Co-leader Ko looking to end LPGA Tour drought

The final round of the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide takes place today from Muirfield Village. Here’s everything you need to know to follow Sunday’s action. And don’t forget to watch PGA TOUR LIVE for exclusive early-round coverage. Round 4 tee times Round 4 leaderboard HOW TO FOLLOW TELEVISION: Thursday-Friday, 2:30-6:30 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday, 12:30-2:45 p.m. (GC), 3-6 p.m. (CBS). Sunday, noon-2:15 p.m. (GC), 2:30-6 p.m. (CBS). PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday, 7:15 a.m.-6 p.m. ET (featured groups). Saturday, 8:30 a.m.-3 p.m. (featured groups), 3-6 p.m. (featured holes). Sunday, 8:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. (featured groups), 2:30-6 p.m. (featured holes). International subscribers (via GOLF.tv): Thursday-Friday, 11:15 to 22:00 GMT. Saturday-Sunday, 12:30 to 22:00. RADIO: Thursday-Friday, noon-6:30 p.m. ET; Saturday-Sunday, 1-6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com). FEATURED GROUPS Bryson DeChambeau/Adam Schenk: 9 a.m. ET Haotong Li/Henrik Stenson: 10 a.m. ET Tiger Woods/Keith Mitchell: 11:40 a.m. ET Xander Schauffele/Vaughn Taylor: Noon ET MUST READS How Nicklaus built a masterpiece at Muirfield Kaymer leads by two entering final round Tiger’s round stalls after double bogey CALL OF THE DAY

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True, the on-ramp will arrive earlier and the exit number will be altered, but competitors will have no problem next year recognizing a familiar mile marker when they make their way along the Quail Hollow Club for the 2021 Presidents Cup. Danger and treachery are impossible to disguise. Especially when you’re talking about a stretch of three holes as heralded as those that conclude your round of golf at Quail Hollow. “Just great, great golf holes,� said Mark Russell, the PGA TOUR’s Vice-President of Rules, Competitions and Administration. So great, in fact, that when the match-play format of the TOUR’s biennial team competition was taken into consideration, there was unanimous agreement that “they are such a supreme challenge, we’ve got to get them into the mix,� said Johnny Harris, the president of Quail Hollow. In other words, it was imperative to get next year’s Presidents Cup matches to these demanding tests – the 16th, a par 4 of 506 yards; the 17th, a white-knuckle par 3 of 223 yards over water; and the 18th, a 494-yard par 4 that is guarded entirely on the left by a small creek that looks wider than the Atlantic Ocean. The Green Mile is the nickname that has stuck for 16-17-18 since it was born on a radio talk show live from the playing of the 2004 Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow more than 15 years ago. A caller suggested it was like the Stephen King novel turned into a Tom Hanks movie by the same name, a tale about that final walk from death row. A bit grim, perhaps, but the Green Mile has since remained part of the dialogue on annual trips to Quail Hollow. Sadly, the visit was bypassed this year as this week’s Wells Fargo Championship was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. But when it returns to the PGA TOUR landscape in 2021, Quail Hollow will bring all its glory to the Presidents Cup, albeit with a different routing so that players get the full package of pressure and fans the complete complement of entertainment. (Next year’s Wells Fargo Championship will be played at TPC Potomac as Quail Hollow prepares for the Presidents Cup.) Thanks to the new routing, the Green Mile (annually, 16-17-18 rank the three toughest holes at the Wells Fargo Championship) will play as Nos. 13-14-15, and if you’re looking for the definition of “no-brainer,� consider this: At the 2019 Presidents Cup in Australia, all 30 matches reached the 15th hole at Royal Melbourne, but 18 of them failed to get to the 18th. “It was probably part of our first conversation with the TOUR and Adam (Sperling, executive director of the Presidents Cup) and his team,� said Johno Harris, Johnny’s son and chairman of the 2021 Presidents Cup. “Everyone was on board and it was an easy conversation to have; we were all thinking that we wanted 16-17-18 to be in play.