Category: Golf Betting

Why The PLAYERS needs to turn back the clockWhy The PLAYERS needs to turn back the clock

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The Players Championship: Who will win?The Players Championship: Who will win?

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Masters champ now sucks so much that caddie fired himselfMasters champ now sucks so much that caddie fired himself

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FedEx extends sponsorship of the FedExCup competitionFedEx extends sponsorship of the FedExCup competition

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Having celebrated the first decade of the FedExCup last September with Rory McIlroy’s memorable charge to the championship, the PGA TOUR and FedEx Corp. have announced a long-term extension of the shipping giant’s sponsorship of the FedExCup season-long competition on the PGA TOUR. “The FedEx relationship has been invaluable to the PGA TOUR on multiple fronts for more than 30 years, beginning with its sponsorship of the FedEx St. Jude Classic,” PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan said. “The FedExCup revolutionized the fan viewing experience and competitive landscape of the PGA TOUR, establishing a cohesive narrative throughout the schedule and a compelling conclusion to the season with the FedExCup Playoffs.” “We are proud to extend our historic sponsorship of the FedExCup, which has dramatically changed the PGA TOUR,” said Patrick Fitzgerald, senior vice president, Integrated Marketing and Communications for FedEx. “The FedExCup is the ultimate prize on the PGA TOUR, and the season-long competition has delivered some of the most exciting finishes in recent memory.” As part of the sponsorship renewal, FedEx has committed $1 million in annual donations to benefit non-profit organizations. The donations align with FedEx Cares, a global giving initiative, in which FedEx is investing $200 million in over 200 global communities by 2020 to create opportunities and deliver solutions for people around the world. Beyond defining the season champion, the FedExCup has made every tournament more meaningful through the season-long points competition and has created a consistent platform for media partners to tell the PGA TOUR story. The FedExCup Playoffs give fans the opportunity to see golf’s greatest players compete at the highest level in four high-profile events, culminating with the crowning of the FedExCup Champion. Rory McIlroy emerged as the 10th champion with a memorable title run featuring two FedExCup Playoffs victories, capped by a dramatic Sunday finish at the TOUR Championship in Atlanta. McIlroy holed out from 137 yards for an eagle-2 on East Lake Golf Club’s 16th hole and then birdied No. 18, forcing a three-way playoff with Ryan Moore and Kevin Chappell. McIlroy finally secured the victory and the FedExCup champion’s title with a 15-foot birdie putt on the fourth playoff hole – appropriately, No. 16. In doing so, McIlroy joined an impressive list of FedExCup Champions: Tiger Woods (2007, 2009), Vijay Singh (2008), Jim Furyk (2010), Bill Haas (2011), Brandt Snedeker (2012), Henrik Stenson (2013), Billy Horschel (2014) and Jordan Spieth (2015). 

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Jason Day and his motherJason Day and his mother

