Billy Horschel didn’t play great in Austin at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, but he kept finding ways to win knockout matches.
Click here to read the full article…
| RTG is one of the best casino games developers. Check our sponsor Hypercasinos.com with the best RTG casinos for USA gamblers! |
NAPA, Calif. – The Fortinet Championship marks the beginning of a new season and, for 26 rookies and other Korn Ferry Tour graduates, the start or restart of a PGA TOUR career. For Phil Mickelson, 51, it’s more like the culmination of a wild 2021 season, and he’s looking forward to taking three months off to process it all. Well, the PGA Championship victory, mostly. Other than that, his season was a reminder that he’s in the September of his years. Until now, which happens to be, ahem, September. Mickelson strung together five straight back-nine birdies to reach 10 under par and with a very real shot at the Fortinet trophy going into Sunday. He is just four behind surprising Jim Knous (65) and Stanford product Maverick McNealy (70), with just eight players ahead of him. “I’m in a position where a good round tomorrow will do some good,” Mickelson said after making 123 feet, 8 inches of putts with his new grip extension and arm-lock putting method. “And it’s fun to have a little later tee time and to feel some of the nerves and so forth. I know I’m going to have to shoot probably 7, 8, 9 under par to have a chance, but either way it’s fun having that chance.” That was before the wind picked up in the afternoon, and the leaders stalled. The distance he might have anticipated between himself and the leaders never really materialized. “I’ll have to be a little bit more precise,” he said after hitting just five of 14 fairways. Mickelson’s 2-wood broke Friday, but he travels with backups and simply popped on a new head. Whatever happens Sunday, he will stay busy. Although the Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits will mark the first U.S. Ryder or Presidents Cup side he hasn’t made as a player since 1993, he will still be there as a vice-captain to Steve Stricker. He plans to fly from Napa to San Diego after the final round, spend a night in his own bed, then depart with wife Amy for Wisconsin. While Mickelson will be chasing his 46th TOUR win Sunday, the eight guys ahead of him on the leaderboard have seven victories combined. Scott Stallings (67) leads the way with three, while Max Homa (65) and Troy Merritt (69) have two apiece. All are at 12 under, two back. Co-leaders Knous and McNealy are each seeking their breakthrough TOUR win, and only one of them is a surprise atop the board. McNealy, 25, racked up 11 victories at Stanford, just 60 miles south of here, and has made the BMW Championship in each of his first two TOUR seasons. A win Sunday would be a very natural next step in his progression, and it would be hard to find a more fitting place to do it. McNealy grew up in the Bay Area, got sponsor exemptions into the Fortinet as an amateur, and had his parents, uncle and friends cheering him on Saturday. “It’s one of the places on TOUR where I don’t feel like as much of a rookie,” he said, “and it’s going back to the Bay Area roots. Something about the air here, I feel really comfortable, and the grass and the conditions and it’s a lot of fun having people rooting for you.” As for Jim “Hard K” Knous – his real nickname, by the way – well, no one saw him coming. He made just five cuts in 18 Korn Ferry Tour starts last season and got into the Fortinet field on a major medical extension due to a wrist injury. Knous, who finished 25th in the 2018 KFT Finals to earn his TOUR card, has this and one more start to fulfill the terms of his extension. A two-way tie for third or better Sunday would give him enough points to equal the 125th player in the 2018-19 FedExCup standings, while a solo 12th or better would give him conditional status on TOUR and full Korn Ferry Tour status, allowing him to skip the upcoming Q school. “Do your best,” he said his wife told him. “Let God do the rest.” So far, it seems to be working. Two days after world No. 1 Jon Rahm missed the cut, Hard K is playing to dramatically alter the trajectory of his career. “Yeah, nothing to lose really for me,” he said. “I can go out there and play free and hit the shots that I know I can hit, try to go win the tournament. I know it sounds like a lot, but I’m going to play like that because that’s when I play my best golf, when I make full committed swings.” With so much inexperience at the top; 18 players within four of the lead; and Mickelson, Webb Simpson (65), and newly minted Rookie of the Year Will Zalatoris (71) lurking, the stage is set.
