Record 10 Mexican players in field arrive from across golf world

With the first major of year in the books it’s off to Hilton Head for decompressing at the RBC Heritage on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. The iconic lighthouse, Calibogue Sound and smells from the low country boils will set the atmosphere around this event. Harbour Town Golf Links will serve as the host again as 132 players in an invitational field celebrating 50 years on TOUR will participate in a hit-and-giggle after the Masters. Er, not really. While the pressure of playing major championship golf is in the rear-view mirror for 31 players this week, the entire field will have to tackle this Pete Dye-Jack Nicklaus design with 500 FedExCup points and a prize pool of almost $7 million dollars on the line. Playing one yard short of 7,100 and to Par-71 (36-35), the winner will take home $1.26 million and doesn’t have to worry about his status on TOUR for the rest of this season and the next two. I’d suggest this is anything but an “off” week and that includes for gamers as well! As shown by the list of recent champions below there is hardly a pattern when it comes to picking winners. Trying to crack the code this week will present a challenge as this track has changed recently. This is event No. 2 at Harbour Town after Hurricane Matthew swept through in latter part of 2016. The course wasn’t damaged or the routing changed, but there were plenty of trees that didn’t survive and have not been replaced. The course now sees more sunshine and feels more wind and that increases the degree of difficulty as it can play firmer and faster. Brian Gay’s 2009 tournament record of 20-under-par is probably safe, regardless of coastal weather as benign wind won’t stop the sun from drying the place out. Troy Merritt, who’s not in the field this week, was the second man to post 61 in 2015 after David Frost in 1994. Similarly to Frost he did not win the tournament. TALES OF THE TAPE As we look back to look forward, the last three winners have been “firsts” at Harbour Town. Furyk picked up his first win since the 2010 TOUR Championship for his second victory at Harbour Town. Anytime Furyk wins an event the first thing that should spring to mind is accuracy matters. While it’s not THE determining factor this week, Furyk gives plenty of clues and what it takes to win. What isn’t listed above is that the weather was perfect and that’s the exception, not the rule at this event. Merritt’s 61 in Round 2 should have been a clue! Furyk, using lift-clean-and replace with the rest of the field, came from four shots off Merritt’s lead in the final round to force a playoff. The playoff was with Kevin Kisner, not Merritt, who closed with 64. Rounds 2, 3 and 4 ended up being the second, third and fourth-easiest rounds in the history of the event as Furyk joined the group of nine other multiple champions at this event. It was also Braden Grace’s first top 10 on the PGA TOUR. For the second year in a row, Grace checked off a first at Harbour Town as his victory was the first on TOUR for the South African. He entered the week, as 28 of the past 34 champions did, coming off the Masters experience (MC) and off a previous win earlier in the year. Grace flipped the Furyk script and used his power and a superb wedge game as he pounded Harbour Town with 66 in the final round. Similarly to Furyk he began the final round adrift, three shots behind Luke Donald’s 54-hole lead. Only John Senden went lower on Sunday (65) as not even a third of the field were in red figures. Grace’s winning score of 275 (-9) tied 2014 champion Graeme McDowell for the only single-digit winning total since 2005. Grace became the 11th first-time winner and 11th international winner as the wind gusts and cool temperatures kept scores up. In 48 previous events a South Carolinian had never slipped on the plaid jacket or collected the biggest check here. Rookie Wesley Bryan, born in Columbia, put an end to that streak with his first win on the PGA TOUR. Bryan became the first player since Carl Pettersson in 2012 to win without having played the Masters the week prior. This year, he won’t have that to worry about as his victory propelled him into the field last week where he MC. Bryan, like the two winners above him, had to climb out of a hole on Sunday as he trailed Jason Dufner by four shots before righting the ship. Bryan became the fifth consecutive winner to win while trailing by three or more shots in the final round. He was the 12th player to break his maiden on TOUR at this event and the second in a row. He became the first player and just sixth overall to win in his first attempt since Boo Weekley in 2007. The pressure is on in his first defense as he’ll be reminded no defending champion has MC since Davis Love III in 1993. NOTE: Golfers inside the top 25-ish in each statistic on the 2017-18 PGA TOUR are listed only if they are scheduled to compete this week. * – Finished inside the top 10 at RBC Heritage since 2013 or is a former champion. SG: Tee-to-Green Rank Golfer 2 Paul Casey 4 Dustin Johnson 8 *Kevin Chappell 11 Luke List 13 Scott Piercy 15 *Bryson DeChambeau 18 Charles Howell III 19 *Kevin Streelman 20 Francesco Molinari 21 Zach Johnson 22 Adam Hadwin 23 Chesson Hadley 27 *Patrick Cantlay Scrambling Rank Golfer 3 *Kevin Streelman 5 *Kevin Na 6 *Aaron Baddeley 7 *Webb Simpson 8 Paul Casey 10 *Brian Gay 11 Cameron Smith 14 *Brandt Snedeker 26 *William McGirt 27 *Zach Johnson SG: Putting Rank Golfer 3 Greg Chalmers 7 *Brian Harman 8 *Kevin Kisner 9 *Whee Kim 10 *Webb Simpson 14 Dustin Johnson 14 Peter Malnati 16 *Wesley Bryan 17 *Graeme McDowell 20 Patton Kizzire 20 Emiliano Grillo 22 *Matt Kuchar 25 *Luke Donald Par-4 Scoring Rank Golfer 3 Dustin Johnson 9 *Marc Leishman 11 Cameron Smith 11 *Kevin Chappell 11 Ryan Palmer 11 *Brian Harman 17 Scott Piercy 17 *Kevin Streelman 17 Patton Kizzire 22 *Ben Martin 22 Tyrrell Hatton 22 *Stewart Cink 22 Emiliano Grillo 22 *Zach Johnson 22 *Webb Simpson Harbour Town Golf Links will require plenty of patience, skill and a bit of target golf, just as Pete Dye would prefer. Usually this was a track where similar to last week would require a few loops in tournament play to get it figured out. Tell that to the rookie who won last year and the other three in the top 10! As with any great course, multiple styles should be able to flourish and the three winners above confirm that theory. Coastal golf will always involve a bit of wind and weather just as Dye courses will make players think twice before pulling the trigger. With the extra sun and wind a firm and fast track can develop. The TifEagle Bermuda greens are some of the smallest on TOUR (think Pebble Beach) and have annually been the toughest to hit on TOUR. Installed after the 2015 edition, they have one more year of growth in their roots and should be more receptive. Once aboard players will have to handle the humps and bumps that come with Dye-Nicklaus designs. If the overhanging trees, small greens and Dye design angles aren’t enough there are 54 bunkers and 12 water hazards also to navigate. Speaking of navigating, I’m leaning back on the players who have been rolling lately with a sprinkle of the veterans, not the other way around. The other very interesting angle this week is how those who played 72 holes at Augusta hold up over 72 holes this week. Sure, it’s a flat, coastal walk but I have the feeling this is one that they’ll take for the team. Be warned. Course Ratings: 2015: 26th-most difficult of 52 played; -0.51 strokes below par. 2016: eighth-most difficult of 50 played; +1.285 strokes above par. 2017: 29th-most difficult of 50 played; -0.324 strokes below par. Rob Bolton’s Power Rankings will give you more juice for the week so make sure you stop by. It’s also who I trust with the weather each week so pay attention! 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.

Click here to read the full article…

Brooks Koepka says he will do whatever it takes, including playing every remaining week of the season, until he can secure a spot in the TOUR Championship for a crack at the FedExCup. Koepka was originally not planning to play in the Memorial Tournament Presented by Nationwide next week, the second of two events to be played at Muirfield Village Golf Club. But poor play at the Workday Charity Open this week has forced his hand and the former world No. 1 will indeed play again. “I’m pretty far down in the FedExCup and need to make a run. I think it’s pretty simple. I didn’t plan on playing, but things change, and I’d like to be in Atlanta,” Koepka said after his second round. “That’s what you’ve got to do; I’m going to basically run the table.” Koepka came into this week sitting 155th on the season long points list but not even a scintillating late evening blitz in a storm affected second round is likely to extend his time at the Workday Charity Open and bring a chance to advance his FedExCup standing. With play suspended overnight Koepka sits a shot outside the projected cutline, needing significant help from unfinished players to survive. The 2017 and 2018 PGA TOUR Player of the Year looked a shadow of his best self through 26 holes of play at Muirfield Village this week, sitting five over par and 18 shots adrift of clubhouse leader Collin Morikawa. He was at least six shots back of the likely cut mark with 10 holes left. It was go hard or go home time. And go hard he did. Koepka put up six birdies on the closing 10 holes to shoot a 3-under 69 and finish 1 under for the week. “That’s what you’ve got to do. I never give up, never think you’re out of it, and you’ve just got to battle through it no matter what you’re doing,” he said. “That’s part of why you’re out here. You’re a pro, you just sack up and do it.” As awesome as it was, it could have easily been so much better. On three occasions he went within a whisker of hole-out eagles and did the same for a birdie after a penalty drop. He also missed two birdie putts inside seven feet during the run. It started on the par-4 9th hole when his wedge from 117 yards ended up about four feet from the pin. On the par-3 12th hole Koepka was just a foot from an ace and a hole later a wedge from 106 yards rolled desperately close to the cup. On the par-4 14th, after finding water with his tee shot, he dropped 92 yards out and flirted with a hole out birdie before a simple tap in par. His greenside bunker shot on the par-5 15th was another that wanted to go in but found a way not to. In the end back-to-back birdies on 17 and 18 still likely won’t be enough. “It was pretty gutsy. I would still take it as a chance. The guys finishing in the morning will probably hurt that. But it’s a funny game,” playing partner Justin Thomas said of the run. “I’ve been in that position before, unfortunately, or we all have, but it’s almost like when you stop caring you start playing better. There’s a lesson somewhere in that, but it’s hard to go out there and play and not care.” Among those surprisingly likely to be joining Koepka on the cut list are Jordan Spieth (E), Marc Leishman (+5), Matthew Wolff (+5), Bubba Watson (+8) and Justin Rose (+10). After this week just five weeks of tournaments remain before the top 125 get into the FedExCup playoffs.

Click here to read the full article…

A few weeks shy of his 48th birthday and returning to his first PGA Championship in 12 years, Ben Hogan couldn’t find any magic in his golf game during his trip to Akron, Ohio, in the summer of 1960. Three days without a birdie left him outside the 54-hole cut. Hogan did, however, discover the magic formula for Firestone Country Club’s South Course.  “He told me, the winner will be the guy who averages no more than 10 (missed fairways and missed greens combined) a day,� Jay Hebert told reporters, recalling Hogan’s words. “If you don’t think (practice rounds) with Hogan are an education, try it sometime. It’s a master’s degree. No, it’s a doctor’s degree.� On a Firestone CC test that Jim Turnesa that week proclaimed “the toughest course I’ve ever seen,� the 37-year-old Hebert averaged less than nine missed fairways and greens combined per day – and won. What? You think Hogan would have misled him? Famous for suggesting that “the secret was in the dirt,� Hogan likely would have said that the challenge of Firestone CC was no mystery. It is a sentiment that has been shared by other greats throughout the years. From Bobby Jones, who was at Firestone right after it opened in 1929 for an exhibition against Jesse Sweetser and Watts Gunn; to Jack Nicklaus, who embraced Firestone CC when he first saw it as an 18-year-old amateur in 1958; to David Duval 40 years later who triumphed in the World Series of Golf and said: “It’s just long, hard and right in front of you. There are no tricks to it.� Perhaps none of them, however, were swept off their feet by Firestone CC quite like Nick Price. He arrived in Akron in the summer of 1983 still licking his wounds from having squandered the 1982 Open Championship. Quickly, though, the aura of Firestone put him at ease.  “I had seen it on TV before, but when I saw it in person, I loved it. What amazed me is how (the holes) went up and down, how except for two or three holes, everything was parallel,� said Price. “It made an impact on me because it was long and the greens were tiny for the length of the golf course.� A premier ball-striker, Price smiled. “If you were on with your irons, you’d always have a birdie putt on the small greens,� said Price. “I loved it.� He still does, and for good reason. The Zimbabwean shot 66-68-69-67 for a four-stroke victory and first PGA Tour win was timely. Not because of the $100,00 winner’s check, but for the 10-year exemption to the PGA TOUR.  “You could say Firestone gave me the key to my career,� said Price, then a struggling rookie on the PGA TOUR who was exempt into the 1983 WSOG for being the leading money-winner in South Africa. “It was a special time, such a confidence boost.� Where the pride swells is when Price scans the list of past winners at Firestone CC’s South Course. The rollcall should be accompanied by trumpets blaring “Royal Entrance� because it is top-to-bottom golf royalty. When you factor in the PGA TOUR tournaments held on Firestone’s South Course (Rubber City Open, American Golf Classic, World Series of Golf and World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational) and sprinkle in three PGA Championships, the list of winners across 75 tournaments includes 18 World Golf Hall of Fame members and a whopping 33 winners of major winners. Crunching further, those 18 Hall of Famers have won 38 of those 75 tournaments at Firestone, a stunning 50.6 percent. “An impressive stat, no doubt,� said Price. “It’s a testament to how great the golf course is.� It puts Firestone South right up there with Pebble Beach Golf Links (23 Hall of Famers and 32 major champions have won there) as the two PGA TOUR courses that have produced the richest pedigree of winners. “Firestone is a ball-striker’s golf course,� said Adam Scott, who won the 2011 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. “If you miss fairways, usually you’re just pitching out. I’d hate to try and win a tournament there by scrambling.