PGA TOUR winners in 2022 outlasted their own missteps

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MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Rory McIlroy called it a “PGATOUR dreamâ€� and he might be right. The former FedExCup champion took the 54-hole lead at the World Golf Championships – FedEx St. Jude Invitational by on3 shot over Brooks Koepka, the current PGA TOUR Player of the Year who is favored to once again take that title. But not if McIlroy has his way. The Northern Irishman shot an impressive 8-under 62 on Saturday to get to 12 under at TPC Southwind. Koepka hit 17 of 18 greens on his way to a 6-under 64. He lurks at 11 under. There are most certainly others in this field who can win the tournament – Matt Fitzpatrick (69) is 10 under, Marc Leishman (63) surged to 9 under where he’s joined by Jon Rahm (68) and Alex Noren (66), and Ian Poulter (67) is in part of a three-way tie for seventh at 8 under with Thorbjorn Olesen (65) and Billy Horschel (69). But all eyes will be on the big guns out front. They are battling not just for the tournament, but top spot in the Wyndham Rewards Top 10 regular season race. Should either salute in Memphis, they are guaranteed top spot and the $2 million bonus that comes with it. “PGA TOUR dream, it’s perfect,â€� McIlroy smiled. “I want to go into New York No. 1 in those points because it’s important, and I want to try to stay up there as high as possible and I’m going up again against the best player in the world. He’s won four majors in the last three years. “It’s going to be a fun day tomorrow, I’m excited about it. I got to play alongside him the first two days and his game looked awfully impressive. So I need to go out and try and focus on myself and put a sort of thought or target in my head and just try and go for that.â€� Taking top spot into the FedExCup Playoffs will bring huge momentum as they look to claim the season long crown. The pair are no doubt the favorites to win it all. Both have two wins this season. McIlroy took out THE PLAYERS Championship and the RBC Canadian Open. He was runner up at the World Golf Championships – Mexico Championship and has 11 Top 10s this season including the PGA Championship and U.S. Open. He sat third in the FedExCup leading into the week. Koepka won the PGA Championship and THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES. He was also runner up three times including The Masters and the U.S. Open. He has a total of seven top 10s including a T4 at the Open Championship. He led the FedExCup coming in to Memphis. “There’s a lot on the line and a lot to play for,â€� Koepka admitted. “It will be fun duking it out with him. I don’t know the last time we’ve actually gone kind of toe to toe. I can’t think of anything. But that’s who you want to go up against, especially if he’s going to be playing this good. “You want the best players coming down the stretch on Sunday with a chance to win. This golf course I think really brings out some of the better players.â€� In fact, the pair have never been paired together in a final group, or any final round, on the TOUR. In the nine times they’ve played together on the TOUR, including the opening two rounds this week, McIlroy holds a slender 4-3-2 advantage. McIlroy came into the tournament having missed the cut at The Open Championship. Koepka finished fourth in tough conditions. Koepka brings momentum to Memphis; McIlroy is more rested which could be critical in the Tennessee heat. McIlroy also has a habit of playing well lately after missing cuts. “We’re very fortunate in golf that there’s always next week. You can respond so quickly from setbacks and failures. The last four missed cuts that I’ve had, I’ve finished first, second, first and 12th. I’m a quick learner,â€� McIlroy said. “But tomorrow’s a new day. Whatever happened today is great but I’ve got to reset and try and go again tomorrow. Hopefully Brooks and I can add a bit of excitement tomorrow.â€� Chances are they will.  

