List wins Sanderson Farms after 5-way playoff

POTOMAC, Maryland – A tiny square of chocolate sat nestled in cupcake frosting. Rory McIlroy, celebrating his 33rd birthday at the Wells Fargo Championship pro-am at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm, plucked the decorative part off the top and ate it. He thanked everyone and discretely left the cupcake under a tent next to the 10th tee. RELATED: McIlroy extends agreement with TaylorMade | McIlroy looks to improve wedge play “I try not to eat a lot of that stuff,” he said on the walk to his pre-tournament press conference. A 22-year-old McIlroy might have eaten the whole cupcake. That’s how old he was when he won the 2011 U.S. Open at nearby Congressional Country Club, which on Wednesday he called “the best week of golf I’ve ever played in my life.” Now, though, he’s older, and wiser. He’s an athlete, and athletes don’t often eat that stuff. McIlroy drove past a familiar looking course on his way to TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm for the first time Tuesday. Familiar, he realized with a start, because it was Congressional, the place where he rebounded from his Masters meltdown with an emphatic statement win. Since then, of course, he’s won nearly all the important hardware, at THE PLAYERS Championship, PGA Championship (twice), Open Championship. He’s the only other player besides Tiger Woods to win the FedExCup twice. Somehow, though, he’d never had occasion to play TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm. He hadn’t even heard much about it. “But from what I’ve seen the last couple days,” he said, “I really like it … green complexes are tricky, pretty small targets, the rough maybe isn’t up as much as they usually have it here because of the time of year. “But overall, really solid test,” he continued. “Looking forward to getting out there.” The usual Wells Fargo venue, Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina, is busy preparing for the Presidents Cup, but rest assured, McIlroy, who won the Wells Fargo for the third time a year ago, knows how to adapt. He also knows how to relate. He was the pro-am partner of choice for the four HBCU graduates and former First Tee kids who got him for the front nine. McIlroy made sure everyone walked away smiling, and offered tips to at least one of his young playing partners, Lennard Long of Morehouse College, now a First Tee coach. “Super friendly,” Long said. “Super just helpful. Asked him some tips for chipping and he was willing to give them to me, so I’m going to take them back and give them to our kids when I coach them so they’re really appreciative of it.” None of this should be surprising. McIlroy could be No. 1 in Strokes Gained: Self-awareness. A 20-time PGA TOUR winner, 11th in the FedExCup, seventh in the world, he is also a husband (Erica) and father (Poppy). He’s coming off a three-week break, his last competitive round a wild 64 at the Masters that vaulted him to second place, his best-ever finish at Augusta. He and playing partner Collin Morikawa each holed out from a greenside bunker on 18, touching off a wild celebration, after which McIlroy said he’d never had so much fun playing golf. Now he hopes to build on that success, as he’s on the precipice of playing six times in the next eight weeks. Those eight weeks should begin to tell us if anyone can challenge FedExCup leader Scottie Scheffler. Whatever shakes out between the ropes, McIlroy is sure to command eyeballs. He has become one of the game’s elder statesmen (albeit a young one), a Player Director on the PGA TOUR policy board who isn’t afraid to speak his mind. “He’s a leader I think for us in a lot of ways,” said Webb Simpson. “Very articulate. And he’s been a global player for a long time, so I think his opinions matter. Him being on the board now, I think he brings a lot to the table. He’s certainly a guy who I think has been fun to listen to because he’s not just going to give you the right answers, he’s going to give you what he thinks.” Small example: Saturated from overnight rain, TPC Potomac would seem to offer the kind of soft targets that suit McIlroy nicely. Those were the conditions, after all, when he won his first major at that 2011 U.S. Open. Asked about the favorable conditions, though, he offered the gentle reminder that he’s won 30 trophies worldwide, not all of them on soggy grass. Instead of being chastened, though, the assembled journalists laughed right along with him. Still, Congressional really was special, and McIlroy planned to drop in. “We’ll see if I can rekindle some of those vibes from 11 years ago,” he said of the Wednesday afternoon visit, the first time he will have gone back to Congressional since participating in a First Tee clinic there a few years ago. Coming off the time of his life at the Masters, defending at his beloved Wells Fargo, and on his birthday, no less, McIlroy is in his element, that enviable, happy place where all the vibes are good and all the cupcakes fully frosted.

