LPGA adding 2 events on West Coast for 2018

Click here to read the full article…

JACKSON, Miss. – It was a simple fix. It usually is. Cameron Champ was unhappy with his ball-striking after the second round of the Sanderson Farms Championship. He FaceTimed his coach, Sean Foley, in search of an answer. “I just get really short with my backswing and I don’t allow enough time to lay it off at the top,â€� Champ said. “I get swiping it left.â€� He started Saturday with a solid warm-up session on the range. He ended it with a four-shot lead in just his second start as a TOUR member. “I was able to give myself a lot of chances,â€� he said. The kid from California who’s gained attention for his prodigious tee shots now has a chance to be known by a more meaningful title. “PGA TOUR winner.â€� His incredible length has already landed him on the cover of Golf Digest. No TOUR player wants to be a sideshow, though. They want to be known for shooting the lowest score. That’s what truly matters. “It’s great you can hit it far, but if other parts of your game aren’t good you’re not going to be able to play the game,â€� Champ said Thursday, after shooting a first-round 65 at the Country Club of Jackson. He has held at least a share of the lead after each round this week. He’s now four ahead with just 18 holes remaining at the Country Club of Jackson. Second-year TOUR player Corey Conners, who got married last week in Canada, is his closest pursuer. It takes more than long tee shots to amass such a large 54-hole lead. He’s missed just 10 greens this week while showing exceptional skill with the shortest club in his bag. He’s eighth in Strokes Gained: Putting, making nearly half of the putts he’s faced from 10-20 feet this week. He’s 4 for 7 from 10-15 feet. The advantage he has on the tee shouldn’t be underrated, though. He leads the field in driving distance, averaging nearly 307 yards on all tee shots. Nine of his 14 tee shots traveled longer than 310 yards in Saturday’s warm conditions, including six over 320. He confirms what the Strokes Gained stats have shown us. Length off the tee is an invaluable asset. Just look at the way he has decimated the par-5s on this century-old layout. He’s birdied 10 of the 12 he’s played. On Saturday, Champ hit iron into all four. Twice he hit 8-iron. His physical skills are obvious. He displayed internal fortitude, as well, on Saturday. He was clinging to a one-shot lead when he came to the par-4 12th hole, the hardest on the course in the third round. His wedge shot from the rough took a big bounce and stopped some 20 yards over the green. His ball was laying on a tight lie and he was staring at a lake on the other side of the putting surface. Champ opted for the safe play, a bump-and-run, but his chip shot stopped short of the green. He holed the next one for an unlikely par. He took control of the tournament with birdies on the next three holes. He parred the final three for a 64. The rookie matched the day’s low score while playing in the final group for the first time. He was still an amateur this time last year, preparing for the second stage of Q-School after helping the United States dominate the Walker Cup at Los Angeles Country Club. He successfully navigated Q-School, then won on the Web.com Tour in 2018. His first taste of the spotlight came at last year’s U.S. Open at Erin Hills. He was in the top 10 at the halfway point before finishing T32. “That was probably the most nervous I’ve ever been,â€� Champ said. “I feel like I’ve grown as a player and understand how to approach the game when you’re in this position.â€� His experience will help him in his pursuit of his first PGA TOUR title. His length won’t hurt, either.

Click here to read the full article…

Tiger Woods revisits the hometown venue that has proven the PGA TOUR’s toughest for him to crack – 10 visits without victory – for the second start in 2018. The strongest field yet in 2018 awaits, though, including five international standouts making their first U.S. starts of the year. Dustin Johnson is back to defend the title that launched him into last year’s sizzling spring, winning three consecutive starts leading into the Masters. Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas and Rory McIlroy give the lineup four of the top eight men in the Official World Golf Ranking. GENESIS OPEN: See the star-studded field FIELD NOTES: Thomas Pieters, who shared runner-up honors last year as a sponsor exemption, and 2017 Race to Dubai champion Tommy Fleetwood headline a dribble of European-based pros making their way across for the West Coast finale. … The list also includes China’s Haotong Li, fresh off a win in Dubai, along with Martin Kaymer. … All told, the Riviera roster features 14 of the top 25 in the OWGR. … Former Masters champ Charl Schwartzel also makes his first start on U.S. soil since last year’s FedExCup Playoffs. FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 points. STORYLINES: Woods ends an 11-year absence from Riviera, going back to a 2006 visit cut short by the flu bug. His best finish there was second in 1999, two shots behind Ernie Els. He also lost a 1998 playoff to Billy Mayfair, though that edition was held at Valencia CC. … Johnson hasn’t finished lower than fourth in his past four visits to Riviera. Prior to last year’s win, he lost a 2015 playoff and was runner-up again in 2014. … Bubba Watson, winner in 2014 and ’16, will seek a third straight Riviera win in even-numbered years. … Cameron Champ, the amateur who stood two shots off the lead after 36 holes of last summer’s U.S. Open, will play on the tournament’s Charlie Sifford Exemption to promote diversity. Champ turned pro after tying for 32nd at Erin Hills. … The top 50 in the OWGR after the Genesis Open can make plans for next month’s World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship. COURSE: Riviera Country Club, 7,322 yards, par 71. A star setting from its 1927 opening when Douglas Fairbanks and Charlie Chaplin graced its fairways, Riviera hosted its first Los Angeles Open in 1929 and was site of the U.S. Open’s first West Coast venture (1948). Designer George Thomas studied 15 possible layouts before settling on one that now features some of the TOUR’s most iconic holes. The par-3 sixth is famed for its bunker in the middle of the green, and No. 10 is widely considered the best drivable par-4 in golf. Old-timers will remember Riviera as “Hogan’s Alley,â€� as Ben Hogan notched three wins in an 18-month span – the 1948 U.S. Open and two L.A. Opens that preceded it. Last summer, Doc Redman won the first U.S. Amateur held at Riviera. 72-HOLE RECORD: 264, Lanny Wadkins (1985). 18-HOLE RECORD: 61, George Archer (3rd round, 1983 at Rancho Park GC), Ted Tryba (3rd round, 1999 at Riviera CC). LAST YEAR: Johnson turned a marathon Sunday into a coronation, cruising to a five-stroke triumph that lifted him to No. 1 in the world rankings. Though three days of rain and fog forced Johnson and others to play 36 holes on the final day, he made the most of it with a third-round 64 that opened a five-shot margin on his nearest pursuers. The lead grew to nine at one point in the final round before he eased off the pedal. The win was Johnson’s fourth in a nine-month span beginning with the U.S. Open, vaulting him past Jason Day atop the rankings. He also joined Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods as the only men to notch a win in each of their first 10 PGA TOUR seasons. Pieters, who closed with a 63, and Scott Brown (67) shared second. HOW TO FOLLOW TELEVISION: Thursday, 2-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Friday, 3-7 p.m. Saturday, 2-3:30 p.m. (GC), 4-7 p.m. (CBS). Sunday, 1-2:45 p.m. (GC), 3-6:30 p.m. (CBS). PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday, 9:30 a.m.-3 p.m. ET (featured groups), 3-6 p.m. (featured holes). Saturday, 10 a.m.-7 p.m. (featured holes). Sunday, 10 a.m.-6:30 p.m. (featured holes). A free preview of Featured Group coverage will be streaming live on Twitter on Thursday and Friday during the first hour of coverage. Click here to watch PGA TOUR LIVE on Twitter. PGA TOUR RADIO: Thursday, noon-6 p.m. Friday, 1-7 p.m. Saturday, 2-7 p.m. Sunday, 1-6:30 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com).

Click here to read the full article…