Tiger back 7 but ‘overall’ pleased at Honda

What a year. As we prepare to close the book on 2021 still a little wobbly on our feet, a little glassy-eyed as we try to process it all, it seems only appropriate to pause and consider what we’ve seen. A six-man playoff. An eight-hole playoff. The first PLAYERS Championship in two years. Xander Schauffele striking gold at the Tokyo Olympics. Tony Finau winning again. We saw Power, as in Seamus, your Barbasol Championship winner, and power, as in driving distance leader Bryson DeChambeau’s crowd-pleasing, 370-yard moon shot on the par-5 sixth hole at Bay Hill as he won the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard. English, as in Harris, was spoken seemingly everywhere, from Kapalua (Sentry Tournament of Champions) to Connecticut (Travelers Championship) to Kohler (Ryder Cup). We also had a long-awaited Ancer, as in Abraham, capturing his first PGA TOUR trophy in an unlikely playoff at the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational. Here’s what else we saw over these unforgettable 12 months. Underrated Player of the Year: Hideki Matsuyama, as rated by himself At The Masters in April, Matsuyama became the first Japanese player to wear the green jacket and the first to win a men’s major of any kind. He was brimming with confidence. Alas, it was gone by the time he went home for the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP in October. “Ball striking, putting, chipping, all of these have not reached the level I want,” he said. “If my game scored 10 out of 10 at The Masters, now I would say it scores less than 1. I will be struggling this week, but I am here in Japan, so I am motivated to be in contention.” Then he won, after which he said, “I would rate my performance as two or three.” Geez. Tough crowd. Underrated Player of the Year II: Justin Thomas, as rated by himself Despite winning THE PLAYERS Championship, Justin Thomas said at the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba that he would give his season a C-minus. Craziest finish: WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational Harris English was going to win, and if not him, then Bryson DeChambeau. They were 20 under and 18 under, respectively, as they went to the back nine at TPC Southwind. The next closest player was at 16 under. Alas, after multiple water balls, a long ruling, and being put on the clock, English and DeChambeau shot 40 and 41, respectively, on the back. Abraham Ancer (2-under 68) won after joining a playoff with Hideki Maruyama and Sam Burns, who finished an hour before English and DeChambeau and admitted he almost left the property. Shocker of the Year Phil Mickelson won the PGA Championship less than a month shy of his 51st birthday, becoming the oldest player to win a major – by 2 1/2 years. (Julius Boros) Shocker of the Year II After winning just three times in 27 years, the U.S. Ryder Cup Team trounced Europe 19-9, the biggest margin of victory since the event went to 28 matches. Most Functional Family Stewart Cink won the RBC Heritage in April with son Reagan as his caddie. It was the second time they’d teamed up for a W in the season’s first eight months. This, after Cink went into last season without a victory since 2009. Best Playoff Fittingly, it’s a four-way tie: “Patty Ice” Cantlay beat Bryson DeChambeau in a six-hole playoff at the BMW Championship (and went on to win the FedExCup). Harris English beat Kramer Hickok in eight extra holes at the Travelers Championship. C.T. Pan won a seven-man playoff to capture the Bronze Medal at the Tokyo Olympics. Finally, Kevin Kisner won a six-man playoff that also included Branden Grace, Si Woo Kim, Kevin Na, Adam Scott and Roger Sloan at the Wyndham Championship. Best Delivery World No. 1 Jon Rahm and his wife, Kelley, welcomed their first child, son Kepa, just prior to The Masters Tournament in early April. Best Delivery II Jon Rahm birdied 17 and 18 to win the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, where he’d captured his first PGA TOUR title in 2017 and not far from where he later proposed to Kelley. Best Slump-Buster Jordan Spieth won for the first time since 2017 at the Valero Texas Open. “It’s been a long road,” he said. A total of 1,351 days, to be exact, but who’s counting? Best Home Cooking Breaking a drought going back to the 2019 PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP, Rory McIlroy won his third Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow, where he’s a member. It was the first time he’s won a TOUR event three times. Best Reason to Keep Knocking on the Door Hideki Matsuyama won the Masters, becoming the first Japanese player to win a men’s major in April. It was his first victory in four years. Justin Thomas opened with a 38 Thursday and was a shot outside the cut line with nine holes remaining Friday, then shot 64-68 to win THE PLAYERS Championship. “It was a ball-striking clinic,” said his then-caddie, Jimmy Johnson. After winning for the first time in his career at THE CJ CUP @ SHADOW CREEK the previous fall, Jason Kokrak, 36, continued his transformation from journeyman to multiple TOUR winner as he captured the Charles Schwab Challenge in late May. And when he captured the Hewlett Packard Enterprise Houston Open in November, he had a sleeve of wins in a span of 13 months, making him one of the game’s hottest players. Supernova of the Year Less than a year after picking up his first major title at the PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park, Collin Morikawa captured The Open Championship for major No. 2. The five-time PGA TOUR winner, who is still just 24, also went 3-0-1 at the Ryder Cup and became the first American to win the European Tour’s Race to Dubai. Nickname of the Year Patrick Cantlay rode a red-hot summer all the way to the FedExCup, but he was “Patty Ice” to the fans at the BMW Championship. Rarely has anyone so aptly lived into his new nickname, which was ironed onto the back of an Atlanta Falcons jersey (and apparently into Cantlay’s unflappable game) for the TOUR Championship. “It could have been a different nickname, but he really appreciated that the fans got behind him,” said Matt Minister, Cantlay’s longtime caddie. “Because up until last week (at the BMW), everybody else was being cheered for, and then they really started cheering for him. That’s what made the difference, that they got behind him.”

