Rory gets a good read

First off, they’re books, not e-books, audio books, comic books, green-reading books or yardage books. Pulp. Paper. Binding. “Books,â€� Rory McIlroy says. “I have some on my phone and e-books just as references, and you can highlight stuff, but I take it in more when I’m holding the book and get to turn the pages.â€� Yes, dear reader, your defending champion of THE PLAYERS Championship is himself a reader. McIlroy and his wife, Erica, keep a small library at their home in South Florida, and while some of the books there are purely decorative, others are a lot more than that. “Erica is more into lifestyle stuff,â€� McIlroy says, “maybe not as much self-help type things, where I definitely went down this path of how the mind works and how to approach things.â€� Given the fact that he is coming off a season in which he won THE PLAYERS, RBC Canadian Open, TOUR Championship and the FedExCup and Player of the Year, and this season has already seen him add another victory (World Golf Championship-HSBC Champions) and return to world No. 1, you’d have to say that path has been the right one for McIlroy. Groucho Marx said, “Outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.â€� But can reading make you a better golfer? Anecdotally, the answer is yes. Every winner of THE PLAYERS can point to several critical factors. Driving. Iron play. Putting. But McIlroy did more than just crush the field in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green and par-3 scoring last year. He crushed books. He read. It was simple, but profound. “I spend enough time around a lot of impressive people, and one of the common denominators, always, is they read a lot,â€� McIlroy says. “Readers are usually successful people and great people to be around. I had read before, but it had always been biographies and fictional stuff. Over the last couple of years, I’ve gotten more into the psychology or self-help or that sort of stuff.â€� Ballast for the brain Always read something that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it. – P.J. O’Rourke To get an idea of what books mean to McIlroy, consider the fourth hole in last year’s final round. It was a cloudy 59 degrees and nearing 2:30 p.m. ET. He was crushing the driver – he would trail only Tommy Fleetwood in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee – and liked the course better in March than in May, as he could see it better from the tees. TPC Sawgrass had over-seeded and thus created sharper definition between fairways (lighter) and rough (darker). The fourth is not hard if you hit the fairway, but from the right fairway bunker or the rough, it can be tricky to hit the green, which is guarded by a moat. One stroke behind Jon Rahm entering Sunday, McIlroy had already worked his way into the lead but found the right rough off the tee. Now, with a wedge, he swung and watched in horror as his ball came out left and soft. Splash. It was cold; even though sunrise had been at 7:33 a.m., he had not had much chance to show off the green St. Patrick’s Day shirt under his blue pullover. Jason Day waited as he took a drop. There were a lot of places McIlroy’s mind could have gone. Having been in contention but not won in his previous five TOUR starts, all top-six finishes, he could have thought, Here we go again. “He can’t close, he can’t play on Sundays,â€� McIlroy said later, describing the noise that had seeped up from the muck. “Blah, blah, blah.â€� Here was a player who could do no wrong as he won the 2011 U.S. Open, 2012 PGA Championship, and 2014 Open Championship and PGA, but now he apparently could do no right. Here we go again? Yeah, McIlroy could have gone there. Reading, though, had steeled him. Avoid the big reaction. That’s one of the tenets of one of McIlroy’s favorite authors, Ryan Holiday, who espouses the stoicism of figures like Marcus Aurelius in “The Obstacle is the Wayâ€� and “The Ego is the Enemy.â€�    “Not giving in to your emotions,â€� says McIlroy, who in the last year has befriended the author. (They trade the occasional email.) “Not being impulsive, being a little bit more rational, taking a step back to think about things logically. That’s what has helped me. “I mean, if you go back to THE PLAYERS,â€� he adds, “I went from leading or tied for the lead to a couple behind, but I didn’t impulsively go and chase some birdies. I was like, OK, this is fine, we’ve got a lot of holes left. There’s a lot that can happen, stay patient, and show poise, and all the P words that I like to use. All of that comes from reading and a little bit of inward reflection and figuring out what I need to do to get the best out of myself.