Groundbreaking tourney pits men against women

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – We’re halfway through THE PLAYERS Championship and so far, pretty much everything has played out according to plan. Louis Oosthuizen and Kyle Stanley each shot 66 and are tied at the top at 9 under, (predictable), while J.B. Holmes, who isn’t sure TPC Sawgrass fits his left-to-right ball flight, shot 69 and is two back (of course). Vijay Singh, 54, was riding a streak of seven straight missed cuts on the PGA TOUR, but fired a 68 to reach 6 under par, three off the lead. (Nailed it.) And the strength of his game so far this week has been putting. (As usual.) “It was sad I three-putted the last hole,” said Singh, who has made more than 200 feet of putts in two days and ranks 16th in strokes gained: putting through 36 holes. “But that’s a strong part of my game right now. If I keep putting like that, I’m going to be right there on Sunday.” To say this edition of THE PLAYERS has been upside-down doesn’t quite cover it. Although THE PLAYERS Stadium Course traditionally plays no favorites and has thus been a hard place to predict the winner, this week’s doings have been even weirder than usual. “It’s nice to kind of see a lot of the work kind of come together,” said Stanley, who ranks sixth in the field in strokes-gained: putting. “But that being said, there’s a lot of golf left. Still got to be really patient. Can’t get too far ahead of yourself.” Three weeks ago, Singh partnered with Carlos Franco to win the Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf on the PGA TOUR Champions. But he hasn’t won on TOUR in nine years, when he won twice in the Playoffs to claim the 2008 FedExCup. Stanley hasn’t been in this position for a while, either—he hasn’t won since the 2012 Waste Management Phoenix Open—but that just means they’re well-rested, right? Jordan Spieth shot a second-round 75 to miss the cut and afterward gave away one of his shoes to a little girl in the gallery. His play-of-the-day moment may have been when he found playing partner Phil Mickelson’s wayward tee shot at the par-4 10th hole. “The funny thing is I never find my own ball,” Spieth deadpanned to the gallery. “But I find Phil’s like that.” He snapped his fingers; the spectators laughed. “Although I’m not sure he wanted me to find it,” Spieth added. More laughter. Mickelson’s unpredictability is the stuff of legend, so he has fit right in this week. After not playing a practice round at the revamped Stadium Course, he climbed to within a shot of the lead with a 3-under 33 on the front nine Friday. The 2007 THE PLAYERS champ was back! Then he hit iron into the bushes left of the left fairway bunker on 10—leading to Spieth’s quip, and a bogey—and double-bogeyed the par-3 17th after his ball landed near the back pin but took a giant first hop and trundled over the bulkhead and into the water. “I don’t know what to say,” Mickelson said after his 72. “I played well today.” At least he had company: There were 29 balls in the water on 17 Friday, the most in a second round since 2003. And amid all the other oddities this week, playing well and scoring well have seldom looked more at odds. In fact, they seem to have begun a trial separation. Take Justin Thomas, who has made 10 birdies and an eagle so far. Pretty great, right? But Thomas is at even par after throwing in 10 bogeys and a double while shooting 73-71. “It seems like any time I got momentum I seemed to give it right back,” he said. Still, Thomas hardly is out of it. That’s the other upside-down thing about this PLAYERS and every PLAYERS. We think we know who’s on the fast track to winning, but we don’t. Just 12 of 43 second-round leaders/co-leaders have gone on to win the tournament. “If you make the cut here,” Thomas said, “you have a chance to win the tournament.” In other words, maybe the stars are not in as much trouble as it might seem. Defending champ Jason Day shot 72 and was at 2 under with Mickelson. Rory McIlroy, who revealed he has re-aggravated his back and will go in for an MRI on Monday, shot 71 and was at even. Dustin Johnson got nothing going and shot 73. He’s also at even par. Meanwhile, Luke List made the first eagle on the new par-4 12th hole, driving the green and sinking the putt from 14 feet, 9 inches. He shot 69. He missed the cut. At THE PLAYERS this year, great isn’t necessarily good, and mediocre isn’t all that bad, and the only sensible thing to do seems to be to reserve the right to withhold judgement. “It’s going to make us look pretty silly out there, a lot of spots,” Mickelson said of the Stadium Course’s firm greens. “But I hit a lot of good shots, including the one on 17 that went in the water. So, unfortunately, I made double there. But I’m in a good spot for tomorrow. I’ll come out tomorrow and see if I can shoot a number.” Stranger things have happened.

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The 2020-21 FedExCup Regular Season concluded this weekend at the Wyndham Championship with Collin Morikawa claiming the No. 1 position in the Comcast Business TOUR TOP 10 and earning a $2 million bonus. The Comcast Business TOUR TOP 10 emphasizes player performance by rewarding the top players in the FedExCup standings at the end of the FedExCup Regular Season. The current ‘super season’ schedule features 50 official FedExCup tournaments, the most in a season since 1975 (51) “There are so many talented players on the PGA TOUR and to be able to secure the top spot in the Comcast Business TOUR TOP 10 is a great honor,” Morikawa said. “This reinforces all the hard work that I put in throughout the entire season. I spoke at a Comcast Business employee meeting at the beginning of the season to kick off the program so it’s great to come back and win it.” “On behalf of Comcast Business, congratulations to Collin Morikawa for clinching the number one spot and to all of the outstanding players who landed a position in the Comcast Business TOUR TOP 10,” said Eileen Diskin, CMO, Comcast Business. “It has been an honor to be a part of the PGA TOUR and help spotlight the hard work and resiliency of the best players in the game. We look forward to what comes next in the 2021-22 season.” Morikawa earned two victories with six additional top-10s during the 2020-21 FedExCup Regular Season. The 24-year-old won the World Golf Championships – Workday Championship at The Concessions in February and won his second career major at The Open Championship in July at Royal St. George’s Golf Club in England. Last year, Morikawa finished sixth in the final FedExCup standings in his first appearance at the TOUR Championship in Atlanta. Earning a top 10 spot in the standings entering the FedExCup Playoffs is an important goal for players looking to position themselves for a run at the FedExCup trophy. As part of the Comcast Business TOUR TOP 10, a $10 million bonus is shared among the top 10 finishers in the FedExCup Regular Season standings. Below are the results: In 2019, Brooks Koepka earned the top spot in the TOUR TOP 10, while Justin Thomas garnered the honor in 2020 on the strength of three FedExCup Regular Season victories.

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Dustin Johnson has a sizable lead, but he also has a history of not being able to finish things off at a major. Can he close? Who might push him — or pass him? We break down the final round.

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