Rahm wins Irish Open with record score

All of the gold at the end of the rainbow is up for grabs at East Lake Golf Club outside Atlanta as the FedExCup Playoffs will pay out $60 million in bonuses to close the 50-event 2020-2021 season. East Lake Golf Club, established in 1904, has served as the permanent host of the TOUR Championship since 2004. Tom Bendelow’s original design was updated in 1913 by Donald Ross so greens pitching back-to-front will again be in play this week. Rees Jones has handled the upkeep over the last 25 years to keep up with the best players on TOUR annually. The FedExCup Playoffs debuted in 2007 so course history is a very real angle this week. RELATED: Power Rankings | Expert Picks In 2008 East Lake changed their greens from Bentgrass to Bermuda so Zach Johnson’s course record of 60 set in 2007 can be taken with a grain of salt. Since the introduction of Bermuda, 63 has been the lowest round posted four times, last done by Henrik Stenson in 2015. Before 2016 the event concluded with a Par-3 hole. The nines were flipped in 2016 to add another layer of drama as the Par-5 18th, one of the easiest annually on the course, will provide the final act. Xander Schauffele holds the event (gross) record, set last year, on 15-under 265. Since the nines were reversed, the winning score has been double digits under par in every event. Zoysia fairways and Mini-Verde Ultradwarf Bermuda greens running around 13 feet are surrounded by almost three inches of Bermuda rough. The remnants of Hurricane Ida are dumping rain Tuesday on the area after a very abnormally wet July. The Par-70 (35-35) already stretches out to 7,346 yards and nothing about firm or fast will be on the cards this week. The two Par-5 holes annually play the easiest on the course so scoring on both of them will be required. Wet Bermuda rough won’t allow for much control off of the fairway and around the greens. The perfect Bermuda greens, just over 6,000 square feet on average, will see putts holed for both par and birdie. The formula this week will involve finding the most fairways to attack hole locations and saving pars when missing the fairway and greens. Like any big-time event, the full bag and the six inches between the ears should be in play and that is definitely the case this week. The 30 players involved will have four rounds (no cut) to try and chase down FedExCup leader Patrick Cantlay and his Starting Strokes of 10-under par. The player posting the lowest net total (Starting Strokes combined with the total of strokes accumulated after 72 holes) after 72 holes will take home the biggest bonus of them all, $15 million plus a five year exemption on TOUR. Dustin Johnson is back for the 13th time in this event and will look to repeat as FedExCup Playoff champion. The only multiple winner of this event (entered this week) is Rory McIlroy (2019, 2016) and nobody has ever defended the title of Playoff Champion or Event champion. Top 30 FedExCup bonus money distribution Recent Event Winners Stats Recent Winners 2020 – Dustin Johnson (-21 net, -11 gross) Fired a final round 68 to win by three. … Won his sixth FedExCup Playoff event and first FedExCup championship. … First No. 1 seed to win since Tiger Woods in 2009. … Led by five, an event record, after posting 64 in Round 3. … Final group off Round 3 after leading by one after 36 holes. … Opened with 67 to share the first round lead. … Would have finished T3 without Starting Strokes. … 17th win in start No. 274. … His six wins in the FedExCup Playoffs are the most in history. … Picked up his third win in his 10th tournament since the restart. … 64 tied the low round of the week (four others listed below). … Notables in the field this week: 2017 FedExCup Playoff EVENT champion Xander Schauffele (2nd) posted the lowest 72 hole total since Bermuda was introduced in 2008. … 2017 FedExCup Playoff champion Justin Thomas (T2) picked up his fifth top 10 in his fifth visit. … Jon Rahm (4th) posted the second WORST round of the week with 74 in Round 2. … Debutant Scottie Scheffler (5th) posted 12-under (gross), second best on the week. … Debutant Collin Morikawa (6th) co-led the field with Schauffele with 21 birdies. … 2019 champion Rory McIlroy (T8) also posted 64 (Rd 1) but only made four birdies thru the middle two rounds. … Patrick Reed (T8) picked up his best finish in his seventh attempt as he led the field in Fairways and Pars. … Sungjae Im (11th) opened 68-64 to trail Johnson by one after 36 holes. … Harris English (T12) ranked third in Putts. … Daniel Berger (T14) joined the party with 64 in Round 3. … Abraham Ancer (T18) opened his second visit with 64 before cooling. … Viktor Hovland (T20) led the field in GIR. … Scoring average was 68.917. … Only five bogey-free rounds and Reed had 40 percent of them. 2019 – Rory McIlroy (18-under net, 13-under gross ) 2016 winner posted a final round 66 to become just the second player to win the FedExCup Playoffs and Event twice. … Began the final round one shot back of Brooks Koepka. … Only player to post all four rounds in the 60s as he won by four shots. … Posted 