From bad to worse for U.S. Ryder Cup team

SYDNEY, Australia – There are probably plenty out there wondering why is Jordan Spieth in Australia this week instead of enjoying a Thanksgiving feast in Texas. Why would a player of his stature fly halfway around the world to play in the Australian Open – an event with a fraction of the purse he usually plays for? And why would he do it for now a fourth year in a row? The first time, Spieth was convinced by his Australian-born swing coach Cameron McCormick (who will caddie for him this week) to check out the wonders of down under. Those who had won the Stonehaven Cup before also helped sway the young Texan who has a keen sense of golf history. Any tournament that boasts Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Peter Thomson, Tom Watson, Greg Norman, Adam Scott and Rory McIlroy among countless others as victors is certainly worth adding your name to. From there, a love affair has grown, and while Spieth was always destined for greatness, the former FedExCup champion and three-time major winner has always attributed Australia for helping to shape his stratospheric rise in golf. Over the past three years, Spieth has finished 1-2-1 in the event and is once again the tournament favorite. In 2014, Spieth headed to The Australian Golf Club as a one-time PGA TOUR winner who was starting to get a reputation as a non-closer. He’d come off a season with eight top-10s on TOUR but zero victories. His lone win, the 2013 John Deere Classic, had been helped out by a holed bunker shot that, quite frankly, was lucky to go in and not shoot through towards a potential watery grave. It had some questioning him. Questions Spieth didn’t like, but questions he took and answered astutely. And then he put together a ridiculously sublime final-round 8-under 63 at in brutally tough conditions to obliterate the field and win by six shots. A week later he won the Hero World Challenge. A few months after, the Valspar Championship. Then the Masters and U.S. Open on the way to a five-win season. In the lead up to what would be his first major win at Augusta National, Spieth said this: “The Australian Open may have been the most important tournament that I’ve ever played in because at the time, it had been maybe a year and a half since winning the John Deere in that playoff where I kind of squeaked in, luckily. “Going there to an elite field with the world No.1 player (Rory McIlroy at the time) and obviously with the local favorite Adam (Scott) and with a venue like The Australian, to put myself in a position and just have a level of patience that I had not had when I was in contention prior to that was important.â€� He had realized he was trying too hard during the Regular Season. With the chatter getting louder about his abilities, he was wanting it too much and when things started to slide, he couldn’t arrest it. “But in Australia, we didn’t let anything get to us; the roars in front, the scoreboard changes, and I shot arguably the best round I’ve ever played when tied for the lead,â€� he added. “It was a huge, huge boost for me and it allowed me to close the tournament, close it the right way and feel comfortable with the lead when I had it the next week and since then.â€� In fact, he’s now won nine of the last 10 times he’s held the 54-hole lead on the PGA TOUR, with the only hiccup being his infamous 2016 Sunday crash at Augusta. Funnily enough, it was the bombardment of questioning he faced after that victory that led him to one of the most historic finishes of all time earlier this year at The Open. With his round and tournament slipping away after a wild tee shot on the 13th hole led to a dramatic drop and ultimately a bogey, Spieth went back to his bank. He thought a little of winning in Australia. He thought more of losing in Augusta. “You can’t help but have your mind wander,â€� Spieth said this week. “How is this going to affect the next year? Am I going to be questioned about this and my ability to close in big events again, even though I shouldn’t have been questioned in the first placed by a couple of bad swings -  I felt that. “That comes into play in my mind, and I was almost just so angry at the way that year went after that Masters – the constant questioning even though I had a pretty successful season – that I just refused to go through it again. “I’m going to do everything in my will power, don’t care about how I’m hitting it, how I’m putting it, just do not allow yourself to lose this event and I was able to pull off the shots necessary.â€� Those shots saw him finish birdie, eagle, birdie, birdie, par to win by three. With the Presidents Cup in 2019 slated for Australia, the likelihood is the Australian Open will take the slot the week before. As such, the chances of some of the biggest stars in golf playing it along with Spieth, are very high. “I would certainly encourage players to come play next year and right before in ’19 when we’re over here,â€� Spieth advocates. “It can only help in my mind and they’re going to love it. The guys still talk about the last President’s Cup in Melbourne, the veterans, just how great of a time it was.â€� But until they get down under to join him, Spieth will try to continue riding the momentum into the new season. Chances are pretty high he will. SPIETH’S AUSSIE MOMENTUM 1. Won 2014 Australian Open – Then won 5 PGA TOUR events, including two majors, the FedExCup and PGA TOUR Player of the Year in 2015. 2. Second Place in 2015 Australian Open – Then won 2 PGA TOUR events in 2016. 3. Won 2016 Australian Open – Then won 3 PGA TOUR events including a major.

