Slow and steady, Sungjae Im withstands pressure at The Honda Classic

Wine country. Three post-round concerts (including Billy Idol, whose real name, by the way, is William Michael Albert Broad). Fresh faces and a fresh start – and a familiar defending champ — for a new PGA TOUR season. It’s Safeway Open week. Here’s a look at what you need to know as we enter the fall portion of the 2018-19 campaign. THE FLYOVER Few closing holes on the PGA TOUR are easier than the par-5 18th on the North Course at Silverado. The 575-yard hole played to a stroke average of 4.690 last season, making it the seventh easiest closing hole. Four eagles were made on the hole, with 46 percent of all second shots attempting to reach the green (just over 10 percent were successful). LANDING ZONE What do the 360-yard 8th hole at Silverado and the famed 315-yard 10th hole at Riviera have in common? Each played to a stroke average of 4.055 last season. Only one par-4 hole shorter than Silverado’s 8th was more difficult last season – the 354-yard 10th at the Plantation Course at Kapalua. More players do not go anywhere near the green, opting to find the wider portion of the fairway for a short iron into the green. Here’s a look at where all tee shots landed in 2017. WEATHER CHECK From PGA TOUR meteorologist Wade Stettner: “There is a slight chance of showers Thursday morning with clearing skies by Thursday afternoon. Sunny skies are forecast from Friday through Sunday with cool morning temperatures and pleasant afternoon highs. High winds are possible on Sunday as a front drops through the central valley of California.â€� For the latest weather news from Napa, California, check out PGATOUR.COM’s Weather Hub. SOUND CHECK I do love the fresh start here, being back to zero. BY THE NUMBERS 50.3 – Percentage of fairways hit by the Safeway Open field last season. That was the second lowest percentage of any course recorded by ShotLink. The toughest was Firestone South (50 percent). 50 under – Brendan Steele’s cumulative total under par at the Safeway Open since 2014. That’s the best score to par by any player in that stretch. 21 – Number of rookies on the PGA TOUR this season. SCATTERSHOTS This week offers players the first opportunity to earn FedExCup points this season. Ending the fall portion of the schedule has proven to be an important barometer. In each of the last five seasons, the FedExCup leader after the end of the fall events has reached the 30-man TOUR Championship. Former Oakland A’s all-star pitcher Mark Mulder in the field thanks to a sponsor exemption. Mulder has won the American Century Celebrity Golf Championship three times and was also the runner-up at the event this summer. Cameron Champ led the Web.com Tour in driving distance last season (343.1-yard average) en route to earning his TOUR card. He also ranked a respectable 48th in driving accuracy. Said Champ: “I kind of created a shot I like to hit, just kind of my ‘get in the fairway” I call it. It’s kind of a lower shot that I’m very comfortable with if I’m under pressure or if I’m having a bad day. If I can’t really find a fairway, I’ll usually go to that so I think that’s really helped me with the driving aspect.â€�

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SILVIS, Ill. — Two words — one name, actually — drew a wide smile Sunday from Alex Stewart that answered a question that hadn’t yet been asked. The mere mention of Willie Mack carries that kind of currency these days on the Advocates Professional Golf Association Tour, which will continue its race to the Lexus Cup with the schedule’s penultimate event, the APGATour Deere Run, Monday and Tuesday. The 36-hole tournament is being contested at the TPC Deere Run course where Mack scored his second PGA TOUR check in as many weeks just eight days ago at the John Deere Classic. It will serve as a prelude to the season-ending APGA Tour Championship Atlanta Aug. 9-10 at TPC Sugar Loaf in Duluth, Ga. Highlighted by a Friday round of 66, Mack finished 61st at the Deere. That followed a 71st place finish a week earlier at the Rocket Mortgage Classic near his hometown of Flint, Mich., which followed a T62 at the Korn Ferry TOUR’s BMW Charity Pro-Am June 10-13 in Greer, S.C. All three starts came via sponsor’s exemptions. The $31,143 Mack earned in those three events wouldn’t cover a third of the rental cost of the private jets Champion Golfer of the Year Collin Morikawa and many of the American players rode home from Sandwich, England, Sunday night. Yet, for Mack — who spent a year-and-a-half of his nine-year grind on various mini-tour circuits sleeping in his car — it represents a windfall. For Stewart and the 58 other contestants in the APGATour Deere Run, the example of Mack’s monthlong run of success at the game’s highest level is simply invaluable. Stewart is playing as an amateur on the APGA circuit while awaiting his senior season at Livingstone College in Greer, N.C. Like Mack and the other Black and minority golfers competing on the APGA circuit, the PGA TOUR is his goal. “It’s not a pipe dream anymore,” Stewart said of the possibility of making the step from the APGA to the TOUR. “It’s reality. I was at work at a golf course back home, sitting in an office following the John Deere, thinking, ‘Wow, Willie’s doing it.’ You see him make four birdies in nine holes and you think, ‘OK, maybe he’s ready to be on the TOUR.’ Two cuts back-to-back? How can he not be?” Prince Cunningham will make his first APGA start as a pro this week after concluding his collegiate career at Florida A&M in June. Mack’s recent success is inspiring. “It’s definitely an amazing thing he did,” he said. “Being a young golfer who just graduated from college it, gives you something to look at. If he did it, I can do it. It’s a hard dream, but it pays off if you stick with it.” The 32-year-old Mack knows his quest is far from finished, but he’s never been closer. He began working with Todd Anderson, director of instruction at the PGA TOUR’s Performance Center at TPC Sawgrass, earlier this year and will enter the three-stage Korn Ferry TOUR Qualifying Tournament in late August fortified by the opportunity, experience and success he has enjoyed this year. Emphasis on opportunity. Mack has felt equally ready at various junctures since turning pro after an 11-win career at Bethune Cookman University in 2012. In 2019, Mack was Player of the Year on the Florida Professional Golf Tour, and he will be seeking his fourth finish atop the APGA points standings next month in Atlanta. “Yes and no,” he said, when asked if race and economic stature impeded his pursuit of a PGA TOUR career. “I always say things work out how they’re supposed to. I’m glad I could get these opportunities now.” Creating opportunity is what the Advocates Professional Golf Association is about. It was launched in 2008 as non-profit headed by CEO Ken Bentley, who retired as vice president for community affairs and workforce diversity at Nestle USA in 2013. The APGA Tour debuted in 2010 as a two-tournament circuit offering a total of $40,000 in prize money. Today, the tour features 10 events offering more than $500,000 in total purses, and is supported by the PGA TOUR, the PGA of America, Farmers Insurance and Lexus, among others. Five TPC Network clubs — Deere Run, Sugar Loaf, along with TPC Louisiana, TPC Scottsdale and TPC Las Vegas — serve as tournament venues. A 27-hole event is staged on the Torrey Pines North Course on the Saturday of the Farmers Insurance Open, and Farmers Insurance this year signed Mack and fellow APGA Tour stalwart Kamaiu Johnson to multi-year sponsorship deals. Mack made his first PGA TOUR start at the Farmers in January, but did not make the cut. He also missed the cut at the Genesis Invitational three weeks later. Executive director Cole Smith said the opportunity to play APGA events on TOUR-caliber courses has grown the APGA’s profile, as well as player interest. “It is a unique experience for our guys. Membership requests are going through the roof,” he said. “We’ve come a long way and we’re excited about what the future holds for us.” More excited in the wake of Willie Mack’s summer run. “Hopefully that inspires some other players to go out and try to do the same,” said Mack. “There are a lot of talented people out here. Just getting those opportunities can definitely change some minds.” Certainly, Mack feels ready after years of chasing his dream.

