WATCH: Jordan Spieth acts like a fan interrupting Rickie Fowler’s TV interview

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – As the golf world gathers at TPC Sawgrass for THE PLAYERS Championship, it expresses its unified support for the people of Ukraine. PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan announced the TOUR’s support of Golfers For Ukraine, an industry-wide effort that is collecting donations for UNICEF, the United Nations agency that provides humanitarian and developmental aid to children impacted by the crisis. “Our hearts go out to the people of Ukraine and those caught in the crosshairs of the conflict,” Monahan said Tuesday. “We hope for an end to this senseless violence and a peaceful resolution. The game of golf has a way of rallying around important causes and this is one.” The PGA TOUR is among the golf organizations that has made donations to Golfers For Ukraine. Players, caddies and staff at THE PLAYERS will wear blue-and-yellow ribbons in support of the Ukrainian people, and Commissioner Monahan encouraged golfers to show their support by making donations at GolfersForUkraine.com. As of Tuesday morning, more than $225,000 had been donated to the website. UNICEF’s first shipment of humanitarian aid arrived in Ukraine last weekend and more are scheduled, the organization said. The shipment of an estimated 62 tons of supplies arrived in a six-truck convoy and included medical supplies such as medicine, first-aid kids, midwifery kits and surgical equipment. The supplies are desperately needed as the conflict has forced families to shelter underground, cutting them off from basic services, and hospitals have moved their patients to basements. UNICEF said in a statement that hundreds of thousands of people are without safe drinking water due to damage to infrastructure and the country is running low on critical medical supplies. “It’s hard. It’s hard to see, honestly,” said Jon Rahm, the world’s top-ranked player. “These people in Ukraine right now need help. … It’s a lot of innocent people that shouldn’t be going through this. I am at a loss for words every time I think about it.” An additional delivery, including 17,000 blankets and warm clothing, is en route to Ukraine. The organization also is working to meet the needs of children and families fleeing into neighboring countries, including ‘Blue Dot’ safe spaces along transit routes where children and mothers can access services. The organization is asking for $349 million for its response in Ukraine, and the golf world is determined to do its part. “I think what’s going on in Ukraine is absolutely horrible,” said Rory McIlroy. “It’s absolutely brutal. It’s sad. It’s heartbreaking to see what’s happening to that country and those people and the families. From a human side of things, it’s just horrible what is going on.”

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Thank you, Kevin Kisner. If you follow my musings in the discussion threads beneath my columns and contributions, you might recall that he’s been my white whale in the Roster game. Spotted and on the line, but never captured (due primarily to technical difficulties of my own); that is, until at Colonial in the One & Done last week. Kisner is my first win of the 2016-17 season. (Yes, I also had him starting in the finale of the Roster game. It’s not quite the recent end of another drought assigned to silly curses that lasted 108 years, but it still feels great.) Kisner’s 500 FedExCup points propelled me into a healthy lead over Jonathan Wall, who connected wins with Dustin Johnson at Riviera and Rickie Fowler at PGA National. I haven’t burned either juggernaut yet and won’t at the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide. While I’m holstering DJ for the TOUR Championship, I have no need to burn him sooner, anyway. Given the available pieces on my board, my decision boiled down to three guys, two of whom I’m endorsing no matter where you rank in your league. Tony Finau is my pick. After Johnson at the top of my Power Rankings, Finau at No. 6 is next-highest who I haven’t burned. What Kisner delivered last week was a bonus because if Finau yields a top 10 at Muirfield Village, I’ll be happy. That’s always the goal. He’s finished a respective T8 and T11 in the last two editions of the Memorial, so all expectations align. Also note that this is the final event for Finau in Future Possibilities. The other dynamic value who has my attention is Byeong Hun An. It’s all coming together for the 25-year-old former U.S. Amateur champion. His devil-may-care philosophy off the tee is perfect in setting the table at Muirfield Village where he tied for 11th last year, but the investment is doubly supported by a strong run of form of late. While you may balk if you’re front-running, all two-man gamers need to be on board. Matt Kuchar rounds out the threesome in my focus. He’d be my pick if I was chasing, but I’ll probably keep him handy for the RBC Canadian Open at Glen Abbey where he’s hung up a T2 (2013), a T7 (2015) and a T9 (2016) in the last three editions on