U.S.’ Catlin claims third European Tour title

JACKSON, Miss. — Norman Xiong shot a 5-under 67 on Friday on another damp, chilly day at the Country Club of Jackson for a share of the second-round lead with Cameron Champ at the Sanderson Farms Championship. The 19-year-old Xiong — who made his first cut in seven career starts — is trying to become the second-youngest winner on TOUR since 1932. He matched Champ at 9 under for the tournament. Xiong made a 55-foot putt from the fringe for eagle on No. 11. Champ, who was the first-round leader after shooting a 65, had a two-shot lead over Xiong until ending Friday’s round with two straight bogeys. He finished with a 70. Shawn Stefani and Jonathan Byrd were one shot back. Hudson Swafford, Seth Reeves, Scott Stallings, D.J. Trahan and Chad Ramey were two shots back.

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Scottie Scheffler has been re-writing golf’s record books for the last four months. At the Waste Management Phoenix Open, Scheffler went from arguably the best player without a TOUR win to an unquestionable force. Then he officially became the best player (period) on the planet after his win at the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play, which vaulted him atop the Official World Golf Ranking. His gap of just 42 days between his first PGA TOUR or DP World Tour victory and ascending to No. 1 was by far the shortest in the 36-year history of the OWGR. And only Tiger Woods (21) and Jordan Spieth (77) needed fewer starts as a professional than Scheffler’s 92 to reach No. 1. At the Masters, Scheffler became the first player since Arnold Palmer in 1960 to leave Augusta with four or more wins that PGA TOUR season, including the Green Jacket. His win came in his very first start as the world No. 1, mirroring what Ian Woosnam did at Augusta National in 1991. And at the Charles Schwab Challenge two weeks ago, Scheffler showed he’s not close to done with this incredible heater. If not for Sam Burns’ heroics, Scheffler would have become the first player since Bobby Locke in 1947 to get each of his first five PGA TOUR victories in the same season. Scheffler is positioned to create even more history as the season reaches its apex. He returns to action this week at the RBC Canadian Open, his first career appearance in this storied event. And he does so with sizable leads in both the FedExCup and world ranking. Top of the Standings Scheffler’s enormous FedExCup lead of 1,041 points is easily the largest by any player at this point in the season under the current format, which started in 2009. The second-largest lead any player has had in the season points race as the TOUR left the Memorial Tournament was in 2015, when Jordan Spieth led by 624. With most TOUR events awarding 500 points to the winner, even an additional two wins by Burns – who ranks second in the FedExCup with three wins this season – could not be enough to catch his good friend. It’s a testament to Scheffler’s win in some big events, including a major (the Masters, which awards 600 points), a World Golf Championship (the Dell Technologies Match Play, which awards 550) and an elevated invitational (the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, which also is worth 550 FedExCup points). Scheffler also has two runners-up this season. With 3,142 points this season, Scheffler already has amassed the third-highest Regular Season points total since the current system began 13 years ago. In all but two years, the sum he already has in his pocket would be enough to lead the standings entering the FedExCup Playoffs. The only exceptions are 2009 (Tiger Woods, 3,431 points) and 2015 (Jordan Spieth, 4,169 points). Scheffler has averaged about 203 points per start since the beginning of February. If he maintains that pace and plays four more tournaments (in addition to this week) before the Playoffs begin, it would be entirely possible that Scheffler breaks Spieth’s record for the most Regular Season points accumulated under the current system. Emphatic No. 1 Scheffler also leads the Official World Golf Ranking with an average of 10.15 points per start, about 2.49 points ahead of world No. 2 Jon Rahm. That lead is more than twice the size of what Rahm’s lead was as No. 1 over Collin Morikawa (9.80 to 8.75) in the first ranking of 2022. A year ago today, Dustin Johnson held the top spot, but his margin over Justin Thomas was just 1.79 average points. Scheffler is assured of holding the top spot entering next week’s U.S. Open, regardless of what happens this week in Canada. Any time the topic of large leads atop the OWGR comes up, it’s impossible to not look back at some of the astronomical gaps Tiger Woods put between himself and the rest of the sport in his prime. After winning the 2008 U.S. Open, Woods had an average of 21.54 points per start – more than double world No. 2 Phil Mickelson (who had a very strong number of 10.21 – a higher average than Scheffler holds this week). In November 2000, Woods played in the Johnnie Walker Classic, a tournament in Thailand that was co-sanctioned by the DP World and Asian Tours. Despite winning that week, Woods’ average points number actually went down, from 28.64 to 28.47. His lead that week over world No. 2 Ernie Els was about 17 points. So while Scheffler is enjoying a healthy gap between himself and number two right now, it’s nowhere near the halcyon days of peak Woods. How Scheffler Made His Leap The biggest statistical jump for Scheffler this season over last has come from his approach play. Scheffler has gone from an above-average iron player on the PGA TOUR last season to an elite one in 2022. Last year, Scheffler averaged about 0.15 Strokes Gained: Approach per round, good for a respectable ranking of 83rd among qualified players. This season, that number has more-than-quadrupled to 0.69 per round, good for 13th-best on TOUR. If you are into more traditional statistics, take a look at his rate of hitting greens in regulation. In each of Scheffler’s first two full seasons on TOUR, he ranked 43rd and 45th in greens in regulation. This season, he’s second-best on TOUR at 71.6%, a clip that trails only Rahm (72.3%). Scheffler has also made a similar statistical improvement on the greens. Last season, he was right around average with his putter, with 0.02 Strokes Gained: Putting per round. He’s jumped from 107th in that metric to 26th this season – and ranked a strong 14th in the statistic the week of his victory at Augusta National. One interesting thing one can glean from analyzing Scheffler’s putting this season is that it actually has distinct room for improvement, too: from 4-8 feet away, he’s making significantly less putts (65.2%) than the PGA TOUR average (69.0%). For the competition, that’s quite a frightening thought.

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J.J. Spaun chalked it up to the long season that had ended with the second event of the FedExCup Playoffs. Last year’s BMW Championship was his 27th start of the season, after all, and he had a right to be tired. The weight loss? Well, maybe that was due to the grind, too. Plus, he had packed on a few pounds during the year — carrying 219 pounds on his 5-foot-9 frame at his heaviest — so seeing the drop on the scales didn’t exactly bother him. “I probably lost 15 pounds in a month without even trying,â€� Spaun recalls. “I was like, oh, my pants are fitting looser. And I liked it. I was like, oh, this is great. I’m losing some weight, you know. But then once I started noticing it was affecting my golf, then I knew something was up.â€� Between the fatigue and the unexplained weight loss, Spaun realized that his swing speed and corresponding distance was decreasing. Unable to build on the momentum of a tie for third at the Barracuda Championship, he didn’t finish higher than 35th in his final four events last year. Finally, Spaun’s fiancée, Melody Means, convinced him to go to the doctor. Maybe it was his thyroid, he thought. At any rate, those tests he had before he went to Asia to play in the CIMB Classic and the CJ Cup @ Nine Bridges would surely offer an explanation. More than three weeks passed before the doctor’s office called, though, telling him to come back in. But Spaun was in Las Vegas to play in the Shriners Hospital for Children Open, the first of a three-week stretch, so a physician’s assistant delivered the news. His blood sugar was extremely high. Finally, Spaun had a diagnosis. At least, he did after sending his test results to Dr. Saleem Malik, who had hosted him during his time playing PGA TOUR Canada and remains a good friend. Spaun had type 2 diabetes. “So, he was like, yeah, don’t worry, everything is going to be fine,â€� Spaun remembers. “… It’s more of like having an allergy versus a disease. Like you’ve just got to watch what you eat, exercise and you’ll be fine. “It was good to hear that, that peace of mind, you know, especially when on the road.â€� Once the 28-year-old got back to his home in Scottsdale, Arizona, he went back to see the doctor. He needed to start eating healthier and exercise more – and as an added bonus, he ended up losing 35 pounds, the right way, this time. So, don’t expect to find Spaun hitting the drive-through at Taco Bell, which he calls his “soft spot,â€� anymore. That’s where he usually headed after a bad round or a double-bogey on the 18th hole left a bitter taste in his mouth. “I was like, oh, like let me just go eat a burrito,â€� Spaun says. “I mean, some people, you know, lean towards like alcohol or something, but I like to eat food. So unfortunately, I can’t do that. So, I’ve got to find other ways to kind of balance things out when I’m not having a good day.â€� As much as possible, Spaun has cut out processed sugars – saying goodbye to candy and ice cream, among other delights – and carbohydrates, giving up French fries or other starches. He keeps a special protein bar in his golf bag that gives him energy but has a low glycemic index. A plant-based protein shake is another go-to. “It’s difficult, but it’s great finding new alternatives to what I’m used to eating in the past,â€� Spaun said. “So, thank God for Whole Foods. … I’m accustomed to it now. It’s definitely a lifestyle change and my body’s feeling great.â€� The lab reports he got in early May bear out Spaun’s words. He’s no longer on medication, and his A1c, which measures how well the body controls the sugar in the blood, had dropped from 11.2 percent when he was first diagnosed to 5.9. The normal level is between 4-5.6 percent. “So, I think the dieting and the exercise has really paid off,â€� Spaun said. “… It’s all about having it under control. I’ll always be on that edge of, you know, going over or having those symptoms again. So, I’ve just got to really pay close attention to it.â€� Spaun hit the gym with a trainer three or four times a week last winter. His hour-long workouts would consist of weight training, agility drills and aerobics to keep the heart rate up. No breaks. Just one set after another. “I got stronger. I got my speed back,â€� Spaun recalls. “So, I’m still doing a little bit of both, but it’s more about more about diet and stuff because I’m already doing so much walking around in the course. “So, it’s important to not get my sugar too low, too, because that’s the other thing, you know, if you’re out there burning, you know, 5,000 calories a day playing golf and you can’t eat carbohydrates and you can’t eat sugar. It’s like, how do I find this perfect balance?â€� With all the changes going on in his body over the past eight months or so, Spaun admits that he has struggled to fine-tune the mechanics of his swing again. Even so, the Californian is a solid 86th in the FedExCup and has already topped the $1 million mark in earnings for the third straight year. While he calls his diagnosis a “rude awakening in a way,â€� the most important part is that Spaun feels better now. “I was getting so fatigued when I had uncontrolled diabetes,â€� he says. “I didn’t even know, and I was getting agitated on the course. I didn’t know why I was hitting it shorter. It was just, you know, it was just a big, like slippery slope of just things in it, and it mentally, it was tough, too.â€� Now he knows how to handle it – on and off the golf course.

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