Reed keeps damaging reputation, even in victory

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It’s that time of year again, when you turn on the TV for the Sentry Tournament of Champions and ask yourself, “Why did I go another year without booking a trip to Kapalua?” The PGA TOUR’s 2022 winners and those who finished in the top 30 of the FedExCup will open the year in the first of the new designated events that will feature the game’s top players competing for elevated purses. Kapalua has become known for its scenic vistas, low scores and wild finishes. A big reason for the theatrics? The uniqueness of the venue. The Plantation Course is not your everyday TOUR layout. Severe elevation changes and dramatic slopes make for an unpredictable four days in paradise. This course was the firstfruits of the famous design partnership between Bill Coore and two-time Masters champion Ben Crenshaw, and it is celebrating its 25th time hosting the Sentry Tournament of Champions. To mark this milestone, and the debut of a new era for the PGA TOUR’s schedule, here are five things to know about the venue where the PGA TOUR annually celebrates the New Year. 1. SEVENTY-THREE’S COMPANY Ernie Els won at 31 under in 2003, and Jordan Spieth nearly caught him with a winning score of 30 under in 2016. Last year saw the lowest score in relation to par in the TOUR’s history (34 under). These scores for a four-round event may seem crazy until you check the scorecard. Kapalua is the only par-73 course on the PGA TOUR schedule, as it comes with just three par 3s. The long holes are long and the short holes are short. The course has seven holes that regularly play longer than 500 yards – four of those are par 5s – but also has four par 4s playing shorter than 400 yards (all on the back nine). Weather, especially the wind, is often a factor in Maui, but players making the trip to the South Pacific better be ready to make some birdies. 2. EXCITING FINISH From the tee box, the 18th hole provides one of the most beautiful vistas in golf, looking straight down into the Pacific Ocean with mountains in the distance. But the journey, more than one-third of a mile when played at its longest, brings danger into play. The par 5 can stretch all the way to 667 yards, making it one of the TOUR’s longest holes. With a wide fairway, players can take a rip off the tee but need to catch some help from a ridge if they want to attack in two. It is site of the first 400-yard drive in TOUR history. Jonathan Byrd hit it in first round of the 2003 tournament. The fairway slants sharply from right to left, and players often use those contours to feed their second shots onto the green, as well. It’s the safer route, as the entire left side of the hole is lined by a penalty area full of thick vegetation. The green also is guarded on the left by bunkers that penalize any misses short or left, especially to the left-side hole locations. Justin Thomas found the hazard in 2020 and made a bogey to fall into a playoff with Patrick Reed and Xander Schauffele, which Thomas eventually won after playing No. 18 three more times. A more conservative second shot is directed out to the right, where the contours will guide the ball back toward the green upon landing. However, if the ball does not get a kick, a downhill pitch shot awaits. While having a par-5 as the 18th hole seems like an obvious birdie opportunity to finish each round, the 600-plus-yard gauntlet also provides a long strip of danger en route to the clubhouse. Birdie is manageable. Eagle is feasible, but risky. 3. RENOVATION PROJECT When the Plantation Course opened in 1992, Coore and Crenshaw made sure to use the West Maui Mountains and Pacific Ocean for stunning views on every hole. Those features won’t change, at least for a few thousand years. But the course’s firmness had decreased at a much faster rate and required a fix after almost three decades of existence. “Years ago, you would hit a tee shot and it would chase and chase and chase unbelievable distances. But as the grass grew and grew for 30 years, a lot of that element was lost,” Coore said before the 2020 Sentry Tournament of Champions. “The course had gotten so soft that it was easy pickin’s for TOUR players and really long for resort players.” In 2019, 100 acres of the Plantation Course’s fairways were stripped and regrassed