â€� In the end, McIlroy recovered to win the TOUR’s signature event. On a wild day in which a half-dozen people had a share of the lead, he accepted his double and turned in 1 over, then made four back-nine birdies to post a 2-under 70 and win by a shot over Jim Furyk. His best shot, he said later, was the 6-iron he hit out of the fairway bunker at the par-4 15th, his ball stopping 14 feet from the pin before he made the putt. His most important shot, though, might have been his gaffe at the fourth, the fulcrum on which his week and perhaps his entire season could have swung one way or the other. Looking beyond accomplishments    If you don’t like to read, you haven’t found the right book. – J.K. Rowling “Tiger reads a lot,â€� says McIlroy, who also has read popular novelists like J.K. Rowling and Dan Brown. “But he reads a lot of, like, the medical journal and studies that have been published and stuff like this. He’s a big reader, but I don’t know if he’s a big reader of books, per se.â€� Lucas Glover is a reader. He went through a large chunk of the Jack Reacher series by Lee Child, and is now onto “The Body,â€� by Bill Bryson. Sometimes, Glover talks books with Peter Malnati, also a reader. David Duval had a bookish side even in his prime. The written word is alive and well. Asked at the Masters last year to name the best book he’d read in the previous 12 months, McIlroy was surprisingly expansive. “The Greatest Salesman in the World, by Og Mandino, that’s one that I sort of refer back to every now and again,â€� replied McIlroy. “Either of the Ryan Holiday books are pretty good, The Obstacle is the Way or Ego is the Enemy. Just started on Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson, so getting into that. There’s four.â€� He later mentioned a fifth, “Digital Minimalismâ€� by Cal Newport. McIlroy, who has deleted several apps from his phone, wonders what all of our screens are doing to us and tries to go low-to-no-tech during tournament weeks, preferring jigsaw puzzles and, yes, books. But why? It’s not that McIlroy, an only child, staved off loneliness with his books. Nor was he ever obsessed with academia. “It was never my forte,â€� he said in a lengthy interview with the Irish Independent. “I was good enough to get by, but I never excelled.â€�  It’s more accurate to say he was seeking ballast amid the pitching and yawing of life as a public figure. Was he a good person because he was winning golf tournaments? Was he a bad one when he wasn’t? Even amid his dazzling early success, he felt slightly unmoored. “One thing I used to do in the past is let what I shot that day influence who I was or my mood,â€� McIlroy said last season, when he also led the TOUR with 14 top-10 finishes and won the Byron Nelson Award for adjusted scoring average (69.057). “It’s something I worked hard on because who I am as a person isn’t who I am as a golfer.â€� In other words, at 30 he has become acutely aware of the perils of accomplishment. Regarding the Jobs biography, McIlroy was struck by the Apple major domo’s failures and comebacks and achievements, but also by the rare glimpses into Jobs’ humanity. “It seems like he was a pretty hard guy to like at the start, and I think that’s why I found the book so slow-going,â€� he says now. “I was like, I don’t know if I like this guy. And then as it goes on and he gets sick and starts to appreciate his family more, you get a sense that he’s turned the corner a bit, and there are things he values maybe more than just trying to create another cool product.â€� When not caring is good If you are going to get anywhere in life, you have to read a lot of books. – Roald Dahl At the Ryder Cup in France in 2018, McIlroy came upon another favorite author: Mark Manson, author of “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F—: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life,â€� followed by “Everything is F—–: A Book About Hope.â€� As the titles suggest (we’ve, ahem, slightly altered them), his books are equal parts profound and profane. They’re also very funny. “(European Captain) Thomas Bjorn’s partner, Grace, gave Mark Manson’s (Subtle Art) book to all the wives,â€� McIlroy says. “… My wife read it before I did and gave it to me and said, ‘I think you should read this. It’s really good.’ It’s an important book to me.â€� The title was part of the initial appeal, and that’s because, McIlroy admits, “Sometimes I care too much about too many things.â€� But there’s more to it than that. In “The Subtle Art,â€� Manson writes about humankind’s misery amid a long list of advances (from the Internet to eradication of disease) that one might have thought would have made us happier. One culprit: the idea that we can have it all, and everyone can be a superstar. The key to a good life, he writes, is caring about “only what is true and immediate and important,â€� and not getting caught in what philosopher Alan Watts called “the backwards law,â€� the trap of pursuing feeling better/richer/thinner only to reinforce a feeling of dissatisfaction. “The desire for more positive experience is itself a negative experience,â€� Manson writes. “And, paradoxically, the acceptance of one’s negative experience is itself a positive experience.â€� Perhaps this is what McIlroy was thinking of when he told Ewen Murray of The Guardian that the last step for him was mindset, i.e., “when you are in contention, not giving a s*&% if you win or not.â€� In other words, a sports psychologist might say, it’s important to just let it happen. “He talks about how everyone wants to get smarter, more attractive, richer,â€� McIlroy says of Manson, “and they’re not going deep enough to ask, ‘Why do I want these things? What’s wrong with who I am right now?’ It’s people thinking that all these things will make them happier at the end of the day. With this book, it’s getting happiness from the simple things in life. “For instance,â€� he adds, “I get to go grocery shopping on the Monday when I get home from a tournament, and that to me is fun. That’s very mundane for most people, but for me it’s a little perk for having a week off, going to Whole Foods and doing the grocery shopping.â€� Some of the rules in the books McIlroy reads can be contradictory. While Holiday preaches stoicism, Manson points out in “Everything is F—–â€� that it’s impossible to completely remove emotion, lest one turn into a potato. McIlroy may have been wrestling with this paradox last summer. Having decided to treat every round the same, he lost a head-to-head battle with then-No. 1 Brooks Koepka at the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational. (Koepka shot 65 to win, McIlroy 71 to finish T4.) When they met four weeks later in the final round of the TOUR Championship, McIlroy vowed not to treat the final round as just another day. He would give it special reverence. It worked out nicely as he shot 66 to win, while Koepka slumped to a 72 for a T3 finish. The lesson: Emotion is bad, except when it’s good. When it was over, McIlroy tried to accept his victory the way Holiday would, the way Marcus Aurelius would: without arrogance, just as he should let his setbacks go with indifference. Rory would still be just Rory to the organic apples and the rest of it at Whole Foods, and to his wife, and their library of books at home. All awaited his return as conquering hero or not. For Rory McIlroy – golfer, reader, citizen of the world – it was on to the next chapter.

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Type: 2nd Round Match-Ups - Status: OPEN
Beau Hossler-110
Henrik Norlander-110
2nd Round Match-Ups - J. Lower vs N. Hojgaard
Type: 2nd Round Match-Ups - Status: OPEN
Nicolai Hojgaard-120
Justin Lower+100
2nd Round 3-Balls - B. Hossler / H. Norlander / R. Sloan
Type: 2nd Round 3-Balls - Status: OPEN
Henrik Norlander+135
Beau Hossler+165
Roger Sloan+240
2nd Round 3-Balls - J. Lower / N. Hojgaard / D. Wu
Type: 2nd Round 3-Balls - Status: OPEN
Justin Lower+165
Nicolai Hojgaard+165
Dylan Wu+200
Virginia
Type: Winner - Status: OPEN
Bryson DeChambeau+400
Jon Rahm+550
Joaquin Niemann+700
Tyrrell Hatton+1200
Patrick Reed+1800
Carlos Ortiz+2200
Lucas Herbert+2200
Cameron Smith+2500
David Puig+2500
Sergio Garcia+2500
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Type: Requests - Status: OPEN
Paul Casey-115
Tom McKibbin-115
1st Round 3-Balls - D. Burmester / B. Grace / C. Schwartzel
Type: 1st Round 3-Balls - Status: OPEN
Dean Burmester+120
Charl Schwartzel+170
Branden Grace+275
1st Round 3-Balls - S. Garcia / L. Oosthuizen / M. Kaymer
Type: 1st Round 3-Balls - Status: OPEN
Sergio Garcia+105
Louis Oosthuizen+145
Martin Kaymer+400
1st Round 3-Balls - T. Hatton / T. McKibbin / C. Surratt
Type: 1st Round 3-Balls - Status: OPEN
