Tour Championship 2018: With substance over style, Tiger Woods grabs first 36-hole lead since 2015

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Unlike the first stop during this fortnight through Texas, Colonial Country Club has required the combination of course experience and success before reaching the top of the leaderboard. Since Sergio Garcia prevailed in his debut at the DEAN & DELUCA Invitational in 2001, among the tournament’s champions, only Adam Scott in 2014 hadn’t recorded at least one top-15 finish in a prior edition, and only Steve Stricker (2009) also hadn’t logged at least one top 10. Until Jordan Spieth prevailed at Colonial last year, the other commonality among winners post-Garcia’s title was age, or aging to emphasize the message. All of the previous 14 winners were at least 30 years old. Five were at least 42, including Kenny Perry twice (2003, 2005). The average age among them was 37.86. Spieth was 22 but already in his fourth appearance. Age 23. Fifth appearance. Defending champ is 4-for-4 with a one-stroke loss in 2015 as well. Scoring average at Colonial is 67.31.  Age 33. Fourth appearance. T5 in 2015 and T10 in 2016. Averaged 67.75 in last eight rounds here. Ranks 15th in strokes gained: tee-to-green and 16th in proximity. Age 22. Tournament debut. Generational talent has a win, a second, a T3, a fourth and a T5 in last nine starts. Second on TOUR in strokes gained: tee-to-green. Age 41. Twelfth appearance. Four top 10s, including a T5 in his last trip in 2015. Currently fifth in FedExCup points with a win, a T2, a T3 and a T4 among nine top 20s. Age 40. Ninth appearance. Three top 10s at Colonial consist of a second, a P2 and a T6 (2016). Eight top 25s among 11 straight cuts made; T13 at the AT&T Byron Nelson. Age 37. Eighth appearance. The 2001 champ. First trip since 2012. Sixth in GIR; third in strokes gained: tee-to-green. Inconsistent in both starts since Masters breakthrough. Age 38. Tenth appearance. Three top 10s, including a runner-up in 2013 and a T6 last year. T9 at last week’s AT&T Byron Nelson where he led the field in greens in regulation. Age 41. Twelfth appearance. Two-time winner and all-time earnings leader at Colonial has never missed a cut. Middling 2017 has still yielded four top 20s in 11 starts. Age 29. Third appearance. T5 (2015) and T22 (2016); scoring average of 68.25. Fourteen straight cuts made. Sits 17th in strokes gained: tee-to-green and fourth in scrambling. Age 40. Fourteenth appearance. Colonial member has three top fives here since 2012. Connected three top 15s in April after late start. Sits 10th in strokes gained: tee-to-green. Age 27. Fourth appearance. Placed T14 in 2013 and T21 in 2014. Struts in having recorded top 10s in four consecutive starts with consistently strong tee-to-green execution. Age 32. Eighth appearance. Prefaced 2015 title with a 5-for-5 slate that included a T5 in 2012. Ended months-long slump with a T12 in his last start at THE PLAYERS. Age 33. Seventh appearance. Hasn’t missed a cut. All three top 30s at in last three visits; T13 last year. T13 last week. Thrives in wind. Let it blow, let it blow, let it blow. Age 36. Seventh appearance. Perfect record here includes a co-runner-up in 2015 and another pair of top 20s. Five top 20s in last nine starts. Battling sore left hand. Age 30. Tournament debut. Reputation as a streaky player is put to the test on unfamiliar territory. Led the AT&T Byron Nelson in strokes gained: putting en route to victory. RANK PLAYER COMMENT POWER RANKINGS: DEAN & DELUCA INVITATIONAL Tuesday’s Fantasy Insider will include two-time DEAN & DELUCA winner Phil Mickelson, 2016 runner-up Harris English and THE PLAYERS champion Si Woo Kim among other notables. Contributing to the narrative that varied experience is a prerequisite for success at Colonial, other than the winners-only SBS Tournament of Champions and World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship, no tournament that has existed as long at the DEAN & DELUCA Invitational has gone this long without a first-time winner. Garcia is its last. As Tuesday’s Comfort Zone will illustrate, the value of experience at Colonial supersedes a particular style that performs well on the course, but because it’s a par 70 tipping at 7,209 yards, it wouldn’t be wrong to label it as a second-shot track. It’s a skill that will be absolutely necessary with what Mother Nature has cooking this week. Sustained breezes from 10-20 mph will be the norm during the first two rounds, but there’s unlikely to be much abatement on Saturday. The finale sets up as the best day for scoring, but the threat for rain and thunderstorms is greatest on Sunday. It would also be a surprise if every daytime high temperature doesn’t reach or eclipse 90 degrees. In similarly warm, windy and humid conditions last year, the field averaged 70.197. That’s in line with recent history at Colonial. With a birdie-or-better percentage of 25.93 (10th-lowest of the season) and a scrambling clip of 57.06 percent (17th-lowest), the premium is, indeed, on hitting greens in regulation. Last year’s field averaged 11.83 per round for the week. Bentgrass greens have been prepped to touch 12 feet on the Stimpmeter this week. Bermudagrass is grown everywhere else and will measure as long as two-and-three-quarters inches in the primary rough. ROB BOLTON’S WRITING SCHEDULE PGATOUR.COM’s Fantasy Columnist Rob Bolton will be filing his usual staples leading up to this week’s event. Look for the following columns this week. MONDAY: Rookie Ranking, Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Medical Extensions, Power Rankings TUESDAY*: Sleepers, Comfort Zone, Fantasy Insider WEDNESDAY: One & Done, Expert Picks-PGA TOUR Champions One & Done presented by SERVPRO THURSDAY: Ownership Percentages in PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf, One & Done and Champions One & Done presented by SERVPRO * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO, which also publishes on Tuesdays.

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MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Cameron Smith tied the PGA TOUR record for fewest putts in a round (18) during his second-round 62 at the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational. He missed a birdie attempt from just over 22 feet on 18 that would have broken the record. “Yeah, it’s a pretty cool little title I guess to have next to your name,” Smith said after making six birdies and an eagle at the par-5 third hole, where he holed his sand shot from over 33 feet. He also had no putts at the par-3 fourth hole, where he got out of position but chipped in for par. All told, Smith made 110 feet, 3 inches worth of putts. He saved par eight times in eight tries. “The greens are so good around here,” he said, “if you get the ball started online and you’ve hit a good putt, most of the time they’re going in. Yeah, really just a good day on the greens, I guess. “…I probably didn’t drive it as good as I did yesterday,” he continued, “but the approaches were really nice. Like I said, I felt I was hitting lots of nice shots that were just going off the green and made a couple of them and a couple of them missed. That’s just how it went, but still a pretty cool record.” He admitted to trying to add up how many putts he’d taken on the day as he played the 17th hole. For some reason, he said, he thought the record for a single round must be 17, not 18 putts. Smith is one of 19 players in Memphis who played the Olympics in Japan, 14 times zones away. Still, fatigue doesn’t seem to have slowed him down much as he is in position for his first victory since capturing the Zurich Classic of New Orleans with partner Marc Leishman in April. “Probably haven’t had the results that I wished for,” he said. “After the win at Zurich, I felt like I’ve continued to play really nice golf and really haven’t got the most out of my game, so a day like today I think was probably a little bit overdue, but it’s nice to know it’s still in me.”

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