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The PGA TOUR uses a standardized system for determining event fields, based off the current season’s Priority Ranking while also including additional exemption and qualifying categories. Field sizes can vary by event, as can the number of event-specific exemptions. Fully exempt PGA TOUR members are guaranteed entry into all full-field events, with various conditional categories subject to periodic reshuffles based upon FedExCup Points accrued throughout the season. Categories with ‘reshuffle’ notation indicate that a reshuffle period has occurred. Wells Fargo Championship field list as of Friday, April 29th at 5 p.m. ET: Check here for updates. Winner of U.S. Open Championship (five-year exemption) Gary Woodland Winner of THE PLAYERS Championship (five-year exemption) Jason Day Si Woo Kim Rory McIlroy Webb Simpson Winner of Masters Tournament (five-year exemption) Sergio Garcia Patrick Reed Winner of The Open (five-year exemption) Francesco Molinari Winner of World Golf Championships event (three-year exemption) Abraham Ancer Winner of Arnold Palmer Invitational, Memorial Tournament and Genesis Invitational (three-year exemption) Tyrrell Hatton Max Homa PGA TOUR tournament winner (two-year exemption) Paul Casey Stewart Cink Corey Conners Joel Dahmen Cam Davis Tyler Duncan Tony Finau Rickie Fowler Dylan Frittelli Lucas Glover Branden Grace Lanto Griffin Jim Herman Matt Jones Sung Kang Matt Kuchar Martin Laird Nate Lashley K.H. Lee Marc Leishman Luke List Adam Long Keith Mitchell C.T. Pan J.T. Poston Seamus Power Chad Ramey Chez Reavie Sepp Straka Nick Taylor Michael Thompson Martin Trainer Kevin Tway Erik van Rooyen Richy Werenski Matthew Wolff Career money exemption Luke Donald Bill Haas Rory Sabbatini Nick Watney * Sponsor’s exemption (Korn Ferry Tour Finals) Jacob Bridgeman Eugenio Lopez-Chacarra Sponsor’s exemption (members not otherwise exempt) Wesley Bryan Johnson Wagner Sponsor’s exemption (unrestricted) Ben Martin Brandon Matthews Gregory Odom, Jr. PGA Section Champion\Player of the Year. Larkin Gross Past Champion of Wells Fargo Championship Brian Harman Top 125 on prior season’s FedExCup Charley Hoffman Keegan Bradley Charl Schwartzel Russell Henley Jhonattan Vegas Kevin Streelman Harry Higgs Mackenzie Hughes Matt Fitzpatrick Troy Merritt Pat Perez Andrew Putnam Doug Ghim Brandon Hagy Peter Malnati Adam Schenk Kramer Hickok Brian Stuard Henrik Norlander Doc Redman Roger Sloan Hank Lebioda Denny McCarthy Brendan Steele James Hahn Zach Johnson Russell Knox Matt Wallace Sam Ryder Matthew NeSmith Scott Piercy Anirban Lahiri Brice Garnett Chesson Hadley # Major medical extension Danny Lee William McGirt Morgan Hoffmann Seung-Yul Noh Jonas Blixt Korn Ferry Tour Points winners (The 25 and The Finals 25) Stephan Jaeger Joseph Bramlett Three-Victory Promotion via Korn Ferry Tour Mito Pereira Korn Ferry Tour graduates via The 25 and The Finals 25 (reshuffled) Cameron Young Davis Riley Alex Smalley Hayden Buckley Lee Hodges Matthias Schwab Aaron Rai Taylor Moore Max McGreevy Vince Whaley Adam Svensson Kurt Kitayama David Lipsky Greyson Sigg John Huh Trey Mullinax Brandon Wu Austin Smotherman Andrew Novak Curtis Thompson Paul Barjon Seth Reeves Justin Lower Dylan Wu Ben Kohles Austin Cook Callum Tarren Nick Hardy Scott Gutschewski Jared Wolfe Kelly Kraft Peter Uihlein David Skinns Michael Gligic Kiradech Aphibarnrat Dawie van der Walt Brett Drewitt Joshua Creel Nos. 126-150 on prior season’s FedExCup Points List (reshuffled) Beau Hossler Mark Hubbard Cameron Percy Vaughn Taylor Ryan Armour Chase Seiffert Satoshi Kodaira Jim Knous Camilo Villegas Bo Van Pelt Bo Hoag The PGA TOUR uses a standardized system for determining event fields, based off the current season’s Priority Ranking while also including additional exemption and qualifying categories. Field sizes can vary by event, as can the number of event-specific exemptions. Fully exempt PGA TOUR members are guaranteed entry into all full-field events, with various conditional categories subject to periodic reshuffles based upon FedExCup Points accrued throughout the season. Categories with ‘reshuffle’ notation indicate that a reshuffle period has occurred. * = If all prior year Korn Ferry Tour graduates are eligible for event, exemptions become unrestricted # = Latest medical extension information can be found here. $ = Category breakdown can be found here.

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Zach Johnson will captain the United States team at the 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone G&CC in Rome, Italy, the PGA of America announced Monday morning. Johnson, 46, has competed for the United States on five Ryder Cup teams, as part of a sparkling career that has included 12 PGA TOUR victories and two major championship titles. The native of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, honed his game on mini-tours and the Korn Ferry Tour, where he was named 2003 Player of the Year, before earning his PGA TOUR card for 2004 and never looking back. Johnson has made 455 career PGA TOUR starts, recording 32 top-three finishes among 189 top-25s, consistency a hallmark of his career. The Drake University alum has compiled an 8-7-2 record across his Ryder Cup career, including a 3-1-1 mark in singles competition. Johnson has also represented the United States in four Presidents Cup competitions, compiling a 10-6-1 record, including a 2-2 mark in singles. The 2023 Ryder Cup will be contested Sept. 29 – Oct. 1 of next year, with the United States contingent aiming to record its first victory on European soil since 1993 at The Belfry in England. Last year’s Ryder Cup was contested at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin, with Steve Stricker captaining the United States to a 19-9 triumph. Johnson has served as an assistant captain for each of the last two United States Ryder Cup teams.

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