Sleeper Picks: Mayakoba Golf Classic

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THE OVERVIEW By Ben Everill, PGATOUR.COM After his breakthrough win at the OHL Classic at Mayakoba in November, Patton Kizzire finished the fall as the FedExCup points leader and the man to chase in 2018. It’s a big step forward in a career that has shown promise but had lacked the desired consistency. Kizzire had a runner-up finish in each of his first two seasons on the PGA TOUR, along with eight top 10s. But last season, he missed as many cuts as he made, with his mental toughness put to the test. But this fall, the tall strapping former mini-tour grinder held off none other than Rickie Fowler in Mexico for his breakthrough win and the confidence garnered is set to catapult him into a huge season. Asked after his victory if he’s leaving Mexico as a different player, Kizzire replied: “Same player, different resume. It gives me a lot of confidence to beat such a great field here, and to finally get my first win, it gives me such great vibes. I’m excited to take that confidence into my future tournaments and the rest of my career.â€� TOP 30 PLAYERS TO WATCH IN 2018: We’ll countdown our list with one new player each day in December. Click here for the published players. MORE: Top 30 explanation and schedule It came after back-to-back top 10s at the Sanderson Farms Championship and the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. It’s evident this Auburn grad is trending in the right direction. And now, with the luxury of knowing his card is secured for this season and two more after it, the shackles have been released. It should free him up to trust his ball-striking more and allow his sometimes-hot putter to work him into contention more often. But he will have to secure up his accuracy off the tee to really take things to the next level. While he got away with 58 percent of fairways in the fall, those numbers are likely to catch up with him over a full season. Kizzire will be buoyed by the knowledge all four previous players to lead the FedExCup heading into the new year have gone on the make the TOUR Championship that season. So, the 31-year-old’s record of bowing out in week two of the Playoffs in each of the last two seasons is likely to be broken. Click here to follow Ben on Twitter FEDEXCUP Current 2017-18 position: 1st Playoff appearances: 2 TOUR Championship appearances: 0 Best result: 82nd (2016) BY THE NUMBERS INSIGHTS FROM THE INSIDERS PGATOUR.COM’s Insiders offer their expert views on what to expect from Patton Kizzire in 2018. TOUR INSIDER by Cameron Morfit Kizzire turns heads with his height at 6-feet-5, but with his mental game finally coming around, the sky is the limit for this 31-year-old from Auburn. It’s not just that he won for the first time at the OHL Classic at Mayakoba; it’s how he did it, holding off Rickie Fowler on a mentally taxing, 36-hole Sunday. “I wanted to see how I’d respond to that,â€� said Kizzire, a veteran of the Web.com Tour and the Hooters Tour. Self-belief will help going forward, as would fairways and greens. Always a gifted putter, Kizzire could win again soon if he elevates his tee-to-green stats with instructor Todd Anderson. Click here to follow Cameron on Twitter FANTASY INSIDER by Rob Bolton It’s fitting that he’s atop the FedExCup standings over the holidays since he’s done some of his best work in the fall. However, given he concluded the first two autumns of his career at a respective 16th and 13th and still hasn’t advanced to the third leg of the Playoffs, there’s legitimate concern for another letdown. The original curiosity when he broke onto the PGA TOUR was that he was a late bloomer. Now 31 years of age – older than the likes of Keegan Bradley, Kevin Chappell, Billy Horschel, Jason Day, Rory McIlroy and Rickie Fowler to name a few more accomplished contemporaries – Kizzire’s ramp into his prime is steeper than most, but he’s in that magical third season when it has come together for so many before him. Click here to follow Jonathan on Twitter EQUIPMENT INSIDER by Jonathan Wall Switched to a mixed Titleist 718 iron setup at the Safeway Open that includes T-MB (4-iron), CB (5-6) and MB (7-PW). The T-MB helps with gapping and ball flight at the top of the set. Replaced Titleist 915D4 driver with 917D3 the first week it was available at Quicken Loans National. Vokey SM6 Oversize K has changed slightly, keeping the width but changing the bounce angle for conditions. Has offset added to the wedge for an old school look.  Click here to follow Jonathan on Twitter STYLE INSIDER by Greg Monteforte Off the course, Kizzire is all about hunting and fishing, making his Columbia Sportswear shirts a natural fit for him. Look for him to stick with what works best for him in 2018 — classic looks with traditional colors and fits. Click here to follow Greg on Twitter

