Woods’ Masters win named AP story of year

The Genesis Scottish Open makes its debut as a co-sanctioned event between the DP World Tour and PGA TOUR with a player field split between members of both Tours. The FedExCup’s top-ranked golfer Scottie Scheffler leads the way, while nine of the top-10 in the world are set to tee it up. FIELD NOTES: There will be 75 golfers from the PGA TOUR in the field, 75 from the DP World Tour, three from the KPGA, and three unrestricted sponsor exemptions… The 75 PGA TOUR players come from those who qualified for the 2021 TOUR Championship, sponsor exemptions, and the top available players from the FedExCup standings through the U.S. Open… Plenty of notables are teeing it up in Scotland including last season’s FedExCup winner Patrick Cantlay, recent winner Xander Schauffele, PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas, the current FedExCup leader Scottie Scheffler, and former world No.1 Jon Rahm… Matt Fitzpatrick, who lost in a playoff at the Scottish Open a year ago, will tee it up for the first time since his U.S. Open triumph… Min Woo Lee, who defeated Fitzpatrick and Thomas Detry in the three-way playoff in 2021, returns to defend… Nine of the top-10 ranked golfers in the world are set to play in Scotland… Rickie Fowler, who won this event in 2015, is one of the Sponsor Exemptions… Bob MacIntyre is the highest-ranked Scotsman who is teeing it up. He’s looking to become the first local to win the Scottish Open since Colin Montgomerie in 1999. FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 FedExCup points. COURSE: The Renaissance Club, par 71, 7,293 yards (yardage subject to change). Opened in 2007 in North Berwick, The Renaissance Club has already hosted lots of championship golf. This year will mark the fourth edition of the Scottish Open to be contested at the Tom Doak design. The course is located between North Berwick and Muirfield, both iconic Open Championship layouts. The course has a reputation as a tough driving layout. The average winning score has been 17 under. Each of the three previous editions of the Genesis Scottish Open contested at The Renaissance Club have gone into playoffs. STORYLINES: By field strength, the 2022 Genesis Scottish Open is set to be the strongest in DP World Tour history… Three spots are available for golfers not already qualified to earn their way into The Open Championship… This marks the first year that the Genesis Scottish Open is co-sanctioned between the PGA TOUR and DP World Tour. It’s one of three events with such a distinction. The Barbasol Championship, played opposite to the Scottish Open this week in Kentucky is one, while the Barracuda Championship (next week opposite The Open Championship), is the other. The three co-sanctioned events are just one example of the strengthened strategic alliance between the PGA TOUR and DP World Tour. 72-HOLE RECORD: 262, Bernd Wiesberger (2019) 18-HOLE RECORD: 61, Bernd Wiesberger (2nd round, 2019) LAST TIME: Min Woo Lee defeated Matt Fitzpatrick and Thomas Detry in a playoff with a birdie on the first extra hole to win for the second time on the DP World Tour. Lee, who fired a sizzling Sunday 64, topped a serious field that included Jon Rahm and Justin Thomas – who both finished in the top 10. There was a 90-minute weather delay late in the final round, but it didn’t quash Lee’s momentum, who had earlier birdied six holes in a row. The previous week’s DP World Tour winner, Lucas Herbert (he won the Irish Open) finished just one shot back of joining the playoff at 18 under. Lee and Detry earned spots in The Open Championship with their finishes along with England’s Jack Senior, who finished tied for 10th. HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Thursday-Friday, 8:30 a.m.-10:30 a.m. ET (Golf Channel – World Feed), 10:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. (Golf Channel). Saturday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-12 p.m. (Golf Channel), 12 p.m.-3 p.m. (CBS) For outside of the U.S., click here for GOLFTV powered by the PGA TOUR Radio: Thursday-Friday, 8 a.m.–1:30 p.m. ET. Saturday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio PGA TOUR Live (All times ET): PGA TOUR LIVE PGA TOUR Live is available exclusively on ESPN+ • Main Feed: primary tournament-coverage featuring the best action from across the course • Marquee Group: new “marquee group” showcasing every shot from each player in the group • Featured Groups: traditional PGA TOUR LIVE coverage of two concurrent featured groups • Featured Holes: a combination of par-3s and iconic or pivotal holes

