Seamus Power wins Barbasol Championship on sixth playoff hole for first TOUR title

Hogan. Snead. Nelson. The biggest names in golf have won there, and the biggest names will headline at this week’s Genesis Open at 7,322-yard, par-71 Riviera Country Club. Matt Kuchar and Xander Schauffele, FedExCup Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, are separated by just 8 points. Bubba Watson has won the Genesis three times, Phil Mickelson twice, Dustin Johnson once. Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth are winless here on TOUR, as is Tiger Woods, who will try to address one of the only holes in his golfing resume. THE FLYOVER To go or not to go? Players often try to drive the 315-yard, par-4 10th hole, with mixed results. Simply put, the shallow and well-bunkered green provides a stiff defense whether they’re trying to hit it with their first or second shots. Statistically, 61 percent of players have gone for the green off the tee since 2014, making birdie or better 30 percent of the time. The winners since ’14 are a combined 1-under when going for it and 2-over when laying up. Translation: Going for the green just might be a gamble worth taking. LANDING ZONE The 503-yard, par-5 opening hole provides an unusually elevated tee shot and a gentle start to the round. It has given up the most eagles on TOUR since 2004 (414), and winner Bubba Watson went a combined 5 under there last year, the fourth winner in the ShotLink era (since 2003) to play it in 5 under or better. Nearly 98 percent of the field went for the green in two last year, the highest percentage of any hole on TOUR. WEATHER CHECK  From PGA TOUR meteorologist Wade Stettner: “Rain will continue through the day on Thursday and could be heavy at times, especially during the afternoon hours when a front is forecast to reach LA. Total rainfall on Thursday is expected around 1 inch. Rain will taper off Thursday evening. Scattered showers are possible on Friday with the better chance during the afternoon hours. Dry conditions are forecast on Saturday, but there will be another chance of showers Sunday afternoon. Temperatures will be cool this week with afternoon highs only in the lower 60s each day.â€� For the latest weather news from Pacific Palisades, Calif., check out PGATOUR.COM’s Weather Hub. SOUND CHECK I’m trying not to put too much pressure on myself because a lot of people are pulling for me, and I’m pulling for myself, too. BY THE NUMBERS  1926 – First year the Genesis was played, making it the seventh-oldest active TOUR event, behind The Open Championship (1860), U.S. Open (1895), BMW Championship (1899), RBC Canadian Open (1904), PGA Championship (1916), and Valero Texas Open (1922). 25 – Tiger Woods’ MC a year ago was only the 25th missed cut of his long career. In 17 TOUR starts since, his only MC came at the 2018 U.S. Open. 4 – Rounds of 64 or better already this season for Matt Kuchar, who leads the FedExCup by 8 points after wins at the Mayakoba Golf Classic and Sony Open in Hawaii. 2.814 – Winner Bubba Watson’s Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green last year, second best in the field. He was 21st in SG: Putting (+.767) SCATTERSHOTS Tiger’s to-do list: Woods made his first PGA TOUR start at age 16, in 1992. He missed the cut. Last year he missed the cut again. He’ll make his 13th career start at Riviera this week, the only TOUR course where he’s never won in 10 or more attempts. Black History Month: The Genesis will mark the 50th anniversary of Charlie Sifford’s win at the TOUR’s L.A. stop in 1969 (played at Rancho Municipal G.C.) and the 10th year of the Charlie Sifford Memorial Exemption. Tim O’Neal is the 2019 recipient of the Sifford Exemption, named for the first African-American to play the TOUR in 1960. Spieth has good memories: Jordan Spieth, who flashed some form in the first two rounds of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am before slogging through a forgettable weekend, has never won the Genesis. A T4 finish in 2015 remains his best result in six starts. However, as a member of the Texas golf team he helped the Longhorns win the 2012 NCAA championship at Riviera. DJ going for history: Dustin Johnson, who won the Genesis in 2017 and was runner up in 2014 and ’15, has 19 TOUR wins at age 34. In the last 50 years, only four players have reached 20 wins before age 35: Tiger Woods, Tom Watson, Johnny Miller and Phil Mickelson.

