Pro golfer hits brilliant recovery shot from inside a grandstand

Welcome Back! The PGA TOUR returns to the mainland as the West Coast swing resumes in the California desert at the CareerBuilder Challenge in La Quinta. This pro-am event has been around since 1960 and used four courses and five rounds to determine a champion until 2012. For the seventh year in a row the pros will only get four cracks at three different courses to find out who’s the best of the bunch this week. While each course has its own features, gamers will need to remember that only one, La Quinta Country Club, has been in use in 14 of the last 15 events. In 2016 Pete Dye’s Stadium Course and Jack Nicklaus’ Tournament Course were added to the rotation for the first time. When these tracks were added, course history from the previous two flew directly out the window. Speaking of rotation, the Stadium Course will host the final round for the third year in a row, meaning it will be the only course of the three to be used twice. Every pro and their amateur playing partner will play each course once with the top 70 and ties advancing to the weekend. If there are more than 78 players making the cut, only 60 will advance to the weekend. Jason Dufner was the first to take the title with the two new courses in play. His 25-under-par 268 was three shots lower than Hudson Swafford’s winning total from last year. Swafford will look to join “The Desert Fox” Johnny Miller as the only player to defend in the Coachella Valley. TALES OF THE TAPE Last year it was weird to see champion Hudson Swafford wearing a long-sleeve shirt under his polo as he held the trophy on Sunday. The final-round temperature only hit 61 and it was breezy so there’s no doubt that kept scoring quiet a day after Adam Hadwin posted 59 at La Quinta Country Club. Swafford took advantage of the greens he hit for the week by holing the important putts, those for birdie. His final round saw him circle three of the last four and become only the second player since 2012 to come from off the lead to win. His dominance of the par-5s is relevant because all three tracks play to par 72. ShotLink is only used on the host course but the stats above translate on all three tracks. The “regular” chart returns will return next week as well as a look back at the last THREE winners. Ch-ch-ch-changes! I do know that Swafford was the first, first-time winner since Jhonattan Vegas in 2011 and first since the reduction to four rounds in 2012. I’ll point out that Vegas is also the only rookie winner here and just the third international winner since the turn of the century. Jason Dufner needed two playoff holes to defeat David Lingmerth in the first edition with the two new courses in play. Both players carded 25-under-par 263 and both did it in two separate fashions. The champ opened 64-65-64 to carry a two-stroke lead into Sunday. The Swede made it a grandstand finish as he posted 62-65 (bogey free) to force extra holes. I’d point out that Adam Hadwin played in the second-to-last group in this edition for those of you paying attention. Dufner’s success was based on his strength, lighting up greens in regulation. This was his first top 10 in seven tries in the Coachella Valley but he entered the week on the back of consecutive top 10’s at The RSM Classic and Sony Open in Hawaii. When Dufner’s putter heats up, he can be a bother for the rest of the field. He circled a whopping 30 birdies winning in 2016. His putter has shown hints of warming as he circled 21 birdies last week at the Sony Open on the back of 18 at Kapalua. NOTE: Golfers inside the top 25 in each statistic on the 2016-17 PGA TOUR are listed only if they are scheduled to compete in the CareerBuilder Challenge. * – Finished inside the top 10 at the CareerBuilder Challenge since 2016. Par-5 Scoring Rank Golfer 2 *Luke List 5 *Phil Mickelson 7 Jon Rahm 7 Brandon Hagy 12 Seamus Power 12 Rory Sabbatini 12 Kevin Tway 18 Nick Taylor Putting: Birdie-or-Better Percentage Rank Golfer 8 *Phil Mickelson 10 *Matt Every 11 Camilo Villegas 12 Grayson Murray 14 Sam Saunders 15 Jon Rahm 19 Scott Piercy 22 *Luke List 23 Brandt Snedeker 25 Tom Hoge Greens in Regulation Rank Golfer 1 Martin Flores 5 Ryan Armour 6 Lucas Glover 8 Cameron Percy 9 Robert Garrigus 12 J.J. Henry 14 *Luke List 15 Chad Campbell 18 Stewart Cink 21 Jon Rahm 23 *Hudson Swafford 24 Jim Herman Gamers playing the PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO will want to revolve their rosters around avoiding the Stadium Course as much as possible this week. The last two years the Pete Dye design (par 72, 7,113) has played the most difficult of the trio. La Quinta (par 72, 7,060) is annually