Inside the Field: Valspar Championship

FedExCup leader Scottie Scheffler headlines the field at the AT&T Byron Nelson, which features seven of the top 15 golfers in the Official World Golf Ranking. K.H. Lee, who won at TPC Craig Ranch last year for his first PGA TOUR title, returns to defend. FIELD NOTES: Scheffler returns to action after a two-week break. He followed up his Masters victory with a T18 finish alongside partner Ryan Palmer at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans… RBC Heritage champion Jordan Spieth, twice a winner in his native Texas but never at the Byron Nelson, also returns after a break… Justin Thomas is looking for his first victory of the season. The 2017 FedExCup champ has six top-10 finishes in 11 starts this season… Brooks Koepka and Hideki Matsuyama are teeing it up on TOUR for the first time since the Masters. Koepka missed the cut at Augusta National while Matsuyama finished T14 in his title defense… Dustin Johnson is in action for the first time since his wedding to Paulina Gretzky… Xander Schauffele is making his AT&T Byron Nelson debut. Other notable first-timers include Tommy Fleetwood, Francesco Molinari, and Bubba Watson… Past champion Justin Leonard, 49, will come out of the broadcast booth for his first PGA TOUR start since the 2017 Valero Texas Open… McClure Meissner, 2021 Byron Nelson Collegiate Golf Award winner, is making his second TOUR start… The 2011 Korn Ferry Tour Player of the Year, J.J. Killeen, earned a spot in the field via his win in September at the Joyce Crane-Veritex Bank Section Championship, his first time teeing it up with the Northern Texas PGA. FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 FedExCup points. COURSE: TPC Craig Ranch, par 72, 7,468 yards. The course, which hosted the Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament plus events on the Korn Ferry Tour, made its debut as a PGA TOUR host in 2021. Designed by Tom Weiskopf (with D.A. Weibring as consultant), it opened in 2004. The course boasts Zoysia fairways and bentgrass greens. Rowlett Creek crosses the course 14 times. TPC Craig Ranch will host the AT&T Byron Nelson for the next four years. STORYLINES: TPC Craig Ranch is in the Dallas suburb of McKinney and there will be plenty of Texas guys looking for some hometown love. Count Spieth, Scheffler, and Harry Higgs in that group along with Ryan Palmer (who told GolfWeek he has the course record at TPC Craig Ranch) and Will Zalatoris (who has played it “hundreds” of times)… This marks the third and final event for Morgan Hoffmann in his quest to earn 238.42 FedExCup points and regain full TOUR status via his medical extension. He missed the cut at the RBC Heritage and the Wells Fargo Championship… This is the final tune-up before the PGA Championship, the second men’s major of the year. K.H. Lee earned the last spot in the PGA Championship field last year thanks to his win at TPC Craig Ranch… The Byron Nelson is a sell out for the first time since 2008. 72-HOLE RECORD: 259, Steven Bowditch (2015 at TPC Four Seasons). Aaron Wise and Sung Kang’s 23-under-par 261 in 2018 and 2019, respectively, are the lowest against par; Bowditch was 18 under after heavy rain turned TPC Four Seasons into a par 69 for the final three rounds. TPC Craig Ranch record: 263, K.H. Lee (2021) 18-HOLE RECORD: 60, Arron Oberholser (2nd round, 2006 at Cottonwood Valley GC), Keegan Bradley (1st round, 2013 at TPC Four Seasons). TPC Craig Ranch record: 62, Sam Burns (2nd round, 2021) LAST TIME: K.H. Lee shot 66 to beat 54-hole leader Sam Burns by three. There was a weather delay of more than two hours in the final round. Lee missed a par putt on 16, but two closing birdies were enough for the win. Burns fired the low round of the week, a 10-under 62, on Friday but couldn’t keep up the momentum through the weekend. He was the only golfer in the top five not to break 70 on Sunday. Patton Kizzire shot the round of the day Sunday, a 9-under 63, which moved him into a tie for third alongside Daniel Berger, Scott Stallings, and Charl Schwartzel. Defending champion Sung Kang finished tied for 47th. Lee’s win marked the second in a row at the AT&T Byron Nelson by a golfer of Korean descent. HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Thursday-Friday, 4 p.m.-7 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday, 1 p.m.-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3 p.m.-6 p.m. (NBC). Sunday, 1 p.m.-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3 p.m.-6 p.m. (NBC). Radio: Thursday-Friday, 1 p.m.–7 p.m. ET. Saturday-Sunday, 1 p.m.–6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio) For outside of the U.S., click here for GOLFTV powered by the PGA TOUR PGA TOUR LIVE PGA TOUR Live is available exclusively on ESPN+ • Main Feed: primary tournament-coverage featuring the best action from across the course • Marquee Group: new “marquee group” showcasing every shot from each player in the group • Featured Groups: traditional PGA TOUR LIVE coverage of two concurrent featured groups • Featured Holes: a combination of par-3s and iconic or pivotal holes

