According to a report, only a “small gathering of sponsors and VIPs” will have access to the course during the $9M showdown between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson.
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In the days when Tiger Woods was dominating the sport, you would never hear him referring to he and caddie Steve Williams as “we” like the modern tour pro does now. An emotional Woods could be seen telling LaCava “we did it!”, something that would have been inconceivable with the Tiger of old. In LaCava’s case, that “we” is something he absolutely earned from Woods, who he’s stuck by through everything that’s happened in their last eight years together.
The Asia Swing culminates in China for the World Golf Championships – HSBC Champions where a cavalcade of stars are ready to do battle. It was here that Justin Rose kicked off his big push towards the FedExCup crown, winning with a final round surge over a faltering Dustin Johnson. Can Brooks Koepka continue his charge after winning last week in Korea or will it be another international star like Rose, or perhaps a rejuvenated Hideki Matsuyama? In the last two seasons the winner of the FedExCup (Justin Thomas and Rose) have won during the Asia Swing so everyone knows the 550 points on offer to the winner could be critical. There are seven Chinese players in the field led by Haotong Li. Perhaps it is time for the PGA TOUR’s first Chinese winner? Li is joined by Yechun Yuan, Xinjun Zhang, Yanwei Liu, Bowen Xiao, Wenchong Liang and Ashun Wu. Seven of the top 10 players in the world headline the field. The Golf Channel will provide live coverage for all four rounds. For the opening two rounds coverage starts at 10 p.m. ET (10 a.m. local time) on Wednesday and Thursday. Weekend play gets underway at 11 p.m. ET (11 a.m. local time). MORE: Tee times Here’s a look at the Featured Groups for the first two rounds (FedExCup ranking in parentheses): Brooks Koepka (3) – Hot off his victory in last week’s CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES in Korea the newly minted World No. 1 is looking to keep the momentum rolling. He was T2 here a year ago. Justin Rose (NR) – The FedExCup champion has three top 10s at this event including last season’s win in Shanghai. Looking to get his title defense in both off to a big start. 
Tommy Fleetwood (NR) – Has been knocking on the door of a PGA TOUR win for some time. Still flying high from his Ryder Cup efforts. Three top-25s previous here, but no top 10s. Tee times: Rd. 1 (9:55 p.m. ET); Rd. 2 (10:50 p.m. ET) Jason Day (21) – Finished strong last week in Korea to be T5 and comes off the back of a T11 here on debut last season. Australian set to take a break for baby No. 3 after this start so wants maximum points. Tony Finau (NR) – Did everything last season except win. An impressive 11 top-10 finishes and a sixth-place finish in the FedExCup. Now it’s time to take it up a notch again. Was T11 here last season. 
Hoatong Li (NR) – Crowd favorite looking to be the first Chinese player to win on the PGA TOUR. Best finish in the event is a T7 three years ago. 
 Tee times: Rd. 1 (10:45 p.m. ET); Rd. 2 (9:30 p.m. ET) Rory McIlroy (NR) – Six times he’s played and his worst return is a tie for 11th two seasons ago. Making his PGA TOUR season debut and expecting to make an immediate splash. 
 Dustin Johnson (NR) – Took a sizable lead after 54 holes last year before a Sunday stumble. Revenge is on his mind in his season debut. Won the event in 2014.
 Francesco Molinari (NR) – A winner here in 2010. Returns this season in the form of his career having claimed multiple worldwide wins last season, including the Open Championship. Tee times: Rd. 1 (10:55 p.m. ET); Rd. 2 (9:40 p.m. ET) Patrick Reed (NR) – The Masters champion is ready to let his clubs do the talking once more. Was T7 here a few years ago and is looking to better that to kick off his season. Jon Rahm (NR) – Spanish sensation ready to kick-start his 2018-19 PGA TOUR season. Finished midfield on debut at the event last year – something that doesn’t sit well with his personal standards.  Alex Noren (57) – Two good rounds mixed in with two not so good ones last week in Korea was still good enough for T18 finish. Noren’s accuracy off the tee and into the greens should spell success here although he’s yet to find a top 10 in five previous starts. Tee times: Rd. 1 (9:45 p.m. ET); Rd. 2 (10:40 p.m. ET)
Man, it’s good to be back. That goes both with you and as it concerns our motley task force vying to take down 2016-17 champion Jonathan Wall. Not unlike your experience with fellow opponents, some of us don’t connect unless there’s action, so the Sentry Tournament of Champions couldn’t roll around soon enough. Before we dive into the headliners among the 34-man field at Kapalua, two matters of business need to be tackled. • The Puerto Rico Open has been modified to an unofficial charity event over the first weekend of March. (It will return as an official event in 2019.) Proceeds will go to the ongoing recovery due to the devastation from Hurricane Maria. It’s a terrific decision for obvious reasons, but the tournament has been removed from the choices in PGA TOUR Fantasy One & Done presented by SERVPRO. There are now 48 events contributing to the game in 2017-18. • Future Possibilities below has