Ortiz, Reed share lead at Farmers Insurance Open

THE PGA TOUR has announced the featured groups for the first two rounds of THE PLAYERS Championship to be held at TPC Sawgrass. Fans will be treated to a showcase of the best players in the world, with defending PLAYERS Champion and world No. 1 Rory McIlroy to be joined by world No. 2 Jon Rahm and No. 3 Brooks Koepka. Other groupings include fan favorites and rising stars in the game. RELATED: The First Look | Inside The Field Full groupings and starting times for the first two rounds of the TOUR’s flagship event will be released officially at approximately 12 p.m. ET on Tuesday, March 10. While subscribers to PGA TOUR LIVE on NBC Sports Gold will have the unprecedented ability to watch every single shot shot of the tournament thanks to Every Shot Live,some marquee groupings will get special attention. To watch the featured groupings on Thursday-Friday, fans in the United States can tune into the Golf Channel telecast (1-7 p.m. ET). In addition to PGA TOUR LIVE on NBC Sports Gold, you can stream on Amazon Prime Video Channels. Audio coverage is available on SiriusXM PGA TOUR Radio (Sirius 208, XM 92), and streams free via PGATOUR.COM, as well as the TOUR’s official iPhone, iPad and Android apps. Here’s a closer look at the Featured Groups for THE PLAYERS Championship. Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Brooks Koepka Notable: McIlroy is the defending champion at TPC Sawgrass in addition to the current FedExCup champion and PGA TOUR Player of the Year. The Northern Irishman sits atop of the world rankings, with Rahm and Koepka his closest challengers. McIlroy has contended in every start this season, taking five straight top-five finishes into the Arnold Palmer Invitational Presented by Mastercard, including a win at the World Golf Championships – HSBC Champions. Rahm has also been a serial contender, with four top-10s in five starts this season, including a runner-up at the Farmers Insurance Open and a T3 at the recent World Golf Championships – Mexico Championship. Koepka, a three-time winner last season, continues his return from a knee injury looking to assert the dominance he has displayed in recent years. Viktor Hovland, Collin Morikawa, Matthew Wolff Notable: The leaders of the youth movement on the PGA TOUR – all three have already won prior to their 23rd birthdays. Wolff won the 3M Open in just his third PGA TOUR start as a professional in July last year before Morikawa took the Barracuda Championship in just his sixth pro PGA TOUR start later that month. Hovland recently became the first Norwegian to win on the PGA TOUR with his triumph at the Puerto Rico Open. Justin Rose, Adam Scott, Xander Schauffele Notable: Scott is a former PLAYERS champions who recently cashed in for a victory on the West Coast swing at The Genesis Invitational. Rose is a former FedExCup champion and Olympic Gold Medalist. Schauffele is in just his third PLAYERS Championship, but the former PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year already has a runner-up finish at TPC Sawgrass to go with his four PGA TOUR wins. Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Webb Simpson Notable: Mickelson suits up for his 27th PLAYERS Championship looking to add to his 2007 victory, despite missing six of his last seven cuts at TPC Sawgrass. The veteran contended not long ago in his title defense at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and can never be discounted. Simpson won THE PLAYERS just two years ago and comes in with confidence from his Waste Management Phoenix Open win last month. With 20 PGA TOUR wins to his name, Johnson’s record at the PLAYERS was a bit of an enigma until he posted a fifth-place finish a year ago with the move back to March. Rickie Fowler, Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth Notable: It arguably does not get more fun than this trio of friends. TPC Sawgrass is one venue where Fowler gets bragging rights over his buddies, having won THE PLAYERS in incredible fashion five years ago. A birdie, eagle, birdie, birdie finish in regulation to join a playoff that he would win after four extra holes goes down as possibly the best PLAYERS ever. The other two can lay each claim to a FedExCup title and major championship success. Thomas is now heading to his sixth PLAYERS, with a T3 in 2016 his best finish, while Spieth’s best at TPC Sawgrass remains his T4 from his debut in 2014, an effort he hasn’t come close to since with four missed cuts and a T41. Patrick Reed, Hideki Matsuyama, Patrick Cantlay Notable: Matsuyama has his sights firmly set on being the first player from Japan to win THE PLAYERS Championship. With a couple of top-10s to his name already at TPC Sawgrass, it is a not a dream beyond the young man. Reed is riding confidence from his recent win at the World Golf Championships – Mexico Championship and hopes to leverage that into, at very least, his first top-20 at TPC Sawgrass. Cantlay has two career wins, one from each of the