Scenarios for Jon Rahm to reach world No. 1 at Torrey Pines

Should there be 46 candles on the birthday cake when Tiger Woods greets the arrival of December 30, we’ll assume few of us will be in attendance to see the glow. No worries, because to celebrate the golfer who has established an endless list of records and produced enough highlights to fill dozens of reels, there are countless ways to commemorate the occasion. May we suggest 46 noteworthy entries that speak to his brilliance: 1. It took Tiger just 291 days from his first round as a professional to rise to No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking, the quickest ascension to the top spot in OWGR history. 2. Tiger has been No. 1 a total of 683 weeks. The next four with the most weeks in the top spot – Greg Norman, Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy, and Nick Faldo – combine for 669 weeks. 3. Who finished first the most in the 31 times Woods was a runner-up? That would be Phil Mickelson, five times. On three occasions it was Vijay Singh. Ernie Els, Jim Furyk, and Trevor Immelman had two each, then there were 17 players who did it once each. 4. In addition to his 15 major titles, he has seven runners-up in majors – three at the PGA, two in the U.S. Open, twice in the Masters – proving that he made the most of his opportunities. 5. His 82 PGA TOUR victories have been spread over seven countries – two each in England and Scotland, one each in Spain, Canada, Ireland, and Japan, and, of course, 74 in the Unites States. His domestic victories have come in 16 different states with Florida (16), California (14), and Ohio (13) his favorite playgrounds. 6. Tiger Woods was the winner of the first FedExCup, in 2007. He then became the first two-time winner of the Cup two years later. Only Rory McIlroy (2016, ’19) has joined him as a multiple winner of the FedExCup. 7. Only once has Woods shot higher than 279 to win a major, that being the 283 he posted to win the 2008 U.S. Open. 8. Tiger Woods is a two-time winner of THE PLAYERS, and the only man to win the tournament in both March (2001) and May (2013). He also won the 1994 U.S. Amateur at TPC Sawgrass in August. 9. In his five Masters wins, Woods is just 17 under par in the first and final rounds. He’s a whopping 54 under in the middle two. His blueprint for winning at Augusta National? Start slow, finish modestly, but kick the field in the gut in Rounds 2 and 3. 10. In the stretch of 288 major championship holes that comprised the Tiger Slam, he made just one triple-bogey and one double-bogey, and played four bogey-free rounds. 11. Jack Nicklaus has the higher total of major wins (18), but Woods’ average margin of victory in his 15 major wins is 4.13. Jack’s average margin of victory is 2.64. 12. If his career was just the 75 tournaments in which he played between 2005 and 2009, Woods’ 31 wins would leave him tied with Jimmy Demaret for 15th on the career list. 13. Ten times between 1997 and 2009 Tiger won the Jack Nicklaus Player Award for Player of the Year. 14. Tiger won the Byron Nelson Award for lowest scoring average nine times between 1999-2009. 15. Tiger won that first FedExCup in style, shooting the lowest 72-hole score of his career (257) to win the 2007 TOUR Championship by eight strokes. He shot 64-63-64 in the first three rounds, the lowest 54-hole score of his career, before closing with a 66. 16. So dominating was Woods that in three different seasons when he led the money list, he totaled more than what Nos. 2 and 3 had combined – 1999 (David Duval and Davis Love III were 2-3); 2000 (Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els); and 2007 (Mickelson and Vijay Singh). 17. One could suggest Woods won seven consecutive major championships (for his age group) – the U.S. Junior Amateur in 1991-93, the U.S. Amateur in 1994-96 and the Masters in 1997. 18. Tiger was all but unbeatable in match play in the summer of 1994, winning the Pacific Northwest Amateur, Western Amateur and U.S. Amateur. His bid to add the California Amateur that year ended in the semifinals, but that tournament was still won by another player named Woods, Steve Woods (no relation). 19. Tiger had an early taste of outplaying PGA Tour icons when he shot 77-74 to Johnny Miller’s 77-77 in a U.S. Open qualifier at Lake Merced in 1992. Neither player advanced, however. Miller was 45 years old and still had another PGA TOUR win in him, claiming the 1994 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Tiger was just 16. 20. One of the first things he said he learned upon enrolling at Stanford in 1994 was that the circle of gifted and talented students – academically and athletically – was enormous. “In high school,” he told reporters, “I set the curve. Here, I follow it.” 21. The World Golf Championships debuted in 1999, Woods’ fourth year as a pro and he promptly took ownership. He won 16 of the first 33 WGCs and has 18 victories in all. 22. Were you to only count his triumphs at Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club & Lodge, Torrey Pines, and Firestone (eight each), Tiger would equal Gary Player’s total of 24 PGA Tour wins. 23. Factor in his five wins at Augusta National, five more at Jack Nicklaus’ Muirfield Village, five at Cog Hill, and four at Doral and Woods has earned 52.4% of his 82 career wins at eight golf courses. 