Xander Schauffele grabs lead at Sentry Tournament of Champions

LA QUINTA, Calif. — Maverick McNealy and course management coach Scott Fawcett have a system in place where the recent Stanford University graduate grades his thought process and pre-routine over the course of a round using either a one or zero. If McNealy is consistent and focused, with no distractions before or after the shot, he gives himself a one. A zero is given when he misses the mark. The system sounds simple, but it’s a way to keep McNealy engaged over the course of a round. On Friday, McNealy logged his best score on the Jack Nicklaus Tournament Course at PGA West. “I gave myself one zero, and that was on 6th hole where I should’ve stepped off from a wedge [shot],” McNealy said. “I know these rounds are really important and I really want to play well, but I’m just really trying to make a one.” It shouldn’t come as a surprise that McNealy’s near-spotless course management score coincided with a second straight sub-70 round at the CareerBuilder Challenge. McNealy’s 68 has him within six shots of the lead at 10 under and, more importantly, another step closer to making his second TOUR cut since turning professional last October at the Safeway Open. With playing privileges locked up for the first 12 Web.com Tour events of the season — via a T-10 at the final stage of Web.com Tour Qualifying — McNealy has set his sights on making the most of his three remaining sponsor’s exemptions on the PGA TOUR at the CareerBuilder Challenge, Farmers Insurance Open and AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. (He’ll also try to Monday qualify for the Waste Management Phoenix Open.) In a perfect world, McNealy would earn enough FedExCup points to bypass playing the Web.com Tour altogether. It’s something he admitted is in the back of his mind this week. But instead of dwelling on the what-ifs, McNealy is using it as motivation to stay committed to each shot. “I know it’s really important,” McNealy said of the next three tournaments, “but then again, knowing that gives that much more focus on each individual shot to make every single one of them count.” McNealy looked comfortable on the Nicklaus Tournament Course, opening with four birdies in his first seven holes while playing alongside 18-year-old phenom Charlie Reiter, who also earned a sponsor’s exemption into the tournament. The last nine holes produced a few mistakes, including a tee shot on the par-3 8th that found the water hazard, but McNealy kept the mistakes to a minimum, getting up-and-down from the drop area to save bogey. McNealy noted his comfort level with the course came from playing a college tournament on Nicklaus during his time at Stanford. He went on to win the event and used nine birdies during the final round to close with an 8-under 64 for medalist honors. “Really good comfort level out here,” said McNealy. “It’s playing pretty similar to how it did during the tournament in college. Honestly, I’d say we saw two-thirds of today’s pin positions during that tournament, so it was good prep.” McNealy attributed his strong play this week to a rigorous practice regiment he put in place during the offseason that saw him put on 5-6 pounds of lean muscle through a daily routine consisting of 36 holes and a trip to the gym. “I told [my caddie Travis McAlister] the next time I saw him, I was going to have better balance and rhythm with my swing, which came about from that strength,” McNealy said. “I told him I was going to work really hard and have a better short game and wedge play.” McNealy also worked on various aspects of his game — iron trajectory and pace putting — and said he was already seeing it pay dividends on the course. “It all started to click during the final stage of Q School and I’ve started to see everything pay off,” McNealy said. “I’m really happy it’s carried through this week.”

