Tiger Woods plays with high-school student in return to Wells Fargo Championship

PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico – When you’re hot you’re hot. After a victory last week at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship, Seamus Power kept his fine play going this week at the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba, firing an 8-under 63 in the third round to move into the top five on the leaderboard. “Confidence is a huge thing in golf, and especially in wind and a course like this, sometimes you’re lining up down like a hazard line or something like that and you’ve got to hit it with some confidence. I think after the win last week, one, you’re playing a little freer I think and two, your confidence is high, feeling good about your game,” said Power. The round was highlighted by an ace on the par-3 8th, an eagle just three holes later on the par-4 11th, and then a hole-out birdie from a greenside bunker on the par-4 14th. He knocked a gap wedge in for the hole-in-one from 138 yards and a lob wedge in for the eagle. With a bashful laugh, Power said it was his 14th ace, his last on TOUR in 2019 at THE PLAYERS Championship. Funnily enough, Power didn’t feel like he was putting it that well on Saturday. No matter. “It was one of those days, I was burning the edges all over the place with putts so it’s kind of weird a couple of wedge shots went in,” said Power with a smile. “That’s golf sometimes and hopefully I can get some of the putts to drop tomorrow.” Power attributes his solid run to the five-week break he took after the TOUR Championship. It was time, he said, for a mental and physical re-set. “It’s just a lot of tournaments. Last season I feel I played a lot of tournaments,” said Power. “At the start of the year like the Match Play I wouldn’t have been in, or any of the four majors. So, for me adding those to the schedule as it was going along was a little tricky because, you know, there’s a lot of other courses you like and all that. “So, I feel like I probably overplayed a little bit, so that five weeks was huge just to… get the fun back into the game, just to get the energy level back up and that desire to be just out there like on the golf course. So, I was able to do that and, as I said, I feel great right now.” With a fine start to the PGA TOUR season, Power said he’s got eyes on some big-picture goals, including being part of the Ryder Cup team next year in Italy. “I mean, that’s going to be huge,” said Power. “Obviously that’s a long ways away, but… that’s going to hopefully be the reward at the end of a lot of good golf.” Power wasn’t the only one to make an ace on Saturday. Greyson Sigg, fresh off his colorful Friday effort, had a hole-in-one of his own on No. 10. Joel Dahmen, meanwhile, nearly jarred his tee ball with a driver on the par-4 17th. He finished birdie-eagle-birdie to shoot a 5-under 66, after his tee shot on the penultimate hole – measured at 300 yards in the third round – landed just two feet away. He finished birdie-eagle-birdie to shoot a 5-under 66 after his tee shot from 300 yards on the penultimate hole landed just two feet away.

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Greetings, gang! As always, it’s an absolute pleasure to welcome you to the next installment of the PGA TOUR – the 2022-23 edition. This begins my 14th season in this chair. Thank you for your loyalty and for your community. I’m sincere in conveying that it means everything to me. Peace and love. By now you know that this is the last wraparound season before the TOUR resets for 2024. What transpires in the fall of 2023 is TBD, but however you experienced the most recent offseason won’t be replicated. RELATED: Horses for Courses, Statistically Speaking This will include a return to a natural launch of my full-membership fantasy ranking late in the calendar year. This season’s edition published last week, so if you haven’t dived in, please consider doing so. It includes ages, salaries (and bargains where noted), membership status and a comment for all 214 golfers. There’s also a printable Cheat Sheet for draft leagues. The opening page reviews the changes relevant to fantasy and much more. As explained, the entire project is a guide and it’s evergreen. Bookmark it. I’d ask for you to share with others, but that would mean that you think that it won’t give the edge that will assist in your quest for a league title. S’OK, I’m used to it! PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf also launches this week. The overall format essentially is the same – four Segments; league play; prizing for each and the overall season – but there’s one significant change in scoring: Every par will be worth one point. When the scoring system was modified for 2021-22, pars were zero to align with Modified Stableford scoring. Refer to Rules for more. Obviously, fantasy scoring now will rise. With it, the value of making cuts reemerges as a priority. (Veteran gamers of PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf are familiar with previous iterations that rewarded cuts made.) Segment 1 always is a soft open due to the construct of the fields, so you won’t have to concern yourself with rationing starts for pretty much anyone. However, building a foundation of golfers you believe have a greater chance of cashing is going to be the proper swing thought to separate from your opponents. Roster up, not down. The other significant news is that the stand-alone fantasy app soon will be discontinuing. It’s still active for Fortinet, but at some point, mobile users will need to enter the PGA TOUR app to access PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf. It also will remain accessible via mobile browsing. It’s always parked on the FANTASY page of the desktop website and accessible directly via FantasyGolf.PGATOUR.com. Let’s go! POWER RANKINGS WILD CARD Hideki Matsuyama (-145 for a Top 20) … Injuries to his left wrist and neck interrupted playing time in July and August, but he walked off the 2021-22 season with a T11 at East Lake where he opened as the 17-seed. That’s enough of a reason to worry about extended health, but it’s a great sign that he’s committed to the Fortinet where he finished T6 a year ago. At the same time, it’s also (and maybe even more so) a test of his physical health in advance of next week’s Presidents Cup. If you’re feeling frisky, stow him on your bench in PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf because the variables of his current snapshot present more reason to abstain. DRAWS Davis Riley (+140 for a Top 20) … Although he has a phenomenal rookie season, the best part is that inexperience is replaced with knowledge. This goes for everyone, but we always assume that guys value what they’ve learned and they don’t just show up and rely entirely on talent, even for a player like this who profiles well just about everywhere. That can pay off at times, but it’d be stressful to attempt to sustain that approach for a very high percentage. Of course, he presents none of that concern, but the test begins now. He missed the cut in his debut at Silverado last year, which means that he had two rounds under his belt. Roll Tide. Chez Reavie (+250 for a Top 20) … He’s the most recent winner of a PGA TOUR event nearest Napa, and the Barracuda champion has a perfect record at Silverado. He’s 8-for-8 with a T3 highlighting three top 25s. What more needs to be said about who and what this place rewards? Veteran ball-striker!! J.J. Spaun (+250 for a Top 20) … Hung up a T9 here two years ago and he reconnected with some form late last season. For a guy who keeps the ball in the best places to find it, he’s a brilliant option in DFS. Cam Davis Matt Kuchar Troy Merritt Patrick Rodgers Brendon Todd Odds sourced on Tuesday, September 13th at 7 p.m. ET. For live odds visit betmgm FADES Stewart Cink … No conflict this year. The 2020 champ sat out his title defense so that he could attend his son’s wedding. He’s moved on since that career second wind but there’s still room for the 49-year-old deep in full-season rosters. Faith is down considerably, however. A top 25 is a genuine bonus now. Cameron Champ … So badly want to leave the doubt in the past, but there’s been no consistency for the 2019 Fortinet winner. Whether his wrist still is an issue or perhaps bad habits triggered by it have complicated matters, he’s not playing up to the projections. Webb Simpson … In any other sport (and hopefully again on the PGA TOUR come 2024), the offseason would allow for time to recover from injury and separate competitively. Even though optimists can cite a reset for all to zero FedExCup points, body and soul can’t be fooled into thinking that a true break has occurred. This is to say that his slump is more likely to continue than end despite the new chapter. Save a couple of glints of form in the last six months, the 37-year-old has done nothing to