Inside the Field: RBC Heritage

THE OVERVIEW PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Predicting the winner of THE PLAYERS Championship seems impossible. Not only is it the best field in golf, but TPC Sawgrass doesn’t favor one particular style, and it doesn’t give bonus points for the most decorated resumes. It could be a notable name … or it could be the Cinderella story. “It’s a course where no one really has an advantage,â€� said Rory McIlroy, who counts three top-10s – and three missed cuts – in his eight starts at TPC Sawgrass. Tiger Woods, the only two-time winner in the field this week, said Pete Dye’s Stadium Course generally has players hitting from the same spot. As a result, shorter hitters are just as apt to win as longer hitters. “So many guys have a chance to win here,â€� Woods said, “and that’s what makes this championship so difficult to win is that it’s open to a lot of players.â€� Perhaps it’s easier to figure out who won’t win this week. Of the 144 players in the field, here are a few players in which history doesn’t favor their chances entering Thursday’s first round: Si Woo Kim. No champion has ever successfully defended his title at THE PLAYERS. Nick Price has the best result of any defending champ, finishing in solo fifth in 1994. Jason Day. He won the Wells Fargo Championship last week, and the last PLAYERS winner to have won the week before was Tiger Woods in 2001. It’s happened just three times in tournament history. Day did win here two years ago, though, and he’s been pointing to this week as a huge one. However … Any past champion, especially in the last decade. There are just five two-time winners at TPC Sawgrass, and not since Hal Sutton in 2000 has there been a repeat winner in any 10-year span. Any UK golfer. Scotland’s Sandy Lyle (1987) is the only PLAYERS champ from the British Isles. So if you English (say, Justin Rose) or Irish (say, Rory McIlroy) … well, sorry. Any local resident. There are six North Florida-based players in the field, led by past FedExCup champ Billy Horschel (in fact, his remodeled house was recently featured in a local magazine). The last local winner was Fred Funk in 2005. Longtime residents Jim Furyk and Vijay Singh have combined for 46 PLAYERS starts, with a runner-up finish for each one. Neither is in the field this week. Any first-timer. Hal Sutton (1983) and Craig Perks (2002) are the only champs who won in their first start at TPC Sawgrass. And no PGA TOUR rookie has ever won THE PLAYERS; the best result was a T-2 by David Lingmerth in 2013. Any non-TOUR winner. Perks and Tim Clark (2010) are the only first-time winners of THE PLAYERS. Any player age 42 or over. Funk was 48 when he won; no other champ has been older than 42. So if you’re thinking Tiger or Phil on Sunday, better think again. Any lefthander. Mickelson is the only leftie to win at TPC Sawgrass. Promise we’re not trying to pile on, Phil. As for everybody else who doesn’t fall under one of the above categories – congratulations, you’ve got a chance this week. THREE PLAYERS TO PONDER THE FLYOVER The closing three-hole stretch at the Stadium Course makes for arguably the most unique finish on the PGA TOUR. It starts with the easiest hole (the 523-yard par-5 16), followed by the iconic signature hole (the 137-yard island green 17th) and ends with the toughest hole (the 462-yard par-4 18th). Expect to see lots of balls find the water – since 2003, a total of 1,889 shots have been lost in the water at those three holes. THE LANDING ZONE The par-4 12th was redesigned prior to last year, shortened to 302 yards to make it drivable. Less than six percent of all tee shots found the green, though, as most players opted to use iron off the tee. In fact, just 47 of the 440 tee balls struck involved driver. Some subtle changes to 12 have been made this year to encourage more players to challenge the green. Hopefully we’ll see more than the two eagles made last year (by Luke List and Cody Gribble). WEATHER CHECK From PGA TOUR meteorologist Stewart Williams: “High pressure over the region will provide dry weather over the next few days. As the high shifts off-shore, warmer temperatures and higher humidity will return Friday into Saturday. Highs will likely reach the upper 80s Friday afternoon with the lighter winds. A weak low pressure system will try and form somewhere over the gulf Sunday into early next week. Right now the best chances for precipitation will remain across Southern Florida on Sunday with only a slight chance for showers expected for the final round.â€� For the latest weather news from Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, check out PGATOUR.COM’s Weather Hub. SOUND CHECK You put a bunch of grass around that hole and it’s the easiest par-3 in the world.I’ve got the best seat in the house. BY THE NUMBERS 47 under – Tiger Woods’ cumulative score since 2000 at TPC Sawgrass – the most under par of any player in that span. Sergio Garcia is next at 35 under. 177 of 177 – Putts inside 5 feet made by Jason Day this season. He’s the only player with a 100 percent conversion rate from that distance this season and is the only player in the ShotLink era to enter THE PLAYERS Championship having not missed a putt inside 5 feet. Please note: Those numbers only include courses that have been lasered for ShotLink. Day has played several rounds this season on non-lasered courses, including Augusta National. 72.25 – Patrick Reed’s career scoring average at THE PLAYERS. That’s the second-highest of any tournament in his career, eclipsed only by … the Masters, in which he has a 72.75 scoring average. That obviously didn’t stop him from winning at Augusta National last month. 34 percent – Percentage of time players have made bogey or worse at the 18th hole since 2003. That’s the highest percentage of any hole on the course. Players make birdie or better just 10 percent of the time. SCATTERSHOTS Dustin Johnson enters this week as the world No. 1, but his place at the top is under attack. Four other players have a chance to supplant him at No. 1 – Justin Thomas, Jon Rahm, Jordan Spieth and Justin Rose. Johnson and Thomas are the only two who are guaranteed to be No. 1 with a win; the others must have other scenarios play out for them. The last time the world No. 1 changed hands at THE PLAYERS was when David Duval went from No. 3 to No. 1 (over Tiger Woods) after winning at TPC Sawgrass. Jason Day has spent at least two one-week periods practicing at TPC Sawgrass in recent months, although he’s only played one practice round. He said he’s been trying to get away from the cold weather and snow at his home in Columbus, Ohio, and he can think of no better place to practice. “The facilities back here are off the charts,â€� he said. “I think the best facilities that we play on or that they have on TOUR is here.â€� Rory McIlroy was about to hit his second shot at the first hole in his practice round Tuesday when he noticed something. “It didn’t look like there was any green there because the greens are so much smaller this week than what they were [last week] at Quail Hollow,â€� he said. “So it just takes a little bit of adjustment.â€� Patrick Reed plans to lean on his driver this week. “I always use driver,â€� he said. “I love the driver.â€� He said of the 14 non-par 3 holes, he’ll likely use driver perhaps a dozen times. He’ll avoid driver at 10 – “the fairway runs outâ€� – and will only hit driver on the drivable 12th if the wind is calm. “If not, you can bail out right there,â€� he said. Speaking of Reed, he was in the back of the media interview room when Tiger Woods was answering questions. Suddenly, Reed had the microphone in his hand. “Are you going to be wearing the Nike pink on Thursday,â€� he asked. To which Woods replied: “Whatever the Masters champion is wearing, I will wear.â€�

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SOUTHHAMPTON, N.Y. – Tiger Woods hopes a return to the type of greens he grew up on can resurrect his putting and put him in contention for a fourth U.S. Open title. On the 10-year anniversary since the last of his 14 major championship wins, Woods hoped the poa annua greens at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club would be the catalyst to finally have all aspects of his game clicking together. In his last start at the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide just a few weeks ago, Woods ranked first in several ball-striking categories at Muirfield Village including Strokes Gained: Tee to Green (+14.157); Strokes Gained: Approach the Green (+11.164) and Proximity (23 feet, 8 inches). But he could only muster a tie for 23rd as his putting was abysmal. Woods was second-to-last in Strokes Gained: Putting (-7.695) at the Memorial, missing seven putts inside 5 feet and 15 putts inside 10 feet. “I worked on it pretty hard this past week. Just had to hit a lot of putts, just put in the legwork, and I was able to do that… my stroke feels good,â€� the 2000, 2002 and 2008 U.S. Open champion said. “What I did at Memorial, I just didn’t feel comfortable over it. I couldn’t see my lines. And those greens were quick, and I just didn’t feel comfortable and didn’t hit many good putts. I hit a lot of bad ones. “This is a different week, different setup, different grass. This is what I basically grew up on out there on the West Coast. Poa gets bumpy, and it requires a lot of patience. A lot of times you can hit great putts on poa, and it doesn’t go in. The key is to hit putts solid and see what happens.â€� Grading Woods’ comeback has been a tough assignment. A year ago there was a good chance he’d never play competitive golf again after four back surgeries, including a fusion. So on that measure just teeing it up is a success. But in his nine PGA TOUR starts this season he’s produced six top-25 finishes and two top-10s. On both the latter occasions he was in contention to win but didn’t close the deal. By that measure, he has let a few chances slip. “There’s two ways of looking at that. I’ve given myself chances to win, which I didn’t know if I was ever going to do again, and, also, then again, not happy with the fact that I didn’t win because I loved how it felt being there,â€� Woods explained. “I’ve had my opportunities. But also, I’m very thankful to have had those opportunities. I didn’t know if I was going to have them again. “Golf is always frustrating. There’s always something that isn’t quite right, and that’s where we, as players, have to make adjustments. “You’ve seen the tournaments I’ve played in this year. There’s always something. Hopefully, this is one of those weeks where I put it all together and even it out, and we’ll see what happens.â€� Woods played in the 1995 and 2004 U.S. Open’s held at Shinnecock. He withdrew in the second round of 1995 as a 19-year-old amateur after injuring his wrist in the long rough and tied for 17th in 2004.

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