Rory McIlroy’s prediction coming true at THE CJ CUP

JERSEY CITY, N.J. – Presidents Cup first-timer Daniel Berger provided the clinching half-point for the U.S. team Sunday at Liberty National, giving the Americans their 10th win in 12 meetings against the International Team. Berger, playing in the fourth Singles match of the day, went dormie against THE PLAYERS champion Si Woo Kim on the 15th hole of their match, a guaranteed half-point. Earlier, Kevin Chappell halved his match against Marc Leishman for the first half-point of the day. Chappell was informed by U.S. Captain Steve Stricker on the 16th hole that he had provided the clincher. When he finally finished his match, he was sprayed with champagne by fellow first-timer Charley Hoffman, and then celebrated with other members of the U.S. squad. “What a feeling,” he said after closing out Kim 2 and 1 for the full point. “I’m speechless right now.” The Americans needed just one point coming into Sunday’s 12 Singles matches to clinch the Presidents Cup, having taken a commanding 14.5 to 3.5 lead after the first three days at Liberty National. The Americans are now 10-1-1 in this event. Recaps for all completed matches are below. SINGLES Marc Leishman (International) vs. Kevin Chappell (U.S.), Halved Chappell made an early eagle and birdie to take control early, but Leishman battled back and led after 16 holes. He bogeyed the 17th to square the match, and both players missed birdie attempts inside 20 feet on the final hole. Jason Day (International) def. Charley Hoffman (U.S.), 2 and 1 Day won for the first time in his last 10 Presidents Cup matches. Trailing at the turn, Day won the first three holes on the back nine to go 2 up, then played steady golf the rest of the way. Hideki Matsuyama (International) def. Justin Thomas (U.S.), 3 and 1 Matsuyama struggled for most of the week, but he woke up against the FedExCup champ, making eight birdies and an eagle in the first 12 holes. Thomas played nearly as well, making seven birdies in that stretch. But Matsuyama never provided an opening for Thomas to pounce. Daniel Berger (U.S.) def. Si Woo Kim (International), 2 and 1 Berger clinched the Presidents Cup on the 15th hole when he went dormie for a guaranteed half-point, then closed out Kim two holes later in a well-played match, particular between holes 8 and 12 when the two combined for seven birdies. Berger took the lead on the second hole and never gave it up. Charl Schwartzel (International) def. Matt Kuchar (U.S.), 1 up The South African won the first two holes and maintained the lead for the entire match. Schwartzel had four birdies in his first seven holes and was 5 up through seven, then cruised from there. The loss continued Kuchar’s drought in Presidents Cup Singles, as he’s now 0-4-0.  Louis Oosthuizen (International) def. Patrick Reed (U.S.), 1 up On three separate stretches during the match, Reed held the lead, including after the 16th hole when he was 1 up. But Oosthuizen’s 14-foot birdie putt at the 17th squared it, then his 12-footer at the 18th won it. It’s Oosthuizen’s first Singles win in three attempts in the Presidents Cup. Branden Grace (International) vs. Dustin Johnson (U.S.), Halved The South African, who won all five of his matches two years ago in Korea, denied Johnson the same result with a late rally to halve the match. Johnson led for 13 of the first 16 holes, but he found trouble off the tee at 17 and conceded the hole to square the match. With 4.5 points, Johnson led all players. Adam Scott (International) def. Brooks Koepka (U.S.), 3 and 2 Scott won his first point of the week against the U.S. Open champ while running his Singles record to 5-3-0. Koepka led for most of the match, but Scott won four consecutive holes on the back nine to flip the match in his favor.

