Favorite Scottie Scheffler trending back to the winner’s circle at Cadence Bank Houston Open

MEDINAH, Ill. – Justin Thomas was already nervous. He had probably lingered too long on his phone, reading the good-luck and you-got-this texts from well-wishers who assumed that closing out a six-shot lead on Sunday is a mere formality. JT hadn’t even arrived at the course yet for his final round at the BMW Championship. When he did, some friendly advice was waiting for him from the locker room attendants at Medinah, who evidently decided that a guy who’s won a FedExCup, a major, and multiple PGA TOUR events needed help on how to close out a tournament. OK, it has been a year since Thomas has won. People like him and want him to succeed. But still … Their advice? Talk to your caddie. A lot. Make sure you keep talking. “OK, as long as you stop talking, it’s fine with me,â€� JT thought to himself. Thomas knows all too well that large leads do not come with guarantees. Sure, six-shot leads seem safe – since 1928, just seven 54-hole leaders in PGA TOUR history have lost such a lofty lead. But Thomas remembered the 2017 Sentry Tournament of Champions, when he led by five shots after 13 holes but saw it whittled to one by Hideki Matsuyama before JT closed it out. Matsuyama was at it again on Sunday, going out in 5-under 31 en route to his second 63 of the week. Matsuyama’s first 63, on Friday, had set the course record – one that lasted for 24 hours until Thomas eclipsed it with a magnificent 61 on Saturday that set him up with the huge advantage. Matsuyama was too far away from posing any real threat, but one of Thomas’ playing partners, future Presidents Cup teammate Patrick Cantlay, was offering some high heat. When Cantlay produced his fourth consecutive birdie at the par-5 10th while Thomas bogeyed the hole after an errant second shot with a 3-wood – “Just a bad shot,â€� JT said – the lead was reduced to two shots. Related: Leaderboard | What’s in Thomas’s bag? | FedExCup standings | Meet the top 30 | How it works: TOUR Championship Cantlay had the momentum. “I knew I had to make birdies,â€� he said. But that’s when Thomas flipped the switch. The game was officially on – and that got the competitive juices flowing. In fact, his nervousness to start the day with a six-shot lead was now replaced with the bravado and fearlessness of a closer. “If I have a two-shot lead with eight holes left,â€� Thomas said, “I feel confident I can pull it off.â€� Thomas responded at the par-4 11th by hitting an approach shot from 106 yards to 2 feet. Birdie. Lead now three shots. An errant drive on the next hole posed trouble, but Thomas saved par by rolling in a 14-foot putt. Then, after Cantlay rolled in a birdie putt at the par-3 13th from 15 feet, Thomas responded with his own birdie from inside 12 feet. They matched birdies again at the par-4 15th, before Cantlay finally flinched on the next hole with a bogey. With a four-shot lead and two to play, JT was safely home. “I needed to make any of the putts on 12, 14 or 15 if I really wanted to get some momentum on my side,â€� Cantlay said. “Seemed like him saving par on 12 was big. Then obviously I tried to get one back on 13, and then he made it on top of me. “So he just played really well. It was going to be hard for me to get to 25 under anyway.â€� Indeed, that’s where Thomas ended up, just three shots off the tournament scoring record on a course that normally offers more resistance. In the end, Thomas needed the pressure of being pushed so that he could offer the proper – and winning – response. “It’s always easy when things are going well,â€� Thomas said. “When your back is up against the wall or when you get pressured or put a little heat on you, I think how you respond is sometimes a little bit better or show a little bit more.â€� OK, so talking about leads … in winning the BMW Championship, Thomas now moves to No. 1 in FedExCup points. Under the new Starting Strokes format that will be used at the TOUR Championship, Thomas will start the tournament at 10 under. He’ll lead No. 2 Patrick Cantlay by two strokes, No. 3 Brooks Koepka by three shots, and so on, with the back end of the field 10 shots behind. “I can certainly say 1000% I never slept on a Wednesday lead,â€� joked Thomas. But he knows the opportunity is immense. He’s already won one FedExCup, back in 2017 when he won five times and established himself as one of the world’s top golfers. Only Tiger Woods has won multiple FedExCups. Thomas is in the driver’s seat to join him. Just like six-shot leads on Sunday, though, there will be no guarantees at East Lake. Thomas is taking nothing for granted. Never in his golfing career, even as a junior, has he been given strokes before a tournament.  It will be a different format, but the mindset remains the same. Close it out. “There’s nobody in the history of this sport that has experienced it, so nobody knows,â€� Thomas said. “I don’t know if it’s going to be weird. It’s going to be different, I know that. “I know that I’m in a lot better position than I was at the start of the week. I just have to be grateful and thankful for that.â€� More thankful, no doubt, than any locker room advice he may receive the next few days. Don’t worry about JT – he still knows how to win.

