FedExCup Movers: Quicken Loans National

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – Satoshi Kodaira had just added to his wardrobe and verbally accepted PGA TOUR membership when he was asked a question few thought he would have to answer. How did he like his new plaid jacket? Kodaira looked down at the traditional winner’s coat, then out at his audience. “I will probably not wear it regularly,� he said through an interpreter, sending a burst of laughter through the winner’s press conference. “But this is special.� Japan’s Kodaira, 28, overcame strong winds and Si Woo Kim of Korea for his first TOUR win at the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town. After coming from six shots back at the start of the day, the winner rolled in a birdie putt of 24 feet, 6 inches at the par-3 17th hole, the third hole of a sudden-death playoff, and watched as Kim failed to match him with a long birdie attempt of his own. “I wasn’t really thinking about winning,� Kodaira said of his thoughts early Sunday, when he teed off almost an hour before the final threesome of Kim, Ian Poulter and Luke List. List, who lost a playoff to Justin Thomas in The Honda Classic, had a chance to join the playoff but missed a birdie putt from just outside 10 feet on the last hole of regulation. He and 36-hole leader Bryson DeChambeau (66) tied for third at 11-under. Kim, who will defend his title at THE PLAYERS Championship next month, had a chance to end the tournament in regulation after knocking his approach shot 6 feet, 4 inches from the pin on the 72nd hole, but his birdie effort grazed the lip and stayed out. “I tried my best,� he said, “and the putts didn’t drop. It is what it is.� When his last birdie try came up short, a tournament that featured a third-round flyover by a Singapore Airlines Boeing 787, and the most accomplished male pro from Korea, had been won by perhaps the second most famous player from Japan. (Hideki Matsuyama being the first.) “I’ve not talked to Hideki,� Kodaira said. “But I’ve been watching him on TV, and it gives me confidence and inspiration to play on the PGA TOUR.� Sunday was always going to be a battle of attrition. With stiff winds and thunderstorms in the forecast, tournament officials moved the starting times up to 7-9 a.m. and sent the field off split tees. Although there were some good scores, lowest among them a 65 by Harris English, the leaders were left to make a few early birdies and then hang on for dear life. Third-round leader Poulter shot a back-nine 40. List bogeyed four of his last eight holes, with just one birdie at the par-5 15th to offset the damage. Kim, after seizing the lead with a 3-under 33 on the front nine, shot a 3-over 38 on the back. The last five winners of the RBC Heritage had trailed by at least three shots after 54 holes. Kodaira, who came into Sunday six off the lead, stayed on the offensive throughout. After scorching Harbour Town with a tournament-best 63 in easier conditions Saturday, he began the final round with three straight birdies and finished with seven of them overall. Given the tougher conditions Sunday, he said his 5-under 66 was the more impressive of the two rounds. The two playoff combatants made pars on the first two extra holes, both at the par-4 18th, the most tenuous moment being Kodaira’s clutch up-and-down for par from behind the green the second time through. He made a five-footer to stay alive before his winning birdie on 17. “I wasn’t that nervous on the last putt,� he said, “compared to the first two putts on 18.� After finishing T28 at the Masters the week before, the Japan Golf Tour member had earned a spot in next season’s Sentry Tournament of Champions (among other tournaments); and his best-ever result on TOUR; and had become the first player from Japan to win since Matsuyama captured the 2017 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. “This is a stage I’ve been dreaming about,� Kodaira said. “And having this opportunity to play [the PGA TOUR] fulltime is a dream come true.� OBSERVATIONS LIST SUFFERS ANOTHER NEAR-MISS. By his own admission, Luke List didn’t have it in the final round. He hit just eight of 14 fairways, and 10 greens in regulation. Still, he gave himself a chance on 18, knocking his approach shot to just outside 10 feet before missing the putt that would have gotten him into the Kodaira/Kim playoff. List signed for a final-round 72. “I hit a good putt,� he said. “I just didn’t hit very many fairways. Honestly, that really put me behind the 8-ball. I wasn’t able to play as consistent as I did the first three days. It was unfortunate that the swing wasn’t there today, but I hung in there and had a great attitude, and I had a chance at the end there.� Better news still: There’s a lot of golf left to be played this season, and List is starting to believe his first TOUR win is coming soon. “Hopefully next week,� he said. “I’m getting better each opportunity, and I feel like my game has risen to the point where I expect to contend every week. So it’s going to happen.