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Should there be 47 candles on the birthday cake when Tiger Woods greets the arrival of Dec. 30, we’ll assume few of us will be in attendance to see the glow. No worries, because to celebrate the golfer who has established an endless list of records and produced enough highlights to fill dozens of reels, there are countless ways to commemorate the occasion. May we suggest 47 noteworthy entries that speak to his brilliance: 1. It took Tiger just 291 days from his first round as a professional to rise to No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking, the quickest ascension to the top spot in OWGR history. 2. Tiger has been No. 1 a total of 683 weeks. Second-most is more than 350 week behind. The next four on the list combined for 669 weeks. 3. Who finished first the most in the 31 times Woods was a runner-up? That would be Phil Mickelson, five times. On three occasions it was Vijay Singh. Ernie Els, Jim Furyk, and Trevor Immelman had two each, then there were 17 players who did it once each. 4. In comparison to his 15 major titles, he has just seven runners-up in majors – three at the PGA, two in the U.S. Open, twice in the Masters – proving that he made the most of his opportunities. 5. His 82 PGA TOUR victories have been spread over seven countries – two each in England and Scotland, one each in Spain, Canada, Ireland, and Japan, and, of course, 74 in the Unites States. His domestic victories have come in 16 different states with Florida (16), California (14), and Ohio (13) his favorite playgrounds. 6. Tiger Woods was the winner of the first FedExCup, in 2007. He then became the first two-time winner of the Cup two years later. Rory McIlroy, who has a record three titles, is the only other multiple winner of the FedExCup. 7. Only once has Woods shot higher than 279 to win a major, that being the 283 he posted to win the 2008 U.S. Open. 8. Tiger Woods is a two-time winner of THE PLAYERS, and the only man to win the tournament in both March (2001) and May (2013). He also won the 1994 U.S. Amateur at TPC Sawgrass in August. 9. In his five Masters wins, Woods is just 17 under par in the first and final rounds. He’s a whopping 54 under in the middle two. His blueprint for winning at Augusta National? Start slow, finish modestly, but kick the field in the gut in Rounds 2 and 3. 10. In the stretch of 288 major championship holes that comprised the Tiger Slam, he made just one triple-bogey and one double-bogey and played four bogey-free rounds. 11. Jack Nicklaus has the higher total of major wins (18), but Woods’ average margin of victory in his 15 major wins is 4.13. Jack’s average margin of victory is 2.64. 12. If his career was just the 75 tournaments in which he played between 2005 and 2009, Woods’ 31 wins would leave him tied with Jimmy Demaret for 15th on the career list. 13. Ten times between 1997 and 2009 Tiger won the Jack Nicklaus Award for Player of the Year. 14. Tiger won the Byron Nelson Award for lowest scoring average nine times between 1999-2009. 15. Tiger won that first FedExCup in style, shooting the lowest 72-hole score of his career (257) to win the 2007 TOUR Championship by eight strokes. He shot 64-63-64 in the first three rounds, the lowest 54-hole score of his career, before closing with a 66. 16. So dominating was Woods that in three different seasons when he led the money list, he totaled more than what Nos. 2 and 3 had combined – 1999 (David Duval and Davis Love III were 2-3); 2000 (Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els); and 2007 (Mickelson and Vijay Singh). 