Fantasy Insider: Travelers Championship

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — With one good break and two good putts, Justin Thomas felt much better about his round of 5-under 67 on Saturday that gave him a one-shot lead over Jon Rahm in the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP @ SHERWOOD. RELATED: Full leaderboard | Inside the Field: Bermuda Championship Thomas, who trailed by as many as two shots on the back nine, hit driver on the par-5 16th that clanged off a sycamore tree and dropped into the rough instead of he creek. He holed a 10-foot birdie putt to tie for the lead, and then followed with a 30-foot birdie putt up the slope on the par-3 17th. Rahm finished some two hours earlier with a 63, which he figured at least would get him close to the lead and nearly kept him at the top until Thomas finished strong. Lanto Griffin was leading until making two bogeys over the last four holes, one in the water on the par-3 15th, the other by going rough-to-rough on the closing hole. Thomas was at 19-under 197 in another week of low scoring on the PGA TOUR, at least for most players. It was another grind for Tiger Woods, the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP winner last year in Japan, who could only manage a 71. That led to what figures to be the greatest illustration of the strange times brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Woods will be playing the final round with Phil Mickelson, the top two attractions in golf, and there won’t be any fans on the course to watch them. Mickelson opened with seven birdies in eight holes, and played the rest of the way in 2 over for a 67. It will be the ninth time they play together in the final round on the PGA TOUR, and the first time they have no bearing on the outcome. They were 16 shots out of the lead. The first time they played together on a Sunday was at the 1997 PGA Championship when they were eight shots behind and each shot 75, The other end of scoring is plenty compelling. Thomas is going for his third victory this year. Griffin is equally intriguing. He won his first PGA TOUR title last year in Houston and showed for so much of Saturday that he doesn’t get caught up in much. Plus, his putting stroke has been pure all week. Griffin opened with four straight birdies to take the lead, and he stayed there until the end of the round. He went to 19 under with a 15-foot birdie on the 14th hole — two clear of Thomas at that point — when his tee shot took on the flag on the right side of the green at the 15th and drifted too far right and into the hazard. Instead of going to the drop zone, he went to a different set of tees that allowed for a full swing and better control, dropped that wedge into 20 feet and made the putt to escape with bogey. Thomas was playing well enough, even if he had little to show for it after opening with two birdies. In trouble off the tee on the par-5 13th, he chose to drop on the cement cart path and hit a hard draw — without damaging his club — back into the fairway. But then he didn’t take advantage by hitting a mediocre wedge to the fringe to set up par. And when Griffin holed his birdie putt on the 14th, Thomas missed badly from just inside him. But it changed quickly with those two birdies on the 16th and 17th, and he was right back where he started the day. Patrick Cantlay didn’t get much out of his round either, but he kept bogeys off his card for the third straight day. He was three shots behind, along with Sebastian Munoz and Ryan Palmer, who each had 66. Webb Simpson (67) and Bubba Watson (68) were among those four shots behind.

