Tim Mickelson retiring from being Phil’s caddy

The Zurich Classic of New Orleans can often throw up a player or two some PGA TOUR fans are unfamiliar with and while former World No.1 Jason Day has long been a favorite in the U.S. his partner this week, fellow Australian Jason Scrivener, may present as a mystery to some. Scrivener, 33, is a regular on the DP World Tour (formerly European Tour) and grew up following Jason Day’s junior path in Australia before the two became friendly via a management team connection. Here are five things to know about Scrivener, who with Day sits just three shots off the lead at the halfway point of the tournament. 1. Scrivener has been a DP World Tour member since 2015, playing in 177 tournaments thus far. While he is yet to win on the circuit formerly known as the European Tour, he has six top-3 finishes, and 24 top-10s. His career earnings in Europe are €3,811,844.77 with his best finish in the Race To Dubai coming last year at 21st. His lone win as a professional is the 2017 NSW Open where he held off current PGA TOUR player Lucas Herbert. The Zurich Classic is Scrivener’s seventh PGA TOUR start. He missed the cut in the 2018 U.S. Open, was T54 at the 2018 World Golf Championships–HSBC Champions, missed the cut at the 2020 Memorial Tournament before playing three times last season. Scrivener was T41 at the World Golf Championships–Workday Championship, T23 at the PGA Championship and missed the cut at The Open. 2. Scrivener was born in Cape Town, South Africa but moved to Zimbabwe when he was five years old. It was there, as a kid of seven or eight, he began taking an interest in golf as his father played the game at around a 4 handicap. The family, which consists of Jason’s parents and his three sisters moved to Perth, Australia when Scrivener was 10 and by 12, he was breaking par and beat his father for the first time. As a teenager he won the coveted Australian Boys Amateur (2007), joining the likes of Day, Adam Scott, Robert Allenby, Stuart Appleby, and Cameron Smith with that honor. 3. Scrivener recently moved to Orlando, Florida with wife Simone (also from Perth) and their eight-month-old baby son Felix. After trying to play several seasons in Europe as a commuter from Australia the young family decided to find a base in the U.S. to make a push towards the PGA TOUR. The decision was helped along after Scrivener witnessed the birth of his son, but then spent 10 weeks away, the majority of which came via enforced quarantines. Scrivener has joined Isleworth where he will practice with fellow Aussies Herbert, Ryan Ruffels, Gabi Ruffels and Curtis Luck regularly. While he will continue playing on the DP World Tour from his U.S. base Scrivener is already set to play in the Genesis Scottish Open and The Open at St. Andrews on TOUR later this season and hopes to garner further invites in an attempt to gain Special Temporary Membership, or a place in the KFT Finals. 4. He has royal connections and has met the majority of the UK Royal family. Scrivener’s cousin is Sara Parker Bowles – the daughter in law of Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall. Sara (nee Buys) is Scrivener’s aunt’s daughter who married Camilla’s son Tom (whom she had with Andrew Parker Bowles before marrying Prince Charles). Scrivener attended the wedding and broke bread with Prince William and former Prince Harry among other high-profile guests. 5. He lists his hobbies as hanging on the beach, surfing, and watching professional cricket and cycling. Loves nothing more than cheering on the Australian cricket team against the English while amongst English golfers and would love to spend more time watching the Tour de France in future if time allowed.

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Tiger Woods had his moments but also his struggles Thursday, shooting a 2-under-par 70 on Torrey Pines’ South Course to finish eight strokes back of leader Jon Rahm in the opening round of the Farmers Insurance Open.

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Jason Kokrak … Let’s try this again, shall we? Not long after this space published for last week’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, he withdrew from the tournament. Looking ahead, he makes even more sense at the Genesis Open where the vagaries that influence performance are minimal by comparison. He hasn’t missed an edition since first qualifying in 2012 and he’s missed only one cut in those seven trips. His last three resulted in top 25s, including a co-runner-up in 2016, and his scoring average over those 12 rounds is 69.08. Arrives in solid form with 12 consecutive cuts made, the last three of which were top 20s. Certainly long enough when he needs to find another gear, but the 33-year-old arguably is most confident with his irons. Martin Laird … He’s been performing pretty much as expected in recent weeks, and that includes an early pop at the Waste Management Phoenix Open before fading to T26. So, the mildly sneaky horse for a course deserves attention across the landscape at Riviera where he’s gone T11-T8-T9 with a scoring average of 68.92 since 2016. It’s sensible given his experience – this week’s edition marks his 10th appearance – and balanced attack throughout his bag. Jhonattan Vegas … When in his groove, he’s one of the PGA TOUR’s strongest talents tee to green, so he rarely worries about giving himself enough chances to make noise. The issue, as it has been since crashing on in 2011, is the putter. That explains not only his hit-and-miss record over time, but the same at Riviera. In six starts, he’s connected for just two top 35s among four cuts made, but both were top 15s. True to the formula, en route to a T15 here in 2017, he ranked 18th in strokes gained: putting. In his most recent start, he slotted fourth in strokes gained: tee-to-green and finished T10 at TPC Scottsdale, another track that rewards that skill set. Sung Kang … He’s the product of converging trends, but it matters more that he’s 4-for-4 at Riviera with a T8 in 2016, a T22 in 2017 and a T16 last year. His scoring average for those 12 rounds is 69.33. Yet, it still doesn’t hurt that he’s recorded three top 20s since returning from the holiday hiatus, including a T14 at Pebble Beach. He’s ridden spurts in between long droughts before, but his elevated tee-to-green game at the moment suggests that this latest burst will extend at least one more week. Bud Cauley … At 28 years of age, he’s the youngest on this page, but he’s in his seventh season with a PGA TOUR card and this will be his fifth start at the Genesis Open where his personal-best of three cuts made was a T20 last year. He’s made us forget all about the time missed as a result of the automobile crash last summer by opening this season 5-for-7 with a pair of top 15s. Presents evenly analytically, which projects well once again at Riviera. NOTE: Sleeper is a relative term, so Rob uses unofficial criteria to determine who qualifies. Each of the following usually is determined to be ineligible for this weekly staple: Winners of the tournament on the current host course; winners in the same season; recent major champions; top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking; recent participants of team competitions.

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