Inside The Field: AT&T Byron Nelson

Chez Reavie ... Horse for a course. Debuted at the Sony Open in Hawaii in 2008 and has gone 7-for-10 with a pair of top 10s among four top 25s. His personal best was a T3 in 2019 when he led the field in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green and par-4 scoring. The rub is that he's notoriously streaky and had only one top-25 finish in his last 10 starts of 2020 (T3, Safeway). However, not only has Waialae proven to reward experience to climb atop its leaderboard, it pays double in the context of retaining its challenge over time, so a veteran in a slump has reason to arrive with elevated expectations. C.T. Pan ... Perhaps the greatest added value of being your own boss is that you can set your own schedule. Generally speaking, as independent contractors, touring professionals can play whenever and wherever they want. Even when there are obligations, competing on courses that best fit one's skill set still is largely within the control of the PGA TOUR member. No doubt confidence everywhere is critical, but there's nothing wrong with logic having a position in the equation. That he has appeared at Waialae only once (MC, 2017) is mildly surprising. On paper, it make senses for the short knocker who ranges just five-and-a-half feet off the ground to seek out a par 70 with a pair of gettable par 5s and stretches to just 7,044 yards. Waialae doesn't comp directly to Harbour Town, site of his lone TOUR title in 2019 because that's a shot-shaper's track, but its test arguably is easier as a shot-maker's paradise. He committed this week and he's put last season's struggles behind him. He's 6-for-7 with a pair of top 15s in 2020-21, including a T7 at the Masters. Kyle Stanley ... It simple to understand why he was 7-for-7 with four top 25s at Waialae from 2011 through 2019. As a sharpshooter, he can stride to first tees cold and still split most fairways and contend for the field lead in greens hit. After missing the cut in last year's breezy conditions, the wind isn't forecasted to be as strong this week, so the course should play closer to how he's taken advantage of it in the past. In the middle of a modest string of three cuts made in the fall, he hung up a T6 at Sea Island and currently ranks eighth on TOUR in proximity to the hole. Tom Hoge ... The 31-year-had opened 2020-21 with 12 consecutive red numbers, but he had no better than a T24 (Shriners) to show for the consistency. Still, that start warranted attention as a Sleeper at THE CJ CUP @ SHADOW CREEK where he finished a pedestrian T38. After a mini-slump, he put it all together for a share of third place at Mayakoba. He currently co-leads the PGA TOUR with 23 rounds under par. His ability to step on the gas and retain control of the wheel explains how he placed third at Waialae in 2018 in the calm but also T12 in last year's challenging conditions. Henrik Norlander ... It's hard to believe that his 34th birthday is just a couple of months away (March 25) because he still carries a youthful swagger as he continues to figure out how to manage his game well enough to stay at this level where he belongs. Despite finishing the fall with a trio of missed cuts, the Swede gets the benefit of the doubt for a couple of reasons. First, COVID-19 prevented him from performing at Sea Island where he'd have been among the favorites to contend even as a non-winner. Second, in his last two trips to Waialae, he finished T20 in 2017 and T9 last year. He's a ball-striker's ball-striker by trade, but he led the wind-ridden 2020 edition in putting inside 10 feet and ranked second in Strokes Gained: Putting. NOTE: Sleeper is a relative term, so Rob uses unofficial criteria to determine who qualifies. Each of the following usually is determined to be ineligible for this weekly staple: Winners of the tournament on the current host course; winners in the same season; recent major champions; top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking; recent participants of team competitions.

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SOUTHPORT, England – Notes and observations from the final round of The Open Championship, where Jordan Spieth played the final five holes in 5 under to shoot 69 and win by three shots over Matt Kuchar. Spieth’s third victory of the season also gives him the lead in the FedExCup standings. ‘A GOOD START’ Jordan Spieth needed inspiration as he struggled through Sunday’s front nine at Royal Birkdale. He started the day with a three-shot advantage, but it took just four holes for that lead to evaporate. Spieth was two ahead by the seventh tee, but his ballstriking wasn’t up to the standard he’d displayed earlier in the week. That’s why his caddie, Michael Greller, decided to deliver a pep talk to his boss, using a photo from Spieth’s recent vacation to Mexico as motivation. The photo showed the golfer hanging out with a group that included Michael Phelps and Michael Jordan. “He said, ‘Do you remember that group you were with? You’re that caliber of an athlete. But I need you to believe that right now. … This is a new tournament. We’re starting over here,â€� Spieth said. Spieth was among select company in Cabo San Lucas, and now he has the opportunity to join another elite group. Spieth, 23, now owns three legs of the career Grand Slam, needing a victory in the PGA Championship to become just the sixth player to win all four of golf’s major championships. The other five? Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Ben Hogan, Gary Player and Gene Sarazen. Nicklaus is the only player besides Spieth to win three different majors before the age of 24. (Spieth turns 24 on Thursday). “Growing up playing golf, I just wanted to be able to play in major championships and compete with the best in the world. Things have happened very quickly,â€� Spieth said. The PGA Championship will be held Aug. 10-13 at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina. The course also serves as the annual host of the PGA TOUR’s Wells Fargo Championship. Spieth has played that event just once, finishing T32 in 2013. Spieth was runner-up to Jason Day in the 2015 PGA, finishing three shots behind the Australian. Woods was 24 when he completed the career Grand Slam at the 2000 Open Championship, the youngest player ever to do so, but Spieth could surpass that record with a win at Quail Hollow. “To be in that company is absolutely incredible, and I certainly appreciate it,â€� Spieth said. “We work really hard to have that, … therefore I enjoy moments like (this). But I’m very careful as to what that means going forward because what those guys have done has transcended the sport. And in no way, shape or form do I think I’m anywhere near that, whatsoever. “So it’s a good start, but there is a long way to go.â€� KUCHAR CRUSHED Matt Kuchar is known for his wide smile, but he couldn’t hide his disappointment after his best shot to win a major championship was thwarted by Spieth’s magical finish. “It’s crushing. It hurts,â€� said Kuchar, whose final-round 69 matched Spieth’s Sunday score. Spieth started the day with a three-shot advantage, but Kuchar took a one-shot lead after Spieth’s bogey at No. 13. Kuchar made two birdies on the next four holes, but lost three strokes to Spieth over that stretch. “It’s an excitement and a thrill to have played well, put up a battle, put up a fight,â€� Kuchar said. “You work so hard to get in this position, to have a chance to make history and win a championship. You don’t get that many opportunities.â€� The runner-up was Kuchar’s best major finish, besting his third-place finish at the 2012 Masters. He was fourth at Augusta National this year, his fourth top-10 in the past six Masters. Kuchar’s wife, Sybi, and their two sons, Cameron and Carson, flew to England to watch Matt compete in Sunday’s final group, surprising him after the round. “I played well. I had four good rounds of golf. I was close,â€� Kuchar, 39, said. “I think everybody around me is doing the best to put the most positive spin on this week as possible.â€� LI’S HISTORIC 63 Haotong Li started Sunday 12 shots off the lead. He was warming up for a potential playoff after his round, though. Li shot 63 to finish at 6-under 204. As the final group struggled, Li had a slimmer of hope. Kuchar was 8 under par, and Spieth was one behind, with five holes remaining in the tournament. Until yesterday, 63 was the gold standard for major-championships. Branden Grace shot 62 on Saturday, though. Li, 21, still finished third, securing the highest major finish by a Chinese man. “For some reason since hole No. 8, I just start holing everything,â€� said Li, who made birdie on seven of the final 11 holes. He won PGA TOUR China’s Order of Merit in 2014 and claimed the 2016 China Open. Li, No. 107 in the Official World Golf Ranking, will make a large move in the International Team’s Presidents Cup standings. He started the week ranked 26th. His third-place finish also is expected to earn him an invitation into next ERRATIC RORY Rory McIlroy’s erratic week began with five bogeys on his first six holes and an exhortation from his caddie that included an expletive for emphasis. It ended in a tie for fourth. The week was full of fits and spurts, but the miscues too often dampened the momentum, leaving McIlroy seven shots behind Spieth. It was McIlroy’s first top-10 in just six starts since finishing T7 at Augusta National in April. He arrived at Royal Birkdale having missed the cut in three of his past four starts. McIlroy will make his next start at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational in two weeks. It’s his first appearance in Akron since his 2014 victory there. Then it’s on to the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow, where Spieth has won twice, set the course record twice and has finished in the top 10 in six of seven starts. “I wish I could have had that start back, obviously, but these things happen and I’m just proud of how I held it together and battled,â€� McIlroy said. “But I feel like with the way my game is I’ll definitely have a great chance at Akron and the PGA.â€� NOTABLE NOTES Marc Leishman shot 66-65 on the weekend to finish sixth at 4-under 276. It was his third top-six in the past four Open Championships, including his runner-up in 2015, where he lost a three-man playoff won by Zach Johnson. Leishman cracked the top 10 despite making the cut on the number after a second-round 76. U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka also tied for sixth at 276 (65-72-68-71). Koepka has finished no worse than T11 in 2017’s three majors, and has finished in the top 25 in nine consecutive majors. One day after shooting the lowest round in major-championship history, Grace shot 70 to also finish sixth at 276 (70-74-62-70). His 62 was his only sub-par round of the week. Grace made eight birdies Saturday and just six in the other three rounds. He had two birdies and two bogeys in the final round. This was Grace’s fifth top-six in his past 11 majors. Local favorite Tommy Fleetwood, who grew up within walking distance of Royal Birkdale, finished T27 at 1 over par. He followed a first-round 76 with three consecutive rounds of par or better (69-66-70). “After the first day, you know, I’d have taken anything to be playing on Sunday,â€� said Fleetwood, who was runner-up at this year’s World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship and fourth at the U.S. Open. “It’s easy to be frustrated because you wanted to do so well, but to complain would be a bit off.â€� BEST OF SOCIAL MEDIA

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