Cut prediction: U.S. Open

The PGA TOUR makes its way to Jeju Island for the first official Regular Season TOUR event in South Korea. First round tee times First round leaderboard HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN Telecast: Golf Channel (10 p.m. – 2 a.m. ET) NOTABLE PAIRINGS Pat Perez, Justin Thomas, Sangmoon Bae 7:30 p.m. ET off 10th tee Si Woo Kim, Adam Scott, Jason Day 7:40 p.m. ET off 10th tee Keegan Bradley, Sung Kang, Anirban Lahiri 8:20 p.m. ET off 10th tee Xander Schauffele, Marc Leishman, Daniel Berger 8:30 p.m. ET off 1st tee Jhonattan Vegas, Patrick Reed, K.J. Choi 8:40 p.m. ET off 1st tee

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Though it may have seemed uncertain months ago, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson could both be at this year’s Ryder Cup. Woods’ car accident in February and Mickelson’s poor play made uncertain their status for this year’s edition of the biennial matches between the United States and Europe, which will be held Sept. 24-26 at Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wisconsin. Mickelson won last week’s PGA Championship, however, and Woods appears to be making progress in his recovery. He was recently photographed in public, appearing on the Instagram feed of a young cancer patient who met Woods at a soccer game. Woods was out of the walking boot he wore in last month’s Instagram post, but he was on crutches and his right leg, which received the worst of the injuries from his February crash, was covered in a compression sock. Woods’ return to play remains uncertain but he has shown a passion for serving at team events in any capacity. That’s true of this year’s Ryder Cup, as well. “He’s all in with us,” U.S. Ryder Cup captain Steve Stricker said this week. “He’s all in to help us in any capacity that he can. We’re not sure health-wise where he will be at at that point, but he’s all in. That’s the kind of guy he is. What he means to the players is a great deal and what he can bring to the team is insurmountable, too. Hopefully we can have him be a part of it in some shape or form.” Woods first served as a vice captain at the 2016 Ryder Cup, bringing the same competitiveness to his captaincies as he has shown on the course throughout his career. He also was a vice captain under Stricker at the 2017 Presidents Cup before performing admirably as a playing captain in the 2019 Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne. The United States won all three events. “I’d love to have him there,” Stricker said at last week’s PGA Championship. “Who wouldn’t, right? The guys really respect him and he did a great job obviously as a captain, but he was an assistant captain of mine in 2017 of the Presidents Cup and he was unbelievable. He would do anything for you and he’s totally, totally vested in the situation and the process and almost to the point of he’s on it early and so much, it’s like, dude, we’ve still got months to go yet.” After winning the PGA, Mickelson moved from 52nd to 16th on the U.S. points list. He’s still 10 spots outside of automatic qualification but certainly on Stricker’s short list for one of the six captain’s picks. “There was a reason why he was 52nd, right? He wasn’t playing all that great. Well, now there’s a reason why he’s 16th, because he had one great tournament,” Stricker said. “But now I need to see what he’s going to do from this point forward. We still have a lot of play left. I’m rooting for him. He’s a great team player. He’s great in the locker rooms. He’s a great partner. So I’d love to see him continue what he did this last week and keep climbing that point list because I think he’s a huge benefit for our team. Bottom line, I think he does us a lot of good.” Mickelson’s popularity and his victory in the PGA of America’s flagship event will make him a strong candidate. The PGA of America also runs the Ryder Cup. Mickelson’s candidacy is also bolstered by the similarities to Kiawah Island and Whistling Straits. “I told people last week before the PGA started that I was going to watch who plays well there because it’s a Pete Dye course on a body of water and the wind blows,” Stricker said. “There’s a lot of similarities to whistling straits. That’s a feather in his cap if (Phil) needs a pick.” John Daly in 1991 was the last American to win the PGA Championship but fail to qualify for that year’s Ryder Cup (Rich Beem won the 2002 PGA but did not play in that year’s Ryder Cup, which was delayed by 9/11, because the rosters were frozen from 2001). Mickelson’s role should he not make the team remains uncertain. The 2019 Presidents Cup was the first team event since the 1993 Ryder Cup where Mickelson wasn’t on the U.S. roster. Could this year mark Mickelson’s debut as a vice captain, a role that would prepare him for future Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup captains? It remains to be seen, but the possibility of both Woods and Mickelson at the Ryder Cup, in any capacity, is good news.

