Johnson nearly aces par 4, cruises in Hawaii

JERSEY CITY, N.J. – Abraham Ancer and C.T. Pan know the numbers are right there staring them in the face no matter how hard they try to ignore them. Both sit in or around important FedExCup bubbles and both are also in the mix for the International Presidents Cup team. Looking at projections and worrying about the scenarios though is not something they want to focus on. Good golf will take care of things. Finally, after what had been some lean times for the pair, they have kicked into gear when it counts. Ancer started the Playoffs in 67th in the FedExCup knowing he must play well at THE NORTHERN TRUST to stay inside the top 70 for the BMW Championship. Rounds of 67-65 have the Mexican at 10 under through two rounds, behind only Jordan Spieth in the clubhouse after the morning wave Friday. Pan has posted 68-67 to sit at 7 under and inside the top 10 at this stage. He started the Playoffs in 35th position knowing he has two weeks to push into the top 30 to ensure a place at the TOUR Championship. Furthermore, Pan (eighth) and Ancer (10th) now have an incredible chance to wrap up a spot in Ernie Els’ International Team for the Dec 12-15 Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne. The top eight players secure spots after next week’s BMW Championship. With Jason Day (seventh) set to miss the cut and Cameron Smith (sixth) in danger of doing the same at THE NORTHERN TRUST Pan and Ancer are in position to jump the Australians on the points list. “Going into the tournament sitting at 67 I just have to play a solid tournament. That should be fine,â€� Ancer said. “But I don’t really think about it that much while I’m playing. I know if I just do a good job with my game plan, I should be just fine. “The Presidents Cup is definitely in the back of my mind as one of the goals for the whole year. But I think if I just keep thinking about it, it just adds pressure to what I’m doing and it’s not going to help. I just have to play solid golf and I’ll have a good chance to sneak in there.â€� Since winning the Australian Open and finishing runner up at the ISPS Handa Melbourne World Cup of Golf late last year Ancer has been on Els’ radar for the biennial teams competition. But with only one top 10 on the PGA TOUR since his victory down under he has slid out of the automatic zone. Els has made it known he’d like Ancer to play his way on to the team. Pan won the RBC Heritage in April and was third in the Charles Schwab Challenge in May but has not finished better than a T36 at the Travelers Championship since.  “Getting into the top 30 has always been my goal. I haven’t done it yet but I won for the first time this year and that was a dream come true. Hopefully I can double down on that and make another dream come true,â€� Pan said. “The Presidents Cup is definitely on my mind but all we can do is hit one good shot at a time. I definitely want to be part of the team and play my best for captain Els.â€�

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Erik van Rooyen … It’s doubtful that the missed cut in his last start at the Made in Denmark dented the South African’s confidence. He finished T8 at the PGA Championship the preview week and ranked T9 in greens hit, ninth in proximity, eighth in strokes gained: tee-to-green and third in putting: birdies-or-better at Bethpage. That secured his exemption (via the top 10) into the RBC Canadian Open, which will be his fourth PGA TOUR start of the season and fifth of his career. He’s 19th on the European Tour’s Race to Dubai standings with a pair of runner-up finishes among five top 15s in the last three months. And now he’s fresh off qualifying for his first U.S. Open at the sectional in Columbus, Ohio. Danny Willett … Given that he won the Masters only three years ago, that he lands here is all you need to know about how far he’s separated from the main stage. The 31-year-old battled injuries in the interim but he was buoyed by a smattering of consistent results in the second half of 2018. The rise was punctuated with a victory at the DP World Tour Championship in November. As a renewed member of the PGA TOUR, he’s had only one top 25 since, but the waters are a-gurglin’. En route to a T41 at the PGA Championship, he ranked T3 in greens in regulation. Last week at the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide, he finished T11 in GIR. Hot irons will play at Hamilton this week, so his next objective is to put four rounds together. Nick Watney … While the Zurich Classic of New Orleans presents as a twist to break up the routine of the season, it shouldn’t be overlooked as an opportunity to regain form. He and partner Charley Hoffman placed T9 for what was Watney’s first top-15 finish of the season. It also lifted him back inside the top 125 of the FedExCup standings and sparked a 3-for-4 run in individual competition entering the RBC Canadian Open. Even better, he’s reclaimed confidence with his staple as a powerful ball-striker. En route to a T8 at cozy Colonial, he ranked T4 in greens hit, seventh in proximity and led the field in strokes gained: tee-to-green. Last week at the bigger ballpark of Muirfield Village, he finished T11 in GIR and paced the field in proximity. The 38-year-old now sits a much more comfortable 98th in the FedExCup. Tyler Duncan … The PGA TOUR sophomore made news at the AT&T Byron Nelson where he struck his wife, Maria, in the head on the first bounce of his drive on the 13th hole of Trinity Forest in the second round. (She’s OK.) Despite that shot, he performed wonderfully and in line with his profile as a ball-striker, but it was improved putting that made the difference between another forgettable result and the career-best-tying T5 that he logged. And that was on large greens. Hamilton’s smaller targets project to accentuate his strength even more. Cameron Tringale … He’s had a helluva career and he’s still only 31 years of age. Most wouldn’t trade a record of 156-for-256 as a professional with eight figures in earnings, but the Georgia Tech product remains winless in PGA TOUR-sanctioned competition. It’s also been three seasons since he qualified for the FedExCup Playoffs and he’s currently 138th in points, but the RBC Canadian Open could springboard him back. In fact, it’d be a continuation of form first captured in earnest at the Valero Texas Open where he finished T17 while ranking T3 in greens in regulation and T5 in proximity. After a T5 with Roberto Castro at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, Tringale posted a T23 at the AT&T Byron Nelson and slotted T4 in GIR and second in conversion percentage inside 10 feet (66-for-70). As he’s conjuring old form, it’s relevant to cite that he finished T19 at Hamilton in 2012, finishing T5 in GIR and 12th in strokes gained: tee-to-green. He also co-led the field in fairways hit. 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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