Simpson, Spieth hope to make Presidents Cup team

With the sands to the 2020-21 PGA TOUR season quickly tumbling downward in the hourglass, this is crunch time for those on the bubble in the FedExCup standings. At the 3M Open this week outside Minneapolis, the race to finish in the top 125 to qualify for next month’s FedExCup Playoffs opener at Liberty National (THE NORTHERN TRUST) is very much front and center. RELATED: Leaderboard | Dustin Johnson looks to find form at 3M Open A handful of players on both sides the bubble have arrived at 3M and responded with some of their best golf of the season. With only three weeks remaining in the regular season – which includes next week’s break for The Olympics – count Chez Reavie (119th in the FedExCup standings) among those shining when he most needs to shine. Despite a sloppy bogey-6 at the par-5 18th – a hole he had eagled in the opening round – Reavie followed his opening 66 with a second-round, 4-under 67 to move into contention for the weekend at 3M. He is at 9-under 133. At one point this season, Reavie, who turns 40 in November, missed 10 cuts in 12 starts. In fact, you have to travel back to 2009 to find a season in which he has had as many weekends off as this one (14). Luckily for him, Reavie, eighth in the FedExCup final standings only two years ago, is experienced enough to know that if he kept his head down and kept working hard, eventually his game would turn for the better. It has. He arrived at 3M having missed only one cut in his last six starts, with top-20 finishes at Congaree and John Deere. “It was just more annoying than anything else,” Reavie said of his poor play to start the year. “Wasn’t playing bad, missed a lot of cuts by a shot and golf seemed really tough at the time. You know, I just kind of fought through it, and here we are playing well. I’ve played well the last few weeks, and that’s what I’m going to focus on.” Reavie was flawless through 17 holes on Friday, making five birdies and no bogeys. At the par-5 18th, he drove the ball into the native area down the left side and was only able to advance his second shot about 70 yards. He reached the green with his fourth shot and barely missed his 13-footer for par. Through two rounds, Reavie has been very encouraged by his quality of putting, which bodes well for a solid weekend. “Even like on the last hole, didn’t go in but I hit a great putt and it had every opportunity to go in, so that’s just what I want to focus on for the weekend,” Reavie said. Every player from Nos. 114 through 127 in the FedExCup standings ventured to Minneapolis to try to improve his positioning for the stretch run, trying to find some late-season magic. On a day with temperatures in the 90s and the heat index soaring near 100, the early scoring was proving just as sizzling. Bo Hoag (125th) came through with a 66 Friday, and names on the bubble such as Scott Stallings (117th), Brice Garnett (121st) and Rickie Fowler (124th) were responding well to the pressure of their situations as the second wave of players teed off on Friday afternoon. Fowler, 32, never has missed the Playoffs in his 11 seasons on the PGA TOUR. Hoag, 32 and in his third PGA TOUR season, shot 67 on Thursday and said it was important to keep the pedal down on Friday. He made six birdies, and like Reavie, encountered his lone bogey on his final hole, with Hoag settling for 5 at the challenging 511-yard ninth, where he drove his ball into left-side native area and had to chop out to get back into play. As for the torrid pace of scoring at TPC Twin Cities, which was softened by rains on Thursday? Hoag said he embraces it. “You only have one option,” said Hoag, who has been lifted by recent solid showings at the Memorial (his hometown event in Ohio), where he was T13, and last week’s Barbasol Championship (T11). “You know you’re going to have to shoot a good round or else you’re going to get left behind. There’s no real guessing game. Just got to be pretty aggressive with the scoring clubs in your hands and try to make some birdies out there.” With Friday’s afternoon wave still on the golf course, four players shared the lead at 9-under 133: Roger Sloan (69); Reavie; Hoag; and Jhonnattan Vegas (69). Others on the bubble who finished in the early wave on Friday and made needed moves: No. 118 Camilo Villegas, who played his last seven holes in 4 under (including an eagle at 18) to shoot 69; No. 123 Chesson Hadley (at 3-under 139 after shooting 72); No. 126 Chase Seiffert, who rallied with a bogey-free 67 after shooting 73 Thursday; and No. 131 Michael Thompson, the tournament’s defending champion, who shot 67 to move inside the cutline at 3 under. “There’s a lot to play for this week,” Thompson said.

