Correlation between height and success on TOUR

In a Sunday chalk-full of drama near the bubble of The Finals 25 money list, a stellar final-round 65 by Denny McCarthy moved the University of Virginia alum to the top spot on the four-tournament order of merit. McCarthy captured the Web.com Tour Championship by four shots over Lucas Glover, and with Sangmoon Bae not in the field this week, McCarthy jumped from No. 11 to No. 1 by just over $37,000. McCarthy finished 149th on the FedExCup standings in 2017-18, but didn’t finish outside the top-15 in any of the four Web.com Tour Finals events, going T5-T9-T13 in the three tournaments leading into this week’s finale at Atlantic Beach Country Club. “I just did what I’ve been doing the last three or four months now. I’ve been playing some really good golf of late,� said McCarthy. “I’ve been knocking on the door for quite some time, and what better way than to finish it off with a win this week.� With the victory, and with the top spot on the Web.com Tour Finals money list, McCarthy earns full status for the 2018-19 PGA TOUR season, as well as a spot in THE PLAYERS Championship. Bae moved to second on the Web.com Tour Finals money list, while Robert Streb, Peter Malnati, and Cameron Davis – who finished tied for third at Atlantic Beach CC – rounded out the top five. McCarthy said he’s been doing “so much work� behind the scenes, and complimented his great team for how “tremendous� they’ve been throughout the last year, after moving to 23 under with his 6 under performance on Sunday. He admitted he was aiming to get to 24 under in the final round, but he got the job done despite an early bogey on the par-4 second hole. McCarthy missed nine cuts in 22 PGA TOUR starts this year – his best result was a solo fourth at the Corales Puntacana Resort and Club Championship – but he’s already looking forward to getting back out on TOUR. “I’m going to be much better suited having played all these places once this past year and getting some tournament rounds on those places,� he said. “It’s really tough to get out there and play great golf. You’re just not familiar with the course … you’re just not as comfortable with where to miss it off the tee and into the greens. “I’ve played all four of these (Web.com Tour Finals courses), so the combination of really good golf I’ve been playing plus course knowledge, got me a win here.�

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NORTH BERWICK, Scotland – Xander Schauffele was the comeback kid earlier in his career, winning with low scores on Sundays to overtake the leader. It was the route he took to his first four individual titles on TOUR. It wasn’t until this year that he won from ahead. RELATED: Leaderboard “I’ll take a win any time, any way. I’m not picky,” Schauffele said Sunday, though he admitted “it feels better” to win as the 54-hole leader. It’s more rewarding,” he added. Schauffele started his career by going 0-4 when starting Sunday with the lead. But things are starting to change. First, Schauffele won the Olympic gold medal over local favorite Hideki Matsuyama after taking a one-shot lead into the final round. Then Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay produced a front-running victory at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans in May. Last month’s Travelers Championship was the first of Schauffele’s five individual TOUR titles that he won as the 54-hole leader, however. “It’s what I want to do,” he said. He has another chance Sunday. He leads by two at the Genesis Scottish Open after shooting a 66 that matched the low score on another windy day at Renaissance Club. Rafa Cabrera Bello is in second place, while a pair of Texans – Jordan Spieth and Ryan Palmer – are three back, along with England’s Jordan Smith, who already has won this week, taking home a car for both he and his caddie after making an ace on the 17th hole Friday. U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick is four back, as is TOUR rookie Alex Smalley and Cameron Tringale, who is 6 over par after a first-round 61 that had him three ahead of the field. Schauffele is looking to continue another trend, as well. He’s been unbeatable in recent weeks, winning the Travelers two weeks ago before beating a strong field at the unofficial J.P. McManus Pro-Am on Tuesday in Ireland. Schauffele led entering the final round there, as well, shooting 64-70 to finish a shot ahead of FedExCup No. 2 Sam Burns. “You see players do it all the time, you get in the good swing of things, start to get comfortable seeing certain shots and seeing certain putts go in,” Schauffele