Live leaderboard: Tiger eyes lead at Bay Hill

The final event of the West Coast Swing takes the TOUR to Los Angeles and historic Riviera Country Club. Gamers will be more than thrilled that only one course will be in play plus there will be no amateur element. The Riviera Country Club hosts the 92nd edition of the Genesis Open as 144 pros will try and tame “Hogan’s Alley”. Ben Hogan ran rampant here in the latter half of the 1940’s, winning the 1947 and 1948 editions of this event while also picking up the U.S. Open here in the summer of 1948. If that’s not enough course history for you, Tiger Woods made his PGA TOUR debut as a 16-year old amateur at this event in 1992. I’ll also add this was the first event where Jack Nicklaus picked up a check as a professional as that famous picture is always found on the internet this time of year. The Riviera Country Club is revered by the pros and gamers. Both groups are tremendously aware of what they are getting into annually at this event. The George C. Thomas/William P. Bell design and routing hasn’t changed much over the decades as the original has stood the test of time and the modern game. Tom Fazio has cleaned up a few details here and there since 2008 but the pros will have to move the golf ball both directions from the tee and the fairway plus using every club in the bag throughout the round. Without many changes annually, the pros know they can rely on their yardage books (Par 71, 7,322) and experience from previous events without having to navigate any surprises. There is just enough quirk, Poa annua, barranca and kikuyu grass to keep everyone on their toes. Lanny Wadkins mastered four days in a row in 1985 as his 264 (-20) is still the tournament record. Ted Tryba brought this track to its knees in 1991 with a 61. TALE OF THE TAPE Of the last three winners, James Hahn’s victory in 2015 was unusual for a handful of reasons. He beat proven studs Dustin Johnson and Paul Casey in a playoff to take home his first TOUR title. He did so on a track that doesn’t give up much to guys without tons of experience over the 7,332 yards. I’d throw in that the score to make the three-man playoff, six-under-par, was the highest winning total this century. Hahn didn’t use power or precision to the playoff win. He took advantage of his opportunities, got up-and-down and handled his business on the par-four holes. The weather during the week didn’t cooperate either as the temperatures were cool plus fog and rain played their part. Hahn grew up in the East Bay and joined Los Angeles native John Merrick (2013) as the two most recent, first-time winners at Riviera. Astute gamers will point out that the last three multiple winners at Riviera have all been left handed and Masters champions (Mike Weir, Phil Mickelson and Bubba Watson). I’ll also point out that Tom Doak has done plenty of work at Augusta National over the years so that connection could have validity. Watson’s victory noted above was his second, matching the same number of green jackets in his closet. The lefty had claimed his first victory in 2014 by using his power off the tee and accurate iron play. He used the same formula in 2016 to give him the most chances to make birdies and avoid bogeys. He held off Johnson, who began the final round just one shot back, along with Jason Kokrak and Chez Reavie(!), in the final round to claim his second title. Last year Johnson waltzed home after leading by five after 54 holes. The only question last year was how much rain the course would take over Friday and into Saturday. The answer was almost three inches. If there’s anybody I’d want on a soaked, long, difficult course, Johnson would be on the top of that list. He couldn’t finish his third round on Saturday due to the weather so he came back Sunday morning and made three more birdies to stretch his lead. The rain or the delay obviously didn’t bother him one bit as he torched the joint again, picking up his seventh, top-10 finish in 10 starts and his first win. The most exciting part last year was the shootout for second place. The 2012 NCAA Men’s individual champion on this course, Thomas Pieters (Illinois) fired a bogey-free 63 to share second place with Scott Brown while seven other players were within one shot. NOTE: Golfers inside the top 25 in each statistic on the 2016-17 PGA TOUR are listed only if they are scheduled to compete in the Genesis Open. * – Finished inside the top 10 at the Genesis Open since 2013. Par-4 Scoring Rank Golfer 1 *Jordan Spieth 2 Justin Thomas 3 *Paul Casey 6 Lucas Glover 6 *Dustin Johnson 6 Francesco Molinari 6 *Chez Reavie 15 Daniel Berger 15 *Keegan Bradley 15 *Matt Kuchar 15 *Marc Leishman 15 Jamie Lovemark 15 *Kevin Na 15 Kyle Stanley Strokes-Gained: Tee-to-Green Rank Golfer 1 *Dustin Johnson 2 *Jordan Spieth 4 Francesco Molinari 6 Justin Thomas 7 *Paul Casey 8 Rory McIlroy 10 Tony Finau 11 Kyle Stanley 13 Luke List 14 Patrick Cantlay 15 *Marc Leishman 19 *Adam Scott 20 Lucas Glover 23 *Brendan Steele 25 Bud Cauley Bogey Avoidance Rank Golfer 1 *Jordan Spieth 3 *Paul Casey 4 *Dustin Johnson 5 *Chez Reavie 6 Patrick Cantlay 8 *Matt Kuchar 9 *Charles Howell III 10 Lucas Glover 11 *Bill Haas 18 *Marc Leishman 19 Pat Perez 20 Martin Flores 21 Justin Thomas 22 Tony Finau 24 John Huh 25 Ryan Armour Scrambling Rank Golfer 3 *Matt Kuchar 7 *Paul Casey 9 *Bill Haas 10 John Huh 13 *Chez Reavie 18 Pat Perez 21 Adam Hadwin 23 *Dustin Johnson 24 Francesco Molinari 25 *Charles Howell III The winners have shown us that nothing short of a complete bag will be necessary this week. One stat that jumps off the page is driving accuracy and its irrelevance this week. Riviera has some of the most difficult fairways to hit on TOUR so it’s the second shots that will grab my attention. Premium ball-strikers will know where to miss and will have to keep it beneath the hole. Kikuyu grass is the rough of choice this week but is more “nesty” than tall. Poa annua greens will test the patience of the putters for the third time in four weeks on TOUR. For players who don’t find GIR, the kikuyu rough and Poa greens make for a tasty combination in getting up-and-down. Riviera also has some of the most deep, penal bunkers on TOUR so avoiding those will also go a long way this week. Similarly to Pebble Beach last week, Riviera doesn’t hand out much to the inexperienced players. As we can tell by the winners above, experience goes a long way here for a few reasons. The course is plain difficult. It requires the six inches between the ears as well as all 14 clubs in the bag. There are holes and pin placements this week that are for suckers and without a plethora of birdie holes to correct mistakes, avoiding bogey is a good idea. As with most great courses, excellent shots are rewarded while loose ones are punished. Grinding out pars will go a long way this week and taking the appropriate medicine is another benchmark of experience.  Birdies do NOT come fast and furious here as Dustin Johnson led the field with only 21 last year and Watson made only 22 the year before. Patience, grinding and course management are usually hallmarks of experienced players and that’s where I’m looking this week. Rob Bolton’s Power Rankings suggests the weather to be absolutely perfect again this week. If you need more proof on the experience angle, take a look at the average amount of attempts the winners here usually need before picking up the big check. Be sure to look for my post-round recap EMERGENCY 9 each night shortly after the conclusion of play! NOTE: The groups below are comprehensive to assist in data mining. Inclusion doesn’t imply automatic endorsement in every fantasy game as all decisions are specific to your situation. CONFIDENCE MEN BUILDING CONFIDENCE Sorted by best finish, selected golfers who are either finally finding form on the course or are still relatively new to the tournament but have enjoyed some success. OTHER SIGNS OF CONFIDENCE Sorted by most recent top 10s, selected golfers for whom it’s been a few years since their last.

Click here to read the full article…

HONOLULU — Matt Kuchar overcame three early bogeys that cost him the lead with flawless golf and two key birdies on the back nine to close with a 4-under 66 and win the Sony Open in Hawaii for his second PGA TOUR title this season. It wasn’t as easy as his four-shot victory over Andrew Putnam might indicate. Having made only one bogey through 54 holes to build a two-shot lead, Kuchar had three bogeys in his opening five holes Sunday and fell one shot behind Putnam, and he had to make a 10-foot birdie putt at the turn to avoid falling two shots behind. Kuchar caught him with an aggressive pitch up the slope on the par-4 10th hole. They remained tied with five holes to play when Putnam made bogey from a deep bunker left of the 14th green, and Kuchar made a pair of 12-foot birdie putts on the next two holes to seize control. Just like that, his lead was three shots, making for a pleasant walk up the par-5 18th. Kuchar became the first multiple winner on the PGA TOUR this season, having ended a drought of more than four years when he captured the Mayakoba Classic in Mexico last November. It was only the second time in his career Kuchar has won twice in the same season. He won the Match Play Championship and the Memorial in 2013. Now, he has the meat of the season in front of him. “I want to see how great this year can be,” Kuchar said. He finished at 22-under 258, the third-lowest total in Waialae history behind the PGA TOUR record of 253 by Justin Thomas in 2017 and Jimmy Walker’s 72-hole score of 257 when he won in 2015. Putnam, who won his first PGA TOUR title last summer at the Barracuda Championship, didn’t blink until that approach into the bunker that led to his lone bogey, and he couldn’t make enough putts to stay close to Kuchar the rest of the way. He closed with a 68 and moved into the top 50 in the world for the first time in his career. Corey Conners of Canada, who got into the field through a Monday qualifier, had a 64-64 weekend and was among four players who tied for third, though none had a serious chance of challenging what amounted to a two-player race at the top. Even so, the performance was big for Conner, who narrowly missed a full PGA TOUR card last year. Along with his runner-up finish in the Sanderson Farms Championship last fall, he has nearly as many FedExCup points as last year when he finished at No. 130. Marc Leishman (64), Hudson Swafford (64) and Chez Reavie (67) also finished in a tie for third. Davis Love III, who first played the Sony Open in 1986, missed by one shot matching the lowest 72-hole score of his career. His 64-65 weekend gave him a tie for seventh, and he now heads off to Singapore with hopes of earning a spot in The Open Championship. But this day ultimately belonged to Kuchar, who won for the ninth time in his career. He ended the 2018 season earlier than he wanted, failing to reach the TOUR Championship for the first time since 2009 and ending his streak of playing on eight straight teams in the Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup. He won again in Mexico in a Sunday much tighter than he would have preferred, and had a few nervous moments at the start at Waialae. He went long of the second green, leading to bogey. The other two were sloppy — a three-putt across the back of the fourth green, and a wedge into No. 5 that he was begging to get down as soon as it left his club. It hopped into the back bunker, and he missed an 8-foot par putt to lose the lead. From there, however, Kuchar had a birdie chance on the final 13 holes. Kuchar and Putnam were in a bunker short of the green on the par-5 ninth. Putnam went first and it rolled out to 2 inches for birdie. Kuchar came out weakly, but made the 10-foot birdie putt. They traded birdies on the 12th and 13th, and Kuchar took over from there. “It was so uncharacteristic of me,” Kuchar said, referring to his three-putt and bad wedge on No. 5. “But I kept plugging along, and I knew good things were going to happen. … To win two out of three is crazy to comprehend.”

Click here to read the full article…

Click here to read the full article…