Monday Finish

Welcome to the Monday Finish where we salute one win drought being broken and commiserate with another one that just got a little longer and more heartbreaking. Here’s five observations from the Quicken Loans National where Kyle Stanley outlasted Charles Howell III in a sudden death playoff after both men made a Sunday charge. 1. When Kyle Stanley opened his Sunday with a bogey you’d be hard pressed to believe he would be the man holding the trophy at the end of the day. While he’d fashioned a nice little season thus far with four top-10s including a T4 at THE PLAYERS and T6 at the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide Stanley had been out of the winner’s circle for over five years. When he claimed the 2012 Waste Management Phoenix Open he looked set to be a young star but it did not work out that way. Sharing tine on the web.com Tour came soon after and he’d been without a top-10 on TOUR for two years before this season. But he was able to beat out some nerves down the stretch, finding five birdies and then most notably making a clutch up and down for par on the 17th hole Sunday. He was clearly emotional after his journey back. 2. The youth brigade rolls on. Stanley, at 29, makes it 20 wins this season for players in their 20s. Golf used to be about biding your time in your 20s, learning the ropes (unless your name was Tiger Woods) and gaining the experience necessary to surge ahead in your 30s – the prime years. 20 is well and truly the new 30. There is no fear amongst the youth on the TOUR. They see each other win and are fired up to replicate. It’s great to see such depth… the future of the game is certainly bright. 3. It was interesting to see TPC Potomac take over as the toughest test (in relation to par) this season. The winning score of 7-under becomes the highest winning mark of the season and just the second in single digits under par after Sergio Garcia’s 9-under at the Masters. Just two weeks after the usually brutal U.S. Open was won at 16-under we saw a return to pars being crucial. Just 25 players ended the week under par with super hard greens and tight driving lines and tough rough a real feature. 4. Charles Howell III now has 294 starts since his last win at the 2007 Genesis Open. He has had 47 top-10s in that span and has banked $18,917,871.60. On this occasion, he was returning from a nine-week injury layoff (rib) and appeared set for the drought breaking win when he rolled in an eagle on the drivable par-4 14th hole. But his last hole birdie look just slid by and when his par attempt on the first hole of sudden death on the same green did the same Stanley shut the door on him. Of course his relative success means the situation is not too heartbreaking – but you still have to feel for him. Particularly as this Augusta born 28-year-old hasn’t played the Masters since 2012, and would have booked a return with a win. 5. Howell III did however book a place at the upcoming Open Championship at Royal Birkdale on July 20-23. It will be his first time back since 2012. As the first PGA TOUR event of the Open Qualifying Series, the Quicken Loans determined Open Championship berths for the top four players finishing in the top 12 who weren’t otherwise exempt. Winner Stanley and Howell III were joined by Scotland’s Martin Laird and Sung Kang, who got the nod out of an eight-way tie for fifth thanks to his superior world ranking. The hard luck story was certainly Spencer Levin. He could have booked a spot if his eight-foot par putt on 18 had of gone down. Instead it horseshoed out dramatically for a costly bogey. Levin will get another chance at next week’s Greenbrier Classic. FIVE INSIGHTS 1. Kyle Stanley moved from 38th to 14th in the FedExCup standings, ranking inside the top-15 in the standings for the 24th week in his career. This marked the first time Stanley has ranked inside the top-15 of the FedExCup standings since week #28 of the 2012 PGA TOUR season. Stanley finished 31st that year, narrowly missing the TOUR Championship. He has yet to make it to Atlanta in his career. 2. Stanley becomes the fifth player to rank first in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee and go on to win this season. He outperformed the field by +1.467 strokes per round. Stanley gained strokes on 43 of 56 tee shots this week. Stanley’s SG: Off-the-Tee performance was his third best performance in an event of his career and the second best by a winner on TOUR this season behind Justin Thomas at the Sony Open. The winner ranked tied third in Driving Accuracy hitting 71.4% of his fairways compared to the field average of 56.8%. Stanley led the field for Greens in Regulation for the fourth time in his career and the second time in his last three events on TOUR. Stanley has hit 157 of 216 GIR’s (72.7%) in his last three starts. 3. Stanley was able to overcome an average putting performance to win. He ranked 52nd in Strokes Gained: Putting losing -0.276 strokes per round to the field. It marks just the second time this season a player has lost strokes in SG: Putting and gone on to win (Jason Dufner – the Memorial). 4. Rickie Fowler’s nine birdies in the final round represented a career high, and his T3 finish was his seventh top-10 finish of the season, including his win at The Honda Classic. It was also his third top-five finish in his last four starts. 5. Reigning U.S. Amateur champion Curtis Luck finished in an eight-way tie for fifth, marking his first top-10 finish in six professional starts on TOUR. It gets him into next week’s Greenbrier Classic. Now with 112 Non-Member points Luck is chasing 319 points to score special temporary membership but more likely now sits on the cusp of getting a start in the web.com Tour playoffs later this season. He needs to beat the 200th ranked player in the FedExCup to get a start. He currently would be ranked 170th with seven weeks left. Top Three Videos 1. How would you react if your military father showed up on the 18th green with Rickie Fowler? 2. Martin Laird looked stuffed after a wayward drive on the 14th. But you should never give up … 3. Keegan Bradley with the walk off eagle. He literally walks off!

