Jon Rahm wins in stunning comeback at Sentry Tournament of Champions

A new Starting Strokes system of scoring takes center stage at the TOUR Championship at East Lake, a 7,346-yard par 70. Top seed Justin Thomas will start two strokes lead ahead of No. 2 Patrick Cantlay, and more ahead of everyone else. There will be no more math, and viewers will know exactly where every player stands in the chase for the PGA TOUR’s Ultimate Prize. What’s more, that prize is bigger than ever: $15 million (of a $60 million FedExCup bonus pool) to the winner, plus a five-year exemption on TOUR. Tiger Woods recorded the biggest winning margin at the TOUR Championship, eight strokes in 2007. Phil Mickelson (2009), Billy Horschel (2014), Henrik Stenson (2013) and Brandt Snedeker (2012) all won it by three, but Thomas, who has three top-10 finishes in three starts at East Lake, is clearly in the driver’s seat.    RELATED: Tee times | How it works: TOUR Championship | No risk, lots of reward, for FedExCup pursuers The Flyover The 18th hole is a downhill par 5 that played second easiest last year as the field averaged exactly a half a stroke under par. (The easiest was the other of the course’s two par 5s, the sixth hole, which played to a 4.35 average.) Justin Rose made a clutch birdie on 18 to win the FedExCup last year, one of 62 birdies there on the week. Longer hitters will reach the lower level off the tee, from where they can easily go for the green in two. Water to the right of the bottleneck on the way to the green does not come into play, but front and right greenside bunkers are deep. Landing Zone The hardest hole at the 2018 TOUR Championship was the 455-yard, par-4 eighth, which played to a 4.217 stroke average. There were more bogeys (19) than birdies (18) there last year, but also 11 double-bogeys and one dreaded “other.� Why all the trouble? Because water runs all up the left side of the hole, and two fairway bunkers await right misses off the tee. The good news is that with the nines having been reversed, there’s now 10 holes to recover from whatever happens at the eighth. Weather check From meteorologist Joe Halvorson: “A few thunderstorms may develop after 2-3 pm Thursday afternoon, with chances increasing on Friday afternoon as a frontal boundary approaches northern Georgia. This boundary will stall over the area on Saturday and will likely enhance the coverage of showers and thunderstorms through the weekend. While the highest coverage of thunderstorms is expected from the late afternoon to early evening hours this weekend, high/tropical moisture values in place will allow for widely scattered areas of showers and storms to remain possible into the night before diminishing in coverage each morning. Locally heavy downpours will be possible within these thunderstorms. Heat indices will reach the mid 90s through Friday before cooling slightly this weekend.� For the latest weather news from East Lake, check out PGATOUR.COM’s Weather Hub. Sound Check It’s not like it’s handed to you; you have to go earn it, and play well when the time is right. By the numbers 5 – Players who have shot 61 in the Playoffs, as Justin Thomas did in round three at the BMW. The others: Mike Weir (2008 Dell Technologies Championship), Brandt Snedeker (2011 THE NORTHERN TRUST), Matt Kuchar (2013 BMW), and Jason Day (2015 BMW). There’s also been a 60 (Zach Johnson, 2007 TOUR Championship) and a 59 (Jim Furyk, 2013 BMW).  3 – Players have registered top-10 finishes in the first two events of the Playoffs this season: Jon Rahm (T3 THE NORTHERN TRUST, T5 BMW Championship), Adam Scott (5th, T9) and 2012 FedExCup champion Brandt Snedeker (T6, T5) 8/12 – Number of TOUR Championship winners who have also won the FedExCup since 2007. 1/1 – Correlation of TOUR Championship winners to FedExCup winners going forward.   Scattershots Schauffele used to playing from behind: Which player amongst the large chase pack has the best chance to chase down front-runner Thomas? Mathematically, it would be Cantlay, who is only two back with 72 holes to play – the smallest margin, and with a lot of time to make it up. But don’t forget about Xander Schauffele. At FedExCup No. 8, he will start the TOUR Championship 4 under par and six back of Thomas, but that shouldn’t phase him. When he won the tournament on the way to being named Rookie of the Year in 2017, Schauffele was five back after the first round.   Rahm’s consistency stands out: The FedExCup rewards consistency, as in Rory McIlroy’s 13 top-10s in 18 starts, including victories at THE PLAYERS Championship at RBC Canadian Open. But on that note, Jon Rahm isn’t far behind. He has 12 top-10 finishes in 19 starts, including a T5 at the BMW and T3 at THE NORTHERN TRUST to start the Playoffs. (He also won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans with partner Ryan Palmer.) Although the FedExCup No. 6 Rahm will start out 4 under and six strokes behind Thomas, that’s not insurmountable. Rahm was seven back through 18 holes before going on to win the 2017 Farmers Insurance Open.