13-under gross, three better than Schauffele, for the best total of the week. … Led the field with 20 birdies. … Co-led the field in Bogey Avoidance. … Becomes the only winner to also win THE PLAYERS in the same season. … Third win of the season along with the RBC Canadian Open. … Hits the top 10 for the sixth time in seven visits. … 17th TOUR victory in start No. 268. Notables in the field this week: Xander Schauffele (T2) opened with the co-low round of the week, 64, posted 10-under (gross) and co-led the field in Bogey Avoidance. … Brooks Koepka (T3) tried to go wire to wire but his final round 72 saw him fall short. … 2017 FedExCup Playoff Champion Justin Thomas (T3) entered the week as the No. 1 seed. … Tony Finau (7th) posted all four rounds 70 or better. … Hideki Matsuyama (T9) matched McIlroy with two rounds of 66. … Patrick Reed (T9) cashed his first top 10 in six appearances. … Just eight players posted rounds of 60 on Sunday. … Scoring average 70.003. … Only three bogey free rounds for the week. 2018 – Tiger Woods (11-under, 259) Did not qualify this season (injury). … Woods won the Event but Justin Rose (did not qualify) won the FedExCup Playoff Championship. … Final edition before Starting Strokes. … Only player double digits under par. … Led by three after 54 holes. … Shared the 36 hole lead with Rose. … Opened with 65, co-low round of the week, to share the lead. … Becomes first player to win the FedExCup Playoff Event twice. … 80th win in 346th start. … First appearance since 2013. Notables in the field this week: 2014 champion Billy Horschel (2nd) led the field in Fairways and GIR. … Dustin Johnson (T3) picked up his best finish in his 10th appearance. … Hideki Matsuyama (T4) ranked T3 in Fairways, 3rd GIR and signed for the only bogey free round of the week. … Rory McIlroy (T7) played in the final group and co-led the field with 19 birdies. … 2017 champion Xander Schauffele (T7) picks up his only finish outside of the top two. … Justin Thomas (T7) was one of four players who posted all four rounds at 70 or better. … Jon Rahm (T11) joined McIlroy with 19 birdies. … 69.617 scoring average. Key stat leaders Top golfers in each statistic on the 2020-2021 PGA TOUR are listed only if they are scheduled to compete this week. Horses for Courses East Lake Gross 2019-2020

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Corey Conners … Can’t be ruled out as one of the many who probably didn’t mind the hiatus when it occurred. After a T19 in his debut at Kapalua and a T12 the week after at Waialae, he went just 2-for-5 with no better than a T45 at TPC Scottsdale. Ready to go again at Colonial where he placed T8 in his debut in 2018 and T31 last year. Because his title defense at the Valero Texas Open was canceled this year, the 28-year-old Canuck also might have a chip on his shoulder to represent in the Lone Star State this week. Russell Knox … Think he also could’ve used a break when the pandemic shut things down? After connecting 11 paydays worldwide from September through the first weekend in February, he missed four straight cuts immediately before the hiatus. It’s a disappointment he’s never experienced at Colonial where he’s finished in the top 25 in all four tries with a personal-best T8 last year. The Scot will turn 35 on June 21. Emiliano Grillo … Like Conners and Knox, Grillo is among the TOUR leaders in setting up scoring opportunities and tee-to-green mastery. While that data is three months old, it’s the kind of formula that’s worked at Colonial for all three. The 27-year-old from Argentina hasn’t missed a cut in four trips, the last three of which yielding a top 25. He bookended a solo third in 2018 with 64s. Brian Harman … Since that torrid pace before and through the holiday break late in 2017, he’s descended back to terra firma, but he’s also a beneficiary of a consistently strong first half of this season. En route to slotting 20th in adjusted scoring, the 33-year-old lefty logged a T3 and another four top 25s to shore up a spot in the FedExCup Playoffs. His record at Colonial since 2014 is similar with a T7 among four top 25s contributing to a 6-for-6 burst. Vaughn Taylor … That he’s 44 years of age is a bonus at Colonial where he’s making his 12th appearance. In fact, since turning 40, he’s 4-for-4 here with a pair of top 20s. Profiles better as a sharpshooter off the tee and putter than he does with the irons, but the totality of his results over time overshadow a deep dive into his bag. This season alone he’s gone for four top 15s, including a co-runner-up at Mayakoba. It also can’t be overstated how much he’s capitalized on his return to glory at Pebble Beach early in 2016. That was a fork in the road, and he took it. NOTE: Sleeper is a relative term, so Rob uses unofficial criteria to determine who qualifies. Each of the following usually is determined to be ineligible for this weekly staple: Winners of the tournament on the current host course; winners in the same season; recent major champions; top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking; recent participants of team competitions.

