Jack Nicklaus explains how he’d speed up the game of golf

The Monday qualifiers for this week’s PGA TOUR event include an Air Force veteran and an alumnus of nearby UNLV. Tom Whitney, a 2010 graduate of the Air Force Academy, shot 63 on Monday at Boulder Creek Golf Club to earn medalist honors. He finished one shot ahead of Ryan Hogue. Andres Gonzales and Jim Knous fired 65 to grab the final two spots in the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, which begins Thursday at TPC Summerlin. Whitney, 28, served as an Air Force officer from 2010-14 and is now pursuing a professional golf career. He finished 89th on this year’s Web.com Tour money list, posting one top-10 in 15 starts. He is making his PGA TOUR debut. This week’s qualifiers undoubtedly will be inspired by the performance of Scott Strohmeyer at last week’s Sanderson Farms Championship. Strohmeyer, who was making his PGA TOUR debut, finished T4 after advancing through both the Thursday and Monday qualifiers. Strohmeyer’s top-10 finish earned him a start this week at TPC Summerlin. He also earned 68 non-member FedExCup points; last season it took 365 points to finish 125th in the FedExCup standings and 82 points to qualify for the Web.com Tour Finals. Last season, none of the 95 players who Monday qualified for an event finished in the top 10. Strohmeyer’s finish is believed to be the best by a qualifier since Jason Allred finished T3 at the 2014 Genesis Open. Allred was the odd man out in Monday’s qualifier, losing a 3-for-2 playoff with Knous and Gonzales, who played at UNLV. Gonzales, 34, finished 158th in last season’s FedExCup, posting just two top-25s in 24 starts. One of those top-25s came after he Monday qualified for the Shell Houston Open (T23); it was one of just four top-25 finishes by a Monday qualifier last season. Gonzales, a two-time winner on the Web.com Tour, failed to regain his card at the recent Web.com Tour Finals, missing the cut in three of four events. He graduated from UNLV in 2006 with a degree in journalism. Knous, 27, will be making his second PGA TOUR start. He also Monday qualified for last season’s Waste Management Phoenix Open, where he missed the cut by two shots (70-73). Knous, who graduated from the Colorado School of Mines in 2012 with a degree in civil engineering, finished 94th on the 2017 Web.com Tour money list. Hogue made his only other PGA TOUR appearance at the 2003 Waste Management Phoenix Open (MC). He also played two Web.com Tour events in 1999, missing the cut in both. Sanderson Farms Championship qualifiers T4. Scott Strohmeyer, 72-67-68-71 T53. David Skinns, 70-73-74-71 T68. Grady Brame Jr., 72-67-75-77 MC. Nyasha Mauchaza, 72-73 2017-18 Monday qualifiers Qualifiers: 8 Made cut: 3 Top-10s: 1 Top-25s: 1 Average qualifying score: 66.6 Average tournament score*: 72.2  

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This week we head to Norton, Massachusetts, and TPC Boston, for the second FedExCup Playoffs event and the inaugural year of Dell Technologies’ title sponsorship. It’s only the second title sponsor (after Deutsche Bank) for this New England tournament that dates back to 2003. Take note: Thrilling comebacks are the norm here, typified most recently by Rory McIlroy, last year’s winner, shooting a final-round 65 to overtake Paul Casey. Arnold Palmer was the original designer for TPC Boston, but Gil Hanse and consultant Brad Faxon re-designed it in 2007. They added “chocolate-drop� mounds and grass bunkers to the 7,342-yard, par-71 layout. The green complex at the par-5 18th hole was redesigned and unveiled in 2012. The importance of the Dell Technologies cannot be overstated. The top 100 players in the FedExCup Playoffs will be cut to the low 70 for the BMW Championship, which, after a one-week break will be held Sept. 14-17. Three winners of the Dell Technologies have gone on to win the FedExCup since the Playoffs began in 2007: Vijay Singh in 2008, Henrik Stenson in 2013, and Rory McIlroy last year. But there’s even more at stake: Boston represents the last chance for players to earn automatic berths on the U.S. and International Presidents Cup teams. Two days after Monday’s final round, the U.S. and International team captains Steve Stricker and Nick Price will make their two captain’s selections.    PGA TOUR LIVE is scheduled to air from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, with Featured Groups coverage. The Featured Groups will consist of the top three in the FedExCup standings on Friday, and the fourth-, fifth- and sixth-ranked players Saturday. Similar to last year at this event, the second Featured Group each day will be decided by a Twitter vote. After Featured Groups, coverage will switch to Featured Holes at 3 p.m., the 161-yard, par-3 16th, and the 530-yard, par-5 18th, where many players will attempt to clear the hazard in front of the green with their second shots, then navigate what is arguably the most challenging green on the course.   PGA TOUR LIVE can also be viewed on Twitter from approximately 8:30 a.m. to 9:45 a.m. Friday and Saturday. (Note: All times Eastern; FedExCup ranking in parentheses.) FRIDAY Dustin Johnson (1), Jordan Spieth (2), Justin Thomas (3): With his win over Spieth at THE NORTHERN TRUST at Glen Oaks, Johnson moved his record in sudden-death playoffs to 1-1 and matched Thomas with his fourth victory this season. No. 1 in the FedExCup and Official World Golf Ranking, Johnson has three top-10 finishes at TPC Boston and leads the TOUR in strokes gained: tee-to-green. Spieth, whose playoff record fell to 4-3, leads the TOUR in adjusted scoring and said he was unperturbed by what happened last week, Johnson having won it rather than Spieth losing it. Thomas is coming off a T6 finish at Glen Oaks, where he shot four sub-70 scores. He leads the TOUR in birdie-or-better percentage.       Tee time: 9:15 a.m. off 10 tee   Twitter vote groups: 9:03 a.m. off 10: Brooks Koepka/Daniel Berger/Charley Hoffman 8:51 a.m. off 10: Brian Harman/Pat Perez/Matt Kuchar 9:15 a.m. off 1: Kyle Stanley/Marc Leishman/Jason Dufner 9:03 a.m. off 1: Louis Oosthuizen/Xander Schauffele/Charles Howell III SATURDAY Hideki Matsuyama (4), Jon Rahm (5), Rickie Fowler (6): Matsuyama was on a roll when he shot a final-round 61 to win the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational just a little over three weeks ago. Now, though, he comes to Boston on the heels of a missed cut at THE NORTHERN TRUST. Rahm is trending upward: His T3 at Glen Oaks broke a mini-slump that saw him miss the cut at the U.S. Open, and finish a lackluster T44 at The Open and T28 at the WGC-Bridgestone. Meanwhile, Fowler continues to cruise with five top-10 finishes and two top-25s in his last seven starts worldwide.       Tee time: 9:15 a.m. off 10 tee Twitter vote groups: 9:03 a.m. off 10: Jhonattan Vegas/Kevin Kisner/Paul Casey 8:51 a.m. off 10: Webb Simpson/Kevin Chappell/Adam Hadwin 9:15 a.m. off 1: Russell Henley/Justin Rose/Brendan Steele 9:03 a.m. off 1: Jason Day/Sergio Garcia/Billy Horschel PGA TOUR LIVE is scheduled to air at 8:30 a.m. again Sunday and Monday, giving way to Featured Holes coverage of the fourth hole, a driveable par-4 where players will aim for the front-right corner of the green, plus 16 and 18.

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Try as hard as you might, you will not find another golfer like Bryson DeChambeau. The way he approaches golf — and the way he talks about — is a style all his own.

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