Carlos Ortiz hoping to inspire Mexico’s next generation after breakthrough win

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Webb Simpson has not only beaten his putting demons – he’s annihilated them. Caught in a three-year mire after the rule makers in golf banned the anchored belly putter style he used to win four times on the PGA TOUR – including the U.S. Open – Simpson wondered if he’d ever come out the other side. Making the change to a conventional putter and stroke had proven to be non-effective and he stubbornly refused to be open minded about trying new styles. This despite the fact the stats suggested he should. Simpson went from being ranked inside the top 53 players for Strokes Gained: Putting from his debut year in 2009 through the 2014 season to a basement ranking of 174th in 2015 and 177th in 2016. But an argument with caddie Paul Tesori on the subject finally cracked open the window to a resurrection. “The lowest point ended up being the turning point,â€� he said of the argument at THE NORTHERN TRUST during the FedExCup Playoffs in 2016. “It was just frustration pent up in both of us. We go sit in my car for about an hour. I’m so frustrated, I’m over it, and he is, too, and he kind of encouraged me to really do something about it. Tesori suggested Simpson start calling guys who had had putting issues and guys who were known as great putters. Pick brains. Try anything and everything. “I was too closed minded but then just tried to learn a lot about putting and what’s important,â€� Simpson said. “So talking to great putters helped, Aaron Baddeley and Brandt Snedeker, had tons of conversations with those guys. I didn’t start putting better immediately, but it’s what led to using the Kuch-style putter, and it’s what led to me being open to listening to Tim Clark here a year ago.â€� Clark, a fellow PLAYERS Champion, suggested Simpson try the claw grip with the mid-length putter. It proved a masterstroke. After gaining 9.368 strokes on the field this week at TPC Sawgrass in putting Simpson now ranks fifth overall on the PGA TOUR this season. He disagreed with the anchor ban – still does – but has now moved well past it. “I’ve never putted this well in my life,â€� he said. “It’s funny how those things happen but this is probably the first time I can say I’m glad they banned it, because I wouldn’t have ever probably swayed away from the belly putter.â€� After breaking a win drought that had stretched from October 2013, Simpson now has his sights set on even more success. He is already Hall-Of-Fame eligible thanks to this victory but wants to add many more to become an automatic choice. “To beat the best field in golf will give me confidence going into the majors and World Golf Championship events,â€� he said. “Everybody on TOUR wants to think of themselves as a top player, and I want to get back to kind of that top-level caliber that I played at for a few years. “More importantly, I just want to keep getting better. I want to enjoy this. It’s going to boost my confidence, but I want to build on it and be in contention more in big tournaments. I haven’t been able to do that as much as I want.â€� OBSERVATIONS TIGER WOODS IGNITES TPC SAWGRASS… Two-time PLAYERS Champion Tiger Woods sat outside the cut line late on Friday before getting a late reprieve. He then shot 65 on Saturday and was six birdies deep through 12 holes Sunday to pull into a tie for second place just four shots back. It reminded us just how close we might be to an 80th PGA TOUR win. Read about Tiger’s travails here. JUSTIN THOMAS IS No. 1 EVERYWHERE… Already FedExCup No.1 Justin Thomas shot a final round 6-under 66 to finish T11 and now moves to world no.1. It ends Dustin Johnsons 64 week run at the top. Read his thoughts on overtaking Johnson here. JASON DAY’S SHOULDER PAIN… FedExCup No. 2 Jason Day was four under on his final round at the turn and perhaps one of the players who could make Webb Simpson nervous. But he was unable to find any birdies on the back side and settled for a T5 finish. It was the Wells Fargo Championship and Farmers Insurance Open winner’s fourth top-5 finish of the season. Of minor concern was a wince after his second shot into the par-5 16th hole. “Every now and then it happens where my shoulder feels like it pops out but it’s like more of a sting,â€� Day explained. “I don’t know if it’s because I’ve had back issues and it’s gone from my back to my shoulder now… It’s more on the transition, so when I go to the top and then I start to unwind, then it is like a stinging pain and then flipped it and went left. So just unfortunately just at the wrong time there because obviously you can get maybe get an eagle and get something going. But, it is what it is.â€� NOTABLES DUSTIN JOHNSON – Despite a decent T17 finish, his eighth top 25 from nine PGA TOUR starts this season, Johnson’s reign as world No. 1 is over – for now. JASON DUFNER – Claimed his second top-5 finish in his last three starts after a final round 68 left him T5. JORDAN SPIETH – Never really hit the heights on Sunday before finishing with a disastrous quadruple bogey eight on the 72nd hole leaving him in a tie for 41st. JUSTIN ROSE – Equaled a PLAYERS record with six straight birdies on holes 9-14 Sunday en route to a 66 and T23 finish. CHARL SCHWARTZEL – Former Masters champion made it three top-10 finishes in a row with his final round 67 and T2 result. JIMMY WALKER – His T2 result is a second top-5 finish in three starts and sends Walker to 49th in the FedExCup. XANDER SCHAUFFELE – PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year finishes T2, a third top-10 of the season, to jump to 31st in the FedExCup. ADAM SCOTT – Final round 68 leaves Scott at T11 – his best result on TOUR since June 2017. Moves back inside FedExCup top 125 at 110th. BROOKS KOEPKA – Course record 9-under 63 includes six birdies and an albatross to finish T11. Read about it here. QUOTABLES I’ve got it — I’m not that far off from winning golf tournaments.It’s nice to do it on Mother’s Day… to have her out here watching is neat.You’ll never see TPC Sawgrass play easier than it is this week.It’s hard to put it into words what this week has been like. SUPERLATIVES Low round: Course record-tying 9-under 63 by Brooks Koepka (T11), who holed a 6-iron from 208 yards to make an albatross at the par-5 16th hole. Longest drive: 356 yds (Branden Grace/No. 14) Longest putt: 44’ 4â€� (Jason Kokrak/No. 13) Toughest hole: Par-3 8th (3.197) Easiest hole: Par-5 2nd (4.394) CALL OF THE DAY SHOT OF THE DAY