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Winning a major – winning any golf tournament for that matter – is a series of decisive moments. Three memorable back-nine moments Sunday at Quail Hollow helped turn Justin Thomas into the PGA Championship winner. THE 10-SECOND WAIT Thomas likes to talk to his golf ball. A lot. With his tee shot in the air at the par-5 10th – listed at 601 yards on Sunday, it was playing as the longest hole of the week – he made an urgent plea. He could see the ball drifting left toward the trees. He needed divine help. “Get lucky,â€� he requested. “Just spit it out for me, please.â€� Two days earlier, in Friday’s second round, Thomas had also pulled his drive at the 10th. He thought the ball would be OK, but instead it hit a tree and kicked 30 yards into trouble. He did not get lucky that time, although he did scramble for a birdie that day. Now here he was, starting the back nine of a major just one shot off the lead, and – wouldn’t you know it — his ball was headed for that very same tree. Thomas silently hoped fate would intervene. “I feel like that tree kind of owed me one,â€� he said. The debt was indeed paid. The ball bounced off the tree and into the fairway, niftily avoiding the fairway bunker. A huge break. Walking down the fairway toward his ball, Thomas turned to his caddie Jimmy Johnson and said, “That’s why you ask.â€� But the 10th wasn’t finished making Thomas sweat. With a birdie putt from 8 feet, 3 inches, Thomas faced what he called a “weirdâ€� read, with the grain in and from the right at the beginning of the putt, then switching to the left closer to the cup. He opted to play a straight line, expecting the grain to feed the ball back-and-forth into the hole. But the ball stayed left. It reached the cup … and then hung there, one half of the little white sphere suspended in mid-air. Thomas turned his back to the hole in disbelief. How had the ball not dropped? “It was acting like a child and threw a little tantrum,â€� he said. Johnson was also shocked. “Oh my gosh,â€� said the veteran caddie. “I didn’t see how there was any way it was staying out.â€� On the CBS broadcast, analyst Nick Faldo began to count. “1 … 2 … 3 … 4 … 5,â€� he said, ticking off the seconds. Thomas either had to mark – or in this case, tap in – once 10 seconds were reached. “6 … 7 … 8 … 9 …â€� That’s when gravity was restored at Quail Hollow. The ball dropped. The roars came. Thomas tipped his cap to the golf gods and gave a wry shrug. His caddie kept quiet. “I didn’t say anything,â€� Johnson revealed. “I didn’t say much all day except for the yardages and the clubs. I was just trying to survive.â€� But in that silence, Johnson processed the ramifications. Last month, Thomas’ good friend Jordan Spieth had won the Travelers Championship by holing a bunker shot. Perhaps the good breaks at 10 were a sign of things to come. “I thought it might be our day, like it was Jordan’s at Hartford,â€� Johnson said. “I thought that might be an omen. You have to have good things happen to you to win golf tournaments.â€� Thomas was 7 under. Soon he would be the solo leader. GOING BERSERK Less than 30 minutes after his birdie putt fell at 10, Justin Thomas was on the 12th green when he realized there was a five-way tie for the lead. His playing partner, Hideki Matsuyama, had just dropped a stroke. The twosome in the final group, Kevin Kisner and Chris Stroud, were each at 7 under. Well ahead, Francesco Molinari had just birdied 15 to also reach 7 under. “To see that was kind of crazy,â€� Thomas said. A few minutes, the craziness continued. After making par at 12, Thomas remained at 7 under – but everyone else had lost a stroke. He was now the solo leader. But he appeared in danger of giving that stroke away when his tee shot at the par-3 13th missed the green left. It left him in the rough, 39 feet, 7 inches from the pin. It was a tricky chip shot just to get the ball close to the pin. “That first cut is so tough to chip,â€� Thomas explained. “This entire course, it’s tough to chip out of the rough. But that first cut you get, you can really look stupid in a heartbeat because it’s all into the grain and it’s really to where you can just flub it.â€� Thomas said even if the play is to simply hit it in front, the ball could come out hot and run past the hole. This one did not come out hot. It came out perfect, rolling into the cup for an unexpected birdie. He thought the cheers at 10 were loud. The ones at 13 were louder. “Exactly like I saw,â€� Thomas said. “That was a roar like I’ve never experienced.â€� On the bag, Johnson began to believe. “He hit a lot of good shots today,â€� Johnson said, “but when he chipped in on 13, I thought it might be his day.â€� Thomas was now 8 under. His lead was two strokes with five holes to play. VISION IN HIS HEAD Thomas started the Green Mile – Quail Hollow’s last three holes, the toughest closing stretch on the PGA TOUR since 2003 – with a par at the 16th. Now he was at the par-3 17th, playing at 221 yards Sunday. Kisner was hot on his trail after consecutive birdies, cutting Thomas’ lead to one upon reaching the 16th. Patrick Reed also had been at 7 under but had just bogeyed the 18th. Thomas contemplated his tee shot. He just needed par on a hole with a “really brutalâ€� pin. Anything short of the green would fall off against the collar and likely result in a bogey. Anything long would also be a sure bogey. He just needed to land his shot at about 200 yards just past the false edge. He could pull the shot and still get away with it, albeit with a long putt. When he’s practicing at home, Thomas hits a 6-iron 200 yards. But 7-iron was the play now. He never considered another club. His adrenaline level had red-lined, so he figured a full 7 was better than a finesse 6. “You’re pumped up, you’re feeling it,â€� Thomas said. “You’re kind of not full bore, but you want to swing at something.â€� So he swung. Hard. Then he stared. A perfect shot. “I’ll never forget that vision in my head,â€� he said. Thomas’ shot landed 14 feet, 6 inches from the pin. He poured in the putt. It was his sixth and final birdie of the day – and it was all he needed. It allowed him breathing room to make bogey on the final hole and still win by two shots. It’s the first major for the 24-year-old Thomas … and also the first for his veteran caddie. Johnson began caddying in 1997 for Nick Price, who by then had already won his three majors. Johnson then caddied for Steve Stricker, annually one of the best players without a major during his prime. Johnson left Stricker’s bag two years ago to caddie for Thomas. “That was probably the hardest decision I ever made in my life, to be honest with you,â€� Johnson said. “Strick’s such a good guy, great player, quality guy. It was very tough.â€� But he had seen something in Thomas. “He’s got some of those special shots that some of the guys can’t hit,â€� Johnson said. And now Thomas has a major. Doubt it will be his only one.

