Emergency 9: PGA Championship, Round 3

Remember who won the 2019 TOUR Championship? Of course you do. That's because Rory McIlroy was the FedExCup champion. It's the new norm of the FedExCup Playoffs. Whoever prevails in 72 holes at East Lake Golf Club will go into the annals as the 14th winner of the FedExCup. The Starting Strokes scoring system returns this year. For a review of how the format debuted, what the field of 30 can anticipate inside the ropes when the tournament begins on Friday, Sept. 4, and more, continue reading beneath the ranking. NOTE: This full-field Power Rankings includes starting score for every golfer in the field. RELATED: The First Look | Inside the Field POWER RANKINGS: TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP Opening score in relation to par for each of the 30 qualifiers for the TOUR Championship is a reflection of respective value entering the finale of the 2019-20 PGA TOUR season. For the uninitiated fan, the feeling is like starting a tournament with one round already complete. Despite the advantage of a head start, there are still 72 holes to play to determine the result and there is no cut. And that's not insignificant. Consider that in just the 13 tournaments since the season resumed in June, only four winners either led outright or co-led entering the final round. No matter the iteration of the Playoffs format, when McIlroy prevailed here last year, he became the 10th consecutive FedExCup champion who didn't begin the TOUR Championship as the top seed. It's a stretch that included the first time he won the FedExCup in 2016. Tiger Woods (2007, 2009) is the only other multiple FedExCup champion, but he was the top seed in advance of both of his finales. Last year, McIlroy seeded fifth and with an opening score of 5-under. Combined with his actual 72-hole total of 13-under 267, he finished with a score of 18-under, four lower than runner-up Xander Schauffele, who started at 4-under as the 8-seed. Top seed Justin Thomas opened 10-under and finished T3 after completing 72 holes in just 3-under 277. Among other notables in the context of opening position, 2-seed Patrick Cantlay started at 8-under, shot 9-over 289 and finished T21 at 1-over. Paul Casey, who started 16th at 2-under, finished alone in fifth, while Dustin Johnson, who started 14th and one stroke lower, tied for last. The highest finish among the fivesome who started at even was Bryson DeChambeau. His aggregate of 4-under 276 was good for a T12. The 2020 version of DeChambeau is the poster boy for how to tackle East Lake; that is, hit it long and find it, even in primary rough clipped at two-and-a-half inches. Rees Jones' redesign(s) of Donald Ross' renovation of Tom Bendelow's creation is a firm, fair par 70 that tips at 7,346 yards, and it's been the only host of the Playoffs finale. Already for the fifth consecutive edition, the nines are reversed, so the old par-3 finisher is the ninth. No. 18 is a par-5 measuring 590 yards. The greens are a little larger than average and the par 5s annually rank among the easiest sets of all courses. With seven birdies and a par on the sixth and 18th holes last year, McIlroy led the field in par-5 scoring at 4.13, but DJ ranked T5 at 4.38, so he didn't compensate on the 16 holes that aren't par 5s played four times each. That reinforces the premium of ball-striking around East Lake. En route to victory, McIlroy ranked T3 in fairways hit, T5 in greens in regulation and led the field in both Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee and Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green. In a small field, it's more about creating scoring opportunities (and limiting big numbers) than it is about going low, especially on a course that averaged 70.033 last year, closest to par of every course last season. As long as its managed in moderation, putting is secondary and likely won't define the champion. MiniVerde bermudagrass putting surfaces are on the slicker side at 13 feet on the Stimpmeter, and they'll have a terrific chance of maintaining the speed, even in the predictably hot and humid conditions in store. After two days with highs in the lower 90s and only a chance of rain, a system will make its presence known by Sunday's third round. Daytime highs will drop as much as 10 degrees through Labor Day. Wind might impact club selection for a short period of time with the cooling, but that's barely worth the mention. All earnings at the TOUR Championship are classified as unofficial bonus money, but the winner of the tournament will be credited with an official PGA TOUR victory. All qualifiers will be treated to carte-blanche scheduling throughout the 2020-21 season. Included in the perks for advancing to the finale are exemptions into the Masters, the U.S. Open, The Open Championship and the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship in 2021. Also, for this season only, each is exempt into the Sentry Tournament of Champions. ROB BOLTON'S SCHEDULE PGATOUR.COM's Fantasy Insider Rob Bolton recaps and previews every tournament from numerous angles. Look for his following contributions as scheduled. MONDAY: Rookie Ranking, Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Power Rankings TUESDAY*: Fantasy Insider * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM's Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf, which also publishes on Tuesday.

