Leaderboard: Travelers Championship

• COURSE: Liberty National Golf Club, 7,328 yards, par 71. Built on the site of a former Hudson River landfill, the 2006 Tom Kite/Bob Cupp creation mixes spectacular views of the New York City skyline and Statue of Liberty with tricky crosswinds and demanding greens. It didn’t take long to attract the PGA TOUR, which lined up Liberty National for FedExCup Playoffs opener in 2009 and again in ‘13. The club was in line to stage THE NORTHERN TRUST this year, too, until being named as host for the Presidents Cup. Liberty National cost a reported $250 million to build, much going to site cleanup but including such amenities as a heliport, yacht services and cart paths of stone imported from Belgium. • SERIES: United States: 9 wins. International: 1 win. 1 tie.   • CHARITY: Net revenues are divided into equal shares that players and captains designate for charities or golf-related projects of their choice. The first 11 Presidents Cups generated more than $38 million in giving worldwide, impacting more than 450 outlets in 35 states and 15 nations. • U.S. ROSTER: Daniel Berger (1st Presidents Cup), Kevin Chappell (1st), Rickie Fowler (2nd), Charley Hoffman (1st), Dustin Johnson (3rd), Kevin Kisner (1st), Brooks Koepka (1st), Matt Kuchar (4th), Phil Mickelson (12th), Patrick Reed (2nd), Jordan Spieth (3rd), Justin Thomas (1st). Captain: Steve Stricker. • INTERNATIONAL ROSTER: Jason Day, Australia (4th Presidents Cup); Branden Grace, South Africa (3rd); Emiliano Grillo, Argentina (1st); Adam Hadwin, Canada (1st); Si Woo Kim, South Korea (1st); Anirban Lahiri, India (2nd); Marc Leishman, Australia (3rd); Hideki Matsyama, Japan (3rd); Louis Oosthuizen, South Africa (3rd); Charl Schwartzel, South Africa (4th); Adam Scott, Australia (8th); Jhonattan Vegas, Venezuela (1st). Captain: Nick Price, Zimbabwe. • TWO YEARS AGO: Bill Haas, named a captain’s pick by his father Jay, capped a seesaw Sunday with the winning point over home favorite Sangmoon Bae in a 15.5  to 14.5 triumph in South Korea. Team USA took a one-point lead into the final day and grabbed eight early leads in singles, but the Internationals turned several matches to raise the tension in the final hour. Chris Kirk’s poor chip at No. 18 left Lahiri with a chance to snatch the cup, facing a 5-foot birdie try. But Kirk drained a 16-foot birdie and Lahiri missed his attempt, giving Kirk the point instead. That left it to Haas vs. Bae, which also went to No. 18 with a chance at a halve that would leave the competition tied. But Bae, playing his last competitive golf before two years of mandatory military service, chunked a pitch shot from short of the green that ceded the match to Haas. Grace was 5-0 for the Internationals, teaming with Oosthuizen to sweep both foursomes and four-balls. • STORYLINES: Spieth, Thomas and Johnson, who arrived at the TOUR Championship 1-2-3 in the FedExCup standings, form the cornerstones of a deep U.S. lineup. That trio has amassed 12 wins in 2016-17, including two major titles. … By contrast, the International squad has combined for eight victories, with Matsuyama winning three times and Leishman twice. … It’s a banner year for first-time participants, with 10 players in all making their Presidents Cup debuts. Thomas is among six on the U.S. roster, though Koepka did compete at last year’s Ryder Cup. Kim, who won THE PLAYERS in May, heads a list of four International rookies. … A format change that helped produce the Sunday drama in Korea will remain in play this week. Each four-ball and foursomes session was reduced by one, now five on Thursday and Friday and four each in Saturday’s doubleheader. • SHORT CHIPS: Mickelson’s next match win will be his 24th, drawing him alongside Woods for the all-time U.S. lead. The only man to play in all 12 editions was named as a captain’s pick for the second time. … Tiger Woods will be one of Stricker’s assistants at Liberty National, having served similarly under Davis Love III at last year’s Ryder Cup. It’ll be Woods’ first golf-related appearance since his latest back surgery in April. • TELEVISION: Thursday, 1-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Friday, 11:30 a.m.-6 p.m. (GC). Saturday, 8 a.m.-6 p.m. (NBC). Sunday, noon-6 p.m. (NBC). • PGA TOUR LIVE: None. • RADIO: Thursday-Friday, noon-6 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m.-6 p.m.; Sunday, noon-6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.COM).

