Graeme McDowell bounces back after tough finish on Thursday

Apropos of the motion required to propel a golf ball, the PGA TOUR loves its Swings. From the Asian to the Aloha to the West Coast to the Florida, these nicknames help delineate one segment of the season from another. Here’s another: the Fortnight of Tom Weiskopf Redesigns. It’s not as catchy, but it’s not inaccurate. It also has the attention of the 132 golfers committed to this week’s Waste Management Phoenix Open. For any of the 156 who took one spin of Torrey Pines North at last week’s Farmers Insurance Open, he might want to digest how the Stadium Course at TPC Scottsdale has evolved since Weiskopf went to work on the course in 2014. The space beneath the ranking examines what happened in the first three editions of his modernization. TPC Scottsdale isn’t The House That Hideki Built, but it’s been his castle. Since his debut in 2014, he’s an aggregate 517-5-2, not to mention the two-time defending champion. Well, despite early career success at Torrey Pines, it’s had his number since 2014, travel or no travel in advance. No hangovers at the WMPO, though, where he’s gone P2-T4 since 2016. Back home where the ASU product placed T5 as an amateur in 2015. Returned for a T16 last year. Most recently, he lit the world on fire with a Win-2nd-Win burst to bridge the holidays. It’s been over six months now since his last victory (The Open). The constitutes a drought for the 11-time winner. Two top 10s in as many trips to the WMPO; scoring average = 68.13. Anchoring ban and redesign be damned, he’s been a machine at TPC Scottsdale since 2011, going 5-for-5 with a P2 last year, no worse than T14 (2016) and a scoring average of 68.05. This is all about the expectation of him once again sustaining world-beating firepower off the tee. En route to the P2 at Torrey Pines, he led the field in total driving. T2 here in 2015. What an impressive display by the 35-year-old Swede at Torrey Pines where that confident game off the tee will have value in his debut at TPC Scottsdale. Also led last week’s field in GIR. Continues to purr. Tows the confidence of six consecutive top 20s since September into TPC Scottsdale where he’s connected five top 25s since 2009. T10-T14-T12 on the redesign. Rose to T8 at Torrey Pines with a closing 73. Six top 10s in last nine starts worldwide. Back for redemption at TPC Scottsdale where he finished T24 after sitting T7 through 54 holes. Surprisingly uninspiring slate at TPC Scottsdale with one payday (T22, 2015) in three tries on the redesign. Still, experience never hurts as he ascends. Farmers’ T6 the latest of the sizzle. Still chasing his first top 10 since July, but he’s been lurking. Opened 2018 with a T11 at Kapalua and T14 at Waialae. Two top 10s at TPC Scottsdale, including a T7 last year. A threat wherever he pegs it, just not at TPC Scottsdale. Yet. A T17 in 2015 represents his only weekend stay in three attempts. Missed last year’s cut after sweeping the Aloha Swing. He’s a magician. Placed T9 here last year despite ranking outside the top 20 in total driving, GIR, proximity, strokes gained: putting, birdie-or-better percentage and scrambling. Excluding Torrey North (which isn’t lasered for ShotLink), he paced Farmers in strokes gained: putting and strokes gained, period. Scored 9-under 275 in last two trips to TPC Scottsdale. Reconnected with form in the desert of the Coachella Valley two weeks ago. It’s proven to be a comfort zone. Same can be said of TPC Scottsdale, site of a T17 in 2016 and T12 last year. Rank POWER RANKINGS PLAYER COMMENT FedExCup points leader Patton Kizzire, Brandt Snedeker, Patrick Reed and the tournament’s all-time money leader, Phil Mickelson, will be among the notables reviewed in Tuesday’s Fantasy Insider. Various factors can contribute to springy greens that were witnessed at Torrey North in the first two rounds last week, but that those bentgrass targets are just two years old can’t be ruled out as a predominant factor. The new TifEagle Bermuda greens at TPC Scottsdale experienced the same reaction when they debuted in 2015. Weather permitting, the narrative for greens to mature and establish an “identity” usually includes a waiting period of three years. Sure enough, in spectacular conditions, last year’s scoring average of 70.192 at the WMPO was easily the lowest since Weiskopf placed his stamp of approval on the par 35-36=71 tipping at 7,266 yards. Similarly cooperative elements present the canvas this week as Hideki Matsuyama pursues his third straight title in the tournament. As he does, he goes in knowing that he’ll have to remain as aggressive as he was en route to 17-under 267 a year ago. Last year’s field found only 55.36 percent of the fairways, lowest since the redesign, but it hit 68.47 percent of the greens in regulation, which was a four-year high. The average proximity to the hole checked up at 38 feet, 11 inches, measurably the shortest of the last three editions. Short-game metrics align predictably and there’s been no regression in converting scoring opportunities into par breakers despite