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Rory McIlroy’s Round 4 highlights from THE CJ CUP
Tag Archives: Rory McIlroy
Saddle up McIlroy on one of his favorite tracks this week at Bay Hill
By: PGATour
Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club & Lodge outside Orlando continues the run of familiar courses on the schedule for the PGA TOUR.
Hosting a TOUR event since 1979 the Dick Wilson and Joe Lee design from the early 1960s is classic Florida golf with Palmer’s modern enhancements. The addition of TifEagle Bermuda greens for the 2016 edition was the last major overhaul.
Experience should play a part this week, especially with the wind forecast to blow from late Thursday through Saturday.
Scottie Scheffler (+900) proved last season that multiple reps aren’t necessary to pick up the big check (and red cardigan) at the end of the week. The Texan handled the wind and conditions better than most and won in just his second trip after T15 in 2021.
Rory McIlroy (+1000) broke a run of five consecutive years inside the top 10 with T13 last year. The 2018 champion has never missed in eight visits over the last eight years and T27 is his only payday outside T13. The Ulsterman will vouch for the difficulty of Bay Hill as only three of his last 12 rounds here are in the 60s.
Known to run hot at times, Englishman Tyrrell Hatton (+3300) has been more than cool in the recent difficult conditions outside Orlando. The 2020 winner posted the highest winning total (4 under) in his fourth visit and matched that total last year while tying for second. Of the players entered this week, only McIlroy has pocketed more cash here and needed two more starts to do so. Hatton’s third top 10 from six starts was T4 in his 2017 debut.
Given a chance in the field as an amateur back in 2014, Matt Fitzpatrick (+3300) has returned the last seven seasons. During his run he’s stuck around for the weekend six times, including the last four years inside the top 10. The best of the bunch was falling one short to Francesco Molinari (+20000) in 2019.
Making his seventh consecutive visit Tommy Fleetwood (+6600) will look to add to his five T26 or better paydays. The Englishman has set a trend for hitting the top 10 in odd numbered years so 2023 fits! Of his 22 rounds, 13 are in the red.
Hard to ignore Keegan Bradley (+6000) as he will look to extend his run to 11 straight weekends. A pair of podium