PGA to end weekly testing for COVID in late July

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ATLANTA – Paul Casey rarely looks at leaderboards while playing the front nine on a Thursday. After all, what’s the point with so little movement that early in the tournament? But five holes into the first round of the TOUR Championship, Casey took a peek. This week’s new Starting Strokes format had him intrigued. “For once, first time ever,â€� Casey said, “[it was] anticipation to see scores.â€� Casey was one of five players who started the day at 2 under, eight strokes off the lead held by FedExCup points leader Justin Thomas. After shooting a 4-under 66, he’s now at 6 under – four shots behind co-leaders Thomas, Xander Schauffele and Brooks Koepka – and has a realistic shot at winning the FedExCup at East Lake. RELATED: Big names tied atop leaderboard | Koepka to appear in ESPN’s Body Issue | How new format works for TOUR Championship In the previous format, Casey would have started the week needing a handful of scenarios to play out in his favor. In fact, a year ago, Casey arrived at East Lake ranked 26th in points. Not only did he need to win the tournament, he also needed seven different players to fall in line before he could claim the FedExCup. He entered this week ranked 16th in points. Sure, he started eight shots behind, but if he can make up the ground and beat everybody else at East Lake, the FedExCup will be his. No other scenarios need to play out. If he wins the tournament, he wins golf’s biggest prize. Pretty simple. “I guess it was a little bit strange,â€� said Casey when asked about teeing off eight shots behind. “It was nice once everybody was on the golf course.â€� Unlike previous TOUR Championships in the FedExCup era, there’s only one leaderboard needed this week. Once the leaderboard started to fill up Thursday, and players knew exactly where they stood, it seemed, well, a bit normal. “It didn’t feel that much different, to be honest with you,â€� said 2016 FedExCup champ Rory McIlroy, who started five shots behind Thomas but shot a 66 and is now just a stroke off the lead. “… I sort of had the mindset this week that I’m starting on even par, and I’m going to try to shoot a good four-round total and see where that leaves me at the end of the week.â€� Said Koepka: “You could say I played it like a five-day event. I knew I was three down and … by the time the turn comes, try to get back to all square.â€� Unlike previous TOUR Championships — in which each of the top five players in points controlled his own destiny by claiming the FedExCup title with a win – the only player wearing a target this week was Thomas. Entering with a staggered lead over the other 29 players in the field, Thomas – who won the FedExCup in 2017 by finishing solo second to Schauffele in the TOUR Championship – was the focal point. A hot start could have deflated the field. “If he came out with five straight birdies, it would be like, OK, we’re done,â€� Casey said. Instead, with Thomas shooting even par, the field is now bunched. Five players started the tournament within five shots of the lead; after the first round, there are now 12 players in that position. “If I were Justin Thomas, I would be more upset than me in my position,â€� said Charles Howell III, who opened at even par (10 shots off the lead) but shot a 68 to cut his deficit to eight. “Justin’s played phenomenal golf and has done what he’s done, and he could theoretically fall quite a bit, and I could move up, and he’s played better than I have.â€� Thomas said he didn’t think it felt weird with the lead, one he’s been sitting on since winning the BMW Championship on Sunday. “I felt I did a really good job in terms of getting myself where I need to be mentally,â€� he said. “I just didn’t quite hit enough fairways.â€� Without the need for scenarios, there is now clarity. Meanwhile, the volatility of the leaderboard certainly has made things intriguing. Top-five guys from the previous format rarely suffered a significant drop. Play poorly this week, though, and it may prove more costly. “There’s no insurance policy this week for anybody,â€� Casey said. For those in the middle and back half of the pack, aggressive play is the gameplan. Casey said he had four birdies inside 2 feet, and another inside 4 feet. “I aimed at a bunch of stuff, which I don’t always do on a Thursday,â€� he said. “I think it benefits the kind of middle of the pack in a way,â€� said Rickie Fowler, who started at 2 under but shot a 71 and is now nine shots off the lead. “Not that whoever starts in front doesn’t have a good chance of winning. They still do. You start with a little bit of a lead. But I think kind of the guys maybe in the 8 to 15 area for sure. “Before, you know, you look at Tiger winning the tournament last year, and you need a lot of things to kind of go your way in the old system to come out on top. Now you go play well, especially the first couple days, and you’re right in the thick of it, and you know exactly what you need to do. It’s not based on what someone else does.â€� For someone like Howell, there’s still a long climb before he gets into contention. But he’s got a chance. He’s also happy the Starting Strokes format gave those at the bottom of the field an acceptable score. “I’m just glad they didn’t started the leader off at even, and us at plus 10,â€� Howell said, offering a smile. “I think that would have been even more humiliating.â€�

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Rahm on a Roll Incredibly, Tuesday marks seven full months since the last time Jon Rahm recorded an over-par round on TOUR. That came in the first round of the 2021 Open Championship, and he still tied for third place. Rahm’s run of 33 consecutive rounds of par or better is the longest active streak on TOUR, with Patrick Cantlay close behind at 31. With an opening 71 or lower on Thursday, Rahm will be the first player in nearly 20 years to have a streak of 34 or longer in this statistic, the last being Charles Howell III in 2002-03. It would also tie the mark for longest such streak by an international player, matching Vijay Singh’s streak of 34 straight from 2000 to 2001. Since 1983, the only player with a streak longer than 38 rounds is – who else – Tiger Woods, who rattled off 52 consecutive rounds at par or better from the 2000 AT&T Byron Nelson to the WM Phoenix Open in February of the following year. Woods had six TOUR wins, including three majors, in that unbelievable stretch. Days removed from hosting a thrilling Super Bowl, Los Angeles is the site of another star-studded competition this week at The Riviera Country Club. For the first time in the history of The Genesis Invitational, the top 10 players in the Official World Golf Ranking will tee it up. It’s the first time since last year’s TOUR Championship that all 10 in the OWGR will compete in the same PGA TOUR event. One of the marquee events on the TOUR schedule, The Genesis Invitational has boasted some extremely strong fields in recent years: 9 of that week’s top 10 played in both 2017 and 2020. Still, it’s rare when all of the world’s best are in the mix at an event that isn’t a major championship, FedExCup Playoffs event, World Golf Championships event, or THE PLAYERS Championship. Historically Speaking To find another field like this on TOUR, you have to go back to the 2007 Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow Club, the last time 10 of the top 10 played in a tournament that wasn’t a major, Playoffs event, WGC, or THE PLAYERS. Tiger Woods would earn his 57th official TOUR title that week, which happened to be the week before THE PLAYERS. The Wells Fargo was the second victory in what would turn out to be a seven-win season for Woods. Another 10-of-10 field happened the week before THE PLAYERS in 1995, when every one of the top 23 players in the world played the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard. That week at Bay Hill had an incredibly strong international contingent, including a rare stateside, non-major start for Japanese star Jumbo Ozaki, the 9th-ranked player in the world. Loren Roberts would go on to successfully defend his title that week at Arnie’s place. As for Riviera, it last hosted a major in 1995, when Steve Elkington won the PGA Championship. Not even that week could boast the entire top 10: Bernhard Langer, No. 4, missed the tournament with a back injury. Since 2010, about 12% of all events on TOUR (including the majors, PLAYERS, WGCs and FedExCup Playoffs) have had every member of the world top 10 in the field. But to see it at this particular spot on the schedule – at one of the best venues all year on TOUR – is a rare treat for golf fans. Short Game Significance Riviera has some of the most difficult greens to hit on TOUR. Last season, only Winged Foot (52.1%) and Kiawah Island (53.8%), both major championship venues, yielded a lower G.I.R. percentage than Riviera (54.2%). And while this statistic does highlight the need for precision approach play, it also hints that everyone in the field will, sooner or later, need to get up-and-down to make a key par save. Because of this, Strokes Gained: Around the Green is a more impactful statistic than usual in determining a winner at Riviera. Since 2010, TOUR winners have averaged 0.42 Strokes Gained: Around the Green per round. At Riviera, that number is significantly higher – 0.79 per round for players who take home the trophy. For winners of The Genesis Invitational, shots around the green have accounted for 22.1% of all Strokes Gained since 2010. That is nearly double the TOUR average for winners in that span, 11.6%. Nine of the previous 14 winners at Riviera ranked in the top 10 that week in Strokes Gained: Around the Green, including Max Homa in 2021.

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