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KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. – American John Catlin, a three-time winner on the European Tour in the last nine months, was hit with a slow play penalty during the opening round of the PGA Championship at Kiawah Island’s Ocean Course. Catlin, the world no. 80 from California, received a one-stroke penalty for a breach of the PGA Championship Pace of Play Policy, after failing to head a warning following an initial slow time. Catlin’s first bad time occurred on the par-5 16th hole, his seventh of his round, where he took 74 seconds for his second shot and received a warning from the rules committee. His second bad time, that induced the penalty, took place on the par-4 3rd hole, Catlin’s 12th of the day. The 30-year-old took 63 seconds for his second shot, resulting in the one-stroke penalty, turning his par into a bogey. It’s the first slow play penalty at a major championship since 14-year-old Guan Tianlang was penalized a stroke during the 2013 Masters. The PGA of America adopted a Pace of Play Policy under Rule 5.6b(3) of the Rules of Golf to encourage and enforce prompt play in the 2021 tournament. Catlin, who is in the field via a special invitation, finished with a 3-over 75 in his first major championship round.

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Corey Conners is a Canadian who now lives in South Florida, so you may not expect cowboy boots to be part of his wardrobe. He was wearing a pair around his house earlier this week, though. The boots, which he earned for winning last year’s Valero Texas Open, gave him a boost of “positive energy� during these tough times, he said. Conners was scheduled to defend his title this week at TPC San Antonio before the coronavirus pandemic put the world on hold. Conners made 10 birdies in his final round last year to become the first Monday qualifier to win on TOUR since 2010. He took some time Wednesday to meet with reporters in a conference call. Conners and his wife, Malory, also will be going live on the PGA TOUR’s Instagram account at 7 p.m. Wednesday. Here are some highlights from Wednesday’s call: What have you been up to? I’ve had the clubs away for the most part. I don’t really have a plan for getting back into competitive mode. I’ve just been trying to stay inside, enjoying time with my wife, a little bit of reading and Xbox and doing workouts in the gym in our house, trying to stay in good shape. What’s your favorite book you’ve read, and what Xbox games have you played? I read the book Pound the Stone. It’s a really good book about work ethic. It’s by Josh Metcalf. He has another one called Chop Wood, Carry Water. As for Xbox, it’s pretty simple right now. I’ve never had a game system or been a gamer but I’ve been playing NHL and racing games. That’s pretty much it. I’m just trying to peck away at the NHL to get my skills respectable enough where I could challenge some people online, but right now I have a lot of work to do there. Can you start by taking us back through your memories of last year’s win? I have a lot of great memories. It’s been a sort of refreshing mental activity to remember the good stuff I did last year and getting my first win. There were a lot of highs from that week, especially from that last round. Making 10 birdies was pretty awesome, and proving to myself that I was able to get it done was pretty awesome. I’m looking forward to getting back in that position. When you look back at that final round, there were a lot of ups and downs. When you look back at your emotions that day, what stands out? Things were pretty high after the first five holes. I made four birdies and got off to a terrific start. Then making four bogeys to finish the front nine was definitely a low but I learned a lot from that moment. I had gotten ahead of myself. Making the turn, I was able to reset. I was able to make some birdies starting the back nine and I didn’t get ahead of myself that time. I was really focused and relaxed. Even within the round I learned some things. You were in a position to represent Canada in the Olympics, but they were obviously postponed. How disappointed are you? Obviously it was disappointing. I’d worked really hard. It was a goal of mine the past couple years. Things have happened that are out of my control, but it’s still motivating. Representing Canada in Japan would be a really awesome achievement and a dream come true. Ever since golf was announced in the Olympics, I’ve wanted to represent Canada. Does Malory still get recognized from the telecast? Yeah, for sure. She’s been getting some love this week as we kind of look back on last year and her emotions. It was pretty awesome. People definitely still recognize her. There were a lot of instances after the win where we’d be in an airport or restaurant where people would recognize.

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