Keep your eyes on streaky McIlroy after API win

The PGA TOUR returns to TPC Louisiana this week for the 2018 Zurich Classic of New Orleans. This marks the first year of team play at the event, and with the new format comes plenty of questions. Click here for the list of the teams set to compete. Here is the breakdown of this year’s team format. HOW IT WORKS TEAM FORMAT: Round 1 and 3 are Four-Ball (Best-Ball) and Rounds 2 and 4 are Foursomes (Alternate Shot). For Foursomes play, players will rotate tee shots. One player will hit the tee shots on all the odd-numbered holes, and the other will hit the tee shot on even-numbered holes. Example: Player A and Player B are partners. On the first hole, Player A tees off; Player B plays the second shot; Player A plays the third shot; and so on until the ball is holed. The total strokes taken will result in the team’s score for that hole. For Four-Ball play, the players on each team will each play his own ball throughout the entirety of the round, with the best score on each hole recorded. Example: On the first hole, both golfers on each team tee off. Player A pars the hole and Player B birdies it. The team will be credited with a birdie. FIELD: The starting field will consist of 80 teams (160 players). Each of the top available players from the PGA TOUR Priority Rankings who commits to the tournament will choose his partner, who in turn must have PGA TOUR status unless he is chosen as a tournament sponsor exemption. SCHEDULE: Thursday’s Foursomes round begins at 8 a.m. local time (9 a.m. ET), with the last tee time at 1:56 p.m local. Friday’s Four-ball round begins at 7 a.m. local (8 a.m. ET) with the last tee time at 2:02 p.m. local. Teams will go off two tees in each of the first two days. Saturday’s start time is approximately 9 a.m. local off one tee. Sunday’s start time will be determined later. MAKING THE CUT: Following the conclusion of the second round, there will be a cut to the low 35 teams and ties at the 35th position.  IN CASE OF A TIE: A hole-by-hole (sudden death) playoff will be contested with the first hole played as foursomes (alternate shot), the second hole played as four-ball (best ball) where the formats alternate every hole, thereafter, on a set rotation of holes. WITH A WIN: The Zurich Classic of New Orleans will continue to award FedExCup points and official money, and will count as an official victory for the members of the winning team. As such, both players will receive a two-year winner’s exemption and an eligibility into Invitational fields, including the Tournament of Champions and THE PLAYERS Championship. Additionally, the PGA of America will include both members of the winning team in the Tournament Winners category for the PGA Championship. PRIZES: FedExCup points and prize money will be awarded to teams making the cut based on combining every two positions from the distribution table for a standard TOUR event, with each team member receiving an equal share. For instance, the winning team will evenly split first and second place FedExCup points (500 for first and 300 for second for 800 total points, or 400 for each player). Official prize money will be distributed in the same manner.  KEY QUESTIONS Why was the format changed? The PGA TOUR Policy Board approved the change in November, 2016 as a way to introduce team competition into the regular TOUR schedule. Said Andy Pazder, Chief of Operations for the PGA TOUR: “We have seen the growth of popularity with the biennial team competitions like the Presidents Cup, Ryder Cup and World Cup and the excitement that they produce. We believe the fans will love to see this sort of competition as a regular part of our season.” Has there ever been a team competition on the PGA TOUR? Yes. The PGA TOUR has held 61 previous official team events, with two pros paired together, using various formats. The PGA TOUR has contested 13 official team tournaments with a pro paired with an amateur (the pro always earning official-win designation). The last official TOUR team event was the 1981 Walt Disney World National Team Championship, won by Vance Heafner and Mike Holland.  How is the Zurich Classic format different? The Zurich Classic will use an alternating-round Foursomes and Four-ball format for the first time. The closest the PGA TOUR has previously come to using a Foursomes format in an official event was at the 1934 Pinehurst Pro-Pro played at Pinehurst’s famed No. 2 course and won by Tommy Armour and Bobby Cruickshank. That tournament played under Scotch Foursomes rules, a setup that allows each player to hit a drive on each hole and then whichever player’s ball is in the best position, the teammate hits the next shot in alternate-shot fashion until the ball is held. The Foursomes format at TPC Louisiana will strictly be alternate shot for every shot played on the hole.

