Expert Picks: World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba

Martin Laird … With his reputation as a long-hitting, tee-to-green specialist, you’d expect him to thrive at Glen Abbey, and indeed he has with a T22 (2008), a T16 (2009) and a T2 (2016) on the board. He’s been a solid putter as well for the last four seasons, but the Scot is streaky and he enters in a mini-slump, so expectations are elevated that he’ll reconnect with form where he has time and again. Steve Wheatcroft … Ignore the season-long stats and his position in the FedExCup standings. Instead, put your faith in his feels right now. Almost always prime for a shootout, he’s comin’ in hot with a T12 at the John Deere Classic and a T10 at Barbasol. The 40-year-old also is no stranger to Glen Abbey where he’s 3-for-3 with a T5 in 2016. Keith Mitchell … Sat out the Barbasol Championship after placing T7 at the John Deere Classic, so he’s not only rested, he’s in form. He’s also a terrific fit this week. Glen Abbey’s targets are below average in size. That benefits guys who don’t rate well statistically with the putter. Cue the rookie who ranks eighth in strokes gained: off-the-tee and 31st in birdies-or-better percentage, both of which attributes for scoring. Cameron Champ … There may not be a hotter player in the field than the 23-year-old sponsor exemption. He’s fresh off his breakthrough title at the Web.com Tour’s Utah Championship, which was his sixth consecutive top-11 finish. He’s third on the circuit’s money list, so we’ll see him on the PGA TOUR regularly next season. The lanky product of Texas A&M also leads the Web.com Tour in distance off the tee, total driving, ball-striking and par-5 scoring. Showcasing his knack for scoring for which he slots second, he’s also fifth in greens hit and second in converting those chances into par breakers. Austin Connelly … It’s impossible to comprehend the pressure on Canadians to chase victory in their national open. For one, it’s why you’ll be reminded again this week that Pat Fletcher in 1954 is the last Canuck to prevail. Containing oneself while national pride is bursting isn’t standard operating procedure in most weeks. The other challenge is simple: the RBC Canadian Open is a PGA TOUR event distributing the full allocation of FedExCup points. That draws a terrific field from all over year after year. The 21-year-old plays under the Canadian flag for which 21 are represented this week at Glen Abbey. While he’s slowed after a successful foray on the European Tour in 2017, he’s still managed three top 20s in his last 11 starts. When locked in, he’s most dangerous off the tee and on the greens.

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With fans still lining the fairways and surrounding greens, the Players continued. With crowds banned starting Friday, this was likely the last sporting event in the U.S. with fans for a while. And it felt strange.

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Justin Thomas rebounded from a sloppy 72nd-hole bogey to win the Sentry Tournament of Champions in a three-man playoff. It was his second win of the season and third in his last six PGA TOUR starts. Thomas, the 2017 FedExCup champion, now leads this season’s standings by 175 points. Thomas’ 12th win also put him in some impressive company. Here’s a closer look at what it means. 1. LEGENDARY COMPANY: Thomas is just the third player in the past 60 years to win 12 times before turning 27. The other two? Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods. Woods won 34 times before turning 27, while Nicklaus won 20 times. 2. TOP OF THE CLASS: Thomas’ 12 wins also are the most among players currently under the age of 30. Before this week, he was tied atop that list with Jordan Spieth. The two players have been linked since their days in junior golf. They’re the two biggest names from the Class of 2011. Spieth once led Thomas, 8-1, in the wins department. It just shows how unpredictable this game can be. While Spieth won his first title as a teenager in 2013, Thomas didn’t join the TOUR until the 2014-15 season. He turned pro after the 2013 Walker Cup and spent a season on the Korn Ferry Tour. Thomas’ 12 wins since 2014-15 are tied with Dustin Johnson for the most on TOUR in that span. Eleven of Thomas’ wins have come since the start of the 2016-17 season. That’s the most on TOUR by a good margin. MOST WINS SINCE START OF 2016-17 3. IRONS ON FIRE: Before his closing bogey, Thomas’ iron play was the talk of the Sentry’s final round. A windy Plantation Course, with its sweeping slopes, was the perfect canvas for Thomas to display his artistry with his irons. He was altering his swing speed and trajectories to meet Kapalua’s unique demands. As a testament to his iron play, Thomas’ four birdies on the 12 par-3s last week were two more than anyone else in the field. Twelve of the 34 players in the field didn’t make a birdie on a par-3 all week. He birdied two par-3s on Sunday alone, the eighth and 11th holes. They were the bookends on a run of four consecutive birdies that made it look like Thomas had the tournament under control. He hit his tee shot on the 198-yard eighth hole to 12 feet. The field’s average proximity on that hole in the final round was 37 feet. Thomas was the only player to hit his tee shot within 10 feet on the 162-yard 11th. The short par-3 was actually Sunday’s hardest hole. He hit it to 5 feet, 6 inches to make just the second birdie of the day on that hole. The hole played to a 3.47 scoring average Sunday. Thomas led the field in fairway proximity from both 125-150 yards and 150-175 yards last week. THOMAS’ FAIRWAY PROXIMITY 4. GAINING GROUND: Thomas has been one of the best iron players on TOUR since the 2017 season, trailing only Henrik Stenson in Strokes Gained: Approach per round over that span (minimum 200 measured rounds). BEST SG: APPROACH PER ROUND SINCE 2017 5. FRIGHTENING FINISH: Kapalua’s par-5 18th hole is a birdie opportunity, but Thomas bogeyed it twice last week. He drove into the penalty area in the second round, then hooked his 3-wood into the high grass on Sunday. He is the first person to win at Kapalua with two scores of bogey (or worse) on the 18th hole in the week of his win. The Sentry Tournament of Champions has been held at Kapalua since 1999. Only one other player (Stuart Appleby, 2006) has won with a bogey (or worse) on 18 in the week of his win. OVER-PAR SCORES ON 18 BY SENTRY WINNERS

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