PGA TOUR statement on Cameron Champ WD

PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. – Tiger Woods is still looking for a solution off the tee after the 79-time PGA TOUR winner opened the Genesis Open with a grinding 1-over 72. Having hit just 19 fairways over four rounds at Torrey Pines a few weeks ago, Woods was hoping for better accuracy in his first start at Riviera Country Club since 2006. And while the stat line of eight of 14 fairways reads reasonably – only four of those hit were with his driver. Unlike at Torrey – where he recovered to hit plenty of greens – Woods managed just seven of 18 on Thursday. It meant way too many holes grinding for pars than trying to make birdies. Making just his third tournament start since undergoing spinal fusion surgery last April, Woods chose to look at the glass half full. “It was a lot better today. The shaft is a little more stout, and the times I lost it to the right, a lot of the times I was just trying to smooth it out there,â€� Woods explained. “I can go ahead and hit this thing, I can be aggressive, and I can take out one side of the golf course, which is great.â€� The side he didn’t take out was the right. After opening with a birdie on the 10th hole at Riviera, Woods sent his first attempt with the driver right into the trees. A towering eucalyptus promptly swallowed his ball and had him hitting 3 from the tee. He had a handful of other wild misses to the right including on the par-4 ninth – his final hole – where he ended up in a bunker – on the 10th. “I guess he’s gone to a driver that’s a little longer, a little more loft, so that’s good. I said to him, ‘Make it as easy as possible for yourself, don’t try and complicate things,’â€� playing partner Rory McIlroy said of Woods’ driver. “But it looks OK. He hit some great drives coming in, he drove it much better … saw some good signs, just a better rhythm, a little bit better tempo from the top.â€� McIlroy pointed out the 7:22am tee time and crisp morning temperatures may have contributed. “It was cold and if you don’t quite release it that much, it can get away from you pretty easily. I had a couple get away from me and didn’t feel like I hit that bad,â€� he said. And the Northern Irishman is a firm believer that over time and more reps Woods will be a serious factor. “It doesn’t feel like five years ago that he won five tournaments and was the Player of the Year,â€� McIlroy said. “He remembers how to do this and his body’s allowing him to do this, and there’s no doubt in my mind that he’ll make a little bit of noise this year.â€� Sitting five back of the early clubhouse lead, Woods certainly didn’t feel out of the event he’s failed to win in 10 previous tries including his PGA TOUR debut as a 16-year-old in 1992. He did after all post five birdies, and a couple of his mistakes were basic errors – like hitting into long Kikuyu grass with an iron off the tee on the par-4 fifth hole and missing the par-4 seventh green with a wedge from just 137 yards. Needing just 25 putts was promising so if he eliminates the mistakes he could certainly press toward the weekend. “I’m not that far off to really putting some good numbers out there,â€� Woods said. “I’ve got to clean up my card … I made too many bogeys. If I can just clean that up, I can start making my way up the board.â€�

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KUALA LUMPUR – Advance tickets for the 2017 CIMB Classic, which will be headlined by two-time defending champion and World No. 4 Justin Thomas and a host of PGA TOUR stars, are now on sale on here, Ticket Pro sales channels and selected MST Golf Stores in the Klang Valley. The $7 million (US) showpiece, which is the only PGA TOUR tournament held in Southeast Asia, will be staged at TPC Kuala Lumpur from October 12 to 15 with Thomas, who has already won five times this season including a first Major title, returning for a hat-trick bid. Fans who purchase tickets from now until October 8 will enjoy early bird pricing, with tickets costing RM62 each for the first round (Oct 12, Thursday) and second round (Oct 13, Friday). Prices for the third round (Oct 14, Saturday) and final round (Oct 15, Sunday) are RM99 per day. A season ticket for all four rounds are priced at RM199. From October 9 to 15, ticket prices will be RM78 per day for the first round and second round, RM115 each for the third round and final round and RM215 for a season ticket. Outlets which are selling the tickets are located at MST Golf-TPC Kuala Lumpur, MST Golf Superstore-UOA, MST Golf Superstore-Subang Jaya and MST Golf Superstore-Intermark. CIMB cardholders and CIMB premier cardholders will enjoy 15% and 25% discounts respectively while MST I Love Golf Members and Malaysia Airlines Enrich Members will enjoy 10% discounts through a promo code or by showing the Enrich card at ticketing counters. In addition, each CIMB card member will be entitled to receive one complimentary pass on Thursday and Friday at the spectator entrance at TPC Kuala Lumpur. They need to present their CIMB card at the ticketing counter. To promote the game amongst the youngsters, admission will be free for up to two persons below the age of 18 years old who are accompanied by one ticketed adult. BMW car owners will be entitled to two season passes each by showing your BMW key at the ticket counter at the spectator entrance. Other top names who have confirmed their participation at the CIMB Classic, which celebrates its eighth edition this year, include World No. 18 Rafa Cabrera Bello, the 31st ranked Thomas Pieters and Major champions Ernie Els and Davis Love III. The final list of PGA TOUR players will be confirmed on September 20. The CIMB Classic is also sanctioned by the Asian Tour, which will see its top-10 players from the Order of Merit as of October 9 qualifying for the tournament. A minimum of two Malaysians will also be in the elite 78-man field.