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ERIN, Wis. – Imagine if Brian Harman had known a week ago that his score through 54 holes at the U.S. Open was 12 under. How large would his lead be? “About a 10-shot lead in most Opens,â€� Harman figured. Not at Erin Hills, which has been left defenseless this week by soft winds and even softer conditions. After a day of unprecedented low scoring, Harman leads by only one stroke over the trio of Justin Thomas, Brooks Koepka and Tommy Fleetwood. A dozen others are within six shots of the lead. None of those top 16 players have ever won a major. One of them will on Sunday. “Going to be a really cool day for someone tomorrow,â€� said Rickie Fowler, who’ll start his round two shots off the lead. “I’m looking forward to my shot.â€� The leaderboard is so packed and the scoring conditions so ripe that Harman, who’s making his first major start since missing the cut in all four in 2015, wouldn’t be surprised if he’s trailing when he steps on the first tee at 3:54 p.m. ET. The question, though, is which course will he and his chasers be playing on Sunday. Will Erin Hills continue to cough up birdies in abundance, or will it finally toughen up? Will we see a back-nine thrill ride on Sunday? Or will this U.S. Open revert back to previous ones, in which players simply hang on for dear life, par becoming a satisfying – and usually effective — score on each hole? Some of it depends on pin placements, of course. But much of it depends on the weather. It’s doubtful the course will play much firmer – rain began to fall soon after the third round ended – but the winds are supposed to increase to nearly 25 mph, which would be the strongest of the week. In addition, the winds are forecast to shift, and by early afternoon will be coming from the north. That means players must adjust their gameplans after spending the first three rounds playing with a southwest breeze. “That will change things,â€� Harman said. “If it comes out of the north, it’s going to be a different golf course.â€� Said Fleetwood: “If it does blow, you’ll definitely have to play proper golf. And it will play a lot tougher.â€� It also may mean players who hope to emulate Thomas’ big move on Saturday – in which he shot a record-setting 9-under 63, moving up 22 spots on the leaderboard – are out of luck. “It would be hard to make a real run with 25 mph winds,â€� Koepka said. “With that being said, he did shoot 9 under today.â€� No matter which direction or how hard the wind blows, you can probably expect a finish unlike most U.S. Opens. Erin Hills’ architects designed the course for the possibility of a back-nine sprint. The last six holes, in particularly, were set up that way, thanks to two par 5s and a short (and potentially drivable) par 4. Based on how those final six holes have played thus far, it could produce the most unique U.S. Open finish in quite some time. The par-3 13th was at its easiest when it played to 227 yards in the first round. It’s been shorter but harder the next two rounds, and ranks as the seventh most difficult hole on the course. The 14th has been the most difficult par 5 on the course this week, and has yet to be set up using the back tees at 650 yards. If that’s where the tee is Sunday, it might not be reachable in two, although players will benefit from having a northerly wind to their backs. The par-4 15th was set up at 288 yards on Saturday, which explains why it played to nearly a half-stroke under par, with three players making eagle. Will the USGA dare make it drivable again on Sunday? The yardage may not matter, as a north wind also will help there. The 16th has been the easiest par 3 this week, while the par-4 17th has been the most difficult hole on the course, twice playing to more than 520 yards. The 18th, meanwhile, is the easiest hole on the course, despite twice playing at more than 665 yards. The southerly winds have helped, but it may not be reachable on Sunday? Wisconsin native Steve Stricker, who starts the day 10 shots off the pace, expects the contenders to be aggressive on the last six holes – an unusual occurrence at most U.S. Opens. “It’s going to add some excitement, really, instead of a guy hitting it in the rough and hacking it out and struggling to make a par kind of thing,â€� he said. Those at the top of the leaderboard certainly have taken advantage of those final six holes. Harman is a bogey-free 7 under in that stretch this week. Si Woo Kim is 6 under. Koepka is a bogey-free 6 under. “The back nine really suits my eye,â€� Koepka said. “I don’t know why. I think there’s a lot of tee shots that are left to right. And that might be why. I just hit hard down the left-hand side and let it come back. “I love this golf course. I think it’s great.â€� Thomas is 9 under … and that’s just for the last four holes. He birdied three of them on Saturday. “Being this soft, birdies are going to happen,â€� Thomas said. Then he added: “You never know how the USGA is going to set it up for tomorrow.â€� So far, Erin Hills has proven quite friendly this week. Time to step on the gas for one more round.

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