17. One could suggest Woods won seven consecutive major championships (for his age group) – the U.S. Junior Amateur in 1991-93, the U.S. Amateur in 1994-96 and the Masters in 1997. 18. Tiger was all but unbeatable in match play in the summer of 1994, winning the Pacific Northwest Amateur, Western Amateur and U.S. Amateur. His bid to add the California Amateur that year ended in the semifinals, but that tournament was still won by another player named Woods, Steve Woods (no relation). 19. Tiger had an early taste of outplaying PGA Tour icons when he shot 77-74 to Johnny Miller’s 77-77 in a U.S. Open qualifier at Lake Merced in 1992. Neither player advanced, however. Miller was 45 years old and still had another PGA TOUR win in him, claiming the 1994 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Tiger was just 16. 20. One of the first things he said he learned upon enrolling at Stanford in 1994 was that the circle of gifted and talented students – academically and athletically – was enormous. “In high school,” he told reporters, “I set the curve. Here, I follow it.” 21. The World Golf Championships debuted in 1999, Woods’ fourth year as a pro and he promptly took ownership. He won 16 of the first 33 WGCs and has 18 victories in all. 22. Were you to only count his triumphs at Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club & Lodge, Torrey Pines, and Firestone (eight each), Tiger would equal Gary Player’s total of 24 PGA Tour wins. 23. Factor in his five wins at Augusta National, five more at Jack Nicklaus’ Muirfield Village, five at Cog Hill, and four at Doral and Woods has earned 52.4% of his 82 career wins at eight golf courses. 24. By age 6, Woods had already shared stages with three Hall of Famers. There was the well-chronicled appearance with Bob Hope (a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame) on the Mike Douglas Show in 1978; a 1981 appearance on “That’s Incredible” with host Fran Tarkenton (Pro Football Hall of Fame); and in 1982 he played two holes against Sam Snead (World Golf Hall of Fame) at the end of Snead’s outing. 25. Trips to San Diego for the Junior World Golf Championship were rather successful as Woods won five times in four different age divisions over four different courses. He won the 10-and-under division at Presidio in 1984; the 11-12 division in 1988 at Mission Bay; the 13-14 division at Balboa Park in 1989 and ’90; and the 15-17 division at Torrey Pines. 26. Tiger Woods’ win in the 2001 PLAYERS came just weeks before he won the Masters to complete the Tiger Slam, meaning he actually held golf’s five biggest titles simultaneously. 27. Away from the PGA TOUR spotlight, but truly an indicator of just what was about to be unleashed on the golf world grew out of the Johnnie Walker Classic in January of 1998. Tied for 18th and eight behind the 54-hole leader, Ernie Els, Tiger came home in 65 to tie Els (73) and then won in a playoff. 28. From the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines in early February 1998 to the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow in May of 2006, Tiger played in 142 consecutive tournaments without missing a cut. And it wasn’t like he was just sneaking under the cutline on Friday afternoon; he won 37 of those 142, or 26%. 29. In 2000, from the second round of the Byron Nelson Classic (May 12) through the end of the season, Tiger was par or better in 47 consecutive rounds. He was 185 under par during this stretch and had a scoring average of 67.51. 30. The 1999 to 2003 stretch was epic: He won 32 of 101 tournaments, a winning percentage of 31.7, and captured seven majors. He won five of six majors from the 1999 PGA to the 2001 Masters – with a fifth-place finish at Augusta in 2000 the lone non-win. He won seven of 11 majors from the 1999 PGA to the 2002 U.S. Open. Bobby Jones, Gene Sarazen, Arnold Palmer and Sam Snead won seven majors in their careers. 31. Then again, 2005-2009 wasn’t too shabby, either: 31 wins in 75 starts, a clip of 41.3%, with six majors. 32. In those 10 seasons (1999-2003; 2005-09) Tiger’s longest winless drought was seven tournaments. His longest droughts in 2000 and 2009 were three tournaments. 