Pat Perez has thoughts, on the PGA Tour’s possible return, Tiger Woods and more

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – Brian Harman hit all 18 greens in Friday’s second round of The RSM Classic. It’s the second time in his career that he’s accomplished that feat. “I think my ball-striking is probably as good as it’s ever been,â€� said Harman, who’s won twice on the TOUR, was runner-up in a major and once ranked 20th in the world. A lot has changed in just a few months. This summer, he felt “crippling anxietyâ€� about losing his PGA TOUR card. Harman was 170th in the FedExCup last March and still ranked outside the top 125 as late as June. He earned a spot in this year’s FedExCup Playoffs, though, with three top-10s in his final six starts of the regular season. It started with a T8 at the Travelers, where he overcame a first-round 72 with three consecutive 66s. Two weeks later, he was in contention at the 3M Open before a bad third round. Tired of stressing about his game, he sent a text to his agent that Sunday saying, “This ends today.â€� He shot a final-round 65 to lock up his card and Playoffs spot. RELATED: Leaderboard | Plantation Course’s new look for The RSM Classic “I made the choice that day that whatever happened, I was going to act like I had been there before,â€� Harman said. “It let me know that I really did need to change the way I was thinking about things and not get so bogged down.â€� That freedom has helped him play the same creative golf he played during his younger days, when he won the U.S. Junior Amateur and was the world’s top-ranked amateur. Harman started this new season with a third-place finish in A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier, finished in the top-20 in his next two starts and is back in contention at The RSM. He shot 67 on Thursday at Sea Island’s Plantation Course before following with a 66 on the Seaside Course that will host the final two rounds. Harman, a Georgia alum, played Sea Island in the SEC Championships and now makes his home here. He only had one top-25 in his first five starts in the RSM, though. He missed the cut in both 2015 and 2016 before finishing a career-best fourth. He was T32 last year. “I wanted to play well so bad,â€� Harman said. “As I’ve gotten older, I’ve embraced it. It’s a fun week. Let’s have fun.â€� His family is staying at his house, as is his caddie. They’ve cooked out each night, eating elk tenderloin and tomahawk pork chops. Harman is enjoying the game again after suffering from burnout at the start of last season. His game reached new heights two years ago, when he won the Wells Fargo Championship, finished runner-up in the U.S. Open and qualified for his first TOUR Championship. All that success led to new opportunities, but also a busier schedule. “I was really tired,â€� he said. “It’s a fine line out here. You take a little bit of a mental break, and I did because I was tired of grinding all the time, and your game takes a hit,â€� Harman said. He started working with swing coach Justin Parsons in the spring and promptly finished T8 at THE PLAYERS. Harman still works with longtime swing coach Jack Lumpkin, as well. Parsons also helped Harman’s former Georgia teammate, Harris English, turn around his career. Harman described working with Parsons, who moved to Sea Island from Dubai earlier this year, as a “shot in the arm.â€� “I just didn’t really feel like myself anymore,â€� Harman said. “I was trying to be something I wasn’t. (Justin) helped me be more creative with my ball-striking and freed me up to do some of stuff that I know I can do.â€�

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Refer to it as "The Hope" and most golf fans know what it is, or what it was. Images of gags, giggles and golf fill the memory bank, and in that order. In addition to Bob Hope's name planted in the name of the annual PGA TOUR stop in La Quinta, California, for decades, his presence and spirit is the foundation of the event. Even after his death in 2003, the hilarity has ensued so well that only a pandemic could disrupt the occasion. This year, and fingers crossed with non-comedic intentions, only this year, what today is known as The American Express will consist only of the golf due to the universal concerns associated with COVID-19. As a result, modifications to the format have been made. Scroll past the projected contenders for details of what has changed. They include the reduction of one course and a different but familiar cut. RELATED: The First Look | Inside the Field POWER RANKINGS: THE AMERICAN EXPRESS Rickie Fowler, Francesco Molinari, Gary Woodland and tournament host Phil Mickelson will be among the notables reviewed in Tuesday's Fantasy Insider. From its inception in 1960 through the last edition with Hope's name in the title in 2011, the tournament that has capitalized on an abundance of fun tracks throughout the Coachella Valley was a five-round, 90-hole contest. In 2012, it evolved into a traditional four-round, 72-hole shootout but with a 54-hole cut. (Other specialized cuts for the professionals and for the pro-am portion also have been commonplace.) This year, with no amateurs knocking it around beside the professionals during the tournament proper, only the Stadium Course and Nicklaus Tournament Course at PGA WEST will be used. La Quinta Country Club gets the week off. This allows for a standard cut of low 65 and ties at the conclusion of 36 holes. All who survive will play only the Stadium Course in the third and final rounds. Both courses are stock par 72s. For the first time since the Stadium Course joined the rotation in 2016, its yardage has changed. At 7,147 yards this week, it's 34 yards longer due to extensions on a trio of par 4s - the 471-yard third (+23 yards), 452-yard ninth (+7) and 439-yard 18th (+4). Only one hole on the Nicklaus Tournament Course has stretched, but the course underwent a significant change since the last edition. The par-4, 453-yard 18th hole is 22 yards longer, thus increasing the overall length of the test to 7,181 yards. Meanwhile, the former TifDwarf bermuda greens were replaced with TifEagle bermuda. That transition allowed for an expansion of over 50,000 square feet of putting surfaces across the property. The greens now average over 7,700 square feet. In comparison, the targets on the Stadium Course measure just 5,000 square feet on average. The Nicklaus Tournament Course has played measurably easier than the Stadium Course over time, usually right around one stroke lower. This is expected to continue this week, but the absence of amateurs and with the potential of new hole locations on what could be springy greens on the co-host, scoring may be affected. Everyone in the field of 156 gets only one walk through the Nicklaus Tournament Course, so it may require a couple of years of competition for a new identity to be shaped. As the host course, only the Stadium is lasered for ShotLink purposes, but the objective in this tournament remains the same - hit greens and sink putts. With the removal of La Quinta CC - the easiest of the traditional trio in the last four years - overall scoring could rise marginally. For the second consecutive year, Mother Nature could confuse Snowbirds who thought that they left the inclement weather in the rearview mirror on their southern migration. Emphasis on "could." In advance of last year's event, rain was forecast early, but it didn't make an appearance. This week, after a seasonably comfortable and dry start, the risk of rain enters the picture on the weekend as daytime temperatures tumble into the low 60s. Any impact will be limited to potentially slowing greens prepared to run no longer than 11-and-a-half feet on the Stimpmeter. A delay in the action is not expected. ROB BOLTON'S SCHEDULE PGATOUR.COM's Fantasy Insider Rob Bolton recaps and previews every tournament from numerous angles. Look for his following contributions as scheduled. MONDAY: Power Rankings TUESDAY*: Sleepers, Fantasy Insider SUNDAY: Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Medical Extensions, Rookie Watch * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM's Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf, which also publishes on Tuesday. As of January 26, 2021, PGATOUR.COM will no longer support Livefyre commenting on our website. We invite you to join the conversation by following and interacting with Rob Bolton on Twitter (@RobBoltonGolf) and PGA TOUR Twitter, Facebook and Instagram channels. If you have any feedback or questions, please reach out to us via the Contact Us page."

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NAPLES, Fla. — Jason Kokrak and Kevin Na birdied 12 of their last 13 holes Sunday in fourballs and closed with a 12-under 60 to rally from at three-shot deficit and win the QBE Shootout. Kokrak and Na were five shots behind after a bogey on the par-3 fifth hole when they ran off nine straight birdies, seven of them by Na. And then it was Kokrak’s turn down the stretch, and he finished off the one-shot victory with a 6-foot birdie putt. Four teams had a chance to win over the final two holes. Kokrak blasted a drive down the fairway and had a wedge he hit into 6 feet below the cup. His final birdie staked the team to a two-shot lead, meaning the last two teams behind them had to hole out from the fairway to force a playoff. Billy Horschel chipped in for birdie from near the water hazard as he and Sam Burns shot 61 to finish one shot behind. Horschel and Burns did not have a score worse than 62 all week. Marc Leishman and Jason Day, who opened with a 56 and led all week, couldn’t keep pace. Leishman made a 10-foot eagle putt on the par-5 17th to get within one shot, but then Kokrak in the group ahead made birdie and the Australian duo had to settle for par. They shot 65 and tied for third with defending champions Harris English and Matt Kuchar, who closed with a 62. Na and Kokrak didn’t look to be part of the picture when they were even for the round through five holes. They made birdie on every hole but the 15th the rest of the way. “We got off to a poor start,” Na said. “We kept telling ourselves there are plenty of birdie holes out there. I started making some birdies and we got hot.” Na and Kokrak share a swing coach in Drew Steckel and often play practice rounds together. Lexi Thompson, the only LPGA Tour player in the field, who also played Tiburon Golf Club last month in the LPGA Tour’s season-ending Tour Championship, teamed with Bubba Watson and had to settle for a 68. They finished ninth in the 12-team field.

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