Tiger Woods’ return to form leaves his biggest critic open-mouthed

Rory Sabbatini (+8000) … The 45-year-old opted to burn a career earnings exemption this season instead of trying his best on conditional status after finishing 133rd in the FedExCup. He arrived at the checkpoint to qualify for the perk (i.e., the conclusion of the 2021 Wyndham Championship) at 29th all-time. While some might wonder why he didn’t wait until he absolutely needed to use it, using it now grants him full control over his schedule and before he’s at least another year older before he would. As for this week, since winning silver at the Olympics, he’s gone 4-for-4 worldwide with a T10 at the Wyndham. It’s the first time he’s connected at least four paydays since ripping off seven straight across the holiday break in late 2019. He’s also perfect in three trips to County Club of Jackson with a T20 in 2018 and a T12 last year. Adam Schenk (+8000) … He pulled through to save his job and qualify for the FedExCup Playoffs with a pair of late T4s, so there’s an argument that he has as much momentum as the Korn Ferry Tour graduates. Opened 2021-22 with a T51 at the Fortinet Championship, so the seal already has been broken to reach the Playoffs for a fourth consecutive season. Figures to tack on at the Sanderson Farms Championship where he’s 4-for-4 with a T7 in 2018. All 16 of his scores here have been par or better. Luke List (+8000) … He runs red-hot and ice-cold on his putter, this we know. And even when it’s the latter, he still can rise into contention, as he did finishing 65th in Strokes Gained: Putting en route to a T5 at the Barbasol Championship two months ago. It’s also happened at the Country Club of Jackson where he was a co-runner-up in 2016 and has miss two cuts in four trips. So, the angle at buying in isn’t about hoping to avoid the pitfalls, it’s that he’s put four rounds together at all recently and on this track, so there’s enough evidence not to dismiss outright. Finished last season at 36th in greens hit, 23rd in SG: Tee-to-Green and T21 in par-scoring. Matthias Schwab (+8000) … After popping for a pair of top fives on the PGA TOUR in 2019-20, he qualified for the 2021 Korn Ferry Tour Finals via the non-member conduit. It was a good thing because he went just 1-for-4 during the 2020-21 season and directed the majority of his focus on the European Tour. Good form on the Austrian’s home circuit translated into a T4-64th-T8 blitz in the KFT Finals and his first PGA TOUR card. He was the only rookie not to open at the Fortinet Championship. so as to rest following a T12 at the BMW PGA Championship immediately following the KFT Finals. Now he resets and shifts his attention forward. Former Vanderbilt teammate John Augenstein also is in the field via his top 10 at Silverado two weeks ago. David Lipsky (+10000) … He’s another rookie with worldly experience that includes a pair of wins on the European Tour, so this stage won’t feel as big to the 33-year-old as it will to most others in his class. Mito Pereira paced it at the Fortinet with a solo third, but Lipsky was the rookie runner-up with a T22. For the week, he ranked T7 in fairways hit, seventh in total driving, T10 in greens hit, T4 in proximity and ninth in Strokes Gained: Putting. A steady diet of leaderboard performances on the 2020-21 Korn Ferry Tour yielded a win and three seconds among seven top 10s. He also finished T9 in par-5 scoring on the circuit, a relevant stat given the challenging par 5s at CC of Jackson. Odds were sourced on Tuesday, Sept. 28 at 8 a.m. ET . For live odds, visit betmgm.

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HOUSTON (AP) — Jason Kokrak had reason to believe he shot himself out of the Hewlett Packard Enterprise Houston Open on the back nine Saturday morning. He played it 10 shots better when it counted Sunday afternoon, making four straight birdies for a 5-under 65 and a two-shot victory. Two shots behind with six holes to play, Kokrak delivered all the right shots to pull away from a fading Scottie Scheffler and Martin Trainer and win for the third time in the last 13 months. “Very blessed to be standing here,” Kokrak said. Kokrak couldn’t help but think back to Saturday morning, when he returned to complete the second round and went the other direction. He played seven holes in 7-over par for a 41 that left him 10 shots behind after 36 holes. What a turnaround on Sunday. Kokrak holed a 12-foot birdie putt on the 13th to get in the mix and then made a 25-foot birdie putt on the 14th hole, the toughest at Memorial Park, to get within one shot. He hit wedge on the 115-yard 15th hole with a front pin to 6 feet to tie for the lead. He had enough mud on his golf ball from rain earlier in the week that he chose to lay up on the par-5 16th, even though he could have reached with a mid-iron. Kokrak hit wedge to 5 feet for a fourth straight birdie. By then, he was on his way and finished at 10-under 270. Scheffler, going after his first PGA TOUR victory, had a two-shot lead when he made the turn. He didn’t hit a green in regulation until the 15th, making three soft bogeys that left him too far behind to make a late run. Scheffler had a long two-putt birdie on the 16th to get within three shots and nearly drove the green on the par-4 17th, only to hit a pedestrian chip and fail to make birdie. He birdied the final hole for a 69 and tied for second with Kevin Tway (68). Trainer, who made only his ninth cut in 71 starts since his victory in the 2019 Puerto Rico Open, took the lead on the 11th hole by rolling in a 70-foot birdie across the green, and then he calmly saved par with an 8-foot putt. But he couldn’t make up ground on the some of the scoring holes, took a bogey on the 14th and then fell back for good with bogeys on his last two holes for a 70. Matthew Wolff was among six players who had at least a share of the lead in opening hour, courtesy of five players being within one shot of Scheffler to start the final round. He fell back with bogeys, and then made a hole-in-one with a 9-iron on the par-3 ninth to get back into the mix, but only briefly. Kokrak went 232 starts on the PGA TOUR before his first victory, and now has three in his last 27 starts dating to THE CJ CUP @ SHADOW CREEK north of Las Vegas a year ago in October. He also won at the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas, in the spring. He moves to No. 7 in the FedExCup standings and No. 22 in the world ranking. He shot 41 on the back nine to complete his second round Saturday morning, when it was cold and “I really didn’t have my best stuff.” Kokrak was bogey-free and shot 31 on Sunday afternoon. “I made some putts,” he said. “That’s what kept me in it.”

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