Monday qualifier Wu impresses in PGA TOUR debut

The old saying goes, “Never doubt a champion.” And Rory McIlroy is certainly a great champion. McIlroy can now add THE PLAYERS Championship before the descriptor, and it is very much deserved. Welcome to the Monday Finish where McIlroy proved he has been telling the truth all year. He really was pleased with his play and believed he was trending towards something big. Winning THE PLAYERS at TPC Sawgrass is certainly huge. FIVE OBSERVATIONS 1. Rory McIlroy is stronger than a lot of people want to admit sometimes. Now look, we are not ignoring the fact that in the last nine times McIlroy has played in a final group in the last round of a tournament he has failed to win. This is a fair narrative for golf pundits to highlight. And it will remain a while longer given McIlroy was not in the final group on Sunday at TPC Sawgrass. But what Sunday’s one-shot win did prove is McIlroy can handle the heat. Not just the heat of an incredible number of challengers that emerged on a wild Sunday, but also the heat of the spoken and written word engulfing the now 15-time PGA TOUR winner over the last 12 months since his previous win at the 2018 Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard. McIlroy has an incredible resume. Amongst it are THE PLAYERS trophy, a FedExCup, an Open Championship, a U.S. Open, two PGA Championships and two World Golf Championships – all before he’s 30. However you slice it, it is impressive. Could he have won more? Sure. But you can say that about almost every golfer out here. Read more about McIlroy’s incredible triumph here. 2. Furyk might just have some new tricks left. Jim Furyk was one of the last guys into THE PLAYERS Championship. A local at Ponte Vedra Beach, the 48-year-old was certainly grateful to be part of the field, his spot only secured with a recent top-10 finish at The Honda Classic. His performance over the four days was once again an advertisement that experience can certainly help on the PGA TOUR. With the like of Davis Love III, Phil Mickelson and Vijay Singh all showing competitiveness heading towards and into their 50s. His runner-up finish, which included some great shots down the stretch showed the nerves of the old guys can still stand up when it counts. The result catapulted him into the World Golf Championships–Dell Technologies Match Play field and gives him a chance to push towards a Masters berth. Read more about Furyk’s awesome and emotional week here. 3. Rahm runs hot. Joh Rahm continues to be a fascinating case study. The Spanish star is full of emotion and flair. It is part of what makes him such a special talent. But on course outbursts were causing some to question his temperament. The 54-hole leader talked about how he was so proud of himself for keeping a lid on his emotions over the early stages of the tournament but in Sunday’s final round Rahm once again found himself bubbling over at times. It was almost as if it all finally came to the surface. A critical play came on the par-5 11th where he defied caddy advice to lay up and instead hit the ball in the water going for the green. At the end of the day he signed for a 76 and dropped well back. And so the debate continues. The management of emotion is certainly important on the golf course but is the focus on it helping or hurting a natural talent like Rahm? It’s going to be fascinating viewing going forward. 4. Fleetwood is not far away. England’s Tommy Fleetwood will win on the PGA TOUR soon. A lot is made out of the fact Fleetwood has yet to win a PGA TOUR event. But what is sometimes understated is he already has four European Tour titles and also claimed the 2017 Race to Dubai. In his last two starts at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard and THE PLAYERS Championship he has had chances to win only to settle for a top-5 finish. Already some are suggesting he’s struggling to close the deal when it counts. That’s ludicrous. When he appeared out of it at TPC Sawgrass on Sunday he hit a stunning shot into 16 to make eagle. And then knowing he needed birdie on 17 he took dead aim. His ball found the railway ties and bounced in the water. I don’t call that letting it slip, I call that a brave finish. Just like McIlroy trended heavily towards victory this season before winning, Fleetwood will do the same. 5. The move to March is a success. It’s a small sample size for sure but the move back to March certainly provided an exciting PLAYERS. There was concern the move would suit the bombers more than most – and yes McIlroy won and Dustin Johnson had his first top-10 in 11 tries – but Furyk proved TPC Sawgrass can provide any type of winner. You have to drive the ball well and you have to hit your irons well. You don’t have to be the best putter, but you still need to roll the rock. On Sunday throughout the final round there were 15 different players who had a legitimate stake in the championship. The twists and turns were incredible. The excitement and drama THE PLAYERS throws up certainly makes it a great start to the season of championships. See more on the final round here. And more on the move to March here. FIVE INSIGHTS 1. McIlroy now has 15 PGA TOUR titles in 156 starts at age 29 years, 10 months, 14 days. He moves to No. 1 in the FedExCup standings. 2. McIlroy is just the third player – with Tiger Woods and Henrik Stenson – to have won at least one FedExCup, THE PLAYERS Championship, major championship and World Golf Championship. 3. The win was McIlroy’s sixth consecutive top-10 on the PGA TOUR, which bests his previous streak of five in 2015: THE PLAYERS Championship (win), Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard (T6), WGC-Mexico Championship (2), Genesis Open (T4), Farmers Insurance Open (T5), Sentry Tournament of Championship (T4) 4. McIlroy led the field in par-3 scoring average (2.69, ) and Strokes Gained: Tee to Green (13.262). Finished second in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee (5.309) behind only Fleetwood. 5. Jhonattan Vegas’ birdie putt from 69-feet, 7-inches is the longest recorded made putt on the famous par-3 17th Island Green. Official records began in 2003. WYNDHAM REWARDS The Wyndham Rewards Top 10 is in its first season and adds another layer of excitement to the FedExCup Regular Season. The top 10 players at the end of the FedExCup Regular Season will earn bonus payouts from the Wyndham Rewards Top 10. McIlroy stormed all the way from outside the top 10 to the No. 1 slot with his victory.