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Brooks Koepka makes his first start since his share of second at the Masters, reunited with younger brother Chase as the PGA TOUR’s only two-man format conducts its third edition on the outskirts of New Orleans. Kevin Kisner and Scott Brown, who lost a playoff in the Zurich’s first team edition and held the 54-hole lead last year, return again to take another crack at the elusive title. Billy Horschel and Scott Piercy are defending champions; the format calls for best-ball play Thursday and alternate-shot Friday and Sunday. FIELD WATCH: A handful of prominent pros are changing up partners this year. Henrik Stenson, who partnered with Justin Rose twice in an Olympic gold/silver partnership, loses Rose but picks up another major winner in Graeme McDowell. There’s also a new major-winning Australian duo as Adam Scott tests the team event with Jason Day. Plus, Sergio Garcia plucks Ryder Cup teammate Tommy Fleetwood. … In all, five teams feature major champions on both sides of the equation. The others: Louis Oosthuizen/Charl Schwartzel, Jim Furyk/David Duval and Ernie Els/Trevor Immelman. … Wisconsin natives Steve Stricker and Jerry Kelly, both winners on PGA TOUR Champions, are back for a third run. They opted to team up in New Orleans rather than the concurrent Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf on the Champions circuit. … Davis Love III takes part in the team format for the first time, bringing son Dru for the event’s first father/son combination. FEDEXCUP: Winning partners receive 400 points apiece. STORYLINES: Koepka, whose bid for a third major crown in 10 months went astray with a short birdie miss at Augusta National’s 18th, gets back into the swing with the help of his brother. Chase Koepka played on the European Tour last year; they tied for fifth at Zurich in 2017. … FedExCup points are distributed as though partners tied. As an example, the champions split the 500 points usually given to a tournament winner and 300 for second place – coming out to 400 points each. … Five of the past seven editions have crowned a first-time winner, including Cameron Smith in its first year in the team format. He paired with Jonas Blixt. COURSE: TPC Louisiana, 7,425 yards, par 72. Located just 15 minutes from downtown New Orleans, the Pete Dye creation invites birdies event as it meanders through some 250 acres of wetlands. Stately stands of cypress and oak trees helped form the routing for Dye and consultants Steve Elkington and Kelly Gibson, who added more than 100 bunkers and five more ponds to increase the difficulty. Several large waste bunkers also are featured early in the back nine. Though water looms throughout the design, TPC Louisiana ranked among the PGA TOUR’s top third to go low even before the team format was introduced. The Zurich Classic first played there in 2005 and has made it its permanent home since 2007. For those visiting the New Orleans area, must-play courses include TPC Louisiana (Avondale, La.), Lakewood GC (New Orleans) and Bayou Oaks at City Park (New Orleans). Book your reservations via TeeOff.com. 72-HOLE RECORD: 261, Cameron Smith/Jonas Blixt (2017), Kevin Kisner/Scott Brown (2017). Individual record: 262, Chip Beck (1988 at Lakewood CC). ALTERNATE SHOT RECORD: 66, Jordan Spieth/Ryan Palmer (1st round, 2017), Kyle Stanley/Ryan Ruffels (1st round, 2017). BEST BALL RECORD: 60, Retief Goosen/Tyrone van Aswegen (2nd round, 2017), Kevin Kisner/Scott Brown (4th round, 2017), Chez Reavie/Lucas Glover (1st round, 2018), Marty Dou/Xinjun Zhang (1st round, 2018). LAST YEAR: Horschel and Piercy overcame a three-shot deficit with a bogey-free 67 in alternate shot, enough to hold off Jason Dufner/Pat Perez by a stroke. Birdies at Nos. 10 and 11 propelled Horschel/Piercy to the front, holding steady with seven pars the rest of the way to finish at 22-under-par 266. Dufner had a chance to force a playoff with a 14-foot birdie putt at No.18, but couldn’t get it to drop. The victory was Horschel’s fifth on TOUR and Piercy’s fourth, with Horschel also becoming the first man to win the Zurich Classic title in both individual and team play. His first PGA TOUR win came at the 2013 edition. Kisner and Brown took a one-shot lead into the final day, but faded on the back nine on the way to a 77 that dropped them into a share of fifth. HOW TO FOLLOW TELEVISION: Thursday-Friday, 3-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday-Sunday, 1-2:45 p.m. (GC), 3-6 p.m. (CBS). PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday, 8 a.m.-6:30 p.m. (featured groups). Friday, 9 a.m.-6:30 p.m. (featured groups). Saturday-Sunday, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. (featured groups), 3-6 p.m. (featured holes). International subscribers (via GOLF.tv): Thursday, 12:00 to 22:30 GMT. Friday, 13:00 to 22:30. Saturday-Sunday, 13:00 to 22:00. RADIO: Thursday-Friday, 1-6:30 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 1-6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com).

