The Match Part II: With Tom and Peyton, too?

AUGUSTA, Georgia – Tiger Woods was always told he was the chosen one but only now does he fully believe he’s a walking miracle. Less than a year after back fusion surgery finally released him from years of pain – Woods is not only back at Augusta National for the first time since 2015 – he’s firmly in the mix to win. That is according to all of his peers and the majority of pundits. Woods is the favorite in many circles. “He’s got a great chance. Look at how he’s played the last few weeks. He’s had four wins here. He’s very comfortable around this golf course, and his game is right there,â€� Rory McIlroy said. “Any time Tiger Woods is healthy and in this sort of form, he’s dangerous at any golf tournament. But given his history here, I think even more so.â€� In his last two starts on the PGA TOUR Woods was runner up and T5 – he felt the cauldron of contention in both. But can he claim PGA TOUR win number 80 on the major championship stage? With his swing speed at near unbelievable levels … anything is possible. It is easily the most amazing aspect of this version of his comeback – the force in which he’s been able to swing the club again. Woods has the fastest recorded swing on TOUR this season at 129.2 miles per hour and his average club head speed of 121.9 miles per hour is fourth on TOUR. It has some players joking with Woods that they need to go under the knife to fuse their own backs for more distance. “The reason why I say I’m a walking miracle is that I don’t know if anyone who has had a lower back fusion that can swing the club as fast as I can swing it,â€� Woods said. “That’s incredible. I went from a person who really had a hard time getting up, walking around, sitting down, anything, to now swinging the club 129. That is a miracle, isn’t it?â€� Woods admits he never expected this sort of result. He thought he’d have a nice comfortable life but was resigned to not being able to generate his old speeds. A year ago he could barely sit at the Champions Dinner. He was trying cortisone shots, epidurals … but in his own words his back was fried. “But all of a sudden I have this pop and my body and my speed’s back and my timing. I’m hitting speeds that I hit in my prime,â€� he continued. “That’s what’s the shocking thing, is I didn’t think I would ever reach north of 120, and I’m cruising at 120. “So that part is very exciting because I know that if I can maintain this, I can play out here for a very long time and be able to have the length to get around pretty much any of the golf courses.â€� This week’s course has always been kind to Woods. With wins in 1997, 2001, 2002 and 2005 and seven top-6 results in nine starts since his last triumph Augusta National is certainly a place he could rekindle the old magic and claim TOUR win number 80. Woods likened the hype to that in 2001 when he came to the Masters with three straight major wins and in search of the famous “Tiger Slamâ€�. “I have four rounds to play, so let’s just kind of slow down,â€� Woods smiled. “I got to go play and then let the chips fall where they may, and hopefully I end up on top. But I got a lot of work to do between now and then.â€�

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The 2017-18 FedExCup season is now past the halfway point of the regular schedule. Twenty-one weeks are in the books; 19 weeks are left before the top 125 players in the standings advance to the FedExCup Playoffs. At the very top, nothing really has changed since last year’s FedExCup Playoffs ended. Justin Thomas won the 2017 FedExCup crown, and he’s atop the current standings for the seventh consecutive week. But with a half-season still to be played, there are no guarantees. A few FedExCup observations:  Don’t be surprised if there’s a generous amount of turnover in the next 19 weeks. Of the top 30 players a year ago at this point, 10 fell outside the top 30 by the time the FedExCup Playoffs started. Only one of those 10 players managed to play his way back inside the top 30 and advance to the TOUR Championship – Justin Rose, who posted top-10 finishes in each of the four Playoffs events. Fourteen players who made the TOUR Championship last season are currently outside the top 30, including defending East Lake champion Xander Schauffele. The reigning Rookie of the Year finished third in the FedExCup Playoffs last year but is currently 46th and has just two top-10 finishes in 11 starts. Another notable, reigning U.S. Open champ Brooks Koepka, is currently 97th and has been sidelined since late January with a wrist injury. Just four players have been atop the FedExCup standings this season – Thomas for seven weeks, Patton Kizzire for eight weeks, Pat Perez for four weeks and Brendan Steele (winner of the season-opening Safeway Open) for two weeks. Thomas currently leads Kizzire by 440 points – that’s the biggest margin between No. 1 and No. 2 in the FedExCup standings entering the RBC Heritage since 2009.  