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Playing alongside a Hall of Famer and Canada’s brightest star, unheralded rookie Adam Long, 31, rolls in a 15-foot birdie on the 72nd hole to shoot 65 and pull off a stunning victory over Phil Mickelson and Adam Hadwin at the Desert Classic. Welcome to the Monday Finish, where Long won to earn spots in select fields like THE PLAYERS Championship, Sentry Tournament of Champions, the Masters, and the PGA Championship. He also jumps to the front of the line in the Rookie of the Year race. As ever on TOUR, one week can change everything. FIVE OBSERVATIONS 1. It’s anyone’s game. We’ll say it again: There’s staggering depth on the PGA TOUR, where anyone can win in any given week. Long had one professional victory, on the Hooters Tour in 2011. A TOUR rookie this season, he was 20 over par in his previous five starts, which included four missed cuts. His best result was a T63 at the Safeway Open last fall. He was supposed to be an alternate at this week’s Farmers Insurance Open. (He’s in now!) In light of all that, how do you explain his final-round 65 at the tough PGA West Stadium Course, the second-best round of the day, to reach 26 under par and win? “I had nothing to lose,� said Long, who birdied the first two holes to settle his nerves. 2. Maybe Phil gets 50 wins, after all. Mickelson said he would reach 50 wins on TOUR after he picked up No. 43 at the World Golf Championship-Mexico Championship nearly a year ago. It seemed optimistic, given that he’d just broken a nearly five-year win drought going back to the 2013 Open Championship. Now, though, who knows? After predicting some rust in his first start of the 2019 calendar year, Mickelson threatened 59 before settling for a 60 in the first round. He shot his lowest 54-hole score, led the field in driving distance (318.2 yards), and at 48 looked uber-competitive. OK, so he didn’t win, settling for his 36th career runner-up after failing to birdie the last hole. He fell to 25-for-40 when entering the final round with the lead/co-lead, including failures to win six of the last seven times he held the lead going into the final round. But give him even an average putting week in the desert (he was an uncharacteristic 64th of 73 players who made the cut in Strokes Gained: Putting) and Mickelson practically waltzes to victory. Maybe 50 wins isn’t such a crazy idea, after all. 3. Hadwin is a desert demon. The co-runner-up continued to cement his status as Canada’s best player. Hadwin’s third top-10 finish of the season puts him 13th in the FedExCup, and was his third straight top-three finish in the Desert Classic. He was runner-up last year, too, when he shot a third-round 59. He also delighted the throngs of Canadians who flock to the desert to escape the winter chill. The bad news, which was not all that bad, was that he missed a five-foot putt on 12 that would have given him a four-shot lead, then went 1-over the rest of the way to come up just short. “It’s golf,� Hadwin said. “I made a bunch of putts all week and then honestly I was kind of battling it a little bit swing-wise. I didn’t quite have it like I did the first three days.� 4. Chipping and putting told all. Long was 6-for-6 in scrambling in the final round, chipped in twice on the back nine (No. 12/15’8’’ and No. 15/20’6’’), and needed just 98 putts for the week, fewest of anyone. That was also tied for the fewest putts on TOUR this season, with Kiradech Aphibarnrat at the WGC-HSBC Champions. Long played tidy golf, from start to finish. Now consider Mickelson, who rode a putting revival to a solid season in 2018 but missed a four-footer to start the final round Sunday. He later missed twice from 5-7 feet, gave up 3.2 strokes on the greens for the day, and admitted, “I felt awful with the putter.� 5. Long (shot) gave others hope. No knock on Long, but if he can win, a lot of others have to feel hopeful that they can, too. After all, many boasted credentials equal to or greater than the winner going into last week. Long was 13th on the Web.com Tour Regular Season money list last season, earning his call-up to the TOUR, and had a career-best finish of T63 at the Safeway Open, his only made cut this season. Prior to the Safeway he had just one TOUR start, at the 2011 U.S. Open.  Yes, the Desert Classic put wind in Long’s sails, but it should invigorate others, too, starting with his 20 fellow rookies and those who have been knocking on the door for years. FIVE INSIGHTS 1. Long is the first player to win in his sixth TOUR start or earlier since Smylie Kaufman at the 2015 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. After coming into the Desert Classic with a career low of 66, he shot three scores of 65 or better last week, including first- and third-round 63s. 2. Mickelson has failed to convert in six of the last seven tournaments in which he has held at least a share of the 54-hole lead, and this marked the second straight time he has taken a two-shot lead into the final round and not won (2016 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am). 3. Hadwin led the field in par-5 scoring average (4.13). He is 84-under for his last 16 rounds in the tournament, and 96-under in his last 20. 4. With 98 putts, Long led the field but was only one of three players to take 100 or fewer strokes on the greens. The others were Sam Burns (T18) and Brian Stuard (T40), who took 100 each. 5. Defending champion Jon Rahm finished sixth in his attempt to become the first back-to-back winner in the desert since Johnny Miller in 1975-’76. Daniel Berger (68, T12) enjoyed his best finish since his T6 at the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills last summer. Talor Gooch (4th/-24) earned his first top-10 finish in his 33rd TOUR start. WYNDHAM REWARDS The Wyndham Rewards Top 10 is in its first season and adds another layer of excitement to the FedExCup Regular Season. The top 10 players at the end of the FedExCup Regular Season will earn bonus payouts from the Wyndham Rewards Top 10. There were no changes in the top 10, but Adam Long made a massive leap from 205th at the start of the week, when he was ahead of just 13 other players, to 12th. Meanwhile, co-runners up Phil Mickelson and Adam Hadwin move up to 28th and 13th, respectively.