Tournament host Tiger Woods announced late Monday that he will make his return to competitive golf at the 18-man Hero World Challenge, Nov. 30-Dec. 3, at Albany, Bahamas. After a nine-month recuperation from his latest back operation, Woods announced on Twitter that he and Daniel Berger will round out the field. “I’d like to thank the committee of 1 for picking myself and Daniel Berger to play in this years #HeroWorldChallenge,� Woods tweeted. Although he won five times on the PGA TOUR in 2013, Woods has made just 19 starts since then, including one in 2017, at the Farmers Insurance Open in January. He shot 76-72 to miss the cut, and announced in April that he had undergone back fusion surgery—his fourth back operation in three years. “I am excited to return to competitive golf at the Hero World Challenge,� Woods said. “Albany is the perfect setting and it will be great to join this outstanding field. I want to thank Pawan Munjal and Hero MotoCorp for their continued support of this tournament and my foundation. I would also like to thank the fans for their unwavering support during my injury.� Woods was an assistant to U.S. Team Captain Steve Stricker at the Presidents Cup at Liberty National, where he was asked why it was important for him to return to competitive golf. “I think it’s fun,� said the 14-time major winner Woods, who will turn 42 in December. “You know, I’ve been competing in golf tournaments since I was, what, four years old. From pitch, putt and drive to playing major championships, it’s always been fun to me.� Younger players like Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas, each 24, grew up watching Woods on TV and now dominate the TOUR along with Dustin Johnson, 33. But it can’t be lost on Woods that two of the first five winners this season, Pat Perez and Ryan Armour, are his age, 41.  Woods has given regular updates of his slow progress. He engaged in putting contests with fellow South Floridians Rickie Fowler and Thomas, and said he was sleeping better and had no nerve pain running down his legs. Then he was chipping. Then he was hitting full shots. Last week he posted a slow-motion video of himself hitting his old standby, the “stinger.� “I don’t know what 100 percent means after eight surgeries,� Woods said at the Presidents Cup. “But I’ll try and get as close as I can to that number, yes. But as I said, we just take it one step at a time. It’s a process, and I’m in no hurry.� The youngest assistant captain on either team at the Presidents Cup, Woods huddled with fellow assistants Fred Couples, Jim Furyk and Davis Love III as Stricker announced the lineups. “It would be fun to have him back,� Brooks Koepka said. “Fans want it. Players want it.� Starting at the Hero, they’ll get it.
Happy New Year! For most of us, the turn of the calendar was a welcome one. It gives a chance to start fresh and hold renewed hope for greater things ahead. A year ago, it would have been a very bold prediction indeed to say the PGA TOUR season - and the world - would be knocked on its head and sent into a tailspin by a pandemic. It would have been bolder still to suggest the TOUR would return and complete an impressive season. But yet - improbable things happen. So, as we like to do at this time of year, we are throwing up 10 bold predictions, arguably each one bolder than the last, for the new year. 10. Tiger Woods will own the all-time PGA TOUR win record by himself. Having just turned 45, Woods still sits in a tie with Sam Snead at 82 PGA TOUR wins. But we believe Woods can find his vintage stuff for at least one week. It all depends on his health. He'll likely play around 14 tournaments — and that is assuming a deep run in the FedExCup Playoffs - but he has places like Augusta National, Torrey Pines (which is also hosting this year's U.S. Open), Bay Hill and Muirfield Village where he always has to be considered a favorite. Woods can win an Open Championship on any venue and with Liberty National and East Lake part of the FedExCup Playoffs predicting just one win might be undervaluing a legend. 9. A player who begins the TOUR Championship 10 shots behind will win at East Lake. We are only two iterations into the new TOUR Championship format that sees season-long effort rewarded with starting strokes at East Lake. In 2019, Rory McIlroy came from five shots back to win his second FedExCup title. In 2020, it was Dustin Johnson winning from the top spot, using his regular season buffer to stay out front. But in 2021, it will be someone from all the way back at even par - 10 shots behind whomever arrives at East Lake ranked No. 1 - that will surge through the pack and win it all. Crazy you say? Maybe. Especially since a T12 from Bryson DeChambeau in 2019 is the best finish so far from the 10 players who occupied slots 26-30 over the two seasons. But the expanded Super Season could see a few big names just sneak into the TOUR Championship. The above mentioned Tiger Woods could be a contender from this far back. Or what about Brooks Koepka? With a few injury concerns over the last couple seasons, and no wins since the 2019 World Golf Championships-FedEx St Jude Invitational, Koepka could drop in at the back and make a run. He hasn't got form at East Lake but he does have form as an underdog. 8. Patrick Rodgers will win for the first time. It's been 10 years since the Class of 2011 graduated high school. Led by Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas, and with the likes of Daniel Berger, Xander Schauffele and Emiliano Grillo among them, it has been an incredible ride for a ton of guys from that year. But while PGA TOUR titles and major championship wins and FedExCups have come to some, Rodgers, a highly-touted player from the same group, is still without a win on the TOUR. That's about to change. While he hasn't won, Rodgers has managed to keep his PGA TOUR card without issue since coming onboard in 2015. He has three runner-up finishes. It is a resume many would take in a heartbeat if offered. This year, he will win and make it to East Lake, a big improvement on his career-best FedExCup finish (74th, 2015-16). 