How to watch the PGA Tour’s Sentry Tournament of Champions on ESPN+

Patrick Reed says he is “getting stronger every day,” but admits fearing for his life during a recent bout with pneumonia.

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HOUSTON - Memorial Park isn't your typical muni. It proved that Thursday, when the world's best players were challenged by a public course that costs less than $40 to play. A score in the low 60s would be almost guaranteed if Dustin Johnson or Brooks Koepka showed up to your average public track. There wasn't a single one of those in the first round of the Vivint Houston Open, however, on a course that hosts amateurs of all abilities the other 51 weeks of the year. RELATED: Players welcome sight of spectators in Houston Brandt Snedeker's 5-under 65 was the low round of the day and gave him a two-shot lead. The field averaged more than 2 strokes over par per round. Only the U.S. Open had a higher first-round scoring average in this young season (+2.6 per round). Olympia Fields, site of the BMW Championship, was the only other course this calendar year that offered a tougher start (+2.8). And this was in spite of the fact that Memorial Park played 300 yards shorter than its scorecard yardage. Firm greens, thick rough and tricky greens complexes presented a challenge on the TOUR's newest venue. “It’s a pretty relentless golf course. It demands a lot of good hitting,” said Adam Scott, who shot 68 on Thursday. This is the first time in more than 50 years that Memorial Park has hosted the PGA TOUR. The course, which is located in the midst of the country's fourth-largest city, underwent a dramatic renovation before this year's tournament. When asked if Memorial Park was comparable to any other venues on TOUR, Dustin Johnson couldn't think of one. Tom Doak, one of today's leading architects, led the radical renovation of Memorial Park. His designs can be found on the various rankings of the world's top golf courses, but this is the first of his designs to host the PGA TOUR. Doak was tasked with making a course that is playable for the average golfer but challenging for TOUR players. He accomplished that, in part, by replacing bunkers with steep slopes of short grass. Those allow amateurs to putt the ball after they miss the green, while asking pros to use deft touch to chip off of tight lies. Those slopes repel approach shots, as well, sending them farther from the hole. Memorial Park has just 20 bunkers. "Around the greens out here is very, very difficult to get up and down. You can get into some spots where you start playing ping-pong across these greens. It’s brutal," Scottie Scheffler, the reigning Rookie of the Year, said after shooting 67. "Fairways and greens is definitely at a premium this week." It wasn't uncommon to see chip shots roll across greens as players tried to bang bump-and-runs into the slopes, or to see a chunked chip roll back to a player's feet. Memorial Park can be stretched to more than 7,400 yards but Doak wanted to prove that there are other ways to test players besides distance. The 15th hole was just 110 yards Thursday but played over par. As did the ninth hole, which was just 177 yards. It's not often that TOUR players average over par with a short-iron in their hand and their ball on a tee. The 15th hole features a small green, however, and the pin was located near a slope that could repel balls toward the creek below. The hole location on 9 was atop a small plateau tucked behind deep bunkers. The par-4 13th measures just 389-yards but it played over par, including multiple "others", despite not having a single penalty area or bunker. The small green is perched several feet in the air and surrounded by short grass. "The penalty for just missing on the wrong side becomes really big because the ball just rolls away," said Cameron Davis, who shot 67. "It’s been a while since I’ve played a course on Tour that’s really done that and it’s great."

