Coming off an early exit at The Players, Jordan Spieth looks to get back on track in his home state. See who gets off to a fast start in Texas.
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If Justin Thomas proved anything this year, besides that he’s really good at golf, it was the importance of setting goals. After taking home the FedExCup to cap off a season in which he won five times – including his first major championship – Thomas revealed to the media that he had set numerous goals in his phone at the beginning of the year, and he had checked just about all of them off. Well, taking a page out of Thomas’ book for the upcoming season is Grayson Murray, although his goals venture a little bit outside of the ropes. Along with hilarious (and attainable) golf goals like “play 1 round a week hungover instead of 3” and “only throw 1 club in the water instead of 2” are social media
The first World Golf Championship of 2018 gets underway Thursday, and PGA TOUR LIVE will be there to provide extended coverage from Golf Club de Chapultepec. PGA TOUR LIVE’s broadcast from the WGC-Mexico Championship will include the threesome of the world’s top-ranked players – Dustin Johnson, Jon Rahm and Justin Thomas – as well as names like Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler, Sergio Garcia and Justin Rose. RELATED LINKS: Tee times | Power Rankings | Field | Course You can watch them all hit the long ball from the course with the highest elevation in PGA TOUR history. Chapultepec sits more than 7,600 feet above sea level, giving players like Johnson, the defending champion, even more length off the tee. PGA TOUR LIVE will begin at 12:15 p.m. Eastern on Thursday and Friday. LIVE will shift to Featured Hole coverage of the par-3 15th and 17th holes at 2 p.m. The broadcast will conclude at 7 p.m. PGA TOUR LIVE also can be viewed on Twitter from 12:15 p.m. until approximately 1:30 p.m. (Note: All times Eastern; FedExCup ranking in parentheses) THURSDAY Justin Thomas (1), Jon Rahm (4), Dustin Johnson (3) This group features the top three players in the Official World Golf Ranking. They all sit in the top four of the FedExCup standings, as well, and were high on the leaderboard here last year. Thomas leads the way after his win last week at The Honda Classic. It was his second victory of the season. He’s trying to become the first player to win back-to-back FedExCups. He held the 54-hole lead at last year’s Mexico Championship before fading to fifth place. Johnson, the WGC-Mexico’s defending champion, is third in the FedExCup standings after a victory at the Sentry Tournament of Champions and runners-up at the WGC-HSBC Champions and AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Rahm was runner-up at the Sentry and won the CareerBuilder Challenge in consecutive starts earlier this year. He finished third at last year’s Mexico Championship. Tee time: 12:51 p.m. off the 10th tee. Sergio Garcia (195), Alex Noren (19), Tommy Fleetwood (81) Fleetwood is one of the hottest players on the planet and should be a popular pick for fantasy players. He was runner-up to Johnson at last year’s Mexico Championship and is coming off a fourth-place finish at The Honda Classic. He’s finished in the top 6 in five of his past six worldwide starts, including a win in Abu Dhabi. Garcia, the reigning Masters champion, won earlier this year at the Singapore Open. Noren has posted four consecutive top-25s on the PGA TOUR, including a playoff loss to Jason Day at the Farmers Insurance Open and a third-place finish at The Honda Classic. These three players all could be teammates in Paris at this year’s Ryder Cup, as well. Tee time: 1:03 p.m. off the 10th tee. FRIDAY Justin Rose (14), Jordan Spieth (73), Rickie Fowler (25) Rose has finished in the top 10 in 11 of his past 12 worldwide starts, dating back to last year’s FedExCup Playoffs. He has three wins over that span, including the most recent World Golf Championship, the HSBC Champions. Rose is coming off an eighth-place finish in his most recent start, at the Farmers Insurance Open. Spieth struggled with the putter earlier this season but seemed headed in the right direction with a T9 at the Genesis Open. His 63 at last year’s Mexico Championship was the low round of the week. Fowler won the Hero World Challenge and finished fourth at Kapalua but has two missed cuts and a lost 54-hole lead in his past three starts. He sandwiched a T11 at the Waste Management Phoenix Open between MCs at the Farmers Insurance Open and Honda Classic. Tee time: 12:39 p.m. off the 10th tee. Marc Leishman (23), Paul Casey (55), Tyrrell Hatton (149) Leishman is coming off a two-win season that featured victories at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard and BMW Championship. This season, he lost a playoff to Thomas at THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES. The consistent Casey has finished in the top 25 in four of five starts this season. Hatton finished 10th at last year’s Mexico Championship. Tee time: 12:51 p.m. off the 10th tee.