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HOW THEY QUALIFIED Winner – PGA/U.S. Open Championship Jason Dufner Webb Simpson Winner – The Open Ernie Els Henrik Stenson Winner – TOUR Championship Billy Horschel Winner – World Golf Championship Event Russell Knox Shane Lowry Winners of the Arnold Palmer Inv. & the Memorial (Last 3 Years) Matt Every William McGirt Winner – FedExCup – Last Five Seasons Brandt Snedeker Tournament Winner in Past Two Seasons Aaron Baddeley Jonas Blixt Steven Bowditch Keegan Bradley Alex Cejka Greg Chalmers Cody Gribble Emiliano Grillo Bill Haas James Hahn Padraig Harrington J.J. Henry Billy Hurley III Smylie Kaufman Kevin Kisner Danny Lee Davis Love III Hunter Mahan Peter Malnati Ben Martin Graeme McDowell Troy Merritt Ryan Moore Grayson Murray D.A. Points Cameron Smith Kyle Stanley Robert Streb Chris Stroud Brian Stuard Vaughn Taylor Nick Taylor Career Money Exemption Geoff Ogilvy Carl Pettersson Sponsors Exemptions – Members not otherwise exempt Arjun Atwal Chesson Hadley Sponsors Exemptions – Unrestricted Sam Horsfield Hao Tong Li Dru Love Ryan Ruffels PGA Section Champion\Player of the Year Savio Nazareth Past Champion of Respective Event Camilo Villegas Top 125 on Prior Season’s FedExCup Points List Roberto Castro Kevin Na Jason Kokrak Ryan Palmer Harris English Charles Howell III David Hearn Luke Donald Kevin Streelman Kyle Reifers Daniel Summerhays Ricky Barnes Chad Campbell Harold Varner III Martin Laird Johnson Wagner Scott Brown Chez Reavie Patton Kizzire Bryce Molder K.J. Choi Spencer Levin John Huh Sung Kang Jason Bohn Tyrone Van Aswegen Derek Fathauer Blayne Barber Lucas Glover Brett Stegmaier Zac Blair Cameron Tringale Andrew Loupe Boo Weekley Mark Hubbard Ben Crane Michael Kim Anirban Lahiri Shawn Stefani Seung-Yul Noh Top 125 on Prior Season’s Official Money List thru Wyndham Ken Duke Bud Cauley Retief Goosen Chad Collins Morgan Hoffmann Top 125 (Prior Season Non-member) Byeong Hun An Søren Kjeldsen Major Medical Extension Nick Watney Brian Gay Bob Estes Ryo Ishikawa Troy Kelly Top 10 and Ties from the Previous Event Richy Werenski Greg Owen Stuart Appleby Tom Hoge Sam Saunders Top Finishers from Web.com Tour Prior Season (reordered) Kelly Kraft Kevin Tway Ollie Schniederjans Whee Kim Cheng Tsung Pan J.J. Spaun Dominic Bozzelli Ryan Blaum Scott Stallings Trey Mullinax J.T. Poston Brandon Hagy Cameron Percy Seamus Power Sebastián Muñoz Jonathan Randolph Rick Lamb Martin Flores Rory Sabbatini Julián Etulain Tim Wilkinson Ryan Brehm Andres Gonzales Brian Campbell Joel Dahmen Tag Ridings Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano Mark Anderson Nicholas Lindheim Steven Alker Ryan Armour Brett Drewitt Miguel Angel Carballo Brad Fritsch Bobby Wyatt Max Homa Brian Davis Shane Bertsch 126 – 150 Prior Season’s FedExCup Points List (Reordered) Matt Jones Steve Wheatcroft Willy Wilcox

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