OVERVIEW After a season that left him looking for answers, sleeping giant Jordan Spieth instead got more questions in his first two starts of the 2018-19 campaign. At the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in Las Vegas, he opened with a 66 but struggled with a new driver and 3-wood and finished T55. The next week, making his first visit to the Riviera Maya for the Mayakoba Golf Classic, he went back to the driver/3-wood he’d played for the last five years. And he felt encouraged — in the practice rounds. Alas, when it counted, he hit just six fairways in each of the first two rounds, shot 71-69, and missed the cut. Spieth’s dizzying freefall on the greens, where he languished at 136th in Strokes Gained: Putting last season, remains a concern. By comparison, in 2015, when he won the FedExCup, he was 9th in that stat, followed by 2nd and 39th in 2016 and ’17, respectively. Largely as a result of his putting woes, Spieth went winless 2017-18, finished 31st in the FedExCup and, surprising many, including himself, missed the TOUR Championship. Granted, he’s had a lot on his mind. In addition to his equipment travails — Spieth said he would do more testing — he was also wedding-planning (longtime girlfriend Annie Verret), which included giving the boot to his housemates in Dallas, including TOUR rookie Kramer Hickok, a former teammate at Texas. Jordan and Annie were married over the Thanksgiving holidays. The home life is solid. As for golf? There’s work to be done for one of the brightest talents in the game. — By Cameron Morfit Click here to see who else made the Top 30 list. BY THE NUMBERS FEDEXCUP UPDATE Current 2018-19 position: 190th Playoff appearances: 6 TOUR Championship appearances: 5 Best FedExCup result: Won the FedExCup in the 2014-15 season SHOTLINK FUN FACT Jordan Spieth made the longest putt of the 2017-18 PGA TOUR season, rolling in a putt from 90 feet, 8 inches at the Sony Open in Hawaii. INSIDER INSIGHTS PGATOUR.COM’s Insiders offer their expert views on what to expect from Jordan Spieth in 2019. TOUR INSIDER: Spieth, always precocious, at times looks like he’s having a mid-life crisis at age 25. After toiling on the range at THE NORTHERN TRUST last summer, he said he was working on the wrong thing and had been wasting his time. To his credit, he knows his woes aren’t limited to the greens. Last season he was 54th in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee, not bad but a far cry from 2015 (15th in that category). He was 26th in SG: Approach-the-Green after ranking 1st in that category in 2017. The stage is set for a comeback. — By Cameron Morfit FANTASY INSIDER: Maybe only once over the years have I referenced the jazz classic, “I Can’t Get Started,” but I think of it every time a headliner misfires time and again as he did throughout the 2017-18 season. The song was written and composed eight decades ago, but its message is as timeless as it is specific. The ballad settles on the incompleteness of a man who succeeds in everything but love, but it’s not so much a tale of falling short as it is of confusion. The irony, at least in the context of my placement, is that one of the lyrics acknowledges good scores on the golf course. Spieth still doesn’t have any trouble beating par, but he’s endured a falling-out with his putter. Perhaps now as a married man he’ll rekindle his other love starting soon. As much as gamers want to believe that he’ll regain a consistently healthy relationship with it, we really have no choice, particularly salary leaguers who are treated to bottom-dollar sticker price of $2.793 million. — By Rob Bolton EQUIPMENT INSIDER: After using a Titleist 915D2 driver (9.5 degrees) for years, Spieth has finally switched into a new TS2 driver (10.5 degrees), and a new TS2 3 wood. His Titleist Tour Rep says Spieth switched due to higher ball speeds and a higher launch. Both of his new metalwoods are equipped with Graphite Design Tour AD-IZ shafts. What’s less likely for Spieth to change out is his rusted Scotty Cameron 009 putter that he putts with cross-handed (and sometimes not even looking at the ball). Spieth briefly switched to a mallet-style Scotty Cameron in 2017, but he’s currently still gaming the rusted, blade-style Scotty. We’l keep you posted if he makes a switch in 2019. — By Andrew Tursky STYLE INSIDER: Spieth experimented with some new colors and looks in 2018. His pants are now slimmer, more tapered, and are hemmed at the tops of his shoes for a streamlined look. He even worked in a few black-on-black outfits, but he never seemed to find a comfort zone with them. In 2019, I’d like to see Jordan continue to stay up on the modern trends when it comes to fits while finding some other go-to colors besides blue. — By Greg Monteforte
