Justin Thomas commits to PNC Championship

BLAINE, Minn. – Cameron Champ isn’t scared of the bright lights of final-round contention on the PGA TOUR. The Texas A&M alum has won three times on TOUR, most recently at the 2021 3M Open, a title he’s set to defend this week at TPC Twin Cities. Champ, 27, has other matters at hand as he readies to compete in Minnesota. He stands No. 157 on the FedExCup standings with three events remaining in the regular season, currently on the outside looking in regarding a spot in the FedExCup Playoffs. The top-125 upon the conclusion of the regular season-ending Wyndham Championship will earn Playoffs berths. Champ suffered a wrist injury last fall and has struggled to find contention upon returning to competition in January. He recorded back-to-back top-10 finishes this spring at the Masters Tournament and Mexico Open at Vidanta, but he commences his 3M Open title defense on a string of five consecutive missed cuts. The California native, well regarded as one of the game’s longest hitters, leads the TOUR this season in driving distance and is No. 9 in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee. He ranks No. 181 for the season in Strokes Gained: Putting, as well as No. 115 in greens in regulation, but he believes he is turning a corner, while admitting he would understand those who meet this belief with skepticism. “If you want to look at my stats and how I’ve been playing, you would think I’m crazy,” Champ said. “I’ve had a lot of stuff going on in my personal life mixed in with me breaking my wrist in the fall. That was a whole unknown for quite a while, if it was going to be serious or if it was not serious. Luckily, it wasn’t too serious.” Champ spoke of the challenges of finding the proper work-life balance, investing adequate time in both his relationships and his craft. Feeling good about his personal life allows him to find the proper head space, he said, which in turn allows him to excel on the course. “When things are going good back home, it just calms you down, it makes you not have to stress about things,” Champ said. “You can just enjoy yourself, and out here it just gives me that extra drive and force to just want to continue to get better. The last 10 months were pretty rough for me personally, honestly. I had to get over a lot of things and get through some things, but like I said, now we’re on the up and up and we’re just going to get after it.” He’ll aim to channel that perspective into a late-season push for the Playoffs. Here’s a look at five players outside the top-125 on the FedExCup standings with three events remaining in the Regular Season – after the 3M Open, the TOUR proceeds to next week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit before the Wyndham Championship. Stephan Jaeger currently holds the all-important No. 125 spot with 318 points. Rickie Fowler (No. 129) Starts: 18 Cuts made: 11 Top-25 finishes: 3 Best finish: T3, THE CJ CUP @ SUMMIT FedExCup points: 309 Fowler currently trails the No. 125 position by nine points, the equivalent of a solo 49th place-finish or better. Regardless of whether he qualifies for the Playoffs, the five-time TOUR winner is fully exempt through 2023 via the tournament winner category. He’ll aim to make amends, though, for a streak of 11 consecutive FedExCup Playoffs appearances, which ended last season after finishing No. 134 on the season-long standings. The Oklahoma State alum enters the 3M Open having made five cuts in his last six starts, including a T23 at the PGA Championship. Fowler was seen in a jovial mood early-week, chatting with Wesley Bryan as he practiced bunker shots on a windy Tuesday, and he’ll aim to carry those vibes into competition days at TPC Twin Cities. Martin Trainer (No. 139) Starts: 28 Cuts made: 10 Top-25 finishes: 3 Best finish: T5, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Houston Open FedExCup points: 267 Trainer currently trails the No. 125 position by 51 points, the equivalent of a solo 17th-place finish or better. His three top-25 finishes this season are all T11 or better, demonstrating a propensity for taking advantage of his hot weeks, and he’ll aim to produce that type of week down the final stretch of the regular season. The University of South California alum won the 2019 Puerto Rico Open as a rookie to earn a two-year TOUR exemption, which was extended a year due to COVID-19. Finishing outside the top-125 would require a return to the Korn Ferry Tour Finals (he would maintain some TOUR status regardless as a past champion), and he admitted at the Mexico Open at Vidanta (T11) that the top-125 bubble was very much on his mind as the season progressed. “It’s always on my mind, unfortunately,” Trainer said at the time. “It’s pretty unhealthy, actually. You think about it, but ultimately you do your best and just see what happens.” Harry Higgs (No. 142) Starts: 27 Cuts made: 12 Top-25 finishes: 3 Best finish: T9, THE CJ CUP @ SUMMIT FedExCup points: 257 Higgs trails the No. 125 position by 61 points, the equivalent of a two-way T12 or better. The affable Kansas City native is coming off a T11 finish at the Barracuda Championship, his best finish of the 2022 calendar year. He also finished T14 at the Masters. Higgs, 30, won the 2019 Price Cutter Charity Championship on the Korn Ferry Tour to cement his first TOUR card, and he found a quick knack for the TOUR level of competition, finishing top-70 on the FedExCup in each of his first two TOUR seasons. He doesn’t shy away from the knowledge that he’s fighting for his job over the closing stretch of the regular season, and he looks forward to putting his game to the test under the circumstances. “There comes a time when talk is cheap, and now you’re going to have to show it,” Higgs said at the Barracuda Championship. “More so to myself; I don’t really care to show it to anybody else. I feel like I’m way better than the position that I’m in, but that’s also the beauty of the game.” Cameron Champ (No. 157) Starts: 16 Cuts made: 6 Top-25 finishes: 2 Best finish: T6, Masters Tournament FedExCup points: 200 Champ trails the No. 125 position by 118 points, the equivalent of a two-way T4 or better. If he fails to gain Playoffs entry, though, he will remain fully exempt on the 2022-23 PGA TOUR due to his two-year tournament winner exemption. He’s confident he can make a push toward the Playoffs this week. “This is just one of those places where it doesn’t matter if I play good or bad, I’m just very comfortable with it,” Champ said of TPC Twin Cities. Scott Gutschewski (No. 179) Starts: 20 Cuts made: 7 Top-25 finishes: 2 Best finish: 5th, Barracuda Championship FedExCup points: 136 Gutschewski trails the No. 125 position by 182 points, the equivalent of a two-way T3 or better. The 45-year-old is trending upward, though, having jumped from No. 204 to No. 179 in the standings after a career-best, solo fifth place finish at last week’s Barracuda Championship. The Barracuda finish assured Gutschewski, a father of four, a top-200 position on the FedExCup, which ensures a spot in the Korn Ferry Tour Finals at minimum (another opportunity to regain TOUR status). Across the next three weeks, he’ll set his sights higher, on either a top-125 spot – to gain a FedExCup Playoffs berth and fully exempt 2022-23 TOUR status – or a top-150 position to ensure conditional TOUR status next season.

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The 2019 Presidents Cup Captains have been revealed — Tiger Woods for the U.S. Team and Ernie Els for the International Team. The event at Royal Melbourne in December, 2019, will be the first captaincy for both players, and will continue a rivalry that has lasted more than two decades.  The highlight of that rivalry was their memorable sudden-death playoff at the 2003 Presidents Cup, as they matched scores in a fading light, ultimately resulting in a shared Cup that year. (See details below). A closer look at the Woods-Els rivalry: THE PRESIDENTS CUP Woods and Els have each participated in eight Presidents Cups as players for their respective teams. They’ve faced each other in eight scheduled matches — but only once in Singles. Here are the results of their head-to-head Presidents Cup battles: 1998 Day 1 Foursomes: Tiger Woods-Fred Couples def. Ernie Els-Vijay Singh, 5 and 4 Day 2 Four-balls: Ernie Els-Vijay Singh def. Tiger Woods-John Huston, 1 up 2000 Day 1 Foursomes: Tiger Woods-Notah Begay def. Ernie Els-Vijay Singh, 1 up Day 2 Foursomes: Tiger Woods-Notah Begay def. Ernie Els-Vijay Singh, 6 and 5 2003 Day 2 Four-balls: Ernie Els-Tim Clark def. Tiger Woods-Charles Howell III, 5 and 3 Day 4 Singles: Tiger Woods def. Ernie Els, 4 and 3 Playoff: Woods and Els were selected for a playoff after the U.S. and International teams tied in regulation. They halved the first three playoff holes before play ended due to darkness and the Cup was shared.  2007 Day 3 Foursomes: Tiger Woods-Jim Furyk def. Ernie Els-Adam Scott, 4 and 3 2013 Day 3 Foursomes: Ernie Els-Brendon de Jonge def. Tiger Woods-Matt Kuchar, 1 up. 2003 PRESIDENTS CUP Tiger Woods was sitting on one side of the patterned couch with muted colors. Ernie Els was on the other side. At the time, they were ranked No. 1 and No. 3 in the world, respectively, and on a collision course that neither could have imagined a few days later. The man sitting between them never learned to play golf. He dealt in more serious issues. Nelson Mandela — fours years after completing his historic term as the first post-apartheid president of South Africa — gently placed his left hand on Woods’ arm as the two golfers shook hands. All three were smiling. It was a show of great sportsmanship … and a foreshadow of how the week would end. The 2003 Presidents Cup, held at Fancourt Resort in George, South Africa, goes down as one of the PGA TOUR’s most legendary events. There was Mandela, his presence providing the