been enhanced. In addition to potential spots to burn all listed, you’ll now see my subjective ranking of those tournaments (that are still listed chronologically). This additional layer is meant only as a guide when planning long-term, but it also could help break some ties down the road. When the PGA TOUR Champions opens its 2018 season on Jan. 18-20 for the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai, the dedicated section for those guys will be presented similarly. This is to say that if you’re new to that game and not as familiar with the 50-and-over circuit, it will have immediate added value. You’ll see. Shifting to the here and now, with not even three dozen pegging it on Maui where there is no cut, your only interest might be to learn why I’m not on board a usual suspect, but if you read my Power Rankings, you’ve pretty much gleaned where my allegiances lie. Cross off first-timers. The popular dots connected between Kapalua and Augusta National what with their dastardly greens run parallel to the same for first-timers. If you’re a veteran, you know to avoid the wide-eyed at the Masters and stick with experience. This week is no different. That’s because it matters. That leaves 20 options. Scanning Future Possibilities, five are accompanied with bolded mentions that the Sentry TOC should be considered. None other than defending champion Justin Thomas is tagged with the only “1” among them, but his collection of smart sites runs seven deep, so feel free to remain patient. In a vacuum, only Thomas, Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler, Dustin Johnson, Hideki Matsuyama and Marc Leishman would generate the automatic selection if this tournament was slotted later in the season, but even then, the promise of slapping something significant on the board begs you to steer into a next-tier talent. This is why I’ve circled Brendan Steele. At No. 8 in the Power Rankings and with prior experience at Kapalua, including a T6 just last year, that’s enough for me. He’d be my pick for the Barracuda Championship in seven months, but he’s already eligible for the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational contested concurrently (which explains why the Barracuda is omitted from his list of events in Future Possibilities). Brian Harman was the only other in the field who tempted me, but I want to keep him available for one of the next two weeks. Two-man gamers can ignore the rule against exhausting a first-timer. Give Xander Schauffele and Cameron Smith consideration as your tail of the tandem. FUTURE POSSIBILITIES NOTE: Select golfers committed to the tournament are listed alphabetically. Future tournaments are sorted chronologically and reflect previous success on the courses on which the tournaments will be held in 2017-18. The numerical values in parentheses represent the order of relative confidence of where to use each golfer if multiple sites are listed (e.g. 1 for strongest, 2 for next-strongest and so on). All are pending golfer commitment. Daniel Berger … Waste Management (4); Houston (3); St. Jude (1; two-time defending); Travelers (2) Kevin Chappell … Valero (1; defending); St. Jude (4); WGC-Bridgestone (2); Dell Technologies (3) Jason Dufner … CareerBuilder (5); Valspar (1); DEAN & DELUCA (2); Memorial (3; defending); U.S. Open (4); Wyndham (6); TOUR Championship (7) Rickie Fowler … Sentry (2); Waste Management (5); Honda (1; defending); Houston (4); Masters (8); Wells Fargo (7); PLAYERS (9); WGC-Bridgestone (3); THE NORTHERN TRUST (10); Dell Technologies (6) Brian Harman … Sony (2); CareerBuilder (1); Arnold Palmer (5); DEAN & DELUCA (4); John Deere (3) Russell Henley … Sony (3); Houston (1; defending); Greenbrier (2) Billy Horschel … Honda (2); Arnold Palmer (5); Valero (3); St. Jude (1); TOUR Championship (4) Dustin Johnson … Sentry (4); Pebble Beach (2); Genesis (1; defending); WGC-Mexico (6; defending); WGC-Match Play (15; defending); Houston (14); Masters (3); Memorial (11); St. Jude (7); U.S. Open (12); Canadian (9); WGC-Bridgestone (13); PGA Championship (8); Dell Technologies (10); TOUR Championship (5) Kevin Kisner … Sony (2); Heritage (3); DEAN & DELUCA (1; defending); Memorial (4); Wyndham (5) Brooks Koepka … Sentry (6); WGC-Match Play (7); St. Jude (3); U.S. Open (1; defending); Open Championship (4); WGC-Bridgestone (5); PGA Championship (2) Marc Leishman … Sony (5); Arnold Palmer (3; defending); DEAN & DELUCA (6); Memorial (4); Travelers (2); Open Championship (1) Hideki Matsuyama … Sentry (2); Waste Management (1; two-time defending); Genesis (5); Arnold Palmer (9); Masters (3); Wells Fargo (10); PLAYERS (7); Memorial (8); U.S. Open (4); WGC-Bridgestone (6; defending) Pat Perez … Sony (3); Farmers (2); Pebble Beach (1); Houston (5); Heritage (4); Valero (6) Jon Rahm … Farmers (defending) Jordan Spieth … Sentry (3); Pebble Beach (5; defending); Valspar (8); Houston (11); Masters (1); Heritage (12); DEAN & DELUCA (2); Travelers (6; defending); John Deere (7); Open Championship (9; defending); WGC-Bridgestone (10); TOUR Championship (4) Brendan Steele … CareerBuilder (3); Waste Management (1); Honda (4); Valero (5); Wells Fargo (6); Travelers (2) Justin Thomas … Sentry (1; defending); Sony (3; defending); WGC-Mexico (5); Valspar (6); Wells Fargo (7); Dell Technologies (4; defending); TOUR Championship (2)