said. “Players always have good stretches and trying to make this one of my best.” It’s well-timed, as well, with the 150th Open at St. Andrews around the corner. Schauffele was runner-up in the 2018 Open Championship after losing the first 54-hole lead of his career. He’s trying to win back-to-back TOUR starts for the second time in his career, though his victories in the 2018 World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions and Sentry Tournament of Champions were separated by several weeks. How well is Schauffele playing? He’s leading despite playing from the harder half of the draw, following a first-round 72 in this week’s toughest conditions of the week with a 65 and 66. “If you’re trying to win when you’re on the bad side, you just have to be better,” he said. Cabrera Bello has experience on his side at Renaissance Club, a links-inspired course built and owned by Americans. He won here five years ago, and surged into contention Saturday by playing the first four holes of the back nine in 5 under. “I’ve been lucky enough to have won here before,” he said. “I always want to win, if not the Home of Golf, the country where golf was invented, playing links golf and with beautiful, sunny and windy conditions, it just makes it even more fun.” Schauffele also took advantage of the scoring holes on the back nine, starting with a birdie on No. 11 after hitting a provisional tee shot because he feared his first was lost. Birdies on 13, 15 and 16 gave him a four-shot lead, but he bogeyed the last two holes to halve his advantage. “Made some of the worst swings all day at the end there,” Schauffele said. “Just have to clean it up.” His experience as a leader has helped him confront the situations that await Sunday. He said he “needed” the Olympic victory. “I needed to get over the hump. I needed to … win while having the lead,” he said. That experience helped him keep calm at the Travelers Championship, admitting things moved too quickly the previous times he held a lead. “I’d be sitting back back in the hotel or … house on Sunday thinking, ‘What happened today?’” he said. He’s better prepared and playing better, setting the stage for a win that would make him one of the favorites entering The Open.

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NORTON, Mass. – Tiger Woods was left to rue a golden opportunity missed in the third round of the Dell Technologies Championship. Woods is eyeing an unprecedented third FedExCup title this season but he has to first make it to East Lake and the TOUR Championship to keep that dream alive. Starting this week at TPC Boston in 25th on the FedExCup standings Woods is not yet secure of staying in the top 30 after next week’s BMW Championship. But a high finish this week could secure that mark, taking the pressure off next week in Philadelphia. His third round 3-under 68 at TPC Boston moved him to 7 under and a tie for 16th… but it could have been so much better. Woods had been putting the ball well over the first two rounds but lost his mojo in Sunday’s third round, missing four putts inside eight feet he felt were makeable. He currently projects to 26th in the standings but had he made just two of those four close misses he’d be projecting to 19th with a round to play to go even deeper. As it stands Woods is now six shots off the lead held by Abraham Ancer. “I have to play well in order to make it to East Lake. I think before I teed off I looked at the board I’d already fallen six spots, and hadn’t teed off yet,â€� Woods said. “I did give myself quite a few looks today. And I pulled two putts that I can recall off the top of my head right now. That’s about it. “My speed was a little bit off. I was trying to be a little more aggressive today on the greens and trying to make sure that I gave it a good hit. I didn’t want to leave anything dying on the low side.â€� The 79-time PGA TOUR winner and FedExCup Champion in 2007 and 2009 will use Sunday to make up for the missed opportunity. His sights are still set on a comeback win, but the tournament within the tournament is also on his radar. “The points are very volatile,â€� Woods said. “You have a quick six or seven, if not nine holes of a good run, you can vault anywhere between 10 and 20 spots, it’s not that hard to do. “You get on one of those runs and move up the board. I’ve got to make a bunch of birdies, get off to a quick start and just get rolling early.