Rose Ladies cancelled due to wildfire at Wentworth

LOS ANGELES — Joaquin Niemann had an idea how Riviera was playing Thursday when he saw no one from the morning draw posting better than a 5-under 66. RELATED: Full leaderboard | Riviera Romance – Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas and stars start hot in LA He hit the ball so well in The Genesis Invitational that he didn’t even bother paying attention to anyone else. When his round ended, Niemann had an 8-under 63 to match the lowest score for the opening round at Riviera and build a three-shot lead. “Sometime I think about a score,” he said. “Today I was hitting it so good, I had fun just getting into the shot. I didn’t really think of the score. But then on 18 I was thinking about. I wanted to make birdie so bad. I wanted to to make one more.” Niemann is the ninth player to open with a 63 at Riviera, a list that starts with Charlie Sifford in 1969 and was done most recently by J.B. Holmes in 2019. Four of the previous eight players to start with 63 went on to win. “You always work to have these kind of days. You always know that you’re never going to have these days four days in a row. It’s a good way to start,” Niemann said. “I know it’s going to be different days during the week, so I’ve got to be ready for everything and have the best attitude for it.” Jordan Spieth had seven birdies and joined a group at 66 that included WM Phoenix Open winner Scottie Scheffler and Max Homa, who had one of several big moments on the first tee. It started with Tiger Woods, the tournament host to went from being a 15-time major champion to the starter on the first tee. He wanted to introduce Aaron Beverly, who received the Charlie Sifford exemption to play in the elite field. The tournament is celebrating the 100-year anniversary of the year Sifford — the first Black golfer to win on the PGA TOUR — was born. For Homa, it was a new experience on a familiar course. He grew up in Southern California and Riviera was the PGA TOUR event he often attended. He had to fight back tears when he won last year. And he was a little nervous going to the tee and knowing he would be introduced as the defending champion. “It was cool. I got a nice ovation,” Homa said. “And playing with two great guys, two of the best players of all time, added to that a little bit. But it was fun. I’ve been on this tee a million times watching and playing now, and to get to hear that was pretty special.” He played with Dustin Johnson and Adam Scott, past winners at Riviera. Johnson has gone more than a year since his last win at the Saudi International, and it doesn’t appear that’s going to change. On the 10th hole, he went from fairway bunker to the back slope of greenside bunker, chipped it to a flatter lie, left the next one in the sand and made double bogey. He opened with a 73. Collin Morikawa, another LA kid, and Justin Thomas were among those at 67. Even in ideal conditions — pleasant sunshine, very little wind — all but Niemann were held in check. Half the field broke par. That included Jon Rahm, the No. 1 player in the world, even if he had reason to believe his 69 felt much worse. He was second in the field to Niemann in the statistical category that measures play from tee to green. Only four players had a worse time puting. Rahm raised his arms in mock triumph when he made a 4-foot birdie on the par-4 eighth, his 17th hole of the round. It was the second-longest putt he made all day. The longest was on the next hole, when he made a 5-footer for par. The tournament now has Woods as the host and has been awarded elevated status, meaning it has a $12 million purse and the winner gets a three-year exemption. Add that to Riviera and all its reverence, and it’s not a surprise all 10 of the top 10 in the world are playing, along with 19 of the top 25 in the world ranking. That doesn’t guarantee big-time winners. Woods, even in his best years, never won at Riviera. For someone like Spieth, it would be extra special given the location. “If I could pick one non-major (or) PLAYERS Championship to win on the PGA TOUR, it would be here,” Spieth said. “I love Riviera. I think it’s arguably … it’s in the conversation as the best golf course in the world.” Spieth has one big win at Riviera, part of the Texas team that won the NCAA title in 2012. He looked as though he had a chance to take it lower than 66 until losing a little momentum with a pair of bogeys. Scheffler is coming of his first win last week in the WM Phoenix Open, and he was more tired than usual, which is a good problem to have. His round turned on the par-5 opening hole with a 7-iron to 2 feet for eagle, and he closed out his round with an approach to 4 feet on the ninth.

