Rickie Fowler is searching for his game … has he found it?

Phil Mickelson didn’t have his best day Saturday at the Travelers Championship. Did that cost him a chance for a win on Sunday?

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Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. – Following Sunday’s conclusion of the TOUR Championship and the FedExCup Playoffs, nominees for PGA TOUR Player of the Year and PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year were finalized by the PGA TOUR Player Directors and members of the Player Advisory Council (PAC). The nominees for the Jack Nicklaus Award as the PGA TOUR Player of the Year are (alphabetically) Dustin Johnson, Hideki Matsuyama, Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas. The nominees for PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year are Wesley Bryan, Patrick Cantlay, Mackenzie Hughes, Grayson Murray and Xander Schauffele. The Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year awards are determined by a member vote, with PGA TOUR members who played in at least 15 official money events during the 2016-17 season eligible to vote. The voting will close on Monday, October 2, with the winners to be announced that week. Player of the Year nominees Dustin Johnson, 33 Jupiter, Florida (Coastal Carolina University) • Entered 20 events with victories (4) at the Genesis Open, World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship, World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play and THE NORTHERN TRUST. • Finished fourth in the FedExCup. • Finished seventh in Adjusted Scoring Average (69.549). • Finished the season with eight top-10 finishes among 17 made cuts. Hideki Matsuyama, 25 Sendai, Japan (Tohoku Fukushi University) • Entered 22 events with victories (3) at the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions, Waste Management Phoenix Open and World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational • Finished eighth in the FedExCup. • Finished 10th in Adjusted Scoring Average (69.624). • Recorded a total of seven top-10 finishes among 20 made cuts. Jordan Spieth, 24 Dallas, Texas (University of Texas) • Entered 23 events with victories (3) at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Travelers Championship and The Open Championship. • Finished second in the FedExCup. • Finished first in Adjusted Scoring Average (68.846) to earn the Byron Nelson Award. • Recorded 12 top-10 finishes (tied with Justin Thomas for most this season) among 20 made cuts. • Top-10 finishes in all four FedExCup Playoffs events in 2017: THE NORTHERN TRUST (P2), Dell Technologies Championship (2), BMW Championship (T7), TOUR Championship (T7). Justin Thomas, 24 Jupiter, Florida (University of Alabama) • Entered 25 events with victories (5) at the CIMB Classic, Sentry Tournament of Champions, Sony Open in Hawaii, PGA Championship and Dell Technologies Championship. • Winner of the 2017 FedExCup. • Finished first on Official Money List to earn the Arnold Palmer Award with $9,921,560. • Finished third in Adjusted Scoring Average (69.359). • Recorded 12 top-10 finishes (tied with Jordan Spieth for most this season) among 19 made cuts. • Became just the fourth player since 1960 to capture five wins, including a major, in a season before the age of 25 (Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Jordan Spieth). Rookie of the Year nominees Wesley Bryan, 27 Augusta, Georgia (University of South Carolina) • Entered 28 events with one victory at the RBC Heritage. • Finished 41st in the FedExCup. • Finished 113th in Adjusted Scoring Average (71.062). • Recorded a total of five top-10 finishes with 19 made cuts. • 2016 graduate of the Web.com Tour. Patrick Cantlay, 25 Jupiter, Florida (UCLA) • Entered 13 events with a season-best runner-up finish at the Valspar Championship. • Finished 29th in the FedExCup. • One of two rookies to qualify for the season-ending TOUR Championship in 2017. • Finished 15th in Adjusted Scoring Average (69.971). • Recorded a total of four top-10 finishes with 13 made cuts. Mackenzie Hughes, 26 Charlotte, North Carolina (Kent State University) • Entered 31 events with one victory at The RSM Classic. • Finished 36th in the FedExCup. • Finished T109th in Adjusted Scoring Average (71.044). • Recorded a total of two top-10 finishes among 22 made cuts. • 2016 graduate of the Web.com Tour. Grayson Murray, 23 Raleigh, North Carolina (Arizona State University) • Entered 30 events with one victory at the Barbacoa Championship. • Finished 66th in the FedExCup. • Finished 114th in Adjusted Scoring Average (71.064). • Recorded a total of two top-10 finishes among 18 made cuts. • 2016 graduate of the Web.com Tour. Xander Schauffele, 23 San Diego, California (San Diego State University) • Entered 28 events with wins (2) at The Greenbrier Classic and TOUR Championship; first-ever rookie to win the TOUR Championship. • Finished third in the FedExCup. • One of two rookies to qualify for the season-ending TOUR Championship in 2017. • Finished 27th in Adjusted Scoring Average (70.163). • Recorded a total of four top-10 finishes among 20 made cuts. • 2016 graduate of the Web.com Tour.  