Tyrrell Hatton+105
Tom McKibbin+200
Caleb Surratt+260
1st Round 3-Balls - L. Herbert / M. Leishman / M. Jones
Type: 1st Round 3-Balls - Status: OPEN
Lucas Herbert+100
Marc Leishman+170
Matt Jones+350
1st Round 3-Balls - B. Koepka / D. Johnson / C. Smith
Type: 1st Round 3-Balls - Status: OPEN
Cameron Smith+150
Brooks Koepka+175
Dustin Johnson+200
1st Round 3-Balls - B. DeChambeau / J. Rahm / J. Niemann
Type: 1st Round 3-Balls - Status: OPEN
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Jon Rahm+170
Joaquin Niemann+210
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Type: 1st Round Six-Shooter - Status: OPEN
Bryson DeChambeau+280
Jon Rahm+320
Joaquin Niemann+375
Tyrrell Hatton+500
Patrick Reed+600
Carlos Ortiz+700
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Type: 1st Round Six-Shooter - Status: OPEN
Cameron Smith+375
Lucas Herbert+375
Sebastian Munoz+425
Brooks Koepka+450
Dean Burmester+450
Sergio Garcia+450
1st Round Six-Shooter - Group C - T. Gooch / P. Casey / C. Tringale / M. Leishman / D. Johnson / R. Bland
Type: 1st Round Six-Shooter - Status: OPEN
Talor Gooch+350
Cameron Tringale+400
Dustin Johnson+400
Marc Leishman+450
Paul Casey+450
Richard Bland+475
1st Round Six-Shooter - Group D - T. McKibbin / B. Watson / C. Schwartzel / L. Oosthuizen / T. Pieters / H. Varner
Type: 1st Round Six-Shooter - Status: OPEN
Tom McKibbin+400
Bubba Watson+425
Charl Schwartzel+425
Thomas Pieters+425
Harold Varner III+450
Louis Oosthuizen+450
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Type: Bryson DeChambeau - Status: OPEN
Top 5 Finish-135
Top 10 Finish-350
Top 20 Finish-1200
Jon Rahm
Type: Jon Rahm - Status: OPEN
Top 5 Finish-115
Top 10 Finish-300
Top 20 Finish-1200
Joaquin Niemann
Type: Joaquin Niemann - Status: OPEN
Top 5 Finish+100
Top 10 Finish-250
Top 20 Finish-900
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Type: Tyrrell Hatton - Status: OPEN
Top 5 Finish+180
Top 10 Finish-150
Top 20 Finish-600
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Type: Patrick Reed - Status: OPEN
Top 5 Finish+290
Top 10 Finish+105
Top 20 Finish-400
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Type: 2nd Round 3-Balls - Status: OPEN
Rico Hoey+125
Andrew Putnam+175
Chad Ramey+250
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Type: Carlos Ortiz - Status: OPEN
Top 5 Finish+310
Top 10 Finish+115
Top 20 Finish-400
Lucas Herbert
Type: Lucas Herbert - Status: OPEN
Top 5 Finish+310
Top 10 Finish+115
Top 20 Finish-400
Cameron Smith
Type: Cameron Smith - Status: OPEN
Top 5 Finish+350
Top 10 Finish+125
Top 20 Finish-350
David Puig
Type: David Puig - Status: OPEN
Top 5 Finish+350
Top 10 Finish+125
Top 20 Finish-350
Sergio Garcia
Type: Sergio Garcia - Status: OPEN
Top 5 Finish+350
Top 10 Finish+125
Top 20 Finish-350
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Type: Brooks Koepka - Status: OPEN
Top 5 Finish+400
Top 10 Finish+140
Top 20 Finish-300
2nd Round 3-Balls - M. Weir / C. Kim / B. Silverman
Type: 2nd Round 3-Balls - Status: OPEN
Ben Silverman+125
Chan Kim+130
Mike Weir+375
2nd Round 3-Balls - D. Ghim / H. Buckley / M. Meissner
Type: 2nd Round 3-Balls - Status: OPEN
Doug Ghim+125
Mac Meissner+190
Hayden Buckley+225
2nd Round Six Shooter - R. McIlroy / L. Aberg / S. Burns / SJ Im / L. Clanton / M. Homa
Type: 2nd Round Six Shooter - Status: OPEN
Rory McIlroy+240
Ludvig Aberg+350
Sam Burns+400
Sungjae Im+550
Luke Clanton+600
Max Homa+700
2nd Round Six Shooter - T. Pendrith / N. Taylor / M. Hughes / D. Riley / L. Hodges / G. Woodland
Type: 2nd Round Six Shooter - Status: OPEN
Taylor Pendrith+275
Nick Taylor+350
Mackenzie Hughes+400
Davis Riley+475
Lee Hodges+550
Gary Woodland+700
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Type: 2nd Round Match-Ups - Status: OPEN
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2nd Round Match-Ups - H. Hall vs D. Riley
Type: 2nd Round Match-Ups - Status: OPEN
Harry Hall-115
Davis Riley-105
2nd Round Match-Ups - M. Homa vs S. Im
Type: 2nd Round Match-Ups - Status: OPEN
Sungjae Im-125
Max Homa+105
2nd Round Match-Ups - L. Clanton v S. Im
Type: Requests - Status: OPEN
Luke Clanton-115
Sungjae Im-105
2nd Round 3-Balls - S. Burns / M. Homa / S. Im
Type: 2nd Round 3-Balls - Status: OPEN
Sam Burns+120
Sungjae Im+210
Max Homa+220
2nd Round 3-Balls - D. Riley / L. Hodges / G. Woodland
Type: 2nd Round 3-Balls - Status: OPEN
Davis Riley+150
Lee Hodges+175
Gary Woodland+200
2nd Round Match-Ups - M. Hughes vs N. Taylor
