Winged Foot in talks with the USGA about becoming part of a future U.S. Open rotation

In the final round of the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama birdies the last three holes for a sizzling 61 and a dominant five-stroke victory over runner-up Zach Johnson. Meanwhile, Chris Stroud racks up 20 points in the final round to cop his first PGA TOUR win at the Stableford-scoring Barracuda Championship. Welcome to the Monday Finish, where Matsuyama, 25, ties the course record at Firestone South for his third win this season; and Stroud, 35, collects his first TOUR win in 290 starts. FIVE OBSERVATIONS 1. Matsuyama is on the way to becoming Japan’s first truly global star. Nine countries were represented in the top 12 on the Bridgestone leaderboard, but Matsuyama’s clubs spoke loudest and Japan was on top. After starting the day three shots back, he made eagle at the par-5 second hole and kept going from there, hitting the afterburners to assure his third win this season and fifth overall in the 100th TOUR start of his career. He extended his lead as the Japanese player with the most wins on TOUR, a record he already held over Shigeki Maruyama (three). 2. The FedExCup may require math, but Matsuyama knows all too well that it requires something else, too: at least one more trophy. “In order to win the FedExCup, you have to win one of the playoff tournaments,â€� said Matsuyama, who moved from third to first in the FedExCup points standings with the victory in Ohio. “And hopefully I can do that and keep the momentum going.â€� It would be tough to have any more momentum than he currently has; his 61 marked the best final-round performance by a winner in the history of the WGCs—by three shots. 3. Although there have now been 25 wins (in 39 events) by a player in his 20s on TOUR this season, Rory McIlroy, 28, has accounted for none of them. Still, McIlroy, who tied for fifth, did not sound terribly despondent after notching his sixth top-10 this season. “I thought I saw some improvements in my game from when I got here on Wednesday,â€� he said. “Thought my wedge play got a little bit better as the week went on. Putted pretty well, even when I missed putts out there, they were scaring the hole, so that was good. Drove the ball well.â€� Yeah, you could say that. McIlroy hit 52 of 56 tee shots over 300 yards and led the field in driving distance (343.9). The reigning FedExCup champion moved up 10 spots in the standings to 43rd; is playing one of his favorite courses in Quail Hollow at the PGA Championship this week; and knows there’s still plenty of time to find his A game as he breaks in a new caddie. 4. Chris Stroud’s father was right. Stroud got a call from Dad saying the Barracuda’s Stableford format—two points for birdies; minus one for bogeys—might reward him for all the birdies he’d been making. It did. Stroud, who returned to his counter-balanced long putter, racked up 20 points in a wild final round that included nine birdies, an eagle and three bogeys. He not only got that elusive first win after prevailing in a three-man playoff, he earned a spot in this week’s PGA and, more importantly, collected 300 FedExCup points to move up to 76th in the standings. “Huge,â€� Stroud said of his big move. “I think coming into this week I was sitting at 142. And we’re all nervous coming in, because we know getting the top 125 is huge.â€� 5. Rookie Richy Werenski, 25, was disappointed after failing to secure his TOUR card for next season. Still, he was encouraged to make it all the way into a sudden-death playoff despite not having his best stuff. What’s more, he moved to 122nd in the FedExCup, so at least he’s inside the cutoff line with just two weeks remaining before the first playoff event, THE NORTHERN TRUST at Glen Oaks Club in Old Westbury, N.Y., Aug. 24-27. “Lately I feel like I’m playing pretty good,â€� said Werenski, a Massachusetts native who went to Georgia Tech. “It’s only a matter of time I’m back in this position.â€� FIVE INSIGHTS 1. Matsuyama ranked first in strokes gained: tee-to-green in the final round, with a career-best 6.582. It was also the best final-round performance by a winner on TOUR this season, besting Kevin Chappell at the Valero Texas Open (6.355), Jason Dufner at the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide (5.659), and Jon Rahm at the Farmers Insurance Open (5.168). 2. While he was dominant from tee to green, Matsuyama also made massive strides in his putting. Year to date, he is just 167th in Strokes Gained: Putting (-.306) and 194th in putts made from outside 10 feet (46/375, 12.27%). At the Bridgestone, though, he ranked a much-improved 15th in SG: Putting (.759) and T16 in putting from over 10 feet (9/42, 21.43%). 3. With his runner-up finish, Zach Johnson moved up from 40th to 28th on the U.S. Presidents Cup points list. That’s still a far cry from the top 10, but he’s got the putter rolling again. He was first in SG: Putting (2.258) and third in putting from outside 10 feet (13/46, 28.26 %) at Firestone. 4. Charley Hoffman (third place, six back), who fired a final-round 66 at Firestone, has broken par in 22 of his last 24 rounds dating to the first round of the U.S. Open. He was third in sg: putting (1.617) at the Bridgestone, and moved from 12th to 11th in the FedExCup. He is one of just three players to get at least as far as the BMW Championship for all 10 years of the playoffs. 5. Thomas Pieters (71, solo fourth, eight back) notched his fourth top-five finish in 16 starts this season. As a Special Temporary Member, he is eligible for unlimited sponsor exemptions the rest of the season as he tries to earn his TOUR card for 2017-’18. He was T3 in greens in regulation (72.22%) and fourth in proximity to the hole (26’ 11’’) at the Bridgestone. TOP 3 VIDEOS 1. Charley Hoffman is on TOUR to win and he let us know on Sunday. 2. David Hearn hit a gem of a tee shot in Sunday’s final round of the Barracuda Championship. 3. Poetry in motion.

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KAPALUA, Hawaii — Ryan Palmer went through a range of emotions over the final 15 minutes Saturday that ended with him posting a 9-under 64 for the best round of the week and a share of the lead with Harris English in the Sentry Tournament of Champions. RELATED: Leaderboard | Bold predictions for 2021 Palmer thought he might have been in trouble with a thin fairway metal approaching the green on the par-5 18th. It narrowly cleared native grass left of the green and rolled out to 12 feet, and he two-putted for birdie. His score stood when rules officials determined there was no intent, and no penalty, when he tamped down a divot a few paces away from where his golf ball was rolling after a muffed chip on the ninth hole. English wasn’t so fortunate with his second shot to the 18th. He was left and came up some 15 feet short of clearing the hazard. His only good break was that a marshal somehow spotted it. Instead of a third shot from 200-plus yards away, he hacked out to 80 feet away and took two tough putts for par and a 66. They were tied at 21-under 198, one shot ahead of Collin Morikawa, who also flirted with trouble on the closing hole at the Plantation, finished with a birdie and shot 65. Until the final hole, the third round at Kapalua was all about making birdies to keep from losing ground. Scoring has been exceptionally low, not just by one player but several of them, because of a soft course and little wind. The top three began to pull away. Daniel Berger, playing in the final group with English, had a long eagle putt hang on the lip at the 18th and had to settle for birdie and a 67 that left him three shots behind, still in the mix. Defending champion Justin Thomas finally hit a shot he couldn’t find. Three times this week, he hit it into knee-high native grass and managed to locate the ball and twice saved par. He wasn’t so lucky on the sixth hole, sending it well right and into a deep gorge for a double bogey. Thomas recovered for a 68 and was four back, along with Sungjae Im (67). FedExCup and Masters champion Dustin Johnson was doing his best to keep pace until his drive on the par-5 15th sailed too far right and into the hazard, leading to a bogey that felt even worse considering it’s a par 5 he can reach in two with an iron. He missed birdie chances coming in and shot 69, seven shots out of the lead. Xander Schauffele two years ago shot a 62 on the final day to rally from five behind, and such a score is possible in these ideal conditions. But there’s a lot of players to climb, and English hasn’t shown any signs of backing off as he goes for his first victory in just over seven years. Palmer has gone even longer — 11 years since his last individual title on the PGA TOUR — and played his best on Saturday. His only big miscue was on the par-5 ninth when he put his second shot in rough left of the green and used the wrong club for a pitch that came up short and rolled down the slope back into the fairway. He knew where it was headed and began walking, and stepped down a divot a few paces short of where the ball was rolling. That was the violation that led to disqualification for Camilo Villegas from this tournament 10 years ago on the 15th hole. Palmer met with the rules staff and was cleared because there was no intent to improve his lie. Palmer said when he watched the video, he wasn’t sure what concerned officials. He later added the ball was 5 feet away and “not even close to where I was at.” So his score was upheld and he now is part of a two-way tie for the lead, a final group between two players who are trying to end a drought at a tournament they are fortunate to be playing. The field for the Sentry Tournament of Champions was expanded this year for 2020 winners and anyone who reached the TOUR Championship, all because of the COVID-19 pandemic that shut the TOUR down for three months. Both Palmer and English made it to East Lake. Both would like to make their next victory one that assures them a return to Maui. Right behind them is the PGA champion, Morikawa, going for his third victory in his last 14 tournaments worldwide.

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HOW THEY QUALIFIED Winners of the Arnold Palmer Inv. & the Memorial (Last 3 Years) Matt Every William McGirt Tournament Winner in Past Two Seasons Aaron Baddeley Greg Chalmers Fabián Gómez Cody Gribble Billy Hurley III Smylie Kaufman Chris Kirk Peter Malnati Brian Stuard Vaughn Taylor Career Money Exemption Retief Goosen Sponsors Exemptions – Web.com Tour Finals Taylor Moore Nicholas Thompson Sponsors Exemptions – Members not otherwise exempt John Rollins Heath Slocum Sponsors Exemptions – Unrestricted Derek Bard Ross Bell Sam Burns Wyndham Clark Spencer Levin Dru Love Jimmy Stanger Ben Wolcott PGA Section Champion\Player of the Year Phil Schmitt Past Champion of Respective Event Scott Stallings Life Member Davis Love III Top 125 on Prior Season’s FedExCup Points List Jason Kokrak Kevin Streelman J.J. Spaun Patton Kizzire Luke Donald Richy Werenski Ryan Blaum Robert Garrigus Brian Gay Brandon Hagy Derek Fathauer Tyrone Van Aswegen Harris English John Huh Blayne Barber Ben Martin J.J. Henry Leading Money Winner from Web.com Tour & Web.com Tour Finals Chesson Hadley Top 50 & Ties Web.com Tour Finals from Prior Year Brice Garnett Andrew Landry Jonathan Byrd Abraham Ancer Nicholas Lindheim Sam Ryder Rob Oppenheim Ted Potter, Jr. Ryan Armour Stephan Jaeger Talor Gooch Shawn Stefani Andrew Putnam Jonathan Randolph Ben Silverman Bronson Burgoon Austin Cook Keith Mitchell Nate Lashley Tyler Duncan Kyle Thompson Denny McCarthy Adam Schenk Troy Merritt Matt Atkins Tom Lovelady Conrad Shindler Martin Piller Andrew Yun Alex Cejka Lanto Griffin Matt Jones Aaron Wise Cameron Tringale Brett Stegmaier Ethan Tracy Corey Conners Steve Wheatcroft Brandon Harkins Roberto Díaz Tom Hoge Beau Hossler Joel Dahmen Seamus Power Top Finishers from Web.com Tour Medical Brian Davis 126-150 on Prior Season’s FEC Points List Zac Blair David Hearn Daniel Summerhays J.T. Poston Trey Mullinax Ricky Barnes Johnson Wagner Cameron Percy Ben Crane Rick Lamb Beyond 150th on Prior Season’s FEC Points List Hunter Mahan Jason Gore Stuart Appleby Ken Duke Ã�ngel Cabrera Dicky Pride Jason Bohn Carl Pettersson Mark Wilson Eric Axley John Merrick Derek Ernst Robert Allenby Y.E. Yang Charlie Wi Brendon de Jonge Craig Barlow Arjun Atwal Tommy Gainey Daniel Chopra Richard S Johnson Tim Herron Steven Bowditch D.J. Trahan Mark Hensby Omar Uresti Brendon Todd

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