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Three of the biggest names in the sport walked off Shinnecock Hills looking dazed and confused. On the first day of this U.S. Open, they weren’t alone.

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THE OVERVIEW By Cameron Morfit, PGATOUR.COM Equipment issues. Kidney stones. A Ryder Cup hangover. Awaiting the birth of his second child, a son, in December. Life seemed to catch up to Patrick Reed last season. He came down from his electrifying Singles victory over Rory McIlroy, one of the most indelible moments in golf in 2016, and last season failed to win a tournament for the first time since he started on TOUR in 2013. At eighth in the Official World Golf Ranking when he traveled to Maui for the Sentry Tournament of Champions in January, Reed dropped out of the top 20. Still, it was hardly a lost cause for the five-time winner Reed, 27, who showed signs of his old self with a tie for second at the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow, ensuring he would make his second Presidents Cup team. He advanced all the way to the TOUR Championship and finished 22nd in the FedExCup. And in compiling a 3-1-1 record, mostly with his usual wingman, Jordan Spieth, Reed was back to his old self for the U.S. Team’s easy victory at Liberty National.  If the positive trend continues, the 2018 season will see Reed and his wife, Justine, adjusting to being the parents of two, and Reed resuming his winning ways. These things take time, but such incandescent talent usually wins out in the end. Oh, and there’s always another opportunity to represent his country, this time in Paris. Imagine the kind of fun Reed could have in the City of Lights. BY THE NUMBERS How Patrick Reed ranked in Strokes Gained statistics during his last full season on the PGA TOUR. FEDEXCUP Current 2017-18 position: 95th Playoff appearances: 5 TOUR Championship appearances: 4 Best result: 3rd (2016) INSIGHTS FROM THE INSIDERS PGATOUR.COM’s Insiders offer their expert views on what to expect from Patrick Reed in 2018. TOUR INSIDER by Ben Everill Captain America is still searching for a way to bring his team golf mentality to individual tournaments and if he ever does succeed in that mission, he will be the ultimate force to be reckoned with. For now, he is still an enigma. Brilliant some rounds and weeks and not so much the next. Made a late-season push in 2017, almost winning the PGA Championship, but then was unable to really press it forward in three fall starts. The talent is clearly there, but will we see enough of it? Click here to follow Ben on Twitter FANTASY INSIDER by Rob Bolton When you look at the numbers, it’s confounding that he’s rarely inside the top 10 in ownership percentages in PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO. That he averages in the high 20s for starts per season does dilute his dispersion, but he’s as dependable as it gets. Instead, the upset is that Captain America didn’t crack the top 15 in this month-long series. Full-season gamers usually pull the trigger at some point around 10th overall since he’s averaged one top-25 in every two starts over the past four seasons. Click here to follow Rob on Twitter EQUIPMENT INSIDER by Jonathan Wall Reed has alternated drivers between Callaway’s Big Bertha Alpha 816 DDD and GBB Epic Sub Zero. Inserted a Titleist 716 T-MB 2-iron during the Wells Fargo Championship. Chose Callaway’s Chrome Soft ball because he picked up 10-12 yards with it off the tee. Callaway MB1 irons are the commercialized version of the company’s RAZR X Muscleback designed for better players who prefer workability over forgiveness. Click here to follow Jonathan on Twitter STYLE INSIDER by Greg Monteforte Reed takes a no-frills approach to his style. He tends to favor high contrast looks by frequently playing bright red off of black and navy blue. If I had to give Reed two New Year’s fashion resolutions, one would be to eliminate contrast by matching his belt to his trousers. The other would be to push the boundaries of his comfort zone by adding new colors to his wardrobe. Click here to follow Greg on Twitter

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