� D.J. SOLID IN RBC RETURN. Dustin Johnson hadn’t played Harbour Town since missing back-to-back cuts here in 2008 and 2009, but as he said before the tournament, that was long ago. He wasn’t the No. 1 player in the world, hadn’t won a major. Proving he is a different, more complete player, Johnson battled a balky putter to not only make the cut this time, he shot a final-round 67 to finish 7-under (T16). “I like the golf course,� he said. “I really do. It actually sets up really well for me.� He had just two caveats: He wasn’t crazy about the short par-4 ninth hole or the dogleg-left par-4 11th, which he played in a cumulative 5-over for the week. After his round Sunday, Johnson was set to begin a three-week break, and was bound for the Bahamas. He knows what to work on upon his return: putting. After struggling on the greens at the Masters (T10), Johnson averaged 29 putts per round at Harbour Town, where he said he had trouble reading the breaks. “I’ve got a few weeks to work on it,� he said. “I’ll be ready for THE PLAYERS.� REDMAN TO TURN PRO AFTER NCAAs. One week after he missed the cut at the Masters, Clemson sophomore and reigning U.S. Amateur champion Doc Redman shot 72 to finish 1-under. He said he will turn professional before his next PGA TOUR start, the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide, but for now is excited to rejoin his college teammates for the ACC Championship, April 20-22. “I’ve missed the last three events we’ve played, which has been tough,� said Redman, who also played in the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, where he finished 71st. “We lost to Duke last year, so we want to win ACCs pretty bad.� NCAA Regionals are set for May 14-16, followed by the National Championship, May 25-29. After all that, Redman will go pro in time for his next TOUR start, at the Memorial. He’s also lined up to play in the U.S. Open, The National outside Washington, D.C., and the Open Championship, and hopes to make enough money to skip Q school and go directly to Web.com Tour Finals. “It’s definitely possible,� said Redman, who hopes to sprinkle in a few more TOUR starts this summer. “I’ve just got to play well. I sat down with my family and coaches to talk about turning pro. I’m just trying to strike while the iron is hot.� NOTABLES IAN POULTER – Third-round leader finally ran out of gas in his sixth straight week of competition. Going for his second victory in three weeks, the winner of the recent Houston Open never looked sharp, got on a back-nine bogey train and signed for a 75 to finish T7. BRYSON DECHAMBEAU – Rebounding from a third round that saw him card a triple-bogey and two doubles, DeChambeau chased a third-round 75 with a 66 to finish T3, a shot out of the playoff. KEVIN KISNER – Gave himself a chance to win for the second straight year, but the South Carolinian shot a final-round 72 to finish 9-under and three out of the playoff, in a tie for seventh. WESLEY BRYAN – Defending champ shot 70 (T42). Three players have successfully defended at the RBC: Payne Stewart (1989-’90), Davis Love III (1991-’92) and Boo Weekley (2007-’08). DAVIS LOVE III – After making the cut on the number, five-time winner shot 74-73 on the weekend to finish T74. Dru Love, his son, missed the cut by one (77-66) on Friday. JIM FURYK – The two-time RBC champion (2010, 2015) shot a second straight 73 to finish T70. QUOTABLES I’ve never seen so many putts left short for me today. I had a chance on the front to shoot 3- or 4-under, but never got it going.The conditions are really tough, starting with my snap into the water on No. 10, my first hole.This course is very similar to the courses in Japan: a little bit shorter, and a shaped course. SUPERLATIVES Low round: 65 by Harris English, who went from T69 to T32. Longest drive: 352 yards (Ryan Palmer/No. 9) Longest putt: 51’ 1� (Harris English/No. 13) Toughest hole: The par-3 14th (3.325)

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They could only share a laugh while looking over their creation and realizing how far it had come. Hosting one of the PGA TOUR’s top events was not the goal when they started the renovation of Long Island’s Glen Oaks Club. But there they were, standing on the scaffolding behind the 17th green, mere weeks before the club would host THE NORTHERN TRUST — the first event of the 2017 FedExCup Playoffs. “Craig turned to me and said, ‘Never in my wildest imagination would I ever think we’d be getting ready for a TOUR event,’â€� said course designer Joel Weiman. Craig Currier is Glen Oaks’ superintendent. He has some experience preparing courses for prestigious events. He was hired at Bethpage Black for the 2002 and 2009 U.S. Opens. Currier came to Glen Oaks a year after the second Open, lured to the private club to lead a dramatic renovation of a tired, tree-lined course. Some golf enthusiasts refer to Glen Oaks as “the Augusta National of the northâ€� because its wide fairways flow into each other, the deep hues of green dotted by bright white bunkers. Of course, the Alister Mackenzie design down in Georgia holds an incomparable place in the sport. Weiman insists that they weren’t trying to copy one of golf’s most famous courses, but Glen Oaks’ crisp, clean look is the inspiration for the comparisons. Stewart Hagestad has played both Glen Oaks and Augusta National. He was the low amateur at this year’s Masters (T36) and played Glen Oaks in the 2016 Metropolitan Open, finishing 11th with a 54-hole score of 7-over 217. He called Glen Oaks’ conditioning “pretty elite.