� When your club has hosted the best professional players every year since 1954, save for 2002 when the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational was staged in at Sahalee CC outside of Seattle, indelible memories stretch endlessly. There was the debut of the Rubber City Open in ’54 when Bolt said he was trying “to live down the reputation� he had as a hothead. His near-flawless victory helped, only one year later, Bolt ripped up his scorecard 16 holes into Round 3 and walked off. “I’m sick and tired of golf,� he vented. Palmer thrilled large crowds when he won the American Golf Classic in 1957, but at the ’60 PGA his mood swung as Robert Trent Jones Sr.’s re-design of Firestone, especially of the par-5 16th, left Palmer dismayed. “As far as I’m concerned, I think it’s ridiculous,� said Palmer, of the hole stretched to 667 yards. His chance to win the PGA collapsed with a third-round triple-bogey and years later, Palmer was asked if he remembered it. “I remember all eight shots,� he snapped. Mike Souchak was another who surveyed Jones’ re-do with a jaded view. “How about that?� he said. “They added lakes (two), traps (50), lengthened the tees and pushed the greens back (adding 500 yards), and what do they do – they cut par a stroke.� Indeed, Firestone CC in 1960 was a par 70 at 7,165 yards, beefier than it had been when it opened in 1929. Designed by Bert Way – an Englishman who apprenticed under Willie Dunn before emigrating to America in 1896 – Firestone measured 6,306 yards and was a par 71 back on the day Harvey Firestone struck the opening tee shot. But the back-and-forth routing and tree-lined holes remain pretty much as Way drew them up, which adds immeasurably to the joy of Firestone. Certainly, Jose Maria Olazabal felt comfortable at the 1990 World Series of Golf, so much so that in Round 1 he birdied the first, eagled the second, then birdied Nos. 3 and 4 en route to a course-record 61. He eventually won by 12, but years later said of that sizzling round: “What I really don’t understand is how the hell I shot 61.� Nicklaus did know why he played well at Firestone and it is why he became emotional in 2013 when honored at Firestone CC as “Ambassador of Golf� by the Northern Ohio Golf Charities. “I loved coming up here. I loved playing the golf course. It suited my eye. It suited my game,� said Nicklaus, who won seven tournaments on the South Course – five times in the World Series of Golf, once in the American Golf Classic, and, of course, the memorable 1975 PGA. That was the year Bruce Crampton finished second to Nicklaus for the fourth time in a major and famously said: “I’m not a machine. Jack’s the closest thing we have to a machine.� Years later, a leaner and meaner machine embraced Firestone. Tiger Woods first saw it as a teenager when he came over from doing a minority golf clinic in Cleveland. In 1997 as a 21-year-old professional in the WSOG, Woods told of his drive at 16 that barely reached the ladies’ tees. Reporters laughed, but Woods told them, “Hey, man, the ladies’ tees are way out there.� He would finish tied for third behind Greg Norman in ’97 and joint fifth behind Duval in ’98, but after that . . . well, it became his playground. Between 1999-2009, Woods won seven of the 10 Bridgestone Invitationals at Firestone. He added an eighth in 2013. “There’s Tiger and Tiger and Tiger . . . and Tiger,� said Scott, laughing when asked about Firestone winners. But growing serious, the Aussie noted that his idol, Norman, won twice there, and when you factored in Palmer, Nicklaus, Player, Price, Tom Watson, Lee Trevino and Phil Mickelson among all the Hall of Famers and major winners, Scott smiled. “You pay attention to past winners and when the list is that impressive, you take pride in being on it.� Price still savors his 1983 World Series of Golf win. Yes, for the 10-year exemption, but also because the next five names behind him on the leaderboard were Nicklaus, Johnny Miller, Raymond Floyd, Hale Irwin and Watson. “I had a four-shot lead walking to the 18th green,� said Price, “and I saw Jack standing behind the green. I had had all these great players breathing down my neck and when I saw Jack, I thought, ‘Maybe he thinks I’m going to four-putt.’ “But he came out because he wanted to congratulate me. It was so gracious of him.� Nicklaus knew reporters didn’t know much about the young man from Zimbabwe, but insisted, “You have players here you have never heard of, but they are not no-names, I can assure you.� Certainly, not when they win at Firestone CC.

Click here to read the full article…