PGA Tour players guilty of slow play will face tougher fines and more frequent stroke penalties under tough new rules due to take effect in April, tour officials said on Tuesday. A PGA Tour statement said maximum fines for slow play will be increased tenfold from their current level while players taking
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Round 1 of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am begins Thursday. The tournament will return to a three-course rotation after using only two in 2021. Golfers will rotate through Pebble Beach Golf Links (which has played host to the ‘Clambake’ since 1947), Spyglass Hill Golf Course, and Monterey Peninsula Country Club (Shore Course) before finishing at Pebble Beach on Sunday. The field includes defending champion Daniel Berger, reigning FedExCup champion Patrick Cantlay, Jordan Spieth, Justin Rose and Brandt Snedeker. Here’s everything you need to know to follow the action, including Featured Groups for PGA TOUR LIVE and newly expanded and extended coverage on ESPN+. Click here for more details. Leaderboard Full tee times HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Thursday-Friday, 3 p.m.-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday, 1 p.m.-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3 p.m.-7 p.m. (CBS). Sunday, 1 p.m.-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3 p.m.-6:30 p.m. (CBS) Radio: Thursday-Friday, 12–6 p.m. ET. Saturday, 2-7 p.m. Sunday, 1-6:30 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio) For outside of the U.S., click here for GOLFTV powered by the PGA TOUR PGA TOUR LIVE ON ESPN+ PGA TOUR LIVE is available exclusively on ESPN+ • Main Feed: Primary tournament coverage featuring the best action from across the course • Marquee Group: New “marquee group” showcasing every shot from each player in the group • Featured Groups: Traditional PGA TOUR LIVE coverage of two concurrent featured groups • Featured Holes: A combination of par-3s and iconic or pivotal holes FEATURED/MARQUEE GROUPS THURSDAY Marquee Group: Jordan Spieth, Ryan Palmer Featured Groups: Matt Fitzpatrick, Sean O’Hair; Jason Day, Nick Taylor Featured Holes: No. 5 (par 3), No. 7 (par 3), No. 12 (par 3), No. 17 (par 3) FRIDAY Marquee Group: Jason Day, Nick Taylor Featured Groups: Luke Donald, Michael Thompson; Charley Hoffman, Ricky Barnes Featured Holes: No. 5 (par 3), No. 7 (par 3), No. 12 (par 3), No. 17 (par 3) SATURDAY Marquee Group: Patrick Cantlay, Kevin Chappell Featured Groups: Ryan Moore, Jonas Blixt; Justin Rose, Cameron Champ Featured Holes: No. 5 (par 3), No. 7 (par 3), No. 12 (par 3), No. 17 (par 3) MUST READS The First Look Power Rankings Expert Picks Five Things to Know: Pebble Beach Inside the heritage of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am How Tiger Woods influenced the redesigned par-3 course at Pebble Beach A look at the celebs playing in the Pro-Am
Brittany Lincicome, twice an LPGA major winner, becomes the first woman in a decade to test her skills against PGA TOUR competition as the fourth-year event makes its debut in its new Kentucky home. Hall of Famer Davis Love III, joined by son Dru, also tops the field along with 2014 FedExCup champion Billy Horschel and nine-time TOUR winner Stuart Appleby. The roster also includes six-time winner Hunter Mahan, making his second start since his wife’s sister died of leukemia. FIELD NOTES: Paul Goydos, who tied for fifth at the U.S. Senior Open earlier this month, crosses over during an open week on the PGA TOUR Champions schedule. … With most of the world’s top players at Carnoustie this week, James Hahn is 62nd in the FedExCup standings and owns the highest world ranking in the field at No. 89. … Dudley Hart, twice a TOUR winner, makes just his second TOUR start of 2018 and fourth in the past 24 months. He briefly led the Web.com Tour’s LECOM Health Challenge two weeks ago after opening rounds of 68-65. … Derek Fathauer, who twice reached the U.S. Amateur quarterfinals while attending Louisville, is among at least a half-dozen golfers with Kentucky ties. That also includes Lexington native Josh Teater and recent University of Kentucky