24. By age 6, Woods had already shared stages with three Hall of Famers. There was the well-chronicled appearance with Bob Hope (a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame) on the Mike Douglas Show in 1978; a 1981 appearance on “That’s Incredible” with host Fran Tarkenton (Pro Football Hall of Fame); and in 1982 he played two holes against Sam Snead (World Golf Hall of Fame) at the end of Snead’s outing. 25. Trips to San Diego for the Junior World Golf Championship were rather successful as Woods won five times in four different age divisions over four different courses. He won the 10-and-under division at Presidio in 1984; the 11-12 division in 1988 at Mission Bay; the 13-14 division at Balboa Park in 1989 and ’90; and the 15-17 division at Torrey Pines. 26. Tiger Woods’ win in the 2001 PLAYERS came just weeks before he won the Masters to complete the Tiger Slam, meaning he actually held golf’s five biggest titles simultaneously. 27. Away from the PGA TOUR spotlight, but truly an indicator of just what was about to be unleashed on the golf world grew out of the Johnnie Walker classic in January of 1998. Tied for 18th and eight behind the 54-hole leader, Ernie Els, Tiger came home in 65 to tie Els (73) and then won in a playoff. 28. From the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines in early February 1998 to the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow in May of 2006, Tiger played in 142 consecutive tournaments without missing a cut. And it wasn’t like he was just sneaking under the cutline on Friday afternoon; he won 37 of those 142, or 26%. 29. In 2000, from the second round of the Byron Nelson Classic (May 12) through the end of the season, Tiger was par or better in 47 consecutive rounds. He was 185 under par during this stretch and had a scoring average of 67.51. 30. The 1999 to 2003 stretch was epic: He won 32 of 101 tournaments, a winning percentage of 31.7, and captured seven majors. He won five of six majors from the 1999 PGA to the 2001 Masters – with a fifth-place finish at Augusta in 2000 the lone non-win. He won seven of 11 majors from the 1999 PGA to the 2002 U.S. Open. Bobby Jones, Gene Sarazen, Arnold Palmer and Sam Snead won seven majors in their careers. 31. Then again, 2005-2009 wasn’t too shabby, either: 31 wins in 75 starts, a clip of 41.3, with six majors. 32. In those 10 seasons (1999-2003; 2005-09) Tiger’s longest winless drought was seven tournaments. His longest droughts in 2000 and 2009 were three tournaments. 33. The answer is: Phil Mickelson. The question: Who put a stop to Tiger’s six-tournament winning streak at the 2000 Buick Invitational? Woods had won four in a row to close out 1999, then his first two tournaments of 2000 before Lefty shot 18 under to beat Woods by four. 34. The answer is: Nick O’Hern. The question: Who is the other lefthander to halt an impressive winning streak. Woods had won seven tournaments in a row (last six of 2006, first one in 2007) when O’Hern, an unheralded Aussie, beat Woods in 20 holes in Round 3 of the WGC-Match Play Championship at Dove Mountain outside of Tucson, Ariz. 35. Tiger is one of five players to win the career Grand Slam, but he did it more quickly (only 15 major starts as a professional) than Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, and Jack Nicklaus. 36. Only Tiger and Jack have won the career Grand Slam three times over. 37. The epic run of four straight major wins from the 2000 U.S. Open to the 2001 Masters produced these numbers: 67.69 scoring average for 16 rounds, 65 under par combined, and 15 of his 16 rounds were under par (and he was level par in the other). 38. Tiger did compile an impressive two-year collegiate resume – 11 victories in 26 tournaments and the NCAA individual championship in 1996. In that win, he was steamrolling the field so impressively that he closed with an 80 – and still won by four over Rory Sabbatini. 39. Prelude to the “Tiger Slam:” Seven down with seven holes, left, Tiger plays Nos. 12-18 in 5 under (including a hole-out eagle on the par-4 15th), shoots 31 on the back, 64 in Round 4 and stuns Matt Gogel in 2000 Pebble Beach AT&T Pro-Am, his sixth straight win. “I was amazed, to be quite honest. I will not ever be amazed again,” said Gogel. 40. “Tiger Slam, Act 1:” Again at Pebble, Tiger closes with 67 for 15-shot win in 2000 U.S. Open. “My words probably can’t describe it, so I’m not even going to try,” said Ernie Els. 41. “Tiger Slam, Act II:” Less dominating, but only by a little, Tiger wins the Open Championship by eight at the Old Course. At 24, he completes the career Grand Slam. “He is the chosen one,” said Mark Calcavecchia. 42. “Tiger Slam, Act III:” Becoming only the second player (Ben Hogan, in 1953) to win three professional majors in a season, Woods beats Bob May in playoff at PGA Championship. “Hogan had tremendous focus and I think you’re seeing Tiger is now getting to that,” said Butch Harmon. 43. “Tiger Slam, Act IV:” An unprecedented fourth straight major win is completed at the 2001 Masters and it comes with a final-round 68 while paired with his arch-rival, Phil Mickelson, who shoots 70 and didn’t seem to soak in the atmosphere. “I didn’t watch him play a stroke. I just looked up and saw the ball going in,” said Lefty after Tiger’s birdie at 72nd hole ignites thunder. 44. Tiger was sidelined by knee surgery after winning the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, halting a truly dominant stretch. The 2008 U.S. Open was his 17th win in his last 28 starts. Curtis Strange and Jim Furyk each had 17 wins in their entire careers. 45. That dominant 1999-2000 period? Tiger played 151 rounds and had at least a share of the lead after 50 of them. 46. On March 9, the day before the 2022 PLAYERS Championship gets under way, Tiger will be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame.

