Henley misses Mayakoba cut after One Ball Rule infraction

RIO GRANDE, Puerto Rico – After a one-year hiatus, the Puerto Rico Open is back on the PGA TOUR. After Hurricane Maria caused catastrophic damage to the island in 2017, tournament organizers decided to host a Pro-Am in 2018 that ended up raising more than $500,000 for relief efforts. The Pro-Am featured past PGA TOUR winners and stars of the LPGA Tour and Web.com Tour, but this year the tournament is back, and so is the island. It’s recovered well from one of the worst natural disasters on record and the Puerto Rican people are eager to welcome the world’s best once again.  D.A. Points captured the last Puerto Rico Open in 2017. At 20 under par, he won by two shots over Bryson DeChambeau, Retief Goosen and Bill Lunde. WEATHER CHECK From DTN meteorologist Stewart Williams: “High pressure over the Western Atlantic will increase the easterly trade winds across the region making for windy conditions Thursday and Friday. This will also produce some passing showers at times, especially on Friday. Drier conditions should return this weekend decreasing the chance for showers. Another band of moisture will return on Monday bringing showers once again.” SOUND CHECK It’s huge for tourism. It’s huge for the economy. It’s huge for everybody just here on the island to be able to promote the island as well as we can, and it’s great to be back and have the Puerto Rico Open once again. BY THE NUMBERS 39 – The position of Corey Conners in the FedExCup standings, the highest-ranked golfer in the field. 4 – The number of Puerto Ricans playing this week, led by Campos. 600 – Yards in the par-5 16th hole, the longest on the course. -16 – The average winning score of the Puerto Rico Open through 10 years of competition. SCATTERSHOTS D.A. Defending: Although it’s been two years, D.A. Points still has a positive attitude defending this week in Puerto Rico. His win at the 2017 Puerto Rico Open was his third PGA TOUR triumph. Points finished 104th in the FedExCup standings that year but dropped to 176th in 2018. He’s made one cut this season (T71 at The RSM Classic) but said being back in Puerto Rico makes him feel rejuvenated. “It’s amazing, the feelings that you have right away,â€� said Points. “It definitely helps my attitude. I have to be careful to not be like a lot of defending champions and have too high expectations … But I know how to play this course.â€� Major Presence: While many are at the WGC-Mexico Championship this week, the Puerto Rico Open has its own share of major champions teeing it up as well. Seven past major winners are playing in Puerto Rico including Graeme McDowell, Angel Cabrera, Retief Goosen, Todd Hamilton, David Duval, Charl Schwartzel, and Trevor Immelman. Windy Conditions: The adage, ‘when it’s breezy, swing easy’ is going to be put to the test this week as weather forecasters are calling for winds blowing upwards of 25 mph through the first two rounds. Rafa Campos said patience would be the key to success this week, admitting it’s set to be windier than normal through Thursday and Friday. “Balls will move a bit more than normal. It’s going to be tougher to make some putts and all that, but staying patient and keeping the ball low is going to be key,â€� he said. “The course is fairly open so there’s not a lot of trouble off the tee, but it’s a matter of keeping the ball low, keeping it in front of you and keeping it in play.â€�

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PARAMUS, N.J. – The question was a simple one, and it was put to contestants at THE NORTHERN TRUST at Ridgewood Country Club, the first stop of the highly anticipated FedExCup Playoffs: Is the PGA TOUR Player of the Year race already over? FedExCup No. 3 Brooks Koepka has two majors (U.S. Open, PGA Championship) and two runner-up finishes. Clearly, he’s in pole position. “You win two majors, you’ve got it,â€� 11-time PGA TOUR Player of the Year Tiger Woods said in his press conference at Ridgewood on Tuesday. “It’s not real complicated.â€� Well, yes and no. Since the 1990 inception of the PGA TOUR Player of the Year Award, Nick Price (1994), Mark O’Meara (1998), Woods (four times), Padraig Harrington (2008), Rory McIlroy (2014) and Jordan Spieth (2015) have had multiple-major-winning seasons and won POY. The only player to win two majors and not win it was Nick Faldo in 1990. Although he easily could’ve cited himself as Exhibit A, B, C and D, Woods went back to the example of Mark O’Meara, who won the Masters and Open Championship in 1998. “It was very similar to what DD (David Duval) went through in ’98,â€� Woods said, “with Marco (Mark O’Meara) winning two major championships. I think that trumps — what, DD won four times that year? (He did.) I think two majors trumps it.