Kevin Chappell’s ‘surreal’ comeback from back surgery at A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier

THE OVERVIEW It is said to be high enough to pull the universe, houses the oldest Buddhist temple on Jeju Island, and features five hiking trails. But for players at THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES, the inaugural PGA TOUR event in South Korea this week, there’s just one important thing to know about Halla Mountain, which is also known by Hallasan, among its many other names. It affects the way the greens play. “The whole golf course is on this side of the big mountain, sometimes it can look flat but really everything is still going down the mountain,â€� Adam Scott said. “So you just have to be a little bit aware of where down the mountain is. Sometimes it looks flat but it might be faster, sometimes it might be slower because you might be putting back up the mountain. It’s going to play a little part this week.â€� As we were reminded most recently at the Presidents Cup at Liberty National, golf courses can be built on all sorts of land — even an old dump. But if the Nine Bridges course can be readily compared to anything, it might be Kapalua, which hosts the Sentry Tournament of Champions and is also built into the side of a mountain. At its highest, Mount Halla measures 6,400 feet. Some have made it an object of worship, contending that gods and spirits live on it. That’s debatable, but what does live on it is a par-72, 7,196-yard course, with “rolling topographyâ€� (Golf Magazine) and closely mown runoff areas. It is legendary for its views, but even so it’s the challenge of the putting that is getting the most attention. Players have no institutional knowledge of the place, and are learning the lay of the land as fast as they can.    “The greens have a lot of slope on them,â€� FedExCup champion Justin Thomas said. “The greens are very big as well, so the slope can play a big factor and a big role in how you are going to play the course, if you want to use some of the slopes to get close to the holes, or if you want to use some to get into the spot where you want to putt from. But the hardest part is that you just have to play smart. You can’t be too aggressive and short sight yourself or have the putt above the hole.  “You want to try to leave it below the hole and have as many makeable putts with as little break as possible that you can out there.â€� Jason Day wasn’t as worried about the putting as he was everything else. “I actually asked the local caddie if there is a mountain break, and she said, ‘There’s a little bit but not much,’â€� Day said. “Saying that, we are at elevation of, I think Jeju is at the highest 6,000 feet, and I think the golf course is at 2,000 feet. When you have an elevation change of about 2,000 feet from sea level, you probably have zero to five yards in distance change and in how much farther you will hit it. “That’s one thing that we have to tackle this week. There’s a lot of elevation change from tee to green, or second shot into the green, so with that you will have to be wary as well.â€� THREE PLAYERS TO PONDER 1. K.J. Choi: Korea’s most successful male golfer is making his first appearance at Nine Bridges. Expect big galleries. 2. Justin Thomas: The FedExCup champ started his new campaign with a T17 last week. He’s just getting cranked up. 3. Pat Perez: Broke into the world’s top 20 players with last week’s win at the CIMB Classic. Wonder if he’s still celebrating. THE FLYOVER The 353-yard 14th is the shortest par 4 on the back nine and should offer players a chance to drive the green. “It’s possible to have an eagle chance, but there’s some danger to doing that,â€� said Adam Scott. “The right-hand side bunker has severe penalties. It’s always a question of risk and reward. If it’s not too windy and you’re playing well, I think it’s a good opportunity to attack.â€� Justin Thomas is looking forward to it. “That’s a hole that could create a little bit of drama,â€� he said. WEATHER CHECK When the LPGA played at Jeju Island more than a decade ago, the weather was a big factor several years. Cold temperatures and brutal wind made an impact. While wind will likely be a factor this week, it shouldn’t be extreme. PGA TOUR meteorologist Stewart Williams forecasts partly to mostly sunny skies each day. “Temperatures will remain cool, especially in the mornings,â€� reports Williams. “Otherwise, Typhoon Lan is expected to pass just east of Japan on Sunday. This may produce isolated showers and windy conditions across Jeju Sunday afternoon.â€� For the latest weather news from Jeju Island, Korea, check out PGATOUR.COM’s Weather Hub. SOUND CHECK If it’s tough, I could see 8- to 12-under winning. If it’s pretty calm, it could be something around 16- to 20-under. Like I said, I’m pretty bad at that so I wouldn’t go off with what I said. ODDS AND ENDS 1. 17 FAN FAVORITES. Seventeen Koreans are among the 78 players in the field, including reigning THE PLAYERS champion Si Woo Kim, who is sponsored by CJ, this week’s title sponsor. “I always want to do well in any event that I take part in,â€� Kim said. “But this event is a little bit more special for me, so yes, I do feel a little bit more pressure.â€� 2. HE KNOWS JEJU. Graeme McDowell should be worth keeping an eye on this week, particularly because he’s one of the few non-Korean players who have enjoyed success on Jeju Island. McDowell won the European Tour’s Ballentine’s Championship in 2008 at Pinx Golf Club, which is close to Nine Bridges. “Nice to be back in this part of the world,â€� McDowell said. 3. DIFFERENT FEEL. Marc Leishman has playing experience on Korean courses – he was a member of the International Team at the 2015 Presidents Cup outside Seoul – but this is his first look at Nine Bridges. “The course is very good,â€� he said. “It’s different than a lot of other Korean courses I’ve played. It’s a lot more generous off the tee, a lot wider. Greens are very good. It’s important to get it on the right section of the green. It’s a beautiful golf course.â€�

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CROMWELL, Conn. – TPC River Highlands seems like a course suited for Zach Johnson’s game. At 6,848 yards, it’s one of the shortest on the PGA TOUR, a good fit for a player who generally ranks around 150th in driving distance each season. It produces lots of red numbers – the Travelers Championship winner has finished in double-digits under par every year since 1994. That parallels Johnson’s career. Of his 12 TOUR wins, 11 have been in double digits – nine of those at 15 under or better. That includes his last win in 2015 at the Open Championship. Plus, Johnson has loved the course ever since he first saw it in 2004. He finished T-3 that year, shooting three rounds of 67 or better.  At that time, it would’ve been safe to assume he’d remain a consistent contender at the Travelers. And yet that’s his best result to date. His only other top 10 was a solo sixth in 2015. In fact, he’s missed the cut more often (three times) than he’s finished in the top 15 (twice). In his 13th Travelers start, Johnson may finally have cracked the code. His 7-under 63 not only gave him the solo lead after Thursday’s morning wave, it was his lowest score in 43 career rounds at TPC River Highlands. Afterward, he spoke about being humbled by a course he thoroughly enjoys. “I feel like every time I get here, it just feels like I should shoot nothing – and it bites me,� Johnson said. “The last couple of years, I’m like, all right, you can’t have any expectations in that regard. You’ve just got to go out and execute.� He certainly did that Thursday, especially during a back-nine stretch in which he reeled off six consecutive birdies. Three of his birdie putts were outside 15 feet and he also had a birdie on the front nine from 32 feet. The putter was definitely dialed in. So was his accuracy, as he hit 11 of 14 fairways. That’s a welcomed sign for a player generally regarded among the most accurate on TOUR. He entered this week ranked 86th in accuracy, but that’s balanced by the fact he’s averaging 289.7 yards off the tee. If he maintains that pace, it would be a career high. The added length has forced Johnson to adjust the makeup of his clubs. Last week at the U.S. Open, he put four wedges in his bag due to the variance in his yardages. He’s using four wedges again this week. “I don’t think I’m going to be looking back,� Johnson said, “because it feels pretty good right now.� Especially after a 63. NOTABLES Brooks Koepka shot a 2-under 68 – impressive considering he’s gotten little sleep since winning his second straight U.S. Open on Sunday. He was at 4 under until suffering two bogeys in his last three holes. “I just ran out of gas,� said Koepka, whose only prep work this week was a range session Wednesday. “I’m exhausted mentally. I’m excited to go home and nap.� Koepka didn’t return to his home until early Monday morning. A few hours later, Dustin Johnson came over. “Dustin was in my living room at 8. He came over on the boat to say hi,� Koepka said. “So It was not as much rest as I would have liked.� No surprise that Beau Hossler is among the first-round leaders after his 5-under 65. The rookie ranks third on the PGA TOUR in first-round scoring average. Six times in his previous 21 starts, he’s been inside the top 10 after the first round. But he’s failed to capitalize on those with a breakthrough win. “Looking back on it, I didn’t really realize, but there were some rounds where I was pretty exhausted,� Hossler said, specifically citing his last two starts at Colonial and Muirfield Village. He doesn’t think it will be an issue this week. “Didn’t play golf for eight days,� he said, “and I’m feeling really refreshed.� Jason Day made an equipment change this week, discarding the TaylorMade P730 blades – which he had switched to at the Masters – and going back to his previous P750s. So far, so good after a 66. “I’m able to hit ‘em both ways now,� Day said. “I was struggling a little bit with the blades to hit it left to right. Trying to get that fade.� Peter Malnati was a pedestrian even par through 10 holes. Then he holed out from the greenside bunker at 11 for birdie. He followed with three more birdies and an eagle at the drivable par-4 15th (his tee shot landed inside 4 feet) to shoot 29 coming in. “It’s cool to see how quickly it can turn around,� he said. “I wouldn’t say it surprises me, but it’s certainly fun when it happens.� QUOTABLES I don’t even know where we left it, to be honest with you. You look like Billy Joel, by the way.

