Leaderboard: Can Schauffele repeat at Kapalua?

Hard to believe another season is upon us, but the 2017-18 PGA TOUR lid-lifter, the Safeway Open, tees off this week at Silverado Resort in Napa, California, The new season will usher in new stars, new comeback stories, and fresh-faced rookies who play with the poise of polished veterans. Herewith, the big storylines going into the new season. WHAT’S NEW The PGA TOUR’s 49 FedExCup tournaments represent an increase of two events over last season. New this season: THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES at Jeju Island, Oct. 16-22, 2017, represents Korea’s first official TOUR event. Some five months later, the Dominican Republic will host its first TOUR event, the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship, which after a two-year run on the Web.com Tour, will be elevated to a PGA TOUR event and debut March 19-25, the same week as the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play. Meanwhile, the Puerto Rico Open moves from Match Play week to Feb. 26-March 4, coinciding with the WGC-Mexico Championship. With the addition of two new international tournaments, the schedule includes nine tournaments in eight countries outside the U.S. The total prize money reaches a record of more than $363 million, and the Tournament of Champions at Kapalua, Maui, gets a new title sponsor in Sentry. Other changes: The AT&T Byron Nelson, May 14-20, moves to the new Trinity Forest Golf Club in Irving, Texas, while two FedExCup Playoffs events change venues. THE NORTHERN TRUST, Aug. 20-26, returns to The Ridgewood Country Club in New Jersey, and the BMW Championship, Sept. 3-9, goes to Aronimink Golf Club outside Philadelphia for the first time. Also: The one-week break in the FedExCup Playoffs will take place after the first three tournaments and before the season-ending TOUR Championship.  THREE ROOKIES TO WATCH BOUNCE-BACK CANDIDATES PLAYERS ON THE RISE VETS WHO’LL WIN FOR THE FIRST TIME FIVE BURNING QUESTIONS 1. Will the 20-somethings continue to dominate? Yes. They won three of the four majors in 2017, and the FedExCup. Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth, each 24, combined to win eight times, and Xander Schauffele, 23, picked up his second W of the season at the TOUR Championship. Whew! Throw in Daniel Berger, yet a fourth member of the high school Class of 2011; and Hideki Matsuyama, 25; and others, and 19 players in their 20s won 28 times. Youth is wasted on the young? Not in this case.     2. Who has the best chance to complete the career grand slam? Spieth at the PGA Championship at Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis. When Bellerive hosted the 1992 PGA, Nick Price won, three ahead of Nick Faldo and Gene Sauers. None of those guys was an overly long hitter. Yes, Phil Mickelson will return to one of his favorite U.S. Open venues — he contended until the bitter end at Shinnecock Hills in 2004 — but at 47 he looks like a sentimental longshot. And after a down 2017, Rory McIlroy may have too much work to do to get back up to speed in time for the 2018 Masters.  3. Can Spieth and Thomas keep up this pace? Yes, and that’s a mind-boggling thought. At 24, Spieth already has three majors to his name after his electrifying victory at The Open in July, when he stepped on the gas to leave Matt Kuchar in the dust. “If I have the year I had this year the next 15 years, then I’ll be the greatest player that ever played the game if you judge it by major championships,â€� Spieth said at the BMW Championship. For good measure, he went 3-1-1 at the Presidents Cup. Scary. As for Thomas, he said at the BMW, “I feel like I’ve matured a lot as a player and as a person.â€� Well, yeah. He’d already won five times, including the PGA Championship. Then he finished second at the TOUR Championship at East Lake to salt away the FedExCup title, and leading money-winner honors with $10 million. He, too, went 3-1-1 at the Presidents Cup. Double scary. 4. Is this the season for a Tiger comeback? Stay tuned. Although he won five times in 2013, Woods has made just 19 starts since then, including one in 2017, at the Farmers Insurance Open in January. It didn’t go well. Woods shot 76-72 to miss the cut at Torrey Pines, where he had won eight times as a professional, including the 2008 U.S. Open. He announced in April that he had undergone back fusion surgery — his fourth back operation in three years. Woods will turn 42 in December. I would like to play competitive golf,â€� Woods said during the victorious U.S. Presidents Cup press conference. “I just don’t know what my body is going to allow me to do. That’s something I’m going to have to, as I said, listen to my surgeon, see what he says, and then I’ve got to get a feel for what my body is able to do and not do.” The guess here is that Woods is eyeing the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas, Nov. 30-Dec. 3. 5. What will become of all these caddie changes? Wait and see. Mickelson dissolved his 25-year partnership with Jim (Bones) Mackay; McIlroy ended things with J.P. Fitzgerald; and Jason Day relieved coach and father figure Col Swatton of his caddie duties. Just like that, three of the most prominent players in the game — all in the throes of a below-average season — announced they were starting over with new side men. Mickelson, at least, went 3-0-1 at the Presidents Cup with his brother, Tim, on the bag. FINAL PREDICTIONS Three early picks to win THE PLAYERS Championship 1. Sergio Garcia – He’s won it before, and he’s coming off a life-changing season. 2. Francesco Molinari – Finished T6 in 2017, T7 in 2016. A hot putting week and he wins. 3. Justin Thomas – T3 in 2016, and that was before he became a cold-blooded closer. One early pick to win the FedExCup Jordan Spieth – How could anyone ever bet against him?

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To Justin Thomas, it just seemed like the least he could do. In both the pro-am on Wednesday and then again today in the opening round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open, Thomas played the iconic par-3 16th stadium hole at TPC Scottsdale wearing a Kobe Bryant jersey. This one wasn’t the No. 8 or 24 from Bryant’s incredible NBA career with the Los Angeles Lakers, but rather the No. 33 from his time at Lower Merion High School outside Philadelphia. Just owning the jersey showed Thomas has long been a fan of the man lost to the world in tragic circumstances last Sunday.   Thomas admitted it was the first time he’d cried for a man he’d never met when news of Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, and seven other people that were killed in a tragic helicopter accident broke. It was a moment that will have a lasting effect on Thomas and, perhaps, all of the PGA TOUR family. Related: Leaderboard | Amy paying it forward Thomas was already sporting Bryant tributes on his wedges, stamping “Mamba Mentalityâ€�, “Kobe Bean Bryantâ€�, “Black Mambaâ€� and “81 pointsâ€� on them. His putter cover, and that of other TOUR players this week, is purple and gold and has “RIP Kobe” and “RIP Gigi” written on it. “I’ve always been a huge fan of his. I’ve always loved watching him play, just loved hearing about his work ethic and stuff that he did on and off the court and how he just always worked harder than everybody else,” Thomas said. It’s probably the reason… I mean, obviously, he’s freakishly talented… but why he was better than everybody else because he was going to work harder to get there and just kind of will himself to be a winner. That’s something that I hope to do when I’m out there playing, when I have a chance to win the tournament, I want to have that Mamba mentality, if you will, to try to close it out.â€� When Thomas walked onto the 16th and put on the jersey, the full house was certainly appreciative of the action. In a house where commotion and booing is common, the fans celebrated the gesture in fine spirit. He was not the only one. Several stars had their own homages.   Some included Max Homa and Tony Finau, who also wore Bryant jerseys. Chants of “Kobe, Kobe, Kobeâ€� filled the air as they noticed Finau also had purple and gold shoes. It continued with Bud Cauley and Gary Woodland donning their Scotty Cameron putter covers, along with Bryson DeChambeau, who had written ‘8’ and ’24’ on his shoes. TaylorMade staffers also had 24 on their golf balls. Finau was on course last Sunday at the Farmers Insurance Open when the news broke. He and fellow Nike athlete Tiger Woods were both clearly emotional when they were told. Finau has long made it known he was a Bryant fan. He couldn’t help but return to the feelings he felt when he lost his own mother in a tragic car accident in 2011. Finau’s manager, another huge Lakers fan, drove from Los Angeles to San Diego when the news broke to be there for Finau as he finished. “That will probably give you an idea of how much an impact Kobe was in my life just as a sports junkie. I’m a huge fan of basketball, the NBA and the Lakers, and in huge part because of Kobe Bryant,â€� Finau said last Sunday. “He was a star… His work ethic is something that will be talked about, that’s what his legacy is. I remember actually wearing his shoes out here in 2016 just giving him props for the Mamba mentality and kind of what he taught a lot of athletes in pursuing your dreams. His legacy for sure is one of hard work and commitment to your craft. That’s Kobe Bryant.â€� Finau vowed to try to live up to the work ethic he so admired in Bryant. “The way to live a life that respects Kobe and that he would respect is one to have the Mamba mentality,â€� he continued. “Maybe that’s something that I need, work even harder at your craft and have more love for your craft and maybe that’s something that we all need as athletes, to have that Mamba mentality.â€� The accident was also a stark reminder of how precious, and sometimes fleeting, life can be. Gary Woodland certainly took that message from the terrible news. Woodland was a college basketball player before golf became his full focus, and as such, was intimately in tune with Bryant’s career on the court. He also enjoys the Mamba mentality and can recite most of Bryant’s records and stats. But it is Bryant’s life after the NBA that has Woodland most in awe. Bryant, the father of four girls, was the man Woodland was keeping tabs on. He has some experience in losing a child, like Vanessa Bryant is facing now. Woodland’s two-year-old son Jaxson was due to be one of twins before Gary and his wife Gabby lost the other baby during a troubled pregnancy. Since then, they have welcomed twin girls into the family, born last year. Woodland was so affected by the news that he took Jaxson to the course for the first time while he practiced earlier this week. He was all of a sudden mindful of creating memories with his growing toddler and making every moment count. “The biggest tribute is trying to imitate Kobe in the way to be a father like he was and work hard every day because you never know when it’s taken away from you, so you can’t take any day for granted on and off the golf course,â€� Woodland said pre-tournament. “When you see him with his children, he looked like he was happy, he was smiling all the time, laughing, when he was coaching her. That’s the love and energy that I want to have and it makes me sad that him and his daughter and seven other people’s lives were taken away way too soon. I want to be there for my kids and not have to miss anything, because you never know.â€� What we do know is we all need to treat life like the gift it is because the reminders will keep coming. Bryant wouldn’t want it any other way.