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Augusta National hoped by waiting so late in the year to hold the 2020 Masters it would have a shot at roars in Amen Corner. Alas, it won’t. Why this major being played in eerie quiet will be so different than all the others.

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BLAINE, Minn. – It wasn’t an easy decision, but Tony Finau knew the time had come. So, after last week’s Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide, he parted ways with Greg Bodine, who had caddied for him since his rookie campaign in 2014-15. “We were together for six years and it’s a tough thing, you know,” Finau said on Thursday. “On a personal level I love the guy and on a business level I felt it was time for a change in my situation and something just different.” Something different – for this week only at the 3M Open – is Finau’s long-time friend and teacher, Boyd Summerhays. And the transition appeared seamless as the PGA TOUR veteran fired a 65 to tie with Ryan Moore, Xinjun Zhang and Nick Watney, one stroke off the lead. RELATED: Full leaderboard | Dustin Johnson withdraws from 3M Open citing back injury “It was good, a really solid round, really clean,” FInau said. “I think I only missed one green and just hit it nicely, gave myself a lot of looks and I think that’s what you’ve got to do around this place. It’s soft enough to hit them close and I was able to do that enough today and make some putts.” Finau had done the same last week at Muirfield Village, which was a decidedly different challenge, playing firm and fast and hard. He held at least a share of the lead through two-and-a-half rounds before things started to unravel as Finau played the final seven holes on Saturday in 4 over and saw Jon Rahm surge ahead. Jack Nicklaus’ signature layout was as unforgiving as any major championship venue on Sunday when Finau limped in with a 78 that left him a distant seven strokes off the pace in eighth. So, a week that had begun with so much promise ended in disappointment and a long-time player-caddie relationship in disarray. And the Memorial wasn’t the only tournament this year where Finau seemingly had a prime chance to pick up a second career PGA TOUR victory that so many say is harder won than the first, either. He held the 54-hole lead at the Waste Management Phoenix Open and was two strokes up with two remaining only to lose in a playoff to Webb Simpson. In fact, Finau has had six runner-up finishes since that win at the 2016 Puerto Rico Open. Finau thrived with Summerhays on the bag on Thursday at TPC Twin Cities, though, making seven birdies and just two bogeys on a golf course that demands the leaders go low. He ranked first in Proximity to the Hole and Strokes Gained: Tee to Green, third in Approach The Green and fifth in Off the Tee. Summerhays has caddied for Finau in the past so it was a comfortable solution. Finau thinks it’s good for the instructor to get a glimpse of his game inside the ropes, and on Thursday, the student put on quite the show. “We’re very close,” Finau said. “No hard feelings no matter what, I think that’s a good dynamic to have when you’re out there. I didn’t have him say too much. I know I’m playing well and for the most part just bring him in when I want him.” That final-round 78 notwithstanding, Finau said he left Muirfield Village – which featured a major-championship caliber field — feeling good about his game. The fast start on Thursday in Minnesota only added to his resolve. “To be able to build up a lead I had on Saturday, that gives a guy some confidence,” Finau said. “I don’t think it really matters how I finished the tournament, at least that’s the positive I take from it is in that field on that golf course, I was able to play really clean, really nice golf. “I think it takes a lot of skill to do that, just to put yourself in that position. So that’s kind of what I took away from that week and kind of looking to do some of the same this week.”

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