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3rd Round 2-Balls - K. Vilips / R. Gerard
Type: 3rd Round 2-Balls - Status: OPEN
Ryan Gerard-135
Karl Vilips+115
3rd Round 2-Balls - C. Morikawa / M. McNealy
Type: 3rd Round 2-Balls - Status: OPEN
Collin Morikawa-185
Maverick McNealy+150
Tie
3rd Round Match-Ups - M. McNealy vs B. Harman
Type: 3rd Round Match-Ups - Status: OPEN
Brian Harman-110
Maverick McNealy-110
3rd Round Match-Ups - S. Scheffler vs C. Morikawa
Type: 3rd Round Match-Ups - Status: OPEN
Scottie Scheffler-145
Collin Morikawa+120
3rd Round 2-Balls - W. Chandler / M. Wallace
Type: 3rd Round 2-Balls - Status: OPEN
Matt Wallace-185
Will Chandler+210
Tie+750
3rd Round 2-Balls - J.T. Poston / B. Harman
Type: 3rd Round 2-Balls - Status: OPEN
J.T. Poston-115
Brian Harman-105
3rd Round 2-Balls - K. Mitchell / M. NeSmith
Type: 3rd Round 2-Balls - Status: OPEN
Keith Mitchell-170
Matt NeSmith+185
Tie+750
3rd Round 2-Balls - S. Scheffler / W. Clark
Type: 3rd Round 2-Balls - Status: OPEN
Scottie Scheffler-260
Wyndham Clark+210
Tie
3rd Round 2-Balls - C. Kim / D. Wu
Type: 3rd Round 2-Balls - Status: OPEN
Chan Kim-135
Dylan Wu+150
Tie+750
3rd Round 2-Balls - T. Fleetwood / M. Hughes
Type: 3rd Round 2-Balls - Status: OPEN
Tommy Fleetwood-155
Mackenzie Hughes+130
Tie
3rd Round Match-Ups - R. Henley vs T. Fleetwood
Type: 3rd Round Match-Ups - Status: OPEN
Russell Henley-115
Tommy Fleetwood-105
3rd Round Match-Ups - A. Novak vs M. Hughes
Type: 3rd Round Match-Ups - Status: OPEN
Andrew Novak-115
Mackenzie Hughes-105
3rd Round 2-Balls - C. Hoffman / M. Thorbjornsen
Type: 3rd Round 2-Balls - Status: OPEN
Charley Hoffman+105
Michael Thorbjornsen+105
Tie+750
3rd Round 2-Balls - R. Henley / A. Novak
Type: 3rd Round 2-Balls - Status: OPEN
Russell Henley-170
Andrew Novak+145
Tie
3rd Round 2-Balls - J. Dahmen / G. Higgo
Type: 3rd Round 2-Balls - Status: OPEN
Joel Dahmen+100
Garrick Higgo+110
Tie+750
3rd Round 2-Balls - J. Thomas / S.W. Kim
Type: 3rd Round 2-Balls - Status: OPEN
Justin Thomas-150
Si Woo Kim+125
3rd Round 2 Balls - N. Korda v M. Katsu
Type: 3rd Round 2 Balls - Status: OPEN
Nelly Korda-190
Minami Katsu+210
Tie+750
3rd Round 2 Balls - J. Thitikul v P. Delacour
Type: 3rd Round 2 Balls - Status: OPEN
Jeeno Thitikul-275
Perrine Delacour+290
Tie+800
3rd Round 2 Balls - A. Lee v P. Anannarukarn
Type: 3rd Round 2 Balls - Status: OPEN
Pajaree Anannarukarn+100
Andrea Lee+110
Tie+750
3rd Round 2 Balls - L. Coughlin v Y. Liu
Type: 3rd Round 2 Balls - Status: OPEN
