Alex Myers discusses Tiger Woods tying Sam Snead for the most wins in PGA Tour history and a couple special encounters that may have helped along the way.
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PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – Not even a player of the Tiger Woods’ caliber can give up a big head start to the field at Pebble Beach and expect to contend. Woods continued a frustrating trend at the U.S. Open in Sunday’s final round, failing to take advantage of the easiest stretch on the golf course. Related: Leaderboard | Tiger’s Jedi mind tricks at 2000 U.S. Open In fact, Woods was 4-over through six holes, giving up any chance of a miracle 82nd PGA TOUR victory. But he fought back impressively through the tougher sections of Pebble Beach, making six birdies to shoot a 2-under 69 – his best score of the week. At 2-under for the championship, Woods snagged a T20 finish at the venue where we won the 2000 U.S. Open by 15 shots. He’s projected to move to 17th in the FedExCup. The first seven holes at Pebble Beach included the three easiest of the tournament, with the field playing them in 96-under-par. Woods played them in 3-over throughout his four rounds. “Got off to another crappy start and was able to fight it off. Turned back around and got it to under par for the week which, normally, it’s a good thing, but this week the guys are definitely taking to it,â€� Woods said. The 43-year-old was at least proud of his fighting qualities. “Just because I got off to a bad start doesn’t mean it’s over. Keep grinding, keep playing,â€� Woods added. “It was just a matter of can I somehow get it back to even par for the day and the total. And that was our goal. Happened to get a couple more out of it which is great.â€� Before ramping up his preparation for The Open Championship at Royal Portrush next month, he intends to take some time off. His biggest smile of the week came off the 18th green Sunday, when he got a Father’s Day hug from his kids. “It’s just trying to wind down from the championship as well as my lifts and getting back into it,â€� Woods said. “And I know that Florida will not be the same temperature as Northern Ireland. I’m not going to be practicing with any sweaters at home, but it will be nice to get to Portrush and get with it again. “I’ve never been up to Portrush, and I’m looking forward to getting up there and taking a look at the golf course and trying to figure it out. I hope that my practice rounds are such that we get different winds, especially on a golf course that I’ve never played, and to get a different feel how it could play for the week. And definitely have to do my homework once I get there.â€�
ATLANTA — Scottie Scheffler might have had a roller coaster of an opening round Thursday at the TOUR Championship if only he had been paying attention to the scoreboards. Scheffler started with a two-shot lead as the No. 1 seed in the FedExCup. He led by as many as six shots on the front nine. Then his lead was down to two. And when he finished with three straight birdies for a 5-under 65, he was five strokes ahead of Xander Schauffele. “I didn’t know any of that,” he said. “I was just trying to go out and shoot a good number.” Rory McIlroy’s day at East Lake was far more wild. And he knew it. A two-time FedExCup champion, McIlroy started six shots behind. He teed off in a downpour and hooked his tee shot over the fence and out-of-bounds. He reloaded and found a bunker. He missed a 6-foot putt and took triple bogey, and just like that was nine shots behind. And then he went rough-to-rough to make bogey on the next hole. McIlroy had only one par on the front nine and remarkably salvaged a 67. “Not the best way to start,” McIlroy said. “The golf course is really gettable, so I knew there was a lot of holes out there that you could birdie. I knew my game was good. It was just one of those things. Not the ideal way to start, but proud of how I bounced back from that.” Equally impressive was Open Championship winner Cameron Smith, playing for the first time since the opening FedExCup Playoff event because of a hip injury that gets aggravated in soft conditions. East Lake wasn’t quite a real lake, but overnight rain and the downpour made for a good walk spoiled. And so began the final leg in the chase for the FedExCup and the $18 million prize. Scheffler has had the best year with his Masters victory among three wins against strong fields. He would love nothing more than to finish it off, and he played that way. His 3-iron from 230 yards up the hill to 15 feet led to eagle on the sixth hole. He dropped only one shot, going from bunker over the green at the par-3 ninth and having to make an understated 10-foot putt to escape with bogey. And then he had a big finish, capped off by going from the left rough over the water to 30 feet for a two-putt birdie to reach 15-under par (which accounts for his 10-under start). U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick finished with an eagle for a bogey-free 64 and was six shots behind — he matched the best round of the soggy day and gained only one shot on Scheffler — while Joaquin Niemann (64) and defending FedExCup champion Patrick Cantlay (70) were another shot behind. Schauffele is dangerous as ever, and his record at East Lake is astounding for someone who has never left Atlanta in possession of a trophy. This was his 21st round in the TOUR Championship, and his 19th round under par. The other two were even-par 70s. He had the low 72-hole score in 2020 but started too far behind to catch Dustin Johnson. “It’s a weird event,” Schauffele said. “We do this once a year, and it’s one of the bigger events for us to do it. Because of those things, you just have to try your best to stay in the present and not get ahead of it. Tuck your head and play your best golf.” Weirder still was an injury that Scheffler mentioned from the weekend at The Open, where he went into Sunday in the mix and shot 74. He had never disclosed it and wasn’t entirely comfortable getting into the details except to say he was in pain. “I had what’s called a pilonidal infection. It’s an infection at the top of your butt crack,” he said, trying not to crack a smile. “You can look it up. It was really hard for me to bend down. It was really hard for me to make a swing on Sunday. Walking was actually extremely difficult. “Just one of those things that happened.” All part of what already has been a remarkable year, and now is 54 holes away from becoming even more memorable.
