Expert Picks: 3M Open

NASSAU, Bahamas — Bubba Watson ends the year at No. 12 in the Presidents Cup standings, and his mission is to be at Royal Melbourne one year from now. But not necessarily as a player. Watson was asked during the Hero World Challenge what would make a good 2019, and he didn’t hesitate. “I have been bugging Mr. Tiger Woods about being a vice captain for Australia,” Watson said. “I would love the honor of doing that again. The reason why is I feel like I can service. For me personally, I have more enjoyment serving 12 guys than playing.” He has experience in that role. Watson was No. 9 in the Ryder Cup standings, when he was left off the team. Davis Love III wound up bringing him to Hazeltine as another vice captain, and Watson thrived in his role. Watson, whose 12 victories on the PGA TOUR include two Masters and two World Golf Championships, has played on only two Presidents Cup teams (5-3-2 record), compared with four Ryder Cup teams. “I always bug Tiger,” Watson said. “He says, `You need to be playing.’ I said, `Look, man, we’ve never won a Ryder Cup with me playing, but we’ve won when I wasn’t playing. So me and you need to be captain and vice captains.’ That’s our joke. I’ve told him, `Listen, I’ll do anything to help you if you want me. If you don’t, that’s fine.'”

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LAS VEGAS — Peter Uihlein topped the leaderboard at 8-under 63 on Thursday in the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, with Jordan Spieth three strokes back in his season debut. Uihlein birdied six of his final nine holes in the morning round at TPC Summerlin. “It’s nice to get off to a good start, especially when there wasn’t much wind,” Uihlein said. “I’ve heard mixed reviews on the forecast this week, so nice to get off to a good start and take advantage of good conditions early.” Seth Reeves shot 64, electing to finish the par-5 ninth after the horn sounded suspending play because of darkness. Harold Varner III and Robert Streb were two strokes back at 65. Spieth shot 66 in his first career start in a domestic fall event. “It’s gettable without the wind,” Spieth said. “We got really, really good conditions this morning, so an 8 under, certainly thought that was out there. To see Peter shoot that was no surprise. Then the guys in the afternoon are going to have it tougher. Looks like we might get the good end of the draw. It’s always nice having a little bit of luck in Vegas, right?” Fellow U.S. Ryder Cup player Bryson DeChambeau also was at 66 with Si Woo Kim, Whee Kim, Sebastian Munoz, Sam Ryder and Abraham Ancer. “It was a good round for sure,” DeChambeau said. “Unfortunately, had a couple three-putts and had some missed opportunities, but I’m a little rusty on the putting green.” DeChambeau and Spieth joined Ryder Cup teammates Webb Simpson, Tony Finau and Rickie Fowler and U.S. captain Jim Furyk in the field. Fowler and Simpson shot 68s in the same group, Finau had a 69, and Furyk a 71. Spieth is playing for the first time since the Ryder Cup and making his first stroke-play start since the BMW Championship in early September. “It’s been really the last kind of six tournaments or so of the regular season, too, I started to clean up kind of in the setup and vision,” Spieth said. “It’s getting close to where I feel like I can just kind of point, aim, shoot, which is where I want to be.” Uihlein opened on the back nine, backing birdies on Nos. 11, 14 and 15. Riding a hot putter on the second nine, he birdied the first four holes, added another on No. 6, bogeyed the par-4 seventh and rebounded with a birdie on the par-5 ninth. “I hadn’t been putting great the first few weeks of the season,” Uihlein said. “I put in a lot of work last week for a few days and switched putters, so it’s nice to kind of see that hard work kind of pay off this quickly. Wasn’t really expecting it.” The son of Acushnet/Titleist chairman and CEO Wally Uihlein, the 29-year-old former Oklahoma State player is winless on the PGA TOUR. He won the 2010 U.S. Amateur, took the European Tour’s 2013 Madeira Islands Open and the Web.com Tour’s 2017 Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship. “I’ve always believed the game of golf is more of a marathon and a journey and not a sprint,” Uihlein said. “It’s one of those things, if you keep working hard, keep your head down, keep focused, stay disciplined, results will follow. You’re not really trying to press or force anything.”

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