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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — To appreciate the challenge of playing with a seven-shot lead at TPC Sawgrass — as Webb Simpson will do in the final round of THE PLAYERS Championship on Sunday — you have to go back to Waialae Country Club in Honolulu, Hawaii, in 2017. It was there that Justin Thomas took a seven-shot lead into Sunday.  “All I could hear about from everyone and reading everything is no one has ever blown a seven-shot lead before,â€� Thomas said after shooting a final-round 65 to win by seven, setting a PGA TOUR record of 27-under 253 in the process. “A lot of things go through your head when you wake up at 6:30 and you don’t tee off until 12:40.â€� What will be going through Simpson’s head when he tees off at 2:45 p.m. with just 18 holes standing between him and his fifth TOUR win and first since the 2014 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open? The question garnered no shortage of speculation amongst fans, media and fellow players after Simpson signed for a third-round 68 to get to a gaudy 19-under. Danny Lee was in second alone, seven back after a 70. But really, this is Simpson’s tournament now. What will he do with it? “Obviously, you are nervous about it,â€� said Jason Day, who sits T4 after shooting a 71 on Saturday. “But the good thing about Webb is he’s played well, he doesn’t have to do too much out there, he has to keep it in front of him. Just keep it in front, don’t take unnecessary risk and just kind of shoot 72 or somewhere in between 70, 72. You don’t really need to go into the 60s.â€� That said, Day added, playing too defensively can backfire. “It can be dangerous,â€� he said. “A hundred percent. When you’re sitting there and you’re trying to be defensive you’re hitting yourself to 30, 40 feet and your putting has to take the brunt of that.â€� Golf history is littered with stories about players who couldn’t stand prosperity. Greg Norman blew a six-shot lead at the 1996 Masters, and Rory McIlroy squandered a four-shot lead at the 2011 Masters. Alex Cejka woke up with a five-stroke lead at THE PLAYERS in 2009, but shot 79 to finish T9. Then there was the granddaddy of them all: Martin Kaymer blew a 10-shot lead at the 2015 Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship. Playing with a big lead isn’t easy.  The day that Kaymer collapsed in Abu Dhabi in 2015, Jimmy Walker woke up with a two-shot lead going into the final round of the Sony Open in Hawaii. Walker vowed not to let it happen to him, too, and shot a final-round 63 to win by nine. It was the largest margin of victory on TOUR since Brian Gay won the 2009 RBC Heritage by 10. “I got in front and just tried to keep going,â€� Walker (70, 9-under) said at TPC Sawgrass, where he was in a tie for fourth with Day, Charl Schwartzel (73), Jason Dufner (66) and Xander Schauffele (71). “I didn’t want to play defensive, didn’t want to just try to make pars, I wanted to keep goin’ and see how many I could win by.â€�  Walker isn’t the only one who advocates turning a big lead into a game. If you’re winning by five, can you push the lead to seven? That’s exactly what Simpson did with his third-round 68. How did he do it? He woke up, spent a few hours at Starbucks, did laundry, and watched some of the highlights from the 65s shot by Jordan Spieth and Tiger Woods. “I think it was good for me to see that,â€� Simpson said, “that the wind was up a decent amount, but there were some low scores, so I think it helped me a little bit continue to think about making birdies and making that 15-under a little better.â€� Simpson said he didn’t look at leaderboards Saturday, and the results would suggest he won’t look on Sunday, either. He’ll also try to stay aggressive wherever he can. “I think you have to,â€� said Adam Scott (72, 7-under). “Otherwise three shots can go in a hole, a double to a birdie, and your nine [shot lead] is six. Then you bogey two more, and now you start thinking about it.â€� Or, more accurately, the mind starts racing and you can’t stop it. You lose feeling in your extremities, or hear a ringing in your ears, or can’t seem to produce any saliva.  “It’s very, very difficult to right the ship,â€� Scott said. “Think of Rory at the Masters in ’11. Sure, he tripled the 10th, but I mean he’s still right there in the tournament, he just couldn’t put it all back together. It’s not easy to do. Your confidence just gets hit, and when your confidence is not high on these types of golf courses, you just manage to find the trouble so easily and it’s very hard to escape.â€� Scott believes Simpson will win, and so does Day. Still, the speed with which calamity can strike at TPC Sawgrass will be at the forefront of everyone’s mind when Simpson steps to the first tee Sunday. “I think if it wasn’t this golf course, it would be almost impossible not to look ahead,â€� said Simpson’s caddie, Paul Tesori. “I don’t care what our lead is standing on 17. Even if we have a 12-shot lead on 17, I will be breathing very heavily.â€�

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