season: Ryan Armour at the Sanderson Farms Championship; Patrick Cantlay at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open; Kizzire at Mayakoba; and Cook at The RSM. Only one of those, Cook, was a rookie, although the former Arkansas Razorback was plenty familiar with Sea Island, where he competed for four years at the SEC Championships. 3. There’s still plenty of variation among TOUR winners. Height: The 5-foot-7 Cook broke through at Sea Island one week after 6-foot-5 Kizzire scored his own maiden victory at Mayakoba. Age: Perez and Armour are each 41; Justin Rose is 37; and Thomas, Cantlay and Cook are 24, 25 and 26, respectively. Playing style: Armour ranked 74th of 75 players in driving distance but made 441 feet, 3 inches worth of putts, 12th most by a winner in the ShotLink era, to win the Sanderson Farms. Brendan Steele was first in driving distance (327.8 yards) and strokes gained: off-the-tee (1.541) as he won the Safeway Open. 4. The Web.com Tour continues to be a great predictor for the fall. Consider Cook’s six tournaments before he won The RSM: T9 Albertsons Boise Open presented by Kraft Nabisco T11 DAP Championship T8 Web.com Tour Championship T25 Sanderson Farms Championship (PGA TOUR) T20 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open (PGA TOUR) T50 OHL Classic at Mayakoba (PGA TOUR) 5. If you want to find a future star on TOUR, look to The RSM. Kevin Kisner, the 2016 champ, went undefeated (2-0-2) at the recent Presidents Cup and tied for fourth at Sea Island this time around. Where will Cook, the fourth straight first-time winner at The RSM, go from here? And what about Aaron Wise? The University of Oregon and Web.com Tour graduate is trending in the right direction after a T13 finish over the weekend, his best result in five starts this fall. The Web.com Tour already has its first breakout star on the PGA TOUR in Cook. Is Wise next? FIVE INSIGHTS 1. Cook’s 23 birdies led The RSM, and he also led in strokes gained: tee-to-green. He went 49 straight holes without a bogey (from the first hole of the first round to the 13th in the third); hit 60 of 72 greens in regulation to tie for second in that stat; and is the fifth player since the start of the 2015-’16 season to have just two over-par holes while winning a 72-hole tournament. 2. Odd stat of the week: Kevin Streelman finished T17 at The RSM after making just one bogey over 72 holes. He led the field in Scrambling (91.67%) along with Cook. 3. Another week on TOUR, another record broken. Cook’s 194 total through three rounds was a new tournament record, breaking by two the 196 shot by the last two winners of The RSM, Mac Hughes last year and Kisner the year before. 4. Of the eight former University of Georgia golfers in the field, three finished T4: Brian Harman, Chris Kirk (the 2014 champion) and Kisner (the 2016 champion). 5. Armour was the fall’s biggest surprise winner at 311th in the Official World Golf Ranking when he won the Sanderson Farms. Cook wasn’t far behind at 302nd when he won The RSM. TOP 3 VIDEOS 1. What a way to finish! 2. Don’t judge a book by its cover, and don’t judge a shot by the reaction. 3. Cameron Tringale performs under pressure.

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MAMARONECK, N.Y. - Exhausted. Beat up. Defeated. Veterans Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson were among the masses who didn’t make it to the weekend of the U.S. Open after they were unable to maneuver inside the top 60 players through 36 holes. As beat up as they were after another tough examination at Winged Foot, Woods and Mickelson would much rather be getting a couple more chances at the infamous U.S. Open course instead of packing up early. They both had scores to settle, but "The Foot" stuck the boot in once more. Woods famously missed his first major cut as a professional at Winged Foot in the 2006 U.S. Open and was hoping to make amends while chasing a record 83rd PGA TOUR win. But the 44-year-old was felled by a brace of early double bogeys and was unable to stop the momentum going awry. RELATED: Full leaderboard | Winged Foot fights back in Round 2 Starting on the 10th following his Thursday 73, Woods doubled the 16th after also making a bogey on the 14th. He then faced some serious déjà vu when he came up short of the 18th green on approach and for the second day running chunked a chip that failed to make the putting surface. Woods added another four bogeys on the front side before getting minor solace from birdies on two of his final three holes to shoot 7-over 77 and finish the championship 10 over, four back of the cut line. "It’s frustrating that I’m not going to be here for the weekend and be able to compete for this great championship. It feels like the way the golf course is changing, is turning, that anybody who makes the cut has the opportunity to win this championship. I didn’t get myself that opportunity," Woods lamented. "Physically it was frustrating that I didn’t drive the ball as well as I needed to. Iron play was pretty much the way it has been. It’s been good, and I finally putted well. But on this golf course it’s imperative that you hit fairways, and I did not do that." Mickelson was unable to rebound well enough from his dismal 79 in round one, adding a 4-over 74 to finish 13 over in his chase for a career grand slam. Hoping to make up for losing a one-shot lead on the 72nd hole in 2006, Mickelson had just one birdie on Friday. His problem was hitting just six of 28 fairways. "I'm appreciative of the opportunity to have been able compete here and I'm disappointed I didn't play better," Mickelson said. "I've been playing very well at home, and I get out here where the penalty for a mis-hit is severe, and I find myself getting a little tight and a little steer-y and playing some of my worst golf. That's something I've got to work on and fix." Defending U.S. Open champion Gary Woodland (+8) won't be there to fight for a repeat result, revealing he is suffering from a hip injury. Among others to miss the weekend are recent PGA Champion Collin Morikawa (+7), and former FedExCup and U.S. Open champion Justin Rose (+10). Jordan Spieth continued with his struggles, shooting a Friday 81 to finish at 14 over. Other former major and or PLAYERS champions to miss out included Martin Kaymer (+7), Keegan Bradley (+8), Si Woo Kim (+9), Matt Kuchar (+9), Jimmy Walker (+10), Danny Willett (+10), Henrik Stenson (+11), Sergio Garcia (+15) and Graeme McDowell (+16).

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