How the International side stunned the U.S. on Day 1 at the Presidents Cup

Chesson Hadley … Enduring an up-and-down season is a lot easier when there’s considerable “up” baked in. To wit, he’s registered five top 20s, the last two to open the Florida Swing. He’s 50th in the FedExCup standings thanks primarily to laser-like precision with his irons. When he descended for his fifth appearance at TPC San Antonio, where he finished T4 in 2015 and T20 last year, he was T2 on TOUR in proximity to the hole and 14th in strokes gained: approach-the-green. Kevin Streelman … Among a handful in the field who arrive hoping to find form on a track that isn’t expected to be friendly, but he’s 5-for-5 at TPC San Antonio with three top 15s, including a T8 last year. For the week, he ranked second in strokes gained: around-the-green and fourth in strokes gained: tee-to-green. If one thing’s for certain, he’ll keep his ball in play in the Hill Country. Currently 10th on the PGA TOUR in fairways hit. Chris Kirk … Like Streelman, the Georgian could use a little TPC San Antonio in his life. Spanning his last 15 starts, Kirk has connected for only one-40 finish. It was less than a month ago at Bay Hill (T15), so it’s relatively recent, but it’s an anomaly nonetheless. In the last four editions of the Valero Texas Open, he’s recorded a pair of T8s and a T13. His putting leaves much to be desired, but his tee-to-green game is still solid enough to warrant consideration as a threat. He’s also done his best scoring on par 5s this season. Sung Kang … The 31-year-old is quietly assembling a sturdy season with five top 20s that have lifted him to 60th in the FedExCup standings. He capped a 4-for-4 on the Florida Swing with a T18 at the Valspar Championship where he ranked fourth in total driving, T9 in par-5 scoring and 17th in strokes gained: putting. His sum is greater than his parts overall, but he’s T23 in par-5 scoring for the season. He’s also no stranger to TPC San Antonio, which has boggled everyone who’s played it at some point, but he survived the battle in 2017 with a share of sixth place. Julián Etulain … The native of Argentina didn’t enter his second spin with a PGA TOUR card with any momentum, but he’s drummed up nine paydays to sit 113th in the FedExCup, eight of which in 2019 alone. He prevailed just over a year ago at the Web.com Tour’s Chitimacha Louisiana Open presented by MISTRAS, and then chased it with a T5 at the Savannah Golf Championship, but hasn’t recorded a top 10 on either circuit since. Still, he lines up as a game-changer around and on greens at 21st on the PGA TOUR in scrambling and 16th in strokes gained: putting, but his improvement tee to green is why he’s found consistency of late. 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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AUSTIN, Texas — The second round of the group stage at the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play will be played Thursday. A total of 32 matches are set for Austin Country Club. The round-robin format continues through Friday, with the 16 group-stage winners advancing to the weekend’s single-elimination play. PGATOUR.COM is on the scene in Austin and will provide live coverage throughout the day. Watch PGA TOUR LIVE | Printable bracket | Live leaderboard | Day 1 match recaps

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PGA TOUR winners Brad Faxon and Smylie Kaufman will join NBC Sports’ golf commentary team for 2023, the network announced Tuesday. Faxon, an eight-time TOUR winner and former Ryder Cup participant, is joining NBC Sports’ team as a hole announcer and will make his on-air debut at The Honda Classic next month. Faxon will also contribute to Golf Central and Golf Central Live From studio programming on Golf Channel. Kaufman, who won the 2015 Shriners Children’s Open and played in the final group of the following year’s Masters, will join John Wood, Notah Begay III and Arron Oberholser as on-course reporters throughout the season. Wood and Kaufman will walk the course this week at the Sentry Tournament of Champions. Begay III will begin his year at The Honda Classic and Oberholser will start his assignment at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard in March. Kaufman made his announcing debut last year, broadcasting from the PGA Championship and U.S. Open among other events. Longtime GOLF Channel commentators Damon Hack and Cara Banks will serve as golf reporters this year, conducting interviews with players, family members, executives and more, in addition to continuing in their current roles. Hack will continue to co-host Golf Today on GOLF Channel, while Banks will also anchor studio coverage of Golf Central and Golf Central Live From on the network. Banks’ first reporter assignment will be at The Honda Classic while Hack will begin at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard. The 18th tower duo of Dan Hicks (play-by-play) and Paul Azinger (lead analyst) will return to lead NBC Sports’ golf commentary team for the fifth consecutive year. Faxon previously worked with NBC Sports in 2010 as a hole announcer and from 2013-14 as a studio analyst, while also providing commentary on Sky Sports. He also was the lead golf analyst on Fox Sports when the network held the rights to USGA events, including the U.S. Open. Faxon also has served as a putting coach to a number of players on the PGA TOUR and the LPGA Tour, including reigning FedExCup champion Rory McIlroy. Faxon was the 2005 recipient of the Payne Stewart Award, an honor presented annually by the PGA TOUR to a professional golfer who best exemplifies the values of character, charity and sportsmanship. NBC Sports’ 2023 golf coverage gets underway this week at the Sentry Tournament of Champions from Kapalua Resort in Maui, Hawaii, on NBC, Golf Channel and Peacock. Last week, NBC Sports announced its 2023 PGA TOUR broadcast schedule, totaling more than 450 hours of live tournament coverage across NBC, Golf Channel and Peacock.

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