Tiger Woods may pick himself for Presidents Cup

From a moment of silence to remember George Floyd, to no fan noise, to new noises players never noticed before, the PGA Tour’s return definitely looked and sounded different.

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Ollie Schniederjans was still a little raw, and a little hurt. Two hours earlier, with the eyes of the world watching intently, he had worked his way into a tie at the top at THE PLAYERS Championship. Two hiccups on the back nine, though, including a triple-bogey 6 at the most famous hole in American golf, had given him an even-par 72 and a T16 finish. “I cost myself a lot of money on 17,â€� he said, “so that’s hard to deal with right now.â€� Now, though, he looks ahead to this week’s Valspar Championship, and, big-picture, he likes what he sees. Because Ollie Schniederjans 2.0 is finally achieving liftoff. He has a new swing coach (Butch Harmon), a new trainer (Brendan McLaughlin, who also works with Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson), and a new caddie (Damon Green, formerly with Zach Johnson). At TPC Sawgrass, Schniederjans, who stands out for his conspicuous lack of headwear and his feathery brown bangs, was even sporting a new mustache. “Just since today,â€� he said after the wild final round. “Yesterday I had a goatee.â€� Not long ago, it appeared Schniederjans didn’t need to change anything. He was a member of golf’s heralded Class of 2011—Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas were co-valedictorians—and marked for greatness as he mowed through the amateur ranks and was an All-American at Georgia Tech. But his early professional career fizzled. While Spieth and Thomas were racking up a combined 20 PGA TOUR titles, Schniederjans was running in place. He was 60th in the FedExCup in 2017, when he had his best chance to win before finishing runner-up at the Wyndham Championship, and 98th last season. If anything, he felt himself getting worse. “I wasn’t hitting it good enough,â€� he said at THE PLAYERS. “I couldn’t work it both ways. I couldn’t get it in the air real well. I lost a lot of speed last year.â€� What’s more, he added, he was stubbornly clinging to his old ways. “A lot of time was wasted,â€� he said, “and energy was wasted just trying to figure things out on my own.â€� He went to see Harmon for the first time in December, traveling to the renowned teacher’s home base in Las Vegas. He began working with Green at the Sony Open in Hawaii, in January, and made a second pilgrimage to Vegas for another full-day visit with swing coach Harmon. All the while, McLaughlin was overseeing his new program to strengthen his body for golf. That’s a lot of changes all at once, and the results were slow to come. Schniederjans came into last week languishing at 193rd in the FedExCup and 239th in the Official World Golf Ranking. He kept at it, though, not content to be mediocre and unwilling to quit before the changes had had a chance to take hold. They did so at THE PLAYERS, where Schniederjans, who took up golf at the relatively advanced age of 12, seemed to play better as he got closer to the lead. “That was the one thing Zach was good at, too,â€� caddie Green said. “We’ve talked about it a lot, how you have to be the guy who wants the ball and wants to take the shot at the end of the game. He really does, and you could see it. I’ve been telling him for the last month, ‘You’re going to peak at TPC, I can just feel it.’ Just tryin’ to get in his head and give him a little confidence.â€� Schniederjans has certainly never lacked drive; he burns to be one of the best in the world and is constantly having Green film his swing. Green calls him “an old soul for a 25-year-old,â€� such is his low-key, studied approach to improvement. His physical tools are also impressive. It’s one thing to reach the par 5s in two shots at TPC Sawgrass, but quite another to reach with a 9-iron, like Schniederjans. (He’s 11th on TOUR in driving distance, averaging 309.5 yards.) “He’s got around 125 mph ball speed, which is sick,â€� Green said. “If he can hit a few more fairways and improve on his putting, which let us down a little at TPC, he’s gonna do damage.â€� Schniederjans’ big weekend at THE PLAYERS was the long-awaited affirmation that he’s on the right path. With the leaders faltering early, he birdied three of the first six holes to tie for the lead, rising to the occasion like old times. This was exactly what was predicted for him. Alas, he double-bogeyed the 10th, rallied with three birdies, then rinsed his tee shot on 17, the resulting 6 a buzz-kill at the end of an otherwise electric weekend run. Still, these are early days, and the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook, which has given us first-time winners like Adam Hadwin, Kevin Streelman and Gary Woodland, awaits. Schniederjans calls caddie Green a huge help, and says the same for Harmon and McLaughlin. He’s got the right support team, and his decision to change everything is finally paying off. “I played extremely well – I had two terrible holes that cost me the tournament,â€� he said. “I know when I get in the mix, I can get the job done. I’ve just got to keep putting myself in this position.â€�

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PATRICK CANTLAY, XANDER SCHAUFFELE TEAM FOR WIRE-TO-WIRE ZURICH CLASSIC VICTORY Defending FedExCup champion. Reigning Olympic gold medalist. Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele appeared a formidable duo from the get-go at this week’s Zurich Classic of New Orleans, the PGA TOUR’s only full-field team event, and they surpassed expectations across four rounds at TPC Louisiana. Cantlay/Schauffele set a tournament scoring record with a 13-under 59 in opening-round Four-ball, and the duo kept the pedal down, finishing 29-under for a two-stroke victory over Sam Burns/Billy Horschel. (The event featured a Four-ball format on Thursday and Saturday, with a Foursomes format on Friday and Sunday.) Not only did Cantlay/Schauffele become the first team to win the Zurich Classic in wire-to-wire-fashion, but they also set the tournament scoring record. Schauffele had recorded eight runner-up finishes on TOUR since his most recent victory (2019 Sentry Tournament of Champions), and he earns his fifth TOUR title alongside good friend and fellow Southern California native Cantlay, who secures TOUR triumph No. 7. Cantlay and Schauffele each earn 400 FedExCup points for their efforts – splitting standard first-place and second-place points. Cantlay ascends to No. 4 on the season-long FedExCup standings; Schauffele moves to No. 20. “We definitely bring out the best in each other,” Cantlay said after the victory was finalized, “and we really enjoy being out here together.” A strong recipe for a dynamic duo. TOUR HEADS SOUTH TO MEXICO The PGA TOUR added a second event in Mexico to its schedule with January’s announcement of the Mexico Open at Vidanta. Vidanta Vallarta will host the event for the next three years. Jon Rahm headlines the field with plenty of home-country talent trying to lift a trophy on Mexican soil. Abraham Ancer leads the Mexican contingent at Vidanta Vallarta alongside fellow TOUR winner Carlos Ortiz and Korn Ferry Tour winner Roberto Diaz. Major champions Gary Woodland, Graeme McDowell and Patrick Reed are set to tee it up. Multi-time TOUR winners Tony Finau, Daniel Berger, Cameron Champ and Kevin Na are in the field. Vidanta Vallarta opened in 2015 and features large landing areas off the tee, while the greens are protected by cavernous bunkers. The Mexico Open is considered the country’s national golf championship and was first contested in 1944. It boasts winners like Lee Trevino, Billy Casper, Roberto De Vicenzo, Ben Crenshaw and Stewart Cink. The winner will receive 500 FedExCup points. VIDEO OF THE WEEK MIC CHECK “That was probably as nervous as I’ve ever been over a putt of that length. It sounds silly just to have a chance to make the cut … to somehow shake that putt in on the last hole was something I’ll never forget. But just the whole week, playing with Bill, getting texts from all my kids, it’s just been a real charge.” – Jay Haas reflects on making the cut at the Zurich Classic while playing alongside son Bill. BY THE NUMBERS 59 – Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele combined for a tournament-record 59 on Thursday in Four-ball (best-ball) play. 68 – Jay Haas became the oldest player in PGA TOUR history to make the cut at 68 years, 4 months and 20 days old. 3 – Scott Parel was victorious at the ClubCorp Classic by winning a three-man playoff over Steven Alker and Gene Sauers. COMCAST BUSINESS TOUR TOP 10 The Comcast Business TOUR TOP 10 highlights and rewards the extraordinary level of play required to earn a spot in the TOP 10 at the conclusion of the FedExCup Regular Season as determined by the FedExCup standings. The competition recognizes and awards the most elite in golf.

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