DEAN & DELUCA Invitational preview

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Tiger Woods at the Masters. It’s always compelling theatre, whether he wins — which he’s done four times, most recently in 2005 — or not.  Woods tees off in Thursday’s first round at Augusta National with Spain’s Jon Rahm and China’s HaoTong Li at 11:04 a.m. ET. We’ll have hole-by-hole updates of Tiger’s round, so check back often. LEADERBOARD | TALES OF TIGER’S EQUIPMENT | TIGER FULL OF CONFIDENCE Tiger pre-round notes NEW PARTNERS: In his PGA TOUR career, Tiger has never been paired with Jon Rahm or HaoTong Li at a stroke play event That will change on Thursday. Of course, Woods and Rahm have had a recent encounter — at last fall’s Ryder Cup, when Rahm beat Woods 2 and 1 in Sunday Singles at Le Golf National in Paris. FIRST-ROUND POSITION: In Tiger’s 21 Masters starts, he’s been in the top 10 on the leaderboard after the first round just four times (1997, 1998, 2002 and 2010). He went on to win two of those times. The last time he won, he was 33rd after the first round in 2005, but shot himself back into the tournament with rounds of 66 and 65, ultimately beating Chris DiMarco on the first hole of the playoff. That remains the last time any eventual Masters champ has not been inside the top 10 after the first round. WATSON’S VIEW: Two-time Masters champ Tom Watson has no doubts that Tiger can win the green jacket for a fifth time this week. “I definitely think he can win the Masters,” Watson said during a Golf Channel interview. “Watching him swing from afar, he’s got it together. I fully expect him to be in the hunt.” PAR 3s, 4s, 5s: In his Masters career, Tiger is 28-over on the par 3s, 40-over on the par 4s, and 156-under on the par 5s.  82 LESSONS: Tiger Woods, with 82 career rounds at Augusta National, says he has “a pretty good little library in my head of how to play the golf course.â€� But it wasn’t just those competitive rounds in which he gained the knowledge. “Throughout the years, I also accumulated a lot of knowledge how to play it under different conditions, and playing practice rounds with guys who have won here a lot, who understand how to play it,â€� Woods said, “and then to be a part of the entire process of having to compete as they have evolved the golf course and trying to understand how to play it.â€� HISTORY AGAINST HIM: In each of his four Masters wins, Woods arrived at Augusta National that week having already pocketed at least one win earlier that calendar year.  In 1997, he won the season-opening event at Kapaula. In 2001, he won twice — including THE PLAYERS Championship when it was held in March. In 2002, he won at Bay Hill. And in 2005, he had two earlier wins. Tiger’s most recent win, of course, was the TOUR Championship at the end of last season.

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ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – Davis Love III still thinks he can re-write the record books. “Winning is always my goal,â€� he said. Love, 54, may be a grandfather, but he has no plans to pare down his PGA TOUR schedule. He actually hopes to play more than he did in the previous two seasons. Love could become the oldest winner in PGA TOUR history, surpassing Sam Snead’s record of 52 years, 10 months and 8 days. Raymond Floyd’s record of longest span between first and last victories (28 years) also is within reach. Love won for the first time in 1987. No one has ever won multiple titles in their 50s. He was 51 when he won the 2015 Wyndham Championship. That was his 21st PGA TOUR win. He is a lifetime member for reaching 20 wins and 15 seasons on TOUR. “Obviously, like a few years ago at Greensboro, everything would have to go right. You (have to) hit it good and putt good at the same time,â€� Love said. “I think that can still happen. You get me within two or three of the lead on Sunday, I’m going to have a chance. I just have to get there. “The odds obviously continue to decrease every year. But I look at what Tom Watson almost did, Greg Norman almost did at The Open Championship, what Sam Snead did late in his career, what Jack Nicklaus did at the Masters, that’s the reason I keep working.â€� As is often the case with players of advanced age, injuries and putting have been the problem. Love has played more than 750 PGA TOUR events, but he it’s been three years since he played more than 15 in a season. He had hip-replacement surgery after last year’s RSM and played just nine PGA TOUR events and four on PGA TOUR Champions in 2018. “Like I told you, if Tiger plays a full season, he’ll win a golf tournament. Well, he played a full season and won a golf tournament,â€� Love said. “I would like a shot at playing a full season without being hurt. … I haven’t played my normal 23 or 24 or 25 events. I would like to do that this year and just see how I play.â€� The RSM Classic, where he also serves as host, will be his third start of the season. He finished T59 at the CIMB Classic and 57th at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. He plans to play the Sony Open in Hawaii, AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and Genesis Open. He is a two-time winner at Pebble Beach. The Charles Schwab Challenge and RBC Heritage, played at two of the TOUR’s shorter courses, also are on his schedule. He has five wins at the Heritage, including his first PGA TOUR victory. There were promising signs in his last start. At TPC Summerlin, he was second in Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green and eighth in proximity to the hole. He was second-to-last in Strokes Gained: Putting, though. He missed three putts from 3-5 feet and was just 1 for 5 from 7-10 feet. He only made 3 of 18 attempts from 10-15 feet, as well. “As usual, it’s going to come down to putting for me. If I can putt well enough to beat them (on PGA TOUR Champions), I think I can probably sneak in a win out here,â€� Love said. “Obviously, like a few years ago at Greensboro, everything would have to go right.â€� He has experimented with the arm-lock method that Matt Kuchar, Webb Simpson, Bryson DeChambeau and Keegan Bradley used to win recently. Love said he’s had “very little successâ€� with it, though. “I’m rolling the ball great. I have to relax and play and quit trying to force it,” Love said. “Calling (sports psychologist Bob) Rotella probably is the answer.” It may be the only thing standing between him and history.

