Casey holds 1-shot lead over Johnson at Innisbrook

A drivable par-4 and several of the game’s biggest stars. There’s a lot to love about this week’s PGA TOUR LIVE coverage. Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, Jason Day, Justin Thomas and Patrick Reed are among the names that can be seen this week on PGA TOUR LIVE’s broadcast from the Travelers Championship. There will also be plenty of coverage of TPC River Highlands’ most famous hole, the drivable par-4 15th. PGA TOUR LIVE will broadcast between 7 a.m. Eastern and 6:30 p.m. on both Thursday and Friday. The coverage will switch to Featured Holes at 3 p.m. The drivable, par-4 15th and the par-3 16th are this week’s holes. PGA TOUR LIVE also will be available on Twitter for approximately 90 minutes, beginning at 7 a.m. Here’s a look at this week’s Featured Groups. Click here to subscribe to PGA TOUR LIVE. (Note: FedExCup rankings in parentheses) THURSDAY Brian Harman (10), Jim Furyk (137), Rory McIlroy (69): Furyk will play alongside a fellow FedExCup champ and one of this season’s breakout stars as he returns to the site of last year’s historic 58. McIlroy, the reigning FedExCup champ, is making his debut at this event after missing the cut in the U.S. Open. Harman, who finished T2 at Erin Hills, ranks in both the top 10 of the FedExCup (10) and the U.S. Presidents Cup standings (9). He’s finished in the top 10 in four of his past six starts, including a win over FedExCup leader Dustin Johnson at the Wells Fargo Championship and his U.S. Open runner-up. Tee time: 7:50 a.m. Eastern off 10th tee. Justin Thomas (3), Patrick Reed (75), Jason Day (45): Thomas and Reed are fresh off top-15 finishes at the U.S. Open, while Day is trying to rebound from his missed cut at Erin Hills. Thomas (T9) played in the final group last week after an electric 63 in the third round, while Reed (T13) posted his best career finish in a U.S. Open. Day’s top finish this season has been a runner-up finish at the AT&T Byron Nelson. Thomas and Day will see each other at this year’s Presidents Cup, as well, as both players rank second on their respective team’s point list. Reed, who’s nicknamed “Captain America� for his stellar play in international team events, is 11th in the U.S. standings; the top 10 on Sept. 4 will automatically qualify for the team. Tee time: 8 a.m. Eastern off 10th tee. FRIDAY Bubba Watson (109), Marc Leishman (15), Russell Knox (57): Three past winners of the Travelers Championship are in this group. Knox won last year with a dramatic 12-foot par putt on the last hole. Leishman, the 2009 Rookie of the Year, earned his first PGA TOUR win here in 2012. He earned his second victory earlier this year at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard. Watson is a two-time winner at TPC River Highlands (2010, ’15) and has finished in the top 10 in half of his 10 starts there. Tee time: 7:50 a.m. Eastern off 10th tee. Jordan Spieth (6), Brandt Snedeker (44), Wesley Bryan (22): Two former PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year, Spieth and Snedeker, are paired with a favorite for this season’s award. Wesley Bryan won the RBC Heritage and has four other top-10s. Spieth, the 2015 FedExCup champ, is making his debut at this event, while Snedeker has finished 11th and 10th in the past two Travelers. Snedeker won the FedExCup in 2012. Tee time: 8 a.m. Eastern off 10th tee.

