Phil Mickelson: Wouldn’t be surprised if Tiger Woods one-upped me at Valspar

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• COURSE: Quail Hollow Club, 7,600 yards, par 71. Already a player favorite as host of the Wells Fargo Championship, Quail Hollow unveils a new look for its first step into the major spotlight. Tom Fazio’s latest upgrade created three new holes, including a new 524-yard opener made by merging the old first and second holes. Nos. 4 and 5 also are new, made from the previous par-5 fifth hole. There was no need to tinker with the “Green Mile,� already deemed perhaps the toughest closing three holes on the PGA TOUR. George Cobb built the original 1961 layout, with Arnold Palmer and later Fazio tabbed for modifications. Quail Hollow was the Kemper Open’s original venue (1969-79) and later staged the World Seniors Invitational (1980-89), with the Presidents Cup coming in 2021. • FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 600 points. • CHARITY: PGA Reach, formerly the PGA Foundation, has contributed more than $40 million over the past two decades to growth-of-the-game initiatives, ranging from establishment of The First Tee to teaching grants and funding for military veterans, disabled and special-needs golfers. • FIELD WATCH: Jordan Spieth, atop the FedExCup standings and pointing toward a shot at the career Grand Slam, is joined by No.2 Dustin Johnson and defending champion Jimmy Walker to headline one of the year’s deepest fields. … All but two of the top 115 in the world rankings are slated to compete, missing only No.63 Martin Kaymer (shoulder) and No.75 Scott Piercy (unspecified). … Spots remain for the winners of this week’s WGC Bridgestone Invitational and Barracuda Championship, if not already qualified. … The lineup also includes the top 20 finishers from June’s PGA Professional National Championship. • 72-HOLE RECORD: 265, David Toms (2001 at Atlanta AC). • 18-HOLE RECORD: 63, Bruce Crampton (2nd round, 1975 at Firestone CC), Raymond Floyd (1st round, 1982 at Southern Hills), Gary Player (2nd round, 1984 at Shoal Creek), Michael Bradley (1st round, 1993 at Inverness), Vijay Singh (2nd round, 1993 at Inverness), Brad Faxon (4th round, 1995 at Riviera CC), José María Olazábal (3rd round, 2000 at Valhalla), Mark O’Meara (2nd round, 2001 at Atlanta AC), Thomas Bjorn (3rd round, 2005 at Baltusrol), Tiger Woods (2nd round, 2007 at Southern Hills), Steve Stricker (1st round, 2011 at Atlanta AC), Jason Dufner (2nd round, 2013 at Oak Hill), Hiroshi Iwata (2nd round, 2015 at Whistling Straits), Robert Streb (2nd round, 2016 at Baltusrol). • LAST YEAR: Walker stood tall on the PGA Championship’s longest day, enduring a 36-hole finale at Baltusrol to hold off Jason Day’s late charge and complete a wire-to-wire victory for his first major title. Walker shot 68-67 on the final day, playing his final 29 holes without a bogey to stay one stroke clear of Day’s bid for back-to-back Wanamakers. A Day eagle at Baltusrol’s par-5 18th hole made it interesting, though, especially after Walker’s 3-wood from 289 yards came down in greenside rough. The 37-year-old Texan pitched to 30 feet, though, and two-putted from there to emerge triumphant. The win had special meaning for Walker and caddie Andy Sanders, who met at Baltusrol when both were competing in the 2000 U.S. Amateur. Eight years later, Walker turned his bag over to Sanders. • STORYLINES: Spieth, fresh off his adventuresome Open Championship triumph, needs only the PGA Championship to complete the career Grand Slam – and can best Tiger Woods as the youngest to do it if he wins at Quail Hollow. The Texan celebrated his 24th birthday just last week. … Rory McIlroy has been Quail Hollow’s master, using a final-round 62 to win his first PGA TOUR title there in 2010 and shooting 61 on the way to a 2015 victory. He also lost a playoff to Rickie Fowler in 2013. … Johnson, who took three consecutive wins into Augusta back in April, is down to his final chance to win a major in 2017. • SHORT CHIPS: Eight of the past 11 major winners have been first-timers, including Sergio Garcia and Brooks Koepka this year. The exceptions: Spieth (twice) and Zach Johnson at St. Andrews. … Before that, five of the previous six winners already had a major title on their portfolio. … This marks the 60th year in which the PGA Championship has been decided by stroke play, after match play was employed for the first 39 editions. • TELEVISION: Thursday-Friday, 1-7 p.m. ET (TNT). Saturday-Sunday, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. (TNT), 2-7 p.m. (CBS). • PGA TOUR LIVE: None. • RADIO: Thursday-Friday, noon-6 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 1-7 p.m. (SiriusXM).

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ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — Talor Gooch is playing some of his best golf in the toughest weather, even when he hasn’t been in the best position off the tee. Now the former Oklahoma State player is one round away from his first PGA TOUR victory at The RSM Classic. RELATED: Full leaderboard | Tee times Gooch hit only six fairways Saturday at Sea Island and still managed a 3-under 67, stretching his lead to three shots going into the final round. “Any day like that is going to be a grind on the tour,” Gooch said. “To be frank, what you’re trying to do out there is avoid bogeys. It would have been easy today at times to just really get conservative and really be defensive. I was pleased I was able to stay aggressive at times.” He was at 16-under 196, three shots clear of Seamus Power of Ireland (67) and Sebastian Munoz of Colombia (69). Both have won on the PGA TOUR. Power won the Barbasol Championship this summer the same week as the Open Championship, so it didn’t not come with an invitation to the Masters. A victory Sunday will. Tom Hoge, also in search of his first win, had a 67 and was alone in fourth, while Luke List (66), former RSM Classic winner Mackenzie Hughes of Canada (70) and Scott Stallings (69) were another shot behind. Gooch pulled away with a short birdie putt at the par-5 15th hole and a 12-footer for birdie at the par-3 17th. He missed from 25 feet on the final hole but could hardly be upset about holding himself together on a cloudy, chilly, windy day. And he wasn’t the least bit surprising. He is playing as well as anyone in the fall who hasn’t won, with four finishes among the top 11 in his six tournaments. He now is on the cusp of breaking into the top 50 in the world. Gooch isn’t as well known as other former Oklahoma State players such as Rickie Fowler, Viktor Hovland or Matthew Wolff. But he’s working on it and on Sunday will be trying to become the seventh player in 12 years to make The RSM Classic his first TOUR title. “I want to be the best and I want to compete against the best and I want to be the best Oklahoma State golfer on TOUR,” he said. “Everyone talks about Matt Wolff and Viktor Hovland … rightfully so. They’re incredible players. But that’s always a nice little something to kind of get you to work a little bit harder, be a little bit more diligent and try to prove them wrong.” Standing in Gooch’s immediate way are Power, who chipped in for eagle at the par-5 15th to highlight his round, and Munoz, the 18-hole leader who rallied from back-to-back bogeys at Nos. 11 and 12 to two-putt No. 15 for birdie. “It wasn’t easy,” Munoz added. “It was a little more gusty than I anticipated. I felt like I got off to a good start making three up-and-downs on tough holes, tough conditions, so felt really good. I putted good. It’s tough to putt with windy conditions, so I felt like I put a good round.” Power figures he has been out of Ireland for too long — the 34-year-old played at East Tennessee State — for the windy conditions to be a big advantage. “I’ve been in the States for 15 years so I’ve gotten kind choosy with my weather,” he said. “So like I wouldn’t play that often but it’s just fun. You do hit a lot of different shots. It’s not always stuff you can practice. You’re standing out there and the wind is blowing in your chest. I learned a lot growing up in it but to be honest, anymore I kind of stay away from it if can.”

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