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The PGA TOUR returns to TPC Louisiana this week for the 2018 Zurich Classic of New Orleans. This marks the first year of team play at the event, and with the new format comes plenty of questions. Click here for the list of the teams set to compete. Here is the breakdown of this year’s team format. HOW IT WORKS TEAM FORMAT: Round 1 and 3 are Four-Ball (Best-Ball) and Rounds 2 and 4 are Foursomes (Alternate Shot). For Foursomes play, players will rotate tee shots. One player will hit the tee shots on all the odd-numbered holes, and the other will hit the tee shot on even-numbered holes. Example: Player A and Player B are partners. On the first hole, Player A tees off; Player B plays the second shot; Player A plays the third shot; and so on until the ball is holed. The total strokes taken will result in the team’s score for that hole. For Four-Ball play, the players on each team will each play his own ball throughout the entirety of the round, with the best score on each hole recorded. Example: On the first hole, both golfers on each team tee off. Player A pars the hole and Player B birdies it. The team will be credited with a birdie. FIELD: The starting field will consist of 80 teams (160 players). Each of the top available players from the PGA TOUR Priority Rankings who commits to the tournament will choose his partner, who in turn must have PGA TOUR status unless he is chosen as a tournament sponsor exemption. SCHEDULE: Thursday’s Foursomes round begins at 8 a.m. local time (9 a.m. ET), with the last tee time at 1:56 p.m local. Friday’s Four-ball round begins at 7 a.m. local (8 a.m. ET) with the last tee time at 2:02 p.m. local. Teams will go off two tees in each of the first two days. Saturday’s start time is approximately 9 a.m. local off one tee. Sunday’s start time will be determined later. MAKING THE CUT: Following the conclusion of the second round, there will be a cut to the low 35 teams and ties at the 35th position.  IN CASE OF A TIE: A hole-by-hole (sudden death) playoff will be contested with the first hole played as foursomes (alternate shot), the second hole played as four-ball (best ball) where the formats alternate every hole, thereafter, on a set rotation of holes. WITH A WIN: The Zurich Classic of New Orleans will continue to award FedExCup points and official money, and will count as an official victory for the members of the winning team. As such, both players will receive a two-year winner’s exemption and an eligibility into Invitational fields, including the Tournament of Champions and THE PLAYERS Championship. Additionally, the PGA of America will include both members of the winning team in the Tournament Winners category for the PGA Championship. PRIZES: FedExCup points and prize money will be awarded to teams making the cut based on combining every two positions from the distribution table for a standard TOUR event, with each team member receiving an equal share. For instance, the winning team will evenly split first and second place FedExCup points (500 for first and 300 for second for 800 total points, or 400 for each player). Official prize money will be distributed in the same manner.  KEY QUESTIONS Why was the format changed? The PGA TOUR Policy Board approved the change in November, 2016 as a way to introduce team competition into the regular TOUR schedule. Said Andy Pazder, Chief of Operations for the PGA TOUR: “We have seen the growth of popularity with the biennial team competitions like the Presidents Cup, Ryder Cup and World Cup and the excitement that they produce. We believe the fans will love to see this sort of competition as a regular part of our season.” Has there ever been a team competition on the PGA TOUR? Yes. The PGA TOUR has held 61 previous official team events, with two pros paired together, using various formats. The PGA TOUR has contested 13 official team tournaments with a pro paired with an amateur (the pro always earning official-win designation). The last official TOUR team event was the 1981 Walt Disney World National Team Championship, won by Vance Heafner and Mike Holland.  How is the Zurich Classic format different? The Zurich Classic will use an alternating-round Foursomes and Four-ball format for the first time. The closest the PGA TOUR has previously come to using a Foursomes format in an official event was at the 1934 Pinehurst Pro-Pro played at Pinehurst’s famed No. 2 course and won by Tommy Armour and Bobby Cruickshank. That tournament played under Scotch Foursomes rules, a setup that allows each player to hit a drive on each hole and then whichever player’s ball is in the best position, the teammate hits the next shot in alternate-shot fashion until the ball is held. The Foursomes format at TPC Louisiana will strictly be alternate shot for every shot played on the hole.

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Our experts from PGATOUR.COM make their predictions for the Ryder Cup this week at Whistling Straits. The experts make their predictions for the winning score, man of the match, and a comment for their reasoning. Note: The Ryder Cup is not part of the official PGA TOUR Fantasy game.

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