Type: 2nd Round Match-Ups - Status: OPEN
Nick Taylor-120
Mackenzie Hughes+100
2nd Round Match-Ups - A. Rozner v M. Pavon
Type: Requests - Status: OPEN
Antoine Rozner-115
Matthieu Pavon-105
2nd Round 3-Balls - N. Taylor / T. Pendrith / M. Hughes
Type: 2nd Round 3-Balls - Status: OPEN
Taylor Pendrith+130
Nick Taylor+180
Mackenzie Hughes+230
2nd Round 3-Balls - M. Pavon / A. Svensson / A. Wise
Type: 2nd Round 3-Balls - Status: OPEN
Matthieu Pavon+125
Adam Svensson+135
Aaron Wise+350
1st Round 3-Balls - L. Coughlin / J.Y. Ko / R. Takeda
Type: 1st Round 3-Balls - Status: OPEN
Jin Young Ko+135
Rio Takeda+160
Lauren Coughlin+240
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Type: 2nd Round Match-Ups - Status: OPEN
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Ludvig Aberg+110
2nd Round Match-Ups - K. Mitchell vs T. Detry
Type: 2nd Round Match-Ups - Status: OPEN
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Thomas Detry+100
2nd Round 3-Balls - R. McIIroy / L. Aberg / L. Clanton
Type: 2nd Round 3-Balls - Status: OPEN
Rory McIlroy+125
Ludvig Aberg+165
Luke Clanton+275
2nd Round 3-Balls - T. Detry / K. Mitchell / B. Hun An
Type: 2nd Round 3-Balls - Status: OPEN
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Thomas Detry+170
Byeong Hun An+225
1st Round 3-Balls - N. Korda / M. Stark / M. Saigo
Type: 1st Round 3-Balls - Status: OPEN
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Mao Saigo+200
Maja Stark+320
2nd Round 3-Balls - H. Hall / T. Moore / K. Kitayama
Type: 2nd Round 3-Balls - Status: OPEN
Harry Hall+145
Kurt Kitayama+180
Taylor Moore+200
2nd Round 3-Balls - C. Villegas / E. Grillo / N. Hardy
Type: 2nd Round 3-Balls - Status: OPEN
Emiliano Grillo+105
Nick Hardy+180
Camilo Villegas+300
2nd Round 3-Balls - N. Lashley / A. Smalley / V. Perez
Type: 2nd Round 3-Balls - Status: OPEN
Alex Smalley+120
Victor Perez+165
Nate Lashley+300
2nd Round 3-Balls - J. Dahmen / P. Rodgers / C. Young
Type: 2nd Round 3-Balls - Status: OPEN
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Carson Young+180
Joel Dahmen+220
2nd Round 3-Balls - K. Onishi / M. Creighton / M. Anderson
Type: 2nd Round 3-Balls - Status: OPEN
Matthew Anderson+140
Myles Creighton+185
Kaito Onishi+210
2nd Round 3-Balls - T. Rosenmueller / M. Andersen / J. Goldenberg
Type: 2nd Round 3-Balls - Status: OPEN
Thomas Rosenmueller+100
Matthew Anderson+170
Josh Goldenberg+340
2nd Round 3-Balls - K. Velo / B. Thornberry / W. Heffernan
Type: 2nd Round 3-Balls - Status: OPEN
Kevin Velo+110
Braden Thornberry+145
Wes Heffernan+375
2nd Round 3-Balls - P. Peterson / P. Knowles / H. Thomson
Type: 2nd Round 3-Balls - Status: OPEN
Hunter Thomson+135
Paul Peterson+140
Philip Knowles+300
2nd Round 3-Balls - N. Norgaard / G. Sargent / J. Keefer
Type: 2nd Round 3-Balls - Status: OPEN
Johnny Keefer+110
Niklas Norgaard+120
Gordon Sargent+550
2nd Round 3-Balls - A. Rozner / V. Covello / W. Wang
Type: 2nd Round 3-Balls - Status: OPEN
Antoine Rozner-230
Vince Covello+400
Wei-Hsuan Wang+425
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Type: 2nd Round 3-Balls - Status: OPEN
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A J Ewart+250
Trevor Cone+250
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Type: 2nd Round 3-Balls - Status: OPEN
Noah Goodwin+110
Barend Botha+200
Yi Cao+250
Major Specials 2025
Type: To Win A Major 2025 - Status: OPEN
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Jon Rahm+750
Collin Morikawa+900
Xander Schauffele+900
Ludvig Aberg+1000
Justin Thomas+1100
Joaquin Niemann+1400
Shane Lowry+1600
Tommy Fleetwood+1800
Tyrrell Hatton+1800
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Type: Winner - Status: OPEN
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Rory McIlroy+650
Bryson DeChambeau+700
Jon Rahm+1200
Xander Schauffele+2000
Ludvig Aberg+2200
Collin Morikawa+2500
Justin Thomas+3000
Joaquin Niemann+3500
Shane Lowry+3500
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Type: Winner - Status: OPEN
Scottie Scheffler+400
Rory McIlroy+500
Xander Schauffele+1200
Ludvig Aberg+1400
Collin Morikawa+1600
Jon Rahm+1600
Bryson DeChambeau+2000
Shane Lowry+2500
Tommy Fleetwood+2500
Tyrrell Hatton+2500
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Ryder Cup 2025
Type: Winner - Status: OPEN
USA-150
Europe+140
Tie+1200

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The First Look: The Genesis InvitationalThe First Look: The Genesis Invitational

The PGA TOUR returns to iconic Riviera Country Club for The Genesis Invitational. Tournament host Tiger Woods will be in attendance but won't play as he is still recovering from a back procedure last month. World No. 1 Dustin Johnson and defending champion Adam Scott are among the headliners. FIELD NOTES: Notables in the invitation-only field include major champions Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Collin Morikawa, and Francesco Molinari, plus world No. 2 Jon Rahm. ... After deciding not to tee it up at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Dustin Johnson, who won the 2017 Genesis, will be back in action at Riviera. ... Scott hasn't missed a cut this season and finished T10 in his last start at the Farmers Insurance Open... Other past winners at Riviera include J.B. Holmes, James Hahn, Charles Howell III, and Bubba Watson (twice a winner here). ... Tae Hoon Kim won The Genesis Championship in Korea last fall to secure a spot in The Genesis Invitational field for 2021... Two-time FedExCup winner Rory McIlroy looks to finally lift the trophy at Riviera after holding a piece of the lead Sunday a year ago only to fall to T5... The U.S. Amateur champion always gets a spot in The Genesis Invitational, so Tyler Strafaci will tee it up, as will the previous three U.S. Amateur winners: Andy Ogletree, Viktor Hovland, and Doc Redman. (Redman won the 2017 U.S. Amateur at Riviera.) ... In addition to reigning champ Johnson, FedExCup winners in the field include Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth, Brandt Snedeker, and Jim Furyk. FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 550 FedExCup points. COURSE: Designed by George C. Thomas Jr. and William P Bell, Riviera Country Club, par 71, 7,322 yards, has been a PGA TOUR staple for 57 years. A three-time major championship host (1948 U.S. Open and 1983/1995 PGA Championships), the club is perennially ranked in the top 100 in the world and is located just a block from Sunset Boulevard. It's a compact design with primary rough consisting of thick Kikuyu grass, a bunker in the middle of a green, and of course the iconic, driveable 10th. STORYLINES: Willie Mack III joins the list of Charlie Sifford Memorial Exemption recipients. Two other past Sifford Exemption recipients will be in the field: Harold Varner III and Cameron Champ. Mack III, an 11-time winner at Bethune-Cookman University, made his PGA TOUR debut at Torrey Pines when an exemption intended for Kamaiu Johnson opened up due to Johnson testing positive for COVID-19. The Sifford Exemption has been awarded yearly since 2009, with three recipients (Jeremiah Wooding, Varner III, and Joseph Bramlett) making the cut... There is one spot left in the field reserved for the winner of The Genesis Invitational Collegiate Showcase, Feb. 15. Three past collegiate showcase champions will be in the field for 2021: this year's winner plus Will Zalatoris (2015) and Scottie Scheffler (2018). ... Anyone who moves into the top 10 of the FedExCup standings (and not otherwise in the field) after The Genesis Invitational will earn a spot in the following week's World Golf Championships at The Concession. 72-HOLE RECORD: 264, Lanny Wadkins (1985). 18-HOLE RECORD: 61, George Archer (3rd round, 1983 at Rancho Park GC), Ted Tryba (3rd round, 1999 at Riviera CC). LAST TIME: On a difficult day for the overnight leaders, Scott - whose victory at Riviera 15 years ago was deemed unofficial as rain shortened the tournament to 36 holes - shot a 1-under 70 to top Sung Kang, Scott Brown, and Matt Kuchar by two shots. It was the Australian's 14th TOUR victory and 29th win worldwide. Five players had a share of the lead at some point Sunday, including McIlroy, who shot 2 over to finish T5 alongside Hideki Matsuyama, Bryson DeChambeau, Max Homa, and Joel Dahmen. Tournament host Woods finished 68th, last among those who made the cut. HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Thursday, 12 p.m.-2 p.m. (Golf Channel, PGA TOUR Live Freeview), 2 p.m.-6 p.m. (Golf Channel), 6 p.m.-8 p.m. (Golf Channel, PGA TOUR Live Freeview). Friday, 2 p.m.-6 p.m. (Golf Channel). Saturday, 1 p.m.-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3 p.m.-6 p.m. (CBS). Sunday, 1 p.m.-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3 p.m.-6:30 p.m. (CBS). PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday, 9:45 a.m.-8 p.m. (Featured Groups), Saturday, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. (Featured Groups), 3 p.m.-6 p.m. (Featured Holes). Sunday, 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m. (Featured Groups), 3 p.m.-6:30 p.m. (Featured Holes). Radio: Thursday-Friday, 12 p.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, 1 p.m.-6 p.m. Sunday, 1 p.m.-6:30 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio). TOURCast: Get shot-by-shot info in real time with shot tracks and video with TOURCast. TOUR Pulse: Get the PGA TOUR app to utilize TOUR Pulse, which provides users the ability to experience a mix of content, such as video highlights, written hole summaries and stat graphics on every player after every hole they complete.

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Tiger Woods Chasing 82, Chapter 7: Return to formTiger Woods Chasing 82, Chapter 7: Return to form

Had you sought to find a flaw in Tiger Woods’ golf game – at least in his prime – chances are you would have come up empty. He drove it long and very effectively, played long irons as well as anyone, had a killer short game, and putted brilliantly, especially when the pressure was on. Pretty much, he was perfect. But if you were determined to find a hiccup, you were safe with choosing Woods’ left knee. It was his soft spot going back to 1994 when as an 18-year-old, he had surgery to remove two benign tumors. Eight years later, Woods had surgery to remove fluid from around the ACL in that same knee and then in 2007 he ruptured that same ACL while running, though he chose to play through it. Unfortunately, it all caught up to him in the spring of 2008 when he had arthroscopic surgery on the left knee, then was told by doctors he had stress fractures on the left tibia and needed to rest it. That he came back after that short rest to win the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines is a part of golf folklore. But perhaps just as impressively is the fact he rebounded from nearly eight months on the sidelines to claim a second FedExCup title. Devoid of a major, it perhaps gets overshadowed, but this stretch certainly helped amp up the aura. Win No. 66: March 29, 2009 – Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard As the ground shook and the sun fell into the horizon, Woods’ longtime caddie, Steve Williams, leaned into the boss and screamed, “This feels like we hadn’t left.â€� Indeed, if there was a place on the PGA TOUR landscape that offered a comfort zone, it was the 18th hole at Bay Hill. As he had done in 2001 and 2008, Woods made a birdie putt to win at this demanding finishing hole, in front of Palmer, no less, and so Zach Johnson had every reason to place tongue firmly in cheek. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him make a putt when he needed,â€� said Johnson. For the record, it had been 286 days since Woods’ previous victory, the 2008 U.S. Open, though it had taken just three tournaments into the comeback season to post a win. So, yeah, Williams was right; it had to feel like they hadn’t left, much to the chagrin of Sean O’Hair, whose five-shot lead was made to disappear with Woods’ closing 67. By the Numbers: Only PGA TOUR win where Tiger didn’t play the par 5’s under par (even for week). Win No. 67: June 8, 2009 – the Memorial Tournament With a closing 65 to wipe out a four-stroke deficit, Woods gives Jack Nicklaus, the tournament host, plenty of fodder. “I suspect (a 15th major championship) will come for Tiger Woods in about two weeks,â€� said Nicklaus, predicting a U.S. Open triumph. OK, so we’re eight years later and still waiting for No. 15, but Nicklaus’ praise was well-grounded. Just ask beleaguered playing competitor Michael Letzig, who was paired with Woods and said: “I don’t know how to describe it. It was the best golf I’ve ever seen.â€� Or ask Jim Furyk, who said the media was fueling this incredible comeback. “I just wish you all would just quit ticking him off … so he has to come back and keep proving stuff.â€� Never one to shortchange the customers, Woods nails down the rally with an eagle at the par-5 11th, then approaches that scraped the sky and set up birdies at the 17th and 18th. By the Numbers: Tiger hit every fairway in the final round, marking the only time in his career where he accomplished this feat in the final round of a PGA TOUR victory. Win No. 68: July 5, 2009 – AT&T National No rally from behind needed this time, but Woods did have to shake a 54-hole tie with young and talented Anthony Kim. Just don’t say that Woods – who closed with 67 to shake Kim and hold off Hunter Mahan’s scintillating 62 — intimidated the bold and brash Kim. “You know, you can’t physically intimidate anybody,â€� Woods smiled. Mahan suggested there was no great mystery to why Woods had moved right back into a winning mode. “He’s pretty good. He knows what he’s doing. He knows how to play this game better than anybody,â€� said Mahan. As for Kim, he chalked it up to a learning experience. And just what did he learn? “That if you have a birdie putt, you better make it – especially on the last day,â€� he said. “Tiger obviously wins for a reason.