IGF Board elects Annika Sorenstam as new president

CROMWELL, Conn. – Notes and observations from Saturday’s third round of the Travelers Championship, where Jordan Spieth birdied three of his last four holes to shoot 66 and keep the lead. Boo Weekley had a 5-under 65 to reach 11 under, a shot back, while Daniel Berger (66) came in at 9 under, in solo third as he aims for his second win in the last three weeks. For more coverage from TPC River Highlands, click here for the Daily Wrap-up. SPIETH LEANS ON PAR SAVES Jordan Spieth made three birdies in the last four holes to maintain the solo lead for the third straight day in this, his first career start at the Travelers Championship. Still, what stood out to him were two par saves. He missed the green right at the 490-yard, par-4 fourth hole, but got up and down with a chip and a tap-in par. At the 227-yard, par-3 fifth, Spieth splashed out of the right greenside bunker and made a 16-foot putt. He didn’t even need to putt at the sixth hole, chipping in for birdie from 28 feet. “I thought those two up-and-downs along with obviously the chip in on 6 were massive,â€� Spieth said. “I very well should have been 2-over through six holes and I was 1-under. “So, I stole some there around the greens, which is what I’ve been looking to do when something gets a little bit off elsewhere. It was really nice to see, through there, to gather that momentum and kind of calm down and get into the round.â€� Much as he was throughout his Player of the Year season in 2015, Spieth was lethal around the greens Saturday. He hit just 10 greens in regulation, his lowest total of the week, but was 3-for-3 in sand saves, and took 24 putts. Not surprisingly, he’s leading the field in strokes gained: around the green for the week, but he’s also first in strokes gained: tee-to-green. That’s a tough combination to beat. Should he win Sunday, it would mark his first wire-to-wire victory since the 2015 Masters, and his 10th title on the PGA TOUR at just 23 years old. CALL OF THE DAY WEEKLEY BACK IN THE SWING Jordan Spieth hadn’t met with the media in 24 hours. Boo Weekley hadn’t met with the media in — well, he couldn’t remember how long. “A lot of faces in here I ain’t seen in a while,â€� he said as he sat down after his round, in which he fired a back-nine 30 to play his way into the final twosome with Spieth on Sunday. Weekley has three TOUR victories, but hasn’t won since the 2013 Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. At 43, he could have been excused if he thought his best golf was behind him, especially since he came into this week at 193rd in the FedExCup standings. His best finish all season? Well, that would have been his thrilling tie for 37th place at the Puerto Rico Open. But one good tournament can change everything, and Weekley has been back to his old self at TPC River Highlands thanks in part to a relatively new putter and left-hand-low stroke. The putter is an Odyssey that Matt Every had given up on at Colonial earlier this season, and that Weekley’s coach wound up with only to give it to Weekley. It’s working. Weekley made 128feet, 4’inches of putts Saturday, and was third in strokes gained: putting (3.261). Like Spieth, Weekley finished strong with birdies on three of the last four holes. “I change putters like I change underwear, man,â€� Weekley said before estimating he’s gone through about 20 different makes and models this season alone. Spieth smiled at the prospect of playing with Weekley on Sunday. “I hope I’m having as much fun each day as Boo’s having,â€� Spieth said. “I mean, he lives it up. It’s fun to be around Boo. He’s always very nice to everybody he sees, has some kind of a joke. If he’s had a couple pops, you barely understand him with his country accent. “He’s a guy everybody very much respects and really likes being around, and that’s fun, that’s fun to play with. He’s a really good ball striker who, a couple events that I’ve been involved in, in the heat of things, he shot very low numbers on Sundays. He’s not afraid to do so.â€� CASEY THRIVES WITH CADDIE SUB Paul Casey’s usual caddie, John McLaren, asked for this week off and Casey granted it. He also let McLaren pick who would caddie for Casey in his place, and the veteran McLaren, who is known for his long socks and high-top sneakers, picked Shannon Wallace. So far, so good. Casey, who lost to Bubba Watson in a playoff at the 2015 Travelers, shot 66 to get to 8 under, just four off Spieth’s lead. “Shannon’s perfect,â€� said Casey, who came into this week 27th in the FedExCup race.  “He’s been on the bag for Faldo and some guys. Maybe he hasn’t had the results he’s wanted as a caddie. And I love the fact that he’s channeled his inner Johnny Longsocks this week and turned up with long socks to try to make me feel better. “We failed to get him high tops,â€� Casey added. “That’s the only thing I’ve failed, on my behalf. I’ve known Shannon for a long time since we’ve been on TOUR. So, a good blend. We actually, worryingly for Johnny, we are working very well together.â€� WIND KEEPS PLAYERS ON THEIR TOES The wind gusted from 8-16 mph when it blew, but sometimes it stopped entirely. Paul Casey said Saturday was the toughest day so far. Keegan Bradley (66) called TPC River Highlands “a tricky little courseâ€� in the gusts. Boo Weekley admitted he was posing over approach shots only to watch them come up 10 yards short. “First time I’ve ever played here with the wind blowing this hard,â€� Weekley said. And those were the guys who played well.   “It’s tricky today—we have a north wind, which we haven’t seen all week here,â€� said Canadian David Hearn, who shot 66 to get to 7 under, five off the lead. “So it just makes — especially on the back nine, you get into those chutes and around those water hazards, and it just makes it a little tricky to pick your lines when you’re not used to this wind.â€� Players went off both tees in threesomes to accommodate a storm that dumped a modest amount of rain on TPC River Highlands overnight and Saturday morning. ODDS AND ENDS C.T. Pan, who played for Chinese Taipei in the Rio Olympics (T30) last summer but lives in Bellevue, Washington, took advantage of calm morning conditions for a bogey-free 64. He tied for second at the Farmers Insurance Open earlier this year, but is 88th in the FedExCup after missing 12 cuts in his last 17 starts. “This is my first year,â€� said Pan, who leads the field in scrambling (11/11). “I keep telling myself if you just keep knocking on the door, one day will be your day.â€� … Keegan Bradley (7 under), who is going for his first TOUR win since the 2012 World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, made a 40-foot birdie putt at the fourth hole to kick-start his round. “That was a big putt,â€� said Bradley, who hit 16 greens in regulation for the second straight day. “Then I made a really good [12-foot] birdie putt on 13, a hole I needed to birdie. So a lot of good putts I holed today.â€� Bradley is 56th in the FedExCup standings, with his best result this season a T4 at the Farmers Insurance Open. … Daniel Berger, 12th in the FedExCup, erased a three-shot deficit as he successfully defended his FedEx St. Jude Classic title two weeks ago. His deficit going into Sunday? Three shots. “Couple weeks ago I was in the same position and got it done,â€� Berger said. “So obviously trying to run down Jordan’s going to be tough, but if I play well, I’ve got a chance.â€� …  Charley Hoffman, who took the outright lead after going eagle, birdie, birdie, went 4 over for his last three holes in a 68. He’s at 6 under, six shots behind. BEST OF SOCIAL MEDIA

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What happens in Vegas, mostly stays in Vegas. For Rory McIlroy, he hopes what happened in Vegas stays with him throughout the season. The 2016 and 2019 FedEx Cup champion opened his 2021-22 PGA TOUR campaign with a one-shot victory over Collin Morikawa at THE CJ CUP @ SUMMIT. It was McIlroy’s 20th PGA TOUR victory, a significant benchmark in a great career. For much of the weekend, McIlroy found himself going shot-for-shot with Rickie Fowler, who was coming off his own sluggish season. Fowler held his first 54-hole lead in almost three years and may have turned a page on his game. While Fowler’s game dried out Sunday, it was a refreshing sight seeing orange again late on a Sunday. 1. Rory McIlroy Gets Win No. 20 Three weeks ago, Rory McIlroy was in tears, disappointed with his play at the Ryder Cup. This week, he celebrated winning the CJ CUP title over a loaded field in Las Vegas. McIlroy entered the weekend at 9 under, nine shots back of second-round leader Keith Mitchell. But McIlroy fired a bogey-free 62 on Saturday, capped off with an eagle on 18, to climb within two strokes of new leader Rickie Fowler. On the par-5 14th, McIlroy pulled out a Texas wedge from just inside 35 feet and knocked in an eagle to get to 25 under. Moments later, Collin Morikawa, a member at The Summit Club, made his own eagle on 18 to get into the clubhouse at 24 under. Morikawa shot 62 on Sunday, including a 29 on the front nine. McIlroy, who used less than driver on much of his back nine Sunday, made par on each of his final four holes to finish off a one-shot victory. “There was a lot of reflection the last couple weeks and this is what I need to do,” McIlroy says of his process since the Ryder Cup. “I just need to play golf, I need to simplify it, I need to just be me. I think for the last few months