Tiger, others recall President Bush’s impact on golf

Christiaan Bezuidenhout (+300 for a Top 20) … Pick your pleasure or jump on both. Of the dozen from his homeland in the field, only Louis Oosthuizen is presented at shorter odds, but you’d win an argument that Bezuidenhout is the hottest of ‘em all. In fact, of all golfers from the entire continent of Africa, he’s totaled the most Official World Golf Ranking points (47.02) in 2022. Oosthuizen has managed only 16.82. In the last two months, Bezuidenhout has connected for a co-runner-up (John Deere) among four top 20s. He’s T5 on the PGA TOUR in proximity to the hole, T29 in Strokes Gained: Putting, fifth in scrambling and first in proximity from the sand, the last of which rarely within our focus but it doesn’t hurt in case he finds any of the 112 bunkers on the Old Course. The 28-year-old also is no stranger to big stages. He’s a combined 7-for-10 in majors, including a payday (T53) at Royal St. George’s last year. Haotong Li (+400 for a Top 20) … After an extended tailspin, he’s back on the rise, and quickly at that. It was at the Royal Birkdale in 2017 when he closed with 63 to finish third in what was his Open debut. That would have tied the all-time record for lowest score in a major if Branden Grace hadn’t broken it by one the day before. The result vaulted Li into the top 100 of the Official World Golf Ranking (to 63rd) for the first time. Six months later, he rose to a career-best 32nd with a win in Dubai, his second career DP World Tour title. Then, two years ago this week, he slipped outside the top 100 and hasn’t cracked it again. The low point came last December when he sat 542nd. A runner-up finish at the Volvo China Open (the tournament where he connected for his first DPWT win in 2016) ensued, as have five more top 20s, including an emotional third career victory at the BMW International Open just three weeks ago. Currently 139th in the OWGR and with powerful momentum in tow. Chris Kirk (+550 for a Top 20) … Granted, St. Andrews is in a league of its own, but the 37-year-old has recorded six top 20s in the last five months. The set includes challenging venues like PGA National (T7), Bay Hill (T5) and Southern Hills (T5). He finished 71st at The Renaissance Club on Sunday, but he’s acclimated with four warm rounds after a three-week break. Among the best tee to green, so the objective is to simplify and plug that skill set into this equation that demands avoiding trouble. Sebastián Muñoz (+450 for a Top 20) … This is a respectful value for a guy who’s 0-for-2 at The Open. No doubt that it reflects house protection given his series of exceptional performances on all kind of tests, including a T14 at the U.S. Open just four weeks ago. The Colombian cut his teeth in the winds presented at the University of North Texas, and now with several PGA TOUR seasons under his belt, he’s fine-tuning his game to pop at a moment’s notice. That includes a pair of opening 60s en route to third-place finishes in the last eight months. That score isn’t out there at St. Andrews, but it will reward the kind of confidence and balance that he’s carried throughout. Keita Nakajima (+1400 for a Top 20) … The twice-qualified phenom from Japan still hasn’t turned pro – perhaps this fall – so he arrived for his Open debut as the long-standing world’s top-ranked amateur. Yet, he’s played primarily professional events over the last two years, and even won one on the Japan Golf Tour last September. He was a Sleeper for the Masters (at +750 for a Top 20) and missed the cut, but there’s three times the argument that the better play is now, anyway. First, the kickback for a Top 20 at St. Andrews is almost double what it was at Augusta National. Second, while amateurs tend not to make much noise at The Open, the last time one finished inside the top 20 was, you guessed it, at St. Andrews in 2015, when, count ‘em, three recorded top 15s – Jordan Niebrugge (T6), Ashley Chesters (T12), Ollie Schniederjans (T12) – and that doesn’t even include Paul Dunne (T30), who shared the 54-hole lead. And third, while modest, the 22-year-old Nakajima is another three months experienced. Odds were sourced on Tuesday, July 12, 2022. For live odds, visit BetMGM.

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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Gary Woodland beat Chez Reavie with a par on the first hole of a playoff Sunday in the Waste Management Phoenix Open. Woodland birdied three of the last four holes for a 7-under 64 to finish at 18-under 266 at TPC Scottsdale. Reavie closed with a 66. After a bogey on the par-3 16th, the former Arizona State player chipped to 3 feet for birdie on the short par-4 17th and ran in a 20-footer on the par-4 18th to force the PGA TOUR’s fourth straight playoff. In the playoff on the 18th, Woodland hit short of the green from the left fairway bunker and chipped to 2 feet to set up his third PGA TOUR victory. Reavie missed the green left and couldn’t get an 11-footer to fall. The crowd was estimated at 64,273 for a record weeklong total of 719,179. On Saturday, an estimated 216,818 jammed the grounds, the biggest turnout in golf history.

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Patrick Reed won THE NORTHERN TRUST the last time it was held at Liberty National, in 2019. This one, though, has been one to forget. First Reed pulled out of the tournament with an ankle injury. Then, as his fellow competitors were playing the rain-delayed final round Monday, he issued a statement that he’s been home in Houston battling double-pneumonia. He also officially withdrew from this week’s BMW Championship, the second event of the three-week FedExCup Playoffs, late Monday. “The good news is, my ankle is okay,” Reed wrote in the statement. “The bad news is I’ve been in the hospital with bilateral pneumonia. I’m on the road to recovery, once I’m cleared from the doctors – I look forward to returning. I wish you all the best and I can’t wait to get back out there! “Thank you so much for your support,” he continued, “it means a lot to me. Also, a special thank you to the doctors, nurses, and staff at The Methodist Hospital in the Texas Medical Center.” Reed has endured a demanding travel schedule this summer. He’s flown from the Rocket Mortgage Classic (T32) to The Open Championship (MC) to the 3M Open (T34) to the Olympic Games in Tokyo (T22), where he was a late replacement for Bryson DeChambeau. Then it was right back home for the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational in Memphis, Tennessee (T31). His pneumonia will keep him out of the BMW Championship, which will begin Thursday at Caves Valley Golf Club in Maryland. That’s three straight events he will have missed with illness or injury after spraining his ankle at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude. Reed came into THE NORTHERN TRUST at 22nd in the FedExCup standings. He hasn’t missed the top-30 TOUR Championship since 2013. He’s also ninth in the U.S. Ryder Cup standings for the team that Steve Stricker will captain at Whistling Straits next month. The top six in points after the BMW automatically qualify; others, like Reed, will require a captain’s pick.

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