Rory McIlroy wins THE PLAYERS Championship in dramatic fashion

Miguel Angel Jimenez won the Boeing Classic on Sunday for his third PGA Tour Champions victory of the season, closing with a 5-under 67 to hold off David McKenzie by two strokes.

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The first redesign by noted course architect Tom Doak for the PGATOUR is featured this week as Memorial Park in Houston assumes the role host of the Vivint Houston Open. The TOUR returns to its roots as this municipal track is back on the schedule for the first time since 1963. The inaugural event in Houston took place in 1946 and the first one at Memorial Park debuted the following year, running until 1963. The Houston Open sat as the preparatory exam for Augusta National, for most of the last 15 years and returns to that position on the schedule, albeit accidentally, this time around. Tom Doak and Brooks Koepka (player consultant) have positioned only 19 bunkers through 7,432 yards on this Par-72 (36-36). The focus this week will be on excitement and scoring chances rather than grinding out pars and surviving. With five Par-5 holes, five Par-3 holes and a pair of Par-4 holes that can possibly be driven, a full array of shots will be required, not to mention a bunch of birdies, to pick up the trophy this week. Think ZOZO but with a few hundred additional yards and Bermuda on the greens. We all remember who was on the podium that week (Cantlay, Rahm and Thomas). RELATED: Power Rankings | Expert Picks | Sleeper Picks With a new test it’s always the ball-strikers who move to the forefront. With 28 acres of fairway, less than three inches of rough and only four holes with water, I would think scoring will be a major focus this week. Greens are large, averaging 7,000 square feet, and running slick with Mini-Verde Bermuda so hitting plenty of them will be the angle. The more GIR will give more scoring chances and it won’t hurt to have shorter clubs into those scoring holes. Lanto Griffin is the defending champion at the event and will lead the field of 132 as they look to get their hands on $1.26 million (winner) of the $7 million prize pool plus 500 FedExCup points. The winner won’t get into the Masters next week but will be eligible in 2021. Event Winners at Golf Club of Houston Recent Winners 2019: Lanto Griffin 2018: Ian Poulter (not entered) 2017: Russell Henley Key stat leaders Top golfers in each statistic on the 2019-2020 PGA TOUR are listed only if they are scheduled to compete this week. Those listed in BOLD deserve deeper inspection if not already on your RADAR. Strokes-Gained: Tee-to-Green 2 Hideki Matsuyama 4 Sergio Garcia 8 Harold Varner III 9 Dustin Johnson 10 Scottie Scheffler 11 Tony Finau 13 Tyrrell Hatton 14 Russell Henley 16 Corey Conners 20 Viktor Hovland 21 Luke List 24 Emiliano Grillo 25 Cameron Tringale Par-5 Scoring 6 Wyndham Clark 6 Matt Jones 10 Hideki Matsuyama 10 Dustin Johnson 10 Kevin Streelman 10 Tyrrell Hatton 10 Ryan Palmer 10 James Hahn 18 Alex Noren 21 Cameron Davis 21 Sam Burns 21 Jhonattan Vegas 21 Sungjae Im 21 Scottie Scheffler Strokes-Gained: Putting 1 Denny McCarthy 3 Andrew Putnam 4 Kristoffer Ventura 8 Mackenzie Hughes 9 Maverick McNealy 11 Patrick Rodgers 14 JT Poston 16 Wyndham Clark 23 Troy Merritt 24 Beau Hossler 25 Patton Kizzire Top players at Bermuda Championship (entered this week) 1 Brian Gay P2 Wyndham Clark 3 Ollie Schniederjans 4 Matt Jones 4 Stewart Cink 4 Denny McCarthy 4 Doc Redman 8 Ryan Armour 8 David Hearn 14 Scott Piercy 16 Russell Knox 21 Maverick McNealy 21 Brice Garnett 21 Andrew Putnam 21 Sepp Straka 26 Paddy Harrington 26 Beau Hossler Top 25 ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP @ SHERWOOD (entered this week) 4 Russell Henley 4 Ryan Palmer 8 Corey Conners 11 Tony Finau 11 Dylan Frittelli 11 Lanto Griffin 17 Alex Noren 17 Scottie Scheffler 26 Brian Harman

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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – The PGA TOUR today announced an expansive agreement with Facebook to distribute daily highlight packages globally on Facebook Watch in 2020 starting at this week’s Farmers Insurance Open. The PGA TOUR will publish daily round recaps and player-specific highlights from more than 30 events, including THE PLAYERS Championship and FedExCup Playoffs. These expanded highlights will feature content from the TOUR’s core telecasts, along with content from PGA TOUR LIVE, the TOUR’s OTT service featuring more than 1,200 hours of exclusive Featured Groups coverage in 2020. “We’re excited to expand our partnership with Facebook by delivering additional content for our fans,� said Chris Wandell, Vice President Media Business Development at the PGA TOUR. “This is in response to our fans’ appetite for additional coverage packaged in a way that is convenient for them to consume.� The TOUR will create a robust and timely highlights experience for PGA TOUR fans around the world on Facebook Watch. Fans can stay up to date with the latest highlights by following the PGA TOUR Facebook Page at https://www.facebook.com/PGATour. Content will be posted daily at the completion of each tournament round. As part of the agreement, the TOUR will also engage fans in its Facebook Group, The Gallery, with interactive elements such as Facebook Lives and Facebook Watch Parties. “We’re thrilled to add PGA TOUR recaps to our growing portfolio of sports highlights on Facebook Watch,� said Sidhant Rao, Facebook Sports League Partnerships.� Through this content, as well as products such as Facebook Groups and Watch Party, the TOUR will be able to engage its fans in exciting new ways this year.� In 2018, the PGA TOUR and Facebook teamed up to stream live coverage from THE PLAYERS Championship and several other PGA TOUR events leading into the 2018 FedExCup Playoffs.

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