Cut prediction: Vivint Houston Open

You knew that golf would lead the return of live sports competition of any kind at the highest level in the United States. Given its inherent physical distancing, it was just a matter of when and where for players and fans to reconnect in the era of COVID-19. TaylorMade Driving Relief on Sunday, May 17, forever will mark the reentry. It’s an 18-hole team skins match pitting Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson against Rickie Fowler and Matthew Wolff. Four-ball format will be used throughout. All $4 million committed is reserved for relief efforts for the pandemic. There is no prize money for the professionals. RELATED: Fans at home will be able to contribute to TaylorMade Driving Relief’s COVID-19 relief efforts thanks to PGA TOUR Charities’ online and Text-To-Give donation platforms powered by GoFundMe Charity. Click here to donate. MORE: TaylorMade Driving Relief to benefit COVID-19 relief efforts | Live golf set to return | Seminole Golf Club ready for its close-up | Key clubs: Rory’s driver | Similarities run deep for Fowler, Wolff You are in for a treat. Augmenting the experience is that Seminole Golf Club is hosting. It basks in privacy, but it’s unassuming in that it hasn’t sought a mechanism to attract attention. What better a time than right now for the Donald Ross creation to introduce itself to a television audience and the most avid golfers and fans who never have laid eyes on the property? If it wanted unique, it got it. The captive audience is the bonus. The 90-year-old stock par 72 situated hard against the Atlantic Ocean in Juno Beach, Florida, is a work of art. It’s golf in its purest form. With sand dunes and 185 bunkers, it looks and plays like a links, albeit with palm trees and other tropical flora within view. Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw recently completed a three-year renovation of the course. If you’re reminded of their restoration of Pinehurst No. 2 for the 2014 U.S. Open, well, you should be. That’s another Ross masterpiece and the collaborative vision isn’t unintentional. Ross’ genius routing and his use of the topography remain his signatures on the track that tips at just 6,836 yards on only 140 acres. Because of its location, wind is the primary defense. Come Sunday, prevailing breezes at 10-15 mph are forecast. This will allow for the course to test as designed. The old saying at Seminole is that every hole presents a different wind direction because of the angles, but the forces generating the invisible enemy cannot be predicted no matter the preparation. Keeping the ball low and on the ground at times will be necessary and fun to watch. Rain will fall in the days leading up to and possibly in passing on Sunday. Even though the bermuda greens drain well, any reduction in speed could (should?) be offset with challenging hole locations. Because of extreme cant in spots and omnipresent run-off areas, the local parlance includes a reference of “greens visited in regulation.” It’s a snarky tip of the visor after approaches fail to hold their targets. Indeed, distance control and precision on approach will be at a premium. The format of the skins game is ideal for the cause. Talent of the quality donating its time should yield numerous pushes and allow the gamble to swell. With Nos. 14 and 15 as par 5s, heroics, or at least attempts, are guaranteed. In the round-long taffy pull defining the levels of difficulty of where holes will be cut, those two should be ripe for eagles. The guys will be deep enough into the day by then to have shed whatever competitive rust is remaining. While unlikely, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that this important event could persuade outgoing seniors who played golf collegiately to return for one more season. In late March, the NCAA extended the eligibility for seniors competing in spring sports for one year, and Seminole will be hosting the Walker Cup in May of 2021. 1. Rory McIlroy & Dustin Johnson With the way McIlroy was hitting it for months, he’d be forgiven if he thought about taking on Fowler and Wolff alone. In seven starts worldwide since a T3 at the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP, McIlroy hasn’t finished worse than T5 twice. Now, with Johnson as his wingman and playing four-ball, this is as formidable an multinational duo as you’re going to see. DJ’s low ball flight is built for this, too. 2. Rickie Fowler & Matthew Wolff Since they size up as the weaker of the teams, if they pull off victory, you won’t be able to rule out their connection as Oklahoma State products, toughness shaped in the wind as they cut their teeth and/or the value of being prohibitive underdogs with nothing to lose. Still, while Wolff is full of swagger that should make for great TV, this has the feeling of a little too much, too soon for the 21-year-old. Head-to-head in individual competition against McIlroy and DJ in his young career, Wolff is a combined 0-10-1.