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Nestled inside the West Coast Swing is a fortnight of bucket-list experiences during which we’re at the midpoint. Simply attending the Waste Management Phoenix Open checks off one box for all fans of the PGA TOUR, but to play Pebble Beach Golf Links even once in a lifetime sits atop the ranking of targets for all golfers. But how about twice in four months? After it anchors this week’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, the host course will gear up in earnest for the U.S. Open in mid-June. As of midday Monday, 13 of the 156 golfers in this week’s field officially are qualified for the season’s third major, and many more entrants will gain entry over time without having to endure sectional qualifying. So, this week presents the bonus of a scouting trip for the major. Those who have flocked to the Monterey Peninsula will be treated to a sampling of what to expect in the U.S. Open. Scroll past the ranking for details on that, how co-hosts Spyglass Hill Golf Club and Monterey Peninsula Country Club’s Shore Course fit in, an explanation of the tournament’s format and more. Tuesday’s Fantasy Insider will include defending champion Ted Potter, Jr., 2014 winner Jimmy Walker, Adam Scott, Patrick Reed and Tony Finau. It also will dive into more detail about the difficulty of each course and how fantasy gamers should approach the tournament. To prepare Pebble Beach for the U.S. Open, primary rough already has been allowed to grow on the perimeters of the fairways. While landing areas will be noticeably tighter than usual, the longest of the grass will be capped at two inches for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. In 2010, when Pebble Beach was striding to the plate to host the U.S. Open, the field split 65.40 percent of the fairways in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am earlier in the year. That represented a decrease of 10-12 percent compared to the years leading into that season. Field averages have fluctuated in between since, but finding the short grass will again have some value this week. Considering that Pebble’s distance of all drives of 271.3 yards was the shortest average among all courses measured last season (and in line with its long-term trend) and that the course’s putting surfaces average a tiny 3,500 square feet, boring golf is great golf amid the best of vistas. This is the 10th consecutive edition of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am for which the current rotation of courses is used. Pebble Beach and Spyglass Hill are par 72s, while MPCC’s Shore Course is a par 71 with five par 3s. Three of MPCC’s par 5s are on the inward nine, so the respective pars are 34 and 37. All three tracks are among the shortest tackled all season, but Spyglass Hill now boasts the longest walk of the trio, if barely. Thanks to an increase of seven yards on the par-3 third hole (to 172 yards), its overall yardage is 6,960 yards, two yards longer than MPCC. Pebble Beach checks is as usual at 6,816 yards. (It was stretched to 7,040 yards for the 2010 U.S. Open.) Severe weather over the weekend caused damage to temporary structures erected for the tournament. Trees also were uprooted, but none of the three courses were affected directly. So, the only twister you’ll see is Ho Sung Choi’s swing. The 45-year-old from South Korea is making his PGA TOUR debut this week (on a sponsor exemption). His action went viral last summer, and then he won the Casio World Open in late November. If he can replicate or improve on the result of Matthew Wolff – he of his own unique swing – at last week’s WMPO (T50), it’ll be a mission accomplished. After every golfer records one round on each course, only the low 60 and ties at the conclusion of 54 holes will play the finale at Pebble Beach. However, just like at every non-major with a cut, the low 70 and ties will collect FedExCup points and official earnings. Furthermore, the low 25 pro-am teams also will compete for their respective title at Pebble Beach on Sunday, even if the pro in the partnership missed the cut in the tournament proper. Because ShotLink will be used only on Pebble Beach for the tournament, lasered statistics including distance of all drives, proximity to the hole and all stroked-gained data will apply only to the host course. Winter is hanging on tightly along the Northern California coast. Daytime highs may not even reach the mid-50s throughout, and even that reflects a mild warming. After a dry opening round, rain is all but guaranteed during each of the last three, so the Poa annua greens likely won’t touch 11-and-a-half feet on the Stimpmeter as designed. Sustained winds at 10-15 mph will accompany the precipitation. Indeed, a bucket-list experience at Pebble Beach.   ROB BOLTON’S SCHEDULE PGATOUR.COM’s Fantasy Insider Rob Bolton recaps and previews every tournament from numerous angles. Look for his following contributions as scheduled. MONDAY: Rookie Ranking, Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Medical Extensions, Power Rankings TUESDAY*: Sleepers, Fantasy Insider WEDNESDAY: One & Done THURSDAY: Champions One & Done * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO, which also publishes on Tuesdays.

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