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KAPALUA, Hawaii – Rory McIlroy sat back in the chair, took a deep breath, and smiled when asked. He smiled because he recognized a chance to give public credit to some special people in his life. His parents. The 14-time PGA TOUR winner was giving a press conference for his first appearance at this week’s Sentry Tournament of Champions and the question about who he felt was the foundation of his success was a welcome one. Now almost 30, McIlroy has found a greater appreciation for the sacrifices his parents Gerry and Rosie provided for him. “I couldn’t single out one over the other, because my dad worked three jobs at one time and my mom worked night shifts and so they made a lot of sacrifices,â€� McIlroy praised. “All their extra money and time off was put into me to go and play golf tournaments.â€� It’s true. Gerry split time between cleaning and bar work. Rosie would work nights at a factory. It allowed young Rory to follow his passion for golf. It set the base that would lead to a FedExCup title and four majors to this point. It is a theme you can find all over the PGA TOUR. The trip to greatness is not a solo one. It takes help. It takes belief from others. For Jason Day, a joint course record holder at the Plantation Course in Kapalua, the reflection was to his mother, his wife, his agent and his coach. Without these people on his journey Day says he would never have made it to the PGA TOUR. “Everyone on the PGA TOUR has someone or some people who have put us first on multiple occasions,â€� Day says. “While we work hard and sacrifice our time to practice and get in shape it is those behind the scenes who keep things running smoothly. “It started with my mum, then Colin Swatton came into my life as a coach and father figure, then my agent Bud and my wife Ellie … they all do more than I can ever thank them for. They’ve always done right by me. It allows me to be the best golfer I can be.â€� Up and coming star Cameron Champ threw praise on his family, particularly his grandfather, and also renowned coach Sean Foley for taking a chance on a kid with raw talent but little means. Champ is at the beginning of his PGA TOUR journey. He is acutely aware of the assistance needed from others for him to be living out this dream. Foley, who has coached Tiger Woods among others over the years, was happy to take him on board. People would pay huge money for his instruction. Champ obviously could not do so at the time coming from a humble background. “I met Sean at about 15. He was generous enough to teach me even though means was tough for us,â€� Champ says. “And the connection, the relationship, has gone from there until now which has been amazing.â€� The 23-year-old is already a PGA TOUR winner and touted as the next big thing, something that may or may not have happened as quickly without this foundation. Golf Channel analyst Mark Rolfing, who forged his own golf career in the 1970s before becoming a long-time Maui resident and member of the Kapalua golf family, believes these foundations are critical for not only professional athletes, but for all of us. He has seen the cultural idea of Ohana work on the Hawaiian islands for decades – one based on a wider community or “familyâ€� where everyone works together and supports each other. And he is very keen to push the idea onto the general population. “Part of living on Maui and the whole Ohana aspect of what we do has permeated into my soul and I take it everywhere I go around the world with me,â€� Rolfing explains. “It’s maybe easier for me because I’m constantly reminded about how important people were to me and how I had so many people do right by me. “But the average person has just as many people in their lives provide this foundation. People who share advice. People who unselfishly donate time to help others. “It would be good if every person could stop every once in a while and reflect who has been right by them and reflect on who got them to where they are.â€� This is something McIlroy for one can certainly agree on. He admitted it took time for him to truly appreciate what his parents have done for him and continue to do to help him be the person he is. “I didn’t truly realize until maybe when I was out of my teenage years, when I was on my own two feet, and I realized that my childhood wasn’t the norm and that’s not what a lot of parents do for their kids,â€� McIlroy said. “And so it took me a while to realize just the sacrifice and the hard work that they put in to just give me a chance to do what I do. “I always said I can never repay them for what they have done for me … just make sure they’re happy and comfortable for the rest of their days.â€�

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2022 Bermuda Championship, Round 1 (Suspended Overnight) Scoring Conditions: Overall: +1.61 strokes per round Morning wave: +3.1 Afternoon wave: +0.13 Current cutline (top 65 and ties): 73 players at +2 or better (T63) Top 3 projected cutline probabilities: 1. 2 over par: 41.5% 2. 1 over par: 25.1% 3. 3 over par: 23.3% Top 10 win probabilities: 1. Chad Ramey (T1, -6, 16.8%) 2. Seamus Power (T4, -4, 9.1%) 3. Brandon Hagy (T1, -6, 7.1%) 4. Vincent Whaley (3, -5, 6.8%) 5. Patrick Reed (T10, -3, 5.8%) 6. Kiradech Aphibarnrat (T4, -4, 4.1%) 7. Patrick Rodgers (T10, -3, 3.3%) 8. Greyson Sigg (T10, -3, 3.3%) 9. Matthew Fitzpatrick (T34, E, 3.2%) 10. Danny Lee (T4, -4, 2.9%) NOTE: These reports are based off of the live predictive model run by @DataGolf. The model provides live “Make Cut”, “Top 20”, “Top 5”, and “Win” probabilities every 5 minutes from the opening tee shot to the final putt of every PGA TOUR event. Briefly, the model takes account of the current form of each golfer as well as the difficulty of their remaining holes, and probabilities are calculated from 20K simulations. To follow live finish probabilities throughout the remainder of the Butterfield Bermuda Championship, or to see how each golfer’s probabilities have evolved from the start of the event to the current time, click here for the model’s home page.

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