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Summertime rolls along and it’s back to birdies this week as the PGA TOUR returns to TPC Twin Cities for the second edition of the 3M Open. Nothing like another dose of temperatures in the 90s this week but at least the sweat equity will result in low scores in the suburb of Blaine, Minnesota. Matthew Wolff is back and will defend his maiden TOUR victory as he leads a field of 156 looking to grab their share of the $6.4 million purse ($1.152 winner) and add 500 FedExCup points to the ledger. The 20-year old broke onto the scene last year and pummeled the Par-71, 7,431 yards to the tune of 21-under in just his third start as a professional. The cherry on-top was his off-the-green putt for eagle on the final hole to secure the trophy. In the inaugural event the top 12 players were 16-under and the top 52 were all 10-under or better. There was a round of 62 (-9) posted in all four rounds and 44 bogey-free rounds. The course scoring average of 69.46 for the week suggests all comers are welcome. The 6,500 square foot Bentgrass greens will provide the largest targets yet since the restart. Prepped to run upwards of 13 feet on the Stimpmeter, those who hit it closest will have an easier time navigating. Although 72 bunkers and 27 water hazards sounds daunting, we’ve seen if the weather cooperates (read: no wind) these guys just fly right by and over. Only three inches or so of Bluegrass/fescue rough is on the menu this week so I’d expect another shootout again this time around. Tom Lehman and Steve Wenzloff have tuned up the prairie links at TPC Twin Cities after last year’s mid-summer feast. Check Rob Bolton’s Power Rankings linked below for the specific changes. RELATED: Power Rankings | Sleepers | Expert Picks 2019 3M Open: Top 25 (entered this week) 1 Matthew Wolff 5 Wyndham Clark 5 Carlos Ortiz 7 Sam Burns 7 Lucas Glover 7 Brian Harman 7 Troy Merritt 13 Fabian Gomez 15 Scott Brown 15 Scott Piercy 15 Roger Sloan 15 Shawn Stefani 23 Brice Garnett 23 Denny McCarthy 23 Tom Hoge 23 Arjun Atwal 23 Tony Finau 23 Charles Howell III 23 Johnson Wagner Recent Winner 2019: Matthew Wolff (-21) Eagle on the final hole to win as a sponsor’s exemption. … Fired 62 on Sunday to tie the 54-hole lead. … Led the field Strokes Gained: Tee to Green, second Strokes-Gained: Approach, third in Putting: Birdie or Better Percentage and co-led the field in Par-4 scoring. … Seven bogeys (T25) were cancelled out by 26 birdies and the final stroke for eagle. … Led the field in Par Breakers. … Only T62 scrambling. … Won NCAA individual title weeks before. Notables: Club “62” playing this week: Piercy (Round 1) and Glover (Round 4). … Brown and Burns led the field in Par-5 scoring (-10). … Wolff (-12) and Glover (-10) were the best two in Par-4 scoring. … Brooks Koepka 65th. … 85 players made the cut on 3-under. Key stat leaders Top golfers in each statistic on the 2019-2020 PGA TOUR are listed only if they are scheduled to compete this week. Greens in Regulation 4 Aaron Wise 5 Emiliano Grillo 7 Russell Henley 8 Will Gordon 10 Kyle Stanley 11 Harris English 15 Paul Casey 17 Josh Teater 18 Doc Redman 19 George McNeill 21 Matthew NeSmith 23 Cameron Percy 26 Brice Garnett Proximity 2 Johnson Wagner 5 Doc Redman 7 Jonathan Byrd 9 Vaughn Taylor 9 Tim Wilkinson 11 Russell Henley 13 Seamus Power 14 Emiliano Grillo 18 Chesson Hadley 18 Michael Gellerman 20 Robert Castro 20 Brian Harman 20 Ben Taylor 23 Jason Dufner 24 Ben Martin 24 Josh Teater Putting: Birdie or Better Percentage 3 Dominic Bozzelli 8 Seamus Power 13 Kristoffer Ventura 15 Tony Finau 16 Dustin Johnson 17 Bronson Burgoon 20 Charley Hoffman 24 Wyndham Clark 25 Chesson Hadley Rounds in the 60s 3 Harry Higgs 3 Lanto Griffin 3 Doc Redman 6 Carlos Ortiz 6 Patrick Rodgers 6 Henrik Norlander 15 Brian Harman 20 Adam Long 22 Kyoung-Hoon Lee 22 Talor Gooch 30 Adam Schenk 30 Tony Finau 30 Bubba Watson 30 Matthew NeSmith 30 Scott Stallings 30 Sebastian Munoz 37 Lucas Glover 37 Cameron Tringale 37 Harris English

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