Tiger brings buzz to Valspar Championship

A handful of Olympians including Hideki Matsuyama, Patrick Reed, Tommy Fleetwood, and silver medalist Rory Sabbatini highlight the field at the Wyndham Championship, the final regular-season event prior to the FedExCup Playoffs. Jim Herman returns to defend his title from 2020, won in dramatic fashion. FIELD NOTES: Winners of THE PLAYERS Championship teeing it up at the Wyndham Championship include Rickie Fowler, Si Woo Kim (who tied for third last season), and Webb Simpson… Simpson won this tournament in 2011 and thrives in North Carolina… Like Simpson, Patrick Reed made the Wyndham his first TOUR title, winning a thrilling playoff over Jordan Spieth in 2013… Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama was a late commit coming off playing the Olympics and the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational… Sponsor exemptions include European Ryder Cup captain Padraig Harrington and Will Zalatoris, who as a Special Temporary Member on TOUR is not eligible for the Playoffs unless he wins the Wyndham… Bill Haas, former Walker Cupper Alex Smalley, 2014 winner Camilo Villegas, and former Georgia star Davis Thompson are also in the field as sponsor exemptions. FEDEXCUP: Winner gets 500 FedExCup points. COURSE: Sedgefield Country Club (Ross), par 70, 7,131 yards (yardage subject to change). Sedgefield, the only Donald Ross original that serves as a regular PGA TOUR venue, opened in the 1920s. The course boasts Ross’ signature small and undulating greens but has yielded five straight winning totals of 20-under or better. STORYLINES: It all comes down to this in terms of the FedExCup standings for 2020-2021. Rickie Fowler is right on the bubble (125th as of last week) and looking for a spot in the Playoffs. He has never failed to qualify for the Playoffs and finished a career-best fourth in the FedExCup in 2015… Patrick Rodgers and Camilo Villegas were 126th and 127th, respectively, just one FedExCup point back of Fowler… Olympian Rafael Campos sits at No.150 and at the Wyndham will look to improve his position or at least hang on to his spot in the 125-150 category for next season… Three golfers jumped inside the top 125 at last season’s Wyndham Championship, led by the surprise winner Jim Herman (192 to 54)… Rory Sabbatini, who won the silver medal in Tokyo after firing a sizzling 61 in the final round, will make his TOUR return at the Wyndham. 72-HOLE RECORD: 258, Henrik Stenson (2017), JT Poston (2019) 18-HOLE RECORD: 59, Brandt Snedeker (1st round, 2018). LAST TIME: Jim Herman, who had made just four cuts since the start of the year, fired a 7-under 63 in the final round of the 2020 Wyndham Championship to top Billy Horschel by one. It was his third PGA TOUR title. Herman, who finished at 21 under, trailed by four entering Sunday’s finale but leapfrogged Horschel with a birdie on 17. He earned a spot in the FedExCup Playoffs, jumping from 192nd to 54th in the standings. Two days earlier he’d had to birdie his final four holes just to make the cut, which led to his career-low 61 on Saturday. Kevin Kisner, Webb Simpson, Doc Redman, and Si Woo Kim tied for third, three back. HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Thursday-Friday, 3 p.m.-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday-Sunday, 1 p.m.-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3 p.m.-6 p.m. (CBS). PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday 7 a.m.-6 p.m. (Featured Groups). Saturday, 8 a.m.-3 p.m. (Featured Groups), 3 p.m.-6 p.m. (Featured Holes). Sunday, 8:30 a.m.-3 p.m. (Featured Groups), 3 p.m.-6:30 p.m. (Featured Holes). Radio: Thursday-Friday, 12 p.m.-6 p.m. Saturday-Sunday 1 p.m.-6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio).

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FACEBOOK WATCH: Morning Featured Groups | Afternoon Featured Holes As the first leg of the FedExCup Playoffs continues at THE NORTHERN TRUST, Facebook Watch will feature coverage of two Featured Groups. The coverage begins with Marc Leishman and Kevin Na who begin Round 3 at 7:40 a.m. ET. The pair made the cut on the number at even par and sit 10 shots off the lead held by Jamie Lovemark and Brooks Koepka. The second Featured Group of two-time FedExCup champion Tiger Woods and Ian Poulter tee off at 7:50 a.m ET. Woods was back in contention at the PGA Championship and will look to get the momentum rolling in the right direction. Ian Poulter, who won this season at the Houston Open, began the week 34th in the standings but currently projects to No. 41. A strong round on Moving Day could help secure his spot in the TOUR Championship. At 1 p.m. ET, the broadcast will transition to the Featured Holes portion. Coverage will start with the par-4 first hole and par-3 15th hole. Once play has completed at No. 1, coverage will pick up at the par-5 17th.