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – With more than 200 hours of digital coverage complementing 22 hours of live, limited-interruption telecasts from Golf Channel, NBC Sports, Sky Sports and dozens of broadcast partners around the world, THE PLAYERS Championship will feature the most expansive global programming in the history of the event. “THE PLAYERS will feature an unparalleled mix of innovative viewing choices along with traditional viewing options intended to create a robust, modern viewing experience that reaches every level of fan around the world,� said Rick Anderson, PGA TOUR Chief Media Officer. “We strive to showcase the strongest field in golf with an unmatched viewing experience, whether you are here in person at TPC Sawgrass, listening to live coverage in your car, watching Golf Channel and NBC while projecting live, augmented reality shot trails on your coffee table, or interacting from the other side of the globe with a virtual reality headset.� Following are ways fans around the world can follow the action: U.S. Television NBC Sports and Golf Channel will provide a total of 22 hours of live coverage with limited commercial interruption. Golf Channel will air six hours of live golf on both Thursday and Friday (1-7 p.m. ET), and NBC Sports will present five hours of coverage on both Saturday and Sunday (2-7 p.m. ET). Each day will include limited commercial interruption, thanks to the support of THE PLAYERS’ three Proud Partners: Grant Thornton LLP, Optum and Morgan Stanley. In addition to live coverage, Golf Channel will air primetime replays of competition on Thursday and Friday from 9 p.m.–12 a.m. ET. Golf Channel also has an extensive amount of ancillary programming scheduled around THE PLAYERS, including the Emmy-nominated “Live From THE PLAYERS� all week. 
 International Media Partners South Korea’s Si Woo Kim, who last year became the youngest-ever champion of THE PLAYERS, will lead a contingent of more than 50 international players at TPC Sawgrass. International players have won seven of the last 10 titles at THE PLAYERS: Spain’s Sergio Garcia in 2008; Sweden’s Henrik Stenson in 2009; South Africa’s Tim Clark in 2010; South Korea’s K.J. Choi in 2011; Germany’s Martin Kaymer in 2014; Australia’s Jason Day in 2016 and Kim in 2017. International coverage of THE PLAYERS in 2018 will be broadcast to over 1 billion households throughout 226 countries and territories in 23 languages. Sky Sports (United Kingdom and Ireland) and NHK (Japan) will be on site at THE PLAYERS to produce live telecasts back to their respective countries. In addition, the PGA TOUR’s International Broadcast Village will be the home of C-More (Sweden), Movistar (Spain), ESPN (Latin America), Canal+ (France) and Sky Sport (Germany) to provide live commentary from THE PLAYERS. Ten more international partners will be on site to cover the event and provide daily news and highlights to their respective outlets: iQiyi (China), Golf Channel (China), SBS (South Korea), Golf Network (Japan), Eurosport (Norway), TSN (Canada), Fox Sports (Australia), DAZN (Canada), Perform Group (Japan) and SNTV (global video news agency). PGA TOUR LIVE 
PGA TOUR LIVE, the TOUR’s global OTT video service, will provide live streaming coverage not only on competition days but also from key events leading up to Thursday’s first round. The schedule includes: Tuesday: Live coverage of the Military Appreciation Ceremony and Luke Combs concert, 5:30-7 p.m. ET Wednesday: Live PLAYERS preview show from Noon-2 p.m. ET, including a live broadcast from the Stadium Course, player interviews at the range, expert analysis of the field and course, and more. Thursday/Friday: Premium Featured Groups Coverage starting at 7:30 a.m. ET and Free Featured Holes coverage of the par-3 17th and drivable par-4 12th starting at 9 a.m. ET. Coverage is scheduled until 7 p.m. ET. Saturday/Sunday: Premium Featured Groups coverage starting at 8:30 a.m. ET, and Featured Holes coverage of the par-3 17th and the 12th starting at Noon ET. Coverage is scheduled until 7 p.m. ET. PGA TOUR LIVE is available at PGATOURLIVE.com along with iOS, Android, Apple TV, Windows 10 and Xbox One (launched this week). Twitter As part of its 2017 and 2018 partnership with the TOUR, Twitter will distribute a “free preview� of the Premium Featured Groups coverage on both Thursday and Friday. The free live window will be available globally to Twitter’s audience and can be found at http://live.twitter.com/PGATOURLIVE and via @PGATOUR. Thursday/Friday: Live coverage from 7:30 a.m. ET to approximately 9 a.m. ET of two Featured Groups through their first two holes. Facebook The PGA TOUR will team up with Facebook to stream 30+ hours of live coverage from THE PLAYERS Wednesday through Sunday on Facebook Watch. This coverage begins Wednesday of tournament week with an exclusive preview show from 3-4 p.m. ET. Then, on Thursday and Friday from 9 a.m. – 7 p.m. ET, Facebook will