â€� The big difference, though, is that was before the FedExCup Playoffs were born in 2007. And that’s why most of the players interviewed at Ridgewood refused to call the POY race early. What if a guy gets hot like Billy Horschel did in 2014, or Camilo Villegas in 2008? Three-time winners Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson and Bubba Watson could make it interesting if they add to their totals at THE NORTHERN TRUST, Dell Technologies Championship, BMW Championship and TOUR Championship, the four corners of TOUR’s post-season. Then there’s Francesco Molinari (Open Championship, Quicken Loans National), with whom Woods went head-to-head at The Open at Carnoustie, and Masters champ Patrick Reed. Spieth, the 2015 PGA TOUR POY, agreed with Woods that Koepka has already wrapped it up, no matter what the Playoffs have in store for chasers like his friend Thomas. “I think he would tell you the same thing,â€� Spieth said. (Actually, no, but more on that later.) Keegan Bradley admitted that Koepka probably has it wrapped up, but added a caveat: The right player, someone immediately behind Koepka, could get red-hot in the Playoffs. “They’d have to win a couple,â€� Bradley said. “Two, I think.â€� Tommy Fleetwood and Jamie Lovemark seconded that. “Two majors out-weighs three wins,â€� Fleetwood said, “but one of them could win the next four.â€� “Maybe Patrick Reed wins the next three,â€� Lovemark said with a laugh. Even realistically, some maintained the POY race remains undecided. “It’s not over,â€� James Hahn said. “Three tournament wins versus two majors? I’ll take the two majors. But four or five tournaments plus the FedExCup? I’ll take that guy.â€� Others echoed that sentiment. “I would go with five wins and a FedExCup,â€� said Jason Kokrak, “because that’s technically six trophies and a lot more money. I don’t think it’s over.â€� Marc Leishman agreed. “I don’t think it’s over,â€� he said. “There’s a lot of golf left, and big tournaments, too.â€� Talk to enough players and you’ll hear all sorts of different opinions, which was how it came out that a small minority wouldn’t give the POY Award to Koepka even if the season ended today. “Right now I’d go with Dustin Johnson, because he’s averaging $430,000 a start, so throw that in your mix,â€� Ryan Palmer said. “Somebody did the math and told me.â€� Palmer’s source corrected him: It’s $460,000 a start after Johnson’s recent win at the RBC Canadian Open. Three total wins. Two seconds. Two thirds. FedExCup No. 1. And $7.3 million. So it’s Dustin, then. Or is it Justin? Anirban Lahiri said he would give the nod to Thomas, who is a scant 83 points behind Johnson in his bid to become the first repeat FedExCup winner since its inception in 2007. Lahiri’s reasoning: Thomas’ ability as a front-runner, plus his excellence on different types of courses, from Firestone South to PGA National to Nine Bridges. “I’m not saying Brooks is a one-dimensional player,â€� Lahiri said. “He’s not. But I can’t give a guy Player of the Year based only on his performances at 7,600-yard courses.â€� (Koepka finished second at the Charles Schwab Challenge at smallish Colonial Country Club.) Ryan Armour was succinct in explaining how Koepka could be caught. “One of the multiple-tournament winners has to go on and win the FedExCup to have any sort of legitimate argument,â€� Armour said. “It would be a toss-up at that point, but I think if Francesco got hot and won the Cup, it would maybe lean his way.â€� Finally, the question was put to defending FedExCup champion Thomas as he made his way from the practice putting green to the short-game area at Ridgewood. Is the Player of the Year race already over? Thomas stopped, furrowed his brow. “It’s not over, no,â€� he said. “Why would it be over?â€�

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A lot of Canadians have won on the PGA TOUR, but how many have done it more than once? Only six, as it turns out, led by Mike Weir and George Knudson with eight apiece. The latest multiple winner from Canada: Nick Taylor (70, 19 under), who twice holed out from off the green to win the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in wire-to-wire fashion over Kevin Streelman (68). It was the second TOUR win for Taylor and the first since the 2014 Sanderson Farms Championship. He held off five-time AT&T Pebble Beach champion Phil Mickelson in stiff winds that sent scores soaring to a 74.426 stroke average, and shot up to 13th in the FedExCup. Not bad for a guy who has been scrambling just to keep his TOUR card the last few years. Welcome to the Monday Finish. THREE KEYS TO SUCCESS 1. The hole-out at the sixth. Mickelson was on the green in two at the uphill par-5, while Taylor was in a greenside bunker. Advantage, Lefty? Nope. From just over 47 feet away, Taylor splashed out and watched his ball roll into the cup for eagle, and when Mickelson couldn’t convert from long range for his own eagle, Taylor had extended his lead from one to two. “I mean, Nick played better than I did,� Mickelson said. “That eagle on six, the putts he made on four, five and seven, and he just really played some great golf.