teammates Chip McDaniel and Cooper Musselman. FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 300 points. STORYLINES: Lincicome, offered a sponsor invite after twice winning the Barbasol’s sister event Pure Silk LPGA Bahamas, becomes the fourth woman to tee it up in a TOUR event and first since Michelle Wie in 2008. Only Babe Zaharias has made the 36-hole cut, coming at the 1945 Los Angeles Open. … Mahan continues to press on after sister-in-law Katie Enloe – wife of SMU men’s golf coach Jason Enloe – passed away July 3 after a six-month leukemia battle. Mahan made the John Deere Classic cut in his first start back. … Davis Love III and Dru arrive as a tandem for the fifth time since March, though neither survived the John Deere Classic’s cut. It’s Dru Love’s 12th start vs. PGA TOUR competition; he’s made the weekend twice. … With five weeks left in the regular season, time is drawing short for pros to pick up crucial FedExCup points. More than half the field – including Appleby, Mahan, Jonathan Byrd and Chad Campbell – currently sits below 125th on the points list. COURSE: Keene Trace GC (Champions), 7,328 yards, par 72. Located about 20 minutes southwest of Lexington, the Arthur Hills design celebrates its 30th year by landing Kentucky’s first regular PGA TOUR event since 1959. Champions is a top-five mainstay among the state’s course rankings and has served as site for such events as the 1994 U.S. Senior Amateur, 1990 Women’s Western Amateur and Southeastern Conference championships. The course is one of just two on TOUR that end on a par-3, this one requiring a carry of some 200 yards over water to a large but shallow green. 72-HOLE RECORD: 263, Grayson Murray (2017 at RTJ Golf Trail/Grand National). 18-HOLE RECORD: 60, Jhonattan Vegas (2nd round, 2016 at Grand National), Chad Collins (2nd round, 2017 at Grand National), Scott Stallings (3rd round, 2017 at Grand National). LAST YEAR: Murray made the tournament’s final edition in Alabama his first PGA TOUR win, using a 3-under-par 68 on the final day to overtake Scott Stallings and hold off Chad Collins’ late threat. Collins, who tied the Barbasol’s 18-hole record with a 60 in Round 2, had a chance to tie for the lead with a 6-foot birdie chance at No.18 but couldn’t convert. That left it to Murray, who successfully negotiated a two-putt from 50 feet to lock up the victory. Murray won in the 24th start of his rookie season, with only one previous top-10 coming at the Sanderson Farms Championship. Stallings shot 71, falling to a share of third with Brian Gay (65) and Tag Ridings (69). HOW TO FOLLOW TELEVISION: Thursday-Friday, 5-8 p.m. (Golf Channel). Saturday-Sunday, 4-7 p.m. (GC).
The Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort & Golf Club might be the most underrated and highly respected host course on the PGA TOUR. Unscientific polls and rhetoric support it, but the eclectic mix of champions of the Valspar Championship furnishes the evidence. Wily veterans comfortable on tough tracks like Copperhead can define most of the winners and the last five represent as many nations. With the colors on the flags of Australia (John Senden, 2014), the United States (Jordan Spieth, 2015), South Africa (Charl Schwartzel, 2016), Canada (Adam Hadwin, 2017) and England (Paul Casey, 2018), the tournament is positioned properly with its title sponsor. Identifying the connective tissue of the victors is more complicated, or at least not as obvious. From the power of Gary Woodland (2011) and Casey, to the methodical of Retief Goosen (2003, 2009), Jim Furyk (2010) and Schwartzel, to the world-class short games of Luke Donald (2012), Spieth and Hadwin, Copperhead is fair. It’s the highest compliment you can give any test, thus the praise in kind. So, to cast a net over all with the intent of capturing a common characteristic, consider resolve. No doubt all of the aforementioned are tremendous talents and a few are household names among casual fans, but collectively they don’t comprise a Who’s Who as much as a What’s What. Substantive, steadfast and solid all. Now, fine-tuning your selection does require critical and quantitative analysis. A-listers such