33. Very few people saw one of the most impressive days of Tiger’s career. It was the first day of the 1996 Pac-10 Championship at Big Canyon. Woods shot 61-65 to open up a 14-shot lead on the field (the same margin by which he won). “Everybody was shell-shocked,” said Arizona State head coach Randy Lein. Both of Woods’ rounds broke the previous course record (66). “So far I’m low amateur,” joked the player in second. The lowest score that week by a player not named Tiger was 68. 34. The answer is: Nick O’Hern. The question: Who is the other lefthander to halt an impressive winning streak. Woods had won seven tournaments in a row (last six of 2006, first one in 2007) when O’Hern, an unheralded Aussie, beat Woods in 20 holes in Round 3 of the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play at Dove Mountain outside of Tucson, Ariz. 35. Tiger is one of five players to win the career Grand Slam, but he did it more quickly (only 15 major starts as a professional) than Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, and Jack Nicklaus. 36. Only Tiger and Jack have won the career Grand Slam three times over. 37. The epic run of four straight major wins from the 2000 U.S. Open to the 2001 Masters produced these numbers: 67.7 scoring average for 16 rounds, 65 under par combined, and 15 of his 16 rounds were under par (and he was level par in the other). 38. Tiger did compile an impressive two-year collegiate resume – 11 victories in 26 tournaments and the NCAA individual championship in 1996. In that win, he was steamrolling the field so impressively that he closed with an 80 – and still won by four over Rory Sabbatini. 39. Prelude to the “Tiger Slam:” Seven down with seven holes, left, Tiger plays Nos. 12-18 in 5 under (including a hole-out eagle on the par-4 15th), shoots 31 on the back, and 64 in Round 4 to stun Matt Gogel in the 2000 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, his sixth straight win. “I was amazed, to be quite honest. I will not ever be amazed again,” said Gogel. 40. “Tiger Slam, Act 1:” Again at Pebble, Tiger closes with 67 for a 15-shot win in 2000 U.S. Open. “My words probably can’t describe it, so I’m not even going to try,” said Ernie Els. 41. “Tiger Slam, Act II:” Less dominating, but only by a little, Tiger wins The Open by eight at the Old Course. At 24, he completes the career Grand Slam. “He is the chosen one,” said Mark Calcavecchia. 42. “Tiger Slam, Act III:” Becoming only the second player (Ben Hogan, in 1953) to win three professional majors in a season, Woods beats Bob May in a playoff at the PGA Championship. “Hogan had tremendous focus and I think you’re seeing Tiger is now getting to that,” said Butch Harmon. 43. “Tiger Slam, Act IV:” An unprecedented fourth straight major win is completed at the 2001 Masters and it comes with a final-round 68 to win by two 44. Tiger was sidelined by knee surgery after winning the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, halting a truly dominant stretch. The 2008 U.S. Open was his 17th win in his last 28 starts. Curtis Strange and Jim Furyk each had 17 wins in their entire careers. 45. That dominant 1999-2000 period? Tiger played 151 rounds and had at least a share of the lead after 50 of them. 46. On March 9, the day before the 2022 PLAYERS Championship began, Tiger was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. He shared the mantra – “Train hard. Fight easy.” – that his father Earl used to guide him, and that Tiger now shares with his kids. “I made practicing so difficult, hurt so much, because I wanted to make sure that I was ready come game time,” Tiger said in his speech. “I hit thousands of balls, hands bleeding, aching, just so that I could play in a tournament.” 47. No tournament better exemplifies the new era of his career than the PNC Championship, which Tiger has now played with son Charlie for the past three years. Charlie, 13, is just beginning his own golf career. He hasn’t beaten his father but he has outdriven him. Tiger also serves as his son’s occasional caddie, including this year’s Notah Begay Junior Challenge. Said Tiger: “It’s hard to describe, because it’s so amazing to be able to be with Charlie out there and fight through it together and do it as a team. … Lots of lessons learned but I think overall the big picture is he thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a lot of fun for both of us.”

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