� For more on Taylor, click here. 2. Taylor was an iron giant. Pebble Beach has notoriously small greens, and hitting them is imperative. The last five winners of the tournament had ranked in the top 10 in Greens in Regulation, and Taylor (54/72, T3) made it six straight. On the rare occasions when he failed to hit the green, he bounced back strong, typified by his nearly 36-foot chip-in from the rough to birdie the par-4 15th hole. The short-game magic came at an especially good time, what with Taylor having double-bogeyed the previous hole to cut his lead to two. 3. He made the most of his chance when it came. Taylor, who became the tournament’s first international winner since Vijay Singh in 2004, hadn’t exactly been knocking on the door. In nine previous starts this season, he had one top-10 finish. He was the third Canadian option, at best, for the International Presidents Cup Team last year, after Adam Hadwin, who was selected, and Corey Conners, who was not. And yet Taylor kept at it, undeterred. “I had to battle for my card the last few years,� he said after celebrating with his wife, Andie, and 3-month-old son, Charlie. “I think some of those rounds to keep my card helped me today for sure.�   OBSERVATIONS  Mickelson’s silver lining was for real. Whether it was the fatigue of playing overseas the week before, the swirling winds that made club-selection a guessing game, or something else, Phil Mickelson (74) just didn’t have it in the final round. “I got outplayed,� he said. Specifically, he suffered a rare short-game lapse and double-bogeyed the par-4 eighth hole, and played his last 12 holes in 5 over. And yet there was so much to be excited about. For one thing, this was his first top-10 finish on TOUR since he won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am last season. And it marked the 30th consecutive season he’s had at least one top-10 finish, making him one of just three players to have reached that number, along with Sam Snead (34) and Raymond Floyd (32). Although he admitted to struggling with the conditions, Mickelson was delighted just to be in the hunt again. “It was fun to get back in it,� he said. “And these last couple of weeks have really given me a lot of motivation and momentum to continue doing what I’ve been doing.� Spieth suddenly has momentum. It wasn’t just Taylor and Mickelson; plenty of other players were also trending in the right direction at Pebble Beach. Jason Day (75, solo fourth) registered his fourth straight top-five finish, Daniel Berger (69, T5) continued to bounce back from injury, and Maverick McNealy (66-68 weekend) went from T89 at the halfway point to a T5 finish. Also, Charl Schwartzel (T5) earned 96 FedExCup points and went a long way toward fulfilling the terms of his Major Medical Extension. Then there was 2015 FedExCup champion Jordan Spieth, who in shooting the day’s best score (67) went from T55 to T9. “This is what I’ve been seeing,� said Spieth, who shot just three final-round scores in the 60s last season. “It’s just today I finally had a lot of good numbers. I’ve just felt like the last few days I’ve been in between clubs a lot, and hard to commit, and then today it was just one of those days where it hit me kind of where I could commit to a lot of full shots.� His next start: this week’s Genesis Invitational.   QUOTEBOARD “I had to battle for my card the last few years.� – Nick Taylor, whose AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am win gives him a two-year exemption on TOUR. “I had a lot of looks on the front nine; almost every hole.� – Jordan Spieth (67, T9) after shooting his first final-round score in the 60s this season. “We just ham-and-egged it perfectly.� – Kevin Streelman (68, solo second), who won the pro-am portion with Larry Fitzgerald for the second time.  WYNDHAM REWARDS The Wyndham Rewards Top 10 is a season-long competition that offers a $10 million bonus for the 10 golfers who end the regular season at the Wyndham Championship inside the top 10 in FedExCup points. The player atop the standings will earn $2 million, with varying payoffs for the others through $500,000 for the 10th place finisher. Justin Thomas remains in the lead after the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am; Webb Simpson is still in second. Kevin Na finished T14 at Pebble to move from 13th to 10th, while Nick Taylor remains just outside the Top 10, going from 79th to 13th after his victory. Here’s how the standings look heading into this week’s Genesis Invitational. SOCIAL SNAPSHOT

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