event with unprecedented gravitas. There were the captains — Gary Player for the International Team, Jack Nicklaus for the U.S. Team. Els and Woods were at the top of their games, and the Internationals were not yet burdened by the long losing streak that haunts the current generation. But as delicious as the set-up was, the ending was just as memorable. With the two teams tied at 17 points following the completion of Sunday’s Singles action — Woods defeated Els 4 and 3 in their match — Presidents Cup rules required a sudden-death playoff between two players to determine the winner. Woods and Els had been pre-selected by their respective captains to participate in the playoff, and so the showdown began, the outcome of the entire tournament now weighing heavily on their shoulders. On the first playoff hole (no. 18), both players converted par putts inside 10 feet. On the second playoff hole (no. 1), Els drained a 12-foot par saver after missing the green to halve the hole. On the third playoff hole (the par-3 no. 2), Woods’ tee shot landed 90 feet from the pin; Els was 45 feet away. After their birdie attempts, Tiger was left with a 15-foot par putt and Els had a 6-footer. In the fading light, Tiger made his putt, punching the air in celebration. Els calmly followed by making his par putt to again halve the hole. That’s when the action stopped and the conversations heated up. Believing it unfair to continue play in the darkening skies, captains Nicklaus and Player discussed the possibility of simply calling it a tie and sharing the Presidents Cup. Then-PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem was involved, and the two captains also consulted their respective sides. Finally, it was declared a tie, with Nicklaus and Player raising their hands together in a show of unity the likes of which golf may never see again. “I think it’s the perfect decision,” Woods said that night. “The way the week has gone, it’s the right decision for the game of golf.” Els called it a “fitting finish” in the spirit of The Presidents Cup. “We really beat each other up,” Els noted, “and at the end of the day, I think we were so evenly matched, it would have been unfair to myself and Tiger to win or lose the Cup. It’s a team event, and to play in the darkness, you bring luck into it, also. “I think it was a fair decision.” TALE OF THE TAPE PGA TOUR SHOWDOWNS Woods and Els have played in the same PGA TOUR event a total of 213 times. Woods won 52 times; Els won 10 times. On eight occasions, they both finished either as the winner or runner-up. A quick look at those eight events: 1999 Nissan Open: Els won by two strokes at Riviera, with Woods finishing T2 (Ted Tryba and Davis Love III) 1999 National Car Rental Golf Classic at Disney: Woods won by one stroke at Magnolia Golf Club, with Els finishing solo second. 2000 Mercedes Championships: Woods beat Els in a sudden-death playoff at Kapalua. 2000 Memorial Tournament: Woods won by 5 strokes at Muirfield Village, with Els finishing T2 (Justin Leonard). 2000 U.S. Open: Woods won by 15 strokes at Pebble Beach, with Els finishing T2 (Miguel Angel Jimenez). 2000 Open Championship: Woods won by 7 strokes at St. Andrews, with Els finishing T2 (Thomas Bjorn). 2002 Genuity Championship: Els won by 2 strokes at Doral, with Woods finishing solo second. 2009 The Barclays: Els and Woods finished T2 (with Padraig Harrington and Steve Stricker) at Liberty National behind winner Heath Slocum. Click here for more on the Els-Woods battles SAME GROUP Woods and Els have played in the same group in 20 different stroke-play events for a total of 31 different rounds. Woods shot the lower score 17 times; Els shot the lower score eight times; and they shot the same score seven times. Tiger’s low round while playing with Els was a 62 in the final round of the 2012 The Honda Classic. Els’ lowest score was a 65 in the third round of the 1998 Bay Hill Invitational. That was the first time Woods and Els were paired in their TOUR careers. The last two tournaments they’ve been in the same group was at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard in 2012 and 2013. Their stroke averages when in the same group: Woods is 69.19, Els is 70.68. They’ve been in the same group in the final round five times. The results: 1998 Bay Hill Invitational: Els won, Woods finished T13 2000 Mercedes Championships: Tied in regulation, with Woods beating Els in a playoff. 2002 World Golf Championships-NEC Invitational:  Woods finished fourth, Els finished T15. 2009 World Golf Championships-CA Championship: Woods finished T9, Els finished T20. 2012 The Honda Classic: Woods finished T2, Els finished T21.

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Stephen Dodd birdied the final hole to win the Senior British Open by one stroke on Sunday, holding off challenges from Miguel Angel Jimenez and Darren Clarke to secure his first major title.

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