No ‘faking it’ during Florida Swing

The FedExCup Playoffs present a unique tradeoff as compared to all other events; that is, a participant can go winless and still be crowned champion. The odds are stacked against that scenario, and it would still require a dynamite season leading up to the Playoffs to make it possible, but points leader Jordan Spieth is halfway there with a pair of runner-up finishes. If it happens, you wouldn’t say that any of the winners of the four tournaments in the Playoffs were more or less confident throughout, but it might be tough for Spieth to associate the value of the crown in the absence of a trophy during the series. Whatever happens, it’s compelling theater with bonus drama for the permutations geeks, myself included. Jason Day recorded a wire-to-wire victory at the 2015 BMW Championship at Conway Farms. Like Spieth this week, the Aussie strutted in as the No. 1 in the FedExCup standings. Day then put on a clinic as his splits illustrate below. Two years prior, Zach Johnson overcame Jim Furyk (and a 59) with the kind of laser show on approach with which he’s been synonymous throughout his career. Not dissimilar to how St. Andrews provided a level playing field for the diversified attacks of Johnson and Day in the 2015 Open Championship (when ZJ prevailed in a playoff and Day finished one stroke back), Conway Farms caters to all styles. However, the winner will have executed masterfully in multiple areas of his game. In other words, while the low aggregate projects to be double digits under par, don’t expect a putting contest to break out. With no cut and the probability of low rounds, we’re compelled to invest in scoring statistics. The 2015 field averaged 4.05 par breakers per 11.93 greens in regulation, a ratio that supports the angle. NOTE: Golfers inside the top 20 in each statistic in the FedExCup Playoffs are listed only if they are scheduled to compete in the BMW Championship. * – Finished inside the top 10 at the BMW Championship in 2013 and/or 2015. Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green Rank  Golfer 1  *Dustin Johnson 2  Jordan Spieth 3  Justin Thomas 4  Justin Rose 5  Patrick Cantlay 6  Paul Casey 7  Hudson Swafford 8  Stewart Cink 10  Patrick Reed 11  Marc Leishman 12  Kevin Chappell 13  *Kevin Na 14  *Jason Day 15  Jon Rahm 16  Emiliano Grillo 17  *Charl Schwartzel 18  *Hideki Matsuyama 20  Russell Henley Greens in Regulation Rank  Golfer 1  Patrick Cantlay 3  Marc Leishman 4  Jordan Spieth T5  *Dustin Johnson T5  Gary Woodland 8  Luke List 9  Keegan Bradley 10  Paul Casey T11  Stewart Cink T11  Sergio Garcia T11  *Hideki Matsuyama T11  *Henrik Stenson 16  Louis Oosthuizen 17  Hudson Swafford 18  Brendan Steele T19  *Jason Day T19  *Rickie Fowler T19  Emiliano Grillo T19  Justin Rose Putting: Birdie-or-Better Percentage Rank  Golfer 2  Jordan Spieth 3  Jon Rahm 4  Justin Thomas 5  Kyle Stanley 6  Paul Casey 7  Brooks Koepka 8  *Jason Day 9  Justin Rose T10  *Kevin Na 12  Grayson Murray 13  Sergio Garcia 14  Kevin Chappell 15  Jason Dufner 17  Marc Leishman 18  *Rickie Fowler 19  *Dustin Johnson 20  Robert Streb Scrambling Rank  Golfer 1  Justin Thomas 2  *Daniel Berger 3  Patrick Cantlay 4  Webb Simpson 5  Patrick Reed 7  *Dustin Johnson 9  Jon Rahm 10  Bill Haas 11  Adam Hadwin 12  Rafa Cabrera Bello 14  Phil Mickelson 16  Ian Poulter T17  Lucas Glover 19  Jhonattan Vegas 20  Pat Perez Forty-two golfers in this week’s field of 70 completed 72 holes at Conway Farms in at least one of the previous two editions. Of that subset, 23 are prepping for their third appearance. Not surprisingly, only two in my Power Rankings – Jon Rahm (No. 7) and Patrick Cantlay (No. 14) – are first-timers. That’s because both are making their debuts in the FedExCup Playoffs this season. Finishes of those in this week’s field at the 2013 BMW Championship Sorted by finish (players in bold appeared in both 2013 and 2015) Win: Zach Johnson T4: Jason Day T8: Charl Schwartzel T11: Ryan Moore T16: Keegan Bradley; Jordan Spieth T18: Sergio Garcia; Billy Horschel; Gary Woodland T24: Matt Kuchar; Webb Simpson T28: Bill Haas T33: Phil Mickelson; Justin Rose; Henrik Stenson T39: Rickie Fowler; Russell Henley; Charles Howell III; Marc Leishman T44: Ian Poulter T54: Jason Dufner T59: Rory McIlroy; Patrick Reed 61st: Brendan Steele T62: Kevin Chappell; Dustin Johnson 68th: Charley Hoffman Finishes of those in this week’s field at the 2015 BMW Championship Sorted by finish (players in bold appeared in both 2013 and 2015) Win: Jason Day 2nd: Daniel Berger T4: Rickie Fowler; Rory McIlroy T7: Dustin Johnson; Hideki Matsuyama T10: Kevin Na; Henrik Stenson T13: Zach Johnson; Justin Rose; Jordan Spieth; Brendan Steele; Justin Thomas T19: Bill Haas; Louis Oosthuizen T23: Paul Casey; Kevin Chappell; Robert Streb T28: Keegan Bradley; Ryan Moore; Patrick Reed T32: James Hahn; Billy Horschel; Phil Mickelson T39: Sergio Garcia T41: Kevin Kisner; Matt Kuchar; Pat Perez T47: Tony Finau; Danny Lee T49: Russell Henley; Brooks Koepka T53: Brian Harman; Charley Hoffman; Sean O’Hair; Ian Poulter T60: Gary Woodland T64: Webb Simpson

