Fowler makes surprising putter switch

The PGA TOUR enters the second week of its holiday hiatus, but you won’t find any in the stacked field at this week’s Hero World Challenge easing off the throttle. After the pandemic canceled the 2020 edition of the annual stop at Albany in The Bahamas, an intimate gathering reconvenes with the same no-cut, stroke-play competition over 72 holes, purse of $3.5 million and full-field distribution of Official World Golf Ranking points. And, oh yeah, Tiger Woods remains the host. The only change pertains to the permanent increase in the size of the field. For details on that, how Albany played in 2019 and other nuggets, scroll past the projection for all 20 participants. For the first time in its 21-year history, a record 20 golfers will be chasing victory and its $1-million prize. Accommodations were ratified to add the winners of the most recent edition of THE PLAYERS Championship and a third sponsor exemption inside the top 50 of the OWGR on Sept. 6. They join winners of all majors since the previous edition of the Hero World Challenge, the other two sponsor exemptions and the defending champion. To fill the field, the OWGR on Sept. 6 was used in order of position. Albany is in its sixth consecutive edition as the host. It’s a par 72 with five par 3s and five par 5s. In its first five spins, it surrendered a scoring average south of 70 just once. That occurred in 2017 when the field of 18 landed at 70.333 and despite Rickie Fowler’s course-record 61 to seal a four-stroke victory. In 2019, the scoring average was 69.792. Henrik Stenson prevailed by at 18-under 270. He was the only golfer that week to sign for four rounds in the 60s. With sand, water and wind helping to defend scoring, course management and a plan of attack on the par 5s is the way to go on Albany, which stretches to 7,309 yards. Stenson played the par 5s in 4.60 with one eagle, eight birdies and nine pars against two bogeys. Considering only par breakers across the rest of the course’s 52 holes over four rounds, he circled another eagle (at the par-4 14th hole in the opening round) and 11 birdies. Therefore, he converted 42.86% of his 21 par breakers on 27.78 percent of the holes played. Moderate winds at worst are forecast, so the talented field will have its way with Albany once again. There’s a threat of passing showers on Saturday, but the bermudagrass greens should touch 12 feet on the Stimpmeter for which they’re prepped. What rough there is stands just an inch and a half. NOTE: PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf will resume with the Sentry Tournament of Champions on Jan. 6-9.

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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Keegan Bradley (68, 6 under, six off the lead of Sahith Theegala) saw a guy dressed as Santa Claus on the rowdy, par-3 16th hole at the WM Phoenix Open on Friday. It was a funny getup, Bradley said, but there’s a paradigm shift at this tournament that can be serious stuff for those who choose to embrace it. Bradley said he almost goes to another place and time, invoking Fenway Park and his Boston Red Sox. Talor Gooch (64, 8 under) mentioned Lambeau Field and the Green Bay Packers. Two-time WM Phoenix Open champion Brooks Koepka, who once posed with the Wanamaker Trophy next to NBA star Giannis Antetokounmpo, was less specific but said he can feel like more than just a golfer here. And that’s a good thing. “It almost feels like a real sport,” Koepka said of the rowdy, say-anything vibe that smacks golfers in the face at the WM at TPC Scottsdale. “Like football, basketball, things like that, soccer.” As we anticipate the Super Bowl this weekend, and amid the ongoing Winter Olympics in Beijing, PGA TOUR pros are getting just what they expected at the WM Phoenix Open: a combination golf course/gladiator pit that can take them out of golf’s sometimes stuffy bubble and transport them to the goal line, free throw line, or into any other sports fantasy. It doesn’t really matter what the sports fantasy is; what matters is that they go with it. “I love it,” said Bradley, a four-time TOUR winner who is 91st in the FedExCup and 90th in the world. “The thing about this week I always tell people is, you’re ready for it, this is the week. It’s not that big of a deal when they boo you; people think it is, but I think, like Brooks says, it’s kind of nice to feel that – like I always imagine that’s what, that’s my only time I get feel like what it might be in Fenway Park for me, you know, my life-long dream. “So I try to enjoy my time in there,” he continued. “But over the years it’s not just that hole anymore, I mean the whole back side is pretty loud and