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A small wooden bridge at the base of this week’s trophy on the PGA TOUR symbolizes the bridge to the 18th hole at Jeju Island’s most famous golf course. That’s appropriate, because if you want to win THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES, the last bridge is arguably the most important to cross in style.  “It’s bizarre,â€� Justin Thomas said of the 568-yard, par-5 finisher, which features two fairways separated by trees and native area, and ends at a green surrounded by sand, rough and water. “The wind changes it a lot.â€� RELATED: Tee times | Who’s comfortable at NINE BRIDGES | Power Rankings Nine Bridges is a 7,241-yard, par 72 with four par 5s. It features black-rock outcroppings and volcano views and is sometimes compared to Maui, but the real dazzler is the 18th, one of the wildest holes on TOUR. For starters, it’s basically two holes in one.   The aggressive line at the signature hole is to carry the two pot bunkers on the left to reach the lower landing zone, giving yourself the shortest distance to reach the green in two. Thomas got there with only a pitching wedge in 2017. But only with the wind at your back is it even possible to reach that left fairway from the tee. Wind, the X factor at Jeju, demands a different approach. Literally. Into the wind, the target is the right fairway – it’s easier to reach, but leaves a much longer second shot with anything from a long iron to a 3-wood. Often, the prudent play from the right fairway is to not even go for the green in two.   “When it’s into the wind, I mean, I don’t go for that left fairway,â€� said Thomas, who won the inaugural CJ CUP two years ago. “I hit 3-wood up top (to the right), and if I can go for it, I do. It’s very, very weird lay up if you have to lay up.  “It’s a funky finishing hole, but it can provide for some fireworks if it’s close.â€� Simply put, the hole rewards length. “It’s a big advantage for a long hitter if he’s coming to the 18th needing a birdie,â€� said Adam Scott, who played it in 3 under last year but isn’t in the field this time around. Abraham Ancer calls the hole “unique,â€� while both Gary Woodland, last year’s runner-up to Brooks Koepka, and Marc Leishman go so far as to call it “a great risk-reward hole.â€� This, despite the fact that Leishman splashed his second shot in the water on 18 to lose to Thomas on the second playoff hole two years ago. The 18th gave up 25 eagles and 123 birdies last year, and was the second easiest on the course with a 4.58 stroke average. There were also 27 bogeys, four doubles, and two “others.â€� The wind dictates everything. David Dale of Golfplan Dale & Ramsey Golf Course Architects, in Santa Rosa, California, said he designed the hole to give players an option off the tee, but didn’t foresee the day when someone would play it driver, wedge, putt. “It was heroic to reach in two, but not anymore for the pros,â€� Dale said. “The way the hole plays now, it’s on its knees begging for wind.â€� If he’d known how technology would change the game, he added, he would have added another 25-30 yards and crowned the green slightly to repel shots. When Koepka eagled 18 to shoot 64 and win by four last year, it was his second eagle of the week on the hole as he played it in 5 under. But it was Thomas’ opening-round drive in 2017 that first opened eyes. “He can throw it on with that drive,â€� Rich Lerner said on the Golf Channel telecast. “He took it over everything,â€� Frank Nobillo added, not bothering to hide his awe. “You’ve gotta see this hole to believe where that drive went.â€� Thomas hit wedge to the green on the way to an eagle, completing a 29 on his first nine – the back – as he stormed out of the gate with a 63. Then things got hard.  He bogeyed the hole the next day, and by the last day, the wind had switched 180 degrees and howled into the players’ faces. Forced to go down the right fairway, he and Leishman scratched out pars on the first extra playing of 18. On the second, Thomas had 243 yards to the green in two, and hit an epic 3-wood to the front collar. Leishman tried a similar shot and found the water.   “I wouldn’t really call it a split fairway because it’s not like you have the option every time you play,â€� Thomas said. “It’s like 320 to that (left) fairway. If it’s downwind, I’d say 90% of the guys are hitting it left, but if it’s into the wind, 10% are hitting it left.â€� Added Leishman: “It gets pretty windy there, and a lot of the time you can’t even think about going left. If you have to go right, it’s actually a pretty tough tee shot. And it obviously makes the second shot a lot longer; you’ve got to hit a really good shot to get on the green in two.â€�  He paused, rethinking the comment. “Two really good shots, actually,â€� he said.

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