Xander Schauffele: I haven’t picked up a club since THE PLAYERS

Tiger Woods needs one more victory to move ahead of Sam Snead as the PGA TOUR’s all-time winningest player. Woods is among PGATOUR.COM’s top 30 players to watch entering 2020. Click here for more on all 30 players. Insider Insights PGATOUR.COM’s Insiders offer their expert views on what to expect from Tiger Woods in 2020. TOUR INSIDER by Cameron Morfit He turns 44 on Dec. 30 and says he can’t do anything physically that he used to, but Tiger still delivered three big wins in a span of 13 months. His fused back seems to be holding up, and left knee looked strong as ever in victory at inaugural ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP in Japan. Iron giant is +1.1 in Strokes Gained: Approach the Green in the ShotLink era, which is miles ahead of everyone else. (Jim Furyk is next at +0.7.) Uses guile (“I know how to playâ€�) to keep up with younger, longer players, which could prove formidable again in title defenses at the Masters and ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP. Still so good when healthy that virtually no one questioned him picking himself for Presidents Cup.  STATS INSIDER by Sean Martin Woods didn’t have enough rounds to qualify for 2019’s statistics, but his +0.65 average for Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green would have ranked in the top 10. Woods finished first in that statistic five times. He hit 69.67% of his greens last season, which would have tied Brooks Koepka for 11th in the rankings. FANTASY INSIDER by Rob Bolton As exhilarating and compelling as he remains, appearances at the Masters and in limited-field events present the best opportunities to invest in a weekly format. The days of salary leaguers splitting his season in halves or thirds are over, but so is the chasm that I used to cite in this space when he’d appear despite the absence of fantasy value. He’s now two seasons removed from the ceremonial nod.  EQUIPMENT INSIDER by Andrew Tursky In typical Woods fashion, he not only had the biggest story of 2019 with his win at the Masters, but he was also a part of probably the biggest equipment story of 2019, as well. Anytime Woods changes irons, it’s a big deal, but in 2019, he switched into all-new P-7TW prototype irons made by TaylorMade, and then TaylorMade released a limited supply of the irons to retail. Woods also switched into new TaylorMade Milled Grind 2 wedges late in 2019. Earlier in 2019, PGATOUR.COM was lucky enough to sit down with Woods for an in-depth conversation about his equipment. Here’s the full Q&A. STYLE INSIDER by Greg Monteforte Don’t expect many surprises from Tiger in the style department in 2020. He has settled into a style that works for him. His classic looks with an infusion of the latest technology from Nike suit him to a T. Tiger has been rocking the same kicks for a couple of years. Will this be the year Nike refreshes his shoe closet? BEYOND THE ROPES by Helen Ross One of the things that Woods enjoys away from the golf course is diving, particularly cave diving, and spear fishing. He has been certified as a master diver according the National Association of underwater instructors. He reportedly has learned to hold his breath underwater for four minutes. By The Numbers Strokes Gained rankings for Tiger Woods in the 2018-19 season.

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LA QUINTA, Calif. — When it comes to his thought process on the course, Jon Rahm likes to keep things simple. That means getting the yardage, wind direction and club selection from caddie Adam Hayes. Nothing more, nothing less.  Before Hayes was on the bag, Rahm went through the same pre-shot process with Tim Mickelson, his former head coach at Arizona State, who managed and caddied for the 23-year-old before taking over the bag full-time for brother Phil Mickelson.  “Because Tim was my coach at (Arizona State), I didn’t need much,” Rahm said of their pre-shot routine. “It was, ‘OK, it’s 120, this shot, right?’”  Asked what it’s like being privy to the player-caddie pre-shot conversations between the Mickelson brothers, Rahm, who played a practice round with Phil on Wednesday at the CareerBuilder Challenge, said they are on the opposite end of the spectrum.  “With Phil, it’s like, ‘Oh, this shot, the moisture, this is going on,’” Rahm said. “They’re talking about one mile per hour of wind sideways, it’s going to affect it 1 yard. This green is this, this trajectory. They’re thinking and I’m like, ‘I’m lost.’ ‘I’m like, God, if I do that thought process, I could not hit the golf shot.’” Of course, Mickelson’s extreme attention to detail doesn’t end with full shots. Rahm said it also extends to the putting green as well.  “He gets to the green and it’s the same thing,” Rahm said. “I’m like, ‘Oh, it’s a foot right?’ And he goes, ‘OK, it’s 1.8 degrees of slope here.’ And I’m listening and I’m like, ‘Man, I hope we’re never paired together for anything because I can’t think like this (laughs).’ I would not be able to play golf like that. “And then you hear me and Adam (Hayes) talk — 180, a little breeze into, OK, hard 6. And it’s just the extreme opposite.” Despite being polar opposites when it comes to the way they navigate the course, Rahm appreciates having the opportunity to glean as much as he can from the five-time major winner during their practice rounds.  “It’s just fun to hear it, to hear what he does,” Rahm said. “But I tried to learn as much as I can from that guy, I always like to try to pick his brain a little. Again, great guy to be out here with.”

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KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. – Brooks Koepka can barely bend down to get his ball from the hole. Phil Mickelson is battling father time before our eyes. While the 2012 PGA Championship at Kiawah was a celebration of youthful virtuosity (Rory McIlroy), the 2021 PGA has become a drama of the human condition. It’s about scar tissue both literal and figurative, and man’s animating quest to catch up to his younger self. RELATED: Full leaderboard | Final round: How to follow, tee times | Details on Mickelson’s new custom driver “I felt I had a very clear picture on every shot,” said two-time PGA TOUR Champions winner Mickelson (70), who despite some shaky moments on the back nine will take a one-shot lead over Koepka (70) going into the final round Sunday. “And I’ve been swinging the club well, and so I was executing. I just need to keep that picture a few more times. “So even though it slipped a little bit today,” he added, “and I didn’t stay as focused and as sharp on a few swings, it’s significantly better than it’s been for a long time.” Louis Oosthuizen (72) is two off the lead, and nine players, including major winners Bryson DeChambeau (71) and Gary Woodland (72), are within five. “I left a lot out there,” said Koepka (31 putts). “I’ve got a chance to win, so that’s all I wanted to do today is not give back any shots and be there tomorrow with a chance, and I’ve got that.” Unlike Mickelson, Koepka, who won the PGA in 2018 and ’19, has non-age-related issues. He won the Waste Management Phoenix Open for the second time in February, but shortly after that had surgery to repair a dislocated kneecap and ligament damage to his right knee. “Even though I’m not 100 percent,” he said earlier this week, “I can still hit the shots.” He was in obvious discomfort and unable to bend down to read putts or retrieve his ball from the hole at the Masters. He missed the cut. He also missed the cut at the AT&T Byron Nelson last week, but was pleased, he said, to be able to hit a variety of shots. Kiawah is a very long walk – at 7,876 yards, it’s the longest major venue ever – but at least it’s not hilly. And he’s proven himself correct; he really has hit all the shots. Mickelson would become the oldest men’s major winner, besting Julius Boros, who was 48 at the 1968 PGA. It would be his second PGA title (2005); sixth major (and first since the 2013 Open); and 45th PGA TOUR victory (first since the 2019 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am). The Ocean Course is a slippery stage, though, and even in his prime, Mickelson – now 115th in the world, 168th in the FedExCup – was one of the most accident-prone superstars. He led by five shots early on the back nine Saturday but showed cracks over the next two hours. The most glaring of these was his wild hook at the par-4 13th hole. The ball never crossed dry land, and although Mickelson made a valiant effort – hitting three from the tee and sticking his next shot to just over 11 feet – he failed to make the putt and carded a double-bogey. His five-shot lead was down to just one over Koepka and Oosthuizen, and although he striped his tee shot to just under 7 1/2 feet at the par-3 14th hole, his birdie try missed badly. The entire sequence – his failure to birdie the par-5 11th to his failure to birdie 14 – took only an hour. Older players have flirted with winning majors. Jack Nicklaus was 58 when he contended deep into Sunday at the 1998 Masters. Tom Watson was 59 when he nearly won the 2009 Open Championship. Fred Couples was 52 when he led after round two of the 2012 Masters. None of them won. With just two victories in the last seven years, Mickelson admits his mental game isn’t what it was. He has tried dietary changes, meditation, and marathon sessions of 36 to 45 holes a day. It’s a work in progress. What remains clear is that he’s having fun. He and Steve Stricker took on Zach Johnson and Will Zalatoris in a practice round earlier this week, and Mickelson birdied the first three holes. “Phil and I were 3-up after three,” Stricker said, “and he said it loud enough so everybody could hear, ‘You know, Strick, I thought we’d be more up at this point.’ And we were 3-up after three. “Typical Phil,” he continued. “It’s good to see him out here. He has such a good time in those practice rounds and seeing everybody it seems like. He still has a tremendous amount of desire to compete at this level, and that’s why he’s doing it and that’s why he’s playing well.” He’s still got one more day of fun, if that’s what this is. He’s still got people watching.

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