with a new surface: Celebration Bermudagrass, a denser playing turf than the original Bermuda. This surface could be mowed tighter and controlled against year-round trampling. “The idea at Kapalua always was to land a shot 60 yards short of a green and let it roll on,” Coore said in 2020. “In recent years, a ball landing 20 yards short of a green would just stop. It will play differently. … Players will be able to use side-slopes to feed shots to a flag. And drives will roll out farther, sometimes closer to trouble.” The greens, which had shrunk over almost three decades, were expanded closer to their original sizes. “There’s no question our greens needed a little more calming to offer some more pin positions,” Crenshaw said. 4. STEEP SLOPES Most tourists may come to Maui for the beach. TOUR players come for the elevation. The Plantation Course reaches a high point of 510 feet and spans 316 acres of property. The following week’s Sony Open at Waialae Country Club on Oahu will peak at roughly 10 feet of elevation change on a 120-acre property. The Kapalua Golf website embraces the elevation change by noting, “This course offers plenty of downhill tee shots. You’ll feel like one of the pros when – with the aid of the aggressive slope of the 18th fairway – you will enjoy hitting one of the longest drives of your life.” While most holes feature ocean views, there is no water on the course. However, various canyons, including the notorious penalty area on 18, provide potential trouble. Mountains, not water, define Kapalua. The steep slopes mean the scorecard doesn’t tell the entire story. Holes can play much longer, or shorter, than advertised. Take, for example the 550-yard 17th and 541-yard 15th. The former is a par-4, while the latter is a par-5. The first and eighth holes are two more downhill par-4s that stretch longer than 500 yards. 5. QUARTER CENTURY The 2023 Sentry Tournament of Champions marks the 25th time Kapalua is hosting the Sentry Tournament of Champions. It saw some dramatic finishes right from the start. David Duval won the first Sentry at Kapalua during a hot streak that saw him supplant Tiger Woods atop the world ranking. Duval won by nine – the largest winning margin at Kapalua – then shot a final-round 59 to win The American Express in his next start. He won THE PLAYERS two months later. The next year, Tiger Woods and Ernie Els engaged in a memorable duel that set the stage for Woods’ greatest season. They matched eagles on the 72nd hole to go into a playoff, which Woods won with a 40-foot birdie putt on the second extra hole. He went on to win three majors that year and Els was runner-up in two, albeit 15 shots behind Woods at the U.S. Open and eight behind him at The Open. Jordan Spieth followed up his incredible 2015 – in which he won two majors and the FedExCup – with an eight-shot win in the 2016 Sentry. The next year, Justin Thomas swept the Hawaiian events, winning the Sentry Tournament of Champions and Sony Open. He won the Sentry by three before shooting a first-round 59 at the Sony en route to a seven-shot win. Thomas went on to win that year’s FedExCup and his first major at the PGA Championship. Two years later, Xander Schauffele shot a final-round 62 to rally from five shots back and win his third PGA TOUR title. It is the lowest final-round score by a winner at Kapalua. Thomas, who won the Sentry again in 2020, and Jon Rahm then became the first players to shoot 61 at the Plantation Course, doing so in the third round last year.

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Since you’re reading this, it’s assumed that you’re registered and ready to give the $1-million prize in the Perfect Lineup Challenge a try. Just remember that it’s a stand-alone game and not affiliated with the Roster game in PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO. Even if you want identical lineups, you need to make your selections in both games. Now that the FedExCup Playoffs are here, you can abandon the strategy not to chase bonus points in the Roster game. ShotLink will be measuring every stroke as usual, but because FedExCup points are quadrupled in the each of the last four events, bonus points are as well. This means that winner will yield 200 bonus points. When you figure that an average day of fantasy scoring distributes 85 points per golfer and a good day can mean as many as 115 or so, the bonuses in the Playoffs should be renamed motivational points. This simplifies the decision-making process. With no cuts in the last two events and with fields whittling down to 30 for the TOUR Championship, ration properly. PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO My roster for THE NORTHERN TRUST (in alphabetical order): Patrick Cantlay Dustin Johnson Francesco Molinari Jon Rahm Justin Rose Jordan Spieth You’ll find my starters in Expert Picks. Others to consider for each category (in alphabetical order): Scoring: Jason Day; Tony Finau; Tommy Fleetwood; Brian Gay; Brooks Koepka; Hideki Matsuyama; Justin Thomas; Tiger Woods Driving: Rafa Cabrera Bello; Paul Casey; Jason Day; Tommy Fleetwood; Sam Ryder; Adam Scott; Kyle Stanley; Gary Woodland Approach: Rafa Cabrera Bello; Brian Gay; Zach Johnson; Matt Kuchar; Kevin Na; Ian Poulter; Sam Ryder; Tiger Woods Short: Jason Day; Brian Gay; Matt Kuchar; Alex Noren; Webb Simpson; Brandt Snedeker; Tiger Woods Power Rankings Wild Card Gary Woodland … The latest evidence on the fluidity of this badge. Last week, it was a scuffling Jason Dufner who occupied this space, almost as punishment. Sure enough, after a relatively strong pre-cut effort, he shot 2-over on the weekend to finish T66. Flip the coin over to find Woodland who should be consumed as an extension of the Power Rankings at Ridgewood. He placed T13 here in 2014, which doesn’t hurt, but he’s back on the rise since a T22 at the RBC Canadian Open with a T17 at Firestone and a T6 at Bellerive. Doesn’t mind throttling back when necessary as he’s more brains than brawn. Currently fifth on TOUR in greens hit. Draws Ian Poulter … It’s special to witness how he’s tackled distractions outside the ropes through simplification while improving his play, and at 42 years of age to boot. Opens 34th in points thanks to terrific form over the last five months. Just 1-for-3 at Ridgewood with a T15 in 2010, but let that bother only your opposition. Lest we overlook that he’s also hot on the heels of a return to the Ryder Cup. Matt Kuchar … In full disclosure, I may be giving my man-crush more benefit of the doubt than the rest of the world, but he did win at Ridgewood in 2010 and placed T5 in his return trip in 2014. It’s a classic track that caters to his strong tee-to-green game, so you can understand the success. However, it’s due to that success that he’s poised to be over-owned in DFS specifically. I’ll grant that his current form – four missed cuts in his last six starts of which one didn’t include a cut (WGC-Bridgestone) – you can afford not to play defense in this deep field. Kevin Na … Steady as he goes. While he’s let off the gas a touch since winning at Greenbrier, there’s enough fuel in the tank to suggest that he’ll be able to get to East Lake. Opens as the 19-seed and finished T9 at Ridgewood in 2014. Alex Noren … Gotta give him one more opportunity to dispute a negative trend even as he debuts in the Playoffs. The 39-seed ranks T12 in par-5 scoring and fifth in strokes gained: putting. Both stack up as critical components to tame Ridgewood. Branden Grace … He’s 82nd in the FedExCup standings, so you might as well burn him while you can. Ridgewood is a par 71, which defies the tilt to use him only on par 70s, but overall consistency mitigates general concern. Brian Gay (all) Tyrrell Hatton (DFS) Billy Horschel (DFS) Russell Knox (DFS) Marc Leishman (DFS) Xander Schauffele (all) Charl Schwartzel (SERVPRO) Kyle Stanley (all) Fades Ryan Moore … Coming off a predictable T6 at Sedgefield, which is an extension of a solid season, but he’s 0-for-3 at Ridgewood. For a guy best known as a horse for courses, that doesn’t project well this week. Phil Mickelson … Statistically strong as usual and you know he’ll be adored by the locals, but he’s yet to climb out from a relative slump since the U.S. Open that’s included multiple distractions both inside and outside the ropes. So goes Lefty, but we play a results-based game. He’s also gone five consecutive rounds at Ridgewood without a red number. Bryson DeChambeau … Ninth in points on the back of a wild season but enters with some worry over his right shoulder. The results have been uninspiring since he withdrew during his title defense at the John Deere Classic with the discomfort. The positive spin is that