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NORTON, Mass. – News and notes from Sunday’s third round of the Dell Technologies Championship, the third leg of the FedExCup Playoffs. Justin Thomas and Marc Leishman are the co-leaders at 12 under. Click here for more from TPC Boston and click here for the latest FedExCup Update. BETTER NOW THAN 2016 When is being one behind through 54 holes more comfortable than being three ahead? When you’re Paul Casey returning to TPC Boston. “I’m in better shape. I’m not leading, but I feel much better about my game,� said Casey, who came home in 32 in Sunday’s third round to shoot 4-under 67. At 11-under 202, he’s one behind Thomas (63) and Leishman (65), but the comfort factor is way cozier than it was a year ago. Then, he led by three after three rounds, but the final round was cold, windy, and “the day was a struggle.� Rory McIlroy came from six back, shot 65, and won by two over Casey, who shot 73. “Last year the weather was awkward,� said Casey. “(Monday) is meant to be perfect, 80 degrees. I prefer (this year’s) scenario.� He smiled that veteran’s smile, as if to say that he had indeed taken a good, hard look at the leaderboard. Yes, he liked what he saw, even if people would suggest it makes his position more precarious than a year ago. “The cons are, I’ve got way more talent around the leaderboard than there was last year. I know Rory won, but just look up at the depth on top of that leaderboard right now.� What you’ll see is the prototype of what PGA TOUR officials envisioned when they devised these FedExCup Playoffs more than 10 years ago. They were intended to bring the best players in the world together for a series of tournaments to close out the year and it’s hard to say that hasn’t materialized. World No. 1 Dustin Johnson won last week, meaning there have been nine straight FedExCup Playoff tournaments won by a player ranked in the top 15 in the world. What we have this week is Thomas ranked No. 6, Leishman ranked 30th, Casey is 14th, while No. 2 Jordan Spieth (66) lurks just two back and Johnson (66) is ever-so-present in a share of seventh, just three back. Oh, and sitting right there with Johnson is No. 5 Jon Rahm (71). True, Thomas would rank as the man to beat, given that he is bogey-free for his last 40 holes, but incredibly he’s played the par-5s in just 2-under. “That’s a little bit of a bummer,� he said, but the emphasis should be on “little� given his position. Like Casey, he considers it favorable. TALE OF TWO DAYS Jordan Spieth was thrilled that his spirited finish – birdies at 14, 17 and 18 – provided the sort of round that he felt was worthy of his ball-striking day. “I thought I played really solid golf,� said Spieth, who began the day four behind Rahm and ended it two behind Thomas and Leishman. Like others, what caught Spieth’s attention was the star power atop the leaderboard. “There is a heightened something to these playoff events that brings out, you know, certain champions.� Rahm still considers himself worthy of attention, despite a third round that left him unhappy. When he birdied the par-4 seventh to get to 11-under, he either shared the lead or had it outright for a while, but he bogeyed three times coming home. Still, he’s settling into this marquee attention he’s getting at the tender age of 22. “Let me frustrated for a while,� he said with a smile. “But I’ll get to the hotel room, lay down for a little bit, and realize that I’m still (just) three shots back.� MR. CONSISTENCY? HOW ‘BOUT CANTLAY Lost in the glare of all this firepower taking over the FedExCup Playoffs is one of the season’s best stories, 25-year-old Patrick Cantlay. The Dell Technologies Championship is just his 11th tournament of the year and the former amateur sensation is going to qualify for the BMW Championship. If he were to make it into the TOUR Championship – and presently he’s projected at No. 33 in the FEC standings – he would do something that only McIlroy and Steve Stricker have done. That is, make the top 30 in fewer than 15 tournaments. No surprise if you know Cantlay, but that didn’t seem to impress him. Instead, he’s more focused on his standing at the Dell, which is quite solid, thank you very much. Cantlay shot 68 Sunday, running to 24 his stretch of bogey-free holes, and at 8-under 204 he’s tied for ninth. Impressive, considering that he was virtually sidelined for a few years, fighting back issues. But again, Cantlay is low key and incredibly focused on what he does best: Manage golf courses, play to his strengths, and keep the ball in play. He’s made the cut in each of his 10 starts this year, has recorded three top 10s and four other top 20s and will approach Monday no different than he comes into every tournament. “I’m just trying to win every week,� said Cantlay, who played alongside Spieth, the first time they’ve been paired since the 2013 Puerto Rico Open. “If he had had the full year this year,� said Spieth, “I would imagine he’d have been on the Presidents Cup team, no question. He’s extremely talented and he’s going to work his way up into the top 10 in the world, in my opinion.