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NOTE: For three events, Rob is focusing only on golfers needing a good performance to advance in the FedExCup Playoffs. In this final edition, all five below enter the BMW Championship outside the top 30 in points. Scenarios for all golfers to advance will be published later this week. Shane Lowry (+125 for a Top 20) … He didn’t come this far not to go any farther. Sure, you could say the same thing about everyone in the field at the BMW Championship, but few have been as consistently strong as the 35-year-old throughout 2022. With a trio of podium finishes leading the way, including his solo second in the ill-timed rain at the finish line of The Honda Classic, he’s 37th in the FedExCup. If there’s any cosmic balance in the golf world, it’ll be his turn to climb into the top 30, just as FedEx St. Jude Championship playoff victim (and Honda champion) Sepp Straka did on Sunday. Entering the week, Lowry was 28th, but Straka has since climbed from 35th to eighth. And you can bet that the Irishman will have an umbrella at the ready with rain in the forecast in Wilmington on the weekend. Aaron Wise (+110 for a Top 20) … Of all of the guys outside the top 30 in the FedExCup upon arrival, his position is most envious. That’s because he’s 31st after a T31 at TPC Southwind. Like others, he’s long and accurate from tee to green, but that’s exactly the formula for success on Wilmington Country Club’s South Course this week. It was just a couple of months ago when he challenged for a solo second at Muirfield Village, another stretched-out track with bentgrass greens. Denny McCarthy (+275 for a Top 20) … This bet is a gimme, right? In his last seven starts, he’s recorded three top 10s, one T20 and missed three cuts. With no cut at the BMW Championship, he’s a lock for a top 20! Of course, if it worked that way, there wouldn’t be any risk, but investors in his starts haven’t felt much of that with him for most of the season, anyway. Currently 35th in the FedExCup and on the pantheon of the best putters on the PGA TOUR. K.H. Lee … If he wasn’t as high as his current position of 33rd in the FedExCup, he probably wouldn’t have landed in the final edition of Sleepers for the 2021-22 season. (Promotional note: The Power Rankings for the TOUR Championship always is a full-field version.) Since defending his breakthrough victory at the 2021 AT&T Byron Nelson with another title three months ago, he’s 6-for-9 but with just two top 35s. Both are top 20s, including a T20 last week at TPC Southwind where he was perfect on 60 looks from eight feet and in, nine of which were from outside three feet. The moral of the matter is that he has the firepower to deliver on value that you’ll find on the boards. Emiliano Grillo … When the regular season was entering its last six weeks, he was just inside the top 150 of the FedExCup and devoid a top-15 finish since The Open Championship in 2021. But then, in a four-week span bridging the 2022 Open, the 29-year-old from Argentina hung up a pair of runner-up finishes to secure his seventh Playoffs appearance in as many tries. Now, at 55th in points, it’s going to require another sparkling performance to advance to the TOUR Championship for the first time since he was the Rookie of the Year in 2015-16. With his tee-to-green precision on a course with unfamiliar greens, his skill set is poised to fulfill the objective. Incidentally, the last time a golfer outside the top 45 in the FedExCup at the BMW Championship qualified for the finale in any iteration of the points structure was Keegan Bradley in 2018. He did it with a victory. The last to turn the trick without a win was Robert Castro in 2016. He placed third at the BMW to jump from 53rd to 21st. Odds were sourced on Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2022. For live odds, visit BetMGM.

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Jon Rahm enters the final round of THE PLAYERS Championship with a one-shot lead over Tommy Fleetwood and Rory McIlroy. Here’s everything you need to know to follow all the action. Round 4 tee times Round 4 leaderboard HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN (ALL TIMES ET) TELEVISION: Thursday-Friday, 1-7 p.m. (Golf Channel). Saturday, 2-7 p.m. (NBC). Sunday, 1-6 p.m. (NBC). PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday, 7:30 a.m.- 7 p.m. (Featured Groups). Saturday, 8:30 a.m.- 7 p.m. (Featured Groups). Sunday, 8 a.m.- 6 p.m. (Featured Groups). LIVE ON TWITTER: Thursday-Friday, 7:30 a.m. – approx. 8:30 a.m.; Saturday, 8:30 a.m. – approx. 9:30 a.m.; Sunday, 8 a.m. – approx. 9 a.m. RADIO: Thursday-Friday, 12-7 p.m. Saturday, 1-7 p.m. Sunday, 12-6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.COM). International subscribers (via GOLFTV): Thursday-Friday, 12:30 to 23:00 GMT. Saturday, 14:00 to 23:00. Sunday, 13:00 to 22:00. NOTABLE PAIRINGS (ALL TIMES ET) Tiger Woods, Matthew Fitzpatrick: 9:45 a.m. ET Patrick Reed, Adam Scott: 12:35 p.m. ET Dustin Johnson, Brian Harman: 12:55 p.m. ET Rory McIlroy, Jason Day: 1:25 p.m. ET Jon Rahm, Tommy Fleetwood: 1:35 p.m. ET MUST READS Rahm leads by one entering Sunday at THE PLAYERS Tiger finishes hot on Saturday The traditional Sunday pin placements will bring drama once again A day in the life of the Island Hole How the Island Hole played on Saturday Remembering Alice Dye during THE PLAYERS week The move to March? ‘I’ll let you know on Sunday’ It’s nearly impossible to be a consistent contender at TPC Sawgrass The Meanest Day at 17 CALL OF THE DAY

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