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NORTON, Mass. – When Adam Scott left the Quail Hollow Club after a T-61 finish in the PGA Championship on Aug. 13, he expected his 2016-17 PGA TOUR season was over. Headed back to Australia to be with his wife Marie in advance of the birth of their second child, Scott was 61st in the FedExCup standings. Planning to miss the first two weeks of the FedExCup Playoffs, Scott figured he would drop below the top 70 that advance to the BMW Championship. The early arrival of his son enabled Scott to call an audible and so there he was late Wednesday afternoon, making his way to the practice range at TPC Boston. He’ll tee it up in this week’s Dell Technologies Championship, now 73rd in the FedExCup standings but determined to make the BMW Championship (Sept. 14-17) and possibly the 30-man TOUR Championship (Sept. 21-24). “It’s all good. The baby arrived Friday the 18th at 5 p.m. (in Australia) and it’s a good thing he was early because he wasn’t small,� said Scott with a smile. He conceded he had all but written off the first two events, but then came the early delivery and Scott wondered if there could be a change of plans. Give credit, he said, to Marie. Yes, he “tiptoed around� talk of playing, but Scott said his wife was on board. As for naming his son Byron, Scott nodded his head when asked if he had heard from people wondering about another Byron Scott. “Yeah, I have. I have a mate back home who is a huge basketball fan,� and he now knows of the former Los Angeles Laker and three-time NBA champion. But his son is Byron for another reason. “I just liked the name. It’s a strong name and it has a lot of meaning,� Scott said. “There’s a great spot, Byron Bay (in New South Wales) in Australia, Lord Byron, and Bryon Nelson.� The last name brought a nod of approval from Scott. He met Nelson at the 2006 AT&T Byron Nelson, four months before the icon died at the age of 94. Two years later, Scott made “the Nelson� his sixth PGA TOUR win. “He was a great man,� Scott said. “As good a man as I ever met.� After being home in Australia for nine days with Marie, baby Byron and the couple’s daughter, Bo, Scott flew to California, where he broke up the long trip by spending time club-testing at Titleist’s Oceanside facility just north of San Diego. He took a red-eye Tuesday night, arrived Wednesday, and after some rest, Scott was at TPC Boston ready to go. His desire to play this week has several components. One, “I’m not satisfied with the year I’ve had,� and sitting 73rd in the standings is a sore spot with him. So he’d like a few more chances to put a brighter bow on his 2016-17 season. Then there’s The Presidents Cup “and I’d like to find some form for that.� The Sept. 28-Oct. 1 competition at Liberty National in Jersey City, New Jersey, means a lot to Scott, who’ll be making his eighth appearance in the team competition. “We have a good team,� he said, “but our form is all over the place, so it would be nice to get that fixed.� Given that his first PGA TOUR win came at TPC Boston in 2003 and that he’s finished top 10 on five other occasions, Scott is feeling good about his chances to play his way into the top 70 and a spot at Conway Farms. With Marie, Byron, Bo and other family members scheduled to join him for the off-week, he said it will be a comfortable situation for him through The Presidents Cup, at which time they’ll all return to Australia.