� (After playing the Green Mile as holes 13-14-15, the adjusted routing will take you to 16-17-18 – what is currently the par-5 10th, then the par-4 11th, then over to the par-4 ninth.) For all the passionate care he pours into Quail Hollow, Johnny Harris concedes that “it was almost by accident� that the re-routing will be seamless for the 2021 Presidents Cup. When players complete the short, dogleg right par-4 eighth hole, rather than turn left and head to what is the ninth tee, they’ll proceed to what is presently the tee box at the par-4 12th and close out their outward nine at a very tight driving hole that features a demanding approach to an elevated green. (The par-3 13th will serve as the 10th hole.) The path that is roughly 80- to 100-yards long meanders behind what is the 11th green and sets up beautifully. While making No. 12 the ninth hole will accommodate the desire to get 16-17-18 earlier into the mix, there is significantly more to the back than the Green Mile. The fun really starts when players step into a unique amphitheater beginning with the tee shot at the par-4 14th, which will be the 11th hole for the Presidents Cup. It’s a 344-yard par 4 that will entice players to try and drive a green that is protected on the left by an expansive body of water that will put a headlock on players’ attention. The water also serves as the centerpiece to an amphitheater designed by Tom Fazio that will be the source of electricity. “You have to step back and marvel at what Tom did to create that amphitheater,� said Johno Harris. “Players (on the 11th) will be looking across the water to see players (at 13 and 14). Crowds will be listening to crowds. That’s what’s going to be fun,� added Johnny Harris. “I’m not sure you get such a wide view anywhere else.� This dynamic stretch of holes – from the short 11th, to the par-5 12th that moves uphill right-to-left and will be reachable in two, then to the famed Green Mile stretch at 13-14-15 – brings water into play, but also the coveted risk-reward mentality. “Every one of those holes creates excitement,� said Johnny Harris, who has been at Quail Hollow since the day it opened and would be on a short list if you jotted down the most passionate and influential supporters of golf. Quail Hollow has hosted PGA TOUR tournaments dating to the 1960s, including annually since 2003, and he was the force behind the PGA Championship coming here in 2017, the first major held in Charlotte, North Carolina. Harris was 11 years old when his father, James, pitched the idea of Quail Hollow to a group of influential North Carolina businessmen. The guest speaker at the gathering in James Harris’ home was a man named Arnold Palmer, who had recently won the 1958 Masters. Not only did the evening help raise the funds for James Harris to build Quail Hollow, it poured the foundation to Johnny Harris’ lifelong friendship with Arnold Palmer. Not a bad introduction into a lifetime love affair with golf, eh? It’s one that Johnny Harris doesn’t take for granted and one that leaves him qualified to pass judgment on what works and doesn’t work in golf. And what works at that stretch of holes that will be played as Nos. 11-15 in 2021 is the “go or not go� mentality. Do you try to drive the green at 11? Go for 12 green in two? How aggressive will you be with your approach to 13 green, with water looming? Ditto your tee shot at the par-3 14th. Rip a driver at the tight 15th or lay back with a safer shot? “Those holes present a huge advantage or huge disadvantage in a match play environment,� Johnny Harris said. “The fans will love it.� The 24 players that week might view it differently, given the pressure they’ll be facing. But it’s not like they aren’t familiar with both sides of the risk-reward nature of those holes at Quail Hollow. Johno Harris points to one of the best shots he’s ever seen, Justin Thomas’ 7-iron at the par-3 17th (No. 14 in 2021) that pretty much sealed his win in the 2017 PGA Championship. Jason Day’s win at the 2018 Wells Fargo Championship was cemented with a brilliant birdie at the 17th. Then there was Rickie Fowler’s first PGA TOUR win at the 2012 Wells Fargo Championship, his approach stuffed tight to a difficult pin on the 18th to beat Rory McIlroy and D.A. Points in a playoff. Ah, but the heartaches have been plentiful, too, starting with David Toms in the inaugural Wells Fargo Championship in 2003. Johnny Harris stood greenside and watched Toms take four putts to finish off an ugly quadruple-bogey – yet win by two. “It’s the only time I’ve been allowed to give a ride to the winner,� he laughed. Phil Mickelson has played Quail Hollow beautifully through the years (a second, two thirds, 10 top-10s) but has squandered chances to win on the Green Mile. He made three double-bogeys at 17 in 2005, bogeyed 16 and 17 on Sunday to lose to Derek Ernst in 2013, and never really recovered from a quadruple-bogey at 18 in Round 3 in 2016. Trevor Immelman, who will be captain of the International Team in 2021, three-putted the 72nd green, then lost the Wells Fargo Championship in a playoff in 2006. But he has always credited that visit to Quail Hollow with doing a lot for his career and embraces the re-routing of the holes. “We know the golf course, from the drivable 14th (No. 11) to 15 the par 5 (No. 12), then the Green Mile. When players have the opportunity in match play a little bit more aggressively,� said Immelman, “I think it is going to provide some pretty good entertainment and a nice opportunity for these guys to show off their skills.� It’s hard to argue with Immelman. But you might add that the entire 2021 Presidents Cup will enable Quail Hollow to flash its character and style.

