Tiger Woods’ latest update is both promising and worrisome

NASSAU. Bahamas – In two weeks, Rickie Fowler no longer will be a 20-something. His birthday on Dec. 13 will be his 30th, and with that milestone comes a change in perception. Gone are the days of being considered of the TOUR’s young guns who represent the game’s future. Now the time has arrived to craft his legacy.  The clock, whether symbolic or real, is ticking. “I’ve always heard that 30s were your prime,� Fowler said on the eve of his title defense at this week’s Hero World Challenge. “So we’re just getting into it.� But does that ticking clock come with an increased sense of urgency? Not yet, said Fowler, who has four PGA TOUR wins since getting his card in 2010. While the 2015 PLAYERS Championship remains his signature victory, Fowler has yet to reach the lofty heights of still-in-their-mid-20s friends Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth, who’ve collected two FedExCups, four majors and 19 overall TOUR wins in the last four seasons. The comparisons may be a bit unfair, but the difference in pace can’t be discounted. “I look at the next 5-10 years as the time to take advantage of things and make sure that we’re not sitting back and just relaxing,� Fowler said. “Go out and take care of what we want to take care of and see what can happen.� Fowler comes off a 2017-18 season in which he recorded six top-10 finishes in 20 starts, including two seconds (one of which was the Masters). It was, in his words, a “fairly consistent� season. “Put myself in contention a lot, put myself in great positions at the majors,� he added. “Just never got the job done.� Now as he turns 30, it’s time to start completing more jobs. He insists, though, that his definition of a successful season has not changed. “I think as long as you’re always seeing improvement and it’s not just based off wins,� he said. “Yes, I want to win more. If I went off of my checklist or what I ultimately want to do, I haven’t had a successful season. “So I want to win more majors. I want to win more golf tournaments. But in golf, other than Tiger winning at a 30 percent rate, that doesn’t just happen. So you have to kind of look at the glass half full, especially if you’re talking about staying motivated and keep wanting to move forward. If you look at the negatives or downside of not winning, man, it’s going to be a long road. … “I’ve just always tried to go kind of a glass half-full, keep moving forward.� So get ready for a big push the next 10 years for Fowler. His legacy is on the line. When he celebrates his 40th birthday on Dec. 13, 2028, he’ll have a much better understanding of how he rates as a pro golfer. “I would say 40s is a little bit more of where we’d look at prime … in the rearview mirror. So I’m looking forward to these next 5-10 years of taking advantage of them and making them count.� STENSON AND HIS CADDIE: Henrik Stenson will continue to work with new caddie Scott Vail while he takes a break from Gareth Lord, who has been on Stenson’s bag since 2013. Stenson and Vail first worked together at the European Tour event in Dubai two weeks ago. Stenson said the partnership could remain for the foreseeable future. “There’s a high chance Scotty will continue,� Stenson said Wednesday. “We’re in the dating stage. We’ll see where it takes us.� Stenson, who took five weeks off after playing the Ryder Cup, finished tied for 12th in Dubai. LAST MAN IN: Keegan Bradley wasn’t originally scheduled to compete in the Hero World Challenge, but he got the last-minute invite when Tommy Fleetwood withdrew. It’ll be his first start in this event since 2015, when he finished when the host course was Isleworth in Florida. “Coming to this tournament’s a no-brainer for us,� said Bradley, who won the BMW Championship during the FedExCup Playoffs. “It’s a real testament to how you’ve played not only this year, but over the past two years because of how the world ranking points work. It’s a big deal to play in this tournament. It’s a great way to close out the year, a great place to come.� Bradley didn’t even mind the additional travel, even though it’s already been a busy fall of travel. He made the trip to Malaysia to play the CIMB Classic, flew back to the U.S. for a week, then flew back to Asia for the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions in China. Asked why he didn’t just go ahead and play THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES in Korea while he was already in Asia, Bradley just shrugged. “Now looking back on it, it might have been a mistake,� he said. WINNERS IN THE FIELD: Of the 18 players in Albany this week, two already have posted wins on the PGA TOUR – Xander Schauffele (at WGC-HSBC Champions) and Bryson DeChambeau (Shriners Hospitals for Children Open). Both players are ranked inside the top 10 in the FedExCup standings.

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PONTE VEDRA BEACH - PGA TOUR officials have added internal out-of-bounds to TPC Sawgrass' iconic 18th hole for THE PLAYERS Championship this week. Officials declared the left side of the lake that runs down the famous finishing hole will be declared OB after suggestions players might look to hit tee shots across the lake towards the ninth hole, before hitting back across water to the green. Players on the ninth hole are not affected, with balls lost into the water on that hole treated as a normal hazard. "In the interest of safety for spectators, volunteers and other personnel, The PLAYERS Championship Rules Committee has installed an internal out of bounds left of the lake for play of hole 18. Similar instances of internal out of bounds for safety purposes have occurred at The Open Championship (No. 9) in 2017, the 2021 Sony Open in Hawaii (Nos. 13, 18), and most recently, the 2021 Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard (No. 6)," the TOUR said via statement. Earlier on Tuesday, Bryson DeChambeau had indicated he might entertain the idea of bombing a drive or two over the lake despite not seeing a significant advantage. That choice has now been eliminated from his thinking. DeChambeau's significant length helped him win the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard last week - his eighth TOUR win. "I’ll probably give it a try, but it’s most likely not going to happen. If there’s stands there, there’s really no reason to go for it, when I could just drive it 100 yards from the green if I get a good wind normally," DeChambeau indicated. "It’s not really that big of an advantage but taking the water out of play and having an easier second shot, it may be easier." PGA TOUR rules official Stephen Cox said while players actions can certainly be a driving factor in determining these sort of decisions, the main issue on this occasion was safety. "It's not the way the hole was designed to be played and when a player does choose that option it brings fairly significant safety concerns for us," Cox said. "As we saw at Birkdale in 2017, players tend to take obscure lines and locations to gain a strategic advantage but if it is placing others at risk and danger the committee needs to act on it quickly. "Just as we reintroduce fans the last thing we would want is to have someone walking back towards the tee at the ninth hole and get a ball in the face because someone hits it down there. Errant tee shots are errant tee shots but when someone deliberately takes it down there it is more of a concern for us."

