FedExCup scenarios: How each of the top 30 could win

The Barbasol Championship returns to the PGA TOUR schedule for 2021 after it was not played due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Jim Herman will return to defend his title from 2019. FIELD NOTES: Two past champions – Grayson Murray and Aaron Baddeley – join Herman in the field… John Daly will play his third PGA TOUR event of the season (he missed the cut at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the PGA Championship)… Daly, Jason Dufner, and Charl Schwartzel are the major championship-winning contingent teeing it up in Kentucky… Some of the Korn Ferry Tour’s top point-getters through the 2020-21 season will play the Barbasol including Paul Barjon, Lee Hodges, Taylor Pendrith, Greyson Sigg, Davis Riley, Stephan Jaeger (who is No. 1 on the Points List) and Mito Pereira (who already received a promotion to the PGA TOUR after notching his third win of the season)… Amongst the Sponsor Exemptions include college stars Davis Thompson and Sahith Theegala along with teenager Preston Summerhays. FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 300 FedExCup points. STORYLINES: After Jim Herman won in Kentucky he went on to win the Wyndham Championship the following season and called his win at the Barbasol a career rejuvenator… The winning total just keeps getting progressively lower at Keene Trace so look for birdies to come in bunches this week in Kentucky… This week marks another alternate-field opportunity for some of the top golfers on the Korn Ferry Tour to test their mettles before they earn full PGA TOUR status come fall… There are only three weeks left in the TOUR’s regular season for 2020-21 so now is the time to pick up valuable FedExCup points. Some guys on the bubble teeing it up in Kentucky include Chase Seiffert (No. 124) along with Bo Hoag and Sam Ryder, who are No’s 128 and 129, respectively. COURSE: Keene Trace GC (Champions), par 72, 7,328 yards. This is the third time the 1987 Arthur Hills design will play host to the PGA TOUR. It’s one of the top courses in the state of Kentucky. Scoring is at a premium at Keene Trace and the final hole, the par-4 18th is built for drama as its got a ton of water risk around the edge of a lake. 72-HOLE RECORD: 262, Jim Herman (2019) 18-HOLE RECORD: 61, Kelly Kraft (3rd round, 2019) LAST TIME: In record-setting fashion it was Jim Herman who captured the Barbasol Championship. After he and Kelly Kraft shot sizzling Saturday scores – Herman tied the previous course record with a 62 while Kraft set a new record after a 61 – the dual was a little more muted on Sunday as they shot matching 2-under 70s. However, Kraft bogeyed No’s 16 and 17 on Sunday and as Herman stayed steady he managed to take the win across the finish line in surprising fashion. To that point in the 2018-19 season, Herman had played 19 TOUR events and made the cut only three times. Sepp Straka finished third while Austin Cook and Matt Jones rounded out the top five. HOW TO FOLLOW (All times ET) TELEVISION: Thursday-Friday, 5-7:30 p.m. (Golf Channel). Saturday-Sunday, 4-7 p.m. PGA TOUR LIVE: None. RADIO: None.

