Steve Stricker shot a 7-under 63 to take a four-stroke lead in the Bridgestone Senior Players Championship.
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There will be plenty of star power this week as THE CJ CUP @ SUMMIT will welcome a handful of Ryder Cup stars to the limited field. The Summit Club – another of Las Vegas’ top-tier tracks – will host after last year’s event at Shadow Creek. Jason Kokrak, who captured his first TOUR title in nine years in 2020, then went on to win again later last season, returns to defend. FIELD NOTES: The European and American Ryder Cup teams will be well represented at The Summit Club… Europeans Tommy Fleetwood, Ian Poulter, Tyrrell Hatton (who finished tied for third last season at THE CJ CUP), Viktor Hovland, Rory McIlroy, Sergio Garcia, Shane Lowry and Paul Casey will play, as will Americans Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson, Xander Schauffele, Tony Finau, Harris English, Jordan Spieth, Scottie Scheffler, Collin Morikawa and Brooks Koepka… Koepka won the event in 2018 while Thomas is a two-time winner… The field is limited to the top 60 from the prior season’s FedExCup points list plus sponsor exemptions… Those exemptions went to Rickie Fowler, Adam Scott, Gary Woodland, Jason Day, Justin Rose and international stars Minkyu Kim and Rasmus Hojgaard. FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 FedExCup points. COURSE: The Summit Club, par 72, 7,431 yards. Designed by Tom Fazio, the layout is nestled between the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area and the Las Vegas Strip. Golfers get an unobstructed view of the Strip from the tee on No. 6 – one of a handful of scoreable holes on the front side. The course isn’t a typical desert layout, and in fact it will play more like a lush parkland course with a desert background that features strong bunkering and signature Tom Fazio green complexes. STORYLINES: Jason Day returns to THE CJ CUP after withdrawing in the final round a year ago. Day was in the mix through 54 holes but hurt his neck during warm-up and pulled out after just two holes… Collin Morikawa is a member of The Summit Club and has shot a 62 at the course. The Ryder Cup rookie went 3-0-1 at Whistling Straits and is looking to continue that momentum at home… Along with Morikawa, Adam Scott, Charley Hoffman (both went to UNLV) and Maverick McNealy (lives in Las Vegas) are a handful of golfers with Vegas connections… This is the second TOUR event in a row in Las Vegas after the Shriners Children’s Open at TPC Summerlin… Justin Thomas won two of the three CJ CUPs in South Korea and looks to carry his momentum from Asia to the United States with his new caddie – Jim ‘Bones’ Mackay – on the bag. 72-HOLE RECORD: 267, Brooks Koepka (2018) | At The Summit Club (N/A) 18-HOLE RECORD: 62, Ryan Palmer (Fourth round, 2018) | At The Summit Club (N/A) LAST TIME: Jason Kokrak shot 8-under 64 – the round of the week – to capture THE CJ CUP at Las Vegas’ Shadow Creek by two shots. It was Kokrak’s first PGA TOUR title, coming after nine years and 233 starts on TOUR. Xander Schauffele birdied three of his opening five holes, but Kokrak birdied five of his opening eight. When Schauffele couldn’t get up and down from greenside rough on 16 – and Kokrak did from a greenside bunker – it opened up enough separation between the two for Kokrak to get one hand on the trophy. He added a birdie on the 72nd hole to lock it up. Tyrrell Hatton and Russell Henley tied for third. Talor Gooch rounded out the top five. HOW TO FOLLOW: Television: Thursday-Sunday, 5 p.m.-8 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday, 10:15 a.m.-8 p.m. (Featured Groups). Radio: Thursday-Friday, 2 p.m.-8 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, 3 p.m.-8 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio).
FORT WORTH, Texas – Kevin Na counts Colonial Country Club as one of his top-three favorite courses on the PGA TOUR, along with Riviera (the “otherâ€� Hogan’s Alley) and Hilton Head (the “otherâ€� plaid jacket venue). Colonial, in fact, is one of a handful of courses on which Na – who must rely on shot-making rather than length — feels like he can legitimately contend. “I say seven or eight,â€� Na said. “Some golf courses I feel like I have no chance. I don’t play those unless it’s a major and I got no choice. “I won’t mention any names.â€� So we will. For instance, Bethpage Black, which hosted last week’s PGA Championship? “I’m not going to say anything,â€� Na smiled. “You can look up my record. It’s not good.â€� For the record, Na has played three events at Bethpage Black – the PGA and two FedExCup Playoffs events. He’s missed the cut each time. Unlike Bethpage, Na’s record is pretty good at the Charles Schwab Challenge. In his last 11 starts, he’s made 10 cuts and has four top-10 finishes – his best being a solo fourth last year. Three of his last six rounds at Colonial have been among the most impressive of his PGA TOUR career. It was in the first round a year ago that Na shot 62, tying for the lowest opening score in tournament history. On that Sunday, he tied the tournament record with a 61 – the lowest score of his career. Now this week. After opening with an even-par 70 in difficult afternoon scoring conditions, Na again torched Colonial on Friday – a bogey-free 62 that left him at 8 under, just one shot behind leader Jonas Blixt. Na now has five rounds of 62 or better since 2015, and three of those have been at Colonial. “Last year when I shot 61, I felt like I made everything,â€� Na said. “Kind of almost had that feeling today. With a few holes to go, I felt like I had a chance to challenge my own course record.â€� Na made 164 feet, 1 inch of putts on Friday, but he needed less than 3 feet on his opening hole of the day. Na’s second shot at the par-5 first finished inside 3 feet, leaving him with an easy eagle putt. From there, he relied on the flatstick. A 14-foot birdie putt at the third. A 31-footer at the sixth. A 38-1/2 footer at the ninth. And another 31-footer at the 13th. Na entered this week ranked 129th on TOUR in Strokes Gained: Putting, but you wouldn’t know it this week. His birdie putt from 36 feet late in Thursday’s opening round was a foreshadow of his Friday performance. “Golf seems a lot more fun and a lot easier when you’re making putts,â€� Na said. It also seems a lot more fun when you’re playing on a course you like. Last year after his low rounds, Na did his interviews while attending to his young daughter Sophia. He kept the tradition going Friday. “She’s my good-luck charm,â€� Na said.
On the 16th hole at the Honda Classic on Sunday, fighting for a win he’d secure three holes and one playoff later, Justin Thomas got fed up with a fan who openly rooted for him to hit his ball in the hazard. Thomas seemed fairly proud of it at the time, blowing the smoke off his own revolvers with a parting shot that seemed to come from the climax of a rejected movie script: “Enjoy your day, buddy. One of the joys of being a sports fan is forming immediate and rigid opinions that no amount of fact or logic can ever budge.
