The PGA Tour is on hiatus amid the coronavirus shutdown, but Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson might just have a plan to help fill the gap.
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A strange thing has developed for the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide. Tiger Woods has risen as a default play. But first, I was surprised at the minimal outcry that Rory McIlroy sat No. 1 in my Power Rankings on Monday. I’m never provocative on purpose, but I can understand how it can appear that way from the other side. In a field loaded with potential No. 1s, there’s reason why he doesn’t deserve the top spot. So be it. The more relevant narrative in the context of the Power Rankings is who wasn’t plucked from this loaded field of 120 at Muirfield Village, but that’s a different debate. From McIlroy all the way down to Rickie Fowler at No. 7, there are no wrong answers for One & Doners. The problem is, none stands apart from the others for this week’s fit. So, what we have is a genuine seven-course meal from which to choose our favorite based on the traditional variables like overall league position, available golfers and length of your season. If Justin Rose (No. 4) wasn’t fresh off a convincing victory, he’d make a lot of sense. In a vacuum, he’s perfect for those in pursuit, and I just might have taken that bite if there wasn’t a boatload of options. Behemoths like Fowler, Justin Thomas (No. 2), Jason Day (No. 5) and Dustin Johnson (No. 6) are coveted almost everywhere, of course, and I wouldn’t talk you out of any, but again, there’s no reason to pitch you hard on any, either. So, pivot to your long-range planning. For example, I’m reserving Fowler for the U.S. Open. I’ve been saving him for a major and he’s gushed about Shinnecock Hills. That leaves Marc Leishman (No. 3) among the subset. Unless you’re targeting him for The Open Championship, he’s the ideal man for the job at Muirfield Village. The wind might even blow a bit early in the tournament. C’mon Aussie! At No. 8 in the Power Rankings is Woods. He’s the bridge to the bottom seven on the page, including Tony Finau (No. 9), Emiliano Grillo (No. 11), Jordan Spieth (No. 12), Matt Kuchar (No. 13) and defending champion Jason Dufner (No. 15). While I’ll give you that Finau and Grillo present a lot like Leishman, there are concerns about the other guys. That brings us back to Woods. I went on the record on multiple media platforms before the Hero World Challenge, later in December and early in 2018 that we need to let Woods come to us, impossible as that might sound. Successful gamers understand that value of patience and timing. We invest with our heads, not our hearts. We listen to the negative rhetoric (for honesty) and dismiss the positive (as obvious self-belief). After Woods decided that he could commit to a regular schedule of competition, and then added the Valspar Championship because he missed the cut at the Genesis Open, we were encouraged. When he finished T2-T5 at Copperhead and Bay Hill in consecutive weeks, we were convinced that he belonged back on the board. But it wasn’t until after he polished off a T11 at THE PLAYERS with refreshing candor about the improved state of his game – both physically and mentally – and an assurance that he was all the way back with his competitive feel when were we sold. Since THE PLAYERS, I’ve added the Memorial to his short list of Future Possibilities. It slots behind the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, but he’s yet to qualify for a final spin at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio. As much as we believe that he’ll be there, he’s the guy who fills the blank at the Memorial. And who knows, he just might give your heart what it wants, too. Two-man gamers can roll out of bed and find the target in the dark this week. Kevin Streelman, Luke List, Kyle Stanley and Peter Uihlein are raising their hands. FUTURE POSSIBILITIES NOTE: Select golfers committed to the tournament are listed alphabetically. Future tournaments are sorted chronologically and reflect previous success on the courses on which the tournaments will be held in 2017-18. The numerical values in parentheses represent the order of relative confidence of where to use each golfer if multiple sites are listed (e.g. 1 for strongest, 2 for next-strongest and so on). To present weighted confidence in real time, numerical values will not change all season no matter how many