How to watch Fortinet Championship, Round 4: Featured Groups, live scores, tee times, TV times

PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland – Three weeks ago, Darren Clarke was asked by The R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers to hit the opening tee shot early Thursday morning at The Open Championship. There was no hesitation in the Northern Irishman’s response. “A definite yes,â€� Clarke said. It won’t be a ceremonial tee shot – after all, Clarke is in the 156-man field thanks to his Open win in 2011. His shot off the 421-yard par-4 first at 6:35 a.m. local time will count. But there is no more fitting player in the field to start play in the first Open held in Northern Ireland since 1951, when Royal Portrush last played host. Clarke is a resident of Portrush and his win in 2011 was the first for a Northern Irishman since Portrush native Fred Daly won the Claret Jug in 1947. He calls Royal Portrush the “best golf course in the world.â€� RELATED: Tee times | Featured Groups | Experts roundtable | Five things to know: Royal Portrush Clarke’s Open win, which came on the heels of consecutive U.S. Open wins by Northern Irishman Graeme McDowell (2010) and Rory McIlroy (2011), were instrumental in helping to convince The R&A to return the Open to Royal Portrush. McIlroy, in fact, won all four of his majors before the official announcement was made by The R&A in October 2015. Clark also credited Irishman Padraig Harrington’s three major wins – including back-to-back Open wins in 2007-08 – as key to the resurgence of Irish golf. “It was Padraig started it before that, when he won all his majors,â€� said the 50-year-old Clarke, the oldest of the six players in the field born on the island of Ireland. Harrington, McDowell, McIlroy, Shane Lowry and amateur James Sugrue – who joins Clarke in the opening threesome with American Charley Hoffman – are the others. Of course, the political climate also has improved since the Good Friday agreement in 1998 led to an end of the Troubles that had plagued Northern Ireland since the late 1960s (although small-scale violence still flares up). Clarke recalled the time in 1986 – he was still in his late teens – when he worked at a club. He was filling up small bottles with mixers when the club received a bomb scare. Clarke and all the others in the club hurriedly left the building. Thirty minutes later, the bomb went off. “The place was flattened,â€� Clarke said. “That was life in Northern Ireland,â€� he added. “Bombs were going off quite frequently. And a lot of people, unfortunately, paid a heavy penalty for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. But that was our life back there at that stage.â€� Thirty-three years later, he’s now the unofficial ambassador of this Open Championship. Many players getting their first look at Royal Portrush have sought his advice. Adam Scott, still seeking his first Open win after so many near-misses, played three practice rounds with Clarke. “He’s gone out of his way to spend way too much time with me,” Scott told Sports Betting News. ”I love watching how he plays the links he grew up on, to see what he thinks and how he navigates. He’s been incredibly helpful. It’s nice to have a good level of comfort to go play the tournament.” Clarke was asked about all the advice he’s been dispensing. “Probably told them too much, really,â€� he smiled. But just like the invitation to hit the first tee shot, Clarke doesn’t hesitate when asked how to navigate Royal Portrush. He noted the importance of finding the right angles and being committed to shots, pointing out the areas from which to attack. He keeps stressing the need to hit fairways. “If you’re not in the fairways,â€� he said, “you’re going to struggle to get around.â€� And if the winds don’t kick up as much as they usually do, he warned players to expect more challenging pin placements. “The thing about Royal Portrush, it’s a fair golf course,â€� he said. “If you play well around Portrush, you should have the opportunity to score well. If you’re missing too many shots, you’re not going to get around Portrush. That’s the way it is.â€� On Thursday at 6:35 a.m. – the sun will have already been up for approximately 90 minutes – Clarke will get things started in earnest. The gallery, even at that early time, should be substantial. The Open was sold out 11 months ago. Golf fans in Northern Ireland have waited 68 years for this championship. Clarke, so proud that his country is once again the host, will be emotional. But he won’t be misty-eyed. After all, he has a job to do. “I just hope I manage to get one going straight down the fairway,â€� he said.

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Paul Casey quietly put together another solid round for a 5-under 67 that gave him a 3-shot lead over Phil Mickelson at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

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Winning on the PGA TOUR never is easy, but even though Dustin Johnson has 20 titles, including at least one in every season since debuting as a member in 2008, that he’s been shut out since his video game-like performance at the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship last year is surprising. DJ has averaged one victory in every 13 starts of his career. His title defense at Club de Golf Chapultepec is his 17th start since his five-shot romp, so there’s a narrative that he’s due. Scroll past the extended ranking of projected contenders for how Johnson got the job done, how the host course challenges and more. POWER RANKINGS: WGC-MEXICO CHAMPIONSHIP Jordan Spieth, Marc Leishman, Gary Woodland, Sungjae Im, Kevin Kisner and Tyrrell Hatton will be among the notables reviewed in Tuesday’s Fantasy Insider. Johnson already is going for his third title in the event since its relocation to Mexico City in 2017. Last year, he led the field in both greens in regulation (58 of 72) and Strokes Gained: Putting. He gave back only three strokes (with one bogey and one double) en route to 21-under 263. To classify it as vintage DJ would be understating it. Lights-out performances occur far and few between, but he proved that it’s possible on deceptively cozy Club de Golf Chapultepec. The par 35-36–71 can stretch to 7,355 yards, but it plays about 10 percent shorter given its altitude north of 7,500 feet. (The course is 10 yards longer than it was in the last two years due to the extension of the par-5 11th hole to 632 yards.) Naturally, because of the thinner air, every ball in it flies further than at sea level, so you’d expect the course to ranked among the longest on average off the tee. In fact, at 303.6 yards last year, it easily was the longest of 35 measured. Adjusting every club by converting cover distance is more important than getting it as far from the tee as possible. Course management is critical. Primary rough is allowed to grow two-and-a-half inches and the Poa-bentgrass greens are small on average. They’re also among the most undulating the field of 72 will attempt to solve all season. Approach-putt performance isn’t a statistic discussed much, but it can reveal various levels of experience and challenge. Last year, Club de Golf Chapultepec was the stingiest track with an average of two feet, seven inches. Given that small measurement, a single inch can affect overall ranking considerably, but consider what it means in an of itself. Even in its third spin as host, the greens continued to serve as the primary defense. They also might be allowed to run as long as 12 feet on the Stimpmeter, so they will be faster than before. Mother Nature will do her part in seeing to it, too. Sunshine dominates the forecast. Winds will be moderate at worst, and not steadily influential. DJ’s impressive work aside, last year’s field still averaged 70.861 last year. Even-par 284 finished T39. There is no cut. The winner receives 550 FedExCup points and a three-year membership exemption. All bunkers were upgraded with new sand and drainage since last year, but they essentially present the same challenge from the same spots of bother. 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 TUESDAY*: Power Rankings (Puerto Rico), Sleepers (WGC-Mexico), Fantasy Insider * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf, which also publishes on Tuesday.

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