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Adenil “Dening” Day was not watching golf that Wednesday afternoon in mid-March. She had no idea her son Jason had just withdrawn from his first match at Austin Country Club. Nor did she see him explaining why during a hastily arranged news conference. Yet, it was because of her that he decided to open his heart and pour out his emotions, as raw a moment as you’ll see from a PGA TOUR player. “She has lung cancer,” Jason told the media, unable to fight back the tears. “At the start of the year, she was diagnosed with 12 months to live.” Jason, the defending champion of the World Golf Championships–Dell Technologies Match Play, could no longer focus enough to compete. Torn between his desire to do as his mother wished – to fight on – and what his instinct told him – to be by her side – he finally cracked on national television. So he walked off the course, then fronted the media and revealed his mother’s tumor, the dire initial fears, and the new hope that surgery later that week might extend her life. Having lost his father to cancer when he was 12, Jason could not fathom it was happening again. He doggedly explored all options. Thus, he had flown his mother from Australia to his current home in Columbus, Ohio, to seek further opinions and care in the United States. Now he needed to be with her for the surgery. He needed to be there for his mother — as she had always been there for him. While there are plenty of people to thank for Jason’s rise to the top of the golf world, Dening is certainly a huge part of the journey. And though they now live some 9,150 miles apart in different continents, the bond remains strong. When all was revealed in Austin, it was certainly emotional. It was gripping. Plenty in the room were choked up. Afterward, Jason phoned his mother, telling her what had transpired and letting her know he was on his way to her. Only then did she know about the press conference. Eventually, Dening found video clips and saw the pain on her son’s tear-swollen face as he finally succumbed to the enormity of her plight. Then Dening — the ultra-tough mom who raised a champion — did what she rarely does. Like Jason earlier that afternoon, she started to cry. So much so that her daughter Yanna would joke later, “That’s her tears quota for the year.” But Dening’s tears were not of fear for what lay ahead. She wasn’t worried for her very existence like most of us would be. The tears stemmed from guilt. She never wanted her son to worry, even after being initially diagnosed with just a year left on earth. She never wanted him to stress. She never even wanted him to know. ‘She doesn’t talk much’ Yanna, age 32, is Jason’s eldest sister, who joined her mother on the trip to the U.S. for treatment. He has another, Kim, 31, who is back in Australia with kids of her own. Kim lives across the street from Dening, Yanna a few hours away. Jason, 29, obviously is a significant distance from Brisbane. Dening does not like to burden others with her problems. That’s why she was coughing up blood for three months before Kim noticed and alerted the other siblings, who then sprang into action as a team to make things happen. They weren’t taking chances – and with good reason. Dening had already kept one cancer scare from her children years earlier. “I didn’t want to worry them,” she says. She had a lumpectomy to remove what turned out to be a benign tumor in her breast, only telling the kids well after the event. Jason still shakes his head at the revelation. “She doesn’t talk much,” he says dryly. She does, however, write poetry. After that first cancer scare, she penned one for her kids, hoping to leave behind some wisdom for them. Now she’s had to battle cancer for a second time. Thankfully, surgery to remove the most recent tumor was a complete success and fears the lung cancer had spread were allayed. Some pesky cysts that clouded the initial diagnosis were removed from the liver. Dening must maintain regular checkups, but it appears she is out of the woods. She can pass on her wisdom in person, rather than on paper. It is, of course, a welcome relief for all involved. This family doesn’t need more rough times. They’ve seen enough struggle to fill 30 lifetimes – and no one in the family has fought more battles than Dening. It is no secret that Jason’s father Alvyn was an abusive alcoholic. He ruled with “iron fists,” as Yanna puts it, before he died. He insisted on controlling everything. This included his wife. Search for a better life Dening was born in a small village in the Philippines as one of 11 children. There was no electricity and no running water. While it was an extremely impoverished existence, she never felt wanting and modestly says, “We managed three meals a day.” Jason tells of having his own baths heated by kettle, and his mother cutting the lawn with a knife and scissors when he was a child. That was their economic hardship in Australia. “But we had luxury compared to where she grew up,” he says. Late last year, Jason was scheduled to play an exhibition match against Rory McIlroy in the Philippines before a back injury curtailed