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Here are nine tidbits from the final round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open that gamers can use tomorrow, this weekend or down the road. Be looking for the Emergency 9 shortly after the close of play of each round of the tournament. Closing Time Gary Woodland fired a final-round 64 (-7) to post 266 (-18) and eventually win a playoff at the Waste Management Phoenix Open at the Stadium Course at TPC Scottsdale. His final round included nine birdies, and his haul of 26 for the week led the tournament. The past three winners of this event finished in the top four strokes-gained: tee-to-green and GIR. Woodland kept the tradition alive and well as he finished second and fourth, respectively. The clues were there for gamers as he was in the mix last Sunday before a final-round 75 knocked him to T12. His other start of the season was T7 at Sony, which also included another 64 on a Sunday. Woodland said after his win, his first since Barracuda in the summer of 2013, that he’s very confident in his short game recently. Noted. At 33 and with a new baby, he’s in the prime of everything right now and deserves all the accolades he’s receiving. Sun(day) Devil All Arizona State alum and Phoenix native Chez Reavie had to do on Sunday was beat world No. 2 Jon Rahm (72) and world No. 7 Rickie Fowler (73) in a three-ball, which he did by shooting 66. If that wasn’t enough, the 36-year-old needed to play his final two holes two-under-par to force a playoff after his bogey on No. 16. He did, including a 21-foot putt on the final hole to get to extra holes. Reavie has fought through an injury that saw him lose basically all of 2014. He’s been steadily trending up over the last two seasons as he looks to regain form. The good news is he’s made eight cuts in eight tries and seven have gone for top-25 paydays. His streak of cashing is now 19 events counting back to last year. His best finish last season was T4 twice, the last coming at TPC Southwind. That’s not the first time this week I’ve mentioned TPC Southwind… Timing the Market Ollie Schniederjans can be fun! And crazy. And. And. We went over this last week, but this is why he’s worth it each week. His 65 on Sunday missed the low round of the week by a shot. His T3 payday was his second-best result on TOUR after he closed with 64 at last summer’s Wyndham Championship to finish second to Henrik Stenson. WHAT ABOUT LAST WEEK??? I hear you, I hear you but hear that all five of his weekends this year have cashed for top-25 earnings. Buy some antacid and enjoy! Kuuuuuuuuuuuch Matt Kuchar had a very eventful weekend. He lit it up Saturday for 64 with eight birdies against only one bogey. He was in the guts of the tournament on Sunday as he was inside the top five with four holes to play. He nearly aced No. 16 to blow the roof off the place, but he drove it in the water on the following hole to kill his chances. Angry gamers won’t remember his 12-foot par putt on the final hole to save some serious cash…Not bad for his first official event on TOUR this season as he enjoys this Arizona desert (back-to-back top 10’s at WMPO) over the Middle East desert (T32, Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship). Former Champions Phil Mickelson was looking to become the only four-time champion of this event, but his Sunday charge ended with a double-bogey six on the final hole after an errant tee shot. Mickelson now has an impressive 11, top-10 finishes in 29 tries. I’d point out that he has excellent recent history at TPC Southwind as well! … Hideki Matsuyama withdrew with a hand/wrist/thumb injury and was not able to join The King, Arnold Palmer in winning three events in a row. We’ll tweet any news on progress to the injury moving forward. … Kyle Stanley, J.B. Holmes and Hunter Mahan, all champs in the last 10 years, all MC. Horses for Courses Brendan Steele is eight-for-eight with four top-10 checks after his T3 this week. It’s also his best finish of the lot. Steele needs to be circled in permanent marker for, obviously, Silverado and TPC Scottsdale. … Martin Laird has three top-10 paydays in the four years since Weiskopf’s redesign. Stop over-thinking this. Sunday Silence Part I Rickie Fowler made three bogeys in his final four holes to finish T11 after leading by one after 54 holes. This just proves what kind of expectations he’s set for himself over the years. BUT I will sympathize with those in the PGA TOUR Fantasy One & Done presented by SERVPRO who were licking their chops after Matsuyama WD! Sunday Silence Part II Winning golf tournaments is difficult, and Jon Rahm is illustrating that over the last three weeks. He’s been lauded and loathed for his temper on the golf course but I’m more interested in his results. If winning is the absolute in your game, I wish I could send you back to 2000 when Tiger Woods won a whopping 25 percent of the time. I don’t know if Rahm and Fowler were daydreaming about the Ryder Cup, but I sure didn’t expect Chez Reavie, who had NEVER played well at this event, to thump each of them! … Daniel Berger gets a mention here as I’m very high on this fella as well. His check for T11 is his third inside the top 12 in four tries. Oh, and he’s the defending, two-time champion at TPC Southwind! Study Hall Phil Mickelson wasn’t the only lefty lurking this weekend. Eric Axley, Edward Loar and Scott Langley were all battling for the title at the Panama Championship. Langley shot 65 (-7) in the final round, that included a double on his 70th hole, to win by two. It’s his first victory as a professional. … Indian golfer Shubhankar Sharma becomes the third-youngest multiple winner in European Tour golf annals. His 62 at the Maybank Championship was his second win in two months and makes him eligible for The Open Championship and WGC-Mexico Championship. He also won the Joburg Open. Noted. … Vaughn Taylor jumped up to T11 on Sunday after his 67. Taylor is a recent winner at Pebble Beach as you will recall.  

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