Horses for Courses: Puerto Rico Open

WILMINGTON, N.C. — Brian Harman made a 30-foot birdie putt on the final hole to win the Wells Fargo Championship and deny Dustin Johnson a fourth straight victory. Harman hit a heavy chip from behind the green on the par-5 18th that barely got onto the putting surface. It appeared certain there would be at least a three-man playoff with Johnson and Pat Perez until Harman holed the putt and broke into a wild celebration. He closed with a 4-under 68 for his second PGA TOUR victory. Johnson, in his return from a freak back injury that knocked him out of the Masters Tournament, went from making the cut on the number to a 67-67 weekend and had the lead until Harman birdied the last two holes. Perez birdied the 18th for a 68.

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Mackenzie Hughes … It’s probably an insult to drop him in here, but the 29-year-old from Canada hasn’t qualified for a World Golf Championship since the 2017 edition of this event when it was held at Firestone Country Club’s South Course. His most recent three starts include a T3 at the Travelers Championship, where he led the field in Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green, and T6 at the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide, where he paced the field in Strokes Gained: Putting. Looping in a runner-up finish at The Honda Classic in what was his last start before the hiatus, all three of his top-45 finishes this season are top sixes. He’s also missed 10 of 17 cuts, but that can’t happen this week, so the promise of 72 holes plays into his firepower. Matt Jones … This is the Aussie’s first appearance in a World Golf Championship in four years. He qualified for this week’s with a victory at the Emirates Australian Open in December. Aside from the hiatus, it’s been a largely quiet 2020, but a T5 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and a T14 at the Workday Charity Open are timely highlights. In the latter at Muirfield Village, he flashed confidence around and on the greens. Now he settles into a site where he went 4-for-5 at the FedEx St. Jude Classic from 2015-2018 with a T3, a T18 and a scoring average of 69.125. Joel Dahmen … Given his consistently strong form over time, it’s a little hard to believe that this marks his debut in a World Golf Championship. It’s not his first look at TPC Southwind, or his second. As a PGA TOUR rookie in 2017, the native of Washington State placed T18 in the FedEx St. Jude Classic. It was one of only two top 40s in 16 starts that season. His propensity to keep his ball in play off the tee keeps his options open on approach. A moxie evidenced with the ability to connect low rounds all the while maximizing course management support why he’s dangerous in a limited-field event with no cut. While Muirfield Village knocked him around in six rounds earlier this month, he’s already hung up a pair of top 20s in the restart. For the season, the 32-year-old has four top 10s among eight top 20s. Shaun Norris … The 38-year-old South African has only eight PGA TOUR starts under his belt and he didn’t crack the top 100 of the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time until October of 2018, but he’s figured out how to retain positioning at this level. Even after early struggles on the Japan Golf Tour in 2019, he regrouped to finish second in the Order of Merit for the second straight season. He’s won once in each of his four years on that circuit, and he led the JGTO in putts per GIR last year. Opened 2020 by going 5-for-5 worldwide with a T6 in Abu Dhabi and a T18 in Oman. In between, his T37 at the WGC-Mexico Championship registered as his career-best finish in PGA TOUR competition. Robert MacIntyre … The lefty was the last of the 15 additional qualifiers via the Official World Golf Ranking on July 20 to construct a field of 78. His T6 at The Open Championship in 2019 punctuated a seriously strong season en route to the Rookie of the Year award on the European Tour. He didn’t win but he finished second three times and totaled seven top 10s, and then opened 2020 with a T8 in Dubai. The Scot will turn 24 on the Monday following the conclusion of the WGC-St. Jude. NOTE: Sleeper is a relative term, so Rob uses unofficial criteria to determine who qualifies. Each of the following usually is determined to be ineligible for this weekly staple: Winners of the tournament on the current host course; winners in the same season; recent major champions; top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking; recent participants of team competitions.

