Sleepers: John Deere Classic

Medical extensions in order of the 2017-18 PGA TOUR Eligibility Ranking. • In the only start on his medical extension, Ben Crane missed the cut at the Safeway Open. He fell 84.294 FedExCup points shy. However, because he had already achieved conditional status, he will play out of no worse than Category No. 30 in the Eligibility Ranking for the remainder of the season. ^ – Qualified for conditional status if he fails to meet the terms on his medical. % – If a golfer eligible on merit for a PGA TOUR event elects to play the PGA TOUR Champions the same week, he will be charged one start against his medical. & – Bronson Burgoon is fully exempt as a Web.com Tour Finals grad, so he will play out of no worse than Category No. 26 in the Eligibility Ranking. However, if he meets the terms of his medical, he’ll be promoted to Category No. 22. # – In the field at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open as of Oct. 29. * – Because the FedExCup points structure was modified for the 2016-17 season, when golfers on medicals granted to time missed before the conversion earn FedExCup points in a tournament in 2017-18, they will be credited with the values distributed through the 2015-16 season. Thus, both “FedExCup points scored” and “FedExCup points remaining” for these golfers reflect the distribution through 2015-16 and not actual FedExCup points earned that apply to their FedExCup ranking in the 2017-18 season.

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ATLANTA – Patrick Reed shot a 2-over 72 in the first round of the TOUR Championship at East Lake in his first start since being hospitalized with double pneumonia. He made four bogeys and two birdies in his first action in nearly a month. “My energy was OK,” Reed said. “My speed is not there yet, obviously. Where I really notice it is kind of on iron shots and on setting up and having to hit an exact number, it just seemed to be a hair off. But the good thing is my short game didn’t leave me.” Reed, who hasn’t played since the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational (T31) in Memphis, missed the first two greens in regulation but got up and down both times to save par. He planned to take some time off to get healthy after injuring his ankle in Memphis, but wasn’t home long before he was diagnosed with pneumonia in both lungs. He missed the first two events of the FedExCup Playoffs, the THE NORTHERN TRUST and BMW Championship, after being hospitalized. “I went in Thursday of NORTHERN TRUST,” Reed said. “I was in there for, it felt like I was in there forever. I think I was in there for five or six days.” Asked if his life was ever in danger, he didn’t hesitate. “Oh, yeah,” he said. “No, first couple days they were sitting there telling me that make sure you text your family quite a bit, talk to your family, because you just don’t know. I mean, this is not good. We’re not in a good spot right now.” What made it tougher was he was alone, what with COVID limiting hospital visitors. “Those first two days the only thing that was going through my mind is I’m not going to be able to tell my kids goodbye,” Reed said. “I’m not going to be able to tell them I love them. I’m not going to be able to tell my wife that I love her and give her a hug.” He was given the go-ahead to fly and be at cabin pressure starting Monday, he said. He’s still doing breathing exercises to try and clear his lungs, he added. Still, at least he’s playing again.In need of a pick from U.S. Ryder Cup Captain Steve Stricker, who will make his six selections next week, Reed hit just six greens in regulation but was 8 of 12 in scrambling. His health didn’t hinder him, he said. And he felt optimistic looking forward. “I’m just getting stronger every day,” he said. “I look forward to tomorrow going out and hopefully continuing to hit fairways. I hit 10 fairways today and if I continue doing that and playing from the short grass out here, we’re going to start dialing in the irons and keep the short game sharp and make some putts.”

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The PGA TOUR returns this week to the Sanderson Farms Championship at the Country Club of Jackson in Mississippi. Some of the players looking to earn early FedExCup points include defending champion Sergio Garcia, Will Zalatoris, Matthew Wolff, Zach Johnson and former FedExCup champions Brandt Snedeker and Bill Haas. Here’s everything you need to know to follow the action, including Featured Groups for PGA TOUR LIVE. Leaderboard Full tee times HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Thursday-Sunday: 4 p.m.-7 p.m. ET (Golf Channel), times subject to change. PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday, 8 a.m.-7 p.m. (Featured Groups). Radio: Thursday-Friday, 1 p.m.-7 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, 2 p.m.-7 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio). TOURCast: Get shot-by-shot info in real time with shot tracks and video with TOURCast. TOUR Pulse: Get the PGA TOUR app to utilize TOUR Pulse, which provides users the ability to experience a mix of content, such as video highlights, written hole summaries and stat graphics on every player after every hole they complete. FEATURED GROUPS Sergio Garcia, Sebastian Munoz, Peter Malnati (Tee times) Brandt Snedeker, Gary Woodland, Chesson Hadley (Tee times) Sam Burns, Sungjae Im, Corey Conners (Tee times) Matthew Wolff, Joel Dahmen, Carlos Ortiz (Tee times) MUST READS The First Look Power Rankings Expert Picks Insider: Chesson Hadley’s big leap Who Monday qualified?

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