Confidence Factor: OHL Classic at Mayakoba

Marc Leishman is as Australian as they come but some Korean golfing roots have him primed to springboard off last week’s win at THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES. Fresh off a dominant display at the CIMB Classic where he won by five shots, the now four-time PGA TOUR winner returns to Jeju Island in South Korea a year after losing a playoff against Justin Thomas. While some of those in the field have limited experience with Korean culture, Leishman is not one of them. He played on the Korean Tour in 2006, three years before he would become the PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year. A win there catapulted his career forward and more importantly boosted his confidence to a new level. He also grew up fast, looking after himself in a strange foreign land where he didn’t speak the language. “I would just point at something and that’s what I would eat. That was probably the hardest thing for someone like me, who likes food,â€� Leishman said. “Playing in the Korean Tour did help me. Playing on courses that are so narrow really teaches you to hit the ball straighter and handle the pressure. Obviously, winning golf tournaments, which I managed to win one up here, was a great memory and a really good experience for me.â€� While the win last week has the affable Aussie relaxed, the memory of his loss to Thomas last year, where he found the water on the second playoff hole, is certainly driving him forward. Especially as the runner-up finish did not translate to further success. While he had won twice in the 2016-17 season, last season turned out winless although still successful enough to make the TOUR Championship. That goal isn’t enough for him anymore. He wants to win the FedExCup and will have a chance to take hold of the top spot early on this season with a good effort this week. He currently sits just 31 points behind Safeway Open winner Kevin Tway. “Getting off to such a good start to the year obviously here and up until probably the (AT&T) Byron Nelson I played really well and then I kind of cooled off a little bit, so that was a little frustrating,â€� he said of last season. “It was certainly a goal of mine to win this season and to win my first event of the year is great.â€� The win allows Leishman to “focus more on winning for the rest of the seasonâ€� and opens up a return to Maui for the Sentry Tournament of Champions … a clear favorite time of year for the entire Leishman family. He also now leads the International Team standings for the Presidents Cup to be held in his native Australia next year. Leishman is desperate to play under his childhood idol Ernie Els in his hometown of Melbourne. The win in Malaysia was built off some stellar putting (he needed just 102 putts for the week) but also a dialed in approach game. He intends to try to ride the momentum. “The difference was I was hitting it a lot closer to the hole,â€� Leishman said of his CIMB Classic efforts. “I know I had very few putts, I only had 25, 26 putts a round, but I think if we had strokes gained putting last week, it wouldn’t have been as impressive as the iron play numbers. “I had a lot of birdie putts from 8 foot and in, which is nice when you’re feeling good over the putter. Hoping I can continue that trend. “Hopefully, I can play well again and do one better than last year.â€�

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NICHOLASVILLE, Kentucky – The Champions Course at Keene Trace Golf Club is an unknown commodity for nearly all the pros teeing it up at the Barbasol Championship. The first three years of the tournament had been held at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Opelika, Alabama. So players have been scrambling this week to learn the intricacies of this scenic Arthur Hills design. “Obviously new excitement for this tournament,” World Golf Hall of Famer Davis Love III said. “New golf course and new town and nobody really has an advantage here, so we’re all trying to figure it out.” Billy Horschel, though, feels good vibes at the course nestled among sprawling horse farms that has hosted a U.S. Senior Amateur, SEC Championship and an NCAA tournament, among other events. “Knowing the history of it, that the Florida Gators won the 1993 national championship here is also a little good luck, so …,” Horschel said, grinning as his voice trailed off. Until this week, the PGA TOUR hadn’t played an annual event in the Bluegrass State since 1959 when the third and final Kentucky Derby Open was played in Louisville. (Yes, we know Valhalla in Louisville has hosted three PGAs and a Ryder Cup but those aren’t TOUR-run events or played at the same place every year.) In fact, only one player competing this week at Keene Trace was even alive when that final Kentucky Derby Open trophy was handed out. But Jay Don Blake, born seven months earlier, was still in diapers – and he’s here this week making his 499th start. The field for the Barbasol Championship, which is played opposite The Open Championship at Carnoustie, has topped out at 132 players. The tournament offers 300 all-important FedExCup points to the winner and is one of just seven events remaining to earn a spot in the 125 who make the FedExCup Playoffs. Horschel, who won the FedExCup in 2014, enters the week solidly in the postseason at No. 45 in the standings. But the recent Zurich Classic of New Orleans winner is hoping to build on the work he did last month with swing coach Todd Anderson and set the stage for a big finish to the year. “Obviously the British Open Championship is going on this week, but I wanted to play some golf and I wanted to compete,” he said. “I feel like my game is in a really good spot, and I just wanted to build off some momentum that I’ve had the last few months … and get ready for the last half, stretch of the season with the PGA Championship and the four Playoff events. “So I didn’t want to take three weeks off. I wanted to come play. I’m grateful there was an opposite event to The Open Championship, and Barbasol puts on a great event.” THREE PLAYERS TO PONDER Brittany Lincicome: The 32-year-old from Florida is just the sixth woman to play in a PGA TOUR event. The eight-time winner on the LPGA Tour came to Kentucky on the heels of a playoff loss on Sunday. She is known for her length off the tee and is hoping to become the first woman since Babe Didrikson Zaharias at the 1945 Phoenix Open to make the cut. Joel Dahmen: The 30-year-old from Washington enters the Barbasol Championship on a hot streak after ties for fifth and second in his last two starts. All but two of his last 12 rounds have been in the 60s and he is 31 under the last two weeks. William McGirt: The North Carolinian finds himself on the FedExCup bubble at No. 125 so a good finish at Keene Trace could go a long way toward relieving the pressure of the final five weeks. WEATHER CHECK From PGA TOUR meteorologist Willis Young: High pressure will provide us with dry and pleasant weather through Thursday, with comfortable humidity levels. Low pressure will develop over the northern plains and push into the Great Lakes region by early Friday. A warm front will lift northward over the state Thursday night through Friday, resulting in showers and thunderstorms over or near the golf course first thing Friday morning. Very moist and unstable air will allow storms to redevelop during the afternoon/evening hours. An unsettled weather pattern will persist through the weekend.   For the latest weather news from Nicholasville, Kentucky, check out PGATOUR.COM’s Weather Hub. SOUND CHECK I had to play on the boys’ golf team when I was younger, and back then, 14, 15 years ago, there wasn’t as many girls as there is now that played, so for me back in the day it was great because the guys were better, their games were better, and it pushed me to want to be better. So I think playing with the guys, even this week, I’ll learn a few things. I can take things from this week out into my LPGA events. I think it’ll help my game for sure.I played when Annika played. It’s fun for us to see them out. My generation loved playing in the mixed team and competing alongside the LPGA players. … No matter what she does this week, it inspires the younger generation, both men and women, to play golf. So I think it’s great. It’s fun. BY THE NUMBERS 182 – Number of combined PGA TOUR victories among players in the field. 14 – Number of Bank One Classics, on PGA TOUR Champions, played in nearby Lexington, the last in 1997. 6 – Players with Kentucky ties in the field — Josh Teater, Grover Justice, Cooper Musselman, Chip McDaniel and Matt Atkins grew up in the Bluegrass state while Derek Fathauer attended the University of Louisville. 2 – Number of LPGA majors won by Brittany Lincicome. SCATTERSHOT The front and back nines of the par-72 Champions Course have been flipped to create a more exciting finish. So for the second time in three weeks, the final hole is a par 3 – this one a 205-yarder, while the 17th is a par 5 and No. 16 a par 4. Horschel thinks the back nine will be a little more generous since the greens are less undulating. “The greens are in absolutely incredible shape,â€� he said. “Course is in pretty good shape with all the rain they’ve had. I think the scores will be really low. I think it’s going to allow some guys to be aggressive into the greens. I think you’ll have to go low, so 18-, 20-, 22-under par is I think the winning score.â€� Josh Teater grew up in nearby Lexington and remembers attending the Bank One Classic on PGA TOUR Champions when he was a kid. “My interest in golf had already been sparked,â€� Teater said in an article on the Barbasol Championship website. “But that probably took it to another level.â€� Teater, who is playing the Web.com Tour this year in hopes of regaining his TOUR card, was given a sponsor’s exemption for this week’s event. He’s one of the few pros who has played the Champions Course in competition – shooting 7 under to finish third at the 2004 Kentucky Open, three strokes off the pace set by J.B. Holmes.

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