� CALL OF THE DAY SHOT OF THE DAY GARCIA’S BROKEN PUTTER What started nicely – a 13-foot putt for birdie – soured quickly as Sergio Garcia paid the price for damaging his putter on the par-4 fourth. Angered after leaving his second shot, a 35-foot putt, well short at the drivable hole, Garcia jammed his putter against a sprinkler head. He clarified later that “I didn’t break it,� but he chose to take it out of play. “The putter (blade) moved, just a little, but the lie was a little flatter. That’s all. But I wasn’t going to cheat, simple as that.� Unable to replace a club that’s self-damaged, Garcia pulled his 3-wood and curled in the 13-footer. It was about as good as things would get, however. He three-putted the sixth, switched to his driver and putted not very well with that, either. When he missed a 1-foot putt at the ninth, Garcia opted to putt his entire back nine with a 4-iron. For the day, Garcia was a negative 3.412 in the strokes gained putting department. He required 33 putts and made just 66 feet of putts (by comparison, Justin Thomas made 156 feet, 5 inches), a big reason why he shot 75 and fell into a share of 53rd. GRACE, INTERNATIONALS FINDING FORM Pleased as he was to bounce back from an opening 74 to post a sizzling 64 in Saturday’s second round, Branden Grace said that it was double the enjoyment to scan the leaderboard at TPC Boston. Aussie Marc Leishman is tied for the 54-hole lead, Canadian Adam Hadwin is joint fourth, and while South African Louis Oosthuizen (74, tied for 32nd) and Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama (70, tied for 36th) aren’t in the mix here, there seems to be some form taking shape for members of the International Team. And that bodes well for a passionate Presidents Cup member like Grace. “Even though I’m still young (29), this will be my third Presidents Cup, so I feel like one of the veterans,� said Grace, a hard-hitting South African who can churn out the birdies with the best of them. He was tied for 68th after Friday’s first round, but roared back Saturday and tacked on a 69 Sunday to get into a share of 14th at 6-under. Grace started the week 99th in the FedExCup standings, but is currently projected at No. 63. “I need a good day (Monday) to get into the BMW,� he said. NOTABLES Bubba Watson played his first six holes in 4 over, his next 12 holes in 4 under. With 71, he settled into a share of 60th and needs a big day Monday to advance to the third leg of the Playoffs. Jason Day shot 70 and is in a tie for 44th. Ian Poulter added a 69 to his TPC Boston trip and is now joint 36th. Brooks Koepka had birdies at 16 and 17 to shoot 68 and pull into a tie for 21st. ODDS AND ENDS When Kyle Stanley made a 2-1/2 footer to birdie the fourth hole, he was 10-under and in the lead. He then played the next 14 holes in 5-over, shot 73 and fell into a tie for 19th. Kevin Tway has bogeyed the par-3 11th two days in a row after making an ace there Friday. Fourth hole a pushover with an eagle, 36 birdies and 3.671 field average? Don’t tell that to Brendan Steele, who drove it wide left into a bunker, bladed it over the green, needed three shots to navigate a slope, then two-putted for triple-bogey. Rickie Fowler played the par-5s in 1 over the first two days. In Round 3 he played them in 2-under, though he has yet to birdie the 18th this tournament. BEST OF SOCIAL MEDIA

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KAPALUA, Hawaii – Fans of Jordan Spieth will have to wait a few weeks longer than expected to see the 11-time PGA TOUR winner in 2020 after he withdrew from the Sony Open with a cold. RELATED: Players to Watch in 2020: Jordan Spieth Spieth had previously committed to the trip to Honolulu next week but has pushed his return to competition to the Farmers Insurance Open on Jan. 23-26 after battling illness. The 2015 FedExCup champion hasn’t won since the 2017 Open Championship and sits 97th in the FedExCup standings with a T8 at THE CJ CUP @NINE BRIDGES the best of his three starts. The 26-year-old has missed the TOUR Championship over the past two seasons but still has never finished worse than 44th (last season) in the FedExCup since coming on to the TOUR in 2013. In the 2017-18 season Spieth struggled with his putter, ranking 123rd on TOUR in Strokes Gained: Putting. But in 2018-19 he rebounded on the greens to be second on TOUR only to see his ball striking fall back. Spieth was 176th on TOUR in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee and 145th in Strokes Gained: Approach the Green. He is hopeful of bringing everything back together in 2020. “I’m actually really confident about what 2020 holds for me,â€� Spieth said late last year at the Hero World Challenge where he was 16th of 18 players. “I feel things starting to get on the right track, it’s just timing stuff and again some visuals … The toughest part is kind of trying to wrap my brain around where things are, thinking so much about the swing over the last year … like constantly thinking about how to get it back on track. “I see light at the end of the tunnel to where I could be able to just feel like I’m in control of the club the whole time, like it’s in front of me and I don’t feel like I have to save it every shot.â€�

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