convince us that he’s overcome whatever lingered after returning from sitting out two months to rest for a herniated disc in his neck. Denny McCarthy … Sometimes, fit trumps form, even when a guy has rewarded us as often as he has. Fact is, Silverado exposes his weakness on approach, so he’s putting to save pars more than for par breakers, and that’s led to four missed cuts in as many tries. He’s broken par just twice in eight rounds. Gary Woodland … Making his debut at Silverado. Concluded last season by going MC-MC-T51, thereby extending his trend of trading forgettable weeks with thrilling performances. Alex Noren … Also a debutant at Silverado, but he was recently bothered by a sore neck. It knocked him out of the FedEx St. Jude, and then he finished T52 at the limited-field BMW. Joel Dahmen Jason Day Harris English Rickie Fowler Danny Willett RETURNING TO COMPETITION John Huh … A lower back injury forced him to walk off TPC Southwind a month ago. He was a co-runner-up the week prior at Sedgefield, but don’t lean into that hope. His history at Silverado is dreadful. He’s cashed only once in seven tries (T35, 2016). Nate Lashley … Opted not to give it a go in the Playoffs due to an ongoing issue with a toe. He can be a dynamic performer, so that slots him best in DFS and in deeper long-term formats. His track record at Silverado is a microcosm of his profile, too. Both of his paydays in five starts are top 20s. Finished T16 a year ago. Scott Piercy … After qualifying for the Playoffs with a late surge, he withdrew during the second round of the FedEx St. Jude with a sore back. That was a month ago, so the loyalist at Silverado is positioned to hit the ground running, or at least jogging. Since 2016, he’s 4-for-6 with a trio of top 20s, including a T11 last year. Brandt Snedeker … Hasn’t pegged it in earnest since missing the cut at the Deere more than two months ago. An explanation for his absence hasn’t been released, but he didn’t carry significant fantasy value, anyway. However, he could be worth a flier in salary games this season. He opens on a Minor Medical Extension for which he has five starts to earn 148.084 FedExCup points and a promotion to the Major Medical category. If he falls short, he will burn a career earnings exemption, so while the results haven’t been terribly helpful in a while, he’s in position to yield ~25 starts. And hey, maybe he finds the fountain of youth at Silverado. It was just four years ago when he lost in a playoff. He placed T17 in his last trip the following year. That he’s ready to get back after it immediately is a green light. NOTABLE WDs Dean Burmester … Hey, someone has to be the first out, and no one ever can take it away from him. While he’s a Korn Ferry Tour Finals grad, don’t be surprised if he follows a similar path of fellow South African, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, who was a KFT grad last season and did just fine. Burmester is 67th in the Official World Golf Ranking, so he’s poised to earn opportunities that most of his fellow grads won’t. Stick with him long-term and you should be rewarded for your understanding and patience. RECAP – TOUR Championship POWER RANKINGS Power Ranking Golfer Result 1 Patrick Cantlay T7 2 Scottie Scheffler T2 3 Xander Schauffele 4th 4 Jon Rahm T15 5 Rory McIlroy Win 6 Justin Thomas T5 7 Sungjae Im T2 8 Sam Burns 24th 9 Matt Fitzpatrick T15 10 Will Zalatoris DNP 11 Cameron Smith 20th 12 Tony Finau 9th 13 Jordan Spieth T13 14 Joaquin Niemann T11 15 Adam Scott 25th 16 Scott Stallings 29th 17 Max Homa T5 18 Corey Conners 26th 19 Brian Harman T21 20 Aaron Wise T13 21 Billy Horschel T21 22 Cameron Young 19th 23 Viktor Hovland T15 24 Sepp Straka T7 25 Collin Morikawa T21 26 J.T. Poston T15 27 Sahith Theegala 28th 28 K.H. Lee 27th 29 Tom Hoge 10th 30 Hideki Matsuyama T11 BIRTHDAYS AMONG ACTIVE MEMBERS OF THE PGA TOUR September 13 … none September 14 … Tony Finau (33); Emiliano Grillo (30) September 15 … none September 16 … none September 17 … Byeong Hun An (31); Seonghyeon Kim (24) September 18 … Viktor Hovland (25) September 19 … Ryan Palmer (46); Michael Gligic (33)

