TOUR Insider: Player of the Year could be decided in FedExCup Playoffs

Patrick Reed and Collin Morikawa are among several PGA TOUR players trying to unseat Europe's top stars as the 2020 season-long Race To Dubai champion on the European Tour this week. Reed, an eight-time PGA TOUR winner, leads the European Tour's Race to Dubai standings heading into this week's DP World Tour Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates. He leads the way in Europe's season-long race thanks to his victory in the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship and top-15 finishes in this year's three majors. He is trying to become the first American to win the Race to Dubai. His closest competitors are a pair of familiar faces. Reed's fellow American, Collin Morikawa, is third in the standings with the knowledge that regardless of what Reed, or current second-place holder Tommy Fleetwood, do in Dubai, he can also take it all with a win. The 23-year-old is in great shape after his PGA Championship triumph in August, his third PGA TOUR win, and is also the main contender for the European Tour Rookie of the Year. Veteran Englishman Lee Westwood is playing in his 12th consecutive DP World Tour Championship, and at fourth in the standings is the only other player guaranteed to become Europe's No. 1 player should he win this week's tournament. The 47-year-old won the inaugural tournament in 2009 and is the only player to feature in each edition since. The 65-player field is composed of the leading 60 members available on the Race to Dubai, plus 2019 PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year Sungjae Im, who is an affiliate member) and four other members inside the top 75 in the world ranking who were not otherwise exempt. Viktor Hovland, winner of last week's Mayakoba Golf Classic presented by UNIFIN, is among that group. Hovland, who like Morikawa turned pro just last year, rose to No. 15 in the world after his win in Mexico. Hovland joined legends Rory McIlroy, Seve Ballesteros, Sergio Garcia and Jon Rahm as the only Europeans in the last 75 years to win multiple PGA TOUR titles before turning 24. Hovland also joined the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Jerry Pate and Lanny Wadkins as the only players in the last 75 years to win the U.S. Amateur and multiple PGA TOUR titles before turning 24. Everyone else on that list won at least one major and a PLAYERS Championship. While the top four have their destiny in their own hands, the 2,000 points available to the winner means mathematically any player could become Race to Dubai Champion with victory in the DP World Tour Championship. Fleetwood and Westwood have both won the Race to Dubai before, in 2017 and in 2009 respectively, with Westwood also winning the former Order of Merit in 2000. Christian Bezuidenhout, who is coming off back-to-back victories in South Africa, Victor Perez, Aaron Rai and Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard champion Tyrrell Hatton would be Race to Dubai Champion with victory provided Reed doesn't finish second alone. The DP World Tour Championship winner receives $3 million while a bonus pool will be awarded to those members finishing within the top 5 on the final 2020 Race to Dubai Rankings, starting at $500,000 for the winner.

