Sleepers: CareerBuilder Challenge

AKRON, Ohio – The FedExCup Playoffs officially begin later this month, but for Adam Scott, his personal Playoffs run starts now. Scott confirmed Wednesday that he will miss the regular season finale and the first two Playoffs events in order to join wife Marie for the birth of their second child. The due date is Aug. 19, the Saturday of the Wyndham Championship. That means Scott’s first Playoffs start would be the third event, the BMW Championship. Only the top 70 players in FedExCup points advance to the BMW – and Scott currently sits 70th going into this week’s World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational. He’ll need to pick up as many FedExCup points as possible at Firestone and at next week’s PGA Championship, and then hope his total is good enough to keep him inside the top 70 while he misses THE NORTHERN TRUST and the Dell Technologies Championship, the first two Playoffs events. “I’ll need to play exceptionally well the next couple of weeks to make it … to the BMW. I need to really jump a lot,â€� said Scott, one of 16 players to qualify for the FedExCup Playoffs in each of its first 10 years. “This is it for me. Two big weeks, it’s a World Golf event and a major. It’d go a long way not just for making the BMW Champ but just for me feeling good about the year, to have a couple good results here these two weeks. It’s just come down to this, and that’s where the focus is at.â€� Scott currently has 576 FedExCup points. A year ago, fellow Australian Marc Leishman ranked 70th in the FedExCup standings when he qualified for the BMW Championship with a total of 853 points. In 2015, George McNeil was 70th with 863 points going into the BMW. If those totals hold true this season, Scott would need to accumulate a little less than 300 points in the next two weeks. Fortunately, each of the next two events offer increased FedExCup points – 550 to this week’s winner, and 600 to the PGA Championship winner. A regular PGA TOUR event gives 500 points to the winner. Scott has advanced to the BMW Championship eight times in his 10 Playoffs appearances, and has reached the 30-man TOUR Championship field seven times. But he faces elimination if he fails to significantly boost his position. Fortunately, he can count on acquiring some FedExCup points this week in the no-cut event in Firestone. Scott has been winless since claiming the 2016 World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship. This season has seen four top 10s, with a best finish being a T6 at THE PLAYERS Championship, but he has failed to be amongst the leaders most of the year. Scott admitted some instability away from the course has contributed to his results. “It’s just been a lot of average golf. I finish not in contention most weeks. Certainly haven’t embarrassed myself, but it’s frustrating because if it’s not one thing, it’s the other,â€� Scott said. “I haven’t been able to put it all together, but I haven’t maybe given myself the best chance to, either. And that’s without trying, but that’s just trying to manage a few other things off the golf course, where my wife and family have been. Plus traveling a little bit more and not having my usual facilities at my fingertips and improvising a little bit more.â€� Scott has also returned caddie David Clark to his bag for the two events, making a change from the original schedule of Steve Williams. Williams and Clark share duties for Scott, but generally Williams – the former caddie for Tiger Woods — is on board for majors and the week before a major. Scott and Williams paired up in 25 of the last 26 majors, including the 2013 Masters triumph, only missing the 2015 Masters when Williams entered a brief retirement. Williams was on the bag for seven of Woods’ eight wins at Firestone Country Club (1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009) and Scott’s win at the course in 2011.

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AUSTIN, Texas — A clash of styles. Two guys emerging in their mid-30s. Fire and … fire. Those are some of the storylines from five matches that caught our eye for Thursday’s second day of action at the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play. RELATED: Tee times | Scoring | Match recaps from Wednesday Group 9: Bryson DeChambeau, USA, (9) vs. Lee Westwood, England, (47), 1:16 p.m. A clash of styles and a matchup of the protagonists from the 2021 Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, where DeChambeau came out on top. Westwood came into this week with 42 matches under his belt in this event (19-22-1) and went deep in 2012 (lost consolation match). Since the start of group play in 2015, he’s gotten out of his group once and lost playoffs to do so twice. The long-hitting DeChambeau is coming back from hand and hip injuries and admits he won’t be at full speed this week in his first TOUR start since late January. He has not made it out of pool play in two previous starts here. Group 6: Justin Thomas, USA, (6) vs. Marc Leishman (37), Australia, 3:06 p.m. Thomas could be building up to something, with top-10 finishes in four of his six starts in 2022. The only exceptions: a T20 at the Farmers Insurance Open, where he fell back with a rough weekend (73-74), and a T33 at THE PLAYERS, where he was on the wrong side of the draw but nonetheless authored a remarkable second-round 69 in the toughest conditions. He hasn’t made it out of pool play since finishing fourth in 2018. Leishman has made it out of pool play twice in his last four starts in this tournament but has never made the quarterfinals. Group 12: Billy Horschel, USA, (12) vs. Tom Hoge, USA, (33), 11:48 a.m. ET In an era being defined by the twenty-somethings, Horschel and Hoge are peaking in their mid-30s. Horschel, the former FedExCup champ, is trending nicely after finishing second at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, T16 at The Honda Classic, and T6 at the WM Phoenix Open. He’s playing the best golf of his life after a 2021 that included wins in this event and the DP World Tour’s flagship event, the BMW PGA Championship. So, too, is Hoge, fifth in the FedExCup after edging Jordan Spieth for his first TOUR win at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. That’s where the similarities end, though, as Hoge is making his first start here, whereas Horschel is the defending champ. Group 13: Tyrrell Hatton, ENG, (13) vs. Si Woo Kim, South Korea, (48), 12:32 p.m. ET Hatton has advanced out of pool play in two of his last three starts in this tournament, compiling a 6-6-2 record going into Wednesday’s first round. If the cool weather and breezes persist, it may benefit him as he is best on difficult courses. Kim is an extravagant talent who became the youngest-ever winner of THE PLAYERS at 21. He’s streaky, though, and has emerged from pool play just once in four tries, only to lose 6 and 5 to Justin Thomas in 2018. Whatever happens, Hatton and Kim bear watching for not just their golf – they are two of the hottest-running players on TOUR. Group 2: Collin Morikawa, USA, (2) vs. Sergio Garcia, Spain, (43), 11:26 a.m. ET The seeds suggest Morikawa is favored here, but seeds can be deceiving. In his one start in this event, last year, Morikawa had a week to forget, losing to Max Homa and eventual champion Billy Horschel. He tied J.T. Poston and didn’t emerge from group play. In short, one of the game’s most ascendant talents has yet to make his mark in Austin. Garcia, on the other hand, has built his career on match play. The Ryder Cup legend was 28-22-1 at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play coming into this week, tied for fourth in the category of most matches won. He finished fourth in 2010 and was a quarterfinalist in 2019 and ’21. The putter may be the difference between two of the game’s pre-eminent ball-strikers.

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