Love turns back the clock, fires 63 at Greenbrier

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Justin Thomas birdies 18 the hard way to force a sudden-death playoff, then birdies the same hole to beat Luke List, this time by reaching the green with a daring 5-wood over the water. Welcome to the Monday Finish, where Thomas, 24, tamed tricky PGA National to salt away his eighth PGA TOUR win and seventh in his last 31 starts (23 percent). Here are some takeaways from the week. FIVE OBSERVATIONS 1-Thomas is burnishing his rep as a closer. Much has been said and written about reigning FedExCup champ pulling back into the lead in the current FedExCup standings, and taking no penalty strokes even amid all that wind and water at PGA National, and about moving up to third in the Official World Golf Ranking, ahead of Jordan Spieth and behind only Dustin Johnson and Jon Rahm. That’s all great, but Thomas is especially proud of his clutch play. The Honda marked the ninth time he has gone into the final round at T2 or better on TOUR; he’s won seven of those times. Most clutch, perhaps, was his birdie on the final hole of regulation after getting out of position and needing to get up and down with a gap wedge in his hands from 117 yards. With List on the green in two, Thomas nearly holed his third shot to force the playoff. 2-This could be an epic follow-up to his FedExCup-winning season. Thomas won five times last season, and joins Patton Kizzire as the only multiple winners so far this season. He also joins Tiger Woods, Brandt Snedeker and Spieth as the only reigning FedExCup champs to win multiple times the following season. You have to wonder how far Thomas might go in 2018, especially considering he finished T5 at the 2017 World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship (back this week) and how close he’s been when he hasn’t won. After winning THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES, he was T22 at the Sentry Tournament of Champions, T14 at the Sony Open in Hawaii, T17 at the Waste Management Phoenix Open and T9 at the Genesis Open.  “I was four [bad] holes away from probably winning Phoenix,â€� Thomas said. “One round away from having a great chance to win L.A. Sony, just a cold putter away from having a great chance to win that. Kapalua, I wasn’t really close. Actually, I wasn’t remotely close (laughter). I was a little rusty there.â€� 3-Luke List should be encouraged. His runner-up finish was his best finish on TOUR, and his 3-under back nine came after he made bogeys at two of his first four holes. “I’ve been in situations, maybe not in the final round, where I’ve gotten off to a slow start and that’s when why you are brain starts spinning a little bit negatively,â€� List said. “I was able to kind of bring myself back in.â€� List credited an Aussie Rules Football player named Brent Stevens, nicknamed Moose, for helping him with his mental game (List’s caddie introduced them.) Just as helpful have been his matches against recent TOUR winner Patrick Cantlay, who like List plays out of Virginia Country Club in Long Beach, Calif., and is coached by Jamie Mulligan. Even before the Honda, John Cook, who also plays out of the laid-back club, said List appeared to be “right on the vergeâ€� and “about ready to step into that level that Patrick has touched a bit.â€� 4-Tiger Woods is building up to something. Although his goal was to get into the field at this week’s WGC-Mexico Championship (he needed to win), Woods was pleased after hovering just out of contention before finishing 12th at even par. The Honda marked the first time he’s played in consecutive weeks since back-fusion surgery last spring, and amid other superlatives, he was third in driving distance (319.1). “I didn’t really know what to expect for the year,â€� Woods said after moving up 49 spots to 130th in the FedExCup. “I had not gone through this before. This is all new. I had to make some pretty big changes in my swing and my feels.â€� The best indication of his seriousness: He usually texts Thomas when the latter is in contention. Not this time. “Got crickets last night,â€� Thomas said to laughter. “I knew he had one thing in mind, and we both had the same thing in mind, so I thought that was pretty funny.â€� 5-Sam Burns was a delight. The LSU product and Web.com Tour rookie had never met Tiger Woods and said he didn’t even remember his opening tee shot, so surreal was the moment. “You see the guy on TV, you see him all over the place and you’re standing there next to him on the tee box and you’re like, that’s Tiger Woods,â€� Burns said. “We had a blast. He was super nice. Very encouraging. I think we’re all happy to see him back playing golf.â€� Best of all: Burns, 22, shot one of just two bogey-free rounds Sunday (68) to tie for eighth, earning him a spot in the field at next week’s Valspar Championship. Asked how many text messages he had on his phone after the final round of the Honda, Burns said, “448.â€� FIVE INSIGHTS 1-Thomas gives up some size to List, but still led the field in driving distance (320.9 yards), with List in second (319.9). That was hardly the only way in which the winner and runner-up were alike, statistically speaking. Thomas was slightly more accurate off the tee at 55.36 percent (T60) to List’s 53.57 percent (T65); they tied for 14th in greens in regulation (65.28 percent); and Thomas led the field in scrambling (84 percent), with List second (80 percent). List putted better, finishing ninth in strokes gained: putting (1.254) to Thomas’ 28th (.521). 2-Alex Noren’s first TOUR victory seems almost inevitable, and sooner rather than later. He shot a final-round 67 despite failing to birdie 18, and in registering his second top-three finish in his last four TOUR starts, he once again showed his consistency. Noren tied for eighth in driving accuracy (69.64 percent) and greens in regulation (68.06 percent), and was third in strokes gained: putting (1.754). His solo third moved him up to 19th in the FedExCup standings. 3-Tommy Fleetwood three-putted for bogey at 14 and then bogeyed 15, too, ultimately finishing two out of the playoff after a 69. But the Englishman, who was making his first-ever start at the Honda, tied for first in driving accuracy (75 percent). He simply didn’t get it done around the greens, finishing 10th in scrambling (68 percent) and 41st in strokes gained: putting (.173).     4-Woods led the field in proximity to the hole on approach shots (just over 29 feet), but was done in by the Bear Trap holes (15-17). Although he came into the Honda having played that difficult stretch in 2-over-par in his 11 previous rounds, it was a far different story this time. He was 8-over on those holes, with two water balls, both at the par-3 15th. 5-Speaking of the Bear Trap, the par-3 17th was the toughest hole all week, giving players fits as they compiled a 3.533 stroke average. The par-3 15th was the second hardest (3.391), with the 16th hole the fourth most difficult (4.262). You’d have to say the three-hole stretch lived up to its name. But the Bear Trap isn’t everything. Just one player, Andrew Novak, made par or better on those holes all four rounds, and he tied for 57th place.  

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Shane Lowry forever will celebrate his victory at The Open Championship at Royal Portrush in 2019, but even though the pandemic canceled last year’s edition of the oldest major, if all you remembered were images and stories of the after-party in his native Dublin, you’d understand why it could have taken two years to simmer down. Lowry’s title in Northern Ireland was just as popular a coronation as the lone major victory of Northern Ireland’s Darren Clarke at Royal St. George’s in 2011, albeit for very different reasons. Indeed, both Irishmen would be prominently positioned in a Power Rankings consisting of blokes with whom you’d trade barbs over a pint or three, but Clarke was 42 years of age and still in the throes of life without his wife, Heather, who died of cancer five years prior. The 149th staging of The Open returns to Royal St. George’s this week. It’s the 15th time that it’s hosted. Clarke and Lowry are in the field of 156 that required the R&A to play every club in its bag to construct. For more on that, the backdrop, the weather – naturally – and other details, continue reading below the expanded ranking of projected contenders. RELATED: Nine things to know about Royal St. George’s | How the field qualified POWER RANKINGS: THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP Bryson DeChambeau, Tyrrell Hatton, Webb Simpson, Sergio Garcia, Daniel Berger and Tommy Fleetwood will be among the notables reviewed in Tuesday’s Fantasy Insider. If you’re among the devotees who follows how fields are built, then you’ve witnessed one of the busiest turnstiles in history. Including past champions who have been returning regularly, as of Monday there have been 21 early withdrawals. Many but not all have been connected to complications caused by COVID-19, but the R&A has solved the puzzle on how to present the strongest field available, and an international smattering of talent at that. (For the entire field and the 21 who opted out, read Qualifiers. Of those committed, 30 competed in the 2011 Open Championship at Royal St. George’s. Like it did that year and will again this week, the track in Sandwich – as the seabird flies, the town in southeastern England is closer to France than it is to London – will test at a par of 70. The seventh and 14th hole serve as the par 5s. The course tips at 7,189 yards, down 22 yards from a decade ago. Averaging 73.018 in 2011, Royal St. George’s ranked as the hardest course in relation to par of all that season. When it was laid out as a par 71 in 2003 – the fourth hole was a par 5 – it was even more difficult at 3.802 strokes over par. This is expected in this tournament. Unpredictable lies are the backbone to the links experience, even on the shortest grass, and the uncertainty of ever-changing conditions atmospherically deliver 1-2 punches throughout. Unlike most links layouts, Royal St. George’s consists of a front nine that snakes out to the sea with a recoil on the inward side. There also is uncharacteristic separation in between holes, and six are adjacent to the coast, although, and of course, all 18 are subject to the wind. PGATOUR.com’s Ben Everill is on site and assembled a helpful guide in “Nine Things to Know.” Courses in The Open rota are as much about execution and experience as they are about patience and understanding. You take what it gives, you don’t force the issue and you walk away with a smile when you connect with the relative successes earned. Baked into all of that is a belief that reducing errors is more important than circling par breakers. Prevailing winds will push in from the north and are forecast to be sustained at 10-15 mph for the first and final rounds. They’ll freshen a bit in between. Daytime highs will open in the low 70s before retreating into the 60s for the remainder. Most surprisingly, rain is not expected. That is not a misprint. In addition to the Claret Jug, the champion will receive 600 FedExCup points, $2.07 million, exemptions into The Open through the age of 60, exemptions into the next five editions of the other three majors and a five-year membership exemption on the PGA TOUR. ROB BOLTON’S SCHEDULE PGATOUR.COM’s Fantasy Insider Rob Bolton recaps and previews every tournament from numerous angles. Look for his following contributions as scheduled. MONDAY: Power Rankings TUESDAY*: Sleepers; Fantasy Insider SUNDAY: Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Medical Extensions, Rookie Watch * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf, which also publishes on Tuesday.

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