PGA TOUR, CJ Group announce move of THE CJ CUP from Nine Bridges in Jeju Island to Shadow Creek in Las Vegas

MEXICO CITY – Question: How far does a well-struck drive go at Club de Golf Chapultepec? Answer: Far enough for tournament organizers to limit driver and fairway wood use to the far-left corner of the driving range, lest too many balls sail over the range’s towering back fence in advance of this week’s World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship. “It’s pretty crazy how far the ball goes,â€� Tony Finau said, as he worked on the practice putting green at dusk Tuesday. “At least coming from Utah I can relate; it’s going farther here, but playing at altitude at home, I’m a little closer to these numbers than a lot of other guys.â€� Finau sometimes plays at Victory Ranch, which is near Park City and around 6,000 feet above sea level. Still, it would be unusual for him to hit a 3-iron nearly 320 yards there, as he can at the short par-4 opening hole at Chapultepec, which many players can reach with a 3- or 5-wood. “The numbers are crazy,â€� Finau said. “It can mess with you.â€� According to Shotlink mapping data, the lowest part of the Chapultepec course is 7,603 feet above sea level and the highest part is at 7,835 feet. By comparison, Montreux Golf & Country Club, which hosts the PGA TOUR’s Barracuda Championship in Reno-Tahoe, Nevada, is 5,476 to 5,952 feet above sea level. Asked if Chapultepec reminds of any other courses, Patton Kizzire, second in the FedExCup standings, cited the Web.com Tour’s Club Colombia Championship at Bogota Country Club (the Everest of pro golf, at 8,600 feet), and the Utah Championship presented by Zion’s Bank. Kizzire won the latter tournament in 2015, when it was held at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi (4,600 feet). “I’ve had some success playing at elevation,â€� he said. Generally speaking, a golf ball will fly some 10-15 percent farther at elevation. For the best players in the world, though, that kind of math is simply too fuzzy. Although many, like Tommy Fleetwood, prefer to trust their eyes, he and others in this week’s elite, 65-man field have also been relying on TrackMan, the practice device that analyzes factors such as launch speed, angle and spin rate. Fleetwood, who finished runner-up to Dustin Johnson in the first WGC-Mexico Championship at Chapultepec last year, said he planned to make use of the device Wednesday. “The afternoon, when it heats up, the ball’s going absolutely miles,â€� he said. “… You’ve just got to put the work in the first couple of days and just trust it when you’re out there.â€� Justin Thomas, who is coming off his eighth TOUR victory at The Honda Classic at sea level in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, said at Chapultepec such work practically cries out for TrackMan. “This is going to be the best week for their branding, for sure,â€� said the FedExCup leader, who also leads the TOUR with 24 consecutive rounds of par or better. “You look out on the range, about everyone’s using one just because we’re able to get a lot better idea of the numbers.â€� Thomas and his caddie, Jimmy Johnson, strategized their way to a T5 finish last year, including a memorable hole-in-one. This, despite Thomas fighting his swing. The course is wetter and softer this year, which may slightly lessen the high-ball hitters’ advantage. But, players add, the thin air, like high winds, can still wildly exaggerate the effects of a well-struck shot. Fleetwood was aghast when Rory McIlroy outdrove him by 80 yards while practicing at Chapultepec last year. They aren’t usually that far apart, but Fleetwood was “neckingâ€� his driver (his word) and failing to match McIlroy’s swing speed or his high launch angle. The altitude seemed to generate a sort of multiplier effect. “I wasn’t too worried,â€� Fleetwood said with an impish smile. “I was knocking it inside him.â€� Sure enough, when it mattered and the strokes were counted up at the end, Fleetwood beat McIlroy (T7) by three. The driver isn’t everything. In fact, Justin Rose believes it’s not always even the most important thing. He believes that for some odd reason the discrepancy between normal and high-altitude yardages is most visible when you get into the middle of the bag, and specifically the 6-, 7- and 8-iron. “It’s not just 10 percent [more carry at altitude] across the board,â€� he said. “It seems to change with different clubs.â€� Rose, who putted poorly to finish T38 last year, contends that while high-ball hitters like Johnson will get more carry in the thin air, other factors are also crucial at 7,345-yard, par-71 Chapultepec. Factors like staying out of the copious trees, hitting smart approach shots, and taming the quirky greens, which break toward the city. “There’s a lot of wedges in hand for most of the field,â€� Rose said. “… Just from memory, you can be aggressive, you can try and take it over tree lines occasionally. If you’re on your game, that works for a long hitter, but there’s a lot of risk with that, as well. “Game plan’s very important around here,â€� he added, “but I think all types of players can find their way around the golf course.â€�

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The 14th annual FedExCup Playoffs opens with a new but familiar backdrop. THE NORTHERN TRUST will be contested at TPC Boston for the first time. The par 71 was the only host of the Dell Technologies Championship when it was a staple in the 2-hole of the old four-event series from 2007-2018. Eight of the 12 winners on the course during the FedExCup era qualified for the 2020 Playoffs. As of midday Monday, all 125 who are eligible are committed. Scroll past the expanded ranking of projected contenders for the adjustments made for the Playoffs, details on TPC Boston and more. RELATED: The First Look | One-liners for every player in the Playoffs POWER RANKINGS: THE NORTHERN TRUST Tuesday’s Fantasy Insider will include reviews of Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Rickie Fowler, each of whom is a former winner at TPC Boston, as well as Brooks Koepka, Jordan Spieth, Justin Rose and Tommy Fleetwood among other notables. Nothing has seemed to evade the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic, the FedExCup Playoffs included. About halfway into the three-month hiatus, it was announced that the Playoffs would be shifted forward a week on the calendar. In other words, THE NORTHERN TRUST originally was scheduled for last week. The other modification to THE NORTHERN TRUST and next week’s BMW Championship addressed the FedExCup Playoffs points earned. Instead of the usual quadrupling of the points versus what’s available during the regular season, they are tripled. For example, the winner of the first two events receives 1,500 FedExCup points instead of 2,000. This helps offset the elimination of 13 tournaments, including THE PLAYERS, three majors and the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play. What you remember about last year’s introduction of the reduction to three Playoffs events hasn’t changed. At the conclusion of THE NORTHERN TRUST, the top 70 in FedExCup points will advance to the BMW Championship. It’s just that with the points up for grabs shaved by one-quarter, it could be more challenging to survive. (Tuesday’s special Power Rankings for the Playoffs will analyze this in greater detail.) TPC Boston’s position on the PGA TOUR schedule dates back to 2003, and it always hosted right around the first week of September. Of this week’s field, 86 have competed here before. Save a handful for whom it’s been a few years since they qualified, what they’ll see isn’t much different than how they remember it. TPC Boston tips at 7,308 yards. The field will average under par comfortably, but the trio of par 5s - Nos. 2, 7 and 18 - are just inside the top-half of the harder par 5s on any course, so capitalizing on them is at a relative premium and more valuable than usual. Distance off the tee in general will carry an additional benefit, but because greens are smaller than average at 5,200 square feet, course management will win the race. THE NORTHERN TRUST will be a borderline shootout during which hitting greens in regulation and connecting with pace and read on the putting surfaces should define the champion. Aside from combination fescue-bluegrass primary rough allowed to grow upwards of three-and-a-half inches, bentgrass serves as the shortest grass across the property. This includes the greens that are prepped to measure 12-and-a-half feet with a Stimpmeter. With favorable weather through the 36-hole cut - the last of the 2019-20 season - there is unlikely to be an imbalance in the draw - also the last of the season. Daytime temperatures will rise into the upper 80s on Saturday when winds are expected to freshen. A reasonable chance of rain if not storms elbows its way into the equation on Sunday. 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: Rookie Ranking, Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Medical Extensions, Power Rankings (THE NORTHERN TRUST) TUESDAY*: Power Rankings (FedExCup Playoffs), Sleepers, Fantasy Insider * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM's Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf, which also publishes on Tuesday.

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