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DP World Tour pro Ricardo Gouveia is making his second career PGA TOUR start at this week’s Barbasol Championship. He jumped to an early lead with an opening-round, 8-under 64 at Keene Trace GC in Kentucky. As part of the PGA TOUR/DP World Tour strategic alliance and joint venture, Gouveia was awarded a spot at the Barbasol Championship based on his position on the DP World Tour Rankings; he currently stands No. 126 on the Race to Dubai. The Portugal native played collegiately at the University of Central Florida and also represented his home country at the 2016 Olympic Men’s Golf Competition. He made his PGA TOUR debut at the 2016 Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard in his college town of Orlando. Gouveia made nine birdies in Thursday’s opening round of the Barbasol Championship against one bogey, punctuating his round with a 15-foot birdie at the par-4 18th hole. Here’s Five Things to Know about Ricardo Gouveia. 1. He’s a five-time winner on the Challenge Tour. The Challenge Tour is the DP World Tour’s equivalent of the Korn Ferry Tour, providing a direct path to the DP World Tour for top finishers on the season-long standings. Gouveia has thrived at this level with five career wins, including two victories in 2021, the Italian Challenge and Made in Esbjerg Challenge. He also finished No. 1 on the 2015 Challenge Tour Rankings, winning twice and earning his DP World Tour card. He also finished No. 2 on the 2021 Challenge Tour Rankings to earn back his DP World Tour card. 2. He has featured top-100 in the world and played in the Olympics. After a dominant season on the 2015 Challenge Tour with two wins, three runners-up and two third-place finishes, Gouveia finished the year at No. 83 on the Official World Golf Ranking. He went 3-for-3 in made cuts to begin the 2016 DP World Tour season, including a T7 at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters, moving to a career-high No. 77 on the Official World Golf Ranking. By way of his world ranking, he qualified for the 2016 Olympic Men’s Golf Competition in Rio, golf’s first Olympics inclusion since 1904. 3. He moved to the United States to play college golf. Gouveia began his collegiate career at Division II Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida, earning NCAA Division II Ping All-America First Team honors and earning the Phil Mickelson Award as most outstanding freshman in Division II golf. He transferred to the University of Central Florida for his sophomore season and maintained success, earning All-America honorable mention honors with 20 rounds of par or better and also being named the Conference USA Newcomer of the Year. He earned runner-up honors at the NCAA Tempe Regional as a junior, and he was named to the American Athletic All-Conference Team as a senior before turning pro. 4. He was pushed to succeed by his college teammates. Gouveia spent three years at UCF alongside Greg Eason, who has competed on the Korn Ferry Tour and PGA TOUR Canada in addition to time as a caddie. The duo enjoyed the offbeat side of college life. Gouveia recalls a time when Eason needed to dry his underwear and had no clear option – so he decided to microwave it. Eason would write motivational quotes on the bathroom walls, and Gouveia credits Eason as an instrumental source of motivation as he refined his game for the professional level. “Every day, he pushed me harder,” said Gouveia of Eason, “and I have to thank him for that.” 5. He has a big opportunity this weekend in Kentucky. Multiple scenarios are in play as Gouveia assumes the spotlight this week at the Barbasol Championship. A victory at Keene Trace would award him a two-year exemption on the PGA TOUR, plus the remainder of this season. Additionally, if Gouveia earns enough non-member FedExCup Points to equal or surpass No. 200 on the final FedExCup standings, he will receive a spot in the Korn Ferry Tour Finals, a three-event series in August and September with 25 PGA TOUR cards awarded. The top-200 threshold is currently 78 points, the equivalent of a solo fourth-place finish or better at the Barbasol Championship.

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