Thomas, incidentally, has now been No. 1 this season for the same number of weeks (7) he was all of last season. And get this: Since the start of the 2015-16 season, there have been 106 weeks of tournament competition. Thomas has been inside the top 15 of the FedExCup standings a total of 104 weeks in that span. The only times he was outside the top 15? The first two weeks of this season. He didn’t play the opening week, and he was 33rd after the second week. Thomas not only has the most FedExCup points, he’s also making the most of each start. Thomas leads in FedExCup points per event with an average of 176.9 in his 10 starts. The next five are Dustin Johnson (161.3 avg.), Justin Rose (144.8 avg), Jason Day (130.6 avg) and Bubba Watson (128.1 avg). If Tiger Woods can maintain his pace, he’ll be in excellent shape to make a run at his third FedExCup title. Woods currently ranks 42nd in points, averaging 79.3 points per start. A year ago, any player who averaged 70 points or better per start in the regular season found himself inside the top 12 starting the FedExCup Playoffs. Woods won the inaugural FedExCup title in 2007 and won it again in 2009. Chesson Hadley has made the biggest one-year improvement in the standings. A year ago, he ranked 217th entering the RBC Heritage; he now ranks 26th, a jump of 191 spots. In fact, seven players have made jumps of 100-plus spots – Hadley, Ryan Armour (190 to 40), Tom Hoge (180 to 48), Ryan Palmer (201 to 76), Ian Poulter (149 to 25), Bubba Watson (124 to 3), and Brian Gay (151 to 47).

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There’s no “I” in team but there is an “I” in Zurich and Classic! The return to New Orleans for the 2021 edition of the Zurich Classic welcomes back team golf to the schedule. In 2017 the event evolved into a partner’s game with 80, two-man teams playing best ball (four balls) and alternate shot (foursomes) to determine the champion over four rounds. RELATED: Power Rankings | Expert Picks At 7,425 yards (Par-72), Pete Dye’s TPC Avondale has been run over in the best ball format but has held its own in the alternate shot. Plenty of 60s and 61s have littered the board in four balls so going low isn’t an option; it’s required. Conversely, 65 is the “record” for foursomes, set by 2019 winners Jon Rahm and Ryan Palmer. Not very many sub-67s in that format either, nor rounds in the 60s. There has never been a round of foursomes in which more than eight teams have posted in the 60s in three editions. The course will feature TifEagle Bermuda greens for the first time as they were replaced after the 2019 event. Thankfully there is plenty of rain and humidity in this part of the world so I wouldn’t expect them to be too firm or fast like most surfaces that are redone. Celebration Bermuda is now in the fairways and new bunkers will also help drain quicker if and when rain arrives. Water is in play on eight holes and 106 bunkers will need to be avoided. Rough at less than two inches for the third week running should encourage risk-reward recovery shots again. This will be the fifth Pete Dye design used already in 2021 (TPC Stadium Course at PGA West, TPC Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass, Austin Country Club and Harbour Town) so everyone should be relatively comfortable. Aggressive lines are rewarded and so is proper iron play into the 5,225 square foot and tiered greens. No point leaving it short when your partner has four feet or less for par so give it a run! With 25-under the average winning score from three events, the formula isn’t complicated! Defending champions Ryan Palmer and Jon Rahm are part of the 80 team field this week competing for a share of the $7.4 million ($1,069,300 each for first place) and 400 FedExCup points each. Recent Event Winners Stats Recent Winners and Notables 2019: Ryan Palmer & Jon Rahm (-26, 262) Set the tournament record for margin of victory winning by three shots. … Sat four shots back after 18 holes. … Set the 36-hole record on 15-under to lead by one. … Co-led after 54 holes by setting a tournament record on 23-under. … Posted the tournament record for foursomes with 65 in Round 2. … Palmer wins in his 11th start at the event and picks up his fourth top 10. … Rahm wins in his second. … First time as partners and are defending this year. … Palmer MC previous year with Jordan Spieth. … Rahm MC previous visit with Wesley Bryan. … Palmer entered on T28-MC-MC-T4 run. … Rahm cashed in the top 10 in eight of his last 10 including a top 10 the Masters. Notables: * – new partner this year; teams highlighted below are also playing this year unless mentioned. Only *Kyoung-Hoon Lee (T3), a rookie in 2019, returns from the podium in the last edition. … *Hank Lebioda (T5) hit the top five in his first visit. … David Hearn (T5) backed up his T10 from 2018. … Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Cameron Tringale and Roberto Castro (T5) first time together was a successful pairing. … Kevin Kisner and Scott Brown (T5) have done everything but win this event. … Martin Laird and Nick Taylor (T9) run it back again this year. … Charley Hoffman and Nick Watney (T9) picked up their second top 10 in three tries. … *Scott Stallings (T13) was part of a team who signed for 61 and 62 in fourballs. … Defending champions Billy Horschel and Scott Piercy (T13) finished eight back but are not playing this year. … Lucas Glover and Chez Reavie (T18) opened with 62 and picked up their best result in three starts. … Branden Grace (T32) was one shot out of the lead after 54 holes after posting 61 before 80 on Sunday knocked him out. … Only eight of 39 teams on Sunday posted rounds in the 60s (foursomes). … Top 35 teams were double digits under par or better. … Rained 2.5 inches Thursday. … Cut was a tournament record 8-under. 2018: Scott Piercy & Billy Horschel (-22, 266) Came from three shots off the 54-hole lead to win. … 67 Sunday was the low round of the day. … One of three bogey-free rounds of the day and just four in foursomes on the week. … 61 on Saturday. … Had to count two doubles and two bogeys in Round 2. … Highest winning score to date. … Horschel becomes the first player to win on his own ball and with a partner. … Horschel wins in his eighth appearance. … Piercy wins in his ninth. … Only top 10s here for both are wins. … Horschel rolled in on T11 and T5 in his previous two starts while Piercy MC the week before. Notables: Jason Dufner and Pat Perez (T2) missed a playoff by a shot. Both return with new partners this year. … South Africans Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel (3rd) MC in 2019. … Brice Garnett and Chesson Hadley (T4) posted 61 on Saturday and will have new partners this year. … Tony Finau (6th) picked up his only check from three starts and played from the final group. … Former Purdue teammates Tyler Duncan and Adam Schenk (T7) are back this year. … Patrick Cantlay (T7) changes out Patrick Reed for Xander Schauffele. … Scotsman Martin Laird and Russell Knox (T7) are both back but separated. … Australian Greg Chalmers and Cameron Percy (T10) reunite. David Hearn (T10) improved on his T22 from last year. … Brendan Steele (T10), Troy Merritt (T10) and Tom Hoge (T10) all have new rides as well. … Lucas Glover and Chez Reavie (T22) opened with 60, co-low round of the week. … Xinjun Zhang also opened with 60 to share the first round lead but shot 80 in Round 2 to MC. … Andrew Putnam (T22) led after 36 holes by a shot, trailed by one after 54 holes. … 54-hole leaders Kevin Kisner and Scott Brown (T15) fired 77 on Sunday. … Defending champions Cameron Smith and Jonas Blixt MC. … Format changed days this year as alternate shot was moved to Friday and Sunday to cause more volatility. … Only seven rounds in the 60s on Sunday. … Cut was 5-under. 2017: Jonas Blixt and Cameron Smith (-27, 261) First team event on TOUR since 1981. … Won a playoff on the fourth hole. … Set tournament scoring record. … Only winning team still to make an eagle (2). … Bogey free for the week. … Led by FOUR after 54 holes. … Led by one after 36 holes. … One back after 18 holes. … First TOUR win for Smith, third for Blixt. … Smith wins in his second appearance, fifth for Blixt. … Blixt and Smith only top 10s at the event are their win. … Smith was T6 the previous week at Valero. … Blixt was T14 at Harbour Town in his last start. … Formats were foursomes Thursday/Saturday and fourballs Friday/Sunday. Notables: Kevin Kisner and Scott Brown (P2) closed with 60 to force the playoff. …Kelly Kraft and Kevin Tway (3rd) were 20-under in fourballs. … Ryan Palmer (T4) opened with 66, co-second lowest score in foursomes to date. … Jason Dufner (T5) has two top 10 finishes with two different partners, just like Martin Laird. … Former champion Bubba Watson and JB Holmes (T5) return with new partners this year. … Charley Hoffman and Nick Watney (T5) are still together. … Co-First Round leader Kyle Stanley (T29) returns. … Only five of 42 teams broke 70 in foursomes on Saturday. … Cut was 7-under. Key stat leaders Top golfers in each statistic on the 2020-2021 PGA TOUR are listed only if they are scheduled to compete this week. Horses for Courses

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