I was maybe trying to be someone else to try to get better and I sort of realized that being me is enough and being me, I can do things like this.” The CJ CUP is win No. 20 on the PGA TOUR for the 32-year-old McIlroy, making him the 39th player to accomplish the feat. He is now guaranteed lifetime membership on the PGA TOUR, beginning at the conclusion of his 15th season, the 2022-23 campaign. Per Justin Ray of Twenty First Group, McIlroy is the sixth player to win 20 PGA TOUR titles, including four majors, before age 33. The others: Byron Nelson, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson and Tiger Woods. “I didn’t know if it was going to be this week, but I knew if I just kept my head down and kept playing well and doing the right things, eventually I’d get there,” McIlroy says. “I’ve been close to starting my season with a win before. I think I finished second or third like eight times, so to get a win, it’s great. It feels really good, some validation of what I’ve done the last few weeks and just keep moving forward.” McIlroy was the No. 1 player in the world before the COVID-19 pandemic paused the golf world in March 2020. He’d recorded seven consecutive worldwide top-5s, was coming off his second FedExCup title season and was in the midst of defending his title at THE PLAYERS. Since the restart, McIlroy had only posted three top-5s on the PGA TOUR before this week, one of those being his title at the Wells Fargo Championship last year. He dropped to as low as No. 15 in the world rankings for the first time since 2009. But with a win to open up the 2021-22 season, maybe the tide is turning again for McIlroy. A new season brings a new Rory, and that player is now No. 4 in the FedExCup. 2. Rickie Returns To Form If McIlroy got out of a slump, fellow 32-year-old Rickie Fowler recovered from a two-season nightmare this week. Fowler recorded just one top-10 (T8 at this year’s PGA Championship) between the Farmers Insurance Open in January 2020 and the conclusion of the 2021 season. His world ranking dropped from as high as No. 7 in 2019 to as low as No. 128 after missing the cut at last week’s Shriners Children’s Open. He missed the FedExCup Playoffs for the first time in his career and needed a sponsor’s exemption to play the CJ CUP. For three rounds at The Summit Club, Fowler gave fans a glimpse of his old self. After opening with a pair of 66s, Fowler fired a bogey-free, 9-under 63 on Saturday to take the lead by two shots over McIlroy. The 54-hole lead was his first on the PGA TOUR since his last victory, at the 2019 Waste Management Phoenix Open. He could only manage a 1-under 71 on a low-scoring Sunday, however, and finished T3 with Keith Mitchell. The finish was Fowler’s first top-3 since a T2 at the 2019 Honda Classic. “It felt good to finally hit the golf ball properly, at least most of the time, for 72 holes,” Fowler said. As noted by Golf Channel’s Will Gray, Fowler, who did not qualify for The Masters or the U.S. Open last season, still has to remain consistent to get into other high-profile events. The 2015 PLAYERS Championship winner is not currently guaranteed a spot in the 2022 field. Fowler gets right back at it in just a few days, as he is in the field for the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP in Japan. Fowler’s grandfather Yutaka Tanaka is Japanese and Fowler credits Yutaka for getting him into the game of golf. 3. Keith Mitchell’s Almost Flawless Week Keith Mitchell set The Summit Club ablaze through 36 holes. He was 18 under and held a 5-shot lead through two rounds, both tournament records. Through six holes on Saturday, Mitchell had three birdies and one bogey, reaching 20-under and seemed on cruise control. But sometimes, golf becomes golf, and Mitchell carded back-to-back double-bogeys on the 8th and 9th holes to drop out of the lead — a lead he would never again hold sole possession of. Only three players shot worse than Mitchell’s third-round 73. Mitchell rebounded with a 5-under 67 on Sunday to salvage a T3 and validate his play earlier in the week. The result follows up some strong play by Mitchell last season, as he earned top-10s at the Wells Fargo Championship, 3M Open and The Northern Trust. Before the tournament, McIlroy, who needed to come from behind to beat Mitchell at the Wells Fargo Championship, used Mitchell to illustrate the depth on the TOUR. Then Mitchell proved McIlroy’s point. “People wouldn’t maybe pick a Keith Mitchell to win a tournament at the start of a week, but you play with him in a final round on a Sunday, he stopped me in my tracks,” McIlroy says. “I was like, he is a hell of a player.” And it was more than just Mitchell this week. Talor Gooch, still seeking his first PGA TOUR win, slammed in a