pretty fun.” Is there anything like this week? Not really, Bradley said, although the legendary New York fans at their beloved muni Bethpage Black can provide a similar spice. Gooch, whose seven-birdie, no-bogey round left him four off the pace of early second-round leader Sahith Theegala (64), a sponsor’s exemption out of Pepperdine, cited the “fun energy” here. Rickie Fowler, who won here in 2019, buys into that energy. In fact, he not only pumped the crowd up, he also booed himself after missing the 16th green Thursday, turning his thumb down as the catcalls rained down around him. “I hit it a little heavy,” Fowler said before waiting to see if 1 under (71-70) would make the cut. “You kind of know what you need to do to get a positive reaction or not, and it’s all in good fun. I was hoping it was maybe going to catch the front and somehow move forward, but I messed up, so I had to give myself the thumbs down. Poor execution.” Those who like this tournament’s crazy energy, Fowler continued, tend to come back. Those who love it thrive. Patrick Cantlay (66, 9 under, three back) equated the noise at 16 to “a dull roar” that he tries to mostly ignore. Same for Theegala, 24 who is seeking his first win and said he didn’t make eye contact with anyone on the tournament’s rowdiest hole. You can hardly blame him, for Theegala was in the zone: After starting his round with four birdies on the first five holes, he birdied four of the last six on the back nine to grab the lead by himself, buy three over Cantlay. “We’ll see how it is this weekend,” Theegala said, noting he hadn’t yet played 16 late in the day, around cocktail hour. Like Fowler and others, Theegala, even as a rookie, knows the week is a one-off. So does Gooch. And that knowledge somehow makes the whole thing easier to embrace. “We all love it,” said Gooch, who won The RSM Classic last fall, “but we – I think we all love that it’s not a weekly thing because it’s draining. It’s a lot. It’s a lot of energy when you’re trying to calm your emotions, it’s just not the most conducive environment for that.” Koepka, who intimated that the feisty crowd helps him stay focused, takes a more sanguine view. “Well, first off, I think it brings a whole new group of fans to golf,” he said. “I think that’s important. I think you look at – I mean, I don’t know the numbers, I don’t want to screw it up, but, I mean, it’s pretty much the biggest tournament we have on the PGA TOUR as far as fans, people, the presence. The atmosphere is unbelievable. I love it. “Look, I love when people get rowdy,” he added. “They’re cheering you when you hit it tight and booing you when you hit it bad. If you do something wrong, you deserve to get heckled. If you do something right, they will cheer for you. That’s what makes this event so cool.”

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SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. – At the end of a week of punishing wind and rain, fescue and lightning-fast greens, Brooks Koepka fires a final-round 68 to hold off a surging Tommy Fleetwood (63) at the 118th U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills. Welcome to the Monday Finish, where Koepka became the first player to successfully defend his U.S. Open title since Curtis Strange in 1989. FIVE OBSERVATIONS 1 Koepka’s tee-to-green game is terrific, but don’t overlook his putting. He was in trouble when he hit a wedge into the fescue left of the 11th green, especially when he and his caddie, Ricky Elliott, arrived at the ball and looked down to find it nesting in long grass that was pointing away from the green. The best they could hope for was to hack the ball out and let it roll into the bunker on the other side of the green. That’s exactly what happened, and after splashing out, Koepka rolled in a crucial bogey putt from just inside 13 feet to limit the damage. He then made par putts of just over 6 feet and 8 ½ feet at the 12th and 14th holes, respectively, to maintain momentum. “I’ll tell you what,� said Elliott, who has worked for Koepka for five years, “he’s been one of the best putters on TOUR for two or three years.� 2 Koepka’s outsized will comes from his family. Few tournaments take a toll quite like the U.S. Open, but while Koepka took a few hits, he never stayed down for long. He said he was glad for the tournament’s fabled toughness, for he knew it would take out half the field and highlight his competitive toughness. When he was growing up, he said, his father, Bob, never let him win. And when the son finally surpassed the father, there was Koepka’s little brother, Chase, who teamed with Brooks in last year’s two-man Zurich Classic of New Orleans, to worry about. “Once we started beating (Bob), it was me and Chase going at it,� Koepka said. “I think that’s why he’s so good now, the competitiveness that he’s had to go through with myself and my dad. No one’s going to let it—nobody wanted to lose, let’s put it that way. There were times when I came home pouting, and Chase did, too, getting beat by him. It’s a very competitive family.