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SCOTTSDALE Ariz. — Gary Woodland has the body of a Major League Baseball third-baseman, shares a trainer with NBA stars LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, owns two Ping-Pong tables, and is a three-time PGA TOUR winner. He also played college basketball and is pals with an MLB Hall-of-Famer George Brett, a 4-handicap who has a home here in Phoenix. “He’s been a good person to talk to and a good person to be around,� Woodland said. Part of the new wave of athlete-golfers on TOUR — also including Tony Finau, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and Luke List — Woodland, the defending champion at this week’s Waste Management Phoenix Open, is off to another strong start this season. The 34-year-old pro, who recently inked deals with Wilson and Puma, is third in the FedExCup after five top-10s already. They include runner-up finishes at THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES and the recent Sentry Tournament of Champions, where he shot a bogey-free, 5-under 68 in the last round, only to lose to Xander Schauffele’s 62. Woodland’s style of golf is working. But what is that style, exactly? It’s more complicated than you might think, informed by science and psychology more than grip-it-and-rip-it. For Woodland, cashing in on his outsized potential has meant embracing lifestyle and training choices that have worked in alternate but equally intense arenas: Professional basketball and baseball. “You look at guys that are successful,� he said, “and you ask yourself: What are they doing that I’m not?� Just over three years ago, Woodland was feeling vexed by injuries and looking to change things up. Venturing far afield from the usual golf circles, he called friend Ray Allen, then with the Miami Heat. “Ray told me to come to Miami to come check out this guy named David Alexander,� Woodland said. “We ended up renting a house down there for six months just to be around this guy.� Alexander is the Founder/Director of DBC Fitness, which stands for Dumbbells, Barbells and Cables, with a deep roster of star athletes. According to the company website, DBC uses biomechanics and detailed assessments to create custom correctives and training programs, and thereby “close the increasingly growing gap between training and science.� DBC reshaped Woodland’s workouts, but also the way he ate, hydrated and even traveled. He learned about his body, and what he could do to maximize productivity and longevity. He even moved to South Florida (Delray Beach), which had the added benefit of facilitating further skull sessions with Alexander. “It’s just changed everything,� Woodland said. “My body’s been healthy for the last two and a half years. “Seeing the way these other guys work and what it takes to be successful for a long period of time, it’s been pretty cool,� he added. “Dwyane Wade and these guys, and LeBron — he’s my age, and he played every game in the NBA last year. To do that at 33, 34 is unbelievable. I had to make some changes, learn what I can and can’t do, and how to rest.� At 6-feet-1, 205 pounds with a broad, V-shaped back, Woodland is a solid 20 pounds heavier than he was as a point guard for Division II Washburn University in 2002-03. (He transferred to Kansas and played only golf, dropping basketball.) If golf is a striking contest, as has been said, Woodland, who was third in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee last season, has few peers. In winning the WMPO, he went 10-under-par on TPC Scottsdale’s three par-5s. He went for the green in two 10 times, succeeded six times, and manhandled the par-71, 7,261-yard TPC Scottsdale. Success, though, is a thousand little things, and Woodland has harnessed his brain as well as his brawn. Enter George Brett, who won batting titles in three different decades and now the Vice President of Baseball Operations for the Kansas City Royals. A devout Brett fan growing up in Topeka, Kansas, Woodland wore the number five in baseball, so it was a big deal when they were paired together at a Web.com Tour charity event in Kansas City about five years ago. “It was only nine holes,� Woodland said. “But yeah, I was nervous to meet him.� They hit it off, and took their friendship to another level last year. Brett lives part-time in Phoenix, spring training home of the Royals, and came to the third round of the WMPO to watch Woodland. Brett mentioned he would be having people over to watch the Super Bowl the next day and asked if Woodland wanted to come and bring his family. It was a no-brainer, especially for his father, Dan, who was among several family members on hand for the tournament. “I think my dad was more excited to go there than he was for me to win,� Woodland said with a laugh. “My dad had never met him, so that was awesome. We got done here, rushed home and changed, and watched the end of the Super Bowl at his house. We’ve become good friends, and we talk all the time. It’s really cool. He’ll be here again Saturday.� What has Woodland learned from Brett? “With him it’s more mental,� Woodland said. “George, mentally, believed he was better than everybody else. You ask him questions about today’s game, and it comes across, that confidence he throws out. We play a lot of golf together now, and the way he fights out there on the course is something anybody can learn from — he’s out there to win.� So is Woodland. And now, more than ever, he’s putting himself into position to do so.

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AKRON, Ohio — Thomas Pieters rolled in a 30-foot birdie putt on his final hole for a 5-under 65 that gave him a one-shot lead at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational. Russell Knox had a 66 with a bogey on his final hole. Rory McIlroy got by just fine with his best friend as his caddie, opening with a 67. It’s his lowest opening round in America since February 2016. McIlroy split with his caddie of nine years after The Open Championship. Also at 67 was Jordan Spieth, feeling so confident about his game that on one shot he asked his caddie Michael Greller how he should escape trouble from the trees. Before Greller could answer, Spieth told him to stand aside and “just watch.” He hit through a tiny gap onto the green.

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