Johnson runs away with The Northern Trust trophy

THE OVERVIEW Five years ago at Innisbrook, Jordan Spieth earned his way onto the PGA TOUR. Three years ago, he won the Valspar Championship, the first of five wins in a season that elevated him to superstar status. Now he comes to Innisbrook without a win in his last 14 worldwide starts – his biggest drought since his rookie season in 2013. He’s yet to post a top-5 finish in his six TOUR starts. He ranks 163rd in strokes gained: putting, a baffling development for one of the game’s biggest clutch putters. And good friend Justin Thomas has passed him in the world rankings. The confidence is not wavering, though. Spieth likes the way his game is progressing, and he hopes that Innisbrook – which has treated him so well – will be the spark to the rest of his season. “This tournament bringing really good vibes being here can do a lot for me going forward for the rest of the season,â€� he said Wednesday. Suffering the flu in late December is one reason for Spieth’s slow start. In fact, speaking of slow starts, that’s another reason why Spieth has struggled to contend this season. He ranks 156th on TOUR in first-round scoring average (71.50), breaking 70 just once in his six starts. Compare that to his TOUR ranking in the other three rounds – 3rd in the second round, 13th in the third round and 7th in the final round. Too often, Spieth has been playing catch-up for most of the week, requiring him to take more chances. “The first rounds set me back this year,â€� Spieth said, “but talked with Michael (Greller, his caddie) yesterday. We’re in a very similar position to 2015 at this very moment.â€� Provided Spieth can solve his putting issues – he said the holiday flu reduced the amount of practice time on the greens, and thus led to some alignment problems – the rest of his game seems good to go. He ranks sixth on TOUR in strokes gained: tee to green. “Ball-striking is all there to win golf tournaments,â€� Spieth said. “Just a matter of seeing a couple putts go in and getting comfortable early in a tournament and gaining that confidence.â€� That confidence (or lack thereof) on the greens is the primary thing Spieth thinks is preventing him from flashing the kind of form he did in 2015. “You go through peaks and troughs through every part of your game,â€� Spieth said. “I believe I hit a trough and I’m back rising towards a peak when it comes to on the greens. I’ve got to maintain everything else and I believe I’ll be a better player, if that’s the case.â€� Innisbrook has provided Spieth with many fond memories. Perhaps he’ll add another chapter this week. THREE PLAYERS TO PONDER Tiger Woods It’s great to see Tiger add some new tournaments to his schedule. Would be even better if he’s in contention Sunday afternoon. Rory McIlroy Like Tiger, McIlroy is making his tournament debut this week. His last start in Florida did not go well (T-59 at Honda Classic). Henrik Stenson If a 40-something wins for the second consecutive week, it’s likely to be this 41-year-old Swede who’s fared well at Innisbrook. THE FLYOVER Moccasin. Rattler. Copperhead. Those are the nicknames of the closing three holes at Innisbrook’s Copperhead course. Collectively, they’re known as the Snake Pit, one of the toughest closing stretches on TOUR. Since 2003, it has played to a cumulative 0.559 strokes over par, the third-highest average among regular TOUR courses (non-majors) during that span. Here’s a look at the 16th, 17th and 18th holes at Copperhead. THE LANDING ZONE The Snake Pit draws most of the attention, but the hardest hole at Innisbrook last season was the 465-yard par-4 sixth, which played to a stroke average of 4.217. A total of 113 bogeys were made on the hole last year, 20 more than any other hole. Players often find trouble off the tee, as their drives roll into the trees on the downhill, dogleg-right hole. Here is where all tee shots ended up last year. WEATHER CHECK From PGA TOUR meteorologist Stewart Williams: “Cooler and drier air continues Thursday and Friday as high pressure builds over the region. Temperatures will be cool each day with lows in the upper 40s to low 50s and highs in the 60s. Warmer temperatures return Saturday before another cold front brings showers and isolated t-storms Sunday afternoon into Sunday night.â€� For the latest weather news from Mexico City, check out PGATOUR.COM’s Weather Hub. SOUND CHECK It’s because of the second shots, both on the par 3s and the par 4s, a lot of times it’s those kind of mid-irons. It’s the 5-, 6-, 7-, 8-irons into the greens, and when I’m hitting it well, then that’s the strong part of my game. So it’s going to set up a lot of birdie chances. BY THE NUMBERS 9 – Wins by Tiger Woods when making his tournament debut (out of 40 debuts in his career). That’s a 22.5 percent rate. Woods is making his 41st career tournament debut this week at Innisbrook. 422 feet, 11 inches – Cumulative length of putts made by Adam Hadwin last year in winning the Valspar Championship. That was the most of anybody in the field and included two putts of longer than 50 feet. 273 yards, 6 feet – Average length of all drives last season at Innisbrook. That was the fourth shortest average distance of any tournament on the PGA TOUR last season. 47.06 – Percentage of Valspar winners since 2000 that were in their 30s (8 of 17). That’s higher than winners in their 20s (5) and 40s (4). SCATTERSHOTS Winning the Valspar Championship pretty much assures you of reaching the TOUR Championship. Ten of the 11 Valspar winners have advanced to the FedExCup Playoffs finale at East Lake. Two have gone on to win the FedExCup title (Jim Furyk in 2010, Jordan Spieth in 2015). Don’t be surprised if Adam Hadwin successfully defends his title this week. Making his 10th start of the season, the Canadian comes in off back-to-back top 10 finishes (a T-6 at the Genesis Open, followed by a T-9 at last week’s World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship). Steve Stricker’s in the field this week after his first PGA TOUR Champions win on Sunday at the Cologuard Classic. He’s seeking to become the fourth player to win on the PGA TOUR and PGA TOUR Champions in the same year (Raymond Floyd in 1992, Craig Stadler in 2003 and Fred Funk in 2007).