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JACKSON, Miss. - The most indelible image of Sergio Garcia playing with his eyes closed was when he hit his famous shot off a tree root at the 1999 PGA Championship at Medinah. Until Friday, that is. That's when the TV cameras caught Garcia putting with his eyes closed as he shot his second straight 68 to work his way into contention at 8 under par at the Sanderson Farms Championship. He took 30 putts and is in the middle of the pack in Strokes Gained: Putting, and insisted afterward that the unusual looking technique is in fact old hat. RELATED: Full leaderboard | Daffue keeps dream in sight "Would you believe me if I told you I’ve been doing it for about three years?" Garcia said. Well, no. But, he added, he hasn't done it consistently. Garcia, 40, said he even putted with his eyes closed in winning the 2017 Masters Tournament, the last of his 10 PGA TOUR titles. "I’ve gone on and off," he said, "but like Augusta, I won it playing with my eyes closed every single putt and some of the other wins, too. I feel like it gives me a little more freedom to feel the stroke instead of kind of - sometimes we get too focused on trying to make it perfect and kind of following with the eyes and everything. This way I feel like I just feel it and I just let my natural ability kind of take over instead of telling myself what to do." Garcia's natural ability has been mostly missing in action. He is coming off a season in which he recorded just one top-25 finish, a T5 at the RBC Heritage, in 12 mostly forgettable starts. It was a jarring line for a player who had never recorded fewer than four top-25s in 21 previous TOUR seasons. When he missed the Playoffs, it was for just the second time in the FedExCup era. He's found something, though, on the speedy greens at the Country Club of Jackson. Garcia made five birdies against just one bogey on Friday and was two back after the morning wave. "You’ve got to go with it and trust it, believe it," he said, "and you might have a week here and there where you don’t putt as well, but I think that I’m at the point where I need to. "I talked to my wife, to Angela, and we talked about it," Garcia continued, "and I have to stick to something and go with it no matter what. I’m in a stage of my career where I can’t be jumping back and forth too much because then I get no rhythm whatsoever."

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MELBOURNE, Australia – At the end of it, Marc Leishman said he was ready to run through a wall. He reckoned it might be as good as he’d ever felt on a golf course. International Team Captain Ernie Els arrived at the green soon after it ended, and after embracing the big Australian, started yelling, “Where’s Abe? Where is he! Get him here!â€� He was referring to Abraham Ancer, and the diminutive Mexican popped out amongst the huge throng of International Team players, caddies, staff, better halves and media where Els engulfed him in a bear hug that resembled more of a headlock thanks to the height difference. RELATED: Sunday Singles will bring drama | Day 3 match recaps | Day 4 match previews | Guide to Sunday singles Els was grinning from ear to ear after the duo had turned around an American tidal wave – fighting back from 5 down through 10 holes to secure a vital tie against Justin Thomas and Rickie Fowler in the afternoon Foursomes session. After starting the session with a commanding four-point lead, it appeared the Internationals would give it all away until the heroics ensured they would start Sunday singles with some form of edge. In the end it would be two points (10-8) after Byeong Hun An and Joaquin Niemann also came back for a late tie. But it was the Leishman/Ancer miracle that had the crowd, and the Internationals, juiced. For a few reasons. First, the aforementioned critical lead heading to Sunday. The International Team hasn’t led at this point since 2003. Second – it dealt a blow to Thomas, the U.S. spearhead, who was 3-0 leading into the session and had earned the ire of a few of his combatants thanks to his impressive performances and out and out killer instinct. Thomas had drained an incredible putt on the 18th green Friday to flip a match into a win and celebrated in dramatic fashion with his captain and partner Tiger Woods. It added a target on his back the Internationals wanted to take down, knowing he had been the star player. Come Saturday morning Thomas, now paired with Fowler in Four-Ball, added some fuel to the fire by calling out Haotong Li for playing out of turn. Li had blocked his tee shot on the par-5 second hole into dense trees and didn’t realize he’d have to wait to just punch out. But as match play rules allow, should you play out of turn your opponent has the option to make you replay the shot. Fowler had seemingly indicated it was no big deal, but Thomas insisted on the replay – as is his absolute right. When Li returned the ball back to its original spot he was unable to replicate his earlier punch out, in fact taking three shots to escape. It was a shrewd move on the Americans part that paid off as they won the hole when Leishman couldn’t match their birdie. Later in the