Sense of urgency in the air at Wyndham Championship

The race for the FedExCup this week takes us to Austin Country Club in Texas, and the race for the Walter Hagen Cup. World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play takes center stage for golf’s version of March Madness.   Dustin Johnson won last year after an epic final against Jon Rahm, and Jason Day won it all the year before that, also in Austin. Rory McIlroy prevailed in 2015 at TPC Harding Park, the last iteration of the event before it moved to Texas. “You need a ruthless streak,â€� McIlroy told PGATOUR.COM last year, when asked what makes a good match play golfer. “And selfishness, in a way. And pride. I’m too proud to be beaten. I won’t let anyone get up on me.â€� McIlroy is coming off a win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, and in addition to winning in ’15, he was a runner-up in 2012. He was also a semifinalist, losing an epic tilt to eventual champion Day, in 2016. Day will be another popular pick to win it all. He’s going for his third WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play title in the last five years.   Five former champs are in the field, including Dustin Johnson, McIlroy, Day, Matt Kuchar, and Ian Poulter. Adam Hadwin, who missed last year because of his wedding, is one of 14 players making his Dell Technologies Match Play debut in Austin this week as 59 of the top 64 in the world prepare for the season’s third WGC. World rankings determine the top 16 seeds, with a blind draw filling out each pod or pool of four players. Round-robin play will determine who gets to advance, and matches can be halved. Players who wind up tied atop the points table will go into a playoff, and pool winners will then advance to the knockout rounds. Scenic Austin Country Club, nestled next to Lake Austin, is a 7,108-yard, par-71 with two distinctly different nines. The front is on higher ground and more typical of Texas Hill Country, while the back is a lowlands nine alongside the lake. PGA TOUR LIVE on Wednesday/Thursday/Friday is scheduled to air from 10:15 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET (Featured Groups). We will move to Featured Holes coverage at 4 p.m. ET. Featured Holes are the 13th (Par-4) and 17th (Par-3).   RADIO on Wednesday-Friday can be heard from 2 to 8 p.m. ET; Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on Sirius XM and PGATOUR.COM) More: Tee times (Note: All times Eastern; FedExCup ranking in parentheses.) WEDNESDAY Broadcast time: 10:15 a.m. – 8 p.m. Twitter Window: 10:15 a.m. – approx. 11:25 a.m. Justin Thomas (1) vs. Luke List (17) A rematch of the playoff that decided The Honda Classic, this one features two long hitters; one of them, Thomas, is among the hottest players in the game and the other, List, is still seeking his first PGA TOUR victory. Although Thomas is coming off a win and a playoff loss (WGC-Mexico Championship) in his last two starts, he has racked up an uncharacteristically poor 1-5-0 record at Austin C.C.    Tee time: 10:52 a.m. off the 1st Francesco Molinari (140) vs. Patton Kizzire (2) Kizzire is already a two-time winner this season, with victories at the OHL Classic at Mayakoba and the Sony Open in Hawaii. He’s a relatively new arrival amongst the game’s elite and will be making his first start in this event. Meanwhile, the veteran Molinari of Italy has struggled so far in 2018, with his best result a T25 at the WGC-Mexico Championship. Tee time: 11:03 a.m. off the 1st Jordan Spieth (66) vs. Charl Schwartzel (163) Neither player is on form, with 11-time PGA TOUR winner Spieth languishing at a surprising 169th in strokes gained: putting (-.349). He’s also coming off a missed cut at the Valspar Championship, where he won in 2015. At least the former University of Texas golfer will be in his element, geographically speaking. The South African Schwartzel also comes to the Lone Star State on the heels of a missed cut, at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard. His best result this year is a T28 at THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES. Tee time: 12:20 p.m. off the 1st THURSDAY Broadcast time: 10:15 a.m. – 8 p.m. Twitter Window: 10:15 a.m. – approx. 11:15 a.m. Jordan Spieth (66) vs. Haotong Li (NR)  Spieth would win if this were merely a battle of name recognition, but keep in mind he’s not off to the best start this season, nor did he advance out of pool play last year. Li, meanwhile, is sixth on the European Tour’s money list after winning the Omega Dubai Desert Classic, pipping Rory McIlroy by a shot, in late January.   Tee time: 10:52 a.m. off the 1st Jason Day (8) vs. Jason Dufner (103) They share a first name and a common set of initials, but only the J.D. from Australia is a two-time champion of this event. Although there’s truth to the old saw that anyone can beat anyone on any given day, eighth-seeded Day already has one win this season, at the Farmers Insurance Open, while 32-seed Dufner’s best is a T11 at the Sentry Tournament of Champions. Tee time: 11:36 a.m. off the 1st FRIDAY Broadcast time: 10:15 a.m. – 8 p.m. Twitter Window: 10:15 a.m. – approx. 11:15 a.m. Featured matches TBD based on competition

Click here to read the full article…

MEXICO CITY – South African Erik van Rooyen made nine birdies for a course record-tying 62 and is just one off the lead of Bryson DeChambeau (63) halfway through the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship. Now comes the prospect of keeping it going, nudging his world ranking ever so slightly upward and potentially cracking the field for his first start in THE PLAYERS Championship. “I’ve got to get in the top 50 in two weeks’ time,â€� said van Rooyen, who came into the week 52nd. Related: Leaderboard | Bubba Golf enjoying mini-revival | Cabrera Bello a one-man WGC Relatively unknown in America, van Rooyen plays full-time on the European Tour, but he is not without his bona fides here. He captained the University of Minnesota golf team, and it was during his collegiate career, on a Spring Break trip, that he saw the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass for the first time. “I just walked around the grounds,â€� he said. “We walked 18, 17, got a bit of a tour of the clubhouse. It was maybe junior year, with my teammates. We played in the morning somewhere, and Coach was like, ‘OK, guys, a special little treat: We’re going to Sawgrass. With his caddie not feeling well and his trainer on the bag for Thursday’s first round, van Rooyen went 3 over for his first nine holes before a chip-in eagle on his 10th hole, the par-4 first, turned things around. (He shot 1-under 70.) His regular caddie returned Friday, when van Rooyen could do no wrong. Fittingly, the career-low round came on his 30th birthday. “A little bit of a gift to myself,â€� he said. What would he savor most, if he’s able to keep it going and crack THE PLAYERS? “Sixteen, seventeen and eighteen,â€� he said. “I remember watching Adam Scott win it a long time ago, and thinking that was super cool, and since then I’ve really wanted to play it.â€� Considering he’s gone 13 under for the last 27 holes and shows no signs of slowing down, he appears to have all but booked his tee time. But where is this coming from? Even van Rooyen isn’t sure. He won the 2019 Scandinavian Invitation, holding off Matt Fitzpatrick and Henrik Stenson for his maiden European Tour victory, but his best result this year is a T12 at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship in January. “I haven’t played fantastic golf in Europe, with our stretch in the Middle East,â€� he said. “But off the golf course, I’ve been playing really well, hitting some really good shots, doing really good things, and I was kind of waiting for it to come together on the golf course, and today was the day.â€� Two more good rounds and he could be headed back to TPC Sawgrass – this time with a scorecard in his hand.

Click here to read the full article…

Click here to read the full article…