his trip. It was to be his first visit to his mother’s homeland and they would have raised money for locals who are still rebuilding from Typhoon Haiyan in 2013, where eight members of Dening’s family, including her mother and brother, were killed. That kind of tragedy is one reason why her homeland was a place most wanted to trade up from. “It’s what Filipinos do,” Dening says. She took the first step of escaping many years ago when she moved to the big city – Manilla – for her higher education. The idea at the time was to ultimately find a way to the United States. She started down a path toward a nursing degree, but upon seeing a newspaper article that revealed how in demand medical secretaries were in the U.S., she shifted her focus. Having passed college, she spent seven years working in Manilla “wearing high heels and nice clothes” but still dreamt of finding a way out of a third world country and into better circumstance. And then one came. A letter from Alvyn Day arrived at the boarding house where Dening lived. It was for her landlady’s sister who had registered with a marital agency in Australia. But the sister had since left for Italy and the letter was passed along to Dening. On a whim, she decided to reply. Australia sounded like paradise. Here she would live a charmed life, perhaps of luxury, with a handsome, rugged Australian man. After enough correspondence, it was agreed Alvyn would come to the Philippines, marry Dening, and the two would return to Australia to start a life together. Seemed a fairytale … but instead it was a nightmare. Not as advertised Rural Queensland can be a beautiful place, but in all fairness, it is far from the glistening coast and sandy beaches that are Australia’s primary drawing cards. While the coastline wasn’t that far away from Beaudesert, and later Rockhampton, Dening wasn’t seeing any of it. “I got taken to the meat works (where Alvyn had work) or I got taken to the farm,” she says of her introduction to Australia. “The grass was as tall as your knees, and you’d walk, and it’s so itchy on your feet and on your legs when it touches. “I couldn’t believe we were staying in this little caravan in the middle of nowhere.” Add to this the struggles of having a very limited English vocabulary and the revelation Alvyn would drink a lot and become violent … well, it was not the existence she had anticipated. Alvyn had already been through two failed marriages and the reasons began to surface When Yanna was a toddler, a line was drawn in the sand when a drunk Alvyn put his daughter into the caravan wall just because she was trying to climb all over her daddy. “At the time, I took him to court. I said, ‘You might hurt me but you’re not doing that to my kids,’ ” Dening recalls. The resolution was rehab and no more drinking. It was only temporary. He eventually slipped back into the bottle. By the time Kim and Jason were added to the family, Dening was surviving, but barely, as her mind and spirit continued to die. “It was very tough, and I had in the back of my mind, I can’t live like this. I have to do something about it,” she says. “It was so very hard because I was so new (to Australia), it was very hard to find anyone to turn to, and I kept thinking I didn’t go to school just to be like this.” Spending her days in front of a television and doing sewing jobs to help make ends meet was not enough. The feelings of inadequacy had grown to the point that she asked Alvyn if she, too, could get a job at the meat works. “He said, ‘You can get a job, but all your money will go straight to my bank,’ and I said, it doesn’t matter. At least I am out and I am active,’ ” she recalls. When not working, Alvyn would make many trips to the local landfill, looking for things that could be repurposed and sold. Dening was the upholsterer on reclamation projects. Jason’s first golf club came from the garbage dump, the story now part of his lore. And so Dening would work as a secretary and continued to do her sewing on the side, settling for about an hour of sleep most nights. Work till 4 a.m., back up at 5 a.m. to prepare breakfasts and lunches for Alvyn and the kids. The $1,000 promise As Jason began to show promise in golf, Dening saw the chance of an escape for her son. She might not have had her fairytale. But perhaps he could. She was already chaperoning his tournaments on occasions after coming across more of Alvyn’s abuse. Helping her pre-teen change shirts one day, she noticed bruises all over his chest. When she asked where they came from, the reply was “dad.” Jason has revealed there was numerous physical beatings at the hand of his dad in his youth. “Dad tried to drive me with the driver,” he says of another time in his early years. According to Jason, Alvyn would punish him after events in the parking lot, with closed fists. “Nothing was ever good enough, even winning,” he says. Yanna recalls Jason being yelled at after victories for things like not hitting putts aggressive enough, or falling short of some score target Alvyn had set. “[Jason] would beat much older kids, even grown men,” she says. “It wasn’t enough for Dad.” And so Dening insisted on being