Lauren Coughlin-190
Yan Liu+210
Tie+750
3rd Round 2 Balls - M. Lee v M. Yamashita
Type: 3rd Round 2 Balls - Status: OPEN
Minjee Lee-105
Miyu Yamashita+115
Tie+750
3rd Round 2 Balls - A. Buhai v I. Lindblad
Type: 3rd Round 2 Balls - Status: OPEN
Ashleigh Buhai+100
Ingrid Lindblad+110
Tie+750
Volvo China Open
Type: Winner - Status: OPEN
Eugenio Lopez-Chacarra+225
Haotong Li+225
Kiradech Aphibarnrat+600
Zecheng Dou+800
Yannik Paul+1100
Jordan Smith+1200
Tapio Pulkkanen+1200
Ashun Wu+6500
Jacob Skov Olesen+6500
Sam Bairstow+6500
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Final Round 2 Ball - E. Smylie v MK Kim
Type: Final Round 2 Ball - Status: OPEN
Minkyu Kim-105
Elvis Smylie+115
Tie+750
Final Round 2 Ball - A. Wu v J. Smith
Type: Final Round 2 Ball - Status: OPEN
Jordan Smith-150
Ashun Wu+165
Tie+750
Final Round 2 Ball - T. Pulkkanen v Z. Dou
Type: Final Round 2 Ball - Status: OPEN
Zecheng Dou-105
Tapio Pulkkanen+115
Tie+750
Final Round 2 Ball - Y. Paul v K. Aphibarnrat
Type: Final Round 2 Ball - Status: OPEN
Kiradech Aphibarnrat+100
Yannik Paul+110
Tie+750
Final Round 2 Ball - H. Li v E. Lopez-Chacarra
Type: Final Round 2 Ball - Status: OPEN
Haotong Li-105
Eugenio Lopez-Chacarra+115
Tie+750
Major Specials 2025
Type: To Win A Major 2025 - Status: OPEN
Scottie Scheffler+160
Bryson DeChambeau+350
Xander Schauffele+350
Ludvig Aberg+400
Collin Morikawa+450
Jon Rahm+450
Brooks Koepka+700
Justin Thomas+700
Viktor Hovland+700
Hideki Matsuyama+800
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PGA Championship 2025
Type: Winner - Status: OPEN
Rory McIlroy+500
Scottie Scheffler+500
Bryson DeChambeau+1400
Ludvig Aberg+1400
Xander Schauffele+1400
Jon Rahm+1800
Collin Morikawa+2000
Brooks Koepka+2500
Justin Thomas+2500
Viktor Hovland+2500
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US Open 2025
Type: Winner - Status: OPEN
Rory McIlroy+500
Scottie Scheffler+500
Bryson DeChambeau+1200
Xander Schauffele+1200
Jon Rahm+1400
Ludvig Aberg+1400
Collin Morikawa+1600
Brooks Koepka+1800
Viktor Hovland+2000
Justin Thomas+2500
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The Open 2025
Type: Winner - Status: OPEN
Rory McIlroy+500
Scottie Scheffler+550
Xander Schauffele+1100
Ludvig Aberg+1400
Collin Morikawa+1600
Jon Rahm+1600
Bryson DeChambeau+2000
Shane Lowry+2500
Tommy Fleetwood+2500
Tyrrell Hatton+2500
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Ryder Cup 2025
Type: Winner - Status: OPEN
USA-150
Europe+140
Tie+1200