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FARMINGDALE, N.Y. – Lucas Glover smiled wryly when he was told he and Tiger Woods are the only two players in the PGA Championship field this week who have won majors at Bethpage Black. “That’s probably about it,â€� he joked when asked what else they might have in common. “That and we’ll have 14 clubs in the bag this week, I guess. “That’s pretty cool to have that (in common). That might be the only thing that anybody will ever use he and I’s name in the same breath. And any time you’re lumped in with him. It’s a pretty big honor.â€� But the now 39-year-old three-time PGA TOUR winner hopes he might have something else in common with Woods … the ability to recapture some old glory. Woods has famously returned from injury in the last year, winning the TOUR Championship and the Masters to pull within one of Sam Snead’s record 82 PGA TOUR wins. At East Lake it was Woods’ first TOUR win in five years and at Augusta it was his first major win in nearly 11 years. Glover, who won the 2009 U.S. Open, has faced similar lengthy win droughts. He has also battled some minor injuries, including most recently his knee. The last of his three TOUR titles came at the 2011 Wells Fargo Championship. But this season … well you could say he’s trending. Glover sits 31st in the FedExCup this season thanks to the fact he has four top-10s and 11 top-20s from 15 starts. Last season he managed just one top-10, back in October of 2017, so it is a welcome return to form. Related: Featured groups, tee times | Rethinking Tiger Woods | Spieth ‘flying under the radar’ in latest career Grand Slam bid | Nine things to know about Bethpage Black | The First Look Especially considering his FedExCup positioning since his last winning season reads 219th, 114th, 185th, 147th, 106th, 43rd and 135th. “I don’t think there’s been anybody to play this game that hasn’t been fried at one point or another,â€� Glover said. “It was pretty up and down and some lean times, but again, I don’t know of anybody that’s played this game for a long time that hasn’t gone through some ups and downs.â€� “Like (former NFL player) Brian Dawkins said in his Hall of Fame speech, you’re going through something so you’re going to come out on the other end, so that’s the way I’m looking at the last few years is I’ve come out the other side. “I haven’t won, I haven’t accomplished any of my goals, but I’ve come through it.â€� Glover’s victory in 2009 came in extremely wet conditions. The rain is again falling at Bethpage in the early part of this week. Back then he held off the likes of Woods, and Phil Mickelson as they charged towards him. He might have to do so again should he find himself in contention. “Any experience you have, good or bad, you can make it a positive, and that’s what I’m trying to do … I’m in every way a different person than 10 years ago, but I can still lean on all of that,â€� he adds. “My golf swing is different, my putting stroke is different, my brain is different, everything is different. But at the same time, I still get comfortable when I walk into the clubhouse or drive through the gate. “It’s just that calming feeling. It’s almost like how I imagine some guys feel driving down Magnolia Lane at Augusta that have had success there. It’s just like an automatic deep breath, like I’ve done it here, let’s see what we can do again.â€�

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