Sleeper Picks: WGC-Workday Championship at The Concession

THE OVERVIEW Dustin Johnson leads the PGA TOUR in driving distance with a 312.7-yard average. This week at the RBC Heritage, he takes on a course that doesn’t require much distance off the tee. In fact, of the 50 courses on the PGA TOUR last season, Harbour Town produced the shortest driving distance average and the fewest percentage of 300-yard drives. So, is DJ worried that his most recognizable weapon will be marginalized? Uh, no. “You’ve still got to hit good golf shots, no matter what you’re hitting off the tee,” said Johnson, the South Carolina native making his first start in Hilton Head since 2009. “I like this golf course. I like tight, tree-lined golf courses. It’s what I grew up playing. It’s not like it’s anything new.” Johnson estimates that’ll he still be able to use driver a handful of times each round, depending on wind conditions. There are three par 5s, but he doesn’t expect it to use it on all those holes. Of course, anybody who has seen DJ’s rise to world No. 1 knows that his game is much more well-rounded than just hitting it long off the tee. His strength gives him an advantage anywhere from tee to green, and his short game is ranked inside the top 15 on TOUR. He was pleased with his ball-striking last week at the Masters, but his putter didn’t cooperate, rendering him a non-factor down the stretch while finishing tied for 10th. This week, his putting will be tested on Harbour Town’s small greens. But even though Johnson hasn’t played this course in a while and won’t pull driver very often from his bag, he’s still one of the heavy favorites. “Last time I checked, he’s the No. 1 golfer in the world,” said defending champ Wesley Bryan, paired with DJ in the first two rounds. “He’s the best golfer on the planet. So as long as we’re playing the game of golf, I think that he’s got a good chance of winning anywhere he tees it up. “There’s a lot of holes he doesn’t have to hit his driver. He can hit his 2-irong and be out there with a lot of guys that are hitting driver. It’s an advantage of have that length, especially on this golfer course.” Bryan was asked what it would be like if Dustin tried to win this week without putting a driver in his bag. “That would kind of be like telling me to take putter out of the bag,” Bryan said. “That’s the best weapon he’s got. He definitely has to use it. He drives it plenty straight enough, he hits it far, but he hits it plenty straight. So he can still be able to use it a fair number of times out here.” How would DJ respond to that request? “Well, no,” he said, drawing a laugh. “I have a hard time beating guys with all my clubs, without taking one out.” THREE PLAYERS TO PONDER Dustin Johnson The best news for DJ coming out of the Masters? He didn’t slip on any stairs and injure his back. Luke Donald If ever a player was overdue to win an event, it’d be Donald, a five-time runner-up at the RBC Heritage. Matt Kuchar Won here in 2014 – hard to believe that was his last win on the PGA TOUR. He’s had 32 top-10 finishes since then. THE FLYOVER The 472-yard par-4 18th was easier in 2017 than it was the previous year, but it remains one of the PGA TOUR’s most difficult closing holes. A year ago, the stroke average was 4.151, which tied for 12th among the toughest closest holes. In 2016, the average was 4.415, ranking it third most difficult. Despite the difficulty of the hole, player can take solace in the fact that they will likely hit the fairway – last season, 94.27 percent of all players found the fairway at 18, the highest percentage of any single hole on TOUR. THE LANDING ZONE The drivable 332-yard ninth ranked among the 20 easiest par 4s on the PGA TOUR last season, with a scoring average of 3.771. That made it easier than the par-5 15th. Nearly 28 percent of all players went for the green last year, with four eagles and 128 birdies recorded. Here’s a look at where all tee shots landed last year. WEATHER CHECK From PGA TOUR meteorologist Stewart Williams: “High pressure building from the west will provide mostly sunny skies on Wednesday with highs in the 60s. The high will shift east Thursday into Friday allowing a warming trend to occur with highs in the 70s each day under sunny skies. The warmest day will be Saturday with highs in the upper 70s before an approaching cold front brings a good chance for showers and thunderstorms Sunday afternoon into the evening hours.â€� For the latest weather news from Hilton Head, South Carolina check out PGATOUR.COM’s Weather Hub. SOUND CHECK You have to do everything well. You can’t just say the long hitters or iron players will do well. All aspects of the game. You have to hit it in the fairway, you have to be in the proper position in the fairway to be able to attack the flag. And you obviously have to putt well. But you look at the players that have won here, it’s not one style of player. BY THE NUMBERS 3,700 – The average green size, in square feet, at Harbour Town. The course is regarded as having the smallest greens on the PGA TOUR. 273.4 – Average drive, in yards, by the field last year. That’s the lowest of any tournament on TOUR. 69.28 – Stroke average by Jim Furyk at the RBC Heritage, the best stroke average of any player at the event (minimum 18 rounds) since 2003. Luke Donald is second at 69.38. SCATTERSHOTS Of the top 30 players in FedExCup points, 14 will be in action at Harbour Town, led by Patton Kizzire (2), Dustin Johnson (7) and Paul Casey (10). Kizzire trails No. 1 Justin Thomas by 440 points – that’s the largest separation between No. 1 and No. 2 the week after the Masters since 2009. Luke Donald’s five runner-up finishes at the RBC Heritage ties for the third most by any player at any official PGA TOUR event since 1934. The only players who exceed it – Jack Nicklaus at the RBC Canadian Open (7) and Phil Mickelson at the U.S. Open (6). Saturday is Plain Nation Day at RBC Heritage, with all fans encouraged to wear plaid. It’s appropriate since the winner receives a plaid jacket. In addition, to honor the 50 years of the RBC Heritage, the historic lighthouse behind the 18th hole will be wrapped in plaid.

