LaCava’s career started when he looped for his cousin, Ken Green, then spent 20 years on the bag for Fred Couples. After a six month tenure with Couples with Dustin Johnson, LaCava signed on with Woods in 2011.
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There is a beautiful unpredictability to golf. Nearly one-third of last week's TOUR Championship field was populated by players making their first career start at East Lake. Each of the last three (and 13 of the last 18) major winners were first-time major champions. And 24 percent of the current top-50 in the Official World Golf Ranking were not there when the year began. As the PGA TOUR's new wrap-around season kicks off this week in California, who are some of the candidates to burst into the next phase of their professional careers? Which players will have breakout seasons in 2020-2021? 15th Club doesn't have a crystal ball, but a bevy of analytics can help try to answer these questions. Harold Varner III Statistically, Varner III perfectly fits the profile of a player about to make a leap in 2020-2021. From 2019 to 2020, Varner III improved in all six primary Strokes Gained statistics. That was especially true in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green, where Varner III has jumped from 93rd (2017-18) to 60th (2018-19) to 8th (2019-20) over three seasons. Varner III finished a heady 18th on the season in Strokes Gained: Total, a jump of 68 spots from the prior season. Of the players ranked in the top-20 in that statistic, only Harris English (up 82 spots) and Daniel Berger (up 76 spots) made bigger improvements from the previous campaign. An exceptional ball-striker, Varner III hit 73.6 percent greens in regulation since the Return to Golf in mid-June. Only Henrik Norlander (73.8) had a higher G.I.R. percentage among players with 20 or more rounds played. Varner III made the FedExCup Playoffs for a fifth consecutive season in 2020 - nobody should be surprised if he earns his first trip to East Lake in 2021. Will Gordon There were 181 different players who teed it up in 12 or more stroke play rounds from the Charles Schwab Championship through the TOUR Championship. Would you believe that, of that group, it wasn't Dustin Johnson or Webb Simpson who had the best scoring average? It was Will Gordon, at 68.17. Gordon made the most of his opportunities in 2019-20, finishing in the top 25 four times in just 11 starts. That included his breakout week at the Travelers Championship, where he finished tied for third and earned Special Temporary Membership for the rest of the season. From there, he earned more than enough points to acquire full status for 2020-2021. Gordon built a strong statistical resume, too. He ranked fourth on TOUR in greens in regulation in 2019-2020, 14th in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee, and 17th in driving distance. Also boasting tons of clubhead speed - only Cameron Champ had a higher average on TOUR last season - Gordon could have a successful '20-21. Corey Conners A winner once already on TOUR, Corey Conners is one club away from being a force. Let's start with the good stuff: After leading the TOUR in greens in regulation in 2018-2019, he ranked sixth in 2019-2020. For the second consecutive season, Conners ranked in the top-15 in both Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee and Strokes Gained: Approach. From the resumption of play at Colonial through the TOUR Championship, Conners ranked 9th on TOUR in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green and 11th in Approach. Now the bad stuff: For the second year in a row, Conners ranked precisely 181st in Strokes Gained: Putting. Only six players on TOUR averaged more putts per round than Conners did in 2019-2020. An undeniable ball-striking talent, Conners could win multiple times next season if his putting numbers improved to near TOUR average. Cameron Davis The 2020 statistical profile for Cameron Davis, 25, fits the prototypical young TOUR player. He makes a lot of birdies (23rd in birdie average), but also mistakes (99th in bogey avoidance). He is long and bold (top 20 in driving distance, 4th in going-for-the-green percentage), but tends to miss cuts more often than the top players (46 percent of his TOUR starts). These traits are common among talented young professionals. Here's what's uncommon: Davis in 2019-20 was consistent: He had positive Strokes Gained in all six denominations - Off-the-Tee, Approach, Around the Green, Putting, Tee to Green and Total. Davis ranks well above average in five of the six metrics, and is right on the middle line when it comes to putting. With an enormous international win under his belt - the 2017 Australian Open - Davis should pop up on more leaderboards in 2021. Tyrrell Hatton He has five wins worldwide and is ranked in the top 15 in the world, but the numbers suggest Tyrrell Hatton hasn't hit his ceiling. Hatton jumped 36 spots this season in scoring average, up to 10th. His Strokes Gained: Total went from 55th to 8th. Only four players averaged more birdies per round than Hatton (4.58 per round) in the Return to Golf. Maybe most encouraging was the fortitude he showed at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard. In some of the toughest conditions in a non-major championship in years, Hatton held on for his first TOUR victory. With five top-ten finishes in majors already on his resume, a first major victory might be next on the horizon.