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AUSTIN, Texas – The PGA TOUR’s biggest hitter faces a first-timer who’s almost eligible for PGA TOUR Champions. The FedExCup leader squares off with a match-play master. Some potential Presidents Cup previews and a rematch that dates back to amateur golf also are on the docket for Day 1 at the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play. There are 32 matches scheduled for Wednesday, but here’s five that we’re especially keen on (seedings in parentheses). GROUP 5: Scottie Scheffler, USA, (5) vs. Ian Poulter, ENG, (59), 1:38 p.m. ET. Scottie Scheffler was still a Texas guy with promise, but no PGA TOUR wins, when he went on a run at Austin Country Club a year ago. The former Longhorn made a push all the way to the final match before losing to Billy Horschel. En route to the championship match, Scheffler scored a big win against Ian Poulter, a man with a reputation as a match play ninja, in the Round of 16. Scheffler wasn’t intimidated by facing a player who’s fearsome in this format. Poulter may have eight top-10s at this event, including a win in 2010, and is known for his work in Ryder Cup Singles but Scheffler won easily, including a clutch chip-in. Scheffler was 3 up through 10 holes, but Poulter looked set for one of his trademark comebacks when he drained a 41-foot birdie putt on the 11th green. Scheffler responded by chipping in from off the green for a birdie of his own and marched on to a 5-and-4 win. Scheffler then beat Jon Rahm that afternoon, who he’d go on to beat again later that year at the Ryder Cup. Oh, and Scheffler has earned his first two PGA TOUR titles in his last four starts and sits atop the FedExCup standings. You don’t think Poulter would love a little revenge? GROUP 9: Bryson DeChambeau, USA, (9) vs. Richard Bland, England, (54), 2:44 p.m. ET Because of a persistent wrist injury, we haven’t seen Bryson DeChambeau since he missed the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open back in January. He had to sit out his title defense at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard and THE PLAYERS, but is set to return at Austin Country Club. The questions surrounding DeChambeau are plenty. Just how fit is he? Can he rein in his distance on the tricky, tight front nine? And can he overcome a poor record (2-3-1) at Austin Country Club in this event, where he has fallen to the likes of Antoine Rozner and Kiradech Aphibarnrat in the past. His next opponent is Bland, who made a great run at the U.S. Open last year at Torrey Pines. He finds his place in the field mainly through last year’s British Masters victory, which was his first DP World Tour win in his 478th start, but his run didn’t stop there. The Englishman has five other top-five finishes on that tour since, including a runner-up at the Dubai Desert Classic, and will fancy himself against a rusty DeChambeau despite being closer to PGA TOUR Champions eligibility than he will be to some of the American’s drives. GROUP 6: Kevin Kisner, USA, (29) vs. Marc Leishman, Australia, (37), 10:53 a.m. ET Here is a matchup you might think to overlook but, you’d be missing out if you did. Kisner, the 2018 runner-up and 2019 champion of this event is still smarting after missing out on the 2019 Presidents Cup and 2021 Ryder Cup squads despite showing his skills in this format. Now he gets to present his prowess against a player who will undoubtedly be part of Trevor Immelman’s International Team for the 2022 Presidents Cup set for Quail Hollow latter this year. Kisner did represent the U.S. in the 2017 Presidents Cup, and Leishman will remember that appearance. Leishman, with countryman Jason Day, faced off against Kisner and Phil Mickelson over the opening two days. After a halve in Thursday’s Foursomes, their Four-ball match came down to the 18th hole. Mickelson made a midrange birdie before producing a “Three Amigos” celebration dance with Kisner. What is not lost on six-time TOUR winner Leishman is that this came before he had a chance to tie the match with a putt of his own. When he failed to convert his putt, it left a sour taste that no doubt remains today. GROUP 7: Xander Schauffele, USA, (7) vs. Takumi Kanaya, Japan, (56), 12:10 p.m. ET The Olympic gold medalist from the Tokyo Games faces the next star from Japan. Kanaya represents Japan’s best hope now that Hideki Matsuyama is sitting out this week because of a balky back before his Masters defense. This match could help Kanaya in his Presidents Cup candidacy, as well. Kanaya, 23, already is a three-time winner on the Japan Tour and once was the world’s top-ranked amateur. Schauffele has had the chance to burst out of the group stage three times at Austin Country Club but fallen short at the final hurdle each time. Last year, he lost in a sudden-death playoff for the opportunity to advance to the Round of 16. He’s burning to atone. GROUP 2: Collin Morikawa, USA, (2) vs. Robert MacIntyre, Scotland, (61), 12:54 p.m. ET One of the surprises a year ago was Robert MacIntyre getting through to the Round of 16 after collecting just one win in Group 1. The plucky young Scot, now 25, found his way out of the same group as then-world No. 1 Dustin Johnson, Kevin Na and Adam Long despite only beating Long. Ties against Johnson and Na ended up being enough after upset results in other matches. MacIntyre was bounced by Victor Perez in the knockout stage. Now he gets the chance to face Morikawa, the world’s second-ranked player, in a group that also has Sergio Garcia and Jason Kokrak. Morikawa failed to win a match in his tournament debut last season, settling for a halve with J.T. Poston but losing to Max Homa and Billy Horschel in group play. Morikawa has seen MacIntyre before. While they didn’t go head-to-head, both were part of the 2017 Walker Cup where Morikawa’s U.S. team won handsomely over MacIntyre’s Great Britain and Ireland squad. That 2017 U.S. team also featured Scheffler, Cameron Champ, Will Zalatoris, Maverick McNealy, Doc Redman and Doug Ghim. The U.S. rolled, 19-7, at Los Angeles Country Club, site of next year’s U.S. Open. Before a missed cut at THE PLAYERS and T68 last week at Valspar, Morikawa was showing some improved putting to roll to five straight top-10s, including two runers-up. Can Morikawa match up his stellar approach game with his short game as the Masters looms? If so, he could be dangerous here. MacIntyre could prove to be a tougher opponent than paper would indicate, however.

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