match, the Americans refused to concede Li an 1-foot, 9-inch putt on the 10th green, which he promptly made. However, a hole later when Thomas was required to make a 3-foot, 3-inch putt, he gestured to his opponents by laying his putter down on the ground, suggesting it should have been conceded. After the U.S. side closed out a 3-and-2 win to see Thomas remain undefeated, the want to win against him grew even further. So when Leishman was given Ancer as a partner for the afternoon Foursomes, who was also 3-0 at the time, and they drew the Thomas/Fowler combo, expectations were high. Until the match got underway. After the first seven holes, the U.S. side was 5 up and had a chance to be even further ahead. They’d maintained that lead through 10 holes before Leishman pulled one back by converting from 5 feet on the 11th. Ancer did the same from just inside 10 feet on the 12th. Now they were down three holes down with six to play. “I spoke to Ernie going down 12, and he was just saying, get as far as you can. Take it as for as you can,â€� Leishman said. “I’m like, ‘Hang on. Let’s not talk about losing this yet. We’re going to fight this out.’â€� And fight they did. But by the time they reached the 15th green they were still three down. Ancer had 20 feet just to take it another hole. He drilled it home. “I just believed. We kept believing. We told ourselves that we were going to keep going at it and we were going to fight until the end. We were not just going to give up,â€� Ancer said. On the 16th green once again it appeared over when Leishman was staring at a 17-foot par putt and Fowler had just over 6 feet. The crowd erupted when Leishman made his putt and did again when Fowler missed. Two down, two to play. “The crowd were part of it. Me and Abe were talking when we were 5 down, “Let’s keep fighting and see what happens.” That’s a good thing; neither of us say die,â€� Leishman said. “It would have been easy to I guess lay down today and take it easy, but we’re not like that. We’re fighters.â€� The Americans could feel it slipping away but couldn’t halt the wave. “They made some great putts, and we unfortunately weren’t able to convert a couple of the chances that we had,â€� Fowler would later say. On the 17th, Thomas had a par putt from 9 feet to win the match. Once again it failed to drop and now the freefall was in full affect as the enormous crowd swarmed. One down, one to play. “It was pretty amazing. Walking to that 18th tee there felt like the Tour de France, everyone screaming, it was awesome,â€� Leishman said. “We did it for the crowd. Walking to that 18th tee, that’s something I’ll remember forever, just people basically screaming and high-fiving and we were still 1-down. I felt like we were about 4-up.â€� Ancer stepped up on the 18th and smashed his driver into the fairway. Thomas pulled his into the trees and the scene erupted again. Fowler could do nothing but pitch out and Leishman smelled blood in the water. From 152 yards out, he stiffed his approach to 6 feet and delirium ensued up around the green. “To do it under pressure and in front of the Aussie crowd was unbelievable,â€� Ancer would say of his partner. When Thomas put their third on the back of the green some 54 feet away and Fowler couldn’t hole the par putt, the hats came off and the epic comeback was complete. The pair was mobbed by their team. “It felt like a lot more than a half-point,â€� Leishman said. “That’s probably as good as I’ve felt on a golf course, and I only halved the match. It’s going to be a big momentum gainer for the Internationals.â€� Thomas stood stunned after it was over, standing there trying to figure out what buzz saw they ran into. “Speechless. It’s unacceptable for us to get a half a point,â€� he said. “They made a couple long putts there on 15 and 16 to keep it going. We had our chances, and I mean, flat honest, just didn’t execute. I’m just disappointed in myself for burning that for us on 18. We’ve got to put it behind us and go get a point tomorrow.â€� Leishman also made sure to bring his focus back to the long term goal – winning the Presidents Cup for the first time since 1998. “We’ve all won up here; we’ve won tournaments, but we don’t get chances to play with a teammate very often,â€� he added. “To be successful with a teammate would be pretty cool. We had a taste of that today, but I think if we can play well and do our jobs tomorrow, what we felt today is going to probably be pushed aside for what we may feel tomorrow.â€� Adam Scott, the veteran leader on the course for the team, confirmed the result was huge for the Internationals as they sleep on their first lead heading to Sunday in 16 years. “It was a big last hour for us today. Certainly feel like it showed our intentions as a team. There’s a lot of heart sitting here next to me,â€� Scott said. “That was huge for us, and also Ben and Joaquin Niemann digging deep and finding a halve. It goes a long, long way, the half-points. The score line is really good for us, considering what it was looking like with a couple hours to go. “We’re in the middle of a fight and we’re all going to be up for it.â€� Clearly.

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