Justin Thomas outlasts friend Jordan Spieth at Dell Technologies Championship

• COURSE: Silverado Resort & Spa (North), 7,166 yards, par 72. The Napa Valley property began as the estate of a Civil War general and later U.S. senator from California, eventually converted into a resort in the 1960s with Robert Trent Jones Jr. signed to build two 18-hole courses. The PGA TOUR soon took interest, launching the Kaiser International in 1968 to begin a 13-year run at the resort. Silverado later was part of the PGA TOUR Champions schedule as host of The Transamerica from 1989-2002. Hall of Famer Johnny Miller and two partners bought Silverado in 2010, with Miller quickly overseeing upgrades to both courses. • FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 points. • CHARITY: The Safeway Foundation, which works with local outlets to improve the quality of life in locales it serves. The Safeway Foundation supports nonprofit organizations whose mission is aligned with its priority areas: Health and human services, hunger, youth and education, veterans and supporting diversity. • FIELD WATCH: Phil Mickelson will get an early jump on the 2017-18 season, joined by three players who made it all the way to last week’s FedExCup Playoffs finale. Webb Simpson, Tony Finau and Adam Hadwin were part of the TOUR Championship field. … Mickelson and Hadwin are among three Presidents Cup participants set to jump into the new season, along with 2015 Safeway champion Emiliano Grillo. … Sangmoon Bae, fresh off two years of mandatory military service in his native South Korea, rejoins the tour with a full season’s exemption. … Sam Saunders, who shot 59 to open the Web.com Tour Championship, heads the list of graduates from either the Web.com Tour or its four-event Finals. • 72-HOLE RECORD: 262, Cameron Beckman (2008 at Grayhawk GC), Kevin Sutherland (2008 at Grayhawk GC), Troy Matteson (2009 at Grayhawk GC), Rickie Fowler (2009 at Grayhawk GC), Jamie Lovemark (2009 at Grayhawk GC). Silverado record: 270, Brendan Steele (2016). • 18-HOLE RECORD: 61, Mark Hensby (2nd round, 2007 at Grayhawk GC), Kevin Stadler (2nd round, 2008 at Grayhawk GC), Troy Matteson (2rd & 3rd rounds, 2009 at Grayhawk GC), Mike Weir (4th round, 2009 at Grayhawk GC). Silverado record: 62, Scott Piercy (1st round, 2016). • LAST YEAR: Brendan Steele made up for a missed opportunity one year earlier, closing with three straight birdies on the final day for a one-stroke victory over Patton Kizzire. Steele overcame a four-shot deficit entering the final round, a 180-degree reversal from the 2015 edition when he held the 54-hole lead at Silverado but shot 40 on the back nine. The California native thought it might end similarly when a three-putt bogey at No.12 left him three shots back, but he found his rhythm while Kizzire struggled off the tee down the stretch. Though Kizzire dropped just one shot the rest of the way, it opened the door for Steele to make his charge. It was Steele’s second career victory, the other coming at the Valero Texas Open in 2011. • STORYLINES: Mickelson makes his second start at Silverado, seeking to add the only California event yet on his victory portfolio. He tied for eighth last year, posting four rounds in the 60s. … Bae makes his first TOUR-related start since the 2015 Presidents Cup in his homeland, where he was on the losing end of the decisive final singles match against Bill Haas. He made one tuneup start two weeks ago on the Asian Tour, missing the cut. … Maverick McNealy, formerly No.1 in the world amateur rankings, is set for his pro debut near his Northern California home. The Stanford alum announced in August that he would forego a business career to pursue golf. … Napa offers a chance to land one of the final spots in the winners-only Sentry Tournament of Champions to open the 2018 calendar year. • SHORT CHIPS: In three of the first four years of the wraparound season, winning the opener has worked as a springboard to reach the TOUR Championship at season’s end. Grillo (2015), Bae (2014) and Jimmy Walker (2013) turned the feat. … The Goo Goo Dolls headline the tournament’s three-night concert series, playing after the final putt drops Saturday. • TELEVISION: Thursday-Sunday, 5:30-8:30 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). • PGA TOUR LIVE: None. • RADIO: Thursday-Friday, 3-9 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 4-9 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com).