Click here to read the full article…

LA QUINTA, Calif. – Jon Rahm didn’t want to return to PGA West on Monday. He took care of that with a 12-foot birdie putt that ended a dramatic, back-and-forth playoff with underdog Andrew Landry. Neither player missed a green in the four holes of sudden-death that were needed to decide the CareerBuilder Challenge. Rahm was the first one to finally sink a birdie putt on the Stadium Course’s 18th green, which was ensconced in shadows as the sun sank further behind the Santa Rosa Mountains. The victory moved Rahm to No. 2 in both the FedExCup and Official World Golf Ranking. It was his second victory on the PGA TOUR, coming four days before he begins his title defense at the Farmers Insurance Open. He now has two wins and a runner-up in his past three worldwide starts. “I would like to win one … on the PGA TOUR the old-fashioned way, (and) not stress out on the last few holes,â€� Rahm, 23, said. “But, to be honest I couldn’t have dreamed of a better way to do it. Tournaments like this build character.â€� Rahm started the final round two shots off the lead, but shot a final-round 67 to finish at 22-under 266. Landry, playing in the final group, made an 11-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole to force extra holes. He shot 68 on Sunday. Landry was like the Jacksonville Jaguars, giving the heavy favorite all it could handle Sunday. Landry is a Web.com Tour graduate who began the week ranked 184th in the Official World Golf Ranking. Rahm has been one of the game’s stars in his brief pro career that began less than two years ago. Landry’s longest birdie putt on the four playoff holes was 22 feet. He was unable to convert any of them, though. “That was outstanding to play the way he did,â€� Rahm said. “Hitting right after me every single time and to hit the fairway and the green right after me, it’s really hard to do, it’s not easy. The pressure was on him 80 percent of the time.â€� Rahm missed a 9-foot birdie putt on the first extra hole after Landry missed from 17 feet. It was Landry who missed a shot putt on the next hole, failing to convert from 8 feet. Both players two-putted the next hole, the par-4 10th, before they knocked their approach shots close on their third trip to No. 18 in the playoff. “I did not want to come back the next day and play,â€� Rahm said. “After Andrew hit his shot, I had a good angle and a good lie in the rough, so I decided to take dead aim and hope for the best.â€� Rahm made his 12-foot birdie putt, and Landry failed to convert from a foot closer. Like the AFC Championship, the heavy favorite finally prevailed. OBSERVATIONS Final group: Landry didn’t follow his fellow Austin Cook, his fellow Razorback, into the winner’s circle, but he handled himself well in the final group. He was Rahm’s toughest competition Sunday, making five birdies and just a single bogey in the final round on PGA West’s Stadium Course. His bogey at the par-3 sixth hole was his only bogey of the tournament. His runner-up at the CareerBuilder came just two starts after he finished T4 at The RSM Classic. He ranks 11th in the FedExCup. This was Landry’s first time in the final group since he played alongside eventual winner Dustin Johnson in Sunday’s final group at the 2016 U.S. Open. Landry shot 78 that day to drop to 15th place. This time, he almost walked away with his first PGA TOUR title. Landry lost his TOUR card in 2016 but earned it back by finishing fourth on the Web.com Tour money list. Hark Week: Brandon Harkins, a 31-year-old who played his college golf at a small Division II school in Northern California, continues to impress in his rookie PGA TOUR season. Harkins shot 70 on Sunday to finish T8 and move to 32nd in the FedExCup standings. Harkins, an alum of Chico State, has finished in the top 25 in five of seven starts this season. The CareerBuilder was his second top-10 of the season. Harkins, who turned pro in 2010, didn’t play his first Web.com Tour season until last year. He needed just one season on that circuit to graduate, finishing 21st on the money list after a runner-up finish at the Ellie Mae Classic at TPC Stonebrae, just 38 minutes from his hometown of Walnut Creek, California. RAHM’S EXTENDED HIGHLIGHTS CALL OF THE DAY Notables Patton Kizzire – The FedExCup leader shot a final-round 72 to finish T42 at 11-under 277. It was just his second finish outside the top 15 in his past seven starts. Austin Cook – Cook, the 54-hole leader, shot a final-round 75 to finish T14. The PGA TOUR rookie was seeking his second victory of the season (RSM Classic), but he made two double-bogeys in the final round and only two birdies. Brendan Steele – The native of nearby Idyllwild shot a final-round 68 to jump 22 spots into a tie for 20th. He held onto the eighth position in the FedExCup. Zach Johnson – The two-time major winner also finished T20, his sixth consecutive top-25 finish. QUOTABLES So far I’ve only lost against Superman this year.I played pretty good. I didn’t throw up on myself or do anything crazy. SUPERLATIVES Low round: 8-under 64 – Sam Saunders made nine birdies, and just a single bogey, to shoot the low round of the day by two shots. Saunders, who started the day on No. 10, made birdie on six of his final eight holes to jump from T42 to T8. Longest drive: Keith Mitchell hit a 332-yard drive on the Stadium Course’s par-5 16th hole. He only had 221 yards remaining to the green, but three-putted from 34 feet for par. Mitchell had two of the day’s three longest drives, also hitting one 328 yards on the par-5 eighth hole (he got up-and-down from a bunker for birdie). Mitchell shot 74 and finished T69. Rahm hit a 330-yard drive on the par-5 eighth hole en route to a par. Longest putt: 62 feet – Kevin Na holed a long one for birdie on the par-4 15th hole. He shot 2-under 70 on Sunday en route to a T42 finish. Easiest hole: The 559-yard, par-5 eighth hole played to a 4.51 scoring average, allowing two eagles and 36 birdies to the 77 players who competed Sunday. Hardest hole: The 210-yard, par-3 13th hole played to a 3.46 scoring average. Rahm’s birdie there was one of just eight on the hole. There were 21 bogeys and nine scores of double-bogey or worse. Only 35 percent of the field (27 of 77) hit the green Sunday.

