Brooks Koepka birdied four of the first six holes to begin his bid for a third straight U.S. Open championship. Though he settled for a 2-under 69, he’s in good shape.
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Five-time major champion Phil Mickelson is among PGA Tour players “intrigued” by a proposed new tour, the Premier Golf League, according to reports. A report by Golf Channel analyst Geoff Shackelford detailed plans for the series, with Mickelson telling ESPN of his interest after missing the
Scottie Scheffler won't soon forget where he was when he was named the Arnold Palmer Award winner as PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year for the 2019-20 season. Quarantine. It wasn't exactly the celebration the 24-year-old had in mind, just prior to getting word of the win he tested positive for COVID-19 and had to withdraw from the U.S. Open and go into lockdown. Instead of competing at Winged Foot as one of the form players - Scheffler played in the final group at the PGA Championship before finishing T4, he had the same result at THE NORTHERN TRUST while shooting a 59 and was also fifth at the TOUR Championship - he was at home in a small bubble riding out the disease. His season included seven top-10s (six of which were top-5s) and 13 top-25s from 23 events. Now the Texan is ready to return this week at the Sanderson Farms Championship to kick off his encore performance. "I had plenty of time at home to digest and plenty of time to reflect on the year. I felt like I had a really solid rookie season," Scheffler said of his Palmer Award winning efforts as he sets up for a return at the Country Club of Jackson. "If you had told me that was going to be my results going in, I would have been pleased. I would have liked to have had a win last year, but I feel like that’s coming on the horizon, and game feels like it’s in a good spot for sure. I had a lot of solid finishes, gave myself a lot of chances to win, and I feel like I’m getting close to breaking through." Scheffler is trying to see the bright side of the enforced time off that gave his body a chance to rest up a little. He was lucky enough to not feel the heavy brunt of any symptoms despite his positive test. "I feel like I got a little break. Not a break I necessarily wanted, but I felt all right, so it’s good to be back out here feeling healthy again," he said. "It obviously stunk, catching COVID. But I felt all right, and only one person I knew was also infected, and so we kept our circle pretty small, and it paid off for us. "It definitely stunk sitting at home all week watching the U.S. Open, especially the way I was playing leading into it. I felt like I had a good chance of winning. It stunk, but it’s the world we live in. I felt okay, so very blessed to have felt good through all of it and came out on the other side recovered." Now he's ready to get back into his groove on a course where he has finished T45 and T16 over the last two seasons. "I feel my game is still in a good spot. I think there’s still a few areas that are a little rusty just from having not played tournament golf in the last three weeks ... but hopefully I’ll pick back up soon," he said. "A good finish this week would be nice. Not really going to look too far into it. Obviously I’m here to win and that’s the goal, but really just trying to go out in the first round and do as best I can."
The seventh of 24 contributing events for PGA TOUR Champions One & Done presented by SERVPRO is this week’s Mitsubishi Electric Classic. It begins on Friday. Scroll for tournament notes and 21 notables from the field of 78 in Duluth, Georgia. As gamers, we are compelled to pigeonhole golfers into a finite set of bins. It helps keep all of our thoughts organized and it’s time-effective. However, correlation is primarily an exercise in making broad strokes and taking shortcuts. In reality, every golfer is unique with a profile as it pertains to all of the known variables every time he competes. This brings us to Luke Donald at the RBC Heritage. For one, as rapidly as you want to connect dots between fellow 40somethings/Englishmen Paul Casey and Ian Poulter, both of whom recent winners of PGA TOUR events, and even World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship winner Phil Mickelson, also