that course. Kuchar is also serviceable as a bridge, so I’ll hold that card because I’ve earned it. If you’re still sitting on your Jon Rahm chip, end the uncertainty and cash it in regardless of your position. You’re already enjoying watching him perform, but just wait until you’re emotionally invested. It doesn’t get any better. Hideki Matsuyama enters with mild concern, but Muirfield Village is as smart a site to plug him in as any other remaining. If hesitant, Adam Scott sets up wonderfully if you need a jolt. In fact, the Aussie would have been my first pick, but I already called his name for Riviera. While I’d almost never talk you out of Jordan Spieth, note that the Memorial isn’t among his Future Possibilities. Yes, that’s a subjective smattering, but I loosened the reins for that section this season, and this tournament still didn’t resonate. Patrick Reed and Jason Day will get their turns, but later. Use Reed as a bridge, if necessary. Meanwhile, in the Fantasy Insider for the AT&T Byron Nelson, I wrote that if Day “converts on something special, he’ll be poised for a mammoth summer.” He lost in a playoff, so that qualifies as something special. I have him penciled in for the BMW Championship, but might be persuaded to reconsider if he stays hot. It’s funny how perspective changes when you take the lead! In addition to An, two-man gamers should look at Marc Leishman, Patrick Cantlay, Bud Cauley and Steve Stricker. If you’re thinking about Stricker for the John Deere Classic, he’s going to be facing a tough decision since the Constellation SENIOR PLAYERS Championship will be contested the same week (July 13-16). It’s the fourth of five majors on the PGA TOUR Champions. It already wouldn’t be unprecedented for him to choose the PGA TOUR over a major on the 50-and-over circuit. It was just last week when he placed T7 at Colonial instead of trying his luck at the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship. FUTURE POSSIBILITIES NOTE: Select golfers committed to the tournament are listed alphabetically. Future tournaments are sorted chronologically and reflect previous success on the courses on which the tournaments will be held in 2016-17. All are pending golfer commitment. Keegan Bradley … Memorial; WGC-Bridgestone; Dell Technologies Kevin Chappell … Dell Technologies Jason Day … U.S. Open; Canadian; WGC-Bridgestone; PGA Championship; Dell Technologies; TOUR Championship Luke Donald … Wyndham; TOUR Championship Jason Dufner … U.S. Open; TOUR Championship Tony Finau … Memorial Rickie Fowler … WGC-Bridgestone Jim Furyk … Memorial; U.S. Open; Canadian; WGC-Bridgestone; TOUR Championship Bill Haas … Wyndham Charley Hoffman … Travelers; Canadian Billy Horschel … St. Jude; TOUR Championship Dustin Johnson … Memorial; St. Jude; U.S. Open (defending); Canadian; TOUR Championship Zach Johnson … John Deere; Open Championship; WGC-Bridgestone; TOUR Championship Kevin Kisner … Wyndham Russell Knox … Travelers (defending); Dell Technologies Brooks Koepka … St. Jude; U.S. Open; PGA Championship Matt Kuchar … Memorial; Canadian; WGC-Bridgestone Martin Laird … Barracuda Marc Leishman … Memorial; Travelers; Open Championship Hideki Matsuyama … Memorial; PGA Championship; BMW William McGirt … Memorial (defending); Wyndham Phil Mickelson … St. Jude; Open Championship; PGA Championship Ryan Moore … Travelers; John Deere (defending); TOUR Championship Scott Piercy … John Deere; BMW Patrick Reed … Wyndham; Dell Technologies Charl Schwartzel … Memorial; U.S. Open; Open Championship; WGC-Bridgestone Adam Scott … Memorial; U.S. Open; Open Championship; WGC-Bridgestone; Dell Technologies; TOUR Championship Webb Simpson … Greenbrier; Wyndham Jordan Spieth … John Deere; WGC-Bridgestone; PGA Championship; TOUR Championship Brendan Steele … Travelers; Barracuda (already eligible for concurrent WGC-Bridgestone) Kevin Streelman … Memorial Bubba Watson … Travelers; Greenbrier; WGC-Bridgestone; TOUR Championship Gary Woodland … Barracuda; PGA Championship; Dell Technologies; TOUR Championship

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In pursuit of his first PGA TOUR victory, 21-year-old Aaron Wise weathers a 4-hour rain delay, pulls away at the turn, and fires a final-round 65 to capture the AT&T Byron Nelson. Welcome to the Monday Finish, where Wise outplayed fellow 54-hole co-leader Marc Leishman to salt away a comfortable three-stroke victory at Trinity Forest, his audacious 23-under total making him the seventh first-time winner this season. FIVE OBSERVATIONS 1 With the 20-somethings already in command of the FedExCup (Justin Thomas), and having won the last four majors, Aaron Wise, 21, stamped himself for greatness. Not that we didn’t see him coming. He was the 2016 individual NCAA champion when he also helped his Oregon Ducks to the team title, and becomes just the second player, after Mackenzie Hughes, to win on the PGA TOUR after having won on the Web.com Tour and the Mackenzie Tour-PGA TOUR Canada. Now he has his sights set on being in the top 30 at season’s end. “I haven’t had time to reassess my goals, but moving up to 18 on the FedExCup is incredible,� Wise said. “Not many rookies have made it to the TOUR Championship.