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The calendar now reads 2019 – and that means the current PGA TOUR season ends its six-week hibernation and cranks up again. As customary, the locale is Maui at the winners-only Sentry Tournament of Champions in Kapalua. For most fans, that means prime-time golf on TV …. and yes, you’ll spend the next four days wishing you lived in Hawaii. THE FLYOVER The final three holes at the Plantation Course stretch out to nearly 1,600 yards and can be both challenging and fun. The 365-yard par-4 16th is not drivable due to the crossing trade wins, so most tee shots will finish short of the fairway bunker that guards the green. The 549-yard 17th is the longest par 4 on the PGA TOUR, and yet ranked just 271st among the 551 par 4s in stroke average. The 663-yard 18th is the longest par 5 on the TOUR and yet, just like the 17th, is not difficult; it ranked 97th out of the 163 par 5s in stroke average last season. LANDING ZONE The par-4 14th is listed at 305 yards on the scorecard, and yet played less than 300 yards in each of the four rounds last year. Nearly half of all tee shots tried to drive the green, and yet just two of those 67 attempts were successful. One of those was by Dustin Johnson in the final round en route to victory (the other was by Jhonattan Vegas). Here’s a look at where all tee shots landed last year. WEATHER CHECK From PGA TOUR meteorologist Joe Halvorson: “Gusty east-northeasterly trade winds are expected for much of the week, peaking on Friday before beginning to slacken on Saturday. Passing showers will be possible mainly during the overnight and morning hours Wednesday through Friday, with rainfall totals expected to be rather light. Passing shower chances will persist through the day on Saturday, though rainfall is forecast to remain light. Sunday will see showers become isolated in coverage as easterly trade winds weaken substantially, perhaps weak enough for winds to becoming variable in direction.â€� For the latest weather news from Kapalua, Hawaii, check out PGATOUR.COM’s Weather Hub. SOUND CHECK It doesn’t get any better than being in Hawaii. … it’s a small field, a chance to get a lot of FedExCup points and get a good jump start to the year if you’ve either been behind or haven’t played yet. BY THE NUMBERS  155 – Combined career PGA TOUR victories by the 34 players in the Sentry Tournament of Champions field. 24,815 – Combined days between victories for 11 players who last season ended victory droughts of at least 1,600 days – Charles Howell III, Paul Casey, Kevin Na, Keegan Bradley, Ted Potter Jr., Ian Poulter, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Matt Kuchar, Webb Simpson and Gary Woodland. All but Woods and Mickelson are in the field this week. 11 – Consecutive seasons since the start of his PGA TOUR career in which Dustin Johnson has won at least one TOUR event. Only Arnold Palmer (17 seasons), Jack Nicklaus (17 seasons) and Tiger Woods (14 seasons) have longer streaks to start their TOUR careers. 532 – Drives of 400 yards or more on the PGA TOUR in the ShotLink Era (since 2003). Of those 532 drives, 301 (56.6 percent) have been recorded at the Plantation Course. And of those 301 drives, 96 have been at the 18th hole. SCATTERSHOTS  The par-4 fourth has a new teeing area and is now at 424 yards after previously playing at 382 yards. What once had been a wedge for most players on their approach shots will now be a mid-iron – depending on the wind conditions, of course. “I usually have somewhere between 110 to 120, 125 every time I play that hole and I had 188 yesterday,â€� Justin Thomas said after his practice round Tuesday. “I hit 5-iron in. That green’s tough with a wedge let alone with a 5-iron.â€� A year ago, the fourth was the ninth toughest hole on the Plantation Course, playing at a stroke average of 4.037. When it comes to the FedExCup Playoffs, winning the Sentry Tournament of Champions (the second smallest field of the season) has become a vital element in reaching the TOUR Championship (the smallest field of the season). Each of the last 10 Sentry winners have advanced to the 30-man TOUR Championship; only the Valspar Championship and the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship can match that streak among regular-season events. All eight winners from the fall portion of the 2018-19 season are in the field, including one rookie (Cameron Champ). Not surprising, all eight of those players are in the top 10 of the FedExCup standings, including current leader Charles Howell III. The Plantation Course has ranked inside the top 5 among easiest courses on TOUR in 10 of the last 11 seasons. It had the lowest field stroke average in relation to par five times. Last year, the field averaged 1.779 strokes under par, fifth lowest among all courses.

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