Tiger will try to defend Zozo Championship title

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.

Click here to read the full article…

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Johnny Miller is retiring, and cheese whiz will never be the same. Miller and his longtime broadcast partner, Dan Hicks, met the media Friday as they brace for the final telecast of Miller’s illustrious career at the Waste Management Phoenix Open on Saturday. Miller reminisced about his 29 years in the broadcast booth and his illustrious playing career before that, but the atmosphere was one of raucous laughter more than tears. Asked if there was a Miller quirk that he will miss after sitting next to the outspoken legend for the last three decades, Hicks didn’t hesitate. His answer: liquid cheese. “If had to single out one thing that I think typifies Johnny is and it’s going to sound crazy see but it’s cheese whiz,â€� Hicks said. “Easy Cheese whiz, there’s a brand.â€� The assembled media laughed uneasily as Miller, a World Golf Hall of Famer and eight-time Emmy nominee, nodded in agreement. “So, Johnny would get in,â€� Hicks added. “I would look over there and he would have the nozzle of the cheese whiz thing implanted, basically mainlining cheese whiz like — and I go, ‘You’re actually sticking that in your mouth. The rest of us probably shouldn’t be using this.’ So, our illustrious stage manager, Kathy, would actually put a piece of gaffer’s tape on it, on the cheese whiz bottle.â€� Miller also did almost half of his 232 telecasts in bare feet, Hicks added. And Miller said his TV career almost last just a single day at the 1990 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. “I quit after the first day,â€� he said. “It was like, Holy mackerel, what have I got into? I’m not an announcer, I’m a player. They said, ‘It would be good if you could at least finish out the tournament, you know.’â€�  But it was the cheese whiz story that stole the show. Miller has about 20 friends and family members here this week, and many of them assembled at the NBC crew’s hotel Thursday night to toast the departure of a broadcast legend. The twist: They raised cans of Easy Cheese. “This week has just been This Is Your Life,â€� Hicks said, “and we have been just kind of going over all the great memories of having Johnny at 18. But I would say cheese whiz is at the top of the list, believe it or not.â€�

Click here to read the full article…

The field in alphabetical order for the U.S. Open as of 9/11/2020: Check here for updates. Byeong-Hun An Abraham Ancer John Augenstein (a) Danny Balin Paul Barjon Daniel Berger Christiaan Bezuidenhout Keegan Bradley Rafael Cabrera Bello Patrick Cantlay Paul Casey Ricky Castillo (a) Cameron Champ Corey Conners Joel Dahmen Jason Day Bryson DeChambeau Thomas Detry Tyler Duncan Harris English Tony Finau Matthew Fitzpatrick Tommy Fleetwood Rickie Fowler Ryan Fox Sergio Garcia Lucas Glover Lanto Griffin Chesson Hadley Adam Hadwin Cole Hammer (a) Justin Harding Brian Harman Tyrrell Hatton Scott Hend Lucas Herbert Jim Herman Lee Hodges Rasmus Hojgaard Max Homa Billy Horschel Sam Horsfield Viktor Hovland Charles Howell III Mark Hubbard Mackenzie Hughes Sungjae Im Shugo Imahira Ryo Ishikawa Stephan Jaeger Jazz Janewattanond Marty Jertson Dustin Johnson Zach Johnson Matt Jones Takumi Kanaya (a) Sunghoon Kang Martin Kaymer Si Woo Kim Chan Kim Kevin Kisner Kurt Kitayama Jason Kokrak Matt Kuchar Romain Langasque Danny Lee Marc Leishman Tom Lewis Adam Long Michael Lorenzo-Vera Shane Lowry Curtis Luck Robert MacIntyre Hideki Matsuyama Daniel McCarthy Graeme McDowell Rory McIlroy Troy Merritt Lukas Michel (a) Phil Mickelson Collin Morikawa Sebastian Munoz Kevin Na Joaquin Niemann Alex Noren Shaun Norris Andy Ogletree (a) Louis Oosthuizen Adrian Otaegui John Pak (a) Ryan Palmer Renato Paratore Taylor Pendrith Eddie Pepperell Victor Perez Thomas Pieters J.T. Poston Ian Poulter Andrew Putnam Jon Rahm Chez Reavie Patrick Reed Davis Riley J.C. Ritchie Justin Rose Eduard Rousaud (a) Xander Schauffele Scottie Scheffler Matthias Schwab Adam Scott Sandy Scott (a) Greyson Sigg Webb Simpson Cameron Smith Brandt Snedeker Jordan Spieth Henrik Stenson Kevin Streelman Steve Stricker James Sugrue (a) Andy Sullivan Preston Summerhays (a) Connor Syme Justin Thomas Michael Thompson Davis Thompson (a) Brendon Todd Sami Valimaki Erik Van Rooyen Ryan Vermeer Jimmy Walker Matt Wallace Paul Waring Bubba Watson Richy Werenski Lee Westwood Bernd Wiesberger Danny Willett Matthew Wolff Gary Woodland Tiger Woods Brandon Wu Chun An Yu (a) Will Zalatoris

Click here to read the full article…