â€� “They really nailed the aesthetics,â€� said Hagestad, winner of the 2016 U.S. Mid-Amateur. BK Sweeney’s Parkside Tavern is a watering hole just outside the grounds of Bethpage State Park that advertises “family-friendly dining and delicious, hearty foodsâ€� on its website. It’s where Howard Smith went to meet the man he wanted to lead Glen Oaks’ transformation. Smith, a longtime Glen Oaks member, was the club’s president. Currier’s reputation, as the man who prepared a municipal course for two U.S. Opens, preceded him. They had never met, but Smith was able to procure his phone number and arrange a meeting. “I had heard, ‘If you want to hire the best, hire Craig,’â€� Smith said. “Based on that, I told myself that I had to give it a try. It was a process. I was doing a lot of selling on Glen Oaks and trying to convince him that going from a public course to a private course … would be a great next step. I guess I was appealing.â€� Currier grew up on a dairy farm in upstate New York, which gave him an appreciation for hard labor and long hours. A small private club, The Cedar Lake Club, was adjacent to the family farm. He started working on the course as a teenager. “I think my dad almost pushed me away from farming, told me I should do something else,â€� Currier said. “After growing up on a dairy farm, almost any job you do seems easy.â€� He worked at several clubs, including two winters at Augusta National, before becoming the superintendent at Bethpage in June 1997, months after the U.S. Golf Association announced it was taking its biggest tournament to the course. The $2 million Rees Jones renovation to toughen up the Black Course started two months later. It was a dramatic renovation that transformed a run-down municipal course into a worthy host of a major championship. “Craig had a reputation as being one of the best, certainly in the Met Section, but also the nation, based on what he had done with Bethpage,â€� Smith said. “I just saw the passion. I saw how dedicated he was. I saw his love for what he does.â€� Smith saw that dedication first-hand while he was playing Glen Oaks on a dreary Sunday. He spotted Currier, who had yet to accept the job, scouting the property. “He came somewhat unannounced, but he walked all 27 holes by himself, envisioning what he could do on each hole,â€� Smith said. What did Currier see during that visit? “It was like walking through a forest,â€� said Currier, who became Glen Oaks’ superintendent in 2010. “I’m not going to tell you I loved it. I liked the greens. Every hole looked the same to me. It was really tight. Literally, if you hit it off the fairway, you were punching out sideways. “They were looking to turn over a new leaf so to speak and re-do the whole place. It looked like a great challenge.â€� Long Island is home to some of the best courses in the United States, including Shinnecock Hills, the site of next year’s U.S. Open and the National Golf Links of America. Even the local courses that aren’t built on links land use fescue to create a rugged look. Glen Oaks wanted to do something to differentiate itself. “A lot of the courses in the area have a lot of native fescue, like Bethpage Black, a big, rugged golf course,â€� Currier said. “We were certainly trying to separate ourselves a little bit with a real clean, elegant, sharp, manicured look.â€� Said Weiman, “We couldn’t do Shinnecock better than Shinnecock, or National Golf Links better than NGLA, so we went 180 degrees in the opposite direction.â€� Weiman called the course’s metamorphosis a “bold transition.â€� Mother Nature helped the process. Hurricane Irene in 2011 and Superstorm Sandy a year later removed approximately 1,000 trees from the property. “The golf course was very tight, narrow and nondescript,â€� Weiman said. “It didn’t have a lot of memorable holes. It wasn’t very strategic by any stretch. We opened it up, created angles and options and gave each hole its own identity.â€� Weiman estimates that 30 percent of the property’s bunkers were removed, but the ones that remain were strategically placed to make players take risks to open up the best angles for playing the hole. The wide fairways encourage players to be aggressive and hit driver. Weiman uses the fifth hole, a dogleg-left par-4, as an example. Before the renovation, players had to nearly snap-hook their tee shot to keep it in the fairway. With the trees gone, fairway bunkers were built on the inside corner of the dogleg. Now players can take a risk by trying to carry those traps, or they can play safely to the right of them, leaving a longer approach. There is no rough between the fairway and bunkers. Short grass leads directly into the sand traps, and connects green complexes to the next hole. It’s a look that is reminiscent of that famous course down in Georgia, and shows how dramatically Glen Oaks has changed. Although Currier provided input with the strategic design elements, his main contribution, according to Weiman, was “to always push the envelope. In each instance, his first thought was grounded in the impact to the overall golf experience – not the impact to the future maintenance program.â€� Currier was dedicated to creating a truly unique facility in Long Island. Now Glen Oaks gets its opportunity this week to shine. “We were running with a bold vision,â€� Weiman said. “He never said, ‘That’s too much, that’s over the top.’ He was always willing to take the challenge, and that’s why it’s so spectacular now. That was the attitude, that the sky’s the limit.â€�

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The 12th edition of the FedExCup postseason begins, as points leader Dustin Johnson and No. 2 Justin Thomas top the marquee for Ridgewood Country Club’s fourth turn in hosting the FedExCup Playoffs opener. Brooks Koepka, now just the fifth man to sweep the U.S. Open and PGA Championship in the same year, tees up for the first time since his triumph at Bellerive. THE NORTHERN TRUST also marks the end of Tiger Woods’ postseason drought, back after a five-year absence. FIELD NOTES: Justin Rose and Bubba Watson, also multiple winners this season, are among nine players set to extend perfect records of teeing it up in every postseason. That doesn’t include Brandt Snedeker, who has qualified for all 12 but sat out last year’s FedExCup Playoffs with a sternum injury. … The Ridgewood lineup presently shows 122 players. Rickie Fowler will rest his partially torn oblique an extra week; Rory McIlroy is opting to sharpen his game with an eye on the Ryder Cup. Patrick Rodgers (undisclosed) is the other who will sit out. … No.121 Bud Cauley, out since May to recuperate from an auto accident, will give it a go if he stays in the top 125. … Spring winners Aaron Wise (AT&T Byron Nelson) and Satoshi Kodaira (RBC Heritage) head a list of eight rookies expected to grace the 2018 playoff lineup. FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 2,000 points. STORYLINES: Johnson and Thomas, both triple winners this season, are separated by just 83 points atop the FedExCup points chart. A gap of 622 points follows down to Koepka in third. … Johnson owns four FedExCup playoff victories, sharing the all-time lead with McIlroy, and is the only player to win in each of the past two postseasons. … Koepka hopes his summer sizzle will get him out to a faster start in the FedExCup Playoffs. He has yet to crack the top 40 in three starts at THE NORTHERN TRUST. … Thomas begins his Cup defense on a run of three top-10s in his past four starts, including victory in the WGC Bridgestone Invitational. He had just one finish lower than sixth in last year’s FedExCup Playoffs. … Woods makes his first postseason start since the 2013 TOUR Championship, where he tied for 22nd among 30 players. … At the back of the points list, the goal is cracking the top 100 for another playoff round at the Dell Technologies Championship. Last year three men moved in from outside the top 100; the average is 5.8. COURSE: Ridgewood Country Club (Composite), 7,385 yards, par 71. One of the oldest clubs in the United States, Ridgewood dates back to 1890 and has occupied its current site since 1929. A.W. Tillinghast laid out the New Jersey club’s 27 holes, with three separate nine-hole loops running away from the clubhouse. THE NORTHERN TRUST’s course enlists the best of all three loops, including the 291-yard dogleg 12th that holds distinction as one of golf’s first drivable par-4s. Ridgewood welcomed the Ryder Cup’s fifth edition in 1935, a 9-3 United States victory in what was Walter Hagen’s final Cup as a player. The club also hosted the 1974 U.S. Amateur, 1990 U.S. Senior Open and 2001 Senior PGA Championship before joining THE NORTHERN TRUST rota in 2008. For those visiting the area, must-play courses include Pelham Bay GC (Bronx, N.Y.), The Golf Club at Mansion Ridge (Monroe, N.Y.) and Galloping Hill GC (Kenilworth, N.J.). Book your reservations via www.teeoff.com. 72-HOLE RECORD: 261, Bob Gilder (1982 at Westchester CC), Jason Day (2015 at Plainfield CC). Ridgewood CC record: Hunter Mahan (270). 18-HOLE RECORD: 61, Brandt Snedeker (3rd round, 2011 at Plainfield CC). Ridgewood CC record: 62, Hunter Mahan (1st round, 2008). LAST YEAR: Johnson outlasted Jordan Spieth in a back-nine duel that went overtime, forcing extra holes by coaxing home an 18-foot par and delivering the clinching blow with a 341-yard drive to set up a playoff birdie. Johnson went his final 29 holes without a bogey, erasing a five-shot deficit to Spieth early in the final round before the duel began. They matched pars at Nos. 17 and 18, though Johnson had to lay up at the 18th after slicing his drive into the rough. Going back to No.18, Johnson’s booming drive left him just a lob wedge to 4 feet. The birdie sealed Johnson’s first win since being knocked out of the Masters by a slip-and-fall mishap in Augusta. HOW TO FOLLOW TELEVISION: Thursday-Friday, 2-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday, 1-2:45 p.m. (GC), 3-6 p.m. (CBS). Sunday, noon-1:45 p.m. (GC), 2-6 p.m. (CBS). PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday, 7:30 a.m.-3 p.m. (featured groups), 3-6 p.m. (featured holes). Saturday-Sunday, 1-6 p.m. (featured holes). RADIO: Thursday-Friday, noon-6 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 1-6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com)

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