around more. Then Alvyn died of cancer, and 12-year-old Jason went off the rails, began drinking and getting in fights. Kim ran away from home for years. But it was a seminal moment for the Day family — while it was hard to lose a parent, they gained their freedom. Their independence. All three admit the chances of Jason making it in the sport if his father had not passed away would have been slim. The control would still have existed. Maybe Jason could have made it through like some tennis stars have under parent dictatorship, but more likely Jason would have come to resent the game. So Alvyn’s passing was where Dening knew sacrifice had to be made to give Jason a chance. His local coaches had said there wasn’t much else they could do until Jason grew up, and became stronger and longer off the tee. At the rate he was spiraling out of control, she feared his talent would go wasted. Worse still, so would his life. And Dening wanted so much more for her children. At a crossroads, she borrowed money from Jason’s uncle and then sold the house to get him into a boarding school with a golf program. It is there, at Kooralbyn, he met Colin Swatton, his current coach, caddie and father figure and his raw talent began getting the nurturing it needed. Jason, with the realization of how much his mum and sisters had sacrificed, became a dedicated worker. Early mornings, late nights. Whatever it took. Just like mum. As Jason continued his rise in the game, Dening put her son first, no matter the sacrifice. He had always practiced his craft with secondhand equipment. His first pair of golf shoes were an old ladies pair. He fished for golf balls in the swamp at his course. His clubs were a mismatched hodgepodge kindly given from a neighbor. It wasn’t until his late teens he got something brand new. A driver. Dening told him if he could get to scratch he could have it. She assumed it was going to stretch her budget at around $250 Australian. When Jason met her terms, she found out it was $1,000 at the golf club pro shop. (Brand new drivers routinely cost around $700 Australian, but at the time the Australian dollar was underperforming compared to the U.S. dollar, inflating the cost.) “But I made a promise, so I got it for him,” she recalls. Kind but firm To be fair, nurture on the golf course was never a strength of Dening’s. Still isn’t. While never crossing the line like Alvyn so often did, nevertheless she maintained the strict side of Jason’s golfing life. She didn’t want him to have girlfriends. Or distractions. Her methods certainly weren’t all kisses and hugs and everyone gets a trophy. With Alvyn gone, Dening felt she needed to keep things somewhat firm to keep her boy on task. Keep him fighting to be the best. “One time she came at me all spider monkey-like with an umbrella during a tournament,” Day says. Indeed, Dening had whacked her son on the backside with a golf umbrella, during a tournament. But it wasn’t for poor play. “It was for swearing and a bad attitude,” she says. A playing partner was reacting poorly to his own play and Jason had fallen into the same trap. Dening was having none of that. “Ironically, she swore when telling me not to swear,” Jason laughs. To this day, her expectations remain high. She struggles to watch him on television without getting worked up and when she does make it to watch an event live, those that know Jason well can sense her presence through his play. He still wants to prove he’s doing his best, trying his hardest. He’s pushing for mum. Early in his career, when he had several near-misses in big events (Jason had nine top-10s in majors before his major breakthrough at the 2015 PGA Championship), she had to remove herself from the coverage often. “It was very hard. If my television could speak, that television would have sworn back at me so many times,” she says. “I would swear and go back to the garden, 20 minutes, go back in and watch, and so on. “You just want him to succeed and you know he can do better… so it’s hard.” During the Australian Open in 2011, when Jason was contending heavily but falling back from the lead, he made a birdie after a rut of holes. “It’s about time, Jason,” came the loud and disguisable voice of Dening between green and tee box — much to the amazement of many spectators. Before the end of the tournament, where he would finish fourth, Dening had walked off. “He could do better,” she defiantly says now. It is why when Day was leading into the final round of the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits in 2015, Dening did not stay home to watch it on the television. In Australia, it was already Monday morning as he was coming down the stretch and trying to hold off Jordan Spieth. Dening went to work like she always does. “I would’ve had a heart attack if I was watching it live,” she says. She checked in on the scores online occasionally but couldn’t bear to watch. Finally, a co-worker confirmed he had won and she could watch his celebrations. “I was very thankful that it happened because he’s been aiming for it a long time, working so hard for a long time. And for it to happen, it’s sort of a culmination. I gave a big