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GREENSBORO, N.C. — Harold Varner III, Tom Hoge and Roger Sloan each shot 8-under 62 on Thursday to share the first-round lead at the Wyndham Championship, the PGA TOUR’s final regular-season event before the FedExCup playoffs. Varner started the go-low parade at at Sedgefield Country Club with an eight-birdie, no-bogey round that matched his career best on the PGA TOUR. RELATED: Leaderboard | Simpson, Todd feed off friendly energy in Round 1 | FedExCup update Hoge and Sloan, playing together, followed suit later in the round, Hoge also matched his career low on TOUR, while Sloan’s score set his personal best. There were 33 players on the course who had not finished when the round was suspended due to bad weather. Hoge looked like he might have a shot at 59 after he went eagle-birdie on the 15th and 16th holes to reach 9 under. But Hoge, who first played on the PGA Tour in 2015 and has never won, missed a 10-footer for birdie on the 17th before his only bogey on No. 18 to drop into the tie. Sloan had birdies on the 16th and 17th holes and had a chance at 9-under to take the lead alone, but came up short on a 15-foot birdie try on the final hole. The strong start was especially crucial for the 33-year-old Canadian, who came into the TOUR’s last regular-season event at 178 in FedEx Cup points — well out of the 125 cut off to make next week’s first postseason event, THE NORTHERN TRUST in Boston. Sloan is projected to rise into the top 50 should he maintain his position. “Honestly, I don’t have to do anything,” he said. “I’m very blessed that I have status on the PGA TOUR next season. That’s important. I’m going to get starts, I think that frees you up.” All three leaders are seeking their first TOUR wins. The trio were two shots in front of Harris English (64). A large group was at 5-under led by former Masters champion Patrick Reed. Past U.S. Open champion Webb Simpson led another pack at 4-under 66. Paul Casey, who tied for second last week at the PGA Championship, was at 67. Some other PGA Championship contenders last week were not as fortunate. Both Brooks Koepka and Justin Rose, each in the mix in the final round of the year’s first major, could not keep that going in this one. Koepka was 10 shots behind after a 72. Justin Rose finished a stroke worse at 73. Koepka said he was flat after playing several weeks in a row. “A bit tired, to be honest with you, so definitely came out flat,” he said. “But I’ve got to play, I’ve got no other option.” Koepka said even moving up a spot or two in FedExCup standings is helpful to advance, so that’s why he passed up a week off to compete. PGA Championship winner Collin Morikawa is off. Varner had eight birdies, including four in a row midway through the round, without a birdie his first 15 holes. He finished with three pars. Varner, who went to high school in Gastonia about two hours away and college at East Carolina, was disappointed he couldn’t play in front of friends and family due to the ongoing pandemic. “It’s unfortunate this year because I enjoy the cheers and stuff,” he said. “But we’ll get through this year and figure it out. Yeah, it’s just good to be close to home.” Hoge started crunching the numbers after he reached 9-under with two holes left. “I thought we could birdie the last two, but you’ve got to put it in the fairway,” he said after his tee shot on No. 18 went into the rough leading to bogey.

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