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Reigning FedExCup champion Patrick Cantlay leads the notables teeing it up at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. He’s looking to build off a T3 from last season. Meanwhile, Daniel Berger returns to defend his title as the event goes back to a three-course rotation. FIELD NOTES: Berger looks to become the first repeat winner at Pebble Beach since Dustin Johnson more than a decade ago… Cantlay has finished T3-T11 in his last two starts here and tied the course record (62) at Pebble in the opening round last season… Jordan Spieth returns after finishing T3 a year ago. Spieth won this event in 2017… Spieth and Cantlay are joined by Bill Haas, Justin Rose, and Brandt Snedeker (who won this event in 2015) as past FedExCup champs in the field… Brandon Harkins – who won for the first time in 179 PGA TOUR-sanctioned starts on the Korn Ferry Tour last week – is a sponsor exemption along with Dean Burmester, Chan Kim, Alex Cejka, Mark Baldwin, Austin Eckroat and John Murphy. This will mark Murphy’s TOUR debut after a solid career at the University of Louisville… Min Woo Lee is in the field on an exemption as well. Lee, 23, has won on the DP World Tour the last two years and is ranked in the top 50 in the world, but he’s not even the best golfer in his family. Sister Minjee Lee is ranked 6th in the world on the women’s side… Some of the game’s legends are teeing it up at Pebble Beach, including Davis Love III, Peter Jacobsen, and Tom Lehman. COURSE: The tournament will return to a three-course rotation after using only two in 2021. Golfers will rotate through Pebble Beach Golf Links (which has played host to the ‘Clambake’ since 1947), Spyglass Hill Golf Course, and Monterey Peninsula Country Club (Shore Course) before finishing at Pebble Beach on Sunday. Pebble Beach: Par 72, 6,972 yards Spyglass Hill: Par 72, 7,041 yards Monterey Peninsula Country Club (Shore): Par 71, 6,957 yards FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 FedExCup points. STORYLINES: Ten of the top 50 golfers in the world will tee it up, twice as many as 2021… Watch out for Jason Day, who hadn’t won since 2018 when he suddenly played his way into the final group at the Farmers Insurance Open. Day finished T7 at Pebble Beach last season, his seventh career top-7 finish at this event, with no wins… Day would become only the fifth non-American to ever win at Pebble Beach… The 2021 edition of this event was played without fans, and on just two courses, but fans, a third course, and celebrities are back for 2022. Amongst those expected to tee it up this week: Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen, two-time World Series winner Mookie Betts, country musicians Jake Owen, Darius Rucker, and Charles Kelley, soccer superstar Mia Hamm, and, of course, Bill Murray. 72-HOLE RECORD: 265, Brandt Snedeker (2015). 18-HOLE RECORD: 60, Sung Kang at Monterey Peninsula (2nd round, 2016). Pebble Beach record: 62, Tom Kite (3rd round, 1983), David Duval (3rd round, 1997), Patrick Cantlay (1st round, 2021). Spyglass Hill record: 62, Phil Mickelson (1st round, 2005), Luke Donald (1st round, 2006). LAST TIME: Daniel Berger holed a 30-foot eagle on the 72nd hole (the “best putt” he’s hit in his life, he said) to win by two. It was his second win since the TOUR returned after the COVID-19 break. Jordan Spieth held a piece of the lead Sunday but bogeyed two of his first five holes to fall out of contention. Maverick McNealy made five birdies over his final eight holes and fired a final-round 66. He was tied for the lead going into 18 but his eagle attempt at the last stopped just short. Berger was in the group behind McNealy and needed only two putts to win, but he rolled in the eagle for a two-shot victory. His 65 was the round of the day Sunday. McNealy finished runner-up – his best career TOUR result, although he also finished runner up at the Fortinet Championship to begin the current season. Spieth tied for third with Patrick Cantlay. Paul Casey and Nate Lashley rounded out the top five, four shots back of Berger. HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Thursday-Friday, 3 p.m.-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday, 1 p.m.-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3 p.m.-7 p.m. (CBS). Sunday, 1 p.m.-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3 p.m.-6:30 p.m. (CBS) Radio: Thursday-Friday, 12–6 p.m. ET. Saturday, 2-7 p.m. Sunday, 1-6:30 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio) For outside of the U.S., click here for GOLFTV powered by the PGA TOUR PGA TOUR LIVE PGA TOUR LIVE is available exclusively on ESPN+ • Main Feed: Primary tournament coverage featuring the best action from across the course • Marquee Group: New “marquee group” showcasing every shot from each player in the group • Featured Groups: Traditional PGA TOUR LIVE coverage of two concurrent featured groups • Featured Holes: A combination of par-3s and iconic or pivotal holes

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