last two seasons, and has knocked on the door for another this season thanks a playoff loss at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in Las Vegas and a fourth place finish at the Sentry Tournament of Champions. Matt Kuchar, Henrik Stenson, Sergio Garcia Notable: A salute to former champions at TPC Sawgrass. Garcia collected the trophy in 2008 and has five additional top-10s at THE PLAYERS, including runner-up results in 2007 and 2015 and a third-place finish in 2014. Kuchar was the winner in 2012 and also ran third in 2016. Stenson, a former FedExCup champion, won THE PLAYERS in 2009, was third in 2006 and fifth in 2013. Bryson DeChambeau, Sungjae Im, Gary Woodland Notable: Im, the reigning the PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year, is coming off his first victory at last week’s The Honda Classic. Woodland already has four top-10s this season and the experience of his U.S. Open victory last season in his back pocket. DeChambeau is trending towards adding to his trophy case after finishing runner-up at the World Golf Championships – Mexico Championship, his fourth top-15 result of the season. HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Thursday-Friday, 1 p.m.-7 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday, 2 p.m.-7 p.m. (NBC). Sunday, 1 p.m.-6 p.m. (NBC) PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday, 7:30 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday, 8 a.m.-7 p.m. Sunday, 7:45 a.m.-6 p.m. (Featured Groups and Featured Holes). Thursday-Friday, 7:40 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturday, 8:10 a.m.-8 p.m. Sunday, 7:55 a.m.-7 p.m. (Every Shot Live). Radio: Thursday-Friday, 12 p.m.-7 p.m. Saturday, 1 p.m.-7 p.m. Sunday, 12 p.m.-6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio).

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Tiger Woods zig-zagged all over the leaderboard in the opening round of the U.S. Open at Winged Foot before a rough finish left him fighting an uphill battle to claim an 83rd PGA TOUR win. Woods signed for a 3-over 73 in the opening round despite sitting in red numbers with six holes to play, leaving him eight shots adrift of early leader and playing partner Justin Thomas. A bogey, double-bogey finish spoiled what had otherwise been an impressive grind from Woods to continue the fight despite some bad breaks. "I did not finish off the round like I needed to. I made a bunch of putts in the middle part of the round. It seemed like most of my drives on the front nine landed in the fairway and ended up in bad spots, and I tried to stay as patient as possible, and unfortunately just did not finish off my round the way I needed to," Woods said. Coming off a bogey on the 17th following a wild drive into deep rough, Woods missed the final fairway to the left. He muscled his second shot to just short of the green but then chunked a chip shot that failed to make the surface. His fourth shot rolled out above the pin, leaving a treacherous downhill putt from 9 feet that snapped hard right to left. The 44-year-old was unable to coax it home, leaving a sour taste in his mouth given conditions were much more scorable than expected. "The golf course was set up fantastic. What they did with the hole locations were very fair today. It gave us an opportunity to make some birdies, and you look at most of the scores, and the guys took advantage of it," Woods said of the venue that yielded a winning score of 5 over the last time it hosted the U.S. Open, but had seven players under par from the morning wave. "The golf course is there to be had. Obviously they could have made it a lot more difficult if they wanted to, but I thought it was very fair. We have a long way to go. This is a long marathon of a tournament. There’s a lot of different things that can go on. I just wish I would have finished off my round better" In a day resembling a roller coaster ride, Woods was perhaps a little stiff in the cool morning air as he started slowly. The 15-time major winner had a great look at birdie on the opening hole from inside 20 feet, but it slid by the left side. Despite saving par with up-and-downs from greenside bunkers over his next two holes, he was quickly 2 over with bogeys on the fourth and fifth holes. A birdie on the sixth was wiped out with bogey on the eighth hole, but then Woods appeared to find his mojo as he birdied the ninth, 10th and 11th holes thanks to some brilliant putting. He connected from 31, 23 and 19 feet, respectively, and had fought his way back from 2 over to 1 under. But just as his putter had gotten hot, it found a way to cool off. Facing a great look at birdie on the par-5 12th from 9 feet looked to be heading dead center until the last possible second, it jumped right just a hair and brutally lipped out much to Woods' disbelief. Compounding his frustration, he followed it with back-to-back bogeys, and while he earned a shot back with a birdie bomb on the par-4 16th, he then dropped three in the last two holes.

