Pan, Ancer and Li make Presidents Cup history

Dustin Johnson fires a final-round 65, the best of the week, to lap the field at the Sentry Tournament of Champions at Kapalua, moving from 25th to second in the FedExCup. Welcome to the Monday Finish, where we are still struggling to blink as we stare at Johnson’s incredible near albatross in Maui. Here are some observations after Johnson solidified his place at the top of the world with a commanding eight-shot win at the Sentry TOC. FIVE OBSERVATIONS 1. Johnson’s power has always been scary, but scarier still is how he has developed finesse and precision, drilling down on his wedge game and tidying up around the greens. We’re seeing the results. His putting, greatly improved, still comes and goes, but he didn’t have a single three-putt at the Sentry, and his pair of eagles on the 430-yard, par-4 12th on the weekend further illustrate his greatness. The first came with a wedge from 72 yards, the second with a nuked driver that bounded onto the green and stopped just inches from going in. He says he feels unbeatable at his best. He might be right. 2. One of the oft-used superlatives for Johnson has been consistent. At Kapalua, he ran his win streak to 11 seasons with at least one victory since his rookie year in 2008. Only Tiger Woods with 18 victories has won more than Johnson (17) in that time span. But lately the better term for D.J. is dominant. His romp at Kapalua, the biggest blowout on TOUR since Jordan Spieth also won by eight at the 2016 Sentry TOC, was Johnson’s eighth win since the start of 2016. He said before the tournament that he could envision a monster season with seven, eight or even nine victories. Given what happened at the Plantation Course, Johnson could indeed be on the verge of that kind of year.    3. Jon Rahm (69, 16-under) was trying to become the third first-timer, after Daniel Chopra (2008) and Sergio Garcia (2002), to win the Sentry TOC since it moved to Kapalua in ’99. As it was, Rahm’s solo second-place finish marked his fourth runner-up on TOUR (and second to Johnson), further suggesting Rahm is on the fast track to greatness. It took Johnson a few years to learn to harness his talents; might Rahm be on a similar trajectory? If so, who will have the better career, Rahm, 23, who has one win, or Johnson, 33, who has 17? 4. Pat Perez’s T4 finish puts him in pole position in the FedExCup. His performance at the Sentry marked his third top-five finish in five starts this season, and suggests still feels like he’s playing with the house money after surviving 2016 shoulder surgery. “I definitely know my game better,� Perez, 41, said for an upcoming feature on PGATOUR.com. “But the short game has definitely gotten a lot better. I don’t know how many shots I’ve picked up over the last year and a half.� At Kapalua, Perez hit 80 percent of the fairways (T1) and was +1.283 in strokes gained putting, third best. 5. At a career-high 12th in the Official World Golf Ranking, Marc Leishman continues to impress as he builds towards becoming one of the top 10. The Australian led the tournament through the first two rounds only to struggle mightily in round three to a 76. It was an ugly Saturday, particularly on the greens, but to his credit he shot a 6-under 67 on Sunday, one of only two bogey-free rounds on the day (Hideki Matsuyama, 66) to finish T7. Don’t be surprised if Leishman adds a fourth PGA TOUR title soon – the Farmers Insurance Open is one event to pencil for this guy. FIVE INSIGHTS 1. Johnson tied Ernie Els for the most eagles in a career at Kapalua (eight), but missed tying another record. After making his only bogey of the final round at the par-3 11th hole, Johnson’s 430-yard drive at the 12th stopped inches from the cup, leading to a tap-in eagle. Andrew Magee is the only player to ace a par-4 in TOUR history, doing so at the 332-yard 17th hole at the 2001 Waste Management Phoenix Open. 2. Johnson’s statistical line makes for pretty impressive reading. Strokes gained: off the tee: +8.902 (1st); strokes gained: tee to green: +13.989 (1st); strokes gained: approach the green: +2.777 (1st); strokes gained: around the green: +2.310 (4th); strokes gained: putting: +2.894 (6th). In other words, your basic demolition derby. 3. Brian Harman (72, solo third) now has four top-10 finishes in four starts this season. And as if that weren’t reason enough for good cheer, Harman’s alma mater, Georgia, made it to college football’s National Championship game against Alabama. 4. Rickie Fowler (70, T4) finished 10 behind the winner, but he has finished in the top four of both his starts this season, after a runner-up at the OHL Classic at Mayakoba in early November. And his line at the Sentry TOC (T6 in 2013, 5th 2016, T4 2018) also seems to suggest he’s heading in the right direction. 5. Strange but true: In registering yet another top-10 finish, Jordan Spieth (69, -12, solo ninth) put together his worst result at Kaplua. In three previous starts at the Sentry TOC, the 2016 champion hadn’t finished out of the top three.   TOP THREE VIDEOS

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CROMWELL, Conn. – Rory McIlroy is fighting a cold. You can understand why. After carding a final-round 69 to finish T5 at the U.S. Open, he flew home to South Florida to see his wife, Erica, and their daughter, Poppy. He slept in his own bed, flew back to Connecticut, attended a five-hour meeting Tuesday – he’s one of four player directors on the PGA TOUR policy board – and played in the Travelers Championship’s Wednesday pro-am in the rain. And after all of that, he shot an 8-under 62 Thursday to take the early first-round lead. “Energy levels are OK,” McIlroy said after his eight-birdie, no-bogey round, which was one better than fellow morning-wave finishers Martin Laird and Xander Schauffele. “I’m feeling a little under the weather, but it’s just concentration at this point. “I’ve got three more rounds left until I have a couple of weeks off and prepare for the Open Championship,” he continued. “I’m going to put everything into those three rounds.” It’s been a busy stretch for McIlroy, who is teeing it up for the fourth week in a row. He won the RBC Canadian Open for his 21st TOUR title two weeks ago, and was in contention until the bitter end at the U.S. Open at The Country Club, where he had hoped to break a dry spell in the majors that dates back to 2014. Despite falling short in Boston, he’s playing well and is up to second in the Official World Golf Ranking. He and Erica have been laughing about how they’re losing their voices; they think Poppy brought something home from daycare. Unlike the weekend at the U.S. Open, and pro-am day at the Travelers, McIlroy found much more agreeable conditions for the opening round at TPC River Highlands. In partly-cloudy skies and warm temperatures, he and the others in his group, Webb Simpson (64) and Kevin Kisner (67), took advantage of a course softened by rain. “We had a great group,” said Simpson, who also didn’t make any bogeys. “Rory played great, Kevin played great. We kind of fed off each other. I think the holes started looking bigger and bigger to us. A lot of putts were made.” In three previous Travelers starts, McIlroy, who leads the TOUR in scoring average (68.657), has never finished in the top 10. The two-time FedExCup champion, No. 3 in the current standings, couldn’t ask for a better start to rectify that. “It’s like U.S. Open rehab coming here,” he said. “You’re like, oh, I can actually make some birdies. This is nice.” Three more solid rounds and his 22nd TOUR title would be even nicer, but it’s early. In his fourth straight week of competition, nursing a cold, McIlroy is taking it one birdie at a time.

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HOW THEY QUALIFIED Winners of the Arnold Palmer Inv. & the Memorial (Last 3 Years) Matt Every Tournament Winner in Past Two Seasons Steven Bowditch Alex Cejka Jim Furyk Smylie Kaufman Davis Love III Hunter Mahan Ben Martin Troy Merritt Brian Stuard Career Money Exemption Carl Pettersson Sponsors Exemptions – Web.com Tour Finals Matt Gilchrest Robby Shelton Sponsors Exemptions – Members not otherwise exempt Chris Smith Omar Uresti Sponsors Exemptions – Unrestricted Sam Burns Will Cannon Trace Crowe Wes Homan Sung Min Lee Hugo Leon Dru Love Derek Rende PGA Club Professional Champion – 6 Events Rich Berberian, Jr. PGA Section Champion\Player of the Year Mike Genovese Top 125 on Prior Season’s FedEx Cup Points List David Hearn Kyle Reifers Daniel Summerhays Ricky Barnes Chad Campbell Patrick Rodgers Patton Kizzire K.J. Choi Spencer Levin Jason Bohn Tyrone Van Aswegen Derek Fathauer Blayne Barber Brett Stegmaier Robert Garrigus Zac Blair Cameron Tringale Andrew Loupe Boo Weekley Mark Hubbard Ben Crane Shawn Stefani Seung-Yul Noh Top 125 on Prior Season’s Official Money List thru Wyndham Ken Duke Retief Goosen Chad Collins Major Medical Extension Brian Gay Ryo Ishikawa Leading Money Winner from Web.com Tour & Web.com Tour Finals Grayson Murray Top Finishers from Web.com Tour Prior Season (reordered) Dominic Bozzelli J.T. Poston Ryan Blaum Scott Stallings Brandon Hagy Cameron Percy Seamus Power Trey Mullinax Bryson DeChambeau Martin Flores Julian Etulain Richy Werenski Andres Gonzales Jonathan Randolph Ryan Brehm Joel Dahmen Tag Ridings Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano Rory Sabbatini Steven Alker Nicholas Lindheim Will MacKenzie Mark Anderson Ryan Armour Brett Drewitt Brian Campbell Miguel Angel Carballo Sebastian Munoz Brad Fritsch Rick Lamb Bobby Wyatt Bobby Gates Max Homa Shane Bertsch 126 – 150 Prior Season’s FEC Points List (Reordered) Matt Jones Sam Saunders Greg Owen Chris Stroud Steve Wheatcroft Willy Wilcox Hiroshi Iwata Tom Hoge Tyler Aldridge Stuart Appleby Reorder Category – Cat. 34 thru 38 Camilo Villegas Bill Lunde Angel Cabrera Andres Romero Jonathan Byrd Mark Wilson Brendon de Jonge Y.E. Yang Dicky Pride John Merrick Charlie Wi Chesson Hadley Michael Bradley George McNeill Tim Herron Eric Axley Brendon Todd John Rollins Tommy Gainey Robert Allenby Craig Barlow Beyond 150th on Prior Season’s FEC Points List Jason Gore Jeff Overton D.J. Trahan Marc Turnesa Cameron Beckman Ted Purdy Troy Matteson Frank Lickliter II Arjun Atwal

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