globally distribute Featured Holes coverage from holes Nos. 12 and 17. On both Saturday and Sunday from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. ET, Featured Groups coverage will be available to Facebook viewers in the U.S. Fans can tune into this action by following the PGA TOUR show Page at facebook.com/PGATOURLIVE/. Augmented Reality PGA TOUR AR, an augmented reality (AR) app, will bring live AR tournament coverage of THE PLAYERS to life for fans around the world on their iPhone or iPad. Coverage on PGA TOUR AR will begin in conjunction with the opening round of THE PLAYERS Championship on Thursday and will feature holes 16, 17 and 18. The PGA TOUR AR app is available for free exclusively in the App Store here. PGA TOUR AR allows fans to interact with 3D featured holes and live 3D shot trails on any flat surface right in front of them. Fans will be able to select their favorite player on the golf course, compare shot trails from each round and compare the shots of different players. Live Virtual Reality/360 Video The PLAYERS will feature 30+ hours of Virtual Reality coverage and will expand from three cameras covering the 17th hole last year, to eight cameras spread over both the 12th and 17th holes. The live VR experience, done in collaboration with Intel and produced with Intel True VR technology, can be viewed on Samsung Gear VR headsets on a global basis through the PGA TOUR VR Live app available on the Oculus store, on the PGA TOUR VR LIVE app on Google Daydream or on the PGA TOUR Mobile app using Cardboard or Panoramic viewing mode. For fans without the headset, a 360-video stream will be available on Twitter (@PGATOUR) for fans using any smartphone. This is the second year in a row for VR coverage at THE PLAYERS. Thursday/Friday: Live 12th and 17th hole coverage from 9 a.m.-7 p.m. ET Saturday/Sunday: Live 12th and 17th hole coverage from Noon-7 p.m. ET 
PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM, PGA TOUR Digital and 1010XL Now in its 14th season, PGA TOUR Radio will provide 26 hours of exclusive audio play-by-play coverage from TPC Sawgrass (broadcasting on Sirius 208 and XM 92 on satellite radios as well as on the SiriusXM app, streaming on PGATOUR.COM and the PGA TOUR’s official iPhone, iPad and Android apps, and available via Amazon Alexa). THE PLAYERS live broadcast will be available Thursday and Friday from 12-7 p.m. ET, then Saturday and Sunday from 1-7 p.m. For the third consecutive year, the play-by-play coverage will also be available on terrestrial radio in the greater Jacksonville area, airing locally on 1010XL. PGA TOUR Radio’s on-air team will be led again this year by host Earl Forcey and analyst Mark McCumber of Jacksonville, winner of THE PLAYERS in 1988 and a 10-time PGA TOUR champion. Reporting on the course will be Fred Albers, Doug Bell, Dennis Paulson and Kevin Sylvester. In addition to live play-by-play coverage, SiriusXM will be airing multiple hours of preview, pregame and postgame programming specifically devoted to THE PLAYERS. PGA TOUR Experience on DIRECTV For the second consecutive year, DIRECTV will offer fans four distinct channels of coverage from THE PLAYERS – the GOLF/NBC Simulcast, Featured Group, Launch Pad and ShotLink powered by CDW. DIRECTV will run programming on Thursday and Friday from 1 -7 p.m. ET and on Saturday and Sunday from 2-7 p.m. ET. PGA TOUR Innovation Highlights The PGA TOUR strives to be a leader in sports innovation with a goal of reaching new fans globally. THE PLAYERS Championship in 2017 marked the first time a major sports event distributed a live 360 VR experience on Twitter. Soon after, the PGA TOUR and Intel announced an exclusive relationship to produce and globally distribute live virtual reality (VR) and live 360 video via Twitter at six PGA TOUR events in 2017 and 2018. The PGA TOUR was the first sports league to utilize AR in a live competition. Development of the PGA TOUR AR app in collaboration with POSSIBLE Mobile, part of the creative agency POSSIBLE, with Official Launch Partner Mastercard was aided by existing data gathered by ShotLink powered by CDW, the TOUR’s longstanding state-of-the-art scoring system. The PGA TOUR AR app was built using ARKit in iOS 11 to provide immersive AR experiences for the game of golf. The PGA TOUR was also the first sports league to have a virtual reality app on the Oculus Platform and the first sports league to develop a unique experience for Amazon Echo. The PGA TOUR HoloLens app, which debuted this year at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, is available for free in the Microsoft store. The HoloLens app integrates post round data from ShotLink and CDW to create a 3D model of TPC Scottsdale that can be displayed on a tabletop or any flat horizontal surface. Users can zoom in to view the details of any hole and compare how two players performed on a hole and view heat maps of most ball traffic on a certain hole along with real time weather.
