Tracking Tiger: Woods finishes three off the lead

As happenstance goes, the decision to resume the 2019-20 PGA TOUR season with a three-week run at courses (the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial CC; the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links; the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands) that are hugely popular and tournaments so rich in history could not have been more perfect had Jim Furyk been given the job to map things out. “There are always tournaments that I earmark that I love playing. Funny, but those three tournaments are three I would usually play,� said Furyk, who was 49 when last we were playing competitive golf – March 12 at THE PLAYERS Championship. During the pandemic, Furyk turned 50, and while he has circled some PGA TOUR Champions tournaments onto his calendar, he’s anxious to get into this early part of the re-start. No surprise, given what he has accomplished at these first three tournaments. At Colonial, which “used to be my favorite event early in my career,� Furyk has twice been runner-up, including a playoff loss in 2007, and in 22 starts he has seven top 10s. At Harbour Town, where he has played 20 times, Furyk has won twice, finished second, and recorded eight top 10s. “The RBC is my favorite event,� he said. Then there’s TPC River Highlands, where in 2016 Furyk established PGA TOUR history with the lowest competitive round, a scintillating 58. “So, you look at those first three events and they’ve been really good to me and I enjoy them,� he said, “so it was kind of easy to say, ‘OK, I’ll play these three.� Makes sense, of course, but the thing is, Furyk could be speaking for a healthy line of his colleagues. That’s because these cozy and familiar settings have been a source of consistent success for more players than just Furyk. All three courses are linked by two common denominators: One, they are relatively short and demand precision over power, and two, each has been a longtime staple on the PGA TOUR schedule. Colonial has hosted a tournament annually since 1946; Harbour Town since 1969; TPC River Highlands since 1984. While Fort Worth, Texas, certainly qualifies as a big city, the neighborhood around Colonial screams old-school friendly, so the community embrace of the Charles Schwab Challenge is a serious undertaking. As for Hilton Head Island, South Carolina (RBC Heritage) and Cromwell, Connecticut (Travelers), we are talking big-time shows powered by small-town love. Never have these tournaments fallen in succession on the PGA TOUR schedule. Harbour Town is an April stop, Colonial a May fixture, and TPC River Highlands locked into June. But with all facets of our world turned upside down in this pandemic, there has been a demand for out-of-box solutions and creative minds came up with a mid-June start that will provide players the Colonial-Harbour Town-TPC River Highlands trifecta. That was sweet music to PGA TOUR members who favor a style of play that is a throwback to a bygone era. “I feel all three courses would certainly be characterized as some of my favorites,� said Zach Johnson, who has won twice at Colonial, been runner-up at Harbour Town, and third at TPC River Highlands. “They’re different, but also have some similarities. They’re not overly long and they reward quality ball-striking. Straight tee shots (are important) where fairways are a premium, and trajectory control, especially at Colonial and Harbour Town where it is usually windy (is important).� If you were to tell longtime PGA TOUR fans that there is one player who has won at each of these three courses, that he was a prototype ball-striking machine and arguably managed golf courses better than anyone in his prime, we’re going to wager that the name Nick Price would be suggested. Bingo. A masterful tactician who controlled his trajectory brilliantly and could shape shots both ways, Price won twice at Colonial, and once each at Harbour Town and TPC River Highlands. In a combined 43 starts at those golf courses, Price recorded 12 top-10s and you can be sure that were he still in his competitive prime, he’d put his arms around the opportunity to play these courses three weeks in a row. He’d have great company, too, because the sentiments of Furyk and Johnson are shared by many of their PGA TOUR brethren. That is the undeniable appeal of these shot-maker’s golf courses and when you study past results, it’s no surprise to see how great players have fared well at these venues. Phil Mickelson (twice at Colonial, twice at TPC River Highlands) and Stewart Cink (twice at Harbour Town, twice at TPC River Highlands) have four wins at these golf courses, while Boo Weekley (twice at Harbour Town and once at Colonial) and Kenny Perry (twice at Colonial, once at TPC River Highlands) found the winner’s circle three times. The comfort zones at these courses is very real but it goes beyond just knowing that they “fit your eye,� as the saying goes. Impressively, while these courses are friendly to shorter hitters, they do not throttle big hitters, either and winners at both ends of the spectrum punctuate the rollcalls of champions. Davis Love III, for instance, was ferociously long in his prime, and he won five times at Harbour Town. Players who can move it from one zip code to another – Adam Scott, Sergio Garcia, Mickelson, Perry – have won at Colonial, and then there is the uncanny Bubba Watson. Seven of the last 10 winners at The Travelers Championship ranked between 75th and 170th in driving distance at season’s end the year they won. The only three exceptions? All Watson, who was 9th in 2018, 2nd in 2015, and 2nd in 2010, the years he won the Travelers. Ask him why and Watson will tell you that stepping onto the TPC River Highlands property and its 6,841 yards is like a pair of comfortable slippers. It just feels right. To Johnson, that goes beyond the courses. It starts with the companies (Charles Schwab at Colonial, RBC at Hilton Head; Travelers at TPC River Highlands) behind the tournaments. “They all have phenomenal title sponsorships. (They all) understand how to utilize the golf platform for entertainment, stewardship, and charitable awareness. I admire their leaders and I am grateful they want to be a part of the PGA TOUR,� he said. True, it will be a PGA TOUR with a vastly different feel and look come June 11 when competitive golf is played for the first time in three months. “I’m anxious to kind of even learn more about how just a normal day on the PGA TOUR is going to look now,� said Furyk, “because it’s going to be so much different than what I’ve been used to for the last 27 years.� No one would argue with that. But if it would be possible to suggest it won’t take long for Furyk and colleagues to get comfortable, the answer would likely be the cozy confines of Colonial, Harbour Town and TPC River Highlands.

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Here’s a look at how players qualified for the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational. (Field information as of 7/28/2017) Member of Last Named U.S. Ryder Cup Team Rickie Fowler J.B. Holmes Zach Johnson Dustin Johnson Brooks Koepka Matt Kuchar Phil Mickelson Ryan Moore Patrick Reed Brandt Snedeker Jordan Spieth Jimmy Walker Member of Last Named European Ryder Cup Team Rafa Cabrera Bello Matthew Fitzpatrick Sergio Garcia Rory McIlroy Thomas Pieters Justin Rose Henrik Stenson Andy Sullivan Lee Westwood Danny Willett Chris Wood Top 50 Players – World Golf Ranking (thru 7/24) Hideki Matsuyama Jason Day Jon Rahm Alex Noren Justin Thomas Tommy Fleetwood Adam Scott Paul Casey Daniel Berger Francesco Molinari Charl Schwartzel Louis Oosthuizen Tyrrell Hatton Kevin Kisner Brian Harman Marc Leishman Jason Dufner Branden Grace Bernd Wiesberger Kevin Chappell Si Woo Kim Wesley Bryan Charley Hoffman Bill Haas Ross Fisher Pat Perez Billy Horschel Bubba Watson Gary Woodland Emiliano Grillo Russell Knox Hideto Tanihara Tournament Winners – 115+ Points WGR Strength of Field Sam Brazel Bryson DeChambeau Adam Hadwin Russell Henley Mackenzie Hughes Thongchai Jaidee Thorbjørn Olesen Rod Pampling Renato Paratore Andres Romero Xander Schauffele Kyle Stanley Brendan Steele Hudson Swafford Jhonattan Vegas Jeunghun Wang Fabrizio Zanotti Winner-Japan Golf Tour for WGC-Bridgestone Invitational Satoshi Kodaira Shaun Norris Winner-Australasian Tour for WGC-Bridgestone Invitational Harold Varner III Winner-S.Africa Tour for WGC-Bridgestone Invitational Paul Lawrie Winner-Asian Tour for WGC-Bridgestone Invitational Scott Hend

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At times it was wild and windy, and in the end a worthy winner returned to the top of a leaderboard for the first time in a long time. Here are some storylines you might have missed as Brian Gay needed an extra hole to get the job done in the Bermuda Championship. 1. Gay proves accuracy can still be winning factor on TOUR Brian Gay can't hit the long bomb. He knows it. He's 48, long away from his prime strength years. But he's still cunning. And usually very accurate. And while a surge towards prodigious distance is happening in the world of golf, Gay showed that accuracy and solid nerves on the right course at the right time can very much still prevail in this sport. Gay birdied the final hole in regulation to put a bow on a final round 7-under 64 and then stood up and birdied the hole again in a sudden death playoff to capture a fifth career win, but first since 2013. With Stewart Cink (Safeway Open) and Sergio Garcia (Sanderson Farms Championship) recently proving wins aren't exclusive to the young, fit and strong on the PGA TOUR, Gay felt energized coming to Bermuda where he'd been third a year prior. Despite tough winds through most of the tournament, Gay ranked fourth in driving accuracy and on Sunday hit 16 of 18 greens in regulation as he put on a clinic to overcome the two-shot deficit he started with in the final round. Outdriven in the playoff, he applied pressure with a great wedge to 15-feet only to see Wyndham Clark hit his approach inside 10 feet. Gay wasn't deterred - sinking his birdie putt in the heart of the cup to reapply the pressure. Clark tried to ram his effort in to match but it fell low and the trophy was won. Now instead of counting the days until PGA TOUR Champions status, Gay is mapping out a few more years of big TOUR starts including THE PLAYERS Championship, Sentry Tournament of Champions and the Masters. Get more on a brilliant win here. 2. Zalatoris completes mission one; next missions begin It was all but a formality that Will Zalatoris would claim Special Temporary Membership on the PGA TOUR after an incredible run of golf lately. The Korn Ferry Tour points leader needed to make it to the weekend to ensure he can accept an unlimited amount of sponsor invites this season and he impressed with a T16 finish in Bermuda. Now the focus turns to whether or not he will earn enough non-member points this season to secure playing privileges into next season. This is also basically a formality as with 334 of those already on his plate it would take a serious dip in form for him to fall outside whatever mark the 125th player in the FedExCup sets. As it stands right now, Zalatoris would be 16th on the current FedExCup list if he was eligible, slotting in right ahead of Jon Rahm. And even if he were to falter, chances are he's not going to drop 26 slots on the KFT list either. So the real focus actually shifts to whether he can find a way to win on the PGA TOUR this season, thus becoming eligible for the Playoffs. And whether he can continue his climb up the world rankings before year end. At 57th, Zalatoris could work his way into the 2021 Masters should he get inside the top 50 on Dec. 31. 3. Off the Schnied It had been a lean experience for Ollie Schniederjans in PGA TOUR events. The once-celebrated amateur has been an afterthought amongst a plethora of young talent bursting on the TOUR scene in the last few seasons, thanks mainly to a 2018-19 season of woe that ended at 180th in the FedExCup. Prior to his third place finish this week in Bermuda, Schniederjans’ last 10 TOUR starts had provided eight missed cuts - including in Bermuda a year ago - and a best finish of T47. This week provided his first top-10 since August of 2018 when he was fifth at the Barracuda Championship. But time back on the Korn Ferry TOUR has allowed him to work things out away from the spotlight. And perhaps the arrival of his brother in the Bermuda field was the little competitive spark the sponsor invite needed. The result brings with it another start on TOUR this week at the Vivint Houston Open where he hopes to prove, as was once touted almost as an afterthought, he rightfully belongs. 4. Wounded Clark can take heart Losing a playoff always hurts and Wyndham Clark was certainly far from pleased when he missed three critical putts during the final two holes in regulation and during the playoff. "I’m pretty bummed. Obviously, I would have liked to have won. I played so good, just had a little mishap on 16 and 17 and then really didn’t make those two putts on 18," he said in the immediate aftermath. "I played great. It was a great tournament. Obviously I’m disappointed. I had chances, I just didn’t capitalize." Hopefully Clark can feel many positives as he continues to debrief, particularly given how he ended last season. The return to golf wasn't great for Clark, who in his nine starts after the COVID-19 break dropped from 81st to 125th in the FedExCup. He snuck into the Playoffs despite missing the cut at the Wyndham Championship, a sixth MC in those nine starts that also included a walk off WD. He's now 14th in the FedExCup this season thanks to his runner-up result, a first top-10 in just over a year and his best TOUR finish ever. 5. The Funk in the Cink brings family fun Brian Gay wasn't the only veteran having a great time in Bermuda, a paradise where family fun was the order of the week for the Cinks and the Funks. Stewart Cink, the recent winner in the season-opening Safeway Open, continued his impressive resurgence by finishing fourth. As was the case at his win, son Reagan was on the bag as his caddie. It's a partnership hard to ignore. "It’s been a couple of factors. Reagan caddying for me, my son, we have great chemistry. Half his DNA is mine and we just see things the same way on the golf course and we have really good communication out there on our shots," Cink explained. "It makes me be really decisive and committed. That certainly helps when you’re searching for ways to separate you from the competition out here where everybody is so good." Cink also tinkered with his equipment. The two factors have him second in the FedExCup just four points behind Bryson DeChambeau's lead. "I kind of lowered my spin rates through my whole bag, driver all the way down through my irons, and when we came here and we had the crazy winds there for a couple days, I think I was able to keep my ball sort of like mildly, less out of control than maybe I would have before," he added. Fred Funk had the pleasure of playing with his son Taylor in the opening two rounds and while the younger Funk didn't bring his absolute best stuff the 64-year-old produced another highlight to his impressive resume. Facing what at the time seemed a birdie or bust scenario on his final hole of the second round, the elder Funk chipped in from just off the green to become just the fourth player aged 64 or older to make the cut in a TOUR event since 1970. He joined Jack Nicklaus, Sam Snead and Tom Watson. The family celebration on the green was everything that can make this sport great and more. TOUR TOP 10 The PGA TOUR Regular Season top 10 will receive bonuses for their efforts.

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