Playing against Tiger Woods has always been intimidating. Playing with him at the Ryder Cup hasn’t been much easier. Will this time be different?
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GREENSBORO, N.C. – Thirteen players have qualified for the FedExCup Playoffs every season since its debut in 2007. One player definitely will fall off that list by the end of this week – and two others might join him. Sergio Garcia and Bill Haas enter the Wyndham Championship in danger of missing the Playoffs for the first time. Garcia ranks 131st in FedExCup points while Haas is 150th. Both need to move inside the top 125 by the end of the week in order to keep their streaks alive. To do so would likely require 375 points, the projected point total needed to make next week’s Playoffs opener, THE NORTHERN TRUST. Garcia currently has 331 points. If he finishes solo 20th, he would receive 45 points, leaving him with 376 points. Garcia hasn’t finished that high on a PGA TOUR leaderboard in a stroke-play event since a solo fourth at the Valspar Championship in mid-March. Haas, the 2011 FedExCup champ, currently has 253 points. If he can finish solo fourth, he would receive 135 points, leaving him with 388 points. The last time Haas has finished solo fourth or better at a TOUR event was more than two years ago at the 2016 Quicken Loans National. So those are the targets for the two players (knowing that nothing is guaranteed until Sunday afternoon). It won’t be easy but at least the opportunity is there. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for Luke Donald. He’s been sidelined since mid-April due to back issues and currently ranks 213th in the FedExCup standings. His return to the TOUR remains uncertain, and he will officially be eliminated this week. As for the 10 other players on that list? All are safely inside the top 125 and guaranteed to keep their streaks alive for at least another season. Two are in the field this week – Ryan Moore (ranked 59th) and Brandt Snedeker (ranked 80th). The other perfect attendance Playoffs performers are: Justin Rose (4th), Bubba Watson (5th), Phil Mickelson (10th), Charles Howell III (46th), Zach Johnson (49th), Matt Kuchar (62nd), Adam Scott (70th) and Charley Hoffman (95th). Last chance assembly No surprise that nearly half of the field this week consists of players who rank between 100 and 180 in FedExCup points. Those just inside the top 125 in points want to maintain their positions; those outside the top 125 are down to their last chance to move inside. Of those 80 players in that 100-180 range, 75 are teeing it up at Sedgefield, including every player ranked between 122-132. That includes Harris English (132nd), who has made the FedExCup Playoffs in each of his first six seasons on TOUR. As mentioned above, the projected point total to make the Playoffs is 375 points. Currently, the top 123 players in the standings are above that number. Martin Piller is 124th with 371 points, while Tyrone Van Aswegen is 125th with 364 points. A missed cut this week could end their seasons, depending on how the rest of the leaderboard shakes out. Scenarios The likely finish needed for each player ranked between 124-132 to make the Playoffs: Odds and Ends BUSTING THE BUBBLE: A year ago, four golfers played their way into the Playoffs from outside the top 125 entering Wyndham (Martin Flores, Rory Sabbatini, Harold Varner III and J.J. Henry, who did it for the second time in his career). The most players in any one season to bust the 125 bubble is five. In 2012 and 2013, no players were able to play their way in. TOP 30s: Two players guaranteed an extended Playoffs run are Webb Simpson and Chesson Hadley, who are each inside the top 30 in points. Both are in the field this week seeking to increase their positions. Simpson, winner of THE PLAYERS Championship, is 12th and would love to move inside the top five after the BMW Championship. Those five will control their own destiny going into the Playoffs finale at East Lake. Hadley is 26th and has never qualified for the TOUR Championship. CHAMPS IN FIELD: Four past FedExCup champions are playing this week at Sedgefield: Henrik Stenson (also the defending Wyndham champ); Brant Snedeker; Bill Haas; and Billy Horschel.
Two months after minor knee surgery, Tiger Woods is back and in contention for round one of the Zozo Championship.
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – Two days ago, Jhonattan Vegas and Brooks Koepka – a couple of heavyweights off the tee — joined in the unveiling of the PGA TOUR’s new state-of-the-art mobile fitness center. On Thursday, they spent 18 holes together flexing their muscles at The Honda Classic. Although Koepka is the reigning PGA TOUR Player of the Year, it was Vegas who held the upper hand after the first round at PGA National. His bogey-free 6-under 64 put him atop the leaderboard, while Koepka lurks after a 67. The third member of their group, Gary Woodland, also packs a punch off the tee but fell off the pace with a 2-over 72. None of the three actually had a particular eye-opening round in regards to driving distance average – Koepka’s average of 282.1 yards for all drives was the highest in the group – but they all seemed to end up in the same part of the fairway for most of the holes. “We were all three right there,â€� Vegas said when asked about his playing partners off the tee. “Every hole, we were literally right now to each other, which is good. Obviously Brooks has been playing phenomenal golf the last few years and Gary has been playing great golf. … It was easy to have the same flow.â€� Said Koepka: “It was nice. Anytime you’ve got a guy playing well, you kind of feed off it and kind of watch some putts go in, and it kind of feels like the hole is starting to open up. It was good to see him play well. It was nice to see some putts drop myself and kind of fee off that a little bit.” “But I’m not too concerned with what anyone else is doing.â€� Koepka, of course, won two majors last season, and then opened his 2018-19 season by winning THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES in Korea. Woodland has six top-10s in nine starts this season, including a runner-up at the Sentry Tournament of Champions. He’s the highest-ranked player in this week’s field in the FedExCup standings at No. 3. Koepka is 17th. Vegas’ season hasn’t been nearly as productive. In eight starts, he has just one top-10 earlier this month at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. He sandwiched a pair of missed cuts around that result and doesn’t have another finish inside the top 25. His putting has been the issue – he ranked T-190th in Strokes Gained: Putting this season – and so he changed putters recently and spent some extra time on the practice greens. On Thursday, he made four putts between 14 and 19 feet. It was his irons, however, that keyed Thursday’s round. He missed just three greens, and two of those misses were on the fringe, 15 feet from the hole. A year ago at The Honda Classic, Vegas signed for a 6-over 78 in the final round, his worst score in 22 previous rounds at this event. He finished at 14 over that week. “I was hitting my irons extremely bad Sunday of last year,â€� Vegas recalled. “Felt like I hit it everywhere. … Obviously I felt like I played well today, hit my irons the best I’ve hit them all year.â€� While Koepka, who lives in nearby Jupiter, had family members in his gallery – “It’s nice to play in front of the hometown,â€� he said — Vegas had at least one notable watching him play. Andres Galarraga, the retired baseball star nicknamed the Big Cat, is a fellow Venezuelan. The five-time All-Star hit 399 career homers and twice won the National League’s Silver Slugger award. “He’s been a good mentor, to be honest,â€� Vegas said. “He’s been good giving me support and everything through the years.â€�
