Leaderboard: McIlroy in the hunty at WGC-HSBC Champions

Reigning FedExCup champion Justin Rose will make his first PGA TOUR start of the 2019 calendar year and his first here since 2010 at this week’s 60th playing of the Desert Classic in La Quinta, California. Defending champion Jon Rahm, meanwhile, seeks to become the first back-to-back winner since Johnny Miller (1975-’76). Arnold Palmer won the first Desert Classic in 1960, his first of 62 TOUR titles. He also won for the last time there, in ’73, as the tournament bookended one of the most celebrated careers in the history of the game. The Desert Classic is one of four tournaments played on multiple courses, along with the Farmers Insurance Open, AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, and The RSM Classic. The Golf Channel will carry primetime coverage starting at 11:30 a.m. ET Thursday and Friday, running until 7 p.m. each day. Watch on Twitter from 11:30 a.m. to approximately 12:30 p.m. PGA TOUR Radio’s coverage is 1-7 p.m. in the first three rounds; 2-7 p.m. for Sunday’s final round. PGA TOUR LIVE also returns for 2019 with expanded coverage. Here’s a look at some of the Featured Groups (current FedExCup ranking in parentheses): THURSDAY Russell Knox (181) – A two-time TOUR winner, Knox is coming off a season in which he was 89th in the FedExCup. He finished T43 at the Sony Open in Hawaii. Jhonattan Vegas (128) – Pride of Venezuela broke through with his first win in the desert way back in 2011, and has since tacked on two more victories, both at the RBC Canadian Open. This will be his first start since he finished T38 at the Mayakoba Golf Classic in November. Round 1 tee time at PGA WEST Stadium Course: 11:40 a.m. ET (8:40 a.m. local) Chesson Hadley (24) – He didn’t play in Hawaii, but in five starts this season he already has a T2 (CIMB Classic) and T7 (Shriners Hospitals for Children Open). Bill Haas (83) – A former FedExCup champion (2011) and Desert Classic winner (2015), Haas is one of four players in the last five years who have won this tournament and gone all the way to the season-ending TOUR Championship at East Lake. Round 1 tee time: 12:10 p.m. ET off 1 at PGA WEST Stadium Course (9:10 a.m. local) Justin Rose (40) – This will mark Rose’s fifth start in the Desert Classic, but his first since 2010, when he missed the cut. As with most other courses on TOUR, though, the Englishman has enjoyed plenty of success here: 3rd in 2007 and T10 in 2006. Zach Johnson (100) – He slipped to 58th in the FedExCup with just two top-10 finishes in 25 starts last season, and is coming off a missed cut at the Sony Open in Hawaii. The good news: He finished T7 not long ago, at The RSM Classic in the fall. Round 1 tee time at La Quinta Country Club: 11:40 a.m. ET (8:40 a.m. local) Phil Mickelson (136) – World Golf Hall of Famer and two-time Desert Classic winner is coming off a season in which he broke a lengthy win drought at the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship. Making his 16th start in the desert. Finished T17 at the Safeway Open last fall. Aaron Wise (60) – Rookie of the Year in 2018, when he won the AT&T Byron Nelson, Wise is making his third start in the Desert Classic. He won the NCAA individual title as a freshman at Oregon in 2016, and played the Mackenzie Tour and Web.com Tour before making it to the big TOUR. Round 1 tee time: 12:10 p.m. ET off 1 at La Quinta Country Club (9:10 a.m. local) FRIDAY Charles Howell III (5) – One of the great comeback stories of 2018, when he won The RSM Classic at the outset of the ’18-2019 TOUR season, Howell looks to keep the momentum going after finishing T8 at the Sony Open in Hawaii and T14 at the Sentry Tournament of Champions. Sean O’Hair (185) – Trying to get back on track after a rough start to the season with three missed cuts in five starts. Round 2 tee time: 11:40 a.m. ET off 1 at PGA WEST Stadium Course (8:40 a.m. local) Brendan Steele (116) – Three-time TOUR winner hasn’t played since a missed cut at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in the fall, but he did finish T14 at THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES. Jason Dufner (122) – Has played a robust early schedule with seven starts already, best among them a T21 with a final-round 64 at the Mayakoba Golf Classic last fall. Round 2 tee time: 12:10 p.m. ET off 1 at PGA WEST Stadium Course (9:10 a.m. local) Phil Mickelson/Aaron Wise Round 2 tee time: 11:40 a.m. ET off 10 at PGA WEST Nicklaus Tournament Course (8:40 a.m. local) Justin Rose/Zach Johnson Round 2 tee time: 1:20 p.m. ET off 10 at PGA WEST Nicklaus Tournament Course (10:20 a.m. local).

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The wealthy Saudi-backed LIV Golf league embodied its “Golf, but louder” slogan in its first season. But can a league that embraced 54 holes, team golf and shotgun starts sustain? What about its players?

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HONOLULU, Hawaii – Chez Reavie has entered the PGA TOUR record books during the second round of the Sony Open in Hawaii thanks to three hole-out eagles from over 100-yards. Reavie – the former RBC Canadian Open winner – became the first person since hole-by-hole scoring was introduced in 1983 to have three eagles on par-4s in one round. He was also the first person since ShotLink technology was introduced in 2003 to make three eagle hole-outs from over 100 yards in one round. Reavie opened his round by holing out from 101 yards with a sand wedge on the par-4 10th hole. Six holes later – on the par-4 16th – he navigated a nine-iron into the hole from 149 yards. At that point he had joined Blake Adams (2010 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, 3rd round) as the only players with two hole-out eagles from over 100 yards in the same round (ShotLink courses) on par-4s. But Reavie wasn’t done. Staring at 135 yards with his gap wedge on the par-4 sixth the 37-year-old nailed his third eagle. “I was trying to think back to any round I even had more than one hole-out and I couldn’t think of any,â€� Reavie said after signing for a 5-under 65 that leaves him 10 under for the week and four off the pace. The diminutive Kansas native who resides in Arizona didn’t seem to fully grasp his accomplishment as he was focused on trying to hunt down leader Matt Kuchar. “Honestly, I didn’t think about it at all until after the third one went in,â€� Reavie added. “Before the other two I just hit the shot and I was trying to see if it was going at the hole. Never expected it to go in. It’s always a surprise when I it disappears.â€� Reavie actually had chances for further hole out eagles on his last two holes. His approach from 138 yards on the par-4 8th was tracking before pulling up at six-feet. He also barely missed a bunker shot on the par-5 9th, his final hole of the round. “I got it in the fairway on eight and hit a pitching wedge; it was on a good line, and that was the only time it crossed my mind before the ball went in the hole,â€� he added. “Wow, could we make another one?â€� Playing partner Michael Thompson figured anything could happen from that point. “That was pretty amazing. The first one was great, the second one was “wow that’s coolâ€� and the third one was “are you kidding me?â€� Thompson said. “It was pretty amazing to watch. That’s probably a once in a lifetime experience to be in a group and see a guy do that let alone do it yourself. It’s really really rare so it’s pretty cool to see.â€� When the third ball disappeared the caddies in the group took off their hats and threw them at Reavie to symbolize the hat-trick. Only two years ago Reavie looked like he could destroy PGA TOUR scoring records when he made the turn in 7-under 28 at Waialae Country Club in the final round. While Justin Thomas had shot 59 in the opening round of the tournament, Reavie was thinking he could beat Jim Furyk’s TOUR record 58 especially after he made birdies on the 2nd and 3rd holes (his 11th and 12th) to sit 9-under with six to play on the par-70 course. He had an eagle hole out that day also – courtesy of an ace on the 17th hole with a 6-iron from 189 yards. But ultimately he settled for a 9-under 61. When he won in Canada in 2008 he holed out for eagle on the 13th hole Sunday. Reavie gave the ball used for the first two eagles on Friday to a fan after he made a bogey on the par-4 first at the turn. He gave the other to a volunteer. He acknowledged he might further appreciate it all in the future but at the time didn’t see it as overly significant. “I need to go buy a lottery ticket today I think,â€� he joked. “Obviously it’s unusual, but I’m still whatever, three, four, back of Kuch. “We are just trying to make as many birdies, eagles, anything red; hole in ones, as we can (to catch him).â€� Reavie is currently 44th in the FedExCup with a T7 at THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES his best result so far this season.

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