sigh of relief. Kimmy was crying,” she recalls. Yanna says the final putt going in was when it seemed every struggle they had ever had seemed justified. “Every hardship, every bad word we endured, punch, kick, whatever, the moment he did that, we all felt the same,” she says. “All of a sudden the family just had this weight taken off our shoulders, and we were at peace then. There was a purpose. There was a reason.” A fresh start This peace they earned had been missing in 2017. But as the two siblings and their mother sit in Jason’s Columbus home — just hours before Dening will be heading back to Australia with a clean bill of health — it is evident the mood has swung severely over the last few weeks. The emotional rollercoaster ride has thrown them for loops, tossed them up and down, but ultimately, they enter the station feeling better for the ride. “It’s definitely made us more aware of our family, brought us definitely closer,” Yanna says as Jason nods. From a depth of despair that had Jason breaking down in tears during his basic activities – the morning shower, a gym workout, a video game session – a new hope has emerged. Jason is free again. The stress that plagued him has lifted. His focus is returning. Dening can return to her own loves in Australia. To her garden, to her poetry, and working has long made her happy. She will head back to her office job where she too feels free. At age 59, she shows no signs of retirement; in fact, it is the last thing she wants. Jason has offered to have her stay in luxury in Ohio but the simple freedoms of home have her in a good place mentally and she fiercely wants to continue making her own way. “I just like to make decisions without worrying, without be bothered by someone else,” she says. “You’re free to go somewhere else. You’re free to do with your own time. You’re free to do everything.” Jason jokes he can hire her as his maid. If she won’t come as a gesture of goodwill, perhaps she’ll come to work. But also, back in Brisbane, Kim’s son Cooper has taken up golf. He’s showing promise now as a pre-teen. He’s heading to the same golfing academy Jason and Swatton finished at (the pair moved to Hills International College after Kooralbyn shut down for a while) before they turned to the pro life. And Dening is back in her element, helping a young boy maintain the straight and narrow path and maximize his potential. “You get a rush, mum,” Yanna says. “If you saw how it was when Jason was little, it’s just like on repeat.” She’s back on the sidelines, not getting spider monkey-style with umbrellas, but yelling out encouragement, driving him forward. As for her first golfing prodigy, Dening says her boy still has great things to achieve. Things she’s grateful she’ll now be around to see. And just as she did throughout his upbringing, she starts putting a little heat on him. She starts to stoke his competitive fires. As he heads towards defending his title at THE PLAYERS Championship — which he won emphatically in wire-to-wire fashion in 2016 to make it an incredible seven wins in 17 starts at the time — she attempts to get him back into that dominant headspace. “Before the end of the year and beyond,” she says of a timeline for seeing the best of Jason Day again. “He still has to win. To get more wins. And one major is not enough.” Jason agrees saying, “No, it’s not enough,” and then the conversation turns into a true family moment, as the women try to infuse more belief into Jason. It is seamless chatter, as if it has happened many times before. In the early years, there were multiple times where Jason exhibited just the slightest lack of self-belief and it bit him hard. When it came to the crunch, he wasn’t sure he belonged, and he would almost subconsciously take himself out of the mix. “People would say, man, look at this guy, he’s a ball striker, he’s got good touch, all that stuff. But, and I think it stems back to my dad, I was like, I can’t feel or see that,” Jason says. While his father may have beaten the belief out of him, the women in his life, including American wife Ellie, are part of a big team always trying to pump it back in. Ellie has taken over the day to day support role and helps Jason immensely but on this occasion it’s the old guard at it again. “You haven’t reached your full potential,” Yanna says. “Jason – you really have all the skills. You can do more,” Dening adds. “I don’t think I have reached my full potential yet,” Jason admits. “It comes down to mentally – how much you want it more than anything else.” Dening nods, looks him in the eye and adds, “Yes, it’s the hunger, as well. It’s not only mental. Always keep pushing. Keep working.” Yanna jumps back in. “I think you’re going to have some things manifest in the next couple of years, I really do think that the best is yet to come,” she adds. “I think this is just the start of something big.” Jason tries to take in their praise. “Well I am in a good place now. Less distractions,” he says. “And now I know how hard I need to work to get back to the top. So, it is time to put in the work.” After hearing his commitment to the grind, Dening nods. Her work here is done.

