Phil wins finale; Langer nabs 6th Schwab Cup title

Click here to read the full article…

The 31st tournament of the 2017-18 season is the first in a northern latitude, so you know what that means: Summer has arrived for the rest of the country. Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, hosts 120 golfers for the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide. For the first time in memory, there weren’t any noticeable changes on Jack Nicklaus’ home track, but after last year’s edition, none were needed. Scroll beneath the ranking to read why, what to expect and much more on this week’s invitational. Checks all of the boxes, including momentum. Two top fives and another pair of top 15s in six trips; T4 in his last appearance in 2016. Bounces in after a “disappointing” runner-up at Wentworth. The FedExCup points leader is debuting as the World No. 1. Finally solved Muirfield Village in his fourth appearance last year with a T4. Led the field in average distance of putts converted. The wind whisperer is as consistently strong as anyone over the last year. Seventh on TOUR in birdies-or-better percentage. Scoring average of 69.67 in last 12 rounds at Muirfield Village (T5-T11-T15). The 2010 champ has six career top 10s here, including a solo second in his last visit in 2015. Fresh off a classic stripe show at Colonial, leading the field in strokes gained: tee-to-green en route to victory. Home game for the transplanted Aussie who leads the TOUR in strokes gained: putting. End-loaded a personal-best T15 here last here in ninth appearance. Win-T5 in last two starts upon return. First start since losing the handle on the top spot in the OWGR, but still leads TOUR in strokes gained: tee-to-green and adjusted scoring. Two top fives among five top 20s at Muirfield Village. May have fallen prey to grouping with Tiger Woods at TPC Sawgrass where he MC’d. It happened in the finale of the 2012 Memorial when he shot 84. Otherwise strong elsewhere. T2 here last year, too. After a T11 at THE PLAYERS, acknowledged that he’s back on track with his feel for competition. What better than Muirfield Village to test that claim? He’s 15-for-15 with five wins among eight top 10s. At 11th in the FedExCup standings, he’s highest among non-winners. Currently 16th in adjusted scoring and fourth in par-5 scoring. Perfect at Muirfield Village with a pair of top-15 finishes. A force since teaming with Louis Oosthuizen for a third-place finish in New Orleans. Schwartzel has added a T9 at Quail Hollow and a T2 at TPC Sawgrass. Five top 25s at the Memorial. Continues to construct a brilliant season. Solo third at Colonial was his fifth top 10. Ninth in strokes gained: tee-to-green and first in average distance of putts converted. Also T1 in par-3 scoring. Remains hopeful but his putting continues to misfire. Ranked 70th of 78 in strokes gained: putting at Colonial en route to a T32. He’s 5-for-5 at Muirfield Village with a trio of top 20s. Course horse, but stumbling of late. Seven straight starts without a top 15, but third in all-time earnings at Muirfield Village with a win (2013) and another four top fives among seven top 10s. Amid the trials of last season, he mustered a T6 at Muirfield Village, just his second top 20 in 11 tries. The two-time winner this season ranks eighth in greens in regulation. His title here last year was his first top 15 in six appearances, but he averaged 70.00 in last 16 rounds at Muirfield Village. Up-and-down 2018 includes a T5 at TPC Sawgrass three weeks ago. POWER RANKINGS: THE MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT PRESENTED BY NATIONWIDE RANK PLAYER COMMENT Tuesday’s Fantasy Insider will include 2014 champion Hideki Matsuyama, Phil Mickelson, Henrik Stenson and Adam Scott, as well as the red-hot Kevins – Na and Tway. Not unlike when fellow legend Arnold Palmer constantly tweaked Bay Hill for his own limited-field invite, Nicklaus hasn’t hesitated from approving everything necessary to keep Muirfield Village as relevant as it is challenging. But while it’s unlikely that The Golden Bear reaches to the heavens for an assist even when the stock par 72 measuring 7,392 yards remains largely the same, Mother Nature cooperated a bit in adding to the test last year. After conceding a tournament record-low scoring average of 70.987 in 2016, Muirfield Village fought back for a four-year high of 72.797 last year. Zooming in, even if you cancel the first (moderate winds) and final (inclement conditions and strong winds) rounds, the middle 36 holes played according to historical proportions. Putting that into perspective, after Jason Dufner established the 36-hole scoring record at 14-under 130, he’d eventually prevail at 13-under 275, which is a proper target aggregate for would-be winners this week. He was vintage in his own right in leading the field in both greens in regulation and strokes gained: tee-to-green. Dufner finished a distant 47th in strokes gained: putting, but that was due entirely to a dreadful third-round 77 in which he surrendered 4.80 strokes to the field on the bentgrass surfaces. Overall, Dufner’s performance is typical of how to tame Muirfield Village. While its fairways-hit percentage of 62.03 last year was all-time low, it still was inside the top-half easiest of all course last season. Secondarily but worth the mention, the quartet of par 3s averaged a TOUR-high 3.22, a three-year high among all non-majors. In line with Nicklaus’ design philosophy, the focus narrows on approach and on greens averaging just 5,000 square feet and ready to touch 13 feet on the Stimpmeter. Fairways and greens are framed by rough consisting of a blend of Kentucky bluegrass, fescue and rye approaching four inches. Similar conditions to last year are in store this week, which is to say that it’s already summertime in central Ohio. A reasonable threat for rain and storms extends into Friday, but it doesn’t disappear entirely on the weekend. Moderate-to-gusty winds will greet the field in the opening round, but they are forecast to peel off gradually every day. Daytime highs in the low-to-mid 80s will tumble into the upper 70s after the 36-hole cut is made. For the fourth consecutive year, the champion will receive a three-year PGA TOUR exemption (through 2020-21) as well as a three-year exemption into THE PLAYERS Championship (2019-21). ROB BOLTON’S SCHEDULE PGATOUR.COM’s Fantasy Insider Rob Bolton reviews and previews every tournament from numerous angles. Look for his following contributions as scheduled. MONDAY: Rookie Ranking, Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Medical Extensions, Power Rankings TUESDAY*: Sleepers, Facebook Live, Fantasy Insider WEDNESDAY: One & Done * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO, which also publishes on Tuesdays.

Click here to read the full article…

AUSTIN, Texas – Another fun week in Austin for the world’s best culminated with a great win for Kevin Kisner at Austin Country Club. Kisner avenged his final loss from a year earlier, besting Matt Kuchar 3 and 2 in the championship match. Kuchar still continues his impressive renaissance, moving to the top of the FedExCup and Wyndham Rewards standings. Let’s take a look back at the highlights… and perhaps a few lowlights… of the week. MATCH OF THE WEEK Tiger Woods beat Rory McIlroy 2 and 1: This one might not have had the most birdies or haymakers being thrown, but it was enthralling and hyped none-the-less. Woods took an early lead thanks to birdies at the fifth and sixth holes and maintained it over the front nine as McIlroy’s putter refused to be helpful. A short par putt missed on the 10th from the PLAYERS Champion gave Woods a 3-up lead and it appeared he may cruise to victory. But then the real Rory showed up. He picked up a win on the par-5 12th, played the short par-4 13th to perfection to make it back-to-back birdies and wins and set up a grandstand finish. Woods was forced to make a fighting par save on the 15th before the critical hole – the par-5 16th. McIlroy made a statement by absolutely crushing a drive some 395-yards down breeze into the fairway. Woods pulled his tee shot left into a terrible lie in a bunker. It meant that after a lay-up, Woods was still away some 204-yards from the hole. The 80-time PGA TOUR winner then produced one of his trademark long irons up the hill, a laser to find the putting surface some 24-feet from the flag to keep birdie alive. With a shot up his sleeve and just 173-yards to the hole McIlroy executed poorly, flaring his shot to the right. He came up well short and unluckily stopped in the rough just above the lip of a bunker, creating a terrible lie and stance. His third shot came out hot and flew the green, ending up in an unplayable spot. After a few more hacks from around the green he conceded the hole and fell 2-down with just two to play. Just as Woods looked to have potentially given him life with an average tee shot and chip on the par-3 17th the three-time WGC–Dell Technologies Match Play champion drained his 13-foot par putt for the win. Honorable Mentions Louis Oosthuizen beat Marc Leishman 2 and 1 in the Round of 16: Out in front of the hyped Tiger/Rory match a pair of International Presidents Cup teammates were producing some unbelievable golf. Three birdies apiece over the opening six holes had the players all square before Leishman made the only mistake either produced in the match. Facing a 6-foot par putt to tie the hole, the Australian burned the edge to go 1-down. It was then the critical play came from Oosthuizen. He made a 31-foot birdie on the ninth hole and then hit his approach on the 10th to gimme range to race to a 3-up lead. Leishman refused to quit and birdied the 14th to cut the lead to two holes. He made a huge birdie putt on the 16th to give hope only to see Oosthuizen make his own on top of it. Leishman than gave himself a quality close look at birdie on the 17th hole only to see the South African curl in a 23-foot birdie from the fringe for the win. Lucas Bjerregaard beat Tiger Woods 1 Up in Quarterfinals: Three birdies in a row helped Woods overturn an early deficit to be 2-up on the Dane through five holes. Bjerregaard could have been forgiven if the moment got the better of him, but his fighting spirit became very evident against the wave of crowd support. Through 11 holes he trailed by just a hole and matched birdies with Woods on 12 and 13 to stay in it. By the time they came to the par-5 16th, Woods still appeared to be in control. But then Bjerregaard dropped a lengthy eagle bomb on the 80-time TOUR winner to square the match. He then poured in a must make birdie on the 17th before navigating the last better than Woods for the shock comeback win. BIGGEST “UPSETâ€� There are no real upsets when you put the best 64 players in the world head to head however: Lucas Bjerregaard beat Justin Thomas 3 and 2: The result that became the catalyst for the Danish star to make it all the way to the final four, taking out four major champions and three FedExCup champions along the way, was his first up start in the event against Justin Thomas. Thomas was 2-up through three holes and seemingly cruising as the fifth overall seed against the Dane, who came in as the 50th overall seed. But Bjerregaard had stolen the lead four holes later and then never let up. As he headed around the turn, Bjerregaard stepped up his offensive with three birdies, leaving Thomas in his wake. Kevin Na beat Justin Rose 2 Up in Round of 16: While Rose doesn’t have the greatest WGC–Dell Technologies Match Play record, he was still the number two overall seed coming up against Na, the 57th seed. And Na had limped into the final 16 despite a loss in his group. Through 11 holes, Na was 2-down and Rose was seemingly heading to a win, a result that would have seen him return to world No. 1 status. But Na made back-to-back birdies on the 12th and 13th holes to square the match and then Rose made back-to-back bogeys to relinquish his grip on advancing. BIGGEST ROUT John Rahm beat Si Woo Kim 7 and 5: Jon Rahm won five holes in a row on the back nine to give former PLAYERS champion Si Woo Kim a match play bath. Sadly he couldn’t continue the form, losing to J.B. Holmes and tying Matt Kuchar to miss out on the round of 16. PRESIDENTS CUP WATCH International Team captain Ernie Els might have hoped for more but a quarter of the final 16 were players eligible for his team for December’s Presidents Cup to be held in Melbourne, Australia. Three of them – South Africans Louis Oosthuizen and Branden Grace and Australian Marc Leishman are basically certainties to be part of the team as former standouts. China’s HaoTong Li continues to stake his claim to be the first Chinese representative to play in the Cup. For Tiger Woods and his American team, the case for inclusion was clearly put forth by finalists Matt Kuchar and Kevin Kisner. Kisner was unlucky not to be part of the Ryder Cup in Paris and has now surely ensured he won’t be overlooked again. WEIRDEST MOMENT Sergio Garcia’s brain fade in his quarterfinal against Matt Kuchar proved to be the most talked about quirk of the week. Already 1-down in his match, Garcia had a seven-foot par putt on the par-3 7th hole to bring the match back even following a Kuchar bogey. But he pulled it slightly offline, missing barely to the left. Before Kuchar could verbally concede the four-inch tap in for a half, Garcia swiped at it with the back of his putter and the ball lipped out of the hole. Without a concession Garcia was then ruled to have lost the hole, sending him 2-down. But rather than let it lie, Garcia then spent the next few holes trying to get Kuchar to concede a hole to square the ledger. While Kuchar said he didn’t feel comfortable with what happened, he stopped short of acquiescing to Garcia’s proposal. “It is quite simple. I screwed up. Simple as that,â€� Garcia said. “The only issue was that Kuch was like I didn’t say good, but I don’t want to take the hole, I don’t want to do this like this, and I was like OK that’s fine  – so what do you want to do?” “Because there are many options that you can do if you don’t want to take the hole, even though you’ve already lost that hole. Obviously, he didn’t like any of the options that were there. So it’s fine. At the end of the day I am the one who made the mistake.â€� THREE NAMES TO WATCH GOING FORWARD Lucas Bjerregaard: Just take a look at the players the Danish 27-year-old star beat to make the final four. Among them major winners Justin Thomas, Keegan Bradley, Henrik Stenson and Tiger Woods. Those four players combine for 17 majors, 99 PGA TOUR wins and four FedExCups. Justin Harding: The South African has been in hot form of late on the European Tour with a win and runner up over the last month or so. Only a red-hot Rory McIlroy stopped him coming out of group play. Does Ernie Els have his eye on this guy for the Presidents Cup in Melbourne? Abraham Ancer: Nerves – and a pretty good opponent in Paul Casey – got the better of Ancer in his WGC–Dell Technologies Match Play debut. But the Presidents Cup hopeful rebounded from a first up loss with impressive wins over Cameron Smith and Charles Howell III. Put up eight birdies in 15 holes against Howell.

Click here to read the full article…