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The PGA TOUR enters the second week of its holiday hiatus, but you won’t find any in the stacked field at this week’s Hero World Challenge easing off the throttle. After the pandemic canceled the 2020 edition of the annual stop at Albany in The Bahamas, an intimate gathering reconvenes with the same no-cut, stroke-play competition over 72 holes, purse of $3.5 million and full-field distribution of Official World Golf Ranking points. And, oh yeah, Tiger Woods remains the host. The only change pertains to the permanent increase in the size of the field. For details on that, how Albany played in 2019 and other nuggets, scroll past the projection for all 20 participants. For the first time in its 21-year history, a record 20 golfers will be chasing victory and its $1-million prize. Accommodations were ratified to add the winners of the most recent edition of THE PLAYERS Championship and a third sponsor exemption inside the top 50 of the OWGR on Sept. 6. They join winners of all majors since the previous edition of the Hero World Challenge, the other two sponsor exemptions and the defending champion. To fill the field, the OWGR on Sept. 6 was used in order of position. Albany is in its sixth consecutive edition as the host. It’s a par 72 with five par 3s and five par 5s. In its first five spins, it surrendered a scoring average south of 70 just once. That occurred in 2017 when the field of 18 landed at 70.333 and despite Rickie Fowler’s course-record 61 to seal a four-stroke victory. In 2019, the scoring average was 69.792. Henrik Stenson prevailed by at 18-under 270. He was the only golfer that week to sign for four rounds in the 60s. With sand, water and wind helping to defend scoring, course management and a plan of attack on the par 5s is the way to go on Albany, which stretches to 7,309 yards. Stenson played the par 5s in 4.60 with one eagle, eight birdies and nine pars against two bogeys. Considering only par breakers across the rest of the course’s 52 holes over four rounds, he circled another eagle (at the par-4 14th hole in the opening round) and 11 birdies. Therefore, he converted 42.86% of his 21 par breakers on 27.78 percent of the holes played. Moderate winds at worst are forecast, so the talented field will have its way with Albany once again. There’s a threat of passing showers on Saturday, but the bermudagrass greens should touch 12 feet on the Stimpmeter for which they’re prepped. What rough there is stands just an inch and a half. NOTE: PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf will resume with the Sentry Tournament of Champions on Jan. 6-9.

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TULSA, Okla. – Justin Thomas was in crisis mode earlier this week. His shots weren’t finding the sweet spot, he didn’t feel comfortable over the ball and he was unsure of the solution. Even his father, Mike, wasn’t exempt from his frustration. RELATED: The fabulous dad life of Mike Thomas | Tracing JT’s golfing roots “I have to remind him sometimes, you’re not my dad out here, you’re my swing coach, and I need you to tell me if something is wrong,” Justin said. “I don’t need my ego boosted. I’m here to try to win a golf tournament and play well.” Mike prefers to keep things simple and focus on the fundamentals. A couple days before the year’s second major wasn’t a time to break out the camera or experiment with theories. It was time to go back to the basics. Mike turned his son’s focus away from positions and told Justin to focus on one of his favorite parts of the game, his ability to shape the ball. In an analytical age, Mike wanted his son to engage his right brain. “He was like, well, let’s just start trying to hit some shots,” Justin said. Hitting it high and low, curving it both ways, through what Tiger Woods refers to as the nine windows (think every combination of height and shot shape). That did the trick. Shots started flying off the center of the clubface and Justin’s confidence returned. The high winds blowing across Southern Hills’ wide fairways gave him the opportunity to take his shot-shaping acumen from the range to the course. It showed on Thomas’ final hole Friday, a satisfying birdie that started with a low, slicing drive into the uphill fairway, followed by a wedge shot nestled below the hole on the severely-tilted green. His other birdie on his back nine came after a 6-iron from 217 yards that Thomas hit to 20 feet despite a strong crosswind. “Just being as windy as it was, it was a lot of manipulating and different shots,” said Thomas, who hit 16 greens Friday en route to his second consecutive 67. He’s made just one bogey in his last 27 holes and only three all week. He was by far the best performer among the half of the field that teed off late Thursday and early Friday, facing the day’s highest winds both days. He was three shots better than the next-best performer from that side of the draw, Matt Fitzpatrick. Only three other players broke par from that half of the field: Talor Gooch, Joaquin Niemann and Bernd Wiesberger, and they all were 1 under. Seeking his first major in five years, Thomas took a slightly different approach this week. He teed it up the week prior, playing the AT&T Byron Nelson in Dallas. That allowed him to make a quick scouting trip up to Southern Hills. “I loved it as soon as I saw it,” he said. Southern Hills’ renovation, which has drastically altered the appearance of this Perry Maxwell classic, has been one of the big storylines this week. The wide fairways give players room to work the ball, a skill that’s even more important in the conditions players have faced this week. The strong wind blows across most of the holes, requiring some sort of curvature to keep the ball from being blown off-target. Thomas is seeking his first win since another victory where his ballstriking skill was on display, last year’s PLAYERS Championship. He played low, hooking tee shots and towering long-irons during a weekend where he had full command of his swing. He hasn’t won since, but still ranks 15th in the FedExCup thanks to seven top-10s in 12 starts this season. That includes a fifth-place finish last week and a top-10 at the Masters after a disastrous first round where his inability to focus cost him an opportunity to command. He followed that 76 by playing the next three rounds in 5 under par, however. This time, Thomas kept fighting in the first round and didn’t let his chances at victory end before they began. Thomas already owns one PGA Championship, having won five years ago at Quail Hollow, but his major record since has been rather paltry. He only has four top-10s in majors since that win, and none better than a fourth-place finish at the 2020 Masters. “It’s golf, so it’s pretty hard sometimes,” he said Friday. “We’re halfway through so it’s still a long way from home, but I’m very, very pleased with where everything is at and the frame of mind and state of mind that I’m in.” He’s come a long way since the start of the week.

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