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Matt Kuchar bogeys the 14th and 15th holes but makes three clutch pars coming in for a final-round 69 and a one-shot victory over Danny Lee (65) at the Mayakoba Golf Classic. Welcome to the Monday Finish, where Kuchar, trying to break a win drought of 4 1/2 years, made a crucial two-putt par at the 18th hole to pick up his eighth PGA TOUR victory and go to fifth in the FedExCup. He also broke the tournament record at 22 under. FIVE OBSERVATIONS 1. Kuchar’s seasoning paid off. It would have been easy to get psyched out by his four-shot lead, but after competing all around the world, making Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup teams, earning a bronze medal in the 2016 Olympics, and winning THE PLAYERS Championship among his seven previous TOUR titles, Kuchar was under no illusions. “I know the deal,â€� he said Saturday night. “I can’t just stop making birdies and expect to win.â€� He was right. Had he shot an even-par 71 he would have lost to Lee by one. 2. It was the Year of the Comeback in 2018. Kuchar broke a win drought that went back 4 1/2 years and 116 starts to the 2014 RBC Heritage, and was only the latest player to revive his career. Phil Mickelson, Jason Day, Rory McIlroy, Gary Woodland, Kevin Na and Tiger Woods were among those who had gone winless for a year or in some cases much longer before hoisting a trophy again in the 2018 calendar year. “It’s an amazing feeling to win a PGA TOUR event,â€� Kuchar said, echoing an oft-repeated refrain this year. “It’s a hard thing to do.â€� 3. Mayakoba illustrated “horses for coursesâ€� axiom. Past champions Pat Perez (T6), Brian Gay (T41) and Patton Kizzire (T55) all spent time up around the lead before 2008 winner Gay and defending champion Kizzire fell back on the weekend. Perez, who won in 2017, never wavered as he shot 66-67-67-67 to move from 41st to 25th in the FedExCup. 4. Cameron Champ looks like a superstar. The long-hitting Champ didn’t win, thanks largely to unusually poor finishes in his weekend rounds, but at 16-under he still finished T10. And after winning the Sanderson Farms Championship and contending again at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open before falling back with a final-round 73, he looks capable of contending every time he tees it up. “He’s hugely impressive,â€� Kuchar said after playing with Champ in the third round, which Champ ended with a double-bogey to go from four to six back. “It looks like effortless power. He looks like a really consistent, good swinger of the golf club. He’s going to do damage out here. I think he’s going to be kind of the future of the game of golf.â€� 5. Mayakoba could still be punishing. Although there were multiple 62s (Cameron Champ, Round 2; Scott Piercy, Round 4) and plenty of low scores, El Camaleon could still be a beast for those who suffered an off-day or even one bad hole. Freddie Jacobson, coming back from an injury, made a 10 on the way to a 76 in the first round. Jonas Blixt went 63-76 in the second and third rounds, respectively. And last year’s runner-up Rickie Fowler (T16) made plenty of birdies but simply couldn’t keep the bogeys off his card. FIVE INSIGHTS 1. Kuchar was ultra-reliable off the tee, the most critical stat at Mayakoba, to pick up his 99th top-10 finish on the PGA TOUR. He was 45/56 in fairways hit, third best in the field. He was also 57/72 in Greens in Regulation (T9); and averaged 27.8 putts per round (T21). 2. The winner made 26 birdies and four bogeys, and became the fourth player in his 40s to win this calendar year, following Phil Mickelson (World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship, 47), Ian Poulter (Houston Open, 42) and Tiger Woods (TOUR Championship, 42). 3. In his 428th TOUR start, Kuchar set 36-, 54- and 72-hole tournament records, ultimately finishing 22 under. That was also the best four-round total of his career. The victory came in his 116th start since his last TOUR win (2014 RBC Heritage). 4. This was runner-up Danny Lee’s best result since he won the 2015 A Military Tribute at the Greenbrier. It was his second runner-up (T2/2015 TOUR Championship). He hit 39/56 fairways (T16), was 52/72 in Greens in Regulation (T27), and took 26.5 putts per round (T4). 5. J.J. Spaun (66, T3) posted his third straight top-15 finish after a T10 (THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES) and T15 (Shriners Hospitals for Children Open). His solo second at the 2017 The RSM Classic remains his best finish. Richy Werenski (67, T3) enjoyed his best finish in four starts this season, and best since a T2 finish at the Barbasol Championship last season. A playoff loss at the 2017 Barracuda Championship remains his best finish in 63 starts on TOUR.

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