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HONOLULU — Joaquin Niemann had no regrets about the 18th hole at the Sony Open in Hawaii. RELATED: Leaderboard | OB stakes added overnight at Sony Open in Hawaii Four days after a pair of pars on the final hole at Kapalua led to a playoff loss, Niemann holed a 50-foot chip for eagle on the 18th hole Thursday for an 8-under 62 and a share of the lead with Jason Kokrak and Peter Malnati. “It was a good way to finish,” Niemann said. “Spent a few days thinking about that last hole, but taking all the positives from the week and pull it out for this week.” They weren’t easy days for Niemann. The 22-year-old from Chile is still too young to have experienced the inevitable losses that pile up in this sport. He played Sunday at Kapalua with Sergio Garcia, who has experienced plenty of failure, and who told him to think about what all went right. So much did on a breezy afternoon at Waialae on a course with dry fairways and smooth greens and low scoring. Niemann’s only bogey was when he fell asleep on a 25-foot birdie putt above the hole at No. 12, ran it 10 feet by the hole and three-putted. The finish was exquisite. Kokrak played bogey-free, and he was as pleased with a 15-foot par putt on No. 1 — his 10th hole of the round — than any of his nine birdies. He had a 25-foot eagle putt for 61 on his closing hole that narrowly missed. Malnati was the only one at 62 who played in the morning, though conditions were similar for much of the day. The group at 64 included Daniel Berger, among the 31 players in the Sentry Tournament of Champions last week on Maui, and Jim Herman, who should have been there. Herman made it to Hawaii a week later than he had hoped and was happier than ever. He recovered from the coronavirus and had his lowest score in his 10th appearance at the Sony Open in Hawaii to get his year off to a good start. He qualified for the Sentry Tournament of Champions by winning the Wyndham Championship, his third career victory. But his COVID-19 test came back positive as he prepared to go to Maui, and self-isolation for 10 days left him no time to get to Kapalua. “I feel pretty good,” Herman said. “Obviously, the low score today helps you feel a little bit better. Didn’t know what to expect coming out this week.” Herman said he had a miserable four days dealing with the virus and still doesn’t have his full taste and smell back. The biggest concern was slight inflammation of the lungs, which pressed against his back and made it difficult to sit. He finally was able hit some golf balls last weekend and only played one round of golf. Scoring was ideal for different reasons than Kapalua on a very different course. The wind off the Pacific shores on the edge of the course is normal. But it’s been dry enough for the ball to roll, helpful on tee shots in the fairway, not so much when it’s off line and head into the rough. There was one other twist at Waialae — out-of-bounds stakes for about 350 yards down the left side of the 18th fairway. The tour erected them this year out of safety to those coming down the 10th fairway, and without the tents and bleachers because of no spectators, it might have been tempting for more players to take their tee shot on 18 down the 10th. That never crossed Niemann’s mind. He hit a high draw that still tumbled through the fairway into the rough, came up just short and finished on a good note. It sure was different from last week. Niemann missed a 6-foot birdie in regulation (and shot 64), and then in a playoff on the par-5 18th, he pulled it slightly and went down a slope left of the green, leaving a tough chip and a par. Harris English won with a birdie putt. “It was the first time that it really hurt me, like finishing a golf tournament,” he said. “Probably one or two days I just keep thinking on how I couldn’t make birdie on 18 and get it done. I was talking with my coach, with my psychologist. We talked for an hour about the whole tournament, not for that 18th hole. It was a good way to take all the positives from that week.” English, hopeful of being only the third player to sweep the Hawaii swing, had three bogeys in a four-hole stretch on his second nine and had to birdie two of the last three holes for an even-par 70. Scoring was so low that only 30 players from the 144-man field were over par. “They have it playing fantastic,” said Webb Simpson, one of 22 players at 65 or better. “I think all us golfers love it for the most part when we see a good drive and the ball bounce 10 feet in the air, it’s a good feeling.”