final-round 62 to finish at T5 and move to No. 8 in the Comcast Business Rewards TOUR TOP 10. He also is on the cusp of cracking the top 50 in the world ranking. Sam Burns, winner of the recent Sanderson Farms Championship, was right there with Gooch, posting four rounds of 68 or better for a T5, and 2018 PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year Aaron Wise also landed at T5. Harry Higgs, Mitchell’s famous playing partner against Phil Mickelson and Joel Dahmen at Liberty National, was nearby at T9. The next group of 20-something-year-olds is always on the way. 4. New And Old Korean Players Make Noise While the first three CJ Cup events were held at Nine Bridges in South Korea, the 2021 edition was the second straight held in the Las Vegas area due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With that said, the 78-player no-cut field included both familiar and unfamiliar Korean faces, both of which impressed at The Summit Club. SeongHyeon Kim is a name PGA TOUR fans should bookmark after this week. Kim opened with scores of 68 and 63, putting him in the final group on Saturday with Mitchell and Jordan Spieth. The 23-year-old caught the double-bogey bug with Mitchell, posting a six on the par-4 9th hole that day and faded from the pack, ultimately finishing T32. For Kim, who has three professional wins, including the 2021 Japan PGA Championship, this is only the beginning of his career in the U.S. Last month, Kim earned co-medalist honors with viral sensation Michael Visacki at the first stage of Korn Ferry Tour Q-School in Winter Garden, Florida. He will go right from playing with Spieth to playing for his Korn Ferry Tour card at second stage. Meanwhile, one week after his win at the Shriners Children’s Open, Sungjae Im notched top Korean honors at T9. Im posted scores of 67 and 64 on the weekend and has three top-10 finishes in his last five PGA TOUR events. Im was followed by K.H. Lee at T25, Kim at T32, Sung Kang at T32 and Joohyung Kim at T49 as the top five Koreans. Joohyung Kim is just 19 and already has six professional wins, including two on the Korean Tour and one on the Asian Tour. 5. Abraham Ancer Angles In Albatross After a 300-yard drive on the par-5 14th hole Friday, Abraham Ancer left himself 249 yards in…like, into the hole. “I was in between flying it there on the green with a longer club or just hitting that 4-iron just a little bit lower, make sure it lands somewhere short of the green and chases up there just because I know long was probably not a good spot to be there,” Ancer says. “Just throw it out there to the right, let it feed and just try to get lucky. Thankfully, I did. A lot of things have to go right for that ball to go in. You can leave it over there on the right side of the green and it’s a really tough two-putt from there.” The albatross was part of a 7-under 65 on Friday. Ancer only managed an eagle on No. 14 on Saturday, as he carded a 9-under 63 to get into the final group on Sunday with McIlroy and Fowler at 18 under. Ancer again managed to make eagle on Sunday – making him 7 under on the hole for the week — but a five-bogey day held him to a 71, and a T14 finish. COMCAST BUSINESS TOUR TOP 10 The Comcast Business TOUR TOP 10 highlights and rewards the extraordinary level of play required to earn a spot in the TOP 10 at the conclusion of the FedExCup Regular Season as determined by the FedExCup standings. The competition recognizes and awards the most elite in golf.

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The PGA TOUR heads to The RSM Classic at St. Simons Island, Georgia for the final official calendar event at Sea Island Golf Club. Two courses will be in play, Seaside and Plantation, as players look to earn the last FedExCup points on offer for 2022. Here’s everything you need to know to follow the action, including Featured Groups for PGA TOUR LIVE. Leaderboard Full tee times HOW TO FOLLOW (ALL TIMES ET) Television: Thursday-Friday, 12 p.m.-3 p.m. ET. Saturday-Sunday, 1 p.m.-4 p.m. (Golf Channel) Radio: Thursday-Friday, 10 a.m.–4 p.m. ET. Saturday-Sunday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio) PGA TOUR LIVE FEATURED GROUPS THURSDAY Harris English, Kevin Kisner, Brian Harman Webb Simpson, Zach Johnson, Justin Rose Seamus Power, Joel Dahmen, Jason Day Mackenzie Hughes, Robert Streb, Matt Kuchar FRIDAY Seamus Power, Joel Dahmen, Jason Day Robert Streb, Mackenzie Hughes, Matt Kuchar Harris English, Kevin Kisner, Brian Harman Webb Simpson, Zach Johnson, Justin Rose MUST READS The First Look Power Rankings Expert Picks How burnout helped Ben Griffin rediscover his competitive edge How Davis Thompson transformed his putting to cash in on his talent

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