Brian Gay is the only previous champion of three to tee it up this week as the TOUR heads back to Bermuda for the fourth consecutive season. RELATED: Expert Picks | Sleeper Picks Port Royal Golf Club in Southampton has been the canvas for the previous three editions and will take up that honor again this season. Robert Trent Jones laid out the seaside tract in 1970 and helped bring it up to modern day speed in 1995. The last major renovation was in the 2008-2009 years by Roger Rulewich as he was prepping it for the Grand Slam of Golf (2009-2014). The Par-71 sits at 6,828 for the fourth consecutive edition. Hardly overpowering Port Royal provides only one Par-4 hole stretching past 440 yards. Of the three Par-5 holes two won’t climb past 520 yards and the longest only extends 553 yards. Wind is a constant in this part of the world and defends the course along with elevation changes and doglegs. Only 19 acres of fairway suggests controlling the ball out of the two inches of Bermuda/Zoysia will be a factor this week. The Champion Bermuda greens will be prepped for wind and weather and won’t reach speeds on the Stimpmeter that TOUR pros are used to navigating. Mother Nature will have her say as thunderstorms and rain are in the forecast for tournament days. For the third time in four seasons it will provide full prize pool money and full benefits to the winner. On the line outside of $6.5 million and 500 FedExCup points is a trip to Maui for the Sentry Tournament of Champions in January plus a stroll down Magnolia Lane come April. The previous three winners here have been aged in the 20s, 30s and 40s and were listed at +6000 or worse in pretournament odds. Need more details about the course? Read Rob Bolton’s Power Rankings and Adam Stanley’s The First Look. Please read Statistically Speaking as well! Giddy up! Let’s find Horses for Courses! Horses for Courses High Five -Players listed only if they are in the field for 2022- Brian Gay (Win: +20000; Top 10: +1400; Top 20: +600) Season 2021 champion at age 48. Defense of T12 after playing the final 54 holes 14-under. Claimed T3 in the inaugural event. Owns two rounds of 64 and two rounds of 65 from 12 career total. Patrick Rodgers (Win: +2800; Top 10: +225; Top 20: +200) Only returning player from 2022 top 10 (4th). Best finish in three starts included finding 55 of 72 GIR (3rd) plus just three bogeys and a double. Only hit 20 Fairways. Career best 64 (Round 2) from 12 attempts. Denny McCarthy (Win: +1600; Top 10: +150; Top 20: -145) Final round 63 led to T4 in 2021. Closed 65-68 in 2020 for T15. Kept the streak alive with T39 last season. Of 12 rounds 10 are par or better. Kramer Hickok (Win: +8000; Top 10: +650; Top 20: +300) Hard to ignore three visits all inside T30! All 12 rounds are par or better with 11 in the red. Sat one off the 36 and 54 hole leads in 2021. Cashed T15 on debut followed by T8 and T30 for 30-under aggregate. Russell Knox (Win: +4000; Top 10: +350; Top 20: +170) Breaking my own rule here to include a guy WITHOUT a top 10 payday from three visits! Scotsman sits No. 11 in all-time money cashing T12, T16 and T11. 68.33 scoring average with 10 of 12 rounds in the red. Debut round of 64 is the best. Odds sourced on Tuesday, October 25th at 2 p.m. ET. For live odds visit betmgm. Pipped at the Post Hank Lebioda (Win: +8000; Top 10: +650; Top 20: +300) Lefty closed with 63 on debut in 2020 for T3. Returned for T16 in 2021 before MC last season. Half of his 10 rounds are 68 or better. Harry Higgs (Win: +15000; Top 10: +1200; Top 20: +550) Only visit was 2020 where he was the 54 hole leader by two before finishing second on 20-under. David Hearn (Win: +25000; Top 10: +1600; Top 20: +750) Canadian opened T8-T8 before T39 last season. Of his 12 rounds nine are in the 60s including final round 66s in 2020 and 2021. Ryan Armour (Win: +6600; Top 10: +500; Top 20: +225) Either led or was one back after 18, 36 and 54 holes in 2021 before cashing T8. Matched his debut (T8) finish as first eight rounds were 70 or better. T67 last season included just one round below par. Alex Smalley (Win: +2800; Top 10: +100; Top 20: +225) T12 on debut (10-under) thanks to T12 Fairways, T4 GIR and only five bogeys. Seamus Power (Win: +2200; Top 10: +188; Top 20: -120) Bookend 67s on debut (T12; 10-under) with T12 Fairways and T12 GIR. Circled 18 birdies and an eagle against eight bogeys and a double.. Responsible sports betting starts with a game plan. Set a budget. Keep it social. Play with friends. Learn the game and know the odds. Play with trusted, licensed operators. CLICK HERE to learn more at HaveAGamePlan.org