� That may be so, but last year rookie Xander Schauffele won it on the way to top rookie honors. A good omen for the latest AT&T Byron Nelson winner? 2 This was just the 26th start of Wise’s TOUR career, and he’s the first rookie to win the Byron since Keegan Bradley in 2011. Also, at 21 years, 10 months and 29 days old, he’s the youngest Byron winner since Tiger Woods (21 years, 4 months, 18 days) in 1997. Oh, and Wise is also the youngest winner on TOUR this season, and the youngest overall since Si Woo Kim (21 years, 10 months, 16 days) captured THE PLAYERS Championship a year ago. Only once on Sunday did Wise show his youthful inexperience. “Back nine,� he said, “my caddie kind of calmed me down. Like, ‘Dude, you got to focus on these shots, we’ve got some big shots coming up. We’ll finish before dark, don’t worry about that.’ Kind of calmed me back down.� The details on Wise’s rapid rise: He has played eight straight rounds under par, finishing T2 and first at the Wells Fargo Championship and AT&T Byron Nelson, respectively, to rack up 745 FedExCup points and jump from 105th to 18th in the standings. He’s also up to 66th in the Official World Golf Ranking. The top 60 after the FedEx St. Jude Classic get into the U.S. Open. 3 Runner-up Marc Leishman notched his sixth top-10 finish and his second runner-up (P2, THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES) this season, but after an opening-round 61 he was hoping for more. Culprit: the putter. “He hit the ball incredible,� Wise said. “I knew he would have a ton of looks. He did. Unfortunately, he didn’t make all the putts and I was able to edge him out.� Leishman, who jumped from 33rd to 14th in the FedExCup, led the field in Strokes Gained: Putting for the week (+2.226) but struggled, relatively speaking, on Sunday (.085). 4 With Trinity Forest all but defenseless, several players enjoyed career-low performances. Keith Mitchell (T3) shot a career-low, 8-under 63 in the final round. J.J. Spaun (T3) also shot 63 and came one shot shy of tying his career-low round on TOUR (8-under 62, R3, 2017 RSM Classic). Not to be outdone, Branden Grace (T3) fired a final-round 62 to match his career low and the lowest-ever round in a major, which he shot at The Open Championship last summer. “Feels like a breath of fresh air coming to something different,� Grace said of first-year Byron host Trinity Forest. “Really is nice. I really enjoyed the golf course, I enjoyed how it played.� 5 Despite the low scores, Trinity Forest’s big greens could be vexing. Adam Scott (65, T9), who moved up to 61st in the world and barely missed automatically qualifying for the upcoming U.S. Open (top 60 on May 21 and June 11), said he had trouble reading the breaks. Ditto for Jordan Spieth, who is a Trinity member but still didn’t make much while finishing T21 at the Byron. Both now head to one of their favorite TOUR stops in the Fort Worth Invitational. Scott won the tournament in 2014, while Spieth, a runner-up in 2015 and 2017, won it in 2016. “I don’t struggle reading the greens at Colonial,� Spieth said. FIVE INSIGHTS 1 Wise hit the longest drive of the week, a 402-yard blast at the ninth hole Saturday, ranked first in Greens in Regulation (91.67 percent), and recorded the highest GIR percentage by a winner on TOUR since 1997. He is the first this season, and the first since Dustin Johnson last year (THE NORTHERN TRUST), to rank either first or second in both Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee (Wise was second) and Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green (first) en route to victory. 2 Five players have a win and a runner-up in consecutive starts this season: Wise; Justin Thomas (won The Honda Classic, P2 at World Golf Championship-Mexico Championship); Jason Day (won Farmers Insurance Open, T2 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am); Jon Rahm (2nd Sentry Tournament of Champions, won CareerBuilder Challenge); and Dustin Johnson (T2 WGC-HSBC Champions, won Sentry Tournament of Champions). Wise, 56th in the FedExCup, is the only one of the five players who is not currently in the top 10 in the standings. 3 With the wind mostly down, Trinity Forest was a pushover. There were 12 bogey-free rounds Sunday, with the course softened by rain, and Branden Grace shot 62 on his 30th birthday. Wise’s 23-under total was the third-lowest total in relation to par this season, behind only the CIMB Classic and Sentry Tournament of Champions, where 24-under won. 4 Wise moved up a healthy 38 spots to 18th in the FedExCup, but was outdone, in a way, by Parker McLachlin. His T26 finish at Trinity moved him from 242nd to 203rd, up 39 spots. 5 Only one player, Jimmy Walker, recorded top-10 finishes at both the AT&T Byron Nelson (T6) and the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am (T8). Walker, who was coming off a T2 at THE PLAYERS, is clearly back from his Lyme Disease, and he’s dialed in. 

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