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Learning after a heartbreaker at last season’s Wyndham Championship, where he was in the mix until a double-bogey on the last hole doomed his chances, C.T. Pan goes birdie, par, par under pressure and in difficult winds to notch his first PGA TOUR win at the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links. Welcome to the Monday Finish, where Pan shot a final-round 67 to edge FedExCup leader Matt Kuchar (67) and become the tournament’s seventh straight come-from-behind winner. FIVE OBSERVATIONS 1. Pan almost didn’t tee it up. Having played the American Junior Golf Association from 2007 to 2010, Pan was excited to put on the first C.T. Pan Junior Championship, an AJGA event, back home in Houston. One problem: the tournament was scheduled for the same week as the RBC Heritage. In light of Pan’s lackluster results on TOUR of late, his wife and sometime caddie, Michelle, pushed him out the door, saying she’d host the juniors instead. Good decision. “Just listen to your wife and you will have a good life,â€� Pan said with a smile after becoming the sixth international winner on TOUR in the last eight events. As for Michelle, she says she’d done carrying the bag but has already volunteered to caddie for her husband at the Masters Tournament Par 3 Contest next year. 2. Another short hitter tamed Harbour Town. The course rewards precision, but not necessarily length. Pan is only 5 feet, 6 inches tall and ranks 170th in Driving Distance (284.8 yards). In other words, he fits the mold of other RBC Heritage winners like Loren Roberts (1996), Brian Gay (2009), Jim Furyk (2010, ’15) and Graeme McDowell (2013). Dustin Johnson was trying to make like five-time RBC Heritage champion Davis Love III, the most notable long hitter to win here, but after taking a one-stroke lead into the final round he shot a 6-over 77 to finish T28. Xander Schauffele never got much going and finished T63. Pan was studying the final-round pin placements Saturday night, and got to the course four and a half hours before his tee time Sunday. He also plotted out and executed a strict approach to play conservatively over the first four holes (which he played in even par) but go for it on holes 5-13 (4 under). “And that’s how I snuck on the leaderboard,â€� he said. 3. Most notable win for power was Seamus Power. Seamus Power had missed 11 cuts in 15 starts heading into last week, but his 4-under 67 in the final round gave him a T6 finish, his fourth top-10 finish in 69 TOUR starts. “Yeah, a lot,â€� Power said, when asked what he could take away from the good result. “The last four or five tournaments have been much, much better. It’s was a struggle early but starting with THE PLAYERS I started to find some stuff and build it better. “So it’s been encouraging,â€� he added after moving from 189th to 141st in the FedExCup. “A week like this is great. It’s a kick start for me. It’s not where I want to be, but certainly a move in the right direction.â€� 4. Kuchar is building FedExCup lead. In notching his 12th career runner-up finish and second in his last four starts, FedExCup leader Matt Kuchar banked 300 more FedExCup points and is now up to 2,030. Kuchar, a two-time winner this season who has six top-10 finishes in 13 starts, is almost a full 500 points ahead of second-place Xander Schauffele (1,562). “I wish I could tell you,â€� Kuchar said, when asked what has changed this season. “I think I just continue to evolve. The goal as a player every year is to continue to get better. And I feel like the work I’ve done, my instructor, Chris O’Connell, each year we try to get a little bit better. And I think we’ve really done some good work. It’s tiny little things that add up.â€� 5. Lowry almost made like 2015. Shane Lowry was going for his second TOUR victory and first since the 2015 World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, but a final-round 70 wasn’t quite enough (T3). “I personally feel like it almost got away,â€� Lowry said after moving from 203rd to 125th in the FedExCup. “I’m a little bit disappointed. This was my best week in quite a while. So many positives to take from this week. And going forward I’m looking forward to next week.â€� Lowry will play the Zurich Classic of New Orleans with partner Padraig Harrington. FIVE INSIGHTS   1.  Pan won with his short game. After ranking in negative numbers in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee (-0.159, 50th in the field), he stabilized at 18th best in SG: Approach-the-Green (+0.872). Then he got really good: He was seventh best in SG: Around-the-Green (+0.928) and fifth in SG: Putting (+1.571). That means he outperformed the field by 2.499 strokes per round from on and around the tiny greens at Harbour Town. And his edge was heightened in the final round, when he was +1.72 in SG: Around-the-Green, the second-best SG: Around-the-Green performance by a winner this season, trailing only Xander Schauffele at Sentry TOC (+1.77) 2. He was flawless from short range. Pan made all 52 putts he hit from inside six feet, one of three players who made the cut who were perfect from that range. Matt Kuchar (second) and Denny McCarthy (T33) were the others. The winner also averaged a very tidy 24.75 putts per round, marking the 15th time a TOUR winner has averaged 24.75 putts per round in a four-round event since 1986. Five of those 15 events have been at the RBC Heritage. 3. There were some big FedExCup movers. Not only did Pan shoot up 87 places, to 26th, in the FedExCup, Shane Lowry (T3) made a jump of 78 spots to 125th, and K.J. Choi (T10) was up 55 spots, to 187th. At 48 years, 11 months and 2 days, Choi would have been the oldest RBC Heritage champion, barely edging 1994 winner Hale Irwin. Choi briefly held a piece of the lead, but could only manage a 1-over 72. 4. Johnson’s 77 was a shocker. The final-round blow-up by world No. 1 and RBC Ambassador Johnson was his worst score since the third round of the 2018 U.S. Open. He was looking to improve on his T16 finish the year before and join 2017 champion Wesley Bryan as the only South Carolinians to win the tournament. Alas, Johnson’s one-stroke lead through 54 holes turned into a T28. 5. The wind sent scores soaring. Johnson wasn’t the only victim of the tricky winds, as defending champion Satoshi Kodaira shot 82 and there were only two bogey-free rounds (J.T. Poston, 66; Brian Stuard, 68) Sunday, the fewest of the week. The course played to a scoring average of 71.170, just slightly over par. WYNDHAM REWARDS The Wyndham Rewards Top 10 is in its first season and adds another layer of excitement to the FedExCup Regular Season. The top 10 players at the end of the FedExCup Regular Season will earn bonus payouts from the Wyndham Rewards Top 10. There were no changes after the RBC Heritage, with Matt Kuchar, a two-time winner this season, strengthening his position at the top with his second runner-up finish in his last four starts. First-time winner C.T. Pan, meanwhile, vaulted from 113th all the way to 26th and looks considerably better as he zeroes in on his stated goal of making the TOUR Championship.

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