Winner’s Bag: Brendan Steele, Safeway Open

SYDNEY – Rory McIlroy was heading toward the end of 2013 feeling pretty ordinary after a winless year. Jordan Spieth was doing the same in 2014. And now Jason Day, who started 2017 as No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking but now sits 12th on the global list, is heading into the holiday season without a new trophy to admire. On each occasion, the criticism had started. The questions about what was wrong with them had well and truly begun. We hold our superstars to a high standard you see. Under pressure, McIlroy headed to Sydney in his off-season to play the Australian Open and ultimately won it by taking down a red-hot Adam Scott on Sunday. Scott had won the Masters at Augusta that season and was coming off wins at the Australian Masters and Australian PGA Championship in earlier weeks. But McIlroy came over the top of the national hero on Sunday and ultimately went on to dominate in 2014, winning The Open Championship, the PGA Championship, the World Golf Championships–Bridgestone Invitational and the BMW PGA Championship on the European Tour. He was PGA TOUR Player of the Year and laid some credit on his Australian win for the resurgence. “I did take a lot from that victory,â€� McIlroy said as he lined up for his title defense in Sydney in 2014. “It was my one and only victory of 2013 but it ended the year for me on a high and gave me momentum going into 2014.â€� But that week in Sydney wouldn’t go the same way for McIlroy. Instead, it was Spieth’s turn. The Texan shot a still much talked about 8-under 63 in brutal winds on Sunday to bury the demons he was facing for not being able to close out multiple chances to win on the PGA TOUR that year. The following season, just like McIlroy, he would win two majors and be Player of the Year. Spieth actually won five times and claimed the FedExCup in a sensational season. “The Australian Open may have been the most important tournament that I’ve ever played in because at the time, it had been maybe a year and a half since winning the John Deere in that playoff where I kind of squeaked in, luckily,â€� Spieth said. “Going there to an elite field with the world No. 1 player (McIlroy at the time) and obviously with the local favorite Adam (Scott) and with a venue like The Australian, to put myself in a position and just have a level of patience that I had not had when I was in contention prior to that was important.â€� So now, it is Day’s turn. After a year to forget that has seen his standing in the OWGR slide quickly, the now 30-year-old has a chance for his first win since THE PLAYERS Championship 2016. Through two rounds at The Australian Golf Club the 10-time PGA TOUR winner Day sits at 8-under and just one shot behind 21-year-old leader Lucas Herbert. Cameron Davis, a 22-year-old, is a shot back at 7-under with Anthony Quayle, at 23 at 6-under. Clearly Day is the favorite with two rounds to go with TOUR winners Cameron Smith and Matt Jones five off the lead and Spieth eight shots adrift. The chance to create a springboard to a comeback season has not been lost on him. “I haven’t won this year. But this would be a nice little end of the year cap, just to know that it wasn’t such a disappointing year,â€� Day said. “This is a huge kind of confidence builder for me this week and if I can somehow pull the win off, that would be great. “A win is a win, regardless of where you are, where you play. To have the Stonehaven Cup on the mantel would be great. It would be a good kick start going to next year’s season, back on the PGA TOUR. “I just know how Jordan’s done from having the confidence coming from this event and going forward and winning two majors the year after and having a lot of confidence going to the start of the year.â€� Speaking of Spieth, Day won’t rest despite the healthy gap between the pair. While those closest to Day have merely fractions of experience in winning big events, Spieth is still a factor. “If he gets something going on the weekend he can hole a lot of putts and make a lot of birdies and make a charge, and usually he does make a charge on the weekend,â€� Day said. “Seven strokes is obviously not enough but I’d like to keep pushing forward and hopefully I don’t see him in my rear view mirror at all.â€� If Day does surge ahead this weekend, be sure to remember it when picking your 2018 major winners.

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KAPALUA, Hawaii — Winless last year for the first time in his young career, Collin Morikawa is playing as though he wants to put that behind him quickly. Morikawa was dialed in with his irons early and took advantage of some of the scoring holes late in his second round Friday for a 7-under 66 that gave him a two-shot lead in the Sentry Tournament of Champions. He was at 16-under 130 and without a bogey over two rounds on the Plantation Course at Kapalua. Masters champion Scottie Scheffler had a good laugh on the first tee with U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick and then ran off nine birdies in his round of 66, leaving him two shots behind along with Kapalua newcomer J.J. Spaun (68). Scheffler can return to No. 1 in the world this week with a two-way tie for third at better, with Rory McIlroy choosing to sit out this week. Jordan Spieth had two eagles — one a 7-iron that came inches away from an albatross on the par-5 fifth hole — and had a 66. He was three shots behind. Morikawa ordinarily wouldn’t be at Kapalua for the winners-only start to the year. But in this new year of trying to bring together the top players more often, the PGA TOUR expanded the field from exclusively winners in 2022 to include those who reached the FedExCup finale at East Lake. Morikawa shared the 18-hole lead by running off six straight birdies to start the back nine. On a gorgeous Friday afternoon on Maui with a little more wind, he did most of his damage early. It started with a 20-foot birdie putt on the opening hole, followed by short irons to 3 feet and 8 feet. From there, everyone else did well to keep pace. Scheffler was introduced on the first tee with a mention of all four of his wins last year, from the Waste Management Phoenix Open to the Masters. Next up was Fitzpatrick, who beat Scheffler by one shot at Brookline. He was introduced as the U.S. Open champion. “You don’t have that one,” Fitzpatrick said as they laughed. Scoring remained low enough that only two players were over par — Billy Horschel (71) and Chad Ramey (76) were 2 over. Morikawa had a chance to tie the 36-hole scoring record that Cameron Smith set last year at 17-under 129. He was just off the front of the 18th green when he muffed his chip and saw it run out to only 30 feet, and his long birdie putt banged off the lip. No matter. He was still in the lead, his first time with at least a share of the 36-hole lead since the U.S. Open last summer. Missing from Kapalua is Xander Schauffele, the No. 6 player in the world who withdraw after eight holes because of an ailing back. Schauffele said he was headed home to Las Vegas to figure out what’s going on.

