Resurgent Poulter takes RBC Heritage lead

Cameron Champ returns to defend his title at the 3M Open as the PGA TOUR’s 2021-22 season inches closer to an exciting conclusion. FIELD NOTES: John Deere Classic winner J.T. Poston hopes to extend his recent run of good play… Hideki Matsuyama is one of six major champions teeing it up… Michael Thompson looks for more magic after winning the 2020 3M… Newly minted pro Chris Gotterup is making his seventh TOUR start this season. He finished T4 at the John Deere… Brandon Matthews is also amongst the sponsor exemptions. The long-bombing Matthews is fourth on the Korn Ferry Tour’s regular season points list… Cole Hammer, Thaya Lim, Dylan Menante and tennis star Mardy Fish also received exemptions… Rookie of the Year candidates Davis Riley and Sahith Theegala are looking for their breakthrough victories. Riley sits 23rd in the FedExCup standings while Theegala is 38th… Other notables in the field include Tony Finau, Sungjae Im, and PLAYERS Championship winners Jason Day and Rickie Fowler. FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 FedExCup points. COURSE: TPC Twin Cities, par 71, 7,431 yards. Minnesota native and former world No.1 Tom Lehman was the player consultant for the layout, located about 15 miles north of Minneapolis/St. Paul. It utilizes natural, rolling terrain on the site of a former sod farm – and features lots of water. One of the signature holes, the risk/reward par-4 7th, is named ‘Tom’s Thumb’ after Lehman. Arnold Palmer and his design company were the architects of the club, which opened in 2000. STORYLINES: Just three events remain in the 2021-22 PGA TOUR Regular Season; FedExCup points are at a premium. Martin Laird and Max McGreevy, No’s 126 and 127, respectively, are in the 3M field. Robert Streb, Fowler, and Stewart Cink (No’s 123-125, respectively) are also teeing it up… Mardy Fish, who is from Edina (a suburb of Minneapolis), won 20 times in his tennis career, reached No. 7 in the world, and earned a silver medal at the 2004 Olympics. He retired in 2015 but has become a prolific golfer. He won the LPGA’s Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions three times and the American Century Championship in 2020 – shooting 63 to break Lee Trevino’s course record. Fish becomes the latest athlete to accept an exemption into a PGA TOUR event, including former NFL quarterback Tony Romo and former MLB pitcher Mark Mulder. Stephen Curry, a two-time NBA MVP, played on the Korn Ferry Tour twice. 72-HOLE RECORD: 263, Matthew Wolff (2019) 18-HOLE RECORD: 62, Scott Piercy (first round, 2019), Bryson DeChambeau (second round, 2019), Matthew Wolff (third round, 2019), Lucas Glover (fourth round, 2019) LAST TIME: Cameron Champ won for the third time on the PGA TOUR after a final-round 5-under 66. Champ’s bogey-free Sunday effort featured birdies on three of his first eight holes. He added two more on the back nine and held off Louis Oosthuizen, Jhonattan Vegas, and Charl Schwartzel, who all tied for second at 13 under. Champ gutted out the victory after suffering from dehydration and heat exhaustion. He hadn’t notched a top-10 result on TOUR since a T8 the previous October at the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP. Keith Mitchell finished fifth, while 54-hole leader Cameron Tringale shot a 3-over 74 on Sunday to drop into a tie for 16th. HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Radio: Thursday-Friday, 12 p.m.–6 p.m. ET. Saturday-Sunday, 1 p.m.-6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio) For outside of the U.S., click here for GOLFTV powered by the PGA TOUR PGA TOUR LIVE PGA TOUR Live is available exclusively on ESPN+ • Main Feed: primary tournament-coverage featuring the best action from across the course • Marquee Group: new “marquee group” showcasing every shot from each player in the group • Featured Groups: traditional PGA TOUR LIVE coverage of two concurrent featured groups • Featured Holes: a combination of par-3s and iconic or pivotal holes

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• COURSE: Glen Abbey GC, 7,253 yards, par 72. The Open comes to Golf Canada’s home turf for the fourth time in five years, a run not seen since the event began to rotate venues at the start of the century. Jack Nicklaus’ first solo design opened in 1977 to serve as headquarters of Canadian golf, playing host to 22 consecutive Opens through 2000. This year marks the 29th edition on the site. Glen Abbey’s back nine features the “Valley Holes,â€� starting with a tee shot at No.11 to a fairway some 60 feet below, then following Sixteen Mile Creek for three holes before eventually climbing out at No.16. The 18th is where Tiger Woods struck one of his greatest shots, a daring 6-iron from a fairway bunker over a lake to 12 feet for a clinching birdie in 2000. • FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 points. • CHARITY: Ronald McDonald House Charities Canada, which operates 14 homes in Canada that offer families of seriously ill or injured children a place to live while their child receives treatment. Over the years, Canada’s national open has raised more than $50 million for charity. • FIELD WATCH: Canadians Adam Hadwin and Mackenzie Hughes, both PGA TOUR winners this season, join FedExCup leader Dustin Johnson in a lineup that boasts seven of the top 30 on the latest points list. … Hadwin and Hughes are among 13 native sons seeking to win their national Open. So is Jared du Toit, part of last year’s final Sunday group as an amateur on the way to tying for ninth. … Former Masters champion Mike Weir, who nearly ended Canada’s drought when he lost a playoff to Vijay Singh in 2004, is back for his 26th Canadian Open. … The lineup includes 22 players returning from The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale. • 72-HOLE RECORD: 263, Johnny Palmer (1952 at St. Charles CC), Scott Piercy (2012 at Hamilton G&CC), Tim Clark (2014 at Royal Montreal GC). Glen Abbey record: 266, Tiger Woods (2000). • 18-HOLE RECORD: 60, Carl Pettersson (3rd round, 2010 at St. George’s G&CC). Glen Abbey record: 62, Leonard Thompson (2nd round, 1981), Andy Bean (4th round, 1983), Greg Norman (3rd round, 1986), John Merrick (2nd round, 2013). • LAST YEAR: Jhonattan Vegas stormed back from a five-shot deficit, blitzing Glen Abbey with a closing 8-under-par 64 that brought his second PGA TOUR victory and gave him back full status. The Venezuela native birdied five of his first six holes, then strung together three more at the end to for a one-stroke triumph over Dustin Johnson (69), Martin Laird (67) and Jon Rahm (67). Laird could have forced a playoff with a birdie in his final two holes, but parred both. Vegas claimed his second career victory, ending a five-year drought since winning the 2011 Bob Hope Classic in his second start as a TOUR rookie. He was playing on limited status for 2016. Brandt Snedeker took a one-shot lead into the final day, but a closing 71 left him with a share of fifth. • STORYLINES: Johnson, twice a runner-up at Glen Abbey, hopes a return can lift him to the form that saw him win three straight events in February and March. His other runner-up finish came in 2013. … Perhaps Canada’s deepest lineup in years tries again to end an Open drought now extending 62 editions. Nick Taylor also is a recent TOUR winner, and David Hearn came close two years ago at Glen Abbey. … Vegas seeks to become just the second Canadian Open champion to successfully defend since 1951. Jim Furyk went back-to-back in 2006-07. … Just four weeks remain in the FedExCup regular season, as jockeying heats up in earnest for one of 125 playoff berths at The Northern Trust. • SHORT CHIPS: With U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka sitting out, there can be no “Triple Crownâ€� sweep of the U.S., British and Canadian titles. Just two men have done it – Lee Trevino in 1971 and Tiger Woods in 2000. … Six of the Open’s past seven winners have come from off the 54-hole pace to do it. Snedeker was the exception, closing out the 2013 crown but unable to do it again last year. • TELEVISION: Thursday-Friday, 3-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday-Sunday, 1-2:30 p.m. (GC), 3-6 p.m. (CBS). • PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday, 7 a.m.-3 p.m. (featured groups), 3-6 p.m. (featured holes). • RADIO: Thursday-Friday, noon-6 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 1-6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com).

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