you can save a start or two because he’s tracking for a trip to East Lake. Bubba Watson … Inconsistency has killed our curiosity for this cat. He had been trending predictably on tracks where he’s performed well in the past, but he detached from that angle as well. For the record, he’s finished a respective T12, T31 and T30 at Ridgewood. Best only as a contrarian investment in PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO. Kevin Kisner … While impressive on their own, a T2 at Carnoustie and T12 at Bellerive are the only shiny objects in the rear-view mirror since May. He’s 40th in points and missed the cut at Ridgewood in 2014, so consider slow-playing him. Daniel Berger Pat Perez Brendan Steele Jimmy Walker Aaron Wise Returning to Competition Louis Oosthuizen … Couldn’t play the PGA Championship due to a sore back. Of course, his litany of maladies over the years prompts enough concern to look elsewhere, but he could still grant two starts in the Playoffs. At 74th in points, he’s assured of the opportunity, but his health may force otherwise. Lucas Glover … Didn’t compete after missing the cut at the U.S. Open and fell from 107th to 135th in the FedExCup standings. He’s committed to the opener of the Web.com Tour Finals, but it remains to be seen if he’ll qualify for a Non-exempt Medical Extension to begin 2018-19. Chad Collins … After reclaiming his card at the 2017 Web.com Tour Finals, he didn’t make one start on the PGA TOUR this season. No news has emerged to explain why, but he’s back in the Finals on a medical dispensation. Attempted a comeback at the Chitimacha Louisiana Open in March and placed T36, but that was his only rehab start of 2018. Notable WDs Rickie Fowler … Any injury is bad news for any professional athlete, but the timing of the partial tear in his right oblique couldn’t be worse what with the Playoffs upon us and the Ryder Cup at the end of September. We can’t assume the severity of the injury, but in a vacuum, it’s worthy of significant concern. He’s 17th in points, so we’ll see what he says in advance of next week’s Dell Technologies Championship. Rory McIlroy … Befuddled with his game, he’s sitting out the first event as a mental break. He didn’t play in the 2015 edition of THE NORTHERN TRUST, either, so this isn’t unprecedented. His best FedExCup finishes have occurred in Ryder Cup years, but this one isn’t following a similar trajectory. Opening 21st in points, he’ll get at least two starts. Two-time winner at TPC Boston. Henrik Stenson … The 50-seed is resting his left elbow. As I stated in multiple platforms last week, credit him for giving it a go to defend his title at the Wyndham Championship when he wasn’t 100 percent. Sure, he’s after a Ryder Cup berth and he finished T20 at Sedgefield, but it would have been understandable if he elected not to compete just as Si Woo Kim took a pass on his title defense at last year’s Wyndham (due to a sore back). Patrick Rodgers … Getting married in Europe. Opening 93rd in points, he’s unlikely to survive, but it depends on how the guys ranked worse fare. Last year, Michael Kim opened as the 95-seed, missed the cut at THE NORTHERN TRUST and fell to only 100th but that’s because 16 guys ranked lower missed the cut and one didn’t compete. Bud Cauley … It was curious that he committed in the first place given his recent return to hitting balls after suffering multiple serious injuries in the automobile crash in Ohio on June 1. At 122nd in points, he won’t advance in the Playoffs. Power Rankings Recap – Wyndham Championship Power Ranking  Golfer  Result 1  Webb Simpson  T2 2  Rafa Cabrera Bello  T11 3  Shane Lowry  MC 4  Ryan Moore  T6 5  Brandt Snedeker  Win 6  Joaquin Niemann  T33 7  Billy Horschel  T11 8  Kevin Tway  T11 9  Julian Suri  T41 10  Chris Kirk  T11 11  Brian Gay  T6 12  Hideki Matsuyama  T11 13  Jason Kokrak  T57 14  Ollie Schniederjans  T57 15  Henrik Stenson  T20 Wild Card  Jason Dufner  T66 Sleepers Recap – Wyndham Championship Golfer  Result Abraham Ancer  T24 Ricky Barnes  T70 Danny Lee  T24 John Oda  T11 Johnson Wagner  T33 Birthdays among active golfers on the PGA TOUR August 21 … J.J. Spaun (28) August 22 … none August 23 … none August 24 … Rich Beem (48); Cameron Tringale (31) August 25 … none August 26 … Ben Martin (31) August 27 … none

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