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SAN DIEGO – Ryan Palmer owes plenty to Jon Rahm but he has no problem trying to take something from him on Sunday at Torrey Pines. It was the fiery Spaniard who helped Palmer claim his fourth PGA TOUR win, nine years after getting his third, at last season’s Zurich Classic of New Orleans. The pair came together to take out the team event, which also gave Rahm his third PGA TOUR win. RELATED: Leaderboard | Tiger needs big Sunday to claim No. 83| Win probabilities But come Sunday at the Farmers Insurance Open the duo make up two of the final threesome looking to take home another title. Rahm leads after a sublime Sunday 65 left him 12 under for the week. Palmer is just one back in second place. As friendly as they are this time it’s for personal glory. “Of course you’re rooting for him at Zurich and trying to say, “hit it here” and “hit it there,” so maybe tomorrow I’ll say, “hit over there” instead,â€� Palmer joked. “It’s going to be a lot of fun. It’s fun when you get to play with guys you know well and you have a good time. Getting to watch him and play with Rory, that’s the position you want to be in. You want to be with the best come Sunday late in the day, so I’m excited about that chance.â€� Just how they came together goes back to before the first team iteration of the Zurich Classic in 2017. Jordan Spieth, Palmer and their caddies Michael Greller and James Edmondson were having a friendly round at Trinity Forest in Dallas late in 2016 when an interesting wager was thrown up by Edmondson. The former college golfer and four-time club champion from Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth issued a challenge to the 2015 FedExCup champion Spieth: If I beat you, you have to partner up with Palmer at Zurich. Edmondson won and a partnership with some 17 years of age difference was formed. They were fourth in 2017 in New Orleans before missing the cut in 2018 when they were paired with Rahm and Wesley Bryan. Despite both teams going out early they had a fun time. So when 2019 rolled around and Spieth decided to give the tournament a miss and Bryan was struggling with injuries a new option was available. “I’ve known Adam Hayes (Rahm’s caddie) a long time and I’ve played a lot of rounds with Jon in the last two, three years, had him at my charity event and became pretty good friends,â€� Palmer said. “It was a matter of James and I saying who do we really look at playing with. I didn’t want to just play to go play, I felt like I wanted to find a partner that I got along with, but also I knew I could really contend with. “I texted Adam and mentioned it and he said to text Jon, see what he says. We hit it off and I knew our games related so well … the way we both drive it … his short game and my iron play was a perfect match. We’re looking forward to doing it again.â€� Before that title defense in April comes Sunday’s round in San Diego. Rahm already won the Farmers Insurance Open in 2017, his first win on TOUR that came in incredible fashion. On that Sunday Rahm played the final nine holes in six under with two eagles and two birdies to blow away what previously was a bunched leaderboard. “Hopefully, I don’t need to shoot 6 under. Hopefully, I do shoot 6 under honestly and I don’t have to stress down the stretch,â€� Rahm said. “The only thing it’s going to do is keep me focused, no matter how good I’m playing, knowing that somebody can come and do the same thing.â€� Rahm’s Saturday 65 included a chip-in birdie on the first and a hole-out eagle from 111 yards on the second. He then birdied three of the four par-5s and produced a laser from 203 yards on the par-3 16th to set up a three-foot birdie. Along with his win at Zurich in 2019 Rahm also won three times on the European Tour and sits at third in the world rankings. He has an outside chance to move to second with a victory but at the very least would get within striking distance of top spot should he prevail at Torrey. “We all try to show up to a golf tournament thinking we’re the better player that week and we can do it and it’s just a matter of showing it,â€� he said. “So hopefully I can keep playing good, do it tomorrow and I can be back here and tell you I was the better player that week.â€� While the duo are the front runners, they won’t have it all their own way. With them in the final group is FedExCup champion Rory McIlroy. He will start three back of Rahm. A win for McIlroy will take him to the top of the world. “It was nice to shoot a good third round here and get myself a little bit closer,â€� McIlroy said after a 67. “The way it’s set up this week, I think it’s built for me, especially with how I’m driving the ball. It’s playing long, we’re not getting much roll out there. The rough’s up, fairways are pretty narrow. I would love bent greens instead of poa, but I guess you take what you’re given.â€� TOUR winners Sung Kang and Cameron Champ, plus rookie Harry Higgs join McIlroy at 9 under. Among the throng at 8 under, just four back, are more TOUR winners in Tony Finau, Marc Leishman, Patrick Reed, J.B. Holmes and Brandt Snedeker. And then of course lurking, perhaps a little far back but a chance none the less, is 82-time PGA TOUR winner Tiger Woods. He searches for a ninth professional win at Torrey Pines from five shots off the pace. “I still got to go out there and post a low one tomorrow, still got to make a bunch of birdies tomorrow and move up that board,â€� Woods said of the challenge ahead of him. Should he find a way to the top Woods would stand alone at the top of the all-time win list on the PGA TOUR, jumping out of a tie with Sam Snead.

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