Click here to read the full article…

Live updates from Liberty National

Click here to read the full article…

Seven players went home empty-handed after finishing second in Monday’s qualifier for the Sanderson Farms Championship. Such is the life of those trying to earn PGA TOUR starts the hard way. Tim Wilkinson won the qualifier with a 64 at Deerfield Golf Club in Canton, Mississippi. Ten players tied for second place, two strokes behind Wilkinson. Matt Atkins, Justin Lower, J.T. Griffin, Rob Oppenheim, Grant Leaver, Jack Newman and Zach Zaback were the unlucky ones. The three who did make the Sanderson Farms field include a player with past success at the Country Club of Jackson, an up-and-coming prospect and an in-state product. Garrett Osborn also Monday qualified for the 2014 Sanderson Farms Championship. He went on to finish T9. Dawson Armstrong’s strong amateur career included a win at the 2015 Western Amateur, where he beat future PGA TOUR winner Aaron Wise in the championship match. Chad Ramey, a Mississippi State product, is making his debut in his home-state TOUR stop. This season’s crop of qualifiers is off to a strong start. The Sanderson Farms Championship is the second event of the season with an open qualifier. PGA TOUR veteran Aaron Baddeley finished fourth at the Safeway, while Australia’s Brett Drewitt finished T25. TIM WILKINSON (64) Age: 40 Hometown: Jacksonville Beach, Florida Alma mater: None PGA TOUR starts: 161 Cuts made: 83 Best PGA TOUR finish: T2, 2008 Valero Texas Open Notes: Wilkinson finished 91st on the Web.com Tour this year after playing 20 or more PGA TOUR events in each of the last four seasons. He finished a career-best 119th in the FedExCup in 2014 after collecting three top-10s. He has eight top-10s in his TOUR career, most recently at the 2016 AT&T Byron Nelson where he finished fourth, two shots out of a playoff won by Sergio Garcia. Wilkinson represented his native New Zealand in the 2013 World Cup. GARRETT OSBORN (66) Age: 33 Hometown: Birmingham, Alabama Alma mater: Alabama-Birmingham PGA TOUR starts: 9 Cuts made: 1 Best PGA TOUR finish: T9, 2014 Sanderson Farms Championship Notes: Osborn played the Web.com Tour in 2018, making just three of 17 cuts. It was the fourth time he made more than 10 starts in a Web.com Tour season. He also played from 2008-2010, posting two third-place finishes. He finished a career-best 38th on the money list in 2008. His T9 at the 2014 Sanderson Farms remains his lone made cut on the PGA TOUR. DAWSON ARMSTRONG (66) Age: 23 Hometown: Brentwood, Tennessee Alma mater: Lipscomb PGA TOUR starts: 1 Cuts made: 0 Best PGA TOUR finish: MC, 2018 FedEx St. Jude Classic Notes: Armstrong turned pro last year after a standout career at Lipscomb. He won the 2015 Western Amateur after defeating future PGA TOUR winner Aaron Wise in the championship match. Armstrong also advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2017 U.S. Amateur. In March, he won the Mackenzie Tour-PGA TOUR Canada Q-School in Florida. He finished 34th on the money list after posting three top-10s in 10 starts. CHAD RAMEY (66) Age: 26 Hometown: Fulton, Mississippi Alma mater: Mississippi State PGA TOUR starts: 1 Cuts made: 0 Best PGA TOUR finish: MC, 2015 FedEx St. Jude Classic Notes: Ramey, the son of a course superintendent, adds to the local flavor of Mississippi’s only PGA TOUR event. He finished 80th on the 2018 Web.com Tour money list — barely missing a spot in the Web.com Tour Finals — after finishing in the top 20 in three of his final four starts. In 2017, he finished 16th on the Mackenzie Tour-PGA TOUR Canada money list after posting a runner-up and third-place finish. THIS SEASON’S QUALIFIERS Qualifiers: 4 Made cut: 2 Best finish: T4, Aaron Baddeley (Safeway Open) Top-10s: 1 Top-25s: 2 T4. Aaron Baddeley, 70-67-69-69 T25. Brett Drewitt, 70-71-69-71 MC. Andres Gonzales, 74-68 MC. Mark Anguiano, 72-71

Click here to read the full article…