Politics-shy Tiger Woods to be honored by Trump at White House

CHIBA, Japan — Japanese golfer Hiroshi Iwata shot a 7-under 63 Thursday to take the first-round lead at the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP. Iwata had a one-stroke lead over Joaquin Niemann and 2021 Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama on the par-70, 7,041-yard Narashino Country Club course. Tokyo Olympics gold medal winner Xander Schauffele shot 70, as did Rickie Fowler, who is playing on a sponsor’s exemption for the second straight year. Open champion Collin Morikawa shot 71. Tiger Woods won his 82nd career PGA TOUR title at Narashino in 2019.

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NORTON, Ma. – Put too much pressure on a bubble and it will burst. Keep that in mind if you’re at TPC Boston this week. There is always pressure on the PGA TOUR but the FedExCup Playoffs create a dynamic that allows the players to create their own mental narrative. If you’re at the top of the FedExCup standings you’ve given yourself a buffer. The TOUR Championship is secured. Do you try to conserve energy in the early weeks? Or do you try to create some sort of momentum? Is making it there enough or does the all-important top-5 position drive you harder? Does your desire in the critical moments subconsciously wain at all knowing you’ll still be there next week? If you’re at the bottom of the standings the equation is simple. It’s quite simply go hard or go home. Does this free you up? Does this allow you to play with devil-may-care abandon and see where the chips fall? And then there are the bubble boys… those sitting in the spot where just reasonable golf will “probablyâ€� be enough to advance. But then you never know. If you ask me, this is where the pressure lies. Stuck in between conservatism and aggression. “There really is only pressure on the guy on the bubble. If you are a competitor and you want to be competing and there is a chance that you won’t be there next week then you’ve got pressure on you,â€� Adam Scott says matter of factly. “The rest is an opportunity for everyone. And if you are a positive person then every week you’re out here is an opportunity.â€� Scott moved from 73rd to 40th on the points standings with his T5 finish at THE NORTHERN TRUST, and as a former champion at TPC Boston, he’s looking to surge into the top 30 this week at the Dell Technologies Championship so that he’s not a bubble boy at the BMW Championship. But a Presidents Cup teammate of his is now one of these bubble boys. Louis Oosthuizen sits 69th, leaving him in no man’s land in terms of his mental approach. The top 70 on the points list make it to the BMW Championship while the top 30 move on to the TOUR Championship after play at Aronimink. Of course the South African is looking to play well, knowing things would then take care of themselves, but if he finds himself being too aggressive he could shoot his way out of contention. “Where I am, basically I just have to have a solid week – not really start out going for everything, I don’t think that’s necessary – but what makes it difficult is you don’t really know what’s going on,â€� Oosthuizen says. “It would be nice to see every third hole to sort of know where you stand but you just kind of guess, really, and most of the time you think I need more birdies and to make something happen. “And you’re dealing with guys from the back making it as they freewheel it and they go for it … If things go their way they can get you.â€� One of those guys this week will be local boy Peter Uihlein. He sits 83rd in the FedExCup and knows it’s do or die. “Your mindset is you’ve pretty much got to have a good week. If not you have an extra week off in the offseason. So you pretty much give it your all for four days and see what happens,â€� Uihlein said. “Best case is you get to play one more week, hopefully two. But worst case is you just have an extra week off. “I’d say (the pressure lies with) the guys who are maybe 68, 67, those guys, just thinking in the back of their head, if I just make the cut I’m in kind of thing. I think when you start playing that way, at least I know that in the regular season, if you’re just trying to kind of make the cut you’re always going to be around that line, regardless. “So I think when you have that kind of mindset it definitely makes it a little more difficult. Guys that are in my position, around 80 or so, you’ve got to be a bit more aggressive, you’ve got really nothing to lose.â€� Last week six players played their way in from outside the top 100. Nick Watney, Bronson Burgoon, Jhonattan Vegas, Scott Stallings, Danny Lee and Brian Stuard gave their seasons a stay of execution. Burgoon and Vegas both talked of how they can play their best with their backs against the wall but yet without much expectation. And then what of the guys up top? Dustin Johnson was quizzed on why he doesn’t contemplate taking a playoff event off to rest despite being in position to do so. He saw no benefit in that concept. Justin Thomas sits third on the points list. “I understand how important these Playoffs are,â€� Thomas said. “I’ve kind of thought about it a couple times that you really have to win in the Playoffs. It’s pretty much just plain and simple. You have to win one of these four events.â€� He doesn’t feel freed up at the top because of the format awarding quadruple points. He’s already dropped a spot despite a decent T8 result in the opening week. “It’s never entered my mind to skip a playoff event. I just feel I could come here and play poorly and get 20 points and that’s better than staying at home and missing a cut and not getting any,â€� Thomas adds. “I learned the hard way my rookie year that every point matters and missing the TOUR Championship by whatever, two, three, four points. “These Playoffs are so important and the points are just so amplified that if I was to win one of these first three then I’m a lock to be in the top five going into Atlanta. So to me it’s 100-percent worth that risk.â€� The man who went past him was last week’s winner Bryson DeChambeau. He doesn’t plan to back down now that he’s taken top spot. “Pedal to the metal for me,â€� he said after his victory. “To be able to be No. 1 is fantastic. I think there’s a little bit of pressure, you want to hold that now, just like a four-shot lead.â€� If you’re looking for excitement, the last three holes at TPC Boston are sure to provide it this weekend. A par-3 with a water hazard (16th) into a short par-4 (17th) before a reachable par-5 finishing hole. Those on the bubble will be either looking to press or survive, setting up fascinating golf. Only time will tell if it will burst. BUBBLE BOYS AT DELL TECHNOLOGIES CHAMPIONSHIP 65. Stewart Cink 66. Jason Kokrak 67. Nick Watney 68. Jimmy Walker 69. Louis Oosthuizen 70. Kevin Streelman 71. Tyrrell Hatton 72. C.T. Pan 73. Bronson Burgoon 74. Matt Kuchar 75. Charley Hoffman

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