The First Look: PGA Championship

Despite the fireworks of the first three events of the FedExCup Playoffs, the TOUR Championship still validates a full season’s worth of consistently strong form. As it should. For the second consecutive season, exactly 25 golfers who opened the Playoffs inside the top 30 in points qualified for the season finale at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. All 30 in the field are slotted below. Beneath them are trends at the TOUR Championship, a profile of the host course and more. Of the qualifiers for the TOUR Championship who began the BMW Championship outside the top 30 in FedExCup points, only Keegan Bradley (win) and Xander Schauffele (T3) advanced. Speaking of whom, that’s the rub for winning the Playoffs finale – the champ isn’t guaranteed the opportunity to defend. Schauffele started this Playoffs seeded 28th, but Bradley began 49th. With Gary Woodland (33rd), Billy Horschel (41st), Cameron Smith (53rd) and Hideki Matsuyama (76th), the quintet comprises this year’s grouping that opened outside the top 30. Previous champions also must earn their way back to East Lake, although unlike last year when only Jordan Spieth represented prior winners of the TOUR Championship at East Lake, five are committed this week, including two-time winner Phil Mickelson. (Ironically, Spieth failed to qualify at 31st in points.) Seventeen from last year’s TOUR Championship are back this week. Six are debutants, including points leader Bryson DeChambeau. If he or any of the other four inside the top five in points – Justin Rose (2nd), Tony Finau (3rd), Dustin Johnson (4th), Justin Thomas (5th) – prevails, he will win the FedExCup and the $10-million bonus. DeChambeau already has proven that inexperience can be overrated, but he’s further inspired by the achievements of Bill Haas (2011), Henrik Stenson (2013) and Schauffele (2017), all of whom captured victory in their first appearance at East Lake. However, as Schauffele now aims to become the first in tournament history to successfully defend a title, DeChambeau wages his own battle with a drought. None of the last nine No. 1 seeds entering the TOUR Championship won the FedExCup. East Lake presents as fair a test as any of the entrants would want. It’s a stock par 70 tipping at 7,362 yards again this year. Hitting fairways is toughest and important, just not the priority. Hitting greens and pouring in putts is the ticket. Distance off the tee already is synonymous with most in the field, but scoring on the vulnerable pair of par 5s is key. The 525-yard sixth hole is the par 5 going out. Its counterpart on the back side measures 590 yards and serves the finish line as No. 18. Since 2016 when the nines were flipped to shift the old par-3 closer into position as the new ninth hole, both eventual winners birdied the 18th hole in the final round. In fact, of the 59 golfers who completed the final round in the last two years, they converted one eagle and 31 birdies combined. A would-be clubhouse leader won’t feel safe unless he’s sitting on a three-stroke margin with that hole still in front of his nearest in pursuit. Last year’s field average of 69.383 matched the lowest (2013) since Rees Jones’ renovation after the 2007 edition. Another sub-par split can’t be ruled out this week. Primarily favorable weather conditions should keep the stage dry and allow the bermudagrass greens to reach 13 feet of the Stimpmeter. It’ll be warm and muggy throughout as autumn is ushered in on the weekend. Wind won’t be a factor. No matter the experience in the tournament, the TOUR Championship serves as a celebration. In addition to the bonus prize money on top of official earnings, all 30 in the field are treated to carte-blanche scheduling next season that includes exemptions into the Masters, U.S. Open and Open Championship. But winning is, of course, special. The tournament champion receives a three-year PGA TOUR exemption. The FedExCup champ is further rewarded with a spot in the Sentry Tournament of Champions (if not already exempt) and a five-year TOUR exemption. ROB BOLTON’S SCHEDULE PGATOUR.COM’s Fantasy Insider Rob Bolton reviews and previews every tournament from numerous angles. Look for his following contributions as scheduled. MONDAY: Rookie Ranking, Power Rankings TUESDAY*: Fantasy Insider, Facebook Live WEDNESDAY: One & Done THURSDAY: Champions One & Done * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO, which also publishes on Tuesday.

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Justin Thomas has been tearing up the PGA TOUR. Now one of his college teammates will have the opportunity to make his PGA TOUR debut. Scott Strohmeyer was one of four players to Monday qualify for this week’s Sanderson Farms Championship. Strohmeyer was teammates with Thomas on the 2013 Alabama team that won the NCAA Championship. Three of the five players from that team have earned PGA TOUR cards: Thomas, Trey Mullinax and Bobby Wyatt.  Strohmeyer, on the other hand, has not played in a PGA TOUR or Web.com Tour event. He won his lone individual title at the 2013 NCAA Baton Rouge Regional, the second-to-last event of his career; he finished two shots ahead of Wyatt and six shots ahead of Thomas. Strohmeyer closed his career by beating Illinois’ Brian Campbell in the championship match of the 2013 NCAA Championship, helping Alabama to a 4-1 victory over the Illini. Campbell played on the PGA TOUR last season. Strohmeyer recently failed to advance out of the first stage of Web.com Tour Q-School after shooting a first-round 81; he played the next three rounds in 2 under. Strohmeyer shot 68 in Monday’s qualifier at Deerfield Golf Club in Canton, Mississippi, then won a four-man playoff for the final spot in the Sanderson Farms Championship. Rhein Gibson, Chris Baker and Mississippi State alum Matt Fast also were in the playoff. Grady Brame Jr. shot 65 on Monday to earn medalist honors. Brame, 24, will be making his PGA TOUR debut. He finished 144th on the Mackenzie Tour-PGA TOUR Canada money list this year, making two cuts in nine events. Brame played college golf at Southeastern Louisiana and won the Louisiana Amateur in 2014 and 2015. Nyasha Mauchaza finished one shot behind Brame on Monday. Mauchaza, 29, is from Zimbabwe and graduated from Towson University in 2011. His lone PGA TOUR start came at the 2011 Wyndham Championship; he missed the cut with rounds of 75-72. He last played a PGA TOUR-sanctioned event in August 2016, when he competed in his fourth PGA TOUR Canada event of the year. David Skinns is the most experienced member of this week’s qualifiers. Skinns, a 2006 graduate of Tennessee, finished 58th on this year’s Web.com Tour money list. It was his first time playing more than 11 Web.com Tour events in a season. His runner-up finish at the final event of the Regular Season, the WinCo Foods Portland Open, was his lone top-10 in 23 starts in 2017. He jumped from 115th to 58th on the money list to keep his card for the 2018 season. Skinns, 35, has played in three PGA TOUR events: the 2013 Valspar Championship (MC), 2014 Puerto Rico Open (T29) and 2016 Waste Management Phoenix Open (MC).

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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Former No. 1-ranked amateur Colt Knost is calling it a career after missing the cut at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, he told golfchannel.com. “The game has just changed so much,� Knost said after shooting 70-72 to miss the cut by one. “Guys hit is so far, and I don’t. But you know, I’m excited for what I have ahead.� Knost already does a radio show with SiriusXM and said he will turn to broadcasting fulltime. Related: Leaderboard | Amy paying it forward The 34-year-old reached No. 1 in the world amateur ranks after winning the 2007 U.S. Amateur and U.S. Amateur Public Links, and played for the winning U.S. Walker Cup team. He turned pro and won twice on the Korn Ferry Tour. Upon graduating to the PGA TOUR he reached a high of 79th in the FedExCup (2016) in a 13-year professional career. One high point: Knost hit all 18 greens in regulation and shot a second-round 63, with 10 birdies, at THE PLAYERS Championship in 2016. This, despite three-putting his last hole. He would lead the field in greens hit and finish T3, but a wrist injury came soon after. “I was playing so good,� he said, “and then I got hurt. It was just frustrating. It just sucks to end this way.� The injury kept him from playing his best, or in some cases even playing at all. Playing on a Major Medical Extension this season, the Scottsdale resident had three starts to earn 322 points, or equal to No. 125 on the 2016-17 FedExCup points list. He missed the cut at the Safeway Open and Sony Open in Hawaii, and needed a victory at TPC Scottsdale. Knost thanked his family, friends and sponsors on Instagram, saying, in part, that he had the greatest job in the world for a very long time and he’s ready for the next chapter.

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