Titleist unveils new, low-spin TS4 drivers at the 2019 Valero Texas Open

PALM HARBOR, Fla. — Sam Burns is a winner again in the Valspar Championship, this time with a lot more stress and plenty of more emotion. RELATED: Leaderboard | Winner’s Bag: Sam Burns, Valspar Championship Burns holed a birdie putt from just over 30 feet on the 16th hole to beat Davis Riley on the second playoff hole, giving him three PGA TOUR victories in his last 22 starts. Burns, who closed with a 2-under 69, is the second straight back-to-back winner at Innisbrook following Paul Casey’s consecutive wins in 2018 and 2019. The tournament was canceled in 2020 because of the pandemic. The victory moves Burns to No. 2 in the FexExCup and No. 10 in the world for the first time, knocking Dustin Johnson out of the top 10 for the first time in seven years. “Man, it’s crazy,” Burns said. “Davis played well today, especially the way he finished. I tried to stay steady. I didn’t make a lot of mistakes. A lot of time on Sunday if you plot your way around, make a bunch of pars, throw in a few birdies, a lot of times it works well. So happy.” Burns won last year by three shots. Riley, a rookie contending for the first time on the PGA TOUR, overcame a triple bogey on the par-5 fifth hole with a clutch 5-iron for birdie on the par-3 17th. He had a 15-foot birdie putt on the 18th for the win and left it out to the right, closing with a 72. Both made pars on the 18th in the playoff, with Riley saving par from a front bunker. Neither looked to be in great birdie position on the 16th until Burns’ putt caught the left edge and went 180 degrees around the cup before falling in the back side. Riley hit a strong pitch needing to hole it to extend the playoff and missed long. Justin Thomas (70) and Matthew NeSmith (71) each finished one shot out of the playoff, and each had a share of the lead at some point during a tense final round in warm, windy conditions on the Copperhead course. Thomas was one shot out of the lead when he laid up 54 yards short on the par-5 11th. It settled in a tiny hole that kept him from clean contact, and his wedge went just long into light rough. His chip ran 12 feet by the hole and he took bogey at the easiest hole on the course. One hole later, Burns made a 15-foot birdie putt and Thomas suddenly was four shots behind. He had two straight birdies to stay in the game and had a chance when Burns took bogey from the bunker on the 17th. But then Thomas hit his tee shot into the slope of a bunker right of the 18th and couldn’t reach the green. It was his fourth top 10 in six starts this year for Thomas. “I didn’t really do anything at all today and I very easily could have won the tournament,” Thomas said. “I mean, good drive on 18, and I have a wedge in there and could be in this playoff just as easily. But a lot to build on a, lot of positives, and we got a big stretch coming up, so I’m excited for it.” NeSmith fell back with consecutive bogeys late on the front nine. One shot behind heading to the 10th tee, he didn’t make birdie until his 12-foot putt on the 17th. He had a 35-foot putt from the fringe to join the playoff, and it just slid by the hole. Those were the only four who had a serious chance at winning. Riley had never been in contention on the back nine on the PGA TOUR and looked like he might not get there at Innisbrook. Even though he started with a two-shot lead and opened with four solid pars, the par-5 fifth turned into a nightmare. From well left of the fairway, he went left down the adjacent sixth fairway, only to chunk his third shot from 106 yards into the base of a tree. He took a penalty drop, hit long into the rough, chipped long again into the rough and made triple bogey. But he steadied himself with a 50-foot birdie putt from the fringe on No. 8 and a nervy 7-foot par putt on the ninth and the race was on.