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GREENSBORO, N.C. — Brandt Snedeker couldn’t block out the buzz that surrounded his first-round 11-under 59 at the Wyndham Championship. He refocused just in time to reclaim the lead. Snedeker followed his historic opening score with a 67 on Friday to take a two-stroke lead into the weekend at the Wyndham Championship. A day after becoming the 10th player in PGA TOUR history to break 60, Snedeker moved to 14-under 126 halfway through the final PGA TOUR event before the FedExCup Playoffs. “You hear people telling you every two seconds, `Mr. 59,’ or saying how cool it was to watch it,” Snedeker said. “So, yes, totally on your mind.” D.A. Points shot a 64 to reach 12 under — one stroke ahead of C.T. Pan, who also had a 64. David Hearn, Peter Malnati, Keith Mitchell, Harris English, Brett Stegmaier and Sergio Garcia were 9 under. Snedeker, the 2012 FedExCup champion, won this tournament in 2007 before it moved across town to the par-70 Sedgefield Country Club. He had the tour’s first 59 of the year during the first round. But it wasn’t easy to follow a score like that. Of the nine previous players who have broken 60 on the TOUR, six had to play the next day and only one has shot better than 65 in that round: Justin Thomas, who had a 64 in the second round of last year’s Sony Open. “You can’t ignore it, you can’t try to forget about it,” Snedeker said. “Hardest thing is trying to get back into a rhythm. … Now I’m better equipped for the next time I shoot 59 and play the next day.” By the time Snedeker teed off Friday afternoon, that low score had held up for a one-stroke lead. It temporarily slipped away when he had three bogeys on the front nine. He reclaimed the lead late in his round with some nifty putting. He sank two putts longer than 30 feet, one for eagle on the par-5 15th and another for birdie on the par-4 16th, and wrapped up with the best two-round score at this tournament since Carl Pettersson’s 125 a decade ago. “When I finally convinced myself to hit a few putts, they started going in,” Snedeker said. “Over 72 holes, you’re going to have stretches where balls don’t go in the hole, you’ve got to be able to kind of overcome, be patient, wait for the long ones to fall, and luckily I made a couple coming down the stretch.” Points, who has made only one cut since January and failed to reach the weekend in 19 of his 24 tournaments this season, had a strong front nine with three birdies and an eagle on the par-5 fifth hole, where he sank a 40-foot putt. He has finished in the top 20 at this tournament twice since 2014, and after starting far off the bubble at No. 214 on the points list, could play his way into the FedExCup Playoffs this weekend. “Basically, I know this is possibly my last event of the year, so I haven’t been grinding really hard,” Points said. “It seems to be paying off.” Pan, a 26-year-old from Taiwan, had birdies on three of his final four holes to climb the leaderboard. He sank a 20-foot birdie putt on No. 17 and an 8-footer on the 18th to match the best round of his young career. He also shot 64s last year at the Travelers Championship and The RSM Classic. “I love this course,” Pan said, adding that his “trajectory tends to be lower than compared to other guys, so I think I have an advantage here.” Among the other highlights: Brian Gay had the day’s best round, a 63 tarnished only by a bogey on his final hole on which he missed a 4-foot par putt. And Mitchell opened with five consecutive birdies to briefly raise the possibility of a second sub-60 score in two days, before slipping back later in his round. “It’s definitely a different feeling,” Mitchell said. “But it’s a feeling you try to get comfortable with because you want to be in that zone.” A key subplot at Sedgefield every year is the push by bubble players to earn postseason spots. The top 125 players on the points list make the field for THE NORTHERN TRUST in New Jersey, and everyone from No. 122 to No. 132 is playing this weekend. Bill Haas, who at No. 150 is in danger of missing the FedExCup Playoffs for the first time, made the cut at 3 under. Garcia, at No. 131, also is trying to make it for the 12th straight year. Johnathan Byrd — who at No. 183 probably needs to win or finish alone in second place to earn enough points to qualify — remains in the mix at 8 under. “It’s kind of an easy mentality in a sense,” Byrd said. “Just got to play amazing or go home, or go to the (Web.com Tour) finals.”

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