Simpson hopes to hold on amid shifting winds

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OVERVIEW One of the goals for Jon Rahm, who turned 24 last month, will be to make this season less like last season and more like 2017. At least with respect to putting. Two seasons ago Rahm was one of the hottest players in golf as he was 48th in Strokes Gained: Putting and 2nd in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee. He won the Farmers Insurance Open and pushed Dustin Johnson to the brink in the championship match of the World Golf Championship-Dell Technologies Match Play. Rahm looked like a complete player. Last season that wasn’t the case, as he dropped all the way to 135th in SG: Putting while dropping just one spot to 3rd in SG: Off-the-Tee. As a result, Rahm went long stretches without popping up on any leaderboards. He finished fourth at the Masters but missed the cut at the U.S. Open and The Open Championship. Then he was back with a T4 at the PGA Championship. When the putter is hot or at least warm, Rahm remains dangerous. Although his performances were uneven in 2018, he picked up his second TOUR win at the CareerBuilder Challenge, won the Spanish Open, and beat Tiger Woods in singles in his first Ryder Cup appearance. Asked at the Hero World Challenge how he would sum up 2018, Rahm replied: “This year was a big year of personal growth more than my golf game. I was actually quite surprised how well I played compared to what I had going on in my personal life.â€� He didn’t elaborate but certainly a huge off-course moment for Rahm was getting engaged to his long-time girlfriend. All in all, it wasn’t a bad off-year for Rahmbo. – By Cameron Morfit Click here to see who else made the Top 30 list. BY THE NUMBERS FEDEXCUP UPDATE Current 2018-19 position: 129th Playoff appearances: 2 TOUR Championship appearances: 2 Best result: 5th in 2017 SHOTLINK FUN FACT Jon Rahm is one of seven players who have averaged four or more birdies per round in each of the last two PGA TOUR seasons. INSIDER INSIGHTS PGATOUR.COM’s Insiders offer their expert views on what to expect from Jon Rahm in 2019. TOUR INSIDER: A lot of TOUR pros run hot, but Rahm can reach molten levels of intensity. For the most part, you’d have to say he has channeled it well. Two wins in two full TOUR seasons? Not bad at all. But golf is most infuriating on the greens, where Rahm dropped to 135th in Strokes Gained: Putting last season, and one can’t help but wonder if there’s a connection and his temper is hurting him. Can he cool the fire and let it happen on the greens? To be continued. – By Cameron Morfit FANTASY INSIDER: Not surprisingly, after experiencing the challenge of balancing focus of his imminent debut in the Ryder Cup with what was a quiet FedExCup Playoffs, he regained traction this fall with a T4 in the European Tour’s finale in Dubai. It was his ninth top five of 2018 alone. This is why he’s special; we actually can count on numerous chances no matter the test. He scaled to a career-best No. 2 in the Official World Golf Ranking when he won the CareerBuilder Challenge in January, so invest confidently in a run back toward the top spot as he settles into his third full season on the PGA TOUR. — By Rob Bolton EQUIPMENT INSIDER: Rahm made equipment news ahead of the 2018 Ryder Cup by using a custom European-flag themed SuperStroke putter on his TaylorMade Spider Tour Red putter. Despite his success at the Ryder Cup as a rookie, and upsetting Tiger Woods in his singles match, he’s since switched back to the familiar black-and-white SuperStroke grip. Maybe more surprisingly, however, was a switch backwards with his driver. While Rahm was an early adopter of the TaylorMade M4 driver, using the TwistFace technology for much 2018, he switched back to a TaylorMade M2 2017 driver during the FedExCup Playoffs, and continues to use that driver – with his familiar Aldila Tour Green shaft. Will Rahm switch into the new TaylorMade M5/M6 technology in 2019? We’ll keep a close eye on it. — By Andrew Tursky STYLE INSIDER: Rahm’s explosive game can only be matched by the energetic colors he brings to the course. While he favors solid tops and bottoms, he often pairs bright hues with light neutrals to create eye-catching contrast. He could improve his style in 2019 by losing the white belt and matching his belt to his pants. — By Greg Monteforte

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GREENSBORO, N.C. — Russell Henley shot 1-under 69 on Saturday to take a three-stroke lead in the Wyndham Championship and move a round away from his first PGA TOUR win in four years. Henley, who tied the lowest 36-hole score on TOUR this year, couldn’t keep up that pace at Sedgefield Country Club. Yet, he rolled in a 33-foot putt for eagle on the par-5 15th and went on to finish at 15-under 195 as he tries to win his fourth career title and first since the 2017 Houston Open. RELATED: Tee times moved up for final round Tyler McCumber, the son of 10-time TOUR winner Mark McCumber, shot a 66 and was at 12 under in second. He’s searching for his first win. The group of six four shots behind at 11 under included three FedExCup Playoff outsiders in Rory Sabbatini, Scott Piercy and Roger Sloan now on track to tee it up in the 125-man field for the postseason that starts next week at THE NORTHERN TRUST. Sabbatini, the Olympic silver medalist last month, has used his momentum from Tokyo to make a charge in the FedExCup standings. His 69 included a birdie on the 17th hole that moved him from outside — he began the week at No. 141 — to a projected place of No. 122. Piercy, too, continued his charge into the Playoffs with a 68. He was first man out at No. 126 when the week began. But his third straight round in in the 60s projected him to 93rd. Sloan also needed a big week to continue his season and he’s gotten it so far with a second straight 64 to move from 131st in the standings to No. 102. Others tied at 11 under were Branden Grace, Kevin Kisner and Kevin Na. Grace shot 64, Kisner 66 and Na 67. Former FedExCup champion Justin Rose, who started the week 138th in the standings, shot 69 after a bogey on the final hole. He’s 126th in the projections. There are no guarantees that current results mean anything come the next round — or next hole. Just ask Tyler Duncan, who made five birdies on his front nine to move up 61 spots to 101st. But Duncan played the back nine at 3 over for a 69 — and dropped to 150th by round’s end. It won’t be a normal final round either as the PGA TOUR will start earlier with the first golfers going off at 7 a.m. to beat expected bad weather later in the day. Golfers will also go off in threesomes and from the first and 10th tees. Henley, who entered at No. 46, was locked into the Playoffs long before this event began. He’s focused on finishing out the victory, something he could not do two months ago when he was in a three-way tie for the top after three rounds of the U.S. Open. Henley shot a final-round 76 at Torrey Pines to fall back. He looked as if he’d regained his form with his eagle on No. 15. But Henley missed a 13-foot par putt on the 18th to drop a shot. McCumber’s career best came this year with a second at the Corales Puntacana Resort and Club Championship in the Dominican Republic last September. He had missed his past six cuts before getting hot this week. “You’ve got to stay in the process and I feel like I’ve been doing that pretty well and getting rewarded for it through the first three rounds this week, so taking that momentum into tomorrow,” he said.

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