Russell Henley takes three-shot lead at THE CJ CUP @ SHADOW CREEK

ORLANDO, Fla. – Twenty years have passed since Padraig Harrington first faced Tiger Woods on the weekend at a major, and the Irishman has kept a close watch ever since. He doesn’t think Woods is finished. Harrington believes Woods can win another major if he can just get to the final nine holes. “You’d never run Tiger off,” Harrington said, drawing from the two hours he watched Woods play in a 10-hole made-for-TV exhibition last weekend. “But I actually think he might be in a better place than I had thought.” Never mind that the 15-time major champion turns 47 at the end of the month, or that Woods has had as many — if not more — surgeries than he has won majors. Plantar fasciitis in his right foot kept Woods from playing the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas two weeks ago, and he wouldn’t be playing with his 13-year-old son in the PNC Championship this weekend if not for carts being allowed. No matter. “There’s two things that make a golfer — how talented they are and how resilient they are,” Harrington said Thursday after storms washed out the PNC Championship pro-am. “Usually you get very talented, not very resilient; or you get very resilient and not very talented. Tiger, through his whole career, has both of those, which is very unusual. “So I would never doubt.” His views were contrary to Colin Montgomerie saying earlier this week on a podcast he doesn’t think Woods can win again. “Listen, yes, he’s great,” Montgomerie said. “But Tiger doesn’t have to now just get back to the standard he was performing at then. He has to improve it. The standard is improving all the time, and there’s not one or two guys that can beat him now. There’s 22 guys that can beat him. So, it’s Tiger trying to get not back to where he was but to get to a standard he’s never been at before and I don’t think that’s possible. “I can’t see that happening. I’d love it to happen because it’s great for the game. I would love him to win. But I just can’t see it happening.” Woods has played all of 172 holes this year in tournaments — 162 while walking. He tied for 48th in the Masters, withdrew after the third round of the PGA Championship on a cold day at Southern Hills and he missed the cut at St. Andrews. He was in a cart for the team match last Saturday with Rory McIlroy as his partner. Woods said in the Bahamas that “I don’t have much left in this leg,” referring to the right leg that was shattered in a February 2021 car crash in Los Angeles. Harrington and Woods first squared off in the third round of the U.S. Open at Bethpage Black in 2002 — Woods won his second straight major — and they have been friends since then, with Woods having respect for the Irishman’s work ethic. Harrington used to say his goal was to see where he stood through 63 holes, and then show what he has on the final nine. He won three majors in 2007 and 2008. What inspired him from watching 10 holes in the match last week was the speed Woods showed in his swing, which he thought was enough power to keep up with today’s generation and to at least get him to the back nine. “The little bit of extra speed will help him because in the first 63 holes … you know, who would want to be coming down the stretch against Tiger?” Harrington said. “You know he’s capable of doing anything at that stage. I think he’s in a better position to get himself into that last nine holes.” It only takes 27 holes to get to the last nine at the PNC Championship, which Woods is playing for the third time. Woods and Charlie, now 13, finished one shot behind John Daly and his son a year ago. The competition can be serious at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club Orlando, though this is mostly about time spent among fathers, mothers, sons and daughters. With Woods involved, everything always feels bigger, however much time he has left. “I would say we are never really going to know how much is in there because he just continues to do more than we thought he would ever be able to do,” Stewart Cink said. “He continues to defy really all conceivability.”

Click here to read the full article…

Click here to read the full article…

The PGA TOUR heads three hours south of Augusta for The RSM Classic, the second-to-last PGA TOUR event of the calendar year. Tyler Duncan, coming off his Masters debut, will defend his maiden TOUR title while past FedExCup champions Justin Rose, Brandt Snedeker and Henrik Stenson lead the way along with a collection of major champions and Sea Island residents all looking to lift the trophy come Sunday. FIELD NOTES: Plenty of Masters competitors will hit the road from Augusta to Sea Island for The RSM Classic including past Masters winners Danny Willett and Zach Johnson... Each of the past seven winners at Sea Island will look to rekindle some old magic this week including 2019 winner Duncan, who is hoping to become the first golfer to successfully defend his title at The RSM Classic... Davis Love III, the longtime host of the event, will not play in 2020 due to a lingering neck injury... Last year's runner-up (who lost to Duncan in a playoff) Webb Simpson is back to try to avenge 2019's loss... Stewart Cink, Hudson Swafford, Martin Laird, and Brian Gay are winners from the fall who are in the field... Other notable names teeing it up at Sea Island including Jason Day, Shane Lowry, Justin Rose and Tyrrell Hatton. FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 FedExCup points. COURSE: Sea Island Resort (Seaside), 7,005 yards, par 70; Sea Island Resort (Plantation), 7,060 yards, par 72. Yardage subject to change. Tom Fazio redid the Seaside Course in 1999, while tournament host Davis Love III and his brother Mark redesigned the Plantation Course for 2019. STORYLINES: Davis Thompson, the celebrated amateur, will play on the PGA TOUR for the third time this calendar year. He also played the Puerto Rico Open and the U.S. Open - where he led briefly during the first round. Thompson is the No. 1-ranked amateur in the world and will play for the second straight year in Sea Island... Per usual, there are plenty of Sea Island residents teeing it up at The RSM Classic, all of whom are trying to become the first local to actually win the tournament. Kevin Kisner won in 2015 but was living in Sea Island temporarily due to renovations on his home in South Carolina... Five of the 10 RSM Classic winners made the tournament their first PGA TOUR victory including Duncan in 2019. 72-HOLE RECORD: 260, Kevin Kisner (2015) 18-HOLE RECORD: 60, Tommy Gainey (4th round, 2012) LAST TIME: Tyler Duncan topped Webb Simpson in a playoff to win his first PGA TOUR title at The RSM Classic in 2019. Simpson was the highest-ranked golfer in the field and appeared to be the man to beat. But Duncan closed with a 25-foot birdie to force a playoff, which he won on the second extra hole. The pair made pars on the first playoff hole but Duncan nailed a 15-footer for birdie, and the win. Duncan had just re-earned his PGA TOUR card via the Korn Ferry Tour Finals, but his closing 65 was tied for the round of the day. Sebastian Munoz finished third, Brendon Todd finished fourth, and Henrik Norlander, Scottie Scheffler, and KH Lee rounded out the top five. HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Thursday-Sunday, 1 p.m.-4 p.m. ET (Golf Channel) PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday, 9:15 a.m.-4 p.m. ET (Featured Groups) Radio: Thursday-Friday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio).

Click here to read the full article…