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Golf’s future taking shape under MonahanGolf’s future taking shape under Monahan

Golf’s future taking shape under Monahan

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PGA Tour, FedEx extend partnership to 2027PGA Tour, FedEx extend partnership to 2027

PGA Tour, FedEx extend partnership to 2027

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How to watch THE PLAYERS ChampionshipHow to watch THE PLAYERS Championship

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – THE PLAYERS Championship is the signature event on the PGA TOUR, and golf fans will plenty of options to follow all the action this week on the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass. PGA TOUR LIVE Available on PGATL.com and PGA TOUR apps, PGA TOUR LIVE will provide live streaming coverage not only on competition days but also key events leading up to Thursday’s first round. TUESDAY: Live coverage of the Military Appreciation Ceremony and Sam Hunt concert, 6-8 p.m. ET WEDNESDAY: Live PLAYERS preview show from Noon-2 p.m. ET will include a live broadcast from the Stadium Course, as well as player interviews at the range, expert analysis of the field and course, and an overview of the additions and renovations to the course, as well as a look at the new practice facility, Nickelodeon’s presence at the Kid Zone and other fan-centric features. THURSDAY/FRIDAY: Featured Groups coverage starting at 7:30 a.m. ET, and Featured Hole coverage of the par-3 17th and renovated par-4 12th starting at 9 a.m. ET. Coverage scheduled until 7 p.m. ET. SATURDAY/SUNDAY: Featured Groups coverage starting at 8:30 a.m. ET, and Featured Hole coverage of the par-3 17th and renovated par-4 12th starting at Noon ET. Coverage scheduled until 7 p.m. ET. TWITTER Featured group coverage on the PGA TOUR’s official Twitter account, @PGATOUR, will be available for the first two rounds. THURSDAY/FRIDAY: Live coverage from 7:30 a.m. to approximately 9 a.m. ET of two Featured Groups through their first two holes. LIVE VR/360 VIDEO Fans will have the unique perspective of virtual reality and 360-degree video coverage of the island-green 17th hole during all four rounds. The live VR experience can be viewed on Samsung Gear VR headsets on a global basis through the PGA TOUR VR Live app available on the Oculus store. For fans without the headset, a 360 video streak will be available exclusively on Twitter and Periscope @PGATOUR, using any smartphone.  (For more information on this exciting feature, click here) THURSDAY/FRIDAY: Live 17th hole coverage from 9 a.m.-7 p.m. ET SATURDAY/SUNDAY: Live 17th hole coverage from Noon-7 p.m. ET PGA TOUR EXPERIENCE on DIRECTV For the first time at THE PLAYERS Championship, DIRECTV will offer fans four distinct channels of coverage – the GOLF/NBC Simulcast, Featured Group, Launch Pad and SHOTLink. THURSDAY/FRIDAY: 1 p.m. – 7 p.m. ET SATURDAY/SUNDAY: 2 p.m. – 7 p.m. ET TELEVISION NBC will broadcast THE PLAYERS Championship for the 30th year and will offer 22 hours of live tournament coverage on NBC and Golf Channel during the four rounds of competition, with limited commercial interruptions. THURSDAY/FRIDAY: Coverage on Golf Channel will be from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. ET SATURDAY/SUNDAY: Coverage on NBC will be from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. ET. RADIO PGA TOUR Radio’s live audio coverage is available on XM 92/Sirius 208 and free online at PGATOUR.COM. THURSDAY/FRIDAY: Noon – 7 p.m. ET SATURDAY-SUNDAY: 1 p.m. – 7 p.m. ET

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Featured Groups: THE PLAYERS ChampionshipFeatured Groups: THE PLAYERS Championship