one of the easiest courses on TOUR and the last two years have seen it rate third easiest in 2016 and second easiest last year. The Nicklaus Tournament layout (par 72, 7,159) nipped La Quinta for the second easiest track in 2016 but rallied in the breeze last year to rank No. 39 of 50 in difficulty but still played 1.2 strokes under par. Having low scores in pro-ams is hardly earth-shattering information. The rounds are already long enough so heavy rough, slick greens and tough pin placements aren’t going to be on the menu. Toss in usually perfect weather and the recipe for going low is optimum. As is the case in shootouts, the players who find the most GIR will be the ones with the most chances for birdie. This week, with all three courses playing par 72 and all less than 7,200 yards, there won’t be many acceptable excuses for scores worse than par. Anything in the 70’s this week will need to be followed with something in the low 60’s. Bogeys will almost feel like doubles especially if the 54-hole cut hovers around 9 under par like it was in 2016. With a birdie-fest on the cards, there’s not much mystery on why there aren’t repeat champions. A shootout on short courses should involve just about everyone this week so it’s your job to narrow it down. I’ve provided some help below!    Weatherman Rob Bolton has suggested in his Power Rankings the weather this week won’t be perfect as temperatures are stuck in the 60s but the wind looks to be tame. Be sure to look for my post-round recap Emergency 9 each night shortly after the conclusion of play! NOTE: The groups below are comprehensive to assist in data mining. Inclusion doesn’t imply automatic endorsement in every fantasy game as all decisions are specific to your situation. CONFIDENCE MEN Selected golfers with multiple cuts made sorted by rank on the tournament’s money list. BUILDING CONFIDENCE Sorted by best finish, selected golfers who are either finally finding form on the course or are still relatively new to the tournament but have enjoyed some success. OTHER SIGNS OF CONFIDENCE Sorted by most recent top 10s, selected golfers for whom it’s been a few years since their last.

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SOUTHPORT, England – Notes and observations from the final round of The Open Championship, where Jordan Spieth played the final five holes in 5 under to shoot 69 and win by three shots over Matt Kuchar. Spieth’s third victory of the season also gives him the lead in the FedExCup standings. ‘A GOOD START’ Jordan Spieth needed inspiration as he struggled through Sunday’s front nine at Royal Birkdale. He started the day with a three-shot advantage, but it took just four holes for that lead to evaporate. Spieth was two ahead by the seventh tee, but his ballstriking wasn’t up to the standard he’d displayed earlier in the week. That’s why his caddie, Michael Greller, decided to deliver a pep talk to his boss, using a photo from Spieth’s recent vacation to Mexico as motivation. The photo showed the golfer hanging out with a group that included Michael Phelps and Michael Jordan. “He said, ‘Do you remember that group you were with? You’re that caliber of an athlete. But I need you to believe that right now. … This is a new tournament. We’re starting over here,â€� Spieth said. Spieth was among select company in Cabo San Lucas, and now he has the opportunity to join another elite group. Spieth, 23, now owns three legs of the career Grand Slam, needing a victory in the PGA Championship to become just the sixth player to win all four of golf’s major championships. The other five? Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Ben Hogan, Gary Player and Gene Sarazen. Nicklaus is the only player besides Spieth to win three different majors before the age of 24. (Spieth turns 24 on Thursday). “Growing up playing golf, I just wanted to be able to play in major championships and compete with the best in the world. Things have happened very quickly,â€� Spieth said. The PGA Championship will be held Aug. 10-13 at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina. The course also serves as the annual host of the PGA TOUR’s Wells Fargo Championship. Spieth has played that event just once, finishing T32 in 2013. Spieth was runner-up to Jason Day in the 2015 PGA, finishing three shots behind the Australian. Woods was 24 when he completed the career Grand Slam at the 2000 Open Championship, the youngest player ever to do so, but Spieth could surpass that record with a win at Quail Hollow. “To be in that company is absolutely incredible, and I certainly appreciate it,â€� Spieth said. “We work really hard to have that, … therefore I enjoy moments like (this). But I’m very careful as to what that means going forward because what those guys have done has transcended the sport. And in no way, shape or form do I think I’m anywhere near that, whatsoever. “So it’s a good start, but there is a long way to go.â€� KUCHAR CRUSHED Matt Kuchar is known for his wide smile, but he couldn’t hide his disappointment after his best shot to win a major championship was thwarted by Spieth’s magical finish. “It’s crushing. It hurts,â€� said Kuchar, whose final-round 69 matched Spieth’s Sunday score. Spieth started the day with a three-shot advantage, but Kuchar took a one-shot lead after Spieth’s bogey at No. 13. Kuchar made two birdies on the next four holes, but lost three strokes to Spieth over that stretch. “It’s an excitement and a thrill to have played well, put up a battle, put up a fight,â€� Kuchar said. “You work so hard to get in this position, to have a chance to make history and win a championship. You don’t get that many opportunities.â€� The runner-up was Kuchar’s best major finish, besting his third-place finish at the 2012 Masters. He was fourth at Augusta National this year, his fourth top-10 in the past six Masters. Kuchar’s wife, Sybi, and their two sons, Cameron and Carson, flew to England to watch Matt compete in Sunday’s final group, surprising him after the round. “I played well. I had four good rounds of golf. I was close,â€� Kuchar, 39, said. “I think everybody around me is doing the best to put the most positive spin on this week as possible.â€� LI’S HISTORIC 63 Haotong Li started Sunday 12 shots off the lead. He was warming up for a potential playoff after his round, though. Li shot 63 to finish at 6-under 204. As the final group struggled, Li had a slimmer of hope. Kuchar was 8 under par, and Spieth was one behind, with five holes remaining in the tournament. Until yesterday, 63 was the gold standard for major-championships. Branden Grace shot 62 on Saturday, though. Li, 21, still finished third, securing the highest major finish by a Chinese man. “For some reason since hole No. 8, I just start holing everything,â€� said Li, who made birdie on seven of the final 11 holes. He won PGA TOUR China’s Order of Merit in 2014 and claimed the 2016 China Open. Li, No. 107 in the Official World Golf Ranking, will make a large move in the International Team’s Presidents Cup standings. He started the week ranked 26th. His third-place finish also is expected to earn him an invitation into next ERRATIC RORY Rory McIlroy’s erratic week began with five bogeys on his first six holes and an exhortation from his caddie that included an expletive for emphasis. It ended in a tie for fourth. The week was full of fits and spurts, but the miscues too often dampened the momentum, leaving McIlroy seven shots behind Spieth. It was McIlroy’s first top-10 in just six starts since finishing T7 at Augusta National in April. He arrived at Royal Birkdale having missed the cut in three of his past four starts. McIlroy will make his next start at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational in two weeks. It’s his first appearance in Akron since his 2014 victory there. Then it’s on to the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow, where Spieth has won twice, set the course record twice and has finished in the top 10 in six of seven starts. “I wish I could have had that start back, obviously, but these things happen and I’m just proud of how I held it together and battled,â€� McIlroy said. “But I feel like with the way my game is I’ll definitely have a great chance at Akron and the PGA.â€� NOTABLE NOTES Marc Leishman shot 66-65 on the weekend to finish sixth at 4-under 276. It was his third top-six in the past four Open Championships, including his runner-up in 2015, where he lost a three-man playoff won by Zach Johnson. Leishman cracked the top 10 despite making the cut on the number after a second-round 76. U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka also tied for sixth at 276 (65-72-68-71). Koepka has finished no worse than T11 in 2017’s three majors, and has finished in the top 25 in nine consecutive majors. One day after shooting the lowest round in major-championship history, Grace shot 70 to also finish sixth at 276 (70-74-62-70). His 62 was his only sub-par round of the week. Grace made eight birdies Saturday and just six in the other three rounds. He had two birdies and two bogeys in the final round. This was Grace’s fifth top-six in his past 11 majors. Local favorite Tommy Fleetwood, who grew up within walking distance of Royal Birkdale, finished T27 at 1 over par. He followed a first-round 76 with three consecutive rounds of par or better (69-66-70). “After the first day, you know, I’d have taken anything to be playing on Sunday,â€� said Fleetwood, who was runner-up at this year’s World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship and fourth at the U.S. Open. “It’s easy to be frustrated because you wanted to do so well, but to complain would be a bit off.â€� BEST OF SOCIAL MEDIA

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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Collin Morikawa got a big stroke of fortune at the DP World Tour Championship. Rory McIlroy felt he got no luck at all. The drama in the second round of the European Tour’s season-ending event was reserved for the final hour at Jumeirah Golf Estates on Friday — and the tournament’s two headline players were at the center of it. Morikawa, looking to become the first American to win the Race to Dubai title, pushed his tee shot at the par-3 17th hole and shouted, “Get in the bunker.” The ball, instead, bounced on a downslope in the rough and headed toward water, only for it to hit a hazard post and stay dry. An up-and-down for par followed by a final-hole birdie saw The Open champion shoot a second straight 4-under 68, leaving him three shots off the lead and in a strong position to finish the season as European No. 1. “Those are the kind of breaks you need heading into the weekend,” Morikawa said. McIlroy, the first-round leader after an opening 65, reached the 18th tee with a one-stroke advantage despite hitting only five of 13 fairways to that point. He drove left into a bunker and his third shot kicked left short of the green and dribbled into the water. A double-bogey 7 completed a round of 70 which saw him fall out of the lead, held jointly by Shane Lowry (65), John Catlin (65) and Sam Horsfield (66) on 10 under par. “That part of the fairway where the ball was, was just sort of thatchy and came up spinny into the wind,” McIlroy said. “I hit a good golf shot and felt like I didn’t deserve to be in the water.” McIlroy will play with Morikawa in the third round as he goes in search of back-to-back wins following victory at THE CJ CUP @ SUMMIT on the PGA TOUR last month. Morikawa doesn’t need a win to have a successful week in Dubai. He came into the tournament ranked No. 1 in the Race to Dubai standings, narrowly ahead of compatriot Billy Horschel, who is only even par after rounds of 74 and 70. Horschel needs to win or hope Morikawa finishes well down the 52-man field to jump into first place. Neither of those scenarios look likely. Only four other players — Tyrrell Hatton, Min Woo Lee, Paul Casey and Matt Fitzpatrick — can overhaul Morikawa but they would also need a win on the Earth Course. Casey and Fitzpatrick are best placed to launch a weekend move, having shot rounds of 69 to be 5 under overall and five strokes off the lead. Like McIlroy, Morikawa struggled off the tee and said he didn’t hit his irons well, a rare occurrence for a player many regard as the best iron player on the PGA TOUR. He birdied four of his first seven holes — starting by chipping in from just off the green at No. 1 — but was a picture of frustration after making five straight pars around the turn and then missing a 10-foot putt for par at No. 13 to drop four shots off the lead. Two of his best shots of the day came in the final two holes, his pitch to nine feet from near the water at No. 17 helping him save par before his third shot at the par-5 last settled inside three feet. “Wasn’t hitting (the same) quality of golf shots,” Morikawa said, comparing his second round to his first, “but was able to make some birdies and kind of minimize the bogeys.” McIlroy retained his lead throughout his front nine, but found himself one back from Lowry, Catlin and Horsfield after missing a 6-foot par putt at No. 10. He responded by chipping in from the fringe at the 11th hole and went back into the lead by rolling in a birdie putt from 16 feet at No. 16. Everything went wrong down the last, though, after choosing to take driver — a club he struggled with all day. “It wasn’t the greatest way to finish and I was just sort of holding it together most of the day,” he said. “It would have been nice to finish off a bit better but still right in the golf tournament.” Lowry had a bogey-free round that really caught fire in the back nine with three birdies and a chip-in eagle in a five-hole span from No. 11. The 2019 Open champion will go out in the last group with Catlin, the 129th-ranked American. “It’s two more days left and then the end of a long year and a half,” Lowry said. “I’m looking forward to giving everything and leaving it on the course this weekend.”

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