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What a difference a year makes. Or doesn’t. After historic flooding canceled the 2016 edition of A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier, The Old White TPC was the same as it ever was last year. Scroll beneath the ranking for more on how Keith Foster’s renovation tested the annual field of 156 a year ago and how Xander Schauffele performed en route to his breakthrough title on the PGA TOUR. POWER RANKINGS: A MILITARY TRIBUTE AT THE GREENBRIER RANK PLAYER COMMENT Rested since a career-best finish in a major (fifth, U.S. Open). Adapts to every track. T13-T7 in two appearances. He’s 32nd in GIR, 37th in birdies-or-better percentage and 15th in adjusted scoring. With three top 10s and a T14 (2017) in his last six appearances here, it’s no wonder why he’s a regular. Currently T8 in strokes gained: putting. T10 at the U.S. Open three weeks ago. The Greenbrier Sporting Club member is 4-for-4 with a scoring average of 68.81 in the tournament, but he’s still seeking his first top 10. Only three-time winner on TOUR this season. The horse for the course is fresh off a season-best T6 at the Travelers. Fifth-place finishes with a scoring average of 67.125 in the last two editions at Greenbrier. T22 in ball-striking. Cooled since a torrid April and May, but figures to make noise at The Old White TPC. He placed T18 here last year while battling Lyme disease. Three top-four finishes prior to that. Fifth appearance for the Greenbrier ambassador, but just 1-for-4 with a T20 last year. Timing allows him to stay sharp in advance of The Open. Seven top-15 finishes in his last 12 starts. Failed to extend terrific form upon arrival at TPC Potomac, missing the cut. The Old White TPC has been very good to him. He’s 5-for-6 with four top 25s and a scoring average of 68.32. Since a T9 in the first edition, he hasn’t again put four rounds together at Greenbrier, but his consistency through this season lifts expectations. He’s 20-for-22 with 13 top 25s. First visit in four years. Phenomenal fit at T19 in fairways hit, 27th in greens in regulation, T44 in proximity, seventh in strokes gained: putting and 22nd in birdies-or-better percentage. Experiencing duties of a defending champion for the first time, so his day-to-day must be respected as a potential distraction. Sputtering lately at 1-for-4 with a T6 at the US. Open. Opened the Quicken Loans with 64 but closed with 72 to finish T27. It’s still evidence of form to warrant attention. Nine straight cuts made with five top 20s. Ranks 15th in GIR. Making his tournament debut after a rare missed cut at the Travelers. Five top 20s in 2013, the last a T13 a month ago at Muirfield Village. Sits 16th on TOUR in strokes gained: tee-to-green. Proving to be the quick study that was projected when he turned pro in late April. Three top 10s and a T17 (Quicken Loans) in seven starts. Only weakness is course inexperience. He can attribute sudden uptick in form (T9, Travelers; T13, Quicken Loans) to stronger putting. Led last week’s field in strokes gained: putting. Up 64 spots to T65 in last three starts. Something will give. The accurate driver and terrific putt owns a terrible record at The Old White TPC but arrived for his seventh appearance in tiptop shape with four top 20s in last five starts. Kevin Kisner, Keegan Bradley, Kevin Chappell and Brandt Snedeker will be among the notables who will appear in Tuesday’s Fantasy Insider along with former winners Ted Potter, Jr. (2012) and Danny Lee (2015). Acknowledging a deep, interactive and centuries-long connection to the Armed Forces, the tournament in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, was given a new name in advance of its eighth edition. The timing couldn’t be better as it will be conducted immediately after Independence Day. However, and impressively, the host course is everything that returning participants hoped to experience and did when it returned to action last year. Among the longest par 70s on the schedule at 7,286 yards, The Old White TPC has defended par nicely after Stuart Appleby walked off the inaugural edition in 2010 with 59 to post 22-under 258. Since, no champion has finished fewer than six strokes higher than that tournament record. Schauffele prevailed by one at 14-under 266 last year when the jury was still out on how the course would rebound from the 2016 cancellation. Lo and behold, the field’s scoring average of 69.861 hit the bull’s-eye of expectations. The objective remained the same and will once again: pile up scoring opportunities and connect often with the putter. Schauffele led the field in greens hit (59 of 72; second-most of all winners last season) and ranked 18th in conversion percentage on those chances. That latter stat is impressive given that The Old White TPC yielded a stingy 26.27 percent, eighth-lowest of all course last season. Of the 13 golfers who finished inside the top 10 on the leaderboard, eight concluded the week inside the top 15 in GIR, while seven landed inside the top 15 in strokes gained: putting. A balanced attack off the tee is preferred to contend so as not to get caught up in forcing the issue on approach and scrambling for pars. Three-inch rough helps defend targets averaging 6,500 square feet. Bentgrass greens will tip at 12 feet on the Stimpmeter. A decent threat for rain and storms exists over parts of the first three rounds of the tournament. The forecast for Sunday’s conclusion is favorable. Daytime highs will decrease gradually from the mid-to-upper 80s to about 80 degrees for the finale. Wind will not be a factor. 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, Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Medical Extensions, Power Rankings TUESDAY*: Sleepers, Facebook Live, Fantasy Insider WEDNESDAY: 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 Tuesdays.

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