7. We will have 10 first-time TOUR winners. It is time for some new blood in the winner's circle once more and with so much talent and depth on TOUR we are expecting plenty to breakthrough like the aforementioned Rodgers. While Carlos Ortiz and Jason Kokrak were the only first-timers to win this fall, top candidates to join him include Mexico's Abraham Ancer and Englishmen Tommy Fleetwood and Matt Fitzpatrick. The latter just claimed the European Tour's season finale. Other players to watch from offshore include Australian Cameron Davis, Austrian Sepp Straka and Kristoffer Ventura. And what of the Americans like Rodgers? Well Scottie Scheffler, Harry Higgs, Doc Redman, Maverick McNealy, Will Zalatoris and Matthew NeSmith are just some to watch. The record for the most first-time winners in a season is 18 in 2002, followed by 16 just five years ago. We already have two in this Super Season (Jason Kokrak, Carlos Ortiz). 6. Tony Finau will finally win again. It's time. Actually it is well past time. He's been a colossus in terms of consistency. And one can argue that is more impressive than just picking up a random win with little else to show for it. Finau has 34 top-10 finishes since the 2017 season. But none of them are wins. There are six runners-up and three third-place finishes amongst them. While some suggest he's getting further from a win with each failure, the reality is he's getting closer with each chance he gives himself. And besides - the so-called Puerto Rico Open curse was just lifted by Viktor Hovland. 5. Someone will win in back-to-back weeks. Can you remember the last person to win in back-to-back weeks on TOUR? Not back-to-back starts. Or even back-to-back tournaments. Back-to-back weeks. It wasn't Brendon Todd last season. There was a week between his wins in the Bermuda Championship and Mayakoba Golf Classic. The last time someone actually won back-to-back without any break was Bryson DeChambeau in the 2018 FedExCup Playoffs. He claimed THE NORTHERN TRUST before winning again at the Dell Technologies Championship. It will happen again. Perhaps as early as the opening two weeks. Before DeChambeau's effort, it was Justin Thomas who showed he could roll one week into another by taking out the Sentry Tournament of Champions and Sony Open of Hawaii. Ernie Els also accomplished that feat in 2003. Perhaps someone will do so again. 4. We will get at least one more blast-from-the-past winners. After years of putting a huge focus on the youth brigade, it was interesting to note this season opened with veteran Stewart Cink breaking a lengthy win drought at the Safeway Open. And he wasn't alone in terms of blasts from the past. Sergio Garcia won the Sanderson Farms Championship, Martin Laird saluted at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open and Brian Gay was too good for the competition at the Bermuda Championship. Now we are eyeballing the likes of Hunter Mahan, Luke Donald, Henrik Stenson, Lee Westwood, Padraig Harrington, Rory Sabbatini, Camilo Villegas, Lucas Glover and Zach Johnson among others who could find their way back to the winner's circle after a lengthy absence. 3. Jordan Spieth will make it back to East Lake. Spieth's struggles have been one of the great mysteries of the last few seasons. All great players have dips from time to time but it's hard to believe the 2017 Open Championship is his most recent win. Last season yielded just three top-10s and perhaps more questions than answers and his beginning to this season saw three missed cuts and no better than a T38 in six starts. The time has come for not only a resurrection, but an almighty one. Spieth may not win this season, but he will find a way to climb from his current 166th position in the FedExCup all the way to East Lake where he's won it all before. We believe. 2. We will see just the second ever hole-in-one on a par-4 on the PGA TOUR 20 years on from the first. If we make it to the Waste Management Phoenix Open without this happening it will be two decades since Andrew Magee produced an incredible - but also lucky - ace on a par-4. Magee somewhat impatiently teed off on the par-4 17th at TPC Scottsdale thinking he couldn't reach the putting surface that was still occupied by the group in front. Turns out he could, and his ball rolled up and narrowly missed Steve Pate before bouncing off Tom Byrum's putter as he lined up an 8-footer. The rebound sent the ball directly into the hole for an unlikely 1. We still haven't seen another ace on a par-4 never seen another. That will change this season. Perhaps FedExCup champion Dustin Johnson can recreate his brilliant shot from the Sentry Tournament of Champions in 2018 where he went within a few rolls of holing out from the tee on the 433-yard par-4 12th. He just needs to hit it a touch harder. But with Johnson and other bombers like Bryson DeChambeau, Matthew Wolff and Cameron Champ launching missiles all year and the celebration of an anniversary - it will happen. 1. The winner of THE PLAYERS Championship will also win either a major, an Olympic Medal, or the FedExCup. It seems like a lifetime ago but it was after the first round of The PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass that the TOUR took its COVID-19 sabbatical, breaking from play as the pandemic took hold. It was just the first of many cancellations and postponements. There are countless contenders to fill this slot. Rory McIlroy is due a resurgence after settling into parenthood. Dustin Johnson, now the current FedExCup and Masters champion could easily put up a mega season again. He finished first or second in six of his last seven starts of 2020. What about Jon Rahm? The U.S. Open at Torrey Pines is calling his name. Collin Morikawa could take his impressive early career to new heights. And don't sleep on Hideki Matsuyama. The Japanese star led the cancelled PLAYERS after a blistering course-record equaling 9-under 63 and you can be sure, if the stars align and the Olympics go ahead in his home country, he will be heavily favored to medal. He was runner-up in the lone PGA TOUR event played in Japan, the 2019 ZOZO Championship.