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GREENSBORO, N.C. - There was a lot on the line at this week's Wyndham Championship, with the top 125 in the FedExCup standings advancing to the Playoffs and the finale of the Wyndham Rewards Top 10 competition. Here's a quick look at each one after Sunday's final round at Sedgefield Country Club. RELATED: Full leaderboard | Herman picks up 3rd TOUR win FedExCup Update Three players earned a spot in the FedExCup Playoffs thanks to their performance this week. The biggest leap was made by Jim Herman, who came into the week ranked No. 192. He will head to THE NORTHERN TRUST ranked No. 54 thanks to his one-stroke victory on Sunday - the biggest move in the regular season finale since Davis Love III won the Wyndham Championship in 2015 and went from No. 186 to 76. It will be Herman's fourth appearance in the Playoffs and his first since 2017. … Zach Johnson and Shane Lowry were the other two players to book a trip to TPC Boston. Johnson came in ranked 129th and finished No. 104. Lowry came in No. 131 and finished 122nd. … The three players who dropped out of the top 125 were Fabian Gomez, Russell Knox and Charl Schwartzel. Gomez, who missed the cut, dropped four spots to No. 126 while Knox fell four spots to No. 127 with his tie for 72nd. Schwartzel, who came to Greensboro as the bubble boy, also missed the cut and finished No. 128. Zach Johnson: A year ago, Zach Johnson missed the Playoffs for just the second time since the FedExCup began in 2007. On Sunday, he battled down to the wire - in fact, there were only 10 players left on the golf course when he signed for a 65 to tie for seventh and jump 25 spots to No. 104, booking his trip to THE NORTHERN TRUST. … "I don’t like missing cuts, I don’t like missing the FedExCup, I don’t like not being a part of it," Johnson said. "When there’s events that you’re not qualified for, which has kind of been new to me in the last year or two, it’s frustrating. I say that, it’s also motivating. "If anything, it highlights the beauty of this game. I mean, the complete beauty of this game in the fact that you get what you earn. Any given week, any given stretch, you play well, you get your reward. you don’t play well, you get what you deserve. Johnson, who shot 61 in the second round, said he felt like he was on a "slight upward trend. I know it was only two days, but I’ve been feeling this for a while, it just hasn’t showed up. Hopefully, I can maintain it." Shane Lowry: Lowry thought he'd put himself in a good position to make the FedExCup Playoffs after he shot 63 on Friday to move well inside the bubble from No. 131 to 99th. As it turns out, though, Lowry fell back outside the 125 after shooting even par 70 in the third round and then had some anxious moments down the stretch on Sunday when he bogeyed No. 16 and was projected as the bubble boy. When all was done at Sedgefield, though, Lowry clocked in at No. 122 and will head to Boston for the second straight year. "You look at what I’ve achieved in the last year or two, stuff like that shouldn’t really be as stressful as it was, but it was," said the reigning Open champion. "It’s a big deal. We all know if we can make it to Boston that a good week there, you know, can do big things. … "Obviously, the goal next week would be to make Chicago. Then the goal from there is to make it to East Lake, but that would be a hell of a three weeks. I need to do something very special." Lowry, who tied for 22nd at Sedgefield, gave himself a shot at the Playoffs when he shared sixth at the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational two weeks ago. He needs to move into the top 70 to play in the BMW Championship and the top 30 to make the field for the finale in Atlanta at the TOUR Championship. "I feel like I’m playing good golf," said Lowry, who originally had a golf trip to Rhode Island scheduled with his buddies next week. "To be honest, I feel like all that outside stuff got in my way a little bit over this weekend. I felt like I was in a great position heading into the weekend, I just struggled yesterday. Then today I got off to a great start and it was going lovely. Then the last few holes, it was almost like, you know, you’re playing on the cut mark. It was strange." Wyndham Rewards Top 10 At stake: The top 10 spots in the FedExCup standings and its bonus pool money of $10 million. Justin Thomas already had wrapped up the top prize of $2 million. For the fourth straight day there was no movement into or out of the Wyndham Rewards Top 10. And none of the four players ranked inside the top 10 at the start of the Wyndham Championship moved up or down. Webb Simpson, who has two wins this season, finished third in the bonus pool after tying for fourth at the Wyndham Championship. Sungjae Im, who tied for ninth on Sunday, finished No. 5 in the Wyndham Rewards. One spot below is Patrick Reed, who won the Wyndham Championship in 2013 and joined Im in the tie for ninth this year. Brendon Todd, another two-time winner this year, missed the cut at Sedgefield but held onto the No. 9 spot in the Wyndham Rewards Top 10.

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