â€� By the Numbers: Tiger finished with a 2.69 Scoring Average on the par 3s, matching his second best Par 3 Scoring Average in his 77 stroke-play victories. Win No. 69: Aug. 2, 2009 – Buick Open “You know,â€� conceded Vaughn Taylor, when asked about Tiger Woods, “he’s always on everyone’s mind.â€� Even on Friday? Taylor smiled and nodded his head. “I’m sure the closer we get to Sunday and the closer he gets to the top, guys always think about him.â€� The conversation was prompted by vintage Woods; having opened with 71 to sit in a tie for 95th, Woods roared past 91 players with a sizzling 63 in Round 2. When he added a 65 on Saturday, he seized the lead, then produced a bogey-free 69 to nail down a three-stroke win, his third in this tournament at Warwick Hills. So, yeah, Taylor had reason to speak the truth, and Aussie Greg Chalmers, one of those who tied for second, agreed with that assessment. “With any other player you might think there’s a chance, but with Tiger, he’s done it so regularly I think his peers know he’s going to close it out.â€� By the Numbers: Was the 10th victory in the ShotLink era where Tiger was perfect from inside 5 feet.  Win No. 70: Aug. 9, 2009 – World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational If the third-round 65 that pushed Woods into second place, just three off Padraig Harrington’s lead, wasn’t enough to give you a sense of the plot, then him playing the first five holes in Sunday’s final round in 4 under surely was. “What are you watching for?â€� Camilo Villegas said after his round to media members watching TV monitors in the scoring area. “You know what’s going to happen.â€� Villegas nailed it, too, as Woods maintained that torrid pace and shot a second-straight 65 to rally past Harrington. He became the first player in history to win seven times on the same course (Firestone) and nailed down his 16th World Golf Championship. “He could play this course left-handed and do well,â€� said Hunter Mahan. True, Woods was helped immensely by Harrington, who made a triple-bogey at the par-5 16th against his opponent’s birdie. Woods’ 70th career win came in just his 234th professional start, an utterly incredible winning percentage of 29.9. By the Numbers: 21st career final round comeback victory. In his career Tiger has come-from-behind in the final round to win in 23 times. Win No. 71: Sept. 13, 2009 – BMW Championship To the list of favorite playgrounds that treated Woods well, Cog Hill didn’t get proper respect, but it surely brought a smile to his face. A third-round 62 – which began with a bogey at the opening hole, too – propelled Woods into a seven-stroke lead, which had even veteran players searching for superlatives. “I felt like we had a tournament within a tournament,â€� said Jim Furyk, who wound up T-2, a whopping eight back. “It was a tournament for second.â€� Aussie Marc Leishman, who shared second with Furyk, was too agog over Woods to be stuck on the huge deficit. “He was amazing,â€� said Leishman, who earned the right to play in the final pairing alongside Woods for the first time in his career. That he was never in position to challenge Woods and get into contention to win didn’t really bother him, either. The experience was what he treasured, even if he never envisioned someone getting to 19 under. “But I guess when you’ve got Tiger in the field, never say never,â€� Leishman said. Given that Woods had won six of 17 starts in 2009, the sixth time in his career that he had won at least six times in a season, you never would have believed it would be more than two seasons before he’d win again. But that is the inexplicable way his career turned just weeks after this dominating win. By the Numbers: Tiger won by 8 strokes, marking his 10th career victory by 8 or more strokes on TOUR. Back to Chasing 82                Chapter 8: The Great Comeback, Part I

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