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Expert Picks: Shriners Hospitals for Children OpenExpert Picks: Shriners Hospitals for Children Open

How it works: Each week, our experts from PGATOUR.COM will make their selections in PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO. Each lineup consists of four starters and two bench players that can be rotated after each round. Adding to the challenge is that every golfer can be used only three time per each of four Segments. The first fantasy golf game to utilize live ShotLink data, PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO allows you to see scores update live during competition. To learn more or sign up click here. Aside from the experts below, Fantasy Insider Rob Bolton breaks down the field at this year’s Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in his edition of the Power Rankings. CDW, an official partner of the PGA TOUR, offers its weekly fantasy selection. Here’s this week’s “Data-Driven Decision.” The computer selected total birdies, driving distance and strokes gained: off-the-tee as the three most important statistics this week. After calculating this season’s ranks in those categories of every player in the field, the computer made the following prediction for this week’s winner. THINK YOU’RE BETTER THAN OUR EXPERTS? The PGA TOUR Experts league is once again open to the public. You can play our free fantasy game and see how you measure up against our experts below. Joining the league is simple. Just click here to sign up or log in. Once you create your team, click the “Leagues” tab and search for “PGA TOUR Experts.” After that? Pick your players and start talking smack.

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Tiger Woods ends ‘amazing’ year, will reduce schedule in 2019Tiger Woods ends ‘amazing’ year, will reduce schedule in 2019

NASSAU, Bahamas – Having struck his last competitive shot and signed his last scorecard of 2018, Tiger Woods was quick to switch into reflective mode Sunday afternoon at his Hero World Challenge. It didn’t take him long to offer a proper perspective. “The entire year has been amazing,â€� he said. While this week wasn’t exactly amazing for Tiger — he finished next-to-last in the 18-man field after a 1-over 73 left him at 1 under for the tournament – 2018 will indeed go down as one of his most memorable. His return to the PGA TOUR after undergoing multiple back surgeries would’ve been enough of a comeback story. But then he started making noise on the weekend and giving himself opportunities to win again. It finally culminated at the TOUR Championship when he won for the 80th time on TOUR, but the first in five years. “I’m done competing. I’m done playing for the year,â€� said Woods, who is scheduled to fly to Australia this week to help promote the 2019 Presidents Cup, of which he is the U.S. captain. “It’s been quite an amazing year to go from where I’ve come from and now I can actually finally say I’m done playing for the year. We can sit back and really enjoy it.â€� Woods said it didn’t take him winning at East Lake to know he could win again on TOUR. He said being in contention at the Valspar Championship in March – it was just his fourth start of the season – was all the confirmation he needed. Unlike two weeks earlier at the Honda Classic, where Woods finished T-12th but was unhappy with the way he completed his rounds, Tiger was encouraged with his share of second behind winner Paul Casey. “Once I put myself in position to win at Tampa four tournaments into it, I knew I could win,â€� Woods said. “Now, could I play consistently week-in, week-out? That’s a totally different matter.â€� Woods produced six more top-10 finishes after Valspar, but he also missed his second cut of the season at the U.S. Open and was a non-factor in the first two events of the FedExCup Playoffs. Those are some of the consistency issues that he will try to clean up in 2019. Part of that solution will resolve itself as Woods reduces his playing schedule. His 19 worldwide starts in 2018 matches his total from five years. Woods didn’t anticipate playing that many, but with his body holding up and by gaining qualification in certain events – like the late-season World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational after he moved inside the top 50 in the world rankings — the starts kept adding up. Down the stretch, he played seven times in nine weeks. Only once since 2006 has Woods played more events in a year than 19 – the 22 starts he made in 2012. He was still in his late 30s back then. Later this month, he turns 43 and Woods promises not to subject his aging body to the rigors of that many starts moving forward. He and his team will soon get together and try to figure out. His only confirmed starts for now is the Genesis Open, which is run by his foundation, and the four majors. “We’re going to sit back after I’m done with Australia and really get back into the gym and build up my body, get it stronger and get some weight on me and see where I want to start the year and see how many events that I should play,â€� Woods said. “I’m not going to play as many as I did this year. I played in too many this year, and that was from adding an event because I missed the cut at L.A. to qualifying to get into Akron. Who knew that I could make it through all the Playoffs events? So all those events told a lot. “I won’t be playing as much as I did last year. … That was just too much for my body to handle and I was not physically prepared for it. I hadn’t trained for that, so we’re going to make some adjustments for next year.â€� For now, he will not only take time to reflect but will also start the off-season testing on his equipment. He did not change his equipment in 2018 but is looking forward to whatever TaylorMade may have in store for him. Plus, as he mentioned, he’ll hit the gym in hopes of adding another measure of consistency. At some point early in 2019 – he’s not yet ruled out the Sentry Tournament of Champions, although he hasn’t played the tournament since 2005 – we’ll see Tiger back on the course. Unlike a year ago, the expectations will be different. Much higher. “I know that I can win because obviously I just proved it,â€� Woods said. “It’s just a matter of getting everything kind of peaking at the right time. … The will and the want and the desire hasn’t changed; it’s just a matter of is the body willing to do it. “There are days or weeks that they don’t cooperate, so that’s just part of the injuries I’ve gone through and aging. The older athletes just don’t perform as consistently as they once did. I’ve been out here for 20-some odd years.â€� Luckily for the golf world, it now appears he’ll be out for a few more years.

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