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Let’s try this again. One year ago the first round of the 2020 PLAYERS Championship was almost completed before the tournament and the PGA TOUR was completely shut down. COVID-19 arrived and was sweeping the country and the decision was made to be safe rather than sorry. RELATED: Power Rankings | Expert Picks | The First Look One year later, the TOUR returns to its flagship event on its most famous course to offer a prize pool of $15 million for the deepest field in golf. Of the top 50 players in the OWGR 48 are on the property this week with only Matthew Wolff (wrist) and Brooks Koepka (knee) unable to participate. From the field of 154, 112 are previous winners on TOUR. This year’s champion will take home $2.7 million and 600 FedExCup points plus a five year exemption on TOUR. THE PLAYERS Stadium Course designed by Pete Dye will serve as host as it has since 1982. The second full edition since the return to March will feature Rory McIlroy as the defending champion as last year’s tournament was cancelled after one round. The over-seeded conditions will apply on the 5,500 square foot greens, 2.5 inches of rough and 26 acres of Celebration Bermuda fairways. Water comes into play on 17 of the 18 holes and 88 bunkers will also gobble up loose shots. Pete Dye plays games with your eyes, head and feet. No lies are flat. Tee boxes are set at off angles. No two holes run in the consecutive direction. No bulkheads or mounds are nearly as close or far as they appear. Your brain, caddy and nervous system are always running at 10 trying to figure out where to attack. Dye’s tracks reward the boldest lines and punish those who don’t place it perfectly. Great shots are rewarded. Good shots can be salvaged. Safe shots will take some navigating to save par. We learned that March is different from May. There’s no chance of the course to be firm and fast this early in the season. The weather and the overseed don’t allow it so fairways get wider (no roll), greens are more receptive and the rough is easier to play from because of the extra grass. I think we should still look back to the last two editions from May because the routing of the course hasn’t changed and we can learn from those two events as well. Last year before the delay, this is what the scoreboard looked like for a point of reference: Hideki Matsuyama 63 – tied course record Si Woo Kim 65 – 2017 champion Christiaan Bezuidenhout 65 – debut round Harris English 65 – only his second round in the 60s from 21 Needless to say this should be a wide open event. The 31 first-time players from 2020 and 2021 combined won’t be at as much of a disadvantage because of the new March start. Eddie Pepperell (not entered) was T3 on his debut in 2019. TPC Sawgrass has catered to all styles over the years. Great ball-strikers, super short games and even recent bombers like McIlroy all have found their way around. Fred Funk hit 45 fairways to win at 48 years old. Si Woo Kim only needed eight rounds to figure it out to win at 21. Kim is the only player in the last 10 events to win with less than 5 previous visits. Experience pays on Pete Dye tracks and on TPC Sawgrass. Recent Event Winners Stats 2020: Event Cancelled After First Day (COVID-19) 2019: Rory McIlroy (-16, 272) Defeated Jim Furyk (not entered) by one shot to win in his 10th appearance. … Played in the penultimate group as he began Round 4 just one back. … Co-leader after 36 holes on 12-under. … Gained just over 13 shots Tee to Green. … Picked up his third victory on a Pete Dye track (Kiawah Island, Crooked Stick). … 15th TOUR victory. … 15th International winner. … Joins Tiger Woods and Henrik Stenson as major, WGC and FedExCup champions who have won THE PLAYERS. … Worst finish in five events leading into the week was T6. Notables: Jhonattan Vegas (T3) posted a bogey-free 66 for his best payday. … Tommy Fleetwood (T5) played in the final group for the first time on TOUR and posted 73. … Dustin Johnson (T5) became just the second player to post all four rounds in the 60s as he enjoyed his best finish in 11 tries. … Brandt Snedeker (T5) co-led the field with 23 birdies. … 2016 champion Jason Day (T8) hits the top 10 for the third time in