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Kyle Westmoreland was born in Lewisville, Texas, four hours north of Memorial Park, host of this week’s Cadence Bank Houston Open. He lives in Katy, just a 25-minute drive from the Houston landmark where he will make his fifth start of the new PGA TOUR season. To be sure, Westmoreland, 31, can count this as a home game. “It’s an incredible opportunity,” he said. “I’ve wanted to play here since I can remember, from the time it was at TPC Woodlands to the Redstone Members course to the Players course to now here at Memorial. Growing up, we play a ton of junior golf events at Memorial Park, and it looks different than it used to about 20 years ago. “You know, it’s an awesome place and just a dream come true to be able to play here.” While few can claim to be more local than Westmoreland, fewer still have taken a more circuitous route to get to this point. In September, he made a shoestring tackle for the 25th and last spot on the Korn Ferry Tour Finals Eligibility Points List, 4.5 points ahead of Joey Garber. It was joyful validation for the long-hitting Westmoreland, who was lightly recruited out of high school. Although he had the opportunity to play for the University of Houston, he said, his dream was to play for Texas. Unfortunately, he wasn’t on the radar in Athens. “There’s a guy named Jordan Spieth that was a year behind me that I think the coaches were looking at pretty heavily,” Westmoreland said. “Air Force was my best option.” He won four times, earned All-Mountain West Conference honors, and graduated in 2014. Although he had considered a life in the air, that success opened his eyes to the possibility of playing golf for a living, and he pivoted from becoming a pilot, a 12-year commitment, to a five-year service hitch, instead. But even that plan was fraught with challenges. Stationed in Charleston, South Carolina, where he worked in financial management, his schedule was so jammed he hit balls under the lights at a nearby driving range until it closed at 10 p.m. He putted on a yardstick on the floor of his room to improve his alignment and path. He tested himself against the College of Charleston golf team on weekends, and sometimes drove two hours to Myrtle Beach to see his coach. Once, on the way to a deployment in Africa, Westmoreland spent a week in Roda, Spain, and found a practice facility that allowed players to rent one club per day. So that’s what he did. “The most important thing,” he has said more than once, “is to put one foot in front of the other.” Upon completion of his service in the summer of 2019, he turned fulltime to golf. His exit interview was delayed roughly two weeks when he Monday qualified into the Korn Ferry Tour’s Utah Championship, where he finished T25 to earn a spot in the following week’s event. He earned status on PGA TOUR Canada. He earned Korn Ferry status. Last season, making up for lost time, he didn’t miss a week, even throwing in a PGA TOUR cameo at The Honda Classic (sponsor exemption, missed cut). And when he squeaked through the Korn Ferry Tour Finals, he became the first Air Force Academy graduate to earn a PGA TOUR card. “I hope I’m not the last,” he said. “Hopefully we can inspire some people to continue playing golf even through their service time, get a little bit better, start putting on those Air Force and Army and Navy putting greens and try to get better and make it out here.” It’s been a slow start to the season, with Westmoreland missing three of his first four cuts. His best is a T54 at the Sanderson Farms Championship, but the 6-foot-3, 220-pound Westmoreland is not easily moved off his path. (He also served as an instructor in wrestling and ground grappling in Colorado Springs.) He is confident that with his coach, Jeff Smith, and the rest of his team, he can pivot. “The PGA TOUR, there’s data points everywhere,” Westmoreland said, “so we kind of look at them and see and kind of figure out what we need to do better to compete at the highest level … and I’m just excited to test it this week on a great golf course with some length. We like to hit it far, so, length’s always good.” One of the things his time at the Academy taught him, Westmoreland said at the season-opening Fortinet Championship earlier this fall, was perseverance. But that wasn’t all. “The biggest thing,” he added, “is it teaches you who you are.” Kyle Westmoreland, patriot, golfer, and PGA TOUR rookie, is a guy who finds a way.

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