Round 1 leaderboard: Rocket Mortgage Classic

Jon Rahm turned a potential shootout into a Bahamas breeze on Sunday, closing with a 7-under 65 for a four-shot victory in the Hero World Challenge.

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After a successful debut last year, the Zurich Classic of New Orleans returns with its unique team format. Many of the game’s biggest names have descended on TPC Louisiana for the opportunity to partner with a friend for the only team event during the FedExCup season. The two-man teams will play four-ball on Thursday and Saturday and alternate shot in the second and fourth rounds. Last year’s tournament included one of the best shots of the year, as Kevin Kisner chipped in for eagle on the 72nd hole to force a playoff with Jonas Blixt and Cameron Smith. Smith clinched the title by hitting a wedge to 3 feet on the fourth hole of the sudden-death playoff, which concluded Monday because of darkness. Blixt and Smith have returned to defend their title. They’ll be part of PGA TOUR LIVE’s Featured Groups coverage, as will two of the past three FedExCup champions (Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas), Masters champion Patrick Reed and all three medalists from the 2016 Olympics. The Thursday broadcast will begin at 8 a.m. Eastern, while the Friday broadcast will begin at 9:15 a.m. Featured Holes will begin at 3 p.m. and run until the end of the broadcast at 6:30 p.m. TPC Louisiana’s two back-nine par-3s, Nos. 14 and 17, are this week’s Featured Holes. PGA TOUR LIVE also can be viewed on Twitter from approximately 8 a.m. to 9:15 a.m. on Thursday and 9:15 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. on Friday. Here’s a closer look at what you can see this week on PGA TOUR LIVE (Note: FedExCup rankings in parentheses): THURSDAY Justin Thomas (1)/Bud Cauley (61), Daniel Berger (66)/Gary Woodland (22): FedExCup leader Justin Thomas is teaming with fellow Alabama alum Bud Cauley for the second consecutive year. The duo finished fifth in last year’s Zurich Classic. Thomas won last year’s FedExCup and holds the lead again this season after victories at THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES and The Honda Classic. They’ll play alongside Thomas’ Presidents Cup teammate, Daniel Berger, and another of this season’s winners, Gary Woodland. He won earlier this year at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. Tee times: 8:39 a.m. Eastern off No. 10 on Thursday; 2:08 p.m. Eastern off No. 1 on Friday. Jordan Spieth (28)/Ryan Palmer (84), Wesley Bryan (153)/Jon Rahm (7): The Texas twosome of Ryan Palmer and Jordan Spieth has reunited after a fourth-place finish here last year. Bryan and Rahm are good friends who promise to make a colorful pairing. Rahm’s strong driving and Bryan’s crafty wedge play could make them a dangerous duo. Tee times: 8:52 a.m. Eastern off No. 10 on Thursday; 2:09 p.m. Eastern off No. 1 on Friday. FRIDAY Patrick Reed (6)/Patrick Cantlay (15), Jonas Blixt (162)/Cameron Smith (25): The Patricks are back after a 14th-place finish at last year’s Zurich. They were one shot off the lead at the halfway mark. For Reed, this will be his first PGA TOUR start since his Masters victory. Cantlay picked up his first PGA TOUR title earlier this season at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. They are the only team with two players ranked inside the top 15 in the FedExCup standings and the only team of PGA TOUR winners this season. Smith is coming off fifth-place finishes at the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play and the Masters. Click here to read Ben Everill’s feature on Smith. Tee times: 1:44 p.m. Eastern off No. 1 on Thursday; 9:53 a.m. Eastern off No. 10 on Friday. Justin Rose (8)/Henrik Stenson (37), Matt Kuchar (58)/Bubba Watson (3): All four of these players competed for their countries at the 2016 Olympics. Three of them won medals (sorry, Bubba). However, Watson is the only one with multiple titles this season. He won both the Genesis Open and WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play. Kuchar earned a bronze medal in Rio de Janeiro. Kuchar and Watson are among an elite group of players who have qualified for the FedExCup Playoffs in all 11 seasons of the FedExCup. Rose and Stenson, the gold and silver medalists, respectively, have reunited despite a surprising MC at last year’s Zurich Classic. Rose (2015) and Watson (2011) also are former Zurich champions. Tee times: 1:57 p.m. Eastern off No. 1 on Thursday; 10:04 a.m. Eastern off No. 10 on Friday.

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ORLANDO, Fla. — Rich Beem’s victory at the 2002 PGA Championship – coupled with Beem being the dad of a teenaged son who is pretty good at golf – made him eligible to play in the limited-field PNC Championship for winners of major championships. For years, he never received the call. Recently, Beem even resorted to starting a playful promotional campaign on Twitter, showing off the family trophies and telling PNC tournament officials that “Team Beem” would be ready if called. And then came the email to Beem from PNC Championship director Teo Sodeman. The Goosens – two-time U.S. Open champion Retief and his son, Leo – had to withdraw. Would the Beems like to join this year’s field? “I couldn’t choke it out fast enough to say ‘Yes,” Beem said, laughing, as he stood on the practice tee at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, site of this week’s PNC, which begins today. So here they are, Beem, 51, and his 18-year-old son, Michael, a high school senior, ready to rock at the PNC. Beem always knew receiving an invitation would be something special, and the event has somehow managed to exceed his high expectations. The Beems attended a cocktail reception on Wednesday and were headed to a gala dinner on Friday evening. Practically everywhere they turn will be a Hall of Fame player, or in the case of the LPGA’s Nelly Korda, the event’s first current No. 1 player. “It’s almost going to feel like the [PGA Championship] Champions Dinner for me,” said Beem, who won the PGA at Hazeltine in 2002, holding off a hard-charging Tiger Woods, who closed with four consecutive birdies. It was the most high-profile triumph of Beem’s three victories on the PGA TOUR. “It’s that same caliber, if not better, seeing all the great champions,” he said. “I could sit there and follow Lee Trevino around all day long, just listening. He came over and spent about 10 minutes with Michael (at breakfast Thursday). It meant the world to me, but Michael, he was beside himself. Just seeing all these guys here, it’s very special.” Rich Beem kept a busy schedule in 2021. He worked 24 events as a commentator for SKY Sports and made eight starts on PGA TOUR Champions, his best finish being a tie for 11th at Sunningdale in the Senior Open Championship presented by Rolex. Rich Beem is 5 feet 8; his son is 6 feet 5. Michael’s sudden high school growth spurt required him to make big adjustments in his swing that have started to show nice results. The last few months he has been playing nicely, hopefully opening some doors to play at the collegiate level. (He already has been accepted to a couple of schools through his academics.) With Dad on the road working, Michael broke 70 for the first time at the Fredricksburg (Texas) Open, shooting 69, and followed the next day by shooting 63 to win the event. Rich Beem said that he didn’t break 70 for the first time until he was a sophomore in college. The two will venture out this morning – they are first off, playing alongside Nick and Matthew Faldo at 10:30 a.m. – looking to play well and to make an already terrific week even better. “We are probably living and dying more by their shots than our shots, by a long stretch,” Rich said. “I will go watch Michael play in junior tournaments and walking outside the ropes, I feel helpless sometimes. But that’s just it. That makes this game so great – there is always something to learn. That’s why Tom Watson is out here [on the practice tee] working on something right now.” Being part of the elite 20-man field has made for some long days and late afternoons on the range (“I’m ready for a nap about now,” Rich joked on Friday afternoon), but Team Beem would not have it any other way. “All the sons out here and their dads are grinding,” Beem said. “It’s what we love to do. We want to put our best foot forward for our sons.”

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