four seasons. … Brian Harman (T8) only squared seven bogeys for the week. … Hideki Matsuyama (T8) closed 66-67 before opening with 63 in 2020. … Justin Rose (T8) played the final 54 holes in 14-under after opening with 74. … Abraham Ancer (T12) made 23 birdies on his debut to share the lead on the week. … Holding the 54 hole lead for the first time after firing 64, Jon Rahm (T12) closed with 76. … Adam Scott (T12) has 23 rounds in the 60s here. … 2008 winner Sergio Garcia has 24 rounds in the 60s, best all time. … Keegan Bradley (T16) shared the first round lead with Fleetwood with 65. … Webb Simpson (T16) keeps the streak alive of previous champions unable to defend. … Cut was 1-under 143. … Only 11 of the 24 who had played previously in March made the cut. 2018: Webb Simpson (-18, 270) Led by seven after 54 holes and won comfortably by four in the last May event. … Joins the major-PLAYERS-FedExCup Playoff event fraternity as the sixth to do so. … First top 10 in his ninth start at TPC Sawgrass. … Co wire-to-wire winner as he shared the 18 hole lead with five others. … Tied the course record of 63 in Round 2 to set the 36-hole mark on 15-under. … Led by five after 36, also a record. … Led by seven after 54, another record. … Tied Greg Norman on 19-under after 54 holes. … Became only second winner to shoot an over par score (73) and win. … Just third winner to lead in Driving Accuracy. … Loves Bermuda as his best finishes that season were T4 Sony, T5 The Honda Classic, T8 Valspar and T5 RBC Heritage; T21 week before at Wells Fargo. Notables: Charl Schwartzel (T2) picked up his only top 25 to date. … Debutant Xander Schauffele (T2) posted three rounds of 68 or better. … Jimmy Walker (P2) collected his best finish in his ninth start. … Jason Day (T5) bounced back from T60 in his title defense in 2017. … Jason Dufner (T5) grabbed his second top 10 in nine starts. … Keegan Bradley (T7) began his run of form here closing with 66. … Tommy Fleetwood (T7) closed 68-68 to suggest he was figuring it out. … Danny Lee (T7) opened 68-66 before playing the weekend 2-under. … Harold Varner III (T7) made 25 birdies and an eagle. … Brooks Koepka (T11) tied the course record on Sunday with 63 but will miss this year with a knee injury. … 2017 champ Si Woo Kim (T63) extended the streak of defending champions not to hit the top 10 (Adam Scott, 2007; T8). … Most eagles in event history and on TOUR for the season. … Warm temperatures and light wind. … Top 22 players 10-under or lower. … Cut 1-under 143. … Event followed the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow. 2017: Si Woo Kim (-10, 278) Won by three shots to become the youngest champion in history at 21 years 10 months. … Began the final round two shots back. … Bogey-free 69 was the only bogey-free round on Sunday. … Highest winning total since 2008 (Garcia). … Won in only his second start. … Did not lead after any of the first three rounds. … Had seven MC and four WD on the season entering the week. … Becomes only second Korean winner (KJ Choi, 2011). Notables: Louis Oosthuizen (T2) co-led after 36 holes and was one back after 54. … Ian Poulter (T2) posted all four rounds at par or better. … Co-leader after 36 and 54 holes, Kyle Stanley (T4) hung on for his best finish at TPC Sawgrass. … Lucas Glover (T6) shot 32 going out on Sunday but made four bogeys on the back. … Francesco Molinari (T6) was one of five players to post both weekend numbers in the red. … Adam Scott (T6) posted all four rounds par or better. … Brendan Steele (T6) fired 68 on Sunday, tying the low round of the day with Dustin Johnson (T12). … Alex Noren (10th) was the best debutant in the field. … Jason Day (T60) couldn’t defend, but nobody does. … Emiliano Grillo (11th) matched Sergio Garcia (T30) for the round of the day on Saturday with 67. … Pat Perez (T22) shared the low round of the week, 66, with Oosthuizen and Stanley. … Cut was 2-over 146. … Wind picked up on the weekend as the 36-hole lead was 9-under. … Only two bogey-free rounds on the weekend. … Only 12 rounds in the 60s. 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. * – Top 10 finish here since 2015 or past champion Horses for Courses

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