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ORLANDO, Fla. — Lee Westwood made a pair of 30-foot putts over the final three holes Saturday, one for eagle and the other a closing birdie, for a 7-under 65 that gave England’s ageless wonder a one-shot lead in the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard. RELATED: Leaderboard | Tyrrell Hatton continues charging up leaderboard at Bay Hill Westwood turns 48 next month and is feeling younger by the years. Now he goes up against U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau, whose 68 included a birdie on the par-5 sixth hole in which he cut off so much of the water he had only 70 yards for his second shot on the 531-yard hole. Corey Conners of Canada, who started with a one-shot lead, could only manage a 71 on a cool, breezy day at Bay Hill with only a few drops of rain. He also was one shot behind. “It’s nice to still be playing in these tournaments,” Westwood said. “You’ve got to be top 50 in the world and if you would have said to me 20 years ago will you still be top 50 in the world at 48 I might have been slightly skeptical. And it just shows that I’m still capable of playing well in these tournaments with all the good young players around me and obviously contending, because that’s what I’m doing this week.” Sunday was shaping up as another thriller at Bay Hill. Jordan Spieth opened with a birdie and a hole-in-one, took the lead by holing a bunker shot on the par-3 seventh, saved par after a tee shot into the water and shot 68 with the kind of round he’d rather do without. Spieth prefers boring golf, and this was anything but that. He was two shots behind, along with former PGA champion Keegan Bradley, who had the low score of the week at 64. Spieth didn’t have the only ace. Jazz Janewattananond made on on the 14th hole that thrust him into the ix with a 69, leaving him four shots behind in a group that included Rory McIlroy, who bogeyed the last for a 72. Despite such a pedestrian round, McIlroy was very much in contention. They will be chasing Westwood, who first played the Arnold Palmer Invitational in 1998. He was at 11-under 205. Westwood posted his lowest score ever at Bay Hill and made only six pars. He had eight birdies and the eagle on the 16th hole, along with a pair of three-putt bogeys. Westwood has five victories since turning 40, including last year in Abu Dhabi, among the strongest fields on the European Tour. He rallied to win the Race to Dubai late last year, his third time finishing the year as Europe’s No. 1. So this didn’t surprise him, especially on a course that fits his eye, even though he has only one finish in the top 10. “I haven’t lost any of my length and I haven’t lost any of my enthusiasm to go and work in the gym,” Westwood said. “My nerves are still intact, I still get into contention and enjoy it rather than kind of back off.” Spieth is getting used to being in contention, too. He had chances in Phoenix and Pebble Beach, and he was in the peripheral of contention at Riviera. Starting four shots behind, he made up ground quickly with an 18-foot birdie on the first hole and then hit a 5-iron that rolled up the right side of the green, turned toward the cup and dropped for an ace. “That was obviously a really cool moment,” Spieth said. He will play Sunday with Tommy Fleetwood, who had a 68 and was three behind. Spieth had to play as a single most of Saturday when Justin Rose, who made a 9 on the third hole, withdrew soon thereafter citing back spasms. DeChambeau got one of the loudest cheers of the day by hitting into the rough. The biggest gallery lingered behind the sixth tee to see if he would go for the green. He aimed well to the right, but it still was a thrill to them to see DeChambeau grab driver and blast away. The fans packed behind the ropes on the other side of the water let out a huge cheer when his ball descended and tumbled into the rough, 70 yards from the pin. “Oh, man, I felt like a kid again, for sure,” DeChambeau said. “It was exciting, especially when you pull it off. It was almost like winning a tournament. It’s kind of the feeling I had. It was like, `Oh, I did it.’ I got the same chills and feeling when I saw it clear and there was no splash. I gave the fans what they wanted.” The tournament isn’t decided until Sunday, and with hardly any rain, the greens are unlikely to lose their speed and firmness. McIlroy likes his position. Westwood likes his even more.

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