McCormick achieves a rare double with Ryu, Spieth

Chesson Hadley … Enduring an up-and-down season is a lot easier when there’s considerable “up” baked in. To wit, he’s registered five top 20s, the last two to open the Florida Swing. He’s 50th in the FedExCup standings thanks primarily to laser-like precision with his irons. When he descended for his fifth appearance at TPC San Antonio, where he finished T4 in 2015 and T20 last year, he was T2 on TOUR in proximity to the hole and 14th in strokes gained: approach-the-green. Kevin Streelman … Among a handful in the field who arrive hoping to find form on a track that isn’t expected to be friendly, but he’s 5-for-5 at TPC San Antonio with three top 15s, including a T8 last year. For the week, he ranked second in strokes gained: around-the-green and fourth in strokes gained: tee-to-green. If one thing’s for certain, he’ll keep his ball in play in the Hill Country. Currently 10th on the PGA TOUR in fairways hit. Chris Kirk … Like Streelman, the Georgian could use a little TPC San Antonio in his life. Spanning his last 15 starts, Kirk has connected for only one-40 finish. It was less than a month ago at Bay Hill (T15), so it’s relatively recent, but it’s an anomaly nonetheless. In the last four editions of the Valero Texas Open, he’s recorded a pair of T8s and a T13. His putting leaves much to be desired, but his tee-to-green game is still solid enough to warrant consideration as a threat. He’s also done his best scoring on par 5s this season. Sung Kang … The 31-year-old is quietly assembling a sturdy season with five top 20s that have lifted him to 60th in the FedExCup standings. He capped a 4-for-4 on the Florida Swing with a T18 at the Valspar Championship where he ranked fourth in total driving, T9 in par-5 scoring and 17th in strokes gained: putting. His sum is greater than his parts overall, but he’s T23 in par-5 scoring for the season. He’s also no stranger to TPC San Antonio, which has boggled everyone who’s played it at some point, but he survived the battle in 2017 with a share of sixth place. Julián Etulain … The native of Argentina didn’t enter his second spin with a PGA TOUR card with any momentum, but he’s drummed up nine paydays to sit 113th in the FedExCup, eight of which in 2019 alone. He prevailed just over a year ago at the Web.com Tour’s Chitimacha Louisiana Open presented by MISTRAS, and then chased it with a T5 at the Savannah Golf Championship, but hasn’t recorded a top 10 on either circuit since. Still, he lines up as a game-changer around and on greens at 21st on the PGA TOUR in scrambling and 16th in strokes gained: putting, but his improvement tee to green is why he’s found consistency of late. NOTE: Sleeper is a relative term, so Rob uses unofficial criteria to determine who qualifies. Each of the following usually is determined to be ineligible for this weekly staple: Winners of the tournament on the current host course; winners in the same season; recent major champions; top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking; recent participants of team competitions.

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CHIBA, Japan — Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama had three birdies in five holes on the back nine and eagled the 18th for good measure for a five-stroke victory at the PGA TOUR’s ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP on Sunday. RELATED: Full leaderboard It was Matsuyama’s first PGA TOUR win in his native Japan, although he’s only had one previous attempt. In 2019, Tiger Woods won the inaugural ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP, the first PGA TOUR event in Japan, and last year the tournament was moved to California due to COVID-19 restrictions. Matsuyama finished with a 65 and a 15-under total of 265 at Narashino Country Club. It was his seventh PGA TOUR victory. If there was any doubt, Matsuyama hit a three-wood to about 12 feet with his second shot on the par-5 18th. Asked when he thought he had clinched his home tournament, Matsuyama said through an interpreter: “Probably my second shot at 18, that was probably the clincher.” Americans were tied for second at 10-under: Brendan Steele shot 66 and Cameron Tringale 69. Open champion Collin Morikawa had a final-round 69 and finished 10 strokes behind Matsuyama. Tokyo Olympics champion Xander Schauffele shot 68 and was at even par on the tournament, Rickie Fowler had his second consecutive 71 and finished at 3-over. “It wasn’t quite the same experience, didn’t play as well, but I enjoyed being here despite the lockdown and COVID rules,” Schauffele said. “I saw some of my family here, which was really cool. I don’t get a big opportunity to see them, so that was kind of the shining moment for me.”

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