U.S. rallies to salvage Day 2 split in Australia

PALM HARBOR, Fla. – Elton John is on a farewell tour in 2019. So is rocker Bob Seger. And don’t forget golfer Kenny Perry. He may not be selling t-shirts to tournament attendees, but he is the midst of one last go-around, too.  Perry, 58, firmly established as a force on the Champions Tour (where he has won 10 times, including the 2017 U.S. Senior Open), decided to use his career top-50 earnings exemption this season to go back and compete at some of his favorite PGA TOUR spots. Innisbrook’s Copperhead is one of those tracks he loves, with Perry having played here 10 times since 2000. Friday, he was inside the cutline at the Valspar Championship with two holes to play before a double-bogey at the par-3 eighth (his 17th) would send him home early once again.  For those keeping track, that’s five starts and no made cuts this season for Perry, who a decade ago on the PGA TOUR still was a cash machine.  You know what? He may be 0-for-5, but Perry nonetheless is managing to enjoy himself.  When Jim Furyk, soon to be 49, talked earlier this week about staying competitive on the regular tour beyond his 50th birthday, he pointed to Perry, with a heaping of respect and a dash of amazement. “When I think back,� Furyk said, “Kenny Perry was a stud at 48, 49. He was playing on Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup teams and not only playing on those teams, he was one of our best players on those teams.� But Perry said Friday at Valspar that competing against the young guns on lengthy PGA TOUR layouts – Innisbrook’s Copperhead this week is a par 71 measuring 7,340 yards – is something he doesn’t possess the firepower to do any longer.  “My results tell me that I can’t play out here,� Perry, a 14-time winner who has made 648 PGA TOUR starts and has more than $32 million in career earnings, said after a second-round 72 left him at 3-over 145. “I don’t hit it far enough and I don’t spin the ball enough. I mean, I’m playing with Louis Oosthuizen, and his ball is spinning and dancing all over the place out there.� When Perry won the U.S. Senior Open two years ago, he talked about struggling to find the motivation needed to get him playing good golf again. Asked if competing against the best players in the world was motivating him, he said, “Honestly, it probably works the other way for me. It just tells me that I can’t play out here. That’s OK. I love being out here, and love watching friends of mine like Scott Stallings and Justin Thomas compete. I’ve almost become a fan. I’m 58, and I still love to compete.� Perry will return to the Champions Tour next week when it visits Biloxi, Miss., but he’ll soon be back for more action on the PGA TOUR. He wants to play Colonial, where he’s won, and Memorial, where he’s won, and possibly Hilton Head.  “I’m definitely playing the 3M, too,� he said, referencing the first-year PGA TOUR event in Minneapolis at TPC Twin Cities, which has undergone some significant changes to better challenge PGA TOUR professionals. “I’ve won that event three times on the Champions Tour – though it won’t on the same golf course.�

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GREENSBORO, N.C. – A short, and selective, memory is important for a professional athlete. Quickly forgetting poor results, while putting a white-knuckle grip around the good ones, is key to success. Harold Varner III is fighting for a spot in the FedExCup Playoffs, and his PGA TOUR card, this week at the Wyndham Championship. He had opportunities to clinch his spot in the all-important top 125 in his previous two starts, but struggled both times. When asked if he used those close calls for motivation, Varner said he didn’t remember them. At least until he was reminded of them by a reporter. “I had already forgotten until you said something,â€� said Varner, who’s 138th in the FedExCup. “It’s just a part of golf. I didn’t execute the shots like I did today and I learned from it.â€� Varner got off to another strong start at the Wyndham Championship, shooting a 7-under 63 in the first round. He’ll need a high finish to qualify for next week’s THE NORTHERN TRUST. So far, so good. He’s tied for third place, two shots behind leader Matt Every, and projected to jump 25 spots in the FedExCup standings. “I knew I needed to play well,â€� Varner said. “It was nice to do that.â€� He wasn’t the only bubble boy to shoot 63 on Thursday. Sam Saunders, who’s trying to qualify for the FedExCup Playoffs for the first time, made birdie at his last hole to also shoot 7 under par. Saunders is No. 127 in the FedExCup. Saunders and Varner both played Thursday afternoon, and will benefit from easier morning conditions Friday. Saunders is just seven FedExCup points behind No. 125 Geoff Ogilvy, who shot 70 on Thursday. Varner, who’s 39 points behind Ogilvy, likely needs a top-20 finish to crack the top 125. “It almost makes it easier because you let it go,â€� Varner said. “If you try to hold on to something, you’re not going to do as well.â€� Varner is in a unique position. He’s fighting for his TOUR card after playing a World Golf Championship in his previous start. He qualified for the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational after winning last year’s Australian PGA. He was T13 halfway through two rounds in his birthplace of Akron, but fired 7 over par (73-74) on the weekend to fall to 50th. He earned just seven FedExCup points that week. One week earlier, he was T11 after 54 holes at the RBC Canadian Open. He fell 12 spots on the leaderboard with a final-round 72 (on a day when the scoring average was 70.5). Saunders is coming off consecutive top-20 finishes, a T19 in Canada and an eighth-place finish two weeks ago at the Barracuda Championship. His two top-10s this season match his career-high, while his seven top-25s are the best of his career. “I was pretty nervous, to be honest, coming into this week because I know it’s an important week for me,â€� he said. “The anticipation is the hardest part. Once you get out there and start hitting balls, you realize, ‘I’m playing really good golf and I’ve got control of what I’m doing.’

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As detailed in the opening of the Power Rankings for last year's Sanderson Farms Championship, the annual stop in Jackson, Mississippi, understands what it's like to adapt. From a long-time role as a dutiful wingman to a cancellation and spots all over the calendar, it could hold a master class not only in understanding its valuable role but also how to capitalize on opportunity. Ironically, the scheduling of this week's edition was not significantly impacted by the pandemic, so it's business as usual at the Country Club of Jackson. But even that must be qualified. This is just the second (consecutive) SFC to be contested as a stand-alone tournament. So, in addition to numerous spoils, the winner will receive 500 FedExCup points and an exemption into the 2021 Masters. For more on what this tournament meant to defending champ Sebastián Muñoz, how the course plays and other insight, scroll past the projected contenders. RELATED: Inside the Field | Preview the course, storylines POWER RANKINGS: SANDERSON FARMS CHAMPIONSHIP Tuesday's Fantasy Insider will include reviews of Henrik Stenson, Emiliano Grillo, Sergio Garcia, Byeong Hun An and Corales runner-up Tyler McCumber among other notables. As of midday Monday, 64 of 144 in the field at the Sanderson Farms Championship are non-winners on the PGA TOUR, and don't be surprised if this week's champion is among them. With six consecutive first-time winners (dating back to Nick Taylor in November of 2014), the tournament boasts the longest streak of breakthroughs among all. The Barracuda Championship slots second with five in a row. Muñoz was trending in advance of his coronation last year, but it was merely a spike in a consistently strong run of form that peaked again with his debut in the TOUR Championship to conclude 2019-20. In fact, he walked off his career season by going T18-T8-T8 in the FedExCup Playoffs. (As it was for many others, his automatic exemption into the Masters was delayed until this November.) Aside from an extensive irrigation and drainage improvement project, most notably around many greens, CC of Jackson is largely similar to what returnees will remember. Officially, at 7,461 yards, the course is one yard longer thanks to an additional pace on the par-5 third hole that now tips at 591 yards. The stock par 72 surrendered a scoring average of 70.896 in 2019. That's the second-easiest it's played since it debuted in 2014, but it's averaged under par in every edition. A record low is unexpected this week as the Champion bermudagrass greens are prepped to run out to 13-and-a-half feet on the Stimpmeter, a foot longer than usual and unusually long in general. And they just might get there with sunny and dry conditions forecast throughout. It might get breezy on Friday, but daytime highs will touch at least 70 degrees every day. Challenging par 5s as a set are uncommon on par 72s, but the quartet at CC of Jackson qualify. They've ranked inside the top-20 toughest on TOUR in every season and inside the top 10 twice, including eighth in 2019 at 4.74. Of the 132 par 5s played over 36 events in 2019-20, three at CC of Jackson ranked inside the top-50 hardest. Muñoz slotted T5 in par-5 scoring here last year at 4.44 with 10 birdies, five pars and a bogey. Overall, he authored a rock-solid performance. En route to 18-under 270, he finished fourth in distance of all drives, T9 in greens hit, 13th in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green and fifth in Strokes Gained: Putting, and then outlasted Sungjae Im in a playoff. ROB BOLTON'S SCHEDULE PGATOUR.COM's Fantasy Insider Rob Bolton recaps and previews every tournament from numerous angles. Look for his following contributions as scheduled. MONDAY: Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Medical Extensions, Rookie Watch, Power Rankings TUESDAY*: Sleepers, Fantasy Insider * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM's Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf, which also publishes on Wednesday.

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