as Dustin Johnson and Jason Day are scheduled to compete, but they’re not short-listers for One & Doners at Copperhead. The course is an equalizer for which no one is immune. Each will stand out later and often. Sergio Garcia sits atop my Power Rankings and deserves your slot. The only reason you don’t invest is because you already had earlier in the season or, like me, you’re leaning on the consistently strong Patrick Reed, twice a runner-up at Copperhead. Reed’s soft hands check another box of the empirical, while his tenacity and grit complement your confidence in him. Frankly, and simply, the rest of the considerations either make sense another time – Webb Simpson, Ryan Moore, Jon Rahm, Brandt Snedeker and even defending champion Paul Casey among them – or they’re better suited as the tail of the tandem in two-man formats. The latter grouping includes Schwartzel, Hadwin and surging Jim Furyk. Seriously. Steer clear of the youth and under-experienced when the tough gets going. Henrik Stenson, Louis Oosthuizen and my unfortunate pick at THE PLAYERS, Rafa Cabrera Bello, also populate my Power Rankings, but the timing is off for each right now. FUTURE POSSIBILITIES NOTE: Select golfers committed to the tournament are listed alphabetically. Future tournaments are sorted chronologically and reflect previous success on the courses on which the tournaments will be held in 2018-19. The numerical values in parentheses represent the order of relative confidence of where to use each golfer if multiple sites are listed (e.g. 1 for strongest, 2 for next-strongest and so on). To present weighted confidence in real time, numerical values will not change all season no matter how many tournament remain listed for each golfer. All are pending golfer commitment. Keegan Bradley … Memorial (5); Travelers (4) Rafa Cabrera Bello … Wyndham (4) Paul Casey … Valspar (7; defending); WGC-Match Play (8); Masters (2); Wells Fargo (9); Travelers (1); TOUR Championship (3) Jason Day … WGC-Match Play (11); Masters (4); Wells Fargo (6 defending); PGA Championship (3); U.S. Open (10); Open Championship (9) Jason Dufner … Valspar (4); New Orleans (1); Charles Schwab (6); Memorial (5); U.S. Open (2); Wyndham (8); TOUR Championship (10) Sergio Garcia … Valspar (9); Masters (6); Open Championship (5); TOUR Championship (2) Branden Grace … Heritage (1); Valero (3); Byron Nelson (5); U.S. Open (4) Bill Haas … WGC-Match Play (8); Heritage (4); Charles Schwab (2); Wyndham (6) Adam Hadwin … Valspar (2); John Deere (5) Brian Harman … Charles Schwab (1); Travelers (5); John Deere (4) Russell Henley … Masters (3) Charley Hoffman … Masters (4); Heritage (7); Valero (3); Charles Schwab (6); Travelers (1) Dustin Johnson … Masters (8); PGA Championship (11); Memorial (10); U.S. Open (1); WGC-St. Jude (6); TOUR Championship (7) Zach Johnson … Valero (4); Charles Schwab (5); John Deere (1); Open Championship (2); TOUR Championship (8) Chris Kirk … Valero (3); Charles Schwab (2) Kevin Kisner … Heritage (3); New Orleans (5); Charles Schwab (2); Memorial (6) Russell Knox … Heritage (2) Ryan Moore … Valspar (3); Valero (7); Masters (13); Memorial (11); Travelers (6); John Deere (8); Wyndham (2); TOUR Championship (9) Kevin Na … Valspar (6); Charles Schwab (3); Wyndham (5) Louis Oosthuizen … Valspar (3); WGC-Match Play (1); Masters (2); U.S. Open (5); PGA Championship (4) Jon Rahm … Masters (5); Charles Schwab (1); TOUR Championship (7) Patrick Reed … Valspar (1); Masters (5; defending); PGA Championship (4); U.S. Open (3); Travelers (7) Webb Simpson … Heritage (6); Wells Fargo (7); Charles Schwab (8); Travelers (9); Wyndham (1) Brandt Snedeker … Masters (10); Heritage (6); Charles Schwab (7); U.S. Open (5); Travelers (9); Wyndham (1; defending) Brendan Steele … Valero (8); Wells Fargo (9); Travelers (4); Reno-Tahoe (3) Henrik Stenson … Valspar (3); Masters (5); PGA Championship (4); Open Championship (6); Wyndham (8); TOUR Championship (7) Kevin Streelman … Valero (9); Heritage (5); Memorial (4); Travelers (7) Bubba Watson … WGC-Match Play (6; defending); Masters (5); Memorial (7); Travelers (2; defending); TOUR Championship (8) Gary Woodland … Memorial (4)
