Trying to make sense of Dustin Johnson’s weird and wild two months

PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico – Notes and observations from the final round of the Mayakoba Golf Classic at El Camaleon Golf Club. LEADING LIGHTS KUCHAR GETS IT DONE: Confidence is everything, Matt Kuchar said after winning the Mayakoba Golf Classic by one over Danny Lee (65). It’s the best kind of fuel, and there’s no telling what it might lead to. After a 4 ½ year win drought, including a sub-standard 2017-’18 season that saw him miss the TOUR Championship, Kuchar is excited to see where he can go from here. “I aspire to make Presidents Cup, I aspire to make the TOUR Championship, I aspire to win multiple times in the ’18-’19 season,� Kuchar said. “A major’s still on my list. Those are all goals for me and I think this will help leapfrog that. That confidence because of winning a tournament hopefully propels me to a great ’19.� There were some tense moments after Kuchar bogeyed the 14th and 15th holes, but he made three pars when he had to on the last three holes. His 22-under total broke the tournament record and also marked his career low on TOUR. (For more on Kuchar’s victory, click here.) NOTABLES BOGEYS PLAGUE FOWLER: Rickie Fowler made plenty of birdies at Mayakoba, where he was runner-up a year ago, but again was plagued by what he called “sloppy� play. He made seven birdies but three more bogeys in a final-round 67 that left him T16, eight shots back. FINAU ENJOYS WORKING VACATION: Tony Finau brought his family to Mayakoba and shot a final-round 69 to also finish T16, his best result here since he finished T7 in 2014. CHAMP FINISHES POORLY: Cameron Champ, who won the Sanderson Farms Championship two weeks ago, had a week of late mistakes. After making double bogey to end his third round, Champ made two doubles in his last five holes for a final-round 69 and T10 finish. PEREZ LOW PAST CHAMPION: Pat Perez, who won here two years ago, shot a final-round 67 to finish T6, five shots back of the winner. A new father, Perez has had a busy fall schedule and said he was looking forward to spending some time with his daughter, Piper. OBSERVATIONS LEE ENCOURAGED: Danny Lee couldn’t convert his birdie putt from 20 feet on 18, but shot a 6-under 65 that left him in solo second, one back. As for that putt on 18? He hit it right where he wanted it, he said, but misjudged the speed. The ball never took the break, and missed on the right side of the hole. “I really did hit it on my line where I was looking, but it was a right-edge putt all day,� said Lee, who picked up his best finish since he won the 2015 A Military Tribute at the Greenbrier. “I didn’t want to leave it short and I gave it a little extra, but sometimes it just happens, I guess.� It was Lee’s second runner-up finish on TOUR (T2/2015 TOUR Championship). PIERCY FLIRTS WITH 59: Scott Piercy (62, T6) tied for best round of the week and briefly had designs on breaking 60. He was 9-under through 15 holes, and finished with 12/14 fairways hit, 15/18 greens and 26 putts. “When I birdied 15 I got it to 9 (under par), I was like, I can shoot 59 if I put it in the fairway on 16,� Piercy said. He made three pars coming in to finish T6, his third straight top-10 of the season (T5/THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES, T10/Shriners Hospitals for Children Open). “Just excited to end the year on a good note,� he said. “That was my goal for the day.� QUOTABLES They hadn’t seen me win in a long time.I found a little something on the range yesterday. SUPERLATIVES Low round: 62, Scott Piercy (T6) Toughest hole: The 428-yard second played to a 4.222 average. Easiest hole: The 554-yard, par-5 fifth played to a 4.472 average. CALL OF THE DAY SHOT OF THE DAY