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HILTON HEAD, S.C. – Harbour Town Golf Links has been something of an acquired taste for Dustin Johnson. The first two times he played in the RBC Heritage, Johnson didn’t break par and consequently, he missed the cut. Of course, that was back in 2008 and ’09 when the lanky South Carolinian was just starting to show flashes of the talent that has taken him to No. 1 in the world. RELATED: Leaderboard | Tee times Johnson finally came back to his home state’s only PGA TOUR event a year ago, a multi-dimensional player now aand better equipped to handle the strategic game this Pete Dye creation requires. This time, he shot three rounds in the 60s and tied for 16th. A return visit this week has yielded even more success. Johnson tied his career low 67 at Harbour Town on Friday in difficult conditions to vault up the leaderboard at 7 under. Johnson was playing the ninth hole, his last of the day, when the horn sounded to suspend play due to encroaching thunderstorms. Luckily, it wasn’t a dangerous situation – yet — so he and Kevin Kisner and Xander Schauffele were able to finish their rounds. “It’s nice to get done; that’s definitely a bonus,â€� Johnson said as he quickly made three interview stops before heading into the clubhouse. How nice? Well, the ensuing delay lasted 3 hours and 43 minutes. That would have been a long time to wait to get up and down for his final par. Johnson was understandably pleased with the way he played on Friday. The 20-time PGA TOUR champion hit nine fairways and 13 greens in the blustery conditions, making five birdies and dropping just one shot to par. “It was difficult all day,â€� Johnson said. “The wind blew consistently all day. Made it tough. But I hit a lot of really solid golf shots. At times it was really difficult to judge the wind, but I felt like I played really solid all day, gave myself a lot of opportunities. “It’s all about controlling your golf ball and distance.â€� Interestingly, the big-hitting Johnson only birdied one of Harbour Town’s par 5s on Friday, getting up and down from beside the 15th green to bounce back from his lone bogey. He had started strong, making birdie putts of 12 and 8 feet on his first two holes, and added a 23-footer at No. 17 to turn in 32. Johnson continued to hit it close on the front nine but was unable to convert on four birdie putts inside 15 feet. He admits his patience was tested by the near-misses but overall, he weathered the storm – literally, as well as figuratively. “Around here the greens are tricky,â€� Johnson said. “For me, I don’t know, I’ve always struggled reading them. But I hit some really nice putts and I played really solid.â€� Johnson came to Hilton Head with momentum after a tying for second at the Masters with Schauffele and Brooks Koepka. He shot 32 on the always pivotal back nine that Sunday, making three straight birdies starting at No. 15, but couldn’t run down the resurgent Tiger Woods. “I knew making the turn that if I wanted a chance to win I had to have something special back behind it,â€� Johnson said. “I hit the shots I needed to hit which in the situation is always a very big positive. I hit some really good putts, they just didn’t go in. “I’m very pleased with how I played there on Sunday, coming up one short, definitely a little disappointed. But happy with the way I finished.â€� The runner-up spot was Johnson’s best in a major since his 2016 U.S. Open win. He’s looking for more of the same solid play over the last two rounds at Harbor Town as he tries to win for the second time on TOUR this year. “I’m swinging well, placing the ball where I want to,â€� Johnson said. “Hopefully I can roll in a few putts over the weekend.

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Chris Kirk surged to the top of the Round 1 leaderboard with a 9-under 63 on Thursday. Low scores were not hard to find on the first day at Sea Island, with more than 70 players shooting 2 under or better. Who will grab control heading into the weekend at The RSM Classic? Round 2 tee times Round 2 leaderboard HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN Telecast: Golf Channel (1:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. ET) Live Audio: PGA TOUR Radio (11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. ET) NOTABLE PAIRINGS Chris Kirk, Russell Knox, Padraig Harrington 9:50 a.m. ET off 10th tee (Seaside) Brian Harman, Hudson Swafford, Bubba Watson 11 a.m. ET off 1st tee (Seaside) Chris Stroud, Vaughn Taylor, Smylie Kaufman 11 a.m. ET off 10th tee (Seaside) Davis Love III, Zach Johnson, Webb Simpson 11:10 a.m. ET off 1st tee (Seaside) Patton Kizzire, Kevin Kisner, Mac Hughes 9:50 a.m. ET off 10th tee (Plantation) Brandt Snedeker, Matt Kuchar, Mark Wilson 10 a.m. ET off 10th tee (Plantation)

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