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Kevin Tway will look to open the season with back-to-back victories as the PGA TOUR heads to Malaysia for the CIMB Classic at TPC Kuala Lumpur (West Course) this week. 2017 champion and new father Pat Perez will be in attendance and will look to join Ryan Moore (2014-15) and Justin Thomas (2016-17) as the only players to win this event since it has moved to TPC Kuala Lumpur in 2014. The sixth edition will feature 78 players playing 72 holes (no cut) to earn a piece of the $7 million prize pool. The winner will take home $1.26 million, 500 FedExCup points and a great position on the season-long leaderboard after just two events. TPC Kuala Lumpur has been bludgeoned over the last three seasons to the tune of 73 under par by those winners. Thomas started the barrage in the 2016 season event as he posted the tournament record of 262 (-26) on the 7,005 yard par-72 layout. He defended his title (23 under) the following season while Perez racked out 24 under to win comfortably by four shots last year. The hot and humid conditions, jet lag and new playing conditions could level out the field more than ever this year but I don’t think we’re going to see a single-digit winning score! Don’t forget the Fantasy Games at PGATOUR.COM are up-and-running as well. Check out the new format for the weekly game and enter your team(s)! I’m not going to take you all the way back to Ryan Moore’s first or second victories as the course was brand-new and everyone was just getting settled in. I will point out that Moore’s COMBINED total from those two victories, 31 under, was just five shots better than Thomas’ first win the following year. Thomas was playing the event for the first time and torched the joint for a new tournament record of 26 under as he defeated Adam Scott by a shot. Preferred lies were used in the first two rounds and the course record was broken each time. Scott Piercy opened the proceedings with 10 birdies (no bogeys) for 62 and a three-shot lead. Thomas followed with 61 in Round 2 with 11 birdies (no bogeys) but his lead of 15 under at the halfway point was only one shot better than Brendan Steele. To say scoring was ridiculous would be an understatement. Thomas and Steele were knotted up on 20 under after 54 holes before a closing-round 66 saw Thomas become the youngest winner at 22 years and six months. His card was overflowing with 30 birdies and two eagles against only six bogeys and a final-round double. Kevin Na was tied with Scott and Thomas heading into the back nine but finished two back with Steele in third. As Moore did before him, Thomas defended his title but this time he did it from coming off-the-pace. He was the co-leader with 64 after Round 1 and he went on to lead by two over Anirban Lahiri after 36 holes on 14 under. A 71 in Round 3 saw him trail by four shots as Lahiri led the way. Lahiri won the Maybank Malaysian Open on this track in 2015 so there’s little surprise why he’s comfortable here. Thomas made him uncomfortable in the final round as his bogey-free 64 was eight shots better than the Indian’s 72. Thomas repeated easily as he posted 23 under to defeat Hideki Matsuyama by three shots while Lahiri shared third. The rain stayed away after the first round but the heat and humidity never go away. Without ball-in-hand the lowest round of the event was 63 (Russell Knox, Scott Hend) yet Thomas still found time to circle 29 birdies to lead the field. That’s 59 birdies in his first 144 holes at this event! There were a few events last season that were looking to crown champions for a third-year running but it wasn’t to be at any of them. Thomas was first up as he was looking to add to his 49 under total. He posted four more rounds in the red (11 under; T17) but he did take his total of birdies to 80 in his first 216 holes. The story last season was Perez as was 21 under through 54 holes. His four-shot lead heading into the final round ending up being plenty enough as he won by that same margin. He only had three squares on his card to go with 27 birdies in an effortless performance. Not even big-hitting and TOUR Championship winner Xander Schauffele could put any pressure on in the final group. Veteran Perez taught the youngster a lesson by beating him by three shots and eventually taking home the trophy over Keegan Bradley while Schauffele and Sung Kang shared third, six shots off Perez’s total. The champ played his final 10 holes even par and still routed the field! Paul Casey (T7) had an interesting week as he was one of two players to post 63 but his opening round 77 set him too far behind to contend. Gamers, please be aware that TPC Kuala Lumpur has been the host for just the last five years. This event was hosted at The Mines Resort & Golf Club in 2010, 2011, and 2012 and those results are of no consequence this week. NOTE: Golfers inside the top 30-ish in each category last season. * – Finished inside the top 10 since the move to TPC Kuala Lumpur in 2014. Strokes-Gained: Tee-to-Green Rank  Golfer  2  *Justin Thomas 11 *Keegan Bradley 12 Byeong-Hun An 12 *Ryan Moore 19 *Gary Woodland 24 *Scott Piercy 25 *Rafa Cabrera-Bello 26 Kevin Chappell 27 Stewart Cink 28 *Paul Casey 30 J.B. Holmes Strokes-Gained: Putting Rank  Golfer  4  Beau Hossler 11 *Kevin Na 12 Emiliano Grillo 18 Brandt Snedeker 19 Brian Gay 21 Whee Kim 23 Billy Horschel 24 *Jimmy Walker Greens in Regulation Rank  Golfer  2  Sam Ryder  3  Billy Horschel  4  Kyle Stanley  6  C.T. Pan  9  *Rafa Cabrera-Bello 10 *Gary Woodland 15 *Scott Piercy 18 Andrew Putnam 20 Jason Kokrak 27 *Charles Howell III 31 *Brendan Steele 33 *Justin Thomas 34 J.J. Spaun 35 Keith Mitchell 36 *Keegan Bradley Birdie-or-Better Percentage Rank  Golfer  3  *Justin Thomas 12 Ollie Schniederjans 14 *Marc Leishman 18 *Kevin Na 19 Ryan Palmer 22 Brian Gay 29 *Cameron Smith 31 *Xander Schauffele Par-5 Scoring Rank  Golfer  3  *Justin Thomas  9  *Gary Woodland  9  Billy Horschel 17 Kevin Tway 17 Bronson Burgoon 17 Keith Mitchell 24 *Paul Casey 24 Ryan Palmer 24 *Keegan Bradley 33 *Cameron Smith 33 Jason Kokrak 33 *Peter Uihlein After the 2017 event, the PGA TOUR along with TPC Kuala Lumpur decided it was time for changes. No major renovations had taken place on this track since 2006 but after the last three winning totals adding up to 73 under par, I could see why it was time. After the event last season the paspalum grass that covered every inch of the property was ripped up and replaced by Bermudagrass. The Celebration strain took care of all of the fairways, tees and rough while TifEagle was the go-to choice for the putting surfaces. This combination is used at TPC Sawgrass and Innisbrook as well so some of these guys will feel right at home! The renovations also included additional tee boxes, tree removal for sunlight and angles, repositioned fairway bunkers and pin placements on certain holes. The rationale behind the change was to make the West course firmer, faster and more difficult for the game’s best. Celebration fairways were narrowed and should provide a firmer, faster surface in the infancy. Gone are the days of target golf where balls would land and barely roll out. Approach shots into the newly-grassed greens won’t be as accepting either as the new surface should be more firm than soft. Loose shots will now faced shaved mounds and run-off areas that will bring more than one club into the equation for recovery around the green. The rough won’t be penal in length but it should have more opportunities to affect scoring if balls run through the fairways and greens. Once on the greens, the new TifEagle shouldn’t run as smoothly just yet so that won’t encourage scoring. Mounds and sloping on the greens have been calmed to help with extra pin placements and to accommodate eventually quicker greens. These changes will be noticeable but I’m not sure they are going to correct scoring immediately. These guys are very quick learners and won’t need much time to figure out barely 7,000 yards on surfaces they are familiar with on TOUR. The pros who find the most fairways and greens will have the most chances to make birdies again this week. A hot putter and patience on the new surface will be a key as well. Par-5 scoring is a must this week as the first three on the card check in at 503, 518 and 539 yards. On the inward nine there are two drivable Par-4 holes before the last par-5, No. 18, measures 634 yards. In the end, there are four par-5 holes on a track that barely stretches over 7,000 yards so these new changes won’t be a tremendous bother. Rob Bolton’s Power Rankings will give you more juice for the week so make sure you stop by. It’s also who I trust with the weather each week so pay attention!  NOTE: The groups below are comprehensive to assist in data mining. Inclusion doesn’t imply automatic endorsement in every fantasy game as all decisions are specific to your situation. I have not included ANY DATA PREVIOUS TO 2015 as not to confuse course history with event history. CONFIDENCE MEN Selected golfers with multiple cuts made sorted by rank on the tournament’s money list. BUILDING CONFIDENCE Sorted by best finish, selected golfers who are either finally finding form on the course or are still relatively new to the tournament but have enjoyed some success. OTHER SIGNS OF CONFIDENCE Sorted by most recent top 10s, selected golfers for whom it’s been a few years since their last.

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At 4:17 p.m., the third round of the TOUR Championship was suspended due to inclement weather in the area. At 4:45 p.m., there were two lightning strikes at East Lake Golf Club; a tree near the range/15 green/16 tee was hit, and debris from that strike injured four people. EMT tended to those fans and two others immediately and transported them from the property via ambulance for further medical attention. Our latest report is that their injuries do not appear to be life-threatening. Due to these circumstances, the third round has been suspended for the day and play will resume on Sunday at 8 a.m. ET. The safety of our fans, players and partners is of the utmost importance. We will provide further updates as they become available.

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