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BLAINE, Minn. – Greyson Sigg expects to compete in the FedExCup Playoffs. It goes back to the level of self-belief that led him to a sparkling 2020-21 season on the Korn Ferry Tour, recording two wins among 19 top-25 finishes en route to Rookie of the Year honors. He also knows that Playoffs spots are not given, but earned, and that his attitude had perhaps limited his potential across his rookie PGA TOUR season. He arrived at this week’s 3M Open at No. 126 on the FedExCup standings, one of the proverbial bubble boys into the final three events of the regular season. Sigg’s play this week displays a desire to play his way off the bubble. He carded a third-round, 7-under 64 at TPC Twin Cities – across a mid-round weather delay of 6 hours, 38 minutes – to move into a tie for sixth into Sunday in Minnesota. That finish would project him to No. 105 in the FedExCup standings, essentially securing a Playoffs berth. “Just trying to not get down on yourself,” said Sigg of the challenges of his rookie TOUR season, which included a string of five consecutive missed cuts in May and June. “It’s a frustrating game. It’s a hard game … working on my attitude a little bit, and I feel like that has improved a lot this week as well.” The 3M Open marks the third-to-last event of the PGA TOUR regular season, with the top-125 players on the FedExCup upon the conclusion of the Wyndham Championship to earn Playoffs berths and fully exempt status on TOUR in 2022-23. Several players in the mix into Sunday at TPC Twin Cities are aiming to play their way into the Playoffs, including 54-hole leader Scott Piercy. The four-time TOUR winner entered the week at No. 138 in the FedExCup standings, having recorded five top-25s to this point in the season but still searching for his first top-10. Things look to be coming together at the right time for Piercy, who entered Saturday with a three-shot lead and carded 5-under 66 to extend that margin to four. “It means a lot,” said Piercy of being in this position. “I’ve had my struggles, and to prove and show that I can still do it is a big confidence boost.” Some chasers are looking to make the Playoffs for the first time, like England’s Callum Tarren. After earning his first TOUR card through the 2021 Korn Ferry Tour Finals, less than a month after the birth of his first child, Tarren didn’t make his first cut until The Honda Classic in February. The 31-year-old has built his confidence through results. He has made 10 cuts in his last 15 starts, including a pair of top-six finishes, and played in Saturday’s final threesome at TPC Twin Cities. He stands T13 into the final round, having entered the week at No. 144 on the FedExCup and projected to move to No. 134. “It would be incredible,” said Tarren of the prospect of making the Playoffs. “That was one of my goals from the start of the season, and after eight events, missing eight cuts in a row didn’t look very promising. I always knew my game’s good enough. “I don’t look at (the numbers) on the golf course, because in one hole you can go from being inside the number to being outside the number. I think a good, solid week this week will take care of things.” Others like Doug Ghim are striving for a repeat Playoffs appearance. The University of Texas alum earned his first TOUR card in dramatic fashion via the 2019 Korn Ferry Tour Finals, draining a crucial 8-foot par on the 72nd hole followed by a Tiger-esque fist pump. Ghim, 26, missed the Playoffs in his rookie TOUR season at No. 184 on the FedExCup, but eligibility was extended for another season due to COVID-19. He took advantage with a No. 83 finish on last year’s FedExCup, and he began this week at No. 117 on the standings. Ghim carded a third-round 65 at TPC Twin Cities to move into a tie for third, which projects him to No. 84 on the FedExCup. “It’s been a frustrating one a lot, because I feel like a lot of the improvements I made as a player haven’t really been reflected obviously in the FedExCup and statistically and whatnot,” said Ghim of his season so far. “But I know where my game is trending and I’ve been knocking on the door and just maybe one bad round or a couple of bad holes away and just been trying to be really patient. “It’s a pretty good time of year to start finding the groove and starting to put my name in the hat coming down the stretch. I know that this is what I was capable of all year, but it’s fun to finally be in stride at this time of year.” Every shot counts in the race to the FedExCup. This time of year, the scarcity of opportunity just magnifies that knowledge. “It would mean a lot,” said Sigg of making the Playoffs. “I don’t really expect anything else. I expect a lot of myself, and I look forward to doing that in the next couple of weeks.”

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A lawyer representing Phil Mickelson is taking issue with a Detroit News report that linked the golfer to an alleged mob bookie in a 2007 trial.

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