Horses for Courses: WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational

In a PGA TOUR career that lacked the sort of highlights he may have envisioned for himself, Jim Jamieson could at least point to one that carried enormous personal satisfaction. At Sunset Ridge Country Club on the outskirts of Chicago, Jamieson in the summer of 1972 was a local kid, playing in front of family and friends from his hometown of Moline at the Western Open. Though he built an impressive eight-shot lead through 54 holes, Jamieson only had to look up and down his gallery to realize what was at stake that Sunday. “I couldn’t let them down, but I’ll admit I was nervous when I started,� Jamieson told reporters after closing with a 69 to finish at 13-under 271 and win by six. He choked back his emotions and kept accepting congratulations from well-wishers. “I’m still in a Twilight zone.� It would be the only win in Jamieson’s nine-year PGA TOUR career, but the relative quiet of his pro success isn’t what defined the man who died Wednesday at 75. Instead, Tony Navarro – a longtime caddie who grew up in Moline and considered Jamieson a sort of mentor – gushed about “a real sweetheart, a gentleman� and a moving force to bring the PGA TOUR to their hometown area. “He was very much a part of starting the Quad Cities Open (now the John Deere Classic),� said Navarro. “All of us in the area were very proud of him for that and happy that he brought it here.� Having advanced from the caddie ranks at Oakwood Country Club in Moline to star for Oklahoma State’s 1963 NCAA Championship golf team, Jamieson made it onto the PGA TOUR in 1969 at the age of 26. His relatively late start is owed to a reason that few young golfers could relate to – Jamieson served a military stint in Vietnam. Jamieson played the bulk of his 236 tournaments between 1969 and 1977 when he broke a hand and decided to retire. His best season was 1972, when he won the Western Open and a few weeks later produced his best finish in a major, tied for second, two shots behind Gary Player at Oakland Hills in the PGA Championship. He was 15th on the money list that year, then was inside the top 60 in 1973 and ’74, but 1975-77 was a rough stretch for Jamieson and he chose to accept a job at the Greenbrier Hotel in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. The area became home for Jamieson, who befriended his predecessor at the Greenbrier, Sam Snead. “That gave him a lot of stories to tell,� laughed Navarro. “And Jim did love to tell stories and listen to stories. He was a nice man.� When he triumphed at that 1972 Western Open, Jamieson became the first Illinois golfer to win that tournament since the legendary Chick Evans in 1910. So important a win was it for Jamieson that he took $2,000 of his $30,000 first-place prize and donated it to the Evans Scholars Foundation. Years later, Jamieson was inducted into the Quad-Cities Sports Hall of Fame and put his PGA TOUR career into perspective. “I didn’t have enough killer instinct,� he told reporters. “But golf has really been good to me. I have no regrets.�

Click here to read the full article…

Click here to read the full article…

Because of the format, a Power Rankings for any match-play event should be consumed almost entirely as a straightforward preview replete with details about the host course, notable history among the qualifiers, trends and other nuggets to get you set for the tournament. As always, you’ve come to the right place for all of that. But, oh, them vagaries. The “v-word” is a staple at the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play Championship. While cliché and certainly overused, it’s still not inaccurate to preface expectations accordingly. With three rounds of pool play to determine the round of 16 that advance into the traditional knockout portion, anything can happen and always does. This is why you’re encouraged to continue to adhere to the breadth of daily coverage at PGATOUR.com for every match will be previewed and recapped. The first 16 golfers ranked below are who I have surviving pool play. Their position reflects logical reasoning based on the four golfers I have emerging from each of the sub-brackets as semifinalists. For example, because Bubba Watson is slotted fourth (or lowest among the semifinalists), Francesco Molinari is ranked fifth (or highest among the quarterfinalists) because they would meet in the quarters. Similarly, No. 8 Justin Thomas (lowest among the quarterfinalists) would meet No. 9 Jim Furyk (highest of the eight who wouldn’t advance from the round of 16). Golfers sitting 17-64 are slotted subjectively. Power Rankings Continued 17. Louis Oosthuizen 18. Cameron Smith 19. Phil Mickelson 20. Bryson DeChambeau (first-timer) 21. Jason Day 22. Rafa Cabrera Bello 23. Marc Leishman 24. Thorbjørn Olesen 25. Gary Woodland 26. Matthew Fitzpatrick 27. Webb Simpson 28. Tiger Woods 29. Keith Mitchell (first-timer) 30. Byeong Hun An 31. Charles Howell III 32. Henrik Stenson 33. Brandt Snedeker 34. Hideki Matsuyama 35. Billy Horschel 36. Si Woo Kim 37. Tyrrell Hatton 38. Kevin Kisner 39. Matt Kuchar 40. Keegan Bradley 41. Tony Finau 42. HaoTong Li 43. Eddie Pepperell (first-timer) 44. Chez Reavie 45. Branden Grace 46. Matt Wallace (first-timer) 47. Russell Knox 48. Lee Westwood 49. Jordan Spieth 50. Alex Noren 51. Aaron Wise (first-timer) 52. Andrew Putnam (first-timer) 53. Shane Lowry 54. Abraham Ancer (first-timer) 55. Emiliano Grillo 56. J.B. Holmes 57. Patrick Reed 58. Satoshi Kodaira 59. Tom Lewis (first-timer) 60. Kevin Na 61. Luke List 62. Lucas Bjerregaard (first-timer) 63. Kyle Stanley 64. Justin Harding (first-timer) The pursuit of the Walter Hagen Cup will begin on Wednesday, thus giving the Match Play the earliest start of any PGA TOUR event all season. Every golfer will face every other golfer in his opening pool of four for one match each on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Overall records in pool play determine who advances to the knockout competition on the weekend. More on this below. For the fourth consecutive year, Austin Country Club provides the scenic backdrop. Big swingers Jason Day (2016), Dustin Johnson (2017) and Bubba Watson (2018) have prevailed in the Texas capital, but given how much of today’s elite talent brings the muscle, it’s not surprising. Yet, length off the tee is a bonus at Austin CC. It’s a par 71 that tips at just 7,108 yards. Two-inch bermuda rough isn’t overseeded, so the course is eminently playable through the green. Although the tee at the par-4 15th hole was enlarged and trees near four greens were removed to enhance growth in those areas, there weren’t any influential changes to the course since last year. Overseeded TifEagle bermuda greens have been prepped to touch 12 feet on the Stimpmeter. If there was an average on the PGA TOUR, that’d be it. The 10 first-time participants will be contributing to the bank of data that has slowly revealed why the highest seeds perform the best. It’s one vagary that doesn’t need validation. In three editions since Austin CC has hosted, 18 of the 48 pool-play survivors were seeded 1-16. Twelve were seeded 17-32. Nine advanced from each of the other two layers. Only 21 of the 48 pool-play survivors opened 3-0-0, including Day and Johnson en route to their victory. Another 13 went 2-0-1 to advance, including Watson last year. A dozen who moved on went 2-1-0, while two managed to survive with a record of 1-0-2. No golfer has survived pool play in all three editions that Austin CC hosted. During his title defense, DJ was the only golfer in last year’s field with the chance to turn that trick, and he was the No. 1 seed, but he lost all three of his pool-play matches. Parts of the field of 64 are going to face a little of everything that Mother Nature has to offer in Austin. After a benign first two days with daytime highs in the 70s, the threat of rain enters the picture. As the temperature rises to maybe 80 degrees on Friday, the precipitation could linger into Sunday when jackets will be commonplace with a high that might not reach 65 degrees. And, of course, wind will play a bit part until the weekend when it turns around and blows out of a northerly direction. In addition to receiving 550 FedExCup points and $1.745 million, the winner will be eligible for PGA TOUR membership through at least 2021-22. ROB BOLTON’S SCHEDULE PGATOUR.COM’s Fantasy Insider Rob Bolton recaps and previews every tournament from numerous angles. Look for his following contributions as scheduled. MONDAY: Rookie Ranking, Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Medical Extensions, Power Rankings (Corales) TUESDAY*: Power Rankings (Match Play), Fantasy Insider, One & Done (Match Play) WEDNESDAY: One & Done (Corales) THURSDAY: Champions One & Done * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf, which also publishes on Tuesdays.

Click here to read the full article…