Click here to read the full article…

While there is a winner in every PGA TOUR event, it’s infrequent for any golfer individually to capture a victory. Now consider how rare it is to successfully defend a title. Or maybe not. RELATED: Play Pick ‘Em Live | The First Look Beginning with Viktor Hovland answering his 2020 title at the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba with another a year ago, seven have turned the trick for the treat, including Max Homa (Fortinet Championship) and Rory McIlroy (THE CJ CUP at South Carolina) already this season. No matter your success, you’re always chasing something or someone. Scroll past the projected contenders to learn who’s in Hovland’s crosshairs, why it was unlikely that he won at all at El Camaleón Golf Course, and more. POWER RANKINGS: WORLD WIDE TECHNOLOGY Collin Morikawa, Jason Day and former champions Harris English (2013) and Matt Kuchar (2018) will be among the notables reviewed in Draws and Fades. Hovland is embarking on a goal that the previous 12 two-time defending champions have failed to fulfill – win three consecutive editions of the same tournament. It hasn’t been accomplished since Steve Stricker triumphed at the John Deere Classic in 2009, 2010 and 2011. Hovland was 13 years old when Stricker converted the threepeat. It already was unusual when Hovland took the title at El Camaleón the first time. A cursory glance at the champions on the course suggest that only ball-strikers of a certain age prevail. They found what Ponce de León never did – the Fountain of Youth. When Hovland was crowned the winner in 2020, he lowered the average age of the winners to 34. Granted, the tournament has evolved from an additional event in late winter (2007-2012) into a stand-alone competition in the fall (since 2013) but given how the peak years of talent have been getting younger, that’s still one for the old guard. When Hovland successfully defended, the emphasis on average age of the winners contributed more to the historical narrative than the overall direction of guys expected to be lifting the limestone chameleon trophy on Sunday. That said, the Norwegian, who turned just 25 in September, fulfills the archetype that has been rewarded time and again in the tournament. El Camaleón is a par 71. Paspalum blankets the property. In part because Mayakoba is a resort but also because winds off the Gulf of Mexico can be unforgiving, greens are managed to release no longer than 11 feet on the Stimpmeter. So, when the breezes are light and because the routing tips at just 7,034 yards (which reflects an increase of 17 yards from last year, all on the par-5 seventh hole), the tournament becomes a green-light special. Primary rough remains trimmed to just over two inches. In his title defense, Hovland established the tournament record by completing 72 holes in 23-under 261. The field’s scoring average of 69.097 also was a new mark. With largely favorable conditions forecast this week, at least after the opening round during which rain and storms are promised to threaten, that’s a fair target for the field of 132. Wind will affect a few shots at times, but it won’t be a primary challenge. Neither will be the par 3s. Once again, they were the easiest set of 50 courses all of last season. Hovland average 2.75 on them, but he also paced the field in par-5 scoring at a tidy 4.08. Although tee-to-green proficiency is priority A in every shootout, capitalizing on the par 5s will be necessary to linger on the leaderboard. NOTE: ShotLink is not utilized for this tournament. ROB BOLTON’S SCHEDULE PGATOUR.com’s Rob Bolton recaps and previews every tournament from numerous perspectives. Look for his following contributions as scheduled. MONDAY: Power Rankings TUESDAY*: Sleepers, Draws & Fades WEDNESDAY: Pick ‘Em Preview SUNDAY: Payouts and Points, Medical Extensions, Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Rookie Ranking * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf, which also publishes on Tuesday.

Click here to read the full article…