Trio share lead in France; Grinberg, 16, makes cut

Michelle Wie West will lead a new women’s partnership initiative with golf equipment company LA Golf, aiming for equitable and fair support on and off the golf course for LPGA players.

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Those of you with an attention to detail might already be confused. But no, Rob Bolton hasn't suddenly got rounder cheeks, a combover and a thick Australian accent. As loyal readers know, Power Rankings is Rob's domain, and will continue to be, except for this exception. The fact is... it is 2020... so it makes sense that a complete rookie in this space tells you all who are the most likely contenders for the FedExCup in this COVID-19 affected season. So as you read on keep in mind this could be like sending a college quarterback in for Tom Brady, or perhaps in baseball parlance (Rob does love his Cubs) it's like having Ian Happ pinch hit for Babe Ruth. And while Rob deals completely in cold hard numbers and facts, personally I add his most feared component... "feel". As an employee on the ground at many tournaments sometimes you just know what's coming. Remember the Playoffs are just three weeks and this season points have been adjusted to drop from four times value to three for the opening two weeks of Playoffs. More on that below the list of projected contenders... along with trends that help project the top 30. POWER RANKINGS: FEDEXCUP PLAYOFFS In a one off move thanks to the reduced season caused by COVID-19 cancelations, Playoff points this season for THE NORTHERN TRUST and the BMW Championship are tripled as opposed to quadrupled. Regular season points carry into the Playoffs but now winners of THE NORTHERN TRUST and the BMW Championship receive 1,500 points. A solo second is worth 900 points, third yields 570, and so on. This change will most certainly affect those who will make the top 30 come TOUR Championship time. The top 20 from the regular season are inside these power rankings by default - this is by design as I noticed Rob did the same a year ago based on the knowledge that for the 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018 Playoffs the top 20 remained inside the top 30 after the first two tournaments in the Playoffs. (Prior to last season there were three Playoff events before the TOUR Championship). Looking at last season results we see the top 19, and 22 of the top 23 from the start of the Playoffs all made Atlanta. In total just seven players came from outside the top 30 as the Playoffs began. Three of those seven started in 31st, 32nd and 33rd place. The longest shot was Abraham Ancer who started at 67th but made his move with a runner up finish in week one of the Playoffs. Of course the triple points throws us into some unchartered territory. It was made to protect a good regular season. We might get even more of the current top 30 stay there but there is also a compaction of total points given less tournaments played. Wyndham Clark is in the 125 slot with 276 points. Cameron Smith is in the 30 slot with 807 points. In other words a 531 points gap. Clark could surpass Smith this week with a solo third place finish. A year ago the gap from 125 to 30 was 593 points. For someone to replicate Ancer, they will need to win or go close to it, in the opening two weeks. That starts at TPC Boston, a Playoff host course from 2007 through 2018. It will feature the standard 36-hole cut of top 65 and ties and once results are official, the top 70 in points will qualify for the BMW Championship. Since 2015, 27 golfers who started the Playoffs outside the top 70 played their way inside the bubble after one tournament. Last year had four players play their way in from outside 70th, but none of those kept it going to get to Atlanta. The BMW Championship this season is to be help at Olympia Fields outside Chicago. While it is not a regular TOUR stop it did play host to the 2003 U.S. Open won by Jim Furyk. The 1928 U.S. Open and the 1925 and 1961 PGA Championships were also at Olympia Fields and the precursor to the BMW Championship, the Western Open, was played there five times, but not since Bruce Crampton won in 1971. Outside of Furyk's win in 2003, modern day has seen the 2015 U.S. Amateur played at Olympia Fields where Bryson DeChambeau was victorious. Jon Rahm and Collin Morikawa are just some names that were also in that field. With no cut at Olympia Fields, it’ll be more difficult for the worst seeds to advance to the TOUR Championship, but it’s doable. Since 2015, 17 golfers who started the BMW outside the top 30 played their way in, nine of whom were outside the top 40. The longest shot was Roberto Castro in 2016. As the 53-seed entering the BMW, he finished in solo third and rose to 21st. Remember when we get to Atlanta the old mathematical equations are gone, instead we have the scoring system used for the first time last season. Once the top 30 is determined at the conclusion of the BMW Championship, FedExCup points no longer apply. The top seed entering the finale will begin the tournament at 10-under par. The 2-seed will start at 8-under, and so on down to those seeded 26-30 who open at even par. The winner of the TOUR Championship will be the FedExCup champion. He’ll be credited with an official victory, but there is no separate prize fund. Beginning with bonus money of $15 million to the winner, all earnings will reflect final FedExCup finish. East Lake has held the TOUR Championship since 2004 (and in 2002, 2000, 1998). It has served as the Playoffs culmination since its inception in 2007. But we only have one year of data for the new scoring system. Rory McIlroy won the FedExCup last season despite starting five shots behind Justin Thomas at the beginning of the TOUR Championship. Interestingly enough McIlroy's golf would have been good enough to beat the field had everyone started from scratch. Ok Rob... Come on back now.

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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — To appreciate the challenge of playing with a seven-shot lead at TPC Sawgrass — as Webb Simpson will do in the final round of THE PLAYERS Championship on Sunday — you have to go back to Waialae Country Club in Honolulu, Hawaii, in 2017. It was there that Justin Thomas took a seven-shot lead into Sunday.  “All I could hear about from everyone and reading everything is no one has ever blown a seven-shot lead before,â€� Thomas said after shooting a final-round 65 to win by seven, setting a PGA TOUR record of 27-under 253 in the process. “A lot of things go through your head when you wake up at 6:30 and you don’t tee off until 12:40.â€� What will be going through Simpson’s head when he tees off at 2:45 p.m. with just 18 holes standing between him and his fifth TOUR win and first since the 2014 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open? The question garnered no shortage of speculation amongst fans, media and fellow players after Simpson signed for a third-round 68 to get to a gaudy 19-under. Danny Lee was in second alone, seven back after a 70. But really, this is Simpson’s tournament now. What will he do with it? “Obviously, you are nervous about it,â€� said Jason Day, who sits T4 after shooting a 71 on Saturday. “But the good thing about Webb is he’s played well, he doesn’t have to do too much out there, he has to keep it in front of him. Just keep it in front, don’t take unnecessary risk and just kind of shoot 72 or somewhere in between 70, 72. You don’t really need to go into the 60s.â€� That said, Day added, playing too defensively can backfire. “It can be dangerous,â€� he said. “A hundred percent. When you’re sitting there and you’re trying to be defensive you’re hitting yourself to 30, 40 feet and your putting has to take the brunt of that.â€� Golf history is littered with stories about players who couldn’t stand prosperity. Greg Norman blew a six-shot lead at the 1996 Masters, and Rory McIlroy squandered a four-shot lead at the 2011 Masters. Alex Cejka woke up with a five-stroke lead at THE PLAYERS in 2009, but shot 79 to finish T9. Then there was the granddaddy of them all: Martin Kaymer blew a 10-shot lead at the 2015 Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship. Playing with a big lead isn’t easy.  The day that Kaymer collapsed in Abu Dhabi in 2015, Jimmy Walker woke up with a two-shot lead going into the final round of the Sony Open in Hawaii. Walker vowed not to let it happen to him, too, and shot a final-round 63 to win by nine. It was the largest margin of victory on TOUR since Brian Gay won the 2009 RBC Heritage by 10. “I got in front and just tried to keep going,â€� Walker (70, 9-under) said at TPC Sawgrass, where he was in a tie for fourth with Day, Charl Schwartzel (73), Jason Dufner (66) and Xander Schauffele (71). “I didn’t want to play defensive, didn’t want to just try to make pars, I wanted to keep goin’ and see how many I could win by.â€�  Walker isn’t the only one who advocates turning a big lead into a game. If you’re winning by five, can you push the lead to seven? That’s exactly what Simpson did with his third-round 68. How did he do it? He woke up, spent a few hours at Starbucks, did laundry, and watched some of the highlights from the 65s shot by Jordan Spieth and Tiger Woods. “I think it was good for me to see that,â€� Simpson said, “that the wind was up a decent amount, but there were some low scores, so I think it helped me a little bit continue to think about making birdies and making that 15-under a little better.â€� Simpson said he didn’t look at leaderboards Saturday, and the results would suggest he won’t look on Sunday, either. He’ll also try to stay aggressive wherever he can. “I think you have to,â€� said Adam Scott (72, 7-under). “Otherwise three shots can go in a hole, a double to a birdie, and your nine [shot lead] is six. Then you bogey two more, and now you start thinking about it.â€� Or, more accurately, the mind starts racing and you can’t stop it. You lose feeling in your extremities, or hear a ringing in your ears, or can’t seem to produce any saliva.  “It’s very, very difficult to right the ship,â€� Scott said. “Think of Rory at the Masters in ’11. Sure, he tripled the 10th, but I mean he’s still right there in the tournament, he just couldn’t put it all back together. It’s not easy to do. Your confidence just gets hit, and when your confidence is not high on these types of golf courses, you just manage to find the trouble so easily and it’s very hard to escape.â€� Scott believes Simpson will win, and so does Day. Still, the speed with which calamity can strike at TPC Sawgrass will be at the forefront of everyone’s mind when Simpson steps to the first tee Sunday. “I think if it wasn’t this golf course, it would be almost impossible not to look ahead,â€� said Simpson’s caddie, Paul Tesori. “I don’t care what our lead is standing on 17. Even if we have a 12-shot lead on 17, I will be breathing very heavily.â€�

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