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In the final round of the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama birdies the last three holes for a sizzling 61 and a dominant five-stroke victory over runner-up Zach Johnson. Meanwhile, Chris Stroud racks up 20 points in the final round to cop his first PGA TOUR win at the Stableford-scoring Barracuda Championship. Welcome to the Monday Finish, where Matsuyama, 25, ties the course record at Firestone South for his third win this season; and Stroud, 35, collects his first TOUR win in 290 starts. FIVE OBSERVATIONS 1. Matsuyama is on the way to becoming Japan’s first truly global star. Nine countries were represented in the top 12 on the Bridgestone leaderboard, but Matsuyama’s clubs spoke loudest and Japan was on top. After starting the day three shots back, he made eagle at the par-5 second hole and kept going from there, hitting the afterburners to assure his third win this season and fifth overall in the 100th TOUR start of his career. He extended his lead as the Japanese player with the most wins on TOUR, a record he already held over Shigeki Maruyama (three). 2. The FedExCup may require math, but Matsuyama knows all too well that it requires something else, too: at least one more trophy. “In order to win the FedExCup, you have to win one of the playoff tournaments,â€� said Matsuyama, who moved from third to first in the FedExCup points standings with the victory in Ohio. “And hopefully I can do that and keep the momentum going.â€� It would be tough to have any more momentum than he currently has; his 61 marked the best final-round performance by a winner in the history of the WGCs—by three shots. 3. Although there have now been 25 wins (in 39 events) by a player in his 20s on TOUR this season, Rory McIlroy, 28, has accounted for none of them. Still, McIlroy, who tied for fifth, did not sound terribly despondent after notching his sixth top-10 this season. “I thought I saw some improvements in my game from when I got here on Wednesday,â€� he said. “Thought my wedge play got a little bit better as the week went on. Putted pretty well, even when I missed putts out there, they were scaring the hole, so that was good. Drove the ball well.â€� Yeah, you could say that. McIlroy hit 52 of 56 tee shots over 300 yards and led the field in driving distance (343.9). The reigning FedExCup champion moved up 10 spots in the standings to 43rd; is playing one of his favorite courses in Quail Hollow at the PGA Championship this week; and knows there’s still plenty of time to find his A game as he breaks in a new caddie. 4. Chris Stroud’s father was right. Stroud got a call from Dad saying the Barracuda’s Stableford format—two points for birdies; minus one for bogeys—might reward him for all the birdies he’d been making. It did. Stroud, who returned to his counter-balanced long putter, racked up 20 points in a wild final round that included nine birdies, an eagle and three bogeys. He not only got that elusive first win after prevailing in a three-man playoff, he earned a spot in this week’s PGA and, more importantly, collected 300 FedExCup points to move up to 76th in the standings. “Huge,â€� Stroud said of his big move. “I think coming into this week I was sitting at 142. And we’re all nervous coming in, because we know getting the top 125 is huge.â€� 5. Rookie Richy Werenski, 25, was disappointed after failing to secure his TOUR card for next season. Still, he was encouraged to make it all the way into a sudden-death playoff despite not having his best stuff. What’s more, he moved to 122nd in the FedExCup, so at least he’s inside the cutoff line with just two weeks remaining before the first playoff event, THE NORTHERN TRUST at Glen Oaks Club in Old Westbury, N.Y., Aug. 24-27. “Lately I feel like I’m playing pretty good,â€� said Werenski, a Massachusetts native who went to Georgia Tech. “It’s only a matter of time I’m back in this position.â€� FIVE INSIGHTS 1. Matsuyama ranked first in strokes gained: tee-to-green in the final round, with a career-best 6.582. It was also the best final-round performance by a winner on TOUR this season, besting Kevin Chappell at the Valero Texas Open (6.355), Jason Dufner at the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide (5.659), and Jon Rahm at the Farmers Insurance Open (5.168). 2. While he was dominant from tee to green, Matsuyama also made massive strides in his putting. Year to date, he is just 167th in Strokes Gained: Putting (-.306) and 194th in putts made from outside 10 feet (46/375, 12.27%). At the Bridgestone, though, he ranked a much-improved 15th in SG: Putting (.759) and T16 in putting from over 10 feet (9/42, 21.43%). 3. With his runner-up finish, Zach Johnson moved up from 40th to 28th on the U.S. Presidents Cup points list. That’s still a far cry from the top 10, but he’s got the putter rolling again. He was first in SG: Putting (2.258) and third in putting from outside 10 feet (13/46, 28.26 %) at Firestone. 4. Charley Hoffman (third place, six back), who fired a final-round 66 at Firestone, has broken par in 22 of his last 24 rounds dating to the first round of the U.S. Open. He was third in sg: putting (1.617) at the Bridgestone, and moved from 12th to 11th in the FedExCup. He is one of just three players to get at least as far as the BMW Championship for all 10 years of the playoffs. 5. Thomas Pieters (71, solo fourth, eight back) notched his fourth top-five finish in 16 starts this season. As a Special Temporary Member, he is eligible for unlimited sponsor exemptions the rest of the season as he tries to earn his TOUR card for 2017-’18. He was T3 in greens in regulation (72.22%) and fourth in proximity to the hole (26’ 11’’) at the Bridgestone. TOP 3 VIDEOS 1. Charley Hoffman is on TOUR to win and he let us know on Sunday. 2. David Hearn hit a gem of a tee shot in Sunday’s final round of the Barracuda Championship. 3. Poetry in motion.

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