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Adam Hadwin (+225 for a Top 20) … The common refrain for most after a performance that doesn’t yield a win includes some measure of failure to put four rounds together. On paper, these guys always are really good, but they also can beat themselves up unnecessarily. Eh, it’s part of the nature of losing, er, not winning. The 34-year-old Canadian has connected for a win on the PGA TOUR, but he’s appeared in 205 other tournaments as a member and didn’t prevail. His numbers are eye-popping even when he doesn’t sign for four sparkling scores, but it’s that foundation that elevates expectations often. He’s also rested a month since concluding 2021-22 with a career-best-tying five top 10s. This is his fourth appearance at the Country Club of Jackson but just his second of the last seven years. He’s 3-for-3 overall. Aaron Rai (+225 for a Top 20) … The 27-year-old from England filed a fine rookie campaign in 2021-22 with two top 10s among five top 25s and 19 cuts made, but he was a rookie by definition only, so it would have been surprising if his game didn’t travel and transcend. While cutting his professional teeth on the DP World Tour for five years, he won twice and scaled to eighth in the DPWT ranking in 2020. Since closing out the most recent PGA TOUR season at 16th in fairways hit and 23rd in greens in regulation, he returned to his home circuit for two starts, the more recent of which in Italy where he finished T5 just two weeks ago. Lee Hodges … He’s all things Alabama through and through, but don’t hold that against him next door in the Magnolia State where he’s making his second appearance. That was a year ago when he cashed for the first time (T45) as a PGA TOUR rookie and ranked T8 in par-5 scoring at CC of Jackson. For the season, he checked up at 20th in greens hit. It was the kind of blanket insurance policy that makes it easier for a first-timer to sleep, but now it’s time for his experience on the greens to pay dividends. He also walked off the season with eight paydays in his last nine starts, three of which going for a top 25. Zecheng Dou … Back on the PGA TOUR after four seasons since his forgettable foray in 2017-18, but still just 25 years of age, the talent from China made sure to get on the board quickly with a T21 at the Fortinet Championship. Although it bested all eight of his previous paydays across five seasons, it also was merely an extension of the kind of form that brought him back. He was a winner on the Korn Ferry Tour inside three months ago and he added a solo third in the middle stage of the KFT Finals to total five top-five finishes on the season. Also was among the most proficient in paying off greens hit and ranked T3 in par-5 scoring. MJ Daffue … The first-time PGA TOUR member from South Africa – remember, he’s not a rookie because he exceeded seven starts in 2020-21 – is making his second start at CC of Jackson. Surprise, surprise – not! – he open-qualified in 2020 and raced out to sit fourth at the midpoint before settling for a T12. It doesn’t take but a single line to connect the dots between his aggressive approach and being a threat in a shootout, but his wildly successful season on the KFT this year supports the exercise with the empirical. En route to four podium finishes among seven top 10s, he ranked third in birdie average and second in converting greens in regulation into par breakers. Odds were sourced on Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2022. For live odds, visit BetMGM.

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