Emergency 9: THE NORTHERN TRUST, Round 1

It’s a first in The First State. The PGA TOUR is making its debut in Delaware. RELATED: Play Pick ‘Em Live | The First Look | Five Things to Know This week’s BMW Championship will be contested on the South Course of Wilmington Country Club in Delaware. It’s as neutral a site as any to host a FedExCup Playoffs event. For analysis of the course, how the winner and contenders should be defined, and more, continue reading beneath the expanded ranking. POWER RANKINGS: BMW CHAMPIONSHIP Draws and Fades will include reviews of notables including Hideki Matsuyama, Billy Horschel, Shane Lowry and Cameron Young. The middle leg of the Playoffs reserves room for 70 golfers, the top 30 of whom at its conclusion will advance to the season-ending TOUR Championship in Atlanta. However, Cameron Smith has withdrawn due to an injured hip and Tommy Fleetwood (personal) didn’t commit, so the field in Wilmington is 68 deep. At third in the FedExCup, Smith will survive to compete in the finale, but Fleetwood’s season officially is over. He’s currently 56th in points. Robert Trent Jones, Sr., designed the South Course over 60 years ago. Today, it’s a par 71 capable of stretching 7,534 yards. How it routes for the BMW Championship differs from the walk experienced by members. This yields an uncommon par-5-3-5-3 stretch on holes 12-15. The Palmer Cup was staged here in 2013. Justin Thomas is the only qualifier of the BMW Championship who competed in that amateur team competition, but that’s nine years ago and the course has undergone significant renovations since, anyway. Therefore, consider that there is no useful competitive experience in play this week. When a new challenge is presented, ball-strikers are benefited. Seeing targets and hitting targets plays everywhere, but greens require experience to master with the putter. The surfaces at Wilmington CC average of 8,000 square feet, but they protected firmly and fairly by commensurately sized bunkers. With fairways resembling ribbons in places and primary rough beginning at four inches high, the tee-to-green game plays up. Within a day or two, and depending on hole locations, the field will find the pulse of the bentgrass greens, and because of their size, guys who rely on the flat stick will enter the chat. Speeds will touch 12½ feet on the Stimpmeter. There is no cut, so everyone who tees it up is promised 72 holes. This makes it more difficult to advance to the finale, but it’s never impossible. In the previous two editions of the current points structure (2019, 2021), five golfers have risen into the top 30 with strong performances at the BMW Championship. Aside from a threat of rain on the weekend, the weather should cooperate for all. Seasonably warm and dry conditions will extend into Saturday. Daytime temperatures will reach into the mid-80s. Wind should be a non-factor. Other than a chance to be crowned the 16th FedExCup champion at East Lake next week, everyone positioned inside the top 30 at the conclusion of the BMW Championship is poised to earn exemptions into the 2023 editions of the Masters, U.S. Open and The Open Championship. Those are traditional benefits for generating the best seasons on the PGA TOUR and timely performances in the Playoffs. ROB BOLTON’S SCHEDULE PGATOUR.com’s Rob Bolton recaps and previews every tournament from numerous perspectives. Look for his following contributions as scheduled. MONDAY: Power Rankings TUESDAY*: Sleepers, Draws & Fades WEDNESDAY: Pick ’Em Preview SUNDAY: Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Rookie Ranking * – 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…

Phil Mickelson birdied three of the final holes Sunday to win the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship, and Bernhard Langer held on to win his sixth PGA Tour Champions season points title.

Click here to read the full article…

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Denny McCarthy had one of the more eventful even-par rounds of his career Saturday, when the chatter centered around whether or not he and his caddie had violated one of the new Rules of Golf by lining him up the day before. He hadn’t, as it turned out, but it was a long road in getting there. After incurring a two-stroke penalty for an alleged violation of Rule 10.2b(4) in round two, McCarthy was in the middle of his third round at the Waste Management Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale when everything changed. The penalty, he was told, had been rescinded. “In no way, shape or form did I think what I did yesterday was a penalty,â€� he said. Without the penalty, McCarthy’s second round became a 65 instead of a 67, and he shot up the leaderboard. He shot an even-par 71 Saturday and was at 8-under overall. “We were not trying to break that rule,â€� said Derek Smith, McCarthy’s caddie. “I’ve never lined him up, I never would have, even if it was still legal. There was never any intent regardless of where I was standing. I was strictly there talking about the shot he was about to play.â€� McCarthy had hit his second shot in the water at the par-5 15th hole when he dropped at the edge of the water hazard fronting the green. Smith got behind the shot, as many caddies routinely do, in order to evaluate the shot from the player’s perspective. A rules official informed them as they came off the green that the moment would be under video review and could result in a penalty. McCarthy was told he would in fact be penalized after he hit his tee shot at the second hole. (He had begun his round on the back nine.) Players came to his support on Twitter, and after copious replays, McCarthy and Smith were on the 11th hole Saturday when the PGA TOUR’s Vice President of Rules and Competition Slugger White informed them that the penalty was being rescinded. “Bottom line, we want it right,” White said. “We want it correct. These guys, it’s their livelihood and we want it to be rock solid that we were correct in what we did.” “I wonder what the scoring looked like at home,â€� said Smith, a former Division I golfer who met McCarthy after trying to Monday-qualify for a Web.com Tour event in Wichita, Kansas. “Caddies want to see what the players see,â€� McCarthy said. “It’s not so much about alignment. They’re trying to assess the shot with the player; I just happened to be in there next to the ball, with him, on the angle that my shot was on, trying to assess the shot. In my opinion and many others, I think, also, that’s not a penalty. “If he was in there deliberately looking at where I’m lining up,â€� McCarthy added, “and I’m setting up to the ball, and I don’t back away, yeah, I could see how that’s a two-shot penalty.â€� The TOUR issued the following statement: “Since the situation during Round 2 of the Waste Management Phoenix Open, which resulted in PGA TOUR player Denny McCarthy receiving a two-stroke penalty under Rule 10.2b(4), the PGA TOUR has been in constant contact with the USGA about how the new rule should be interpreted.  During the course of these discussions, this morning a similar situation from yesterday’s round involving Justin Thomas was also brought to our attention. “It is clear that there is a great deal of confusion among players and caddies on the practical application of the new rule during competition, as well as questions surrounding the language of the rule itself and how it should be interpreted.  As a result, with the full support of the USGA and The R&A, the rule will be interpreted whereby the two aforementioned situations as well as future similar situations will not result in a penalty. McCarthy’s score has been updated accordingly. “We will be working vigorously with the USGA and The R&A over the coming days to further analyze and improve the situation with this rule.  The USGA and The R&A will be making an announcement shortly.” The USGA released the following statement: “Following an ongoing dialogue with players and in cooperation with the PGA TOUR rules team, the USGA and The R&A revisited the penalty assessed to Denny McCarthy during Round 2 of the Waste Management Phoenix Open. After an additional review of available video this morning, it was determined that the penalty would not apply in this instance nor in a similar instance involving Justin Thomas. In each of these cases, when the caddie was standing behind the player, the player had not yet begun taking the stance for the stroke, nor could useful guidance on aiming be given because the player was still in the process of determining how to play the stroke. The same would be true for any similar situation that might occur. “The USGA and The R&A recognize that further clarity on how to appropriately apply this Rule is needed. We are committed to assessing its impact and will provide the necessary clarifications in the coming days.”

Click here to read the full article…