â€� ANCER, HATTON EYE HUGE MOVES: Abraham Ancer figured he had nothing to lose at TPC Boston. Sitting 92nd in the FedExCup the only way into the top 70 to survive to the BMW Championship was with great golf. Fire up and play well or kiss the season goodbye. And fire up he has. The Mexican national will take a one-shot lead into the final round, with a win projecting him all the way to fifth place in the FedExCup. “I knew I had to play good this week, if not I was going to go home and relax. Either way is not a bad option,â€� Ancer said. “Obviously I want to keep on playing next week and obviously in Atlanta. But I don’t try to put much pressure on, more than I already have. So I just have to play good. I just go about my game plan and that’s it.â€� Sitting just one shot back in a tie for second is England’s Tyrrell Hatton. He started the week outside the bubble to advance to next week in 71st. Now he projects to 15th. SPIETH EYES TROPHY AND EAST LAKE: Sneaking up on the leaderboard is 2015 FedExCup champion Jordan Spieth. Having started the week at 33rd in the FedExCup standings his place in the BMW Championship is secured, but the TOUR Championship – where he has a win and a runner up finish – is not yet in the bag. A third round 3-under 68 moved Spieth to 9 under and a tie for eighth place. He sits just four back of Abraham Ancer in the chase for his first win this season. Right now he projects to 27th spot in the standings but Spieth is eyeing a much deeper move. “I’m not comfortable unless I’m inside the top-10 going to East Lake,â€� Spieth said. “The idea isn’t to get to East Lake, it’s to win the FedExCup. And I finally feel like my game is getting in a position where I can win and potentially claim the FedExCup.â€� PROJECTED IN / OUT After the third round at the Dell Technologies Championship, the following players are projected to surge their way from outside the top 70 into the survival zone for next week’s BMW Championship. Abraham Ancer (1): From 92nd to 5th Tyrrell Hatton (T2): From 71st to 15th C.T. Pan (T16): From 72nd to 60th Matt Kuchar (T16): From 74th to 62nd Brice Garnett (T12): From 81st to 63rd Keith Mitchell (T16): From 78th to 64th J.B. Holmes (T7): From 80th to 67th “Puts me in a great position to make it. I will glance at the projections, I won’t shy away from them. I’m looking forward to the chance tomorrow.â€� – Brice Garnett “I have a chance now tomorrow to move on. The goal is not just to make the BMW Championship, the goal is to make it all the way to Atlanta and make a run at the FedExCup.â€� – Matt Kuchar “I love the golf course next week and you always want to make the next round of the Playoffs to give yourself another chance. Hopefully I can go out there and continue to play well. No sense looking at the standings, all it will do is make you think about it more which isn’t good.â€� – J.B. Holmes. Those projecting to drop from the safe zone to an exit from the Playoffs: Ted Potter Jr. (T70): From 62nd to 71st Whee Kim (75): From 61st to 72nd Louis Oosthuizen (T40): From 69th to 74th Jason Kokrak (T50): From 66th to 75th Nick Watney (T60): From 67th to 76th Jimmy Walker (74): From 68th to 77th Kevin Streelman (MC): From 70th to 78th BIGGEST MOVERS Biggest projected movers through two rounds at TPC Boston Up 87 spots – Abraham Ancer (92 to 5) Up 56 spots – Tyrrell Hatton (71 to 15) Up 19 spots – Emiliano Grillo (48 to 29) BUBBLE BOYS Kevin Streelman is not officially eliminated, but it may just be a matter of time before his season ends. He started the week 70th in FedExCup points but missed the cut. Consequently, he’s opened the door for someone outside the top 70 to replace him. Currently, Ryan Moore is projected to finish 70th after starting the week in 60th. TOP 5 WATCH The top five players in FedExCup points after the BMW Championship will control their own destiny entering the TOUR Championship. A win at East Lake would guarantee any of the top five the FedExCup title. Here’s how the current Top Five fared in the third round of the Dell Technologies Championship. 1. Bryson DeChambeau (projected 1st) – Shot a blistering 8-under 63 to move to 12 under and just one off the lead chasing back-to-back wins. 2. Dustin Johnson (projected 2nd) – Shot a 1-over 72 to move to 4 under and a tie for 33rd. World No.1 spot under threat. 3. Justin Thomas (projected 4th) – Shot a 1-under 70 to move to 1 under and tie for 60th. 4. Tony Finau (projected 3rd) – Shot a 4-under 67 to move to 9 under and T8. Chasing a 10th Top-10 but first win. 5. Brooks Koepka (projected 6th) – Shot a 3-under 68 to move to 7 under, T16. Potential move to world No.1 on horizon. NOTE: Third-round leader Abraham Ancer is projected to move to No. 5. He started the week ranked a lowly 92.

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