How The Open came back to Northern Ireland

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Despite the fireworks of the first three events of the FedExCup Playoffs, the TOUR Championship still validates a full season’s worth of consistently strong form. As it should. For the second consecutive season, exactly 25 golfers who opened the Playoffs inside the top 30 in points qualified for the season finale at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. All 30 in the field are slotted below. Beneath them are trends at the TOUR Championship, a profile of the host course and more. Of the qualifiers for the TOUR Championship who began the BMW Championship outside the top 30 in FedExCup points, only Keegan Bradley (win) and Xander Schauffele (T3) advanced. Speaking of whom, that’s the rub for winning the Playoffs finale – the champ isn’t guaranteed the opportunity to defend. Schauffele started this Playoffs seeded 28th, but Bradley began 49th. With Gary Woodland (33rd), Billy Horschel (41st), Cameron Smith (53rd) and Hideki Matsuyama (76th), the quintet comprises this year’s grouping that opened outside the top 30. Previous champions also must earn their way back to East Lake, although unlike last year when only Jordan Spieth represented prior winners of the TOUR Championship at East Lake, five are committed this week, including two-time winner Phil Mickelson. (Ironically, Spieth failed to qualify at 31st in points.) Seventeen from last year’s TOUR Championship are back this week. Six are debutants, including points leader Bryson DeChambeau. If he or any of the other four inside the top five in points – Justin Rose (2nd), Tony Finau (3rd), Dustin Johnson (4th), Justin Thomas (5th) – prevails, he will win the FedExCup and the $10-million bonus. DeChambeau already has proven that inexperience can be overrated, but he’s further inspired by the achievements of Bill Haas (2011), Henrik Stenson (2013) and Schauffele (2017), all of whom captured victory in their first appearance at East Lake. However, as Schauffele now aims to become the first in tournament history to successfully defend a title, DeChambeau wages his own battle with a drought. None of the last nine No. 1 seeds entering the TOUR Championship won the FedExCup. East Lake presents as fair a test as any of the entrants would want. It’s a stock par 70 tipping at 7,362 yards again this year. Hitting fairways is toughest and important, just not the priority. Hitting greens and pouring in putts is the ticket. Distance off the tee already is synonymous with most in the field, but scoring on the vulnerable pair of par 5s is key. The 525-yard sixth hole is the par 5 going out. Its counterpart on the back side measures 590 yards and serves the finish line as No. 18. Since 2016 when the nines were flipped to shift the old par-3 closer into position as the new ninth hole, both eventual winners birdied the 18th hole in the final round. In fact, of the 59 golfers who completed the final round in the last two years, they converted one eagle and 31 birdies combined. A would-be clubhouse leader won’t feel safe unless he’s sitting on a three-stroke margin with that hole still in front of his nearest in pursuit. Last year’s field average of 69.383 matched the lowest (2013) since Rees Jones’ renovation after the 2007 edition. Another sub-par split can’t be ruled out this week. Primarily favorable weather conditions should keep the stage dry and allow the bermudagrass greens to reach 13 feet of the Stimpmeter. It’ll be warm and muggy throughout as autumn is ushered in on the weekend. Wind won’t be a factor. No matter the experience in the tournament, the TOUR Championship serves as a celebration. In addition to the bonus prize money on top of official earnings, all 30 in the field are treated to carte-blanche scheduling next season that includes exemptions into the Masters, U.S. Open and Open Championship. But winning is, of course, special. The tournament champion receives a three-year PGA TOUR exemption. The FedExCup champ is further rewarded with a spot in the Sentry Tournament of Champions (if not already exempt) and a five-year TOUR exemption. ROB BOLTON’S SCHEDULE PGATOUR.COM’s Fantasy Insider Rob Bolton reviews and previews every tournament from numerous angles. Look for his following contributions as scheduled. MONDAY: Rookie Ranking, Power Rankings TUESDAY*: Fantasy Insider, Facebook Live WEDNESDAY: One & Done THURSDAY: Champions One & Done * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO, which also publishes on Tuesday.

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PUNTA CANA, Dominican Republic – After battling nerves early, former NFL quarterback Tony Romo fought back for a respectable opening-round score of 7-over-par 79 at the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship. Making his second TOUR start in the Dominican Republic, Romo had a tough day off the tee, hitting just 21 percent of his fairways. He missed a few short putts early – and bogeyed three of his first four holes – before getting into a bit of a groove. He lost his tee-shot on the tough par-4 8th, leading to a triple-bogey 7. However, on the tougher back nine at Corales, Romo was just 1-over. He said after his round there were some “signs of life.â€� “I got comfortable and the last 10 holes or so (and) hit some good shots. Just got to keep getting comfortable and playing golf in these types of situations and it starts to get easier,â€� he said. Romo’s coach, Andy Traynor, was out following his pupil all 18 holes. He said Romo could out-work anyone, and was playing very well coming into the week. But Romo admitted after his round that tournament golf is just a different animal. “I think a lot of this is just tournament golf in general. We work on stuff and then all of a sudden you have a different wind direction, it’s a little down and it’s a front flag and it’s like it needs to be flighted a different way than you normally would, stuff like that,â€� said Romo. “It’s just a little harder than what you see.â€� Romo played with Texan Kramer Hickok (1-under 71), who he’s played with a few times at home, and Denny McCarthy (3-under-par 69), who he played with in 2018. McCarthy – who said he had a combination of confidence and knowing he played well here a year ago (he finished T-7) as contributing factors to his hot start – said Romo didn’t have his best day, but it was evident that he eased into the round. “He played great after the 8th hole. He even mentioned it, he was a little tentative and nervous but played carefree coming in,â€� said McCarthy. “I got to know him pretty well last year and we had some nice conversations out there. It was a comfortable pairing for all of us.â€� Romo said he has improved a lot in certain areas of his game since 2018 and he’s eager for another crack at Corales on Friday. “I feel like I always want to be improving, but the score doesn’t always show that,â€� he said. “But for me the progression is going well and just have to stay at it. I think I’m going to play better tomorrow.â€�

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