a contemporary, none of them possessed the kind of epic course history at the sites of their titles as Donald has at Harbour Town Golf Links. It’s a relevant narrative to carry a casual conversation, but it’s an improper fantasy angle. It also disregards Donald’s extended poor form upon arrival for his 10th consecutive appearance (and 13th overall) on Hilton Head Island. Each of the other three guys had been performing with some degree of promise in advance of their victories. Yet, Donald, who sits 196th in the Official World Golf Ranking and surrendered the title of “low Luke” to Luke List (currently 67th) at the conclusion of 2017, shapes up strongest among the foursome in consumer confidence entering their respective tournaments. There isn’t a better test to determine if, when you paint your broad strokes, you prefer course history over recent form. And it’s not so much the logic, it’s the comfort level after you’ve pulled the trigger. If you have gamer’s remorse, well, there you go. Just as he was last year, Donald is my pick. If you don’t like it, ask yourself if you’re stereotyping for whatever motivation. My fantasy Rule No. 3 is to remain fluid. In his case, if you haven’t already, it means to open your mind to the creation of a new category (for you) for which Donald is the only member. He’s an extreme and he exists. It’s not like he’s suddenly forgotten how to play golf. He’s remained busy and he’s not injured. Perhaps best of all, he’s yet to reach paydirt. Despite that manifesto, if I was pacing my little league, I’d stick with the chalk of Matt Kuchar. Indeed, Donald is for gamers in pursuit since front-runners won’t trust him because of the absence of good form. Remember, good form is why front-runners are front-runners. If you’re chasing and still can’t trust Donald, Cameron Smith and Tyrrell Hatton present as meaty options who are still solidifying their value in our world. Both check boxes of previous experience and relative success at Harbour Town along with a strong upswing in form. Because of the breadth of the field, two-man gamers should take the position of striking with a pair of primaries instead of the usual 1-2 punch. My Power Rankings is littered with an array of options. For the sake of time and space, lean on Future Possibilities below for all notables and schedule accordingly. FUTURE POSSIBILITIES NOTE: Select golfers committed to the tournament are listed alphabetically. Future tournaments are sorted chronologically and reflect previous success on the courses on which the tournaments will be held in 2017-18. The numerical values in parentheses represent the order of relative confidence of where to use each golfer if multiple sites are listed (e.g. 1 for strongest, 2 for next-strongest and so on). To present weighted confidence in real time, numerical values will not change all season no matter how many tournament remain listed for each golfer. All are pending golfer commitment. Paul Casey … Travelers (4); WGC-Bridgestone (5); Dell Technologies (2); TOUR Championship (3) Kevin Chappell … Valero (1; defending); St. Jude (5); WGC-Bridgestone (2); Dell Technologies (3) Luke Donald … Heritage (1) Jason Dufner … Fort Worth (2); Memorial (3; defending); U.S. Open (4); Wyndham (6); TOUR Championship (7) Jim Furyk … Heritage (1); Memorial (7); U.S. Open (8); Canadian (3); WGC-Bridgestone (2); THE NORTHERN TRUST (9); TOUR Championship (4) Bill Haas … Wyndham (2) Brian Harman … Fort Worth (4); John Deere (3) Charley Hoffman … Heritage (7); Houston (5); Valero (1); Fort Worth (4); Travelers (2); Canadian (3) Billy Horschel … Valero (3); St. Jude (1); TOUR Championship (4) Dustin Johnson … Memorial (12); St. Jude (8); U.S. Open (13); Canadian (10); WGC-Bridgestone (14); PGA Championship (9); Dell Technologies (11); TOUR Championship (6) Zach Johnson … Fort Worth (2); John Deere (1); Open Championship (5); WGC-Bridgestone (6); TOUR Championship (8) Chris Kirk … Valero (4); PLAYERS (3); Fort Worth (2) Kevin Kisner … Heritage (4); Fort Worth (1; defending); Memorial (5); Wyndham (6) Russell Knox … Heritage (2); PLAYERS (8); Dell Technologies (7) Matt Kuchar … Heritage (1); Valero (10); PLAYERS (11); Fort Worth (6); Memorial (2); Canadian (3); WGC-Bridgestone (7); THE NORTHERN TRUST (9) Martin Laird … Valero (7); Barracuda (1) Marc Leishman … Fort Worth (7); Memorial (5); Travelers (2); Open Championship (1) Graeme McDowell … Heritage (4); WGC-Bridgestone (3) William McGirt … Heritage (1); Memorial (4) Francesco Molinari … PLAYERS (2) Ryan Moore … Travelers (2); John Deere (3); TOUR Championship (6) Kevin Na … Heritage (6); Memorial (10); John Deere (9); Wyndham (3); THE NORTHERN TRUST (11) Ryan Palmer … Valero (1); Fort Worth (2); St. Jude (6) Scott Piercy … John Deere (6) Charl Schwartzel … Memorial (4); U.S. Open (5); Open Championship (6); WGC-Bridgestone (2) Webb Simpson … Wells Fargo (7); Fort Worth (4); Travelers (8); Greenbrier (5); Wyndham (1) Brandt Snedeker … Heritage (10); Fort Worth (11); U.S. Open (5); Travelers (6); Canadian (3); Wyndham (4) Kevin Streelman … Wells Fargo (3); Memorial (1); Travelers (2) CHAMPIONS ONE & DONE Mitsubishi Electric Classic Now in its sixth edition, each has been contested at TPC Sugarloaf, former home of the AT&T Classic on the PGA TOUR from 1997-2008. The course is a stock par 72 tipping at 7,179 yards. Stephen Ames is defending his first title on the PGA TOUR Champions. His 15-under 201 is the tournament record. All five prior champions of the Mitsubishi Electric Classic are scheduled to play. Since winning the inaugural event in 2013, Bernhard Langer has added a trio of runner-up finishes. Scott McCarron is the only winner of the TOUR stop at TPC Sugarloaf who is competing this week. He prevailed in both 1997 and 2001, but he’s yet to pick one off as a senior. Total prize money of $1.8 million hasn’t changed since the tournament’s inception. The winner will pocket $270,000. FUTURE POSSIBILITIES NOTE: Select golfers committed to the tournament are listed alphabetically. Future tournaments are sorted chronologically and reflect previous success on the courses on which the tournaments will be held in 2018. The numerical values in parentheses represent the order of relative confidence of where to use each golfer if multiple sites are listed (e.g. 1 for strongest, 2 for next-strongest and so on). To present weighted confidence in real time, numerical values will not change all season no matter how many tournament remain listed for each golfer. All are pending golfer commitment. Stephen Ames … Mitsubishi Electric Classic (1; defending); Insperity (4); Principal (8); U.S. Senior Open (6); Boeing (2); Shaw (7) Billy Andrade … Mitsubishi Electric Classic (5); Bass Pro Shops (4) Joe Durant … Bass Pro Shops (5); Insperity (15); Principal (2); American Family (8); U.S. Senior Open (7); SENIOR PLAYERS (1); 3M (6); DICK’S (12); Boeing (10); Shaw (11); PURE (3); SAS (13) David Frost … Mitsubishi Electric Classic (6); Bass Pro Shops (3); U.S. Senior Open (4); 3M (7); Boeing (5); Shaw (8); PURE (1) Fred Funk … Mitsubishi Electric Classic (4); Bass Pro Shops (1); Regions Tradition (3); Boeing (6); PURE (5) Doug Garwood … SAS (1) Paul Goydos … Mitsubishi Electric Classic (6); Bass Pro Shops (2); Insperity (7); 3M (1; defending); DICK’S (3); SAS (5) Lee Janzen … U.S. Senior Open (2) Miguel Angel Jiménez … Mitsubishi Electric Classic (2); Insperity (13); Senior PGA (6); Principal (10); U.S. Senior Open (5); SENIOR PLAYERS (3); Senior Open Championship (4); 3M (9); Shaw (7); SAS (12) Jerry Kelly … Boeing (1; defending); Shaw (5); PURE (2); SAS (4) Bernhard Langer … Usable everywhere. Defending five titles. Billy Mayfair … Boeing (2); PURE (1) Scott McCarron … Regions Tradition (2); Senior PGA (11); Principal (1); SENIOR PLAYERS (3; defending); Senior Open Championship (10); DICK’S (4; defending); Shaw (5; defending); PURE (8) Colin Montgomerie … Mitsubishi Electric Classic (5); Senior PGA (1); U.S. Senior Open (6); SENIOR PLAYERS (2); Senior Open Championship (10); Shaw (4); PURE (7); SAS (3; defending) Tom Pernice, Jr. … Principal Charity (2); Shaw (3); SAS (5) Gene Sauers … Insperity (7); Regions Tradition (3); U.S. Senior Open (5); SENIOR PLAYERS (6); Boeing (1) Vijay Singh … Bass Pro Shops (4; defending); Senior PGA (3); U.S. Senior Open (2); Shaw (5); SAS (1) Kevin Sutherland … Usable everywhere. David Toms … Regions Tradition (3); Boeing (2); SAS (4) Kirk Triplett … Insperity (2); Regions Tradition (6); American Family (5); SENIOR PLAYERS (1); Shaw (4) Duffy Waldorf … Bass Pro Shops (2); Insperity (4); Principal (6); Shaw (5)