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Gary Woodland kept up his stellar play with a 68 on Saturday to follow up his opening 67s in the first two rounds. He leads Rory McIlroy by three strokes to form a powerful final pairing on Sunday in the Sentry Tournament of Champions. Marc Leishman, Xander Schauffele and Bryson DeChambeau round out the top 5 in a star-packed leaderboard. Will Woodland close out the tournament for a strong start to 2019 or will someone make a charge from behind?  Here’s everything you need to know to follow the final round from Kapalua.  Round 4 tee times Round 4 leaderboard HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN TELEVISION: Sunday, 6-10 p.m. (GC). RADIO: Sunday, 5-10 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.COM). NOTABLE PAIRINGS (ALL TIMES ET) 5:40 p.m.: Gary Woodland, Rory McIlroy 5:30 p.m.: Marc Leishman, Xander Schauffele 5:20 p.m.: Bryson DeChambeau, Justin Thomas 5:10 p.m.: Kevin Tway, Dustin Johnson MUST READS Woodland leads with heavy heart McIlroy looks for final group atonement Contenders brace for condition switch at Sentry Tournament of Champions Mid-round interviews a hit Flag-in putting works for DeChambeau

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From a world golf championship to a World Golf Championship. For many, the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational will feel like it’s on the other side of the planet. Because it is. TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee, is 14 hours behind Kasumigaseki County Club, host of last week’s Olympic Men’s Golf Competition where 19 golfers in this week’s field played for gold. Now they’re part of an exclusive field of 66 vying for 550 FedExCup points, a three-year PGA TOUR membership exemption and other perks. Scroll past the extended ranking of projected contenders for what TPC Southwind has in store in its third edition as host, the preferred strategy to prevail and more. RELATED: How the field qualified | The First Look POWER RANKINGS: WGC-FEDEX ST. JUDE INVITATIONAL Hideki Matsuyama, Bryson DeChambeau, Patrick Cantlay, Joaquin Niemann and Tony Finau will be among the notable reviewed in the Fantasy Insider. Just like last week’s Olympics, every golfer at the WGC-St. Jude is guaranteed 72 holes to give it everything he has. Unlike the Games, this week’s tournament is an official competition for PGA TOUR members and non-members alike. The WGC-St. Jude presents largely as a gathering of winners of tournaments with a strength-of-field rating of at least 115 as determined by the Official World Golf Ranking, as well as champions of designated events on the Japan Golf Tour, Asian Tour, Australasian Tour and Sunshine Tour. The top 50 of the latest two versions of the OWGR have filled the field. Jon Rahm (rest) and Christiaan Bezuidenhout (non-member maxed at 12 starts) are the only qualifiers who are not competing. Last year’s field of 78 was specially constructed because of playing time missed due to the pandemic. It included golfers outside the top 50 in the OWGR to fill the field, a one-time exception. After surrendering a scoring average of 69.504 in its debut as host in 2019, TPC Southwind stood taller last year, yielding 69.554, but that’s still easier than it played as host of the FedEx St. Jude Classic in the 30 years prior. As long as the strength of the field that generates the lower scoring assembles, futures averages should follow suit on the stock par 70, Mother Nature pending as always. On cue, textbook summertime conditions are on tap in the backyard of the title sponsor’s headquarters. In fact, it’ll be even more cooperative than how locals might define textbook because rain is not expected all week. Daytime highs will push and exceed a seasonable 90 degrees and wind might ripple a few of the international flags on the property by the weekend, but trousers should be spared. TPC Southwind tips at 7,233 yards. That’s 44 yards shorter than last year, entirely due to par-3 13th not playing longer than 195 yards this time. Champion bermudagrass greens could stretch to 12-and-a-half feet on the Stimpmeter, but putting isn’t the priority to consider contending. Putting surfaces average only 4,300 square feet. While the course is not unfamiliar to most – indicating that putting should matter more than when greens are foreign – the premium is on hitting greens in regulation, landing on them with precision and scrambling. Consider that en route to a three-stroke title last year, Justin Thomas finished T7 in greens hit, second in proximity, first in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green and sixth in scrambling, but he ranked 55th in Strokes Gained: Putting, giving away almost two strokes on the greens during the tournament. Of the 11 who recorded a top 10 in the event, four recorded negative SG: Putting totals, two of whom were worse than JT. Primary rough, also bermuda, is trimmed to two-and-a-half inches. This elevates the possibility for a shorter hitter to surprise, but the greater benefit will be to longer hitters for whom the pressure is relieved to take shorter irons from tighter lies. That’s always the case, but the smaller greens serve as a more formidable of a defense against the wayward off the tee. ROB BOLTON’S SCHEDULE PGATOUR.COM’s Fantasy Insider Rob Bolton recaps and previews every tournament from numerous angles. Look for his following contributions as scheduled. MONDAY: Power Rankings (WGC-St. Jude) TUESDAY*: Power Rankings (Barracuda), Sleepers (WGC-St. Jude), Fantasy Insider SUNDAY: Rookie Ranking, Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Medical Extensions, * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf, which also publishes on Tuesday.

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