This is the weekend that will shape the Ryder Cup

A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier, the 2019-20 lid-lifter, featured the first hole-in-one of the season (Sungjae Im, 15th hole in round one); the first sub-60 score (Kevin Chappell, 59, second round); and the first-ever PGA TOUR winner from Chile, Joaquin Niemann. Oh, and by the way, he’s also the only player other than Seve Ballesteros and Rory McIlroy to be born outside the United States and win on TOUR before turning 21 in the last 95 years. Welcome to the Monday Finish. Related: What’s in Niemann’s bag? | The stats behind Niemann’s first TOUR win THREE KEYS TO SUCCESS 1. Niemann loves The Greenbrier. It’s not just that he finished T5 there last year, and T29 in 2017, but that he closed with a 64 each time. He shot the same score Sunday. 2. He jumped into a three-way tie for the lead with Scottie Scheffler and Robby Shelton with a second-round 62, his career low on TOUR, and never looked back. The biggest shot of the week may have been his eagle from 51 feet, 6 inches at the 12th hole in round two. 3. He putted great, leading the tournament in Strokes Gained: Putting (+8.8) for the first time in his career, with most of his production on the back nine. It was on the inward nine that he bit off +7.6 of that gaudy SG: Putting total, making double the length of putts than he did on the front, and requiring four fewer strokes on the greens.    OBSERVATIONS Familiarity breeds birdies: As with any endeavor, youth on the PGA TOUR is an advantage (strength, flexibility, resilience) and a disadvantage (not knowing where to stay or eat, which way a putt breaks, or even how to get to the first tee). Niemann has had to feel his way along, and maybe it’s no surprise that his breakthrough happened at The Greenbrier, which he first played at age 18 when he was the top-ranked amateur in the world. “I just never thought this moment was going to come,â€� he said. For more on Niemann’s big win, click here.  Hovland looks like he’s next: Viktor Hovland (T10) of Norway climbed 29 spots with a final-round 64, which also marked his record-tying 17th straight round in the 60s on TOUR. (He will skip the Sanderson Farms Championship and have to wait at least a week to potentially pull ahead of record co-holder Bob Estes.) Hovland also continues to be a fast finisher, with closing rounds of 64 (Greenbrier), 65, 64, 65, 64 in his last five starts, an indication that, like Niemann, the 21-year-old Hovland is learning fast. “I think one of the reasons I’ve been playing so well on Sunday,â€� he said, “is getting more familiar with the courses and just getting comfortable.â€� For more on Hovland, click here. Werenski has had a wild ride: Watching Richy Werenski battle over the last few months has been dizzying. First, he finished 126th in the FedExCup, just 2 points shy of making the Playoffs. Then he finished T24 in the Korn Ferry Tour Finals, becoming the last player, along with D.J. Trahan, to earn his way back to the TOUR through that avenue. Werenski wasted no time in taking advantage, shooting 67-65-65-69 at The Greenbrier to finish T3 with Brian Harman, Harris English and Nate Lashley. It was Werenski’s fourth top-three finish on TOUR; he lost a playoff at the 2017 Barracuda Championship, and last season finished T2 at the Barbasol Championship and T3 at the Mayakoba Golf Classic.   QUOTEBOARD “Next year I’m going again.â€� – Niemann on off-roading with pal Carlos Ortiz at The Greenbrier “What a fantastic win for Joaquin at The Greenbrier. I’m really proud of him, and it’s a wonderful start to his season. I’m looking forward to more of his great play.â€� – International Presidents Cup Captain Ernie Els, in a text message to PGA TOUR officials “Just trying to warm up on the driving range and … fell over and couldn’t move for a while.â€� – Joseph Bramlett (71, T14), on back issues that sidelined him for much of the last five years. “Surreal.â€� – Kevin Chappell, who shot a second-round 59, the 11th sub-60 score in PGA TOUR history, after missing last season due to major back surgery.  SOCIAL SNAPSHOT

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There's nothing wrong with your circadian rhythm. It's November and we're no longer saving daylight, yet the Vivint Houston Open and the Masters are lined up over the next fortnight. So, what gives? It's a familiar pairing. Beginning with the first year of the FedExCup (2007) and extending through 2018 (with an exception in 2013), the consecutive contests were cornerstones of early spring. Houston shifted to the fall in 2019 and the 2020 Masters was bumped to autumn due to the pandemic. So, like a force that reunites old neighbors, and with a change of seasons - literally and figuratively - the two connect once more. What has been planned all along is the move to Memorial Park Golf Course within five miles west of downtown Houston. Scroll past the projected contenders for details on the return to this exciting host course, the construct of the field and more. RELATED: The First Look | Inside the Field | Five things to know: Memorial Park POWER RANKINGS: VIVINT HOUSTON OPEN Brooks Koepka, Jason Day, Adam Scott and Francesco Molinari will be reviewed in Tuesday's Fantasy Insider with other notables. Memorial Park hosted this tournament in 1947 and from 1951-1963, so it's not new to the PGA TOUR. However, how it presents this week is entirely different to when Bob Charles was the last to prevail on the property. This marks the TOUR debut of a Tom Doak redesign (2019) and it doesn't disappoint. There are five par 3s and five par 5s on the par 72. If that sounds familiar, Sherwood Country Club, the recent host of the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP @ SHERWOOD, stages the same array. Unlike tony, 7,073-yard Sherwood, Memorial Park is a municipal track and it can stretch to 7,432 yards. The longest hole is the 625-yard, par-5 eighth. The longest par 3 is the 237-yard 11th, but the hardest hole might prove to be the par-4 finisher that tips at 503 yards. Doak employed the advice of Brooks Koepka, who encouraged the architect to pare down to fewer than two dozen sand bunkers. As a result, MiniVerde bermudagrass greens are protected by Doak's imaginative undulations, grassy collection areas and a Stimpmeter measurement upwards of 12 feet. With unfamiliar greens, finding the shortest grass off the tee will matter. Primary rough in excess of two inches walls the fairways, while greens averaging 7,000 square feet will require precision on approach due to the humps, hills and sections of potential hole locations. Ball-strikers with length have an advantage but, and as always, unpredictable hot putters never should be ruled out. Due to the shift from mid-October to early November, the field is down 12 to 132. As of Monday afternoon, 36 are scheduled to compete in next week's Masters as well. Unlike when the Golf Club of Houston was prepped to imitate components of the challenge at Augusta National, comparisons to Memorial Park will be unintentional due to the coincidental timing of the tournaments. Fabulous conditions are expected throughout the Vivint Houston Open with high temperatures in the upper 70s every day. Breezes out of an easterly direction will be moderate at worst. Rain is not forecast. ROB BOLTON'S SCHEDULE PGATOUR.COM's Fantasy Insider Rob Bolton recaps and previews every tournament from numerous angles. Look for his following contributions as scheduled. MONDAY: Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Medical Extensions, Rookie Watch, Power Rankings TUESDAY*: Sleepers, Fantasy Insider * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM's Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf, which also publishes on Tuesday.

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Editor’s note: In a non-coronavirus world, Bill Self might have been coaching in Monday’s NCAA championship final while Gary Woodland definitely would’ve been prepping for his eighth Masters start. But with March Madness canceled and the Masters postponed, both are now staying at home like the rest of us. Helen Ross reports on the unique connection between the Jayhawks head coach and the former Kansas golfer. The Waste Management Phoenix Open earlier this year admittedly wasn’t one of Gary Woodland’s best. Over the course of four rounds, he hit seven balls in the water and another landed out-of-bounds. A day after the tournament concluded, though, Woodland was in Allen Fieldhouse to watch his beloved Kansas Jayhawks take on Texas. That tie for 40th at TPC Scottsdale was the last thing on his mind. That is, until he ran into Kansas coach Bill Self, who couldn’t resist reminding Woodland of all the errant shots. “He knows everything I do,â€� the reigning U.S. Open champion says with a chuckle. “He’s on ShotTracker every day. So, if I’m messing up, there’s usually a text coming my way. … I flew home the next day for a basketball game and that’s the first thing he says. “So he keeps up on me. He’s hard on me, so I need to make sure I play well, so I don’t hear from him.â€� Actually, Woodland enjoys hearing from Self, who left Illinois and took over the Kansas program in 2003, which the same year Woodland transferred and started playing golf for the Jayhawks. If he’d had his druthers, though, Woodland would have loved to play basketball at KU. And he did. Once. Only, it was an exhibition game at Allen Fieldhouse and Woodland, a freshman, was playing for NCAA Division II powerhouse Washburn University. Suffice it to say, the Ichabods were no match for the Jayhawks, who were ranked No. 1 in the country at the time. Ditto for the 6-foot-1 Woodland, who was guarding Kirk Hinrich, who went on to play 15 seasons in the NBA. “(It was) like, OK, I need to find something else, because this ain’t gonna work,â€� recalls Woodland, who went on to average 6 points and make 38 of 120 shots from three-point range that season. Golf was the fallback plan. When he was an undergrad, Woodland used to see Self around campus and remembers being somewhat intimidated. “Especially when I was in school, you see him walking down the hallway, you kind of say ‘Hi,’ and put your head down and move on,â€� Woodland says. “But he’s such a down-to-earth guy. He’s such a good guy and loves to have a good time, loves to talk. “And so now that I know him, he’s a text message or phone call away all the time.â€� The friendship blossomed when the two ran into each other at a movie theater shortly after Woodland, who remains a die-hard Jayhawk fan, graduated in 2007 with a degree in sociology. “He said, ‘Hey, I want to play golf with you before you leave town,’â€� Woodland recalls. “So, that was really the first conversation I really ever had with them. We went out and played golf together and we became good friends since then. “He’s been a great person for me, too, if I need advice. He’s somebody I can call, and he tells me how it is. He treats me, I would say, like one of his players, no sugar-coating anything. So, he’s a good person to have.â€� For his part, Self – whose Jayhawks were ranked No. 1 when the NCAA canceled this year’s tournament due to the coronavirus pandemic — says he’s enjoyed watching the way Woodland’s golf game has evolved. “I don’t know enough about golf to text specifics,â€� Self says. “I’m following because he can be two different players to me. He can be unbelievably consistent where he’s making a ton of pars. And then when he gets hot, he can make as many birdies as anybody. “But with that, he can also have as many doubles as anybody, too. So, he used to just hit it a mile, and now that he doesn’t hit it quite as far, he’s certainly scoring better because he’s hitting more greens because he’s playing out of the fairway more.â€� Self, who says he is about a 10 handicap, has been playing golf since he was in junior high school. Ball-striking used to be the best part of his game, but the coach says he isn’t sure what his strength is any more. “He’s actually pretty good.,â€� Woodland says. “He’s getting better. He hits it a long way. He’s not as good as he thinks he is, but he loves it. He has a great time. It’s a little hard, he’s got so many camps during the summer, but we definitely sneak out every year, which is fun.â€� And when the two play, Woodland gives Self a stroke a hole. “But he thinks he’s a lot better than that,â€� Woodland says with a grin. “I just do it just to be nice.â€� “I’m not competitive with him at all,â€� Self acknowledges. “I’m a competitor, I’m competitive, but not with him. And that’s a whole different level.â€� The Kansas coach is well- aware of Woodland’s basketball past, though. He was all-state in high school and a member of two state championship teams. Long-range shooting was one of Woodland’s fortes. Not that the 35-year-old golfer and the 57-year-old coach will be playing a game of H-O-R-S-E any time soon. “I do know he can shoot but at my age, I gave up playing pickup 15 years ago,â€� Self says.

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