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Christiaan Bezuidenhout (+300 for a Top 20) … Pick your pleasure or jump on both. Of the dozen from his homeland in the field, only Louis Oosthuizen is presented at shorter odds, but you’d win an argument that Bezuidenhout is the hottest of ‘em all. In fact, of all golfers from the entire continent of Africa, he’s totaled the most Official World Golf Ranking points (47.02) in 2022. Oosthuizen has managed only 16.82. In the last two months, Bezuidenhout has connected for a co-runner-up (John Deere) among four top 20s. He’s T5 on the PGA TOUR in proximity to the hole, T29 in Strokes Gained: Putting, fifth in scrambling and first in proximity from the sand, the last of which rarely within our focus but it doesn’t hurt in case he finds any of the 112 bunkers on the Old Course. The 28-year-old also is no stranger to big stages. He’s a combined 7-for-10 in majors, including a payday (T53) at Royal St. George’s last year. Haotong Li (+400 for a Top 20) … After an extended tailspin, he’s back on the rise, and quickly at that. It was at the Royal Birkdale in 2017 when he closed with 63 to finish third in what was his Open debut. That would have tied the all-time record for lowest score in a major if Branden Grace hadn’t broken it by one the day before. The result vaulted Li into the top 100 of the Official World Golf Ranking (to 63rd) for the first time. Six months later, he rose to a career-best 32nd with a win in Dubai, his second career DP World Tour title. Then, two years ago this week, he slipped outside the top 100 and hasn’t cracked it again. The low point came last December when he sat 542nd. A runner-up finish at the Volvo China Open (the tournament where he connected for his first DPWT win in 2016) ensued, as have five more top 20s, including an emotional third career victory at the BMW International Open just three weeks ago. Currently 139th in the OWGR and with powerful momentum in tow. Chris Kirk (+550 for a Top 20) … Granted, St. Andrews is in a league of its own, but the 37-year-old has recorded six top 20s in the last five months. The set includes challenging venues like PGA National (T7), Bay Hill (T5) and Southern Hills (T5). He finished 71st at The Renaissance Club on Sunday, but he’s acclimated with four warm rounds after a three-week break. Among the best tee to green, so the objective is to simplify and plug that skill set into this equation that demands avoiding trouble. Sebastián Muñoz (+450 for a Top 20) … This is a respectful value for a guy who’s 0-for-2 at The Open. No doubt that it reflects house protection given his series of exceptional performances on all kind of tests, including a T14 at the U.S. Open just four weeks ago. The Colombian cut his teeth in the winds presented at the University of North Texas, and now with several PGA TOUR seasons under his belt, he’s fine-tuning his game to pop at a moment’s notice. That includes a pair of opening 60s en route to third-place finishes in the last eight months. That score isn’t out there at St. Andrews, but it will reward the kind of confidence and balance that he’s carried throughout. Keita Nakajima (+1400 for a Top 20) … The twice-qualified phenom from Japan still hasn’t turned pro – perhaps this fall – so he arrived for his Open debut as the long-standing world’s top-ranked amateur. Yet, he’s played primarily professional events over the last two years, and even won one on the Japan Golf Tour last September. He was a Sleeper for the Masters (at +750 for a Top 20) and missed the cut, but there’s three times the argument that the better play is now, anyway. First, the kickback for a Top 20 at St. Andrews is almost double what it was at Augusta National. Second, while amateurs tend not to make much noise at The Open, the last time one finished inside the top 20 was, you guessed it, at St. Andrews in 2015, when, count ‘em, three recorded top 15s – Jordan Niebrugge (T6), Ashley Chesters (T12), Ollie Schniederjans (T12) – and that doesn’t even include Paul Dunne (T30), who shared the 54-hole lead. And third, while modest, the 22-year-old Nakajima is another three months experienced. Odds were sourced on Tuesday, July 12, 2022. For live odds, visit BetMGM.

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