NOTE: Both fantasy games will begin anew with the Safeway Open on Oct. 5-8. PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO The TOUR Championship punctuates not only the 2016-17 season but also a busy and challenging Segment 4. With 12 tournaments, including two majors, a World Golf Championship and four FedExCup Playoffs events, ownership fatigue for the game’s top talents was certain to settle in. Yet, as we learned last week, the breadth of value kept the coffers full. Paul Casey at No. 12 is the most surprising outside the top 10. He’s been a monster in the Playoffs in recent years and he’s been a horse at East Lake, but the Englishman also has been one of the most durable and reliable options on the board all year. In short, if there was going to be someone in the next tier of popular choices for whom gamers would run dry on starts, it’s not a shock at all that it’s Casey. With only 30 in the field, we’re treated to the full array of ownership percentages below. NOTE: Rob’s Rating refers to where our Fantasy Insider slotted a golfer in his Power Rankings (“PR”) and other preview material. Owned Rank, Player Percentage, Rob’s Rating 1st Justin Thomas 59.2% PR6 2nd Justin Rose 57.4% PR2 3rd Marc Leishman 56.3% PR5 4th Jordan Spieth 53.3% PR1 5th Dustin Johnson 50.0% PR3 6th Jon Rahm 47.2% PR9 7th Jason Day 45.1% PR8 8th Rickie Fowler 38.3% PR4 9th Matt Kuchar 24.5% PR13 10th Patrick Cantlay 21.9% PR15 Golfers in the Power Rankings and outside the top 10 in most owned Power Ranking, Player, Owned Rank, Percentage 7 Paul Casey 12th 20.4% 10 Kevin Chappell 21st 4.4% 11 Webb Simpson 19th 4.6% 12 Brooks Koepka 11th 20.4% 14 Sergio Garcia 14th 15.3% 16 Gary Woodland 25th 2.8% 17 Pat Perez 24th 3.0% 18 Hideki Matsuyama 13th 19.0% 19 Jason Dufner 20th 4.5% 20 Daniel Berger 22nd 4.3% 21 Xander Schauffele 29th 1.8% 22 Adam Hadwin 27th 2.4% 23 Tony Finau 15th 10.3% 24 Brian Harman 30th 1.3% 25 Charley Hoffman 16th 9.1% 26 Patrick Reed 17th 6.6% 27 Russell Henley 26th 2.7% 28 Kevin Kisner 23rd 3.2% 29 Kyle Stanley 18th 5.2% 30 Jhonattan Vegas 28th 1.8% PGA TOUR Fantasy One & Done presented by SERVPRO Given that the TOUR Championship is the 40th tournament included, it wasn’t a reach to think that there would be a surprise atop the ownership percentages, but if you would have circled Marc Leishman as that guy even as recently as at the beginning of the FedExCup Playoffs, you’d have had little company. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that the Aussie is the latest winner on the PGA TOUR, that he prevailed at the BMW Championship in dominating fashion or that he finished third at the Dell Technologies Championship two weeks prior, but he’s still an upset over the likes of Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas and Dustin Johnson for whom it could have been assumed that gamers were holstering for East Lake for months. Yes, it’s likely that each stole “votes” from the other two, but Leishman emerged as the shiny, new toy when least expected. Enjoy reviewing the full field of 30 below. Owned Rank, Player, Percentage 1st Marc Leishman 13.0% 2nd Jordan Spieth 11.6% 3rd Justin Thomas 10.0% 4th Dustin Johnson 9.2% 5th Justin Rose 5.5% 6th Jason Day 5.3% 7th Patrick Cantlay 5.1% 8th Hideki Matsuyama 3.0% T9 Kevin Chappell 2.8% T9 Paul Casey 2.8% 11th Rickie Fowler 2.7% 12th Brooks Koepka 2.6% 13th Jon Rahm 2.4% 14th Sergio Garcia 2.3% 15th Matt Kuchar 2.1% 16th Daniel Berger 1.9% 17th Pat Perez 1.6% T18 Tony Finau 1.5% T18 Charley Hoffman 1.5% 20th Webb Simpson 1.2% 21st Patrick Reed 1.1% 22nd Jason Dufner 1.0% 23rd Brian Harman 1.0% 24th Kevin Kisner 0.8% 25th Gary Woodland 0.7% 26th Russell Henley 0.7% 27th Kyle Stanley 0.5% 28th Xander Schauffele 0.5% 29th Jhonattan Vegas 0.4% 30th Adam Hadwin 0.4%