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The PGA TOUR uses a standardized system for determining event fields, based off the current season’s Priority Ranking while also including additional exemption and qualifying categories. Field sizes can vary by event, as can the number of event-specific exemptions. Fully exempt PGA TOUR members are guaranteed entry into all full-field events, with various conditional categories subject to periodic reshuffles based upon FedExCup Points accrued throughout the season. Categories with ‘reshuffle’ notation indicate that a reshuffle period has occurred. Scroll below for the RBC Canadian Open field list as of Friday, June 3rd at 5 p.m. ET: Check here for updates. Winner of PGA/U.S. Open Championship (five-year exemption) Justin Thomas Winner of The Players Championship (five-year exemption) Rory McIlroy Cameron Smith Winner of The Masters (five-year exemption) Patrick Reed Scottie Scheffler Danny Willett Winner of The Open (five-year exemption) Shane Lowry Winner of World Golf Championships Event (three-year exemption) Justin Rose Winner of Arnold Palmer Invitational, Memorial Tournament and Genesis Invitational (three-year exemption) Tyrrell Hatton PGA TOUR tournament winner (two-year exemption) Sam Burns Cameron Champ Corey Conners Tyler Duncan Tony Finau Dylan Frittelli Jim Herman Sung Kang Martin Laird Nate Lashley Luke List Adam Long Keith Mitchell Sebastián Muñoz Carlos Ortiz C.T. Pan J.T. Poston J.J. Spaun Robert Streb Nick Taylor Brendon Todd Martin Trainer Career Money Exemption Luke Donald Bill Haas Rory Sabbatini Nick Watney * Sponsor’s exemption (Korn Ferry Tour Finals) Myles Creighton Jared du Toit Sponsor’s exemption (members not otherwise exempt) Mike Weir Sponsor’s exemption (unrestricted) William Buhl Rafa Cabrera Bello Yi Cao Albin Choi Aaron Cockerill Callum Davison Joseph Deraney A.J. Ewart Christopher Gotterup Wesley Heffernan Rasmus Hojgaard Brendan Leonard Stuart Macdonald Max Sekulic Johnny Travale Trevor Werbylo Commissioner Exemption – Two Foreign Players Dean Burmester Past Champion of RBC Canadian Open Jhonattan Vegas Top 125 on prior season’s FedExCup Charley Hoffman Harold Varner III Emiliano Grillo Chris Kirk Harry Higgs Mackenzie Hughes Matt Fitzpatrick Pat Perez Doug Ghim Brandon Hagy Peter Malnati Wyndham Clark Adam Schenk Kramer Hickok Brian Stuard Henrik Norlander Roger Sloan Brandt Snedeker Hank Lebioda Adam Hadwin Matt Wallace Sam Ryder Scott Piercy Brice Garnett # Major medical extension Danny Lee Ryan Moore Jonas Blixt Korn Ferry Tour Points winners (The 25 and The Finals 25) Stephan Jaeger Joseph Bramlett Korn Ferry Tour graduates via The 25 and The Finals 25 (reshuffled) Sahith Theegala Alex Smalley David Lipsky Patrick Rodgers Aaron Rai Brandon Wu Taylor Pendrith Lee Hodges Hayden Buckley Matthias Schwab Vince Whaley Max McGreevy Adam Svensson John Huh Greyson Sigg Trey Mullinax Austin Smotherman Andrew Novak Justin Lower Dylan Wu Curtis Thompson Paul Barjon Seth Reeves Kelly Kraft Michael Gligic Callum Tarren Ben Kohles Austin Cook Nick Hardy David Skinns Jared Wolfe Scott Gutschewski Dawie van der Walt Brett Drewitt Joshua Creel Nos. 126-150 on prior season’s FedExCup Points List (reshuffled) Mark Hubbard Satoshi Kodaira Ryan Armour Chase Seiffert Cameron Percy Vaughn Taylor Camilo Villegas Jim Knous Bo Van Pelt Bo Hoag $ Reshuffle within categories 34-38 Jonathan Byrd Ben Martin Kevin Chappell Sean O’Hair Tommy Gainey Wesley Bryan Robert Garrigus Seung-Yul Noh David Lingmerth Scott Brown Jason Dufner Mark Hensby Greg Chalmers Ricky Barnes David Hearn D.A. Points Johnson Wagner D.J. Trahan Sangmoon Bae Fabián Gómez Ben Crane Arjun Atwal Richard S Johnson Brian Davis John Merrick Kevin Stadler Matt Every Beyond No. 150 on prior season’s FedExCup Points List Ted Potter, Jr. J.J. Henry George McNeill Andres Romero Charlie Beljan Jason Bohn Parker McLachlin Eric Axley Past Champion member John Huston Carl Pettersson John Rollins Boo Weekley Frank Lickliter II Jonathan Kaye Will MacKenzie Daniel Chopra Glen Day Ted Purdy Spike McRoy Cody Gribble Veteran member (150 or more career cuts made) Brendon de Jonge The PGA TOUR uses a standardized system for determining event fields, based off the current season’s Priority Ranking while also including additional exemption and qualifying categories. Field sizes can vary by event, as can the number of event-specific exemptions. Fully exempt PGA TOUR members are guaranteed entry into all full-field events, with various conditional categories subject to periodic reshuffles based upon FedExCup Points accrued throughout the season. Categories with ‘reshuffle’ notation indicate that a reshuffle period has occurred. * = If all prior year Korn Ferry Tour graduates are eligible for event, exemptions become unrestricted # = Latest medical extension information can be found here. $ = Category breakdown can be found here.

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NASSAU, Bahamas – Tyrrell Hatton kept his cool as he was called a furious elf. Rory McIlroy overheard a quip about his tiny head and cracked up laughing. Collin Morikawa played along as he was told of a fan-generated, Transformers-inspired nickname for him: Optimus Fine. Oh, and Scottie Scheffler was rebranded Scott Scheffler and made to sell an imaginary car. You know, in case the professional golf thing doesn’t work out. The first big collaboration between the PGA TOUR and DP World Tour content teams was semi-scripted lunacy. Actor John C. McGinley was at the center of it all as he gave tongue-in-cheek performance evaluations before the Hero World Challenge at Albany Golf Club. The two-day shoot highlighted the strategic alliance between the TOUR and the DP World (former European) Tour and utilized the signature subversive style perfected by European content creators. “I think it’s a great move,” Jordan Spieth said. “I think the TOUR is going to do some more stuff like that; it’s something that the European Tour has done well, especially socially. It was fun to go in in character and act like it was a year in review.” Added a laughing McIlroy: “It was good fun; if I had to do stuff like that on my own, in front of a camera, I’d be terrible. But having someone there to do it against makes it so much easier.” McGinley, most famous for Scrubs but boasting a long list of film and TV credits, made sure this was no standard Q&A. Forgoing a salary in lieu of a donation to the Global Down Syndrome Foundation, he brought a gonzo sensibility to the evaluations. Think Sacha Baron Cohen (Ali G, Borat) or Zach Galifianakis (Between Two Ferns) if they worked for the Golf Channel. “The most fun moment was the same with every single player, which was when I could get that hook in their gums a little bit,” said McGinley, an avid golfer. “I got Scottie Scheffler to sell me a car, and he was great. It was improv, where the conceit is there’s an initiator and a reactor. You can’t have two of one, none of the other, that’s when improv goes nowhere.” Scheffler caught on quickly. “It was fun,” he said. “I’m glad the TOUR started doing stuff like that. I wouldn’t really consider myself to be too funny of a person, so hopefully it turns out alright.” McGinley, seated behind a desk, smacked it hard to emphasize his points. It got players’ attention but the Europeans, especially, were hard to shock. DP World Tour content creators are the people, after all, who made a video in which Padraig Harrington and Ian Poulter give nonsense swing tips to baffled amateurs. Hatton had just played a long pro-am round at the Hero when he sat for his interview. Still, he couldn’t be rattled. “Some bits were funny,” he said. “I started laughing and put my head down once. It’s good fun.” Henrik Stenson, at the end of a lackluster season, said he felt he got off easy. McIlroy was familiar with McGinley and enjoyed spending time with him. “My favorite part was just meeting him,” he said. “It’s really, really cool. I’ve seen Scrubs but not Platoon. I was expecting, like, off-the-wall. He mostly stuck to the script.” Well, for McIlroy, anyway. With the others, those scripts turned out to be more fluid than set in stone. “The great thing is this was the first time the tours have come together to create a single piece of content,” said Will Pearson, Head of Content for DP World Tour and one of four creatives from that tour at the shoot. “It shows the alliance is working in different ways across the business.” The PGA TOUR and DP World Tour had been collaborating on the project all year, but with the pandemic complicating things it was unclear whether it would get done in 2021. “It was great to see players let their guard down and go with the unexpected,” said Michael Riceman, Vice President of Original and Social Content for the PGA TOUR. “To go toe-to-toe with a Hollywood actor and embrace the character and sometimes revel in the awkwardness, that was fun and not something you see much. We really wanted to showcase how the two tours are committed to working together and doing big projects together. This is just the beginning.” Added Sam Davis, Lead PGA TOUR Social and Digital Content: “This was a true collaboration and that’s been the spirit of the project the entire time. It was so cool. I’m so happy we did this.” Whether entertained, bewildered, or both, the eight players who sat for the video left smiling. “I thought he was going to make fun of me a little more,” Scheffler said, “but I don’t think he knew me well enough to get after me. He had me dying laughing when I left, because his last words, he held up a picture of me and said, ‘This guy is DEAD. Your name is Scott now.’” Spieth, who was familiar with Scrubs, having watched it with his brother, enjoyed a few laughs. “I broke character a couple of times,” he said. “The more we can do that, the more fans can see more of who players are, because there’s a lightness to it, more so than typical interviews.” You can say that again. Click the video to see for yourself.

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