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Buckling down after his six-shot lead had been cut to one, Chez Reavie comes up clutch with a birdie on the 17th hole while Keegan Bradley, his closest pursuer, suffers an untimely double-bogey. Welcome to the Monday Finish, where Reavie, 37, solidified his reputation as mentally tough by converting a 54-hole lead/co-lead into a victory for the second time in as many tries on the PGA TOUR (2008 RBC Canadian Open). With the victory, he jumped from 35th to 12th in the FedExCup. FIVE OBSERVATIONS 1. The long wait made it all the sweeter. Reavie’s wrist injury, his handful of failures to make the FedExCup Playoffs, his long win drought – all that stuff made winning the Travelers, in his ninth try, even more satisfying. “It was great,â€� Reavie said, “because it gave me good perseverance and good perspective of what life is and what golf is. I enjoy every minute of every week I’m out here now, and I don’t think I would necessarily be that way if I didn’t go through those tough times.â€� Reavie kept working hard despite the fact that it had been 3,983 days since his first and only other win on TOUR, at the 2008 RBC Canadian Open. That’s the 11th longest span between a player’s first and second wins on TOUR since 1900. Would he have expected to win sooner? “Not really,â€� he said. “Golf is tough, right? There are a lot of great players on the PGA TOUR. To win out here is an honor and something that shouldn’t be overlooked or under appreciated.â€� 2. For a guy who hadn’t won in 11 years, Reavie had momentum. He had played in the second-to-last group at the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach the week before, and finished T3. He also shot a back-nine 28 at the Travelers on Saturday that friend Paul Casey called, “one of the best nines that I can think of since I’ve been on TOUR.â€� Reavie used that confidence to quiet his nerves as he prepared for the final round at TPC River Highlands, and to hang in there when the putts weren’t dropping. The turning point came when Bradley cut the lead to one and Reavie hit the 17th fairway, fired at the flag, and drained his birdie putt of 14 feet, 4 inches. With Bradley finding the fairway bunker off the tee and skulling his 9-iron approach on the way to a double bogey, it was all but over. “Being in the second to the last group at the U.S. Open last week, that definitely gave me a lot of confidence coming into this week, and in particular into today,â€� Reavie said. “I played really well on Sunday at the U.S. Open, and I tried to treat this the same as I did then.â€� 3. Bradley fired up the home crowd. Although he now lives in South Florida, Keegan Bradley is a native New Englander and everyone knows it. As such, there was no shortage of thrills as he went 5 under through 16 holes to cut Reavie’s seemingly insurmountable six-shot lead down to a single stroke. Alas, after thrilling the hometown fans for much of the afternoon, Bradley’s double bogey at 17, combined with Reavie’s birdie, created a three-shot swing and all but ended it for the crowd favorite, who wound up with a 67 and a T2 finish, four shots back. “Dream come true,â€� Bradley said. “I got to play in front of the fans in New England and put on a show. I’ve never felt that type of support ever. Maybe in a Ryder Cup. It was so fun.â€� 4. Zack Sucher sort of won with a T2. Saddled with credit-card debt, unheralded Zack Sucher birdied four of his final six holes and chipped in for par on 18 for a 67 and a timely T2 ($633,600). “It’s life-changing, to be honest,â€� said Sucher. Sucher was playing on a Major Medical Extension this season, and had six events in which to earn 347 FedExCup points. But he’d earned just 25 FedExCup points in three starts until his breakthrough at the Travelers. He picked up a much-needed 245 more at TPC River Highlands, leaving him two remaining starts to get the last 77. Sucher alternated between stellar play (five-shot lead halfway through the third round) and disasters (he responded with a bogey and two doubles in a three-hole stretch). The final round brought more of the same: He four-putted the ninth hole for a double bogey before firing a back-nine 30 to finish T2 and zoom from 222nd to 126th in the FedExCup. For more on Sucher’s feel-good story, click here.  5. Paul Casey ‘Travelers’ well. The Englishman played his last six holes in 4 under, highlighted by an eagle 2 at the 15th hole, to shoot 65 and finish T5. Amazingly, it was his fourth top-five Travelers finish since 2015. “Three weeks off for me,â€� Casey said of his plans going forward. “I’ve not played (Open Championship venue Royal) Portrush before, so my focus is now getting ready for that. Go in early, do a (reconnaissance), learn it as quick as I can. And three weeks off really is also to save some energy. I’m not tired, but I’ve got a lot of golf ahead. “I’ll play Memphis (the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational). There is a possibility you’ll see me at Wyndham because of the Wyndham Rewards now, and then the FedExCup.â€� FIVE INSIGHTS 1. Reavie led the field in Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green (+1.684). (Of his total strokes gained on the field, 41 percent came on approach shots.) He was 10th in SG: Off-the-Tee (+0.723) and SG: Putting (+1.231), 24th in SG: Around-the-Green (+0.457), and first in SG: Total (+4.095). 2. Vaughn Taylor (65, solo third) picked up his best finish since winning the 2016 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. He played the front nine at TPC River Highlands in even par for the week, the back in 12 under. 3. Three-time Travelers champion Bubba Watson slogged through the weekend in 73-71 to finish T54, while U.S. Open runner-up Brooks Koepka finished T57. 4. It was a good week for International Presidents Cup Team hopefuls Abraham Ancer and Joaquin Niemann. Ancer birdied five of the last eight holes for a final-round 63, tying the week’s low score, and a T8 finish. Niemann posted four rounds in the 60s to finish T5, which ties his best of six top-10 finishes in 36 TOUR starts (2018 A Military Tribute at the Greenbrier). 5. Collin Morikawa (T36) led the quartet of newly minted pros, with Viktor Hovland (T54) not far behind. Matthew Wolf (MDF) and Justin Suh (MC) rounded out the foursome. Hovland and Wolff became the fifth and sixth players since 2009 to advance to the weekend while making their professional debuts at the Travelers. WYNDHAM REWARDS The Wyndham Rewards Top 10 is in its first season and adds another layer of excitement to the FedExCup Regular Season. The top 10 players at the end of the FedExCup Regular Season will earn bonus payouts from the Wyndham Rewards Top 10. Matt Kuchar remains No. 1, while Brooks Koepka showed that every point counts, jumping from 3rd to 2nd with a T57 finish. Meanwhile, Patrick Cantlay (69, T15) also moved up a spot from 7th to 6th, and Chez Reavie (35th to 12th in the FedExCup) is knocking on the door.

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