� So much so that Koepka went stir-crazy when he sat out for three months with a wrist injury to start the season. “I’ve got to be competing at something,� he said. “It doesn’t matter what it is.� Click here for more on Koepka’s comeback from injury. 3 The winner wasn’t worried about third-place Dustin Johnson (70). “He’s going to win another one,� Koepka said. “I mean, we all know that.� Johnson has 18 PGA TOUR victories, including the 2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont, but in winning on Sunday, Koepka now takes the lead in major championships won, two to one. “Going to the gym with him, starting training, you see how hard he works,� Koepka added. “You see how talented he is. He’s physically gifted. In my mind, he’s probably one of the most talented guys ever to play the game. And the attitude, the work ethic, everything that he brings to it, I mean, in my book, he will, when he’s done, probably go down as one of the best of all time.� 4 Fleetwood and Reed will be back. Tommy Fleetwood (solo second, one back) shot a final-round 63 that could easily have been better, were it not for missed birdie putts on his closing holes. He failed to birdie the par-5 16th, and his uphill birdie putt from 8 feet, 7 inches slid by on the low side on 18. Masters champion Patrick Reed (68, solo fourth, three back) roared out of the gate but missed a par putt of just under three feet at the ninth, failed to birdie 16, and bogeyed 18.  Still, both players impressed with their play. “It was a good one,� Fleetwood said. “It was a great one. I mean, yeah, so many positives, so many great things.� Said Reed: “Through the first 11 holes, I didn’t really feel like I missed a golf shot. I was hitting my lines.� 5 Tony Finau has a dedicated team of supporters. Finau made a late double-bogey to drop from a tie for third with Johnson into solo fifth, a difference of over $200,000, but he played well, and he should win something for having the most dedicated team of friends and family. His wife, Alayna, flew to New York on Friday in order to watch on the weekend, but his coach, Boyd Summerhays, really went the extra mile. Summerhays, who grew up competing against peers like Charles Howell and briefly dabbled on the TOUR, was at Shinnecock but flew home Friday to watch his son Preston, 15, become the youngest-ever winner of the Utah State Amateur, a tournament with a 120-year history, at Oakridge Country Club on Saturday. Preston, a rising sophomore, beat University of Utah golfer Kyler Dunkle 3 and 2 to take the age record away from PGA TOUR pro Daniel Summerhays (his uncle, Boyd’s brother) by a few months. Boyd then boarded a plane and flew back to New York, and looked none the worse for wear as he watched Finau play in the last group at Shinnecock on Sunday. “Tony and Daniel kept telling him this was his last year to break the record,� Summerhays said with a smile befitting a proud dad on Father’s Day. FIVE INSIGHTS 1 Koepka averaged 318.3 yards off the tee and was second in driving distance, behind Ryan Fox (318.8, T41). Gary Woodland (T36) was third at 314.7, Jhonattan Vegas (T41) fourth at 313.2, and Dustin Johnson (solo fourth) fifth at 312.5. Finau (solo fifth) was ninth at 310.1. 2 Fleetwood hit the most fairways, with 48 (86 percent), with eight players tied for second with 47 (84 percent). Although the conventional wisdom said players wouldn’t survive by straying from the short grass, Koepka hit just 36 fairways (64 percent) and was tied for 55th in that stat. 3 China’s Haotong Li (69, T16) led the field in greens in regulation (71 percent), Fleetwood and Johnson tied for second (69 percent), and Koepka was fourth (68 percent). Alex Noren led in putting, taking 28.5 strokes per round on the greens. Keopka (29.75) tied for seventh best. 4 The par-4 14th hole, which played between 511 and 536 yards depending on the setup, played toughest of the week with a 4.567 stroke average. Koepka double-bogeyed it on the way to an opening-round 75, but made three pars after that, including a crucial save from 8 ½ feet Sunday.     5 Rickie Fowler (65, T20) bettered his third-round 84 by 19 shots and shared the record for low front nine (31) for the week with Hideki Matsuyama (66, T16) and Reed. Fleetwood shot the lowest back nine (31) and lowest round (63).

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