the increase in those chances. Putting it all together, the indication is that experience on the redesign has mattered on a similar plane as the maturity of the greens. Matsuyama and his playoff victim, Webb Simpson, beat the field averages in fairways hit, GIR, proximity and scrambling. That’s not surprising, but both were poster boys for how all of the contenders performed across the board. There is no one-size-fits-all profile at TPC Scottsdale. During the grand opening of his redesign in November of 2014, Weiskopf said that he expected winning scores to settle at 14- to 18-under par. He hasn’t been wrong yet, but the over (or the under, depending on your perspective), is in play on Super Bowl Sunday. ROB BOLTON’S SCHEDULE PGATOUR.COM’s Fantasy Columnist Rob Bolton will be filing his usual staples leading up to this week’s event. Look for the following columns this week. MONDAY: Rookie Ranking, Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Medical Extensions, Power Rankings TUESDAY*: Sleepers, Fantasy Insider, Facebook Live WEDNESDAY: One & Done * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO, which also publishes on Tuesdays.

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Kids can’t have all the fun. Adults also know how to party. After 20-year-young Tom Kim took his second title in four starts at the Shriners Children’s Open, he settled for a T25 at the ZOZO Championship where veteran Keegan Bradley, 36, captured victory. It’s Bradley’s fifth career PGA TOUR title and first in exactly 100 starts since his last at the BMW Championship during the FedExCup Playoffs in 2018. Bradley broke on as the Rookie of the Year in 2011 with two victories, including the PGA Championship. Kim turned nine that summer. Until Andrew Putnam (62) and then John Huh (61) went low in the second round at Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club last week, Bradley shared the course record with a 63 in the second round of the inaugural edition in 2019. He’d go on to finish T13 alongside champion Tiger Woods. (Golfers were not re-paired for the final round that week due to an extended weather delay.) As it pertains to this page, Bradley already is exempt into THE PLAYERS Championship in 2023. He’s also expected to be eligible for the PGA Championship via the lifetime exemption as a former champion, and a top 10 at the 2022 U.S. Open (T7) should exempt him into the 2023 edition of that major. So, Sunday’s win in Japan triggers trips to Kapalua for the Sentry Tournament of Champions as well as Augusta National for the Masters where he hasn’t qualified since 2019. Despite all of those earned exemptions, he should qualify additionally via his Official World Golf Ranking. With the win, he’s projected to rise from 44th into the top 25. Of course, as noted at the bottom, all qualifying criteria for the majors remains to be determined. NOTE: Golfers are omitted if they recently haven’t competed in majors for which they are eligible (e.g., The Open Championship=Justin Leonard). TPC = THE PLAYERS Championship MAS = Masters PGA = PGA Championship US = U.S. Open OPEN = The Open Championship Recent Additions TPC — none MAS — none PGA — none US — none OPEN — none REMAINING QUALIFYING CRITERIA Criteria are listed in chronological order where possible. Best estimates are given but all are subject to change. THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP (TPC) @ TPC Sawgrass (Stadium) – March 9-12 • Winners of PGA TOUR events thru the final week before THE PLAYERS. • Top 10 in the FedExCup at the conclusion of The Honda Classic (Feb. 26). • Top 50 of Official World Golf Ranking (Feb. 27). • If necessary to complete the field of 144, golfers outside the Top 10 in the FedExCup at the conclusion of the Honda Classic on Feb. 26 will gain entry in order of position. MASTERS (MAS) @ Augusta National Golf Club – April 6-9 • TBD PGA CHAMPIONSHIP (PGA) @ Oak Hill Country Club – May 18-21 • TBD U.S. OPEN (US) @ The Los Angeles Country Club (North) – June 15-18 • TBD THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP (OPEN) @ Royal Liverpool – July 20-23 • TBD

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JERSEY CITY, N.J. — Recent incidents about pace of play have led the PGA TOUR to take a deeper look at its policy on the issue, and ShotLink technology could provide an answer. The TOUR’s current pace-of-play policy only addresses players whose groups have fallen out of position. The TOUR is now exploring whether to expand its policy to also address players whose groups are in position, but who take an excessive amount of time to hit a shot. “We know that the individual habits of players when they are preparing to hit a shot can quickly become a focal point in today’s world, and our players and fans are very passionate about this issue,â€� said Tyler Dennis, the PGA TOUR’s Chief of Operations. “We have leveraged our ShotLink technology to provide every player with a pace of play report that they can access which breaks down the varying parts of their game and gives feedback on the amount of time on average that the player takes to hit a particular shot. “We are currently in the process of reviewing this aspect of pace of play and asking ourselves, ‘Is there a better way to do it?’ We think technology definitely plays a key role in all of this and we are thinking about new and innovative ways to use it to address these situations.â€� There are many factors to consider when deciding an appropriate amount of time to play a shot, Dennis said. “We have learned over the years that pace has a lot of factors that play into it, and it’s actually quite complicated,â€� he added. “The overall time to play a round is affected by things like the number of players on the course, tee time intervals, amount of daylight, course set-up and the weather. Some of these are things we can influence, and some are not.â€� The amount of fans and media following a group also can impact the pace of play, said Justin Rose. “The crowds are a lot bigger here and a lot more vocal and there’s a lot more movement and distraction, I think which obviously creates the atmosphere that we want to play in front of,â€� Rose said. “You can’t have it both ways. You can’t have it fun and rowdy out here and yet expect guys to hit shots on a clock through situations where the environment isn’t ready for them to play.â€� The topic became a hot-button issue again this week after two videos of Bryson DeChambeau went viral on Twitter. DeChambeau felt compelled to defend himself after seeing the response on social media. “When people start talking to me about slow play and how I’m killing the game, I’m doing this and that to the game, that is complete and utter you-know-what,â€� DeChambeau said after his third round Saturday. “That’s not fair.â€� The first video showed DeChambeau pacing off a 70-yard approach shot after he hit his tee shot well left of the drivable par-4 16th hole in the second round. After returning to his ball, DeChambeau had to wait for the players on the nearby sixth tee to hit their shots. He let playing partner Tommy Fleetwood play his shot while DeChambeau waited for the tee to clear. Those factors increased the amount of time it took for DeChambeau to hit his shot. Another video showed DeChambeau taking 2 minutes, 20 seconds to hit a putt on the eighth hole, his second-to-last hole of the day on Friday. DeChambeau defended himself by saying that he walks quickly between shots to reduce the overall time it takes to play a hole. “It was a very difficult read,â€� he said about the putt on No. 8. “It was on a bit of a crown, trying to read it to the best of my ability. I couldn’t figure out a way to play it four inches out because that’s what the book said. That’s what it looked, or that’s what it said in the book, but it didn’t look like that to my eyes. We walked around, took a little bit of time. I was ready to hit. My caddie pulled me off because he saw something different. That’s just what’s going to happen every once in a while. “Is that every time? No. That’s probably 1% of the time that I take over two minutes. “You look at me, most of the time, I am doing my absolute best to get to that next shot. The time to hurry for me and the way I play the game — this is not always how some people view it, but the time to hurry is in between shots.â€� Justin Thomas played with DeChambeau in the first two rounds at Liberty National. “I like Bryson as a person, but he’s a slow golfer,â€� Thomas told reporters Saturday. “I hate saying this because I don’t want Bryson to think I’m throwing him under the bus or anything like that, but it’s just unfortunate where the pace of play is in the game at the moment.â€� DeChambeau’s group still played in 4:51 on Friday. That was just one minute slower than in Round 1 and consistent with other groups in the second round. The TOUR has seen positive results from increasing the intervals between tee times this year. “We are seeing great improvements to the flow and in particular to the speed with which we can recover following an issue with a group that results in a momentary slow-down in pace,â€� Dennis said. Under the TOUR’s current pace-of-play policy, players are “on the clockâ€� when their group falls out of position. Players are given an allotted time between 40 and 50 seconds (depending on factors such as order of play) to hit a shot. The first bad time results in a warning, while a second bad time in the same round is a one-stroke penalty. Players are fined for a second bad time in a season, and each bad time thereafter, and for each time they are put “on the clockâ€� after the 10th time. There is not currently a policy to assess penalties or fines when players’ groups are in position, but the TOUR could consider adding one. “We are really focused at the moment on leveraging our ShotLink technology to assist us with these factors,â€� Dennis said. “This year, we have rolled out version 2.0 of an application which allows the officials to monitor every group in real-time, from their positions out on the course, and respond more quickly when a group is getting behind.â€�

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