tournament remain listed for each golfer. All are pending golfer commitment. Kevin Chappell … St. Jude (5); WGC-Bridgestone (2); Dell Technologies (3) Jason Day … U.S. Open (2); Canadian (11); WGC-Bridgestone (9); PGA Championship (1); THE NORTHERN TRUST (8); Dell Technologies (5) Jason Dufner … Memorial (3; defending); U.S. Open (4); Wyndham (6); TOUR Championship (7) Tony Finau … Memorial (3); Greenbrier (2); Canadian (4) Rickie Fowler … WGC-Bridgestone (3); THE NORTHERN TRUST (10); Dell Technologies (6) Branden Grace … U.S. Open (4); WGC-Bridgestone (3) Bill Haas … Wyndham (2) Russell Henley … Greenbrier (2) Charley Hoffman … Travelers (2); Canadian (3) J.B. Holmes … Greenbrier (5) Billy Horschel … St. Jude (1); TOUR Championship (4) Dustin Johnson … Memorial (12); St. Jude (8); U.S. Open (13); Canadian (10); WGC-Bridgestone (14); PGA Championship (9); Dell Technologies (11); TOUR Championship (6) Zach Johnson … John Deere (1); Open Championship (5); WGC-Bridgestone (6); TOUR Championship (8) Kevin Kisner … Memorial (5); Wyndham (6) Russell Knox … Dell Technologies (7) Matt Kuchar … Memorial (2); Canadian (3); WGC-Bridgestone (7); THE NORTHERN TRUST (9) Martin Laird … Barracuda (1) Marc Leishman … Memorial (5); Travelers (2); Open Championship (1) Hideki Matsuyama … Memorial (10); U.S. Open (6); WGC-Bridgestone (8; defending) William McGirt … Memorial (4) Rory McIlroy … Memorial (9); Open Championship (4); WGC-Bridgestone (7); Dell Technologies (5); TOUR Championship (3) Phil Mickelson … St. Jude (1); Open Championship (5) Ryan Moore … Travelers (2); John Deere (3); TOUR Championship (6) Kevin Na … Memorial (10); John Deere (9); Wyndham (3); THE NORTHERN TRUST (11) Louis Oosthuizen … U.S. Open (5); PGA Championship (4); Dell Technologies (3) Patrick Reed … Travelers (5); PGA Championship (8); Wyndham (7); THE NORTHERN TRUST (9); Dell Technologies (2) Justin Rose … Memorial (6); Open Championship (8); WGC-Bridgestone (7); TOUR Championship (2) Charl Schwartzel … Memorial (4); U.S. Open (5); Open Championship (6); WGC-Bridgestone (2) Adam Scott … U.S. Open (10); Open Championship (8); WGC-Bridgestone (3); Dell Technologies (9); TOUR Championship (6) Jordan Spieth … Travelers (6; defending); John Deere (7); Open Championship (9; defending); WGC-Bridgestone (10); TOUR Championship (4) Henrik Stenson … Open Championship (6); WGC-Bridgestone (4); PGA Championship (7); Wyndham (8; defending); Dell Technologies (9); TOUR Championship (2) Kevin Streelman … Memorial (1); Travelers (2) Justin Thomas … Dell Technologies (6; defending); TOUR Championship (3) Tiger Woods … Memorial (4); WGC-Bridgestone (3)
KAPALUA, Hawaii – Justin Thomas looked anything but a winner. Slumped in the interview chair. Tired. A little disheveled. Without a smile. The only clue he’d just won for the 12th time on the PGA TOUR was the beautiful glass trophy shaped in a wave with a whale tail diving in sitting on the floor next to him. Thomas had, in fact, just won the Sentry Tournament of Champions, for the second time no less, to take ownership as the most prolific TOUR winner of those in their 20s. It took three extra holes, but he had indeed prevailed over Patrick Reed and Xander Schauffele. He could be forgiven for his lethargy. The final few hours of a tough week which included wild winds and weather throughout were brutal on his nerves. He’d looked anything but a winner on the last few holes in regulation and even early in the playoff, just as he did now. And the emotional rollercoaster had worn him down. It’s hard to fathom your achievements in those circumstances so instantaneously. Earlier he had looked a winner for sure. Starting the day one back of Schauffele, he wrestled the lead at the ninth hole as he went through a stretch of four straight birdies (8-11) to extend his buffer. The lead was two with three holes to play, but a bogey on 16 cut it in half. Still, on the last, the par-5 finisher, Thomas had a one-shot advantage. He hit a poor drive but then inexplicably hit his second shot into the penalty area when he could have laid up safely. When he missed his eight-foot par putt, he thought it was over. Related: Leaderboard | What’s in Thomas’ bag? But Schauffele missed from closer and a playoff it would be. He dodged Reed missing putts to win on the first and second playoff holes before making birdie on the third to clinch. “The emotions and how I was winning and then I was barely winning and then I was losing and then I barely got in a playoff… that takes a lot out of you. I probably don’t seem as elated as I might be or as I would hope to be,â€� Thomas confirmed. “But it’ll just take a little bit. Once I get back to the hotel hopefully with my family, I’ll be able to enjoy it a little bit and we’ll talk about it. But relief is definitely a word that comes to mind. “I truly felt like through 15 holes it was one of the best rounds I had played. I was in such control tee to green. I was putting it beautifully, my irons were awesome, and I hit a really good drive on 16, just the wind took it more, and then 18 was just a disaster. I really didn’t hit very many good shots on the hole. But it worked out.â€� In winning, Thomas rocketed to the top of the FedExCup standings. He joined Tiger Woods (34) and Jack Nicklaus (20) as the only players with 12 or more PGA TOUR wins before the age of 27 in the last 60 years. It is his second win this season, and third in his last six TOUR starts. And he joined Stuart Appleby (3), Geoff Ogilvy (2) and Dustin Johnson (2) as multiple winners of the Sentry Tournament of Champions since the event moved to The Plantation Course at Kapalua in 1999. Thomas had started the week saying he was disappointed he hadn’t won more. Now he is on his way to rectifying that. “It means a lot. A decent amount of them I got fortunate like I did today. That’s what happens when you win. Stuff goes your way,â€� Thomas said. “It’s not supposed to be that hard. I know it’s hard, but I made it about five times as hard as it needed to be. Obviously you have to play well and make some putts and hit some shots, but at the end of the day, you need stuff to go your way, and it definitely did today, and it feels great. “It’s another one down. I want to keep building on that, and I feel like I’m really just trying to get better every year, and we’re improving in some of the right areas. Next week we will try to get to 13.â€� Of course the last time he won at Kapalua, in 2017, he almost let it slip to Hideki Matsuyama. But he went to the Sony Open and started with a 59. He would win that event with a record-low score. Perhaps if he recreates that, we might see a bigger grin.
Phil Mickelson will play on the PGA TOUR Champions after he turns 50 this June. The only question is how long after he turns 50. For now, Mickelson said as he met with reporters at The American Express tournament in Palm Desert on Wednesday, he wants to keep battling younger players on the PGA TOUR. “I haven’t thought too much about it,â€� said Mickelson, who won TOUR events the last two years but suffered a marked drop-off after capturing the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am early last season. “And I won’t until I see how the first six months of this year go, because I’ve had this, I’ve had kind of a lot of great things happen that lead me to be encouraged about the year and I’m curious to see how the first six months go. RELATED:  What you need to know for The American Express | Power Rankings “It’s nice to have the option to move over to another tour,â€� he added, “but it’s also nice to have the challenge of competing out here.â€� Mickelson this year steps into the host role of The American Express, a tournament he has won twice and nearly won last year, but what he’s equally excited about is his new diet and fitness regimen that has seen him shed pounds and add clubhead speed. He is curious to see how his new lease on life translates on the scorecard. “When I stop hitting bombs, I’ll play the Champions Tour,â€� he said, “but I’m hitting some crazy bombs right now. No, I still have speed, I still, there’s no reason I couldn’t play out here. “I hit the ball every bit as far,â€� he added. “Usually as guys get in their 40s they regress; I had a five, six mile an hour club head speed increase last year. A little bit of commitment in the gym, a little bit of work ethic and all of a sudden there’s no reason that physically I can’t do today what I did 15, 20 years ago. In fact I’m doing more.â€� Mickelson has enjoyed great success in California, where he is a cumulative 601 under par in TOUR events since 1983, which trails only Fred Couples. “There’s a chance that if I do what I expect then I may end up competing for years out here,â€� Mickelson said. “And there’s a chance that maybe I am misguided in my thinking and that I should move over. But a lot will be decided or seen in the first six months, because I feel like I’m ready to play.â€�
