Sentry Tournament of Champions, Round 1: Leaderboard, tee times, TV times

In the final round of the John Deere Classic, Bryson DeChambeau rolls in a 14-foot birdie putt to punctuate a final-round 65 and a one-shot win over Patrick Rodgers at TPC Deere Run. Welcome to the Monday Finish, where DeChambeau, 23, fires a back-nine 30 to become the second straight first-time winner on the PGA TOUR, and the 10th overall this season. FIVE OBSERVATIONS 1. Putting so often tells the story on TOUR, and it did again at the Deere, where DeChambeau was second in strokes gained: putting (1.873) for the week. Considering he was 195th in that stat (-.594) coming into the Deere, it was a huge improvement. And he didn’t even need to go side-saddle to do it. Also, DeChambeau’s birdie putt from 14 feet, 1 inch at the last, which he punctuated with an exuberant celebration, was his 15th made putt of more than 10 feet for the week. That was not only the best in the field, it was the best of his young career. 2. Patrick Rodgers, the 36- and 54-hole leader who bogeyed the relatively easy 14th and 17th holes to lose by a shot, looks like he’ll win sooner rather than later. It wasn’t like he gave away the Deere. He shot a 1-under 70, and very nearly holed a must-make chip shot from behind the 18th green. That chip shot, which must have taken DeChambeau’s breath away, is reason for optimism. So is the fact that Rodgers embraced being in the lead. With his solo second, he jumped all the way to 52nd in the FedExCup and is now well positioned for a deep playoff run.   3. Steve Stricker, who will captain the U.S. Presidents Cup team at Liberty National this fall, keeps proving he’s still relevant on TOUR. First the 50-year-old pride of Wisconsin got through sectional U.S. Open qualifying, then he finished T16 at Erin Hills, and now he’s gone 65-64 on the weekend to finish T5 at the Deere. Oh, and don’t look now, but Stricker heads to The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale this week after finishing fourth at Troon last year.  4. Although there are exceptions, players who do well at TPC Deere Run tend to keep doing well there. Of the six past champions in the Deere field, four finished in the top 10. Stricker, Zach Johnson and Jonathan Byrd all finished T5 at 15 under, and Brian Harman finished T10. Sean O’Hair finished MDF (missed the Saturday cut), and Ryan Moore missed the Friday cut. Then again, players who don’t do well at the Deere don’t lack hope for the future. In his only other start at TPC Deere Run as a sponsor’s exemption in 2015, DeChambeau missed the cut. 5. You can’t overstate the Tiger Effect on TOUR, a rush of great young players who watched golf on TV when Woods was in his prime and who are now hoisting trophies themselves. The latest 20-something winner, DeChambeau at the Deere, comes a week after 23-year-old Xander Schauffele at The Greenbrier Classic. If you’re doing the math at home, 22 of 36 wins on the PGA TOUR have come from 18 different players under 30. That’s a TOUR record, up from the previous single-season high of 16 players who won 22 times in 2013-14.  FIVE INSIGHTS 1. Only 11 players have won on TOUR the week prior to winning a major, most recently Rory McIlroy at the 2014 World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational. He went on to win the PGA Championship the next week. The last player to do so before McIlroy was Woods at the 2007 WGC-Bridgestone followed by the PGA Championship. 2. Before DeChambeau’s performance at the Deere (1.873 in sg: putting, second best in the field) he had never ranked in the top 10 in that stat in any tournament. He also made a quantum leap in average distance of putts made, going from T182 on TOUR (67’ 4’’) entering the week to 5th (99’1’’) at the Deere. 3. Two stats that go nicely together: DeChambeau was just T32 in driving accuracy (75%) but was second in proximity to the hole on approach shots from the rough (23’1’’). 4. Rodgers’ solo second was his best result since a T4 at the Farmers Insurance Open, and his best result ever. (He finished T2 at the 2015 Wells Fargo Championship.) With his third top-10 finish this season, he vaulted from 62nd to 39th on the points list to make the U.S. Presidents Cup team that will take on the Internationals at Liberty National, Sept. 28-Oct. 1. 5. Of those on the bubble to make the U.S. team, Wells Fargo Championship winner Brian Harman helped himself the most. A past champion at the Deere, Harman finished T10 at TPC Deere Run this time around to move up to ninth on the points list. Winner DeChambeau still has his work cut out for him, having gone from 87th to 43rd. Another win would help that. TOP 3 VIDEOS 1. Kelly Kraft’s hospitality-tent par. 2. Daniel Berger’s fantastic recovery. 3. Bryson ends with a bang!

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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — At some point, the green must come into view. It’s the flag lolling on the breeze or the sun glinting off the pin, but you can see it way down there in the distance, and so you move ever forward toward something meaningful. That was the message the PGA TOUR conveyed in announcing its newly rejiggered 2020 schedule, and that was the message TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan underlined as he spoke Friday to CNN, ABC World News Tonight and Good Morning America, The Dan Patrick Show, the TODAY Show, CNBC, and NBC’s Lunch Talk Live with Mike Tirico. Monahan addressed interviewers from a makeshift set in THE PLAYERS Championship media room foyer at the TOUR’s Headquarters. In a sign of the times, there was dais, no satellite truck, no teams of producers or A/V experts. Instead, he sat on a stool and spoke into an open laptop or via phone. It was a partly cloudy day, some golfers playing TPC Sawgrass outside, everyone adhering to social distancing protocols. “People were starving for inspiration,â€� Monahan said as he addressed the lineup of shows. “Golf provides that, and sports provide that. We’ve been working day and night with local, city, state and federal officials to determine the right sequence to come back in the safest and most responsible way possible for players, caddies and constituents.â€� Feedback has been positive, no surprise. Players had buy-in; Monahan estimated there have been 10 conference calls with the PGA TOUR Policy Board and Player Advisory Council. If the new schedule holds, the Charles Schwab Challenge, June 11-14, will restart a condensed season that now will feature 36 tournaments instead of the original 49, the first four of which (at minimum) will be played without fans. That’s uncharted territory for the TOUR. Of course the COVID-19 crisis could have other ideas. Testing will play an important role; Monahan said he expects to have protocols in place by the time play resumes. Given how the ground has shifted over the last two months, though, it’s hard to predict where we’ll be in June. “We’re going to have an open mind,â€� he said. Since the cancellation of THE PLAYERS Championship on March 12, and suspension of the season, players have given online cooking shows (Anirban Lahiri), delved into gaming (Bryson DeChambeau and others), and played left-handed golf (Justin Thomas, Rickie Fowler, Brooks Koepka). Several contributed to a video for PGA TOUR fans. They just haven’t played tournament golf. Fans, meanwhile, have sought refuge in old tournament telecasts, and everyone has wondered where and when they’ll get their next haircut. Now, after daily meetings of the TOUR’s crisis-management team, plus coordination with the PGA of America, Augusta National Golf Club, the USGA, The R&A, the European Tour and the LPGA, there’s actual live golf scheduled for the not-too-distant future. That, in itself, is reason for optimism. “I love that the @pgatour put something out there,â€� FedExCup No. 2 Justin Thomas wrote, in part, on Instagram. “If it happens or not is an unknown since everyone’s safety remains the top priority, but to have them put the effort to show us a plan is great. “I’d rather have something to look forward to,â€� he added, “understanding it may change, than look back and say, ‘Wow I wish we would have had a plan if things got better.’â€� Golf could lead the way back; the TOUR is the first major sports organization to announce its planned return. That’s perhaps no surprise; as Monahan pointed out in making the media rounds, “Our sport lends itself more than any other sport to social distancing.â€� Several interviewers asked him about being part of the Presidential Council to reopen the country, to which Monahan said, “It’s an honor to be invited to be part of it. There aren’t too many times when people come together within and outside of our industry to problem-solve.â€� To understand what was required of golf’s governing bodies, consider that the RBC Heritage – originally scheduled for this week – is now where the U.S. Open used to be, June 18-21. The U.S. Open at Winged Foot is now scheduled for Sept. 17-20, which technically will be the second event of the 2020-21 (wraparound) FedExCup season. The Masters, which would have crowned its champion last Sunday, is slated for Nov. 12-15, after the Houston Open (at least that looks familiar) and before The RSM Classic (not familiar). The PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park, which went from August to May for the first time last season, was bumped back to August (6-9) again. And that’s just for starters. Every season is a jigsaw puzzle, but the coronavirus pandemic tipped the table over so that exactly half the pieces were dislodged and dangling by a thread. (Scribes were already preparing their mid-season reports.) Restoring order was – and remains – complicated. What’s more, Monahan added, the TOUR has 93 players from 28 countries and territories to take into consideration. Of those, 25 players – plus approximately 35 caddies – are currently outside the United States, with travel restrictions and border closures to consider as players determine their ability to play the Charles Schwab Challenge and beyond. That’s a lot of moving parts, and June 11 is a long way off. Things could change yet again. “This will be something we will continue to have to monitor, market to market,â€� Monahan said. “If change is called for, then we have to be open to change as it relates to health and safety.â€� Medical professionals. Testing protocols. Local, state and federal guidelines and regulations. Travel restrictions. The governing bodies. Individual tournaments. Broadcast partners. More than 3,000 charities. Other than that, there’s not much to think about. But the green is starting to come into view, the flag is waving in the distance, and that matters whether or not we have the exact yardage right.

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PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico – Notes and observations from the third round of the Mayakoba Golf Classic at El Camaleon Golf Club.  LEADING LIGHTS KUCHAR BUILDS LEAD Matt Kuchar shot a 6-under 65 to reach 20-under and build up a four-shot lead over Whee Kim (66) at the steamy Mayakoba Golf Classic on Saturday. Richy Werenski (67) and Danny Lee (67) are at 15-under, five back, with everyone else at least six shots behind. This marks the best-ever 54-hole score for Kuchar, 40, a seven-time PGA TOUR winner who finished 76th in the FedExCup last season after being in the top 20 for eight straight seasons. “I can’t imagine doing better through 54 holes,� said Kuchar, who had shot 64-64 the first two rounds. “I did think about it today that it would be nice to get to 7-under to match my first two rounds. … I’ve felt really, really good for three days.� Kuchar hit nine of 14 fairways at El Camaleon Golf Club, where accuracy off the tee is crucial. He’s 34 of 42 in that stat for the week, tied for third in the field. He also continued to hit greens (15 of 18), tame the greens (28 putts), and scramble well (eight of 10 for the week). His only hiccup was a bogey at the par-4 14th, of the two hardest holes Saturday. “This week it’s come together,� he said. “It’s been very satisfying.� Kuchar has used a local caddie this week as his regular caddie, John Wood, takes the week off to attend a reunion. David Giral Ortiz, who caddied for Mexico’s Armando Favela as he won a Mayakoba qualifier two weeks ago, has been the leader’s lucky charm, Kuchar said. Since finishing T3 at Mayakoba in ’08, he had played here just once, doing little besides make the cut. His most recent victory came at the 2014 RBC Heritage. NOTABLES CHAMP’S TOUGH ENDING. Cameron Champ, who won the Sanderson Farms Championship two weeks ago, was still in contention with an outside chance but double-bogeyed the 18th hole for a 69. He went from four off the lead to six back and in a tie for fifth. FOWLER DISAPPOINTED. Rickie Fowler three-putted from what he estimated to be four feet at the 12th and shot 69 to reach 10-under, but at 10 back he’s too far behind. “A little sloppy,� he said. “I missed a few short ones today that cost me probably at least three shots.� FINAU 8 BEHIND. Tony Finau, 9th in the FedExCup, shot 67, one of the better rounds of the day, but is still only 12-under and eight shots off the lead. He’s tied for 15th place. KIZZIRE STRUGGLES. Patton Kizzire was making a good show of it in his first title defense but struggled with a third-round 72 to fall to 10-under, 10 shots off the lead. OBSERVATIONS FURYK FOCUS RETURNS. Jim Furyk has gone from focusing on 12 players’ games to focusing on one player’s game after his turn captaining the U.S. Ryder Cup team. Now he’s trying to ascertain just exactly where he is with that one game, and seeing positive signs after a third-round 66 got him to 13-under total and into a tie for eighth. “It’s kind of fun to get back to playing again,� said Furyk, 48, who made par on 18 after his ball grazed the lip twice, once on his approach and once on his birdie putt of roughly five feet. When he closed with a 63 for a T4 at the Wyndham Championship last summer, it was his first top-five finish since the 2016 U.S. Open (T2). A 17-time PGA TOUR winner who won the 2010 FedExCup, he slipped to 141st and failed to make the Playoffs last season. “It was a lot of weeks where I didn’t really think about golf for me that much,� he said. Now he’s hoping starts at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open (MC), Mayakoba and RSM Classic will help him assess his game. “I’ve got a lot of things I need to improve on,� Furyk said. “Had a lot of time off, had a lot of injuries the last few years.�  OFF DAY FOR MEXICO. It’s been a banner year for Mexico on TOUR, with four Mexican players earning full status for this season, and seven total teeing it at Mayakoba. Of the four made the cut at Mayakoba—Abraham Ancer, Jose de Jesus Rodriguez, Armando Favela and Oscar Fraustro—Ancer leads the way after a 67 got him to 13-under. Alas, Ancer’s 4-under score was better than his three countrymen combined, with Rodriguez (72) admittedly struggling in the heat and Favela (70) and Fraustro (71) mostly standing in place on moving day. QUOTABLES Toucan has brought me good luck.I don’t think you could drink enough.It was a lot of weeks where I didn’t really think about golf for me that much. CALL OF THE DAY For play-by-play coverage of the final round of the Mayakoba Golf Classic, listen at PGATOUR.COM. SHOT OF THE DAY

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