SOUTHPORT, England – Rory McIlroy, the reigning FedExCup champion, is not the favorite this week to win the Open Championship. The latest odds in the UK have him 20 to 1, well below a handful of notable names. “Good time to back me,â€� the confident McIlroy insisted Wednesday. Yet McIlroy, the 2014 Open winner at nearby Royal Liverpool, understands why he’s not a more popular pick. He’s battled rib injuries that sidelined him earlier this year, and also took time off to get married. He comes into this week having missed the cut in his last two starts, including the Irish Open two weeks ago hosted by his foundation. He’s not the only big name teeing off Thursday with questionable form. FedExCup points leader and world No. 1 Dustin Johnson also has missed the cut in his last two starts. Same for Jason Day. In fact, Day has missed three cuts in his last dozen starts in 2017; he had missed four in the previous four years combined. While other notables such as Jordan Spieth, Brooks Koepka and Jon Rahm – as well as last week’s John Deere Classic winner, Bryson DeChambeau — enter the Open having won in their last starts respectively, McIlroy, Johnson and Day come in on an opposite (and less encouraging) track. Missed cuts, no momentum, and questions – perhaps even concerns — about their chances. Day pulled no punches Wednesday about his season to date. “I’m disappointed in my game,â€� he said. Perhaps Royal Birkdale will prove to be a turning point for all three. Asked this week if there was any significance in entering the Open off a win while Day, Johnson and McIlroy enter off multiple missed cuts, Spieth replied: “Form is very important, but I think in a tournament like this, it’s a great way for players who are not necessarily in form to come in and steal a win. With these conditions, you just throw out the way you’ve been playing because the shots are so different than what we normally see. “Sure, form matters, especially around the greens, but I wouldn’t be surprised if any of those guys are in contention. It’s a good tournament to get back in shape.â€� McIlroy readily agrees. Despite his inconsistent results and reduced starts and limited practice, he doesn’t feel his form is that far off. He likes what he’s seen on the range, and he knows he’s the type of player who can flip the switch in a hurry. In 2012, he went through a five-start stretch in the middle of the season in which he missed four cuts, then finished T-60 at the Open. A month later, he won the PGA Championship, soon followed by two wins in the FedExCup Playoffs. “Obviously it’s been hard to get any sort of momentum with an injury and not being able to practice as much as you’d like,â€� McIlroy said. “But I’m in good spirits. I feel like it’s all coming together. I’m just waiting for that round or that moment or that week where it sort of clicks and I’ll be off and running. “I’ve have little periods like this before in my career, and I’ve been able to bounce back from them. I’d say I was in worse positions than this. … The pieces are all there. It’s just about trying to fit them together.â€� No one had better form two months ago than Johnson. He had won three consecutive starts going into the Masters, and was the favorite to win his second major. But he slipped on a staircase at his rental home in Augusta the day before the tournament, injured his back and was unable to play. When he returned in early May, Johnson seemed back in form, nabbing a tie for second at the Wells Fargo Championship. But after two more top-15 finishes – including a T12 at THE PLAYERS – Johnson missed consecutive cuts for the first time in four years. On the positive side, he and fiancée Paulina Gretzky welcomed their second child, a boy they named River. The family remained back in the U.S. this week, and Johnson said that mother and child are both healthy and doing fine. “Definitely the second one is easier than the first one,â€� Johnson said. “Not quite as nervous when you’re bringing them home from the hospital.â€� Johnson also isn’t nervous about his golf game. Putting was the main antagonist in his two missed cuts – he blamed himself for spending more practice time on his swing and less on his short game when he returned to action following his injury – but he has recently seen encouraging signs. “The putter feels good,â€� he said. “I’m starting to roll it a lot better, and got a lot of confidence in it. Everything is feeling pretty good right now.â€� Day, though, can’t say the same. He has just two top-10 finishes going back to last year’s FedExCup Playoffs. He cited burnout at the end of 2016, as well as a nagging back that knocked him out of the last two Playoffs events. Then there was the cancer concerns with his mother earlier this year, as well as trying to find the balance between his life as a dad – which he loves – while trying to maintain the desire he displayed in reaching world No. 1. “Everything seems like it’s kind of coming back into balance for me,â€� Day said. “And I’m able to focus on just really getting after it and working hard and trying to really pinpoint what has been going wrong in my game.â€� Which, according to Day, is pretty much everything. “If you take my years 2015 and 2016, I hit it long and straight, straightish. I hit my iron shots a lot closer and I holed everything on the greens,â€� he said. “And this year it’s not as long, it’s not as straight. My iron shots aren’t as close, and I’m not holing as many putts. So it’s a perfect formula for not having a good year.â€� As if those things weren’t enough, Day was delayed last week in getting to England and starting his preparations. He had hoped to fly out Saturday night and arrive on Sunday. But his connection out of JFK airport in New York was delayed, he said, due to President Trump, who was attending the U.S. Women’s Open at Trump National. So he readjusted his schedule, flew out Sunday night, arrived on Monday and didn’t get onto the course until Tuesday when he played 18 holes. It’s not the first time a sitting President has interfered with Day’s travel plans. “President Obama held me up one time flying out of Palm Springs,â€� Day said. “So I understand. It is what it is.â€� Any delays returning home next week shouldn’t be nearly as frustrating – especially if the Claret Jug is in the overhead compartment.
Round 2 of the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship tees off with Rory McIlroy in the lead. Here’s everything you need to follow the action on Friday. Round 2 tee times Round 2 leaderboard HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN (ALL TIMES ET) TELEVISION: Thursday-Friday, 2-7 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday, noon-2:30 p.m. (GC), 2:30-6 p.m. (NBC). Sunday, noon-1:30 p.m. (GC), 1:30-6 p.m. (NBC). PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday, noon-7 p.m. (Featured Groups). Saturday-Sunday, 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m. (Featured Groups), 3-6 p.m. (Featured Holes). International subscribers (via GOLF.tv): Thursday-Friday, 17:00 to 00:00 GMT. Saturday-Sunday, 16:30 to 23:00. PGA TOUR Twitter window is Thursday-Friday from 9:30 a.m. to approximately 10:45 a.m. On Saturday the window is from 10:30 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. On Sunday the window will be 11 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. Sunday. A Fan Vote on Twitter will determine the second Featured Group on Friday, with final results announced at the end of Thursday’s first round. GOLFTV: International fans can stream PGA TOUR LIVE coverage from Thursday-Friday, 14:30 to 23:00 GMT. Saturday-Sunday, 16:30 to 23:00 via subscription to GOLF.TV. RADIO: Thursday-Friday, 1-7 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, 1-6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.COM). NOTABLE PAIRINGS (ALL TIMES ET) Rickie Fowler / Jon Rahm / Patrick Reed: 12:39 p.m., 10th tee Tiger Woods, Bryson DeChambeau, Abraham Ancer: 12:51 p.m., 10th tee Xander Schauffele, Francesco Molinari, Thorbjørn Olesen: 1:39 p.m., 1st tee Brooks Koepka, Bubba Watson, Rory McIlroy: 1:51 p.m., 1st tee Phil Mickelson, Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson: 2:03 p.m., 1st tee Henrik Stenson, Matt Kuchar, Tommy Fleetwood: 2:15 p.m., 1st tee MUST READS Last man in Ryan Fox happy with 72 after wild, 19-hour journey to WGC-Mexico Spieth off to slow start at WGC-Mexico Championship with dad on his bag Featured Groups How Bryson trains his brain