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The PGA TOUR uses a standardized system for determining event fields, based off the current season’s Priority Ranking while also including additional exemption and qualifying categories. Field sizes can vary by event, as can the number of event-specific exemptions. Fully exempt PGA TOUR members are guaranteed entry into all full-field events, with various conditional categories subject to periodic reshuffles based upon FedExCup Points accrued throughout the season. Categories with ‘reshuffle’ notation indicate that a reshuffle period has occurred. How the field qualified for the WM Phoenix Open as of 2/4/2022: Check here for updates. Winner – PGA/U.S. Open Championship (five-year exemption) Brooks Koepka Jon Rahm Justin Thomas Jimmy Walker Gary Woodland Winner of THE PLAYERS Championship prior to 1996 Si Woo Kim Webb Simpson Winner of Masters Tournament (five-year exemption) Hideki Matsuyama Winner of The Open (five-year exemption) Francesco Molinari Jordan Spieth Winner of World Golf Championships event (three-year exemption) Abraham Ancer Billy Horschel Kevin Kisner Xander Schauffele Bubba Watson Winner of Arnold Palmer Invitational, Memorial Tournament and Genesis Invitational (three-year exemption) Patrick Cantlay Max Homa Adam Scott PGA TOUR tournament winner (two-year exemption) Daniel Berger Sam Burns Stewart Cink Corey Conners Joel Dahmen Cam Davis Tyler Duncan Harris English Tony Finau Rickie Fowler Dylan Frittelli Brian Gay Lucas Glover Talor Gooch Branden Grace Lanto Griffin Lucas Herbert Garrick Higgo Viktor Hovland Charles Howell III Matt Jones Sung Kang Patton Kizzire Matt Kuchar Martin Laird Andrew Landry Nate Lashley K.H. Lee Luke List Adam Long Graeme McDowell Keith Mitchell Sebastián Muñoz Carlos Ortiz C.T. Pan J.T. Poston Seamus Power Chez Reavie Robert Streb Hudson Swafford Nick Taylor Michael Thompson Brendon Todd Martin Trainer Kevin Tway Career Money Exemption Luke Donald Bill Haas Rory Sabbatini Nick Watney * Sponsor’s exemption (Korn Ferry Tour Finals) Sahith Theegala Sponsor’s exemption (members not otherwise exempt) Jason Dufner Sponsors Exemptions (Unrestricted) Austin Eckroat Patrick Rodgers Preston Summerhays PGA Section Champion\Player of the Year Craig Hocknull Top 125 on prior season’s FedExCup Louis Oosthuizen Scottie Scheffler Charley Hoffman Alex Noren Keegan Bradley Brian Harman Harold Varner III Aaron Wise Tom Hoge Russell Henley Maverick McNealy Emiliano Grillo Chris Kirk Kevin Streelman Harry Higgs Matt Fitzpatrick Troy Merritt Pat Perez Andrew Putnam Doug Ghim Brandon Hagy Peter Malnati Wyndham Clark Adam Schenk Kramer Hickok Brian Stuard Henrik Norlander Roger Sloan Brandt Snedeker Hank Lebioda Tyler McCumber Denny McCarthy Adam Hadwin Brendan Steele Sepp Straka James Hahn Zach Johnson Russell Knox Matt Wallace Sam Ryder Matthew NeSmith Scott Piercy Kyle Stanley Anirban Lahiri Brice Garnett Scott Stallings Chesson Hadley # Major medical extension Danny Lee Kevin Chappell Ryan Moore William McGirt Wesley Bryan Seung-Yul Noh Kelly Kraft Korn Ferry Tour Points winners (The 25 and The Finals 25) Stephan Jaeger Joseph Bramlett * = If all prior year Korn Ferry Tour graduates are eligible for event, exemptions become unrestricted # = Latest medical extension information can be found here. $ = Category breakdown can be found here.

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