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – The season’s strongest field will face a new-look course in this year’s edition of THE PLAYERS Championship. THE PLAYERS Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass was renovated after last year’s tournament. The changes include a new drivable par-4 12th hole, a new hazard between Nos. 6 and 7 and subtle changes to several holes, including expanded greens and the removal of rough to promote creative recovery shots. The new 12th hole, where eagles are possible but a water hazard lurks left of the green, offers players another opportunity to be bold on the back nine. There are now three holes on that side where eagles are a real possibility (Nos. 11, 12 and 16). And then, of course, players must face the Island Green before tackling the challenging 18th hole. You can watch golf’s best players take on the new Stadium Course during PGA TOUR LIVE’s Featured Groups coverage on Thursday and Friday. This week’s Featured Groups include the top three players in the FedExCup standings, seven past winners of THE PLAYERS Championship and three former FedExCup champs. Featured Groups coverage will run from 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursday and Friday. Two morning Featured Groups are available to PGA TOUR LIVE subscribers, while a single afternoon Featured Group will be shown free of charge. Featured Groups also can be watched on Twitter from 7:30 a.m. to approximately 8:45 a.m. on Thursday and Friday. Featured Holes will run from 9 a.m. until 7 p.m. with coverage of the drivable par-4 12th and the island-green 17th. On Tuesday, PGA TOUR LIVE will show THE PLAYERS Championship’s Military Appreciation Concert with Sam Hunt from 6-8 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday. A PLAYERS preview show will be featured on Wednesday from 12-2 p.m. MORE: Tee times (Note: All times Eastern; FedExCup rankings in parentheses) THURSDAY MORNING Rickie Fowler (8), Henrik Stenson (79), Jason Day (104): Three past champions of THE PLAYERS are in this group, including the past two winners. Day won by four shots last year after shooting a course-record 63 in the first round, while Fowler won a dramatic playoff two years ago. Stenson, winner of the 2009 PLAYERS and the 2013 FedExCup, also is the reigning Open champion, shooting a final-round 63 last year at Royal Troon to win a memorable duel with Phil Mickelson. Fowler has finished no worse than 16th in his past six starts, including a win at The Honda Classic. Tee time: 8:16 a.m. off No. 10. Jordan Spieth (7), Hideki Matsuyama (3), Phil Mickelson (36): A former winner of THE PLAYERS, a former FedExCup champion and the No. 3 player in this season’s standings are part of this threesome. This is the 10-year anniversary of Mickelson’s win at THE PLAYERS Stadium Course. He has more missed cuts (8) than top-10s (3) at this event. Spieth, the 2015 FedExCup champion, won this season’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am; he finished T4 in his PLAYERS debut (2014), but has missed the cut in his past two appearances. Matsuyama, a two-time winner this season, played in the final group of last year’s PLAYERS, finishing seventh. This group also could serve as a Presidents Cup preview. Spieth and Mickelson rank third and 14th in the U.S. Team standings, while Matsuyama is second in the International Team standings. Tee time: 8:27 a.m. off No. 10. THURSDAY AFTERNOON Dustin Johnson (1), Justin Thomas (2), Rory McIlroy (48): This group features last year’s FedExCup champion and the top two players in this year’s standings. McIlroy won the FedExCup after a dramatic playoff with Ryan Moore at last year’s TOUR Championship. Johnson and Thomas each have three wins this season, but Johnson has a 296-point lead thanks to five top-three finishes in eight starts this season. He was runner-up on Sunday at the Wells Fargo Championship after winning his prior three starts. Johnson and Thomas also are the top two players in the U.S. Presidents Cup standings. McIlroy is making his first start since finishing seventh at the Masters. He got married during that hiatus. He has finished no worse than 12th in his past four PLAYERS starts after missing the cut in his first three tours around TPC Sawgrass. Tee time: 1:52 p.m. off No. 1 FRIDAY MORNING Sergio Garcia (13), Adam Scott (77), Matt Kuchar (47): Three former winners of THE PLAYERS Championship are in this group. Garcia, the 2008 winner at TPC Sawgrass, is making his first start since his emotional victory at the Masters Tournament. All three members of this group finished in the top 10 at the Masters. Kuchar, who made a hole-in-one on the 16th hole Sunday, finished fourth. He won the 2012 PLAYERS and was third at THE PLAYERS Stadium Course last year. Adam Scott, winner of the 2004 PLAYERS, finished ninth at Augusta National this year. He has missed just three cuts in 15 appearances at THE PLAYERS. Tee time: 8:16 a.m. off No. 10. Dustin Johnson (1), Justin Thomas (2), Rory McIlroy (48): McIlroy, the reigning FedExCup champion, plays alongside the top two players in the FedExCup standings. Both Johnson and Thomas have won three times this season. Johnson leads the FedExCup after posting three wins and a runner-up in his past four starts. Tee time: 8:27 a.m. off No. 10. FRIDAY AFTERNOON Jordan Spieth (7), Hideki Matsuyama (3), Phil Mickelson (36): A former winner of THE PLAYERS, a former FedExCup champion and the No. 3 player in this season’s standings are part of this threesome. Mickelson is celebrating the 10-year anniversary of his PLAYERS win. Spieth, who finished fourth in his PLAYERS debut in 2014, won the 2015 FedExCup. Matsuyama is a two-time winner this season. Tee time: 1:52 p.m. off No. 1.

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John Daly explains what made Tiger Woods so much better than himJohn Daly explains what made Tiger Woods so much better than him

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