Making the case for Presidents Cup captains’ picks

The tournament host also is the U.S. captain, so it’s safe to assume that the first-round pairings for the Hero World Challenge were made with next week’s Presidents Cup in mind. Nine twosomes will tee off Wednesday in the first round of the Hero World Challenge, which is hosted by Tiger Woods at Albany Golf Club in the Bahamas. Five of those pairings feature players who will be teammates at Royal Melbourne. Those who will not take the charter flight to Australia on Saturday – either because they hail from Europe or didn’t qualify for the U.S. team – also are playing together Wednesday. RELATED: Predicting the Presidents Cup partnerships It’s clear that Woods wanted to keep his team close together. The five all-Presidents Cup pairings tee off in a row, with the other groups playing before and after Team USA. Here’s a look at the pairings with Presidents Cup implications and what they may reveal about Tiger Woods’ thinking before next week’s Presidents Cup. Xander Schauffele-Gary Woodland (11:02 a.m.): Neither player has competed in a Presidents Cup or Ryder Cup. The only time either player has competed for the U.S. as a pro came in 2011, when Woodland was a member of the winning World Cup team (with Matt Kuchar). Both players are known for being tough competitors. Schauffele has a knack for summoning his best golf during the biggest events, while Woodland displayed his mettle by holding off Brooks Koepka in the final round of this year’s U.S. Open. Woodland is one of the TOUR’s best ball-strikers, but ranked outside the top 100 in both Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green and Strokes Gained: Putting last season. Schauffele, who ranked in the top 50 in all four Strokes Gained categories, could complement him well if they do pair up at the Presidents Cup. Bryson DeChambeau-Webb Simpson (11:13 a.m.): Simpson was the youngest member of the U.S. Team in the 2011 Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne. Now, at 34, he’s one of the team’s veterans. He’s a well-liked player whose well-rounded game could complement almost anyone. The only thing Simpson lacks is distance off the tee, but he’s one of the TOUR’s best from approach shots on in. Last season, he ranked in the top 20 in Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green, Around-the-Green and Putting. He’s also one of the United States’ hottest players, with four runners-up in his last 10 starts. Starting with a T5 at the Masters, Simpson’s worst finish in his last 14 starts is T30. DeChambeau has spent the past few weeks beefing up in the gym, so his added distance off the tee may make up for Simpson’s one shortcoming. Patrick Reed-Patrick Cantlay (11:24 a.m.): We saw this one coming. In fairness, it wasn’t hard to spot. Their relationship dates back to their days in amateur golf. They’ve paired together in all three team editions of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, including a T7 finish in 2018. “We’ve always enjoyed each other’s company and enjoyed each other’s competitiveness,â€� Reed said. “We are both pretty intense and like team competitions.â€� This will be Cantlay’s first time competing for the U.S. as a professional. Reed, who had to rely on a captain’s pick, is the only player to compete on every U.S. team and qualify for every TOUR Championship since 2014. Tiger Woods-Justin Thomas (11:35 a.m.): Tiger gets the pick of the litter, and it appears he’s selected Thomas. Woods has been a mentor for his South Florida neighbor, and even hosted the celebratory dinner after Thomas won his first major. As Woods has returned to form, though, his wellspring of advice has dried up. “I think now they’re starting to see me as a competitor because I’m starting to come back again. For a while there, that wasn’t the case. I’m just a person that they could bounce ideas off of — what did I used to do and how do I feel these things, what do I do in certain situations, certain shots,â€� Woods said in 2018. That doesn’t mean they can’t be friends. Woods and Thomas are both coming off wins on the Asian Swing. Thomas has two wins (and two other top-10s) in his last five starts. Combine that form with Woods’ wisdom around Royal Melbourne and this team could be hard to beat. Rickie Fowler-Tony Finau (11:46 a.m.): Finau was a captain’s pick, while Fowler was a fill-in for the injured Brooks Koepka. They’re two of the nicest guys on TOUR, and they’re known for their consistent play, but if there’s one concern it could be recent form. The recently-married Fowler hasn’t competed since the TOUR Championship. Finau has finished outside the top 50 in his last three starts. They both should find a firm and fast Royal Melbourne to their liking, though. Fowler has long said that The Open Championship is his favorite major because it allows him to exercise his creative side, while Finau has five top-10s in the past eight majors. Matt Kuchar-Chez Reavie (11:57 a.m.): There are an odd number of U.S. team members in the Hero field after Dustin Johnson’s WD (he still plans on competing next week). That leaves Kuchar as the lone player not paired with a Presidents Cup teammate. Instead, he’s playing with the man who replaced Johnson in the field, Chez Reavie. It’s safe to assume that the plan was for Kuchar and Johnson to play together. They’ve paired together in the last Presidents Cup, going 2-0 as a Foursomes team.

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A new Starting Strokes system of scoring takes center stage at the TOUR Championship at East Lake, a 7,346-yard par 70. Top seed Justin Thomas will start two strokes lead ahead of No. 2 Patrick Cantlay, and more ahead of everyone else. There will be no more math, and viewers will know exactly where every player stands in the chase for the PGA TOUR’s Ultimate Prize. What’s more, that prize is bigger than ever: $15 million (of a $60 million FedExCup bonus pool) to the winner, plus a five-year exemption on TOUR. Tiger Woods recorded the biggest winning margin at the TOUR Championship, eight strokes in 2007. Phil Mickelson (2009), Billy Horschel (2014), Henrik Stenson (2013) and Brandt Snedeker (2012) all won it by three, but Thomas, who has three top-10 finishes in three starts at East Lake, is clearly in the driver’s seat.    RELATED: Tee times | How it works: TOUR Championship | No risk, lots of reward, for FedExCup pursuers The Flyover The 18th hole is a downhill par 5 that played second easiest last year as the field averaged exactly a half a stroke under par. (The easiest was the other of the course’s two par 5s, the sixth hole, which played to a 4.35 average.) Justin Rose made a clutch birdie on 18 to win the FedExCup last year, one of 62 birdies there on the week. Longer hitters will reach the lower level off the tee, from where they can easily go for the green in two. Water to the right of the bottleneck on the way to the green does not come into play, but front and right greenside bunkers are deep. Landing Zone The hardest hole at the 2018 TOUR Championship was the 455-yard, par-4 eighth, which played to a 4.217 stroke average. There were more bogeys (19) than birdies (18) there last year, but also 11 double-bogeys and one dreaded “other.� Why all the trouble? Because water runs all up the left side of the hole, and two fairway bunkers await right misses off the tee. The good news is that with the nines having been reversed, there’s now 10 holes to recover from whatever happens at the eighth. Weather check From meteorologist Joe Halvorson: “A few thunderstorms may develop after 2-3 pm Thursday afternoon, with chances increasing on Friday afternoon as a frontal boundary approaches northern Georgia. This boundary will stall over the area on Saturday and will likely enhance the coverage of showers and thunderstorms through the weekend. While the highest coverage of thunderstorms is expected from the late afternoon to early evening hours this weekend, high/tropical moisture values in place will allow for widely scattered areas of showers and storms to remain possible into the night before diminishing in coverage each morning. Locally heavy downpours will be possible within these thunderstorms. Heat indices will reach the mid 90s through Friday before cooling slightly this weekend.� For the latest weather news from East Lake, check out PGATOUR.COM’s Weather Hub. Sound Check It’s not like it’s handed to you; you have to go earn it, and play well when the time is right. By the numbers 5 – Players who have shot 61 in the Playoffs, as Justin Thomas did in round three at the BMW. The others: Mike Weir (2008 Dell Technologies Championship), Brandt Snedeker (2011 THE NORTHERN TRUST), Matt Kuchar (2013 BMW), and Jason Day (2015 BMW). There’s also been a 60 (Zach Johnson, 2007 TOUR Championship) and a 59 (Jim Furyk, 2013 BMW).  3 – Players have registered top-10 finishes in the first two events of the Playoffs this season: Jon Rahm (T3 THE NORTHERN TRUST, T5 BMW Championship), Adam Scott (5th, T9) and 2012 FedExCup champion Brandt Snedeker (T6, T5) 8/12 – Number of TOUR Championship winners who have also won the FedExCup since 2007. 1/1 – Correlation of TOUR Championship winners to FedExCup winners going forward.   Scattershots Schauffele used to playing from behind: Which player amongst the large chase pack has the best chance to chase down front-runner Thomas? Mathematically, it would be Cantlay, who is only two back with 72 holes to play – the smallest margin, and with a lot of time to make it up. But don’t forget about Xander Schauffele. At FedExCup No. 8, he will start the TOUR Championship 4 under par and six back of Thomas, but that shouldn’t phase him. When he won the tournament on the way to being named Rookie of the Year in 2017, Schauffele was five back after the first round.   Rahm’s consistency stands out: The FedExCup rewards consistency, as in Rory McIlroy’s 13 top-10s in 18 starts, including victories at THE PLAYERS Championship at RBC Canadian Open. But on that note, Jon Rahm isn’t far behind. He has 12 top-10 finishes in 19 starts, including a T5 at the BMW and T3 at THE NORTHERN TRUST to start the Playoffs. (He also won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans with partner Ryan Palmer.) Although the FedExCup No. 6 Rahm will start out 4 under and six strokes behind Thomas, that’s not insurmountable. Rahm was seven back through 18 holes before going on to win the 2017 Farmers Insurance Open.

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