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If it feels like it’s a treat to able to lean on course history as a tool, you’re right. Of the most recent eight completed tournaments, only the Charles Schwab Challenge and the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday were contested on courses with enough reasonable history to apply to our decisions. This week’s Travelers Championship has been at TPC River Highlands for decades. That kind of bank of data not only can weed out a few talents, it serves as entry-level intel for rookies among us. That said, when scanning over your considerations in PGA TOUR Pick ‘Em Live, historical record is but one component to the madness, er, responsibly generated preview material. Yeah, that’s it. In addition to combing through our stand-alone content for the Travelers, Rob and Glass have zeroed in on opening selections for PGA TOUR Pick ‘Em Live below. Naturally, they’ve used said stand-alone content because, well, they reviewed the data, analyzed it and compiled it for the purposes of all. Here’s your chance to use it against them if you don’t scale into the top five as well. Register for PGA TOUR Pick ‘Em Live here and monitor Rob’s and Glass’ progress as Influencers. For a broader explanation of the format and FAQs, click here. TOURNAMENT TO WIN Glass … Mackenzie Hughes (+12500) Trending nicely, yet quietly, with T24-T28-T37 in his last three. He’ll enjoy the “break” this week as the three above were The Country Club, St George’s and Muirfield Village. The Canadian is 5-for-5 here and opened with 60 en route to T3 in 2020. Rob … Beau Hossler (+10000) Glass has owned me for three weeks, but his mini-reign of terror, er, terrific form ends now. Beau knows. One of the most popular questions posed to me this week was how Hossler could start as fifth alternate despite slotting 56th in the FedExCup. If you, too, are curious, understand that only invitationals use in-season FedExCup standings to fill fields. It’s how he got into THE PLAYERS, Schwab and Memorial. However, opens like the Travelers use the season-opening Priority Ranking in which he’s way down in Category 32 on conditional status. The category reorders but he can’t be promoted from it without a victory. Although the 27-year-old never has won on the PGA TOUR, he’s going to be a popular pick to do just that at TPC River Highlands. It’s the site of one of his pair of runner-up finishes (2018) and he finished T10 last year. He’s a phenomenal putter who will need to sharpen his tee-to-green game to elbow for position come Sunday, which is when the real fun begins. In 11 final rounds this season, he’s broken par just twice – neither for a sub-70 – and ranks 202nd in final-round scoring average.. TOP 10 Rob … Kevin Streelman (+900) Because this window unlocks every night, I’m comfortable in reaching, but is it, really? Streels famously walked off the win here with seven straight birdies in 2014. It’s one of five top 10s in 14 consecutive trips, the last a solo second in 2020. In this week’s edition of “PGA TOUR: The CUT,” he reiterated his affinity for TPC River Highlands, the tournament and the community, and that’s plenty good for me. Glass … Brendan Steele (+500) No point overlooking the intersection of form meeting course history! Steele has found another gear after a dreadful winter. It’s six straight cuts made on his own ball with a T9 at Southern Hills and a T10 at Memorial in his last two. His eight paydays from 11 starts at TPC River Highlands are T25 or better. DNS at The Country Club, so he should be fresh as well. TOP 20 Glass … Hank Lebioda (+750) I was lined up early last weekend for changes and they worked out quite well. Something about early birds and worms! Taking chances in this format is what makes the action round to round enjoyable, so try to take advantage. The lefty has found a bit of form lately and his best round of the spring was 66 to close in Canada last time out. He’s never MC here in three tries, and he cashed T5 last season, so let’s try and catch him on the up. If not, I’ll switch my horse. Rob … Tommy Fleetwood (+270) Unlike Glass, I can’t stay up late enough in Arizona for this window to open on weekends – I’ve tried! – so I need to cast aside that plan. The proper adjustment is to choke up and accept what the pitcher gives. In his only prior appearance, the Brit finished T13 in 2019 with a set of sub-70s, and he’s piled up the top 20s worldwide in 2022, eight to be exact. Since the kickback on this play doesn’t have as strong of an impact on other bets – even if Glass connect with Lebioda at +750 – easing off the throttle should contribute to the enjoyment. ROUND 1 LEADER Glass … Jason Day (+5000) Posted 62 here in Round 2 last year and 63 in Round 2 in 2019, so he’s got the LOW figured out. Now, just shift it into Round ONE and we have action. Well, we ALWAYS have action, and the Aussie is out at 7:15 am on No. 10. Not perfect but plenty of time to chase down whoever is leading if not him! Rob … Xander Schauffele (+3300) Not that we need incentive in PGA TOUR Pick ‘Em Live to circle an early starter, but rain overnight and into Thursday morning will present TPC River Highlands for target practice when the balls start flying. Because the nines are equal enough, I’m not partial to either side of the draw. I just want a guy who’s comfortable being aggressive in part because he’s done it here before. In three trips, Schauffele (7:35 a.m. ET) has scored 66, 67 and 63 in opening rounds of the Travelers. The tail of that trio was in 2020 when Mackenzie Hughes opened with 60. Hughes also co-led with an opening 64 in 2019. Jordan Spieth can match the multiple with at least a share of the R1 leads in 2017 and 2018, both times with 63. I’d have plucked either of those two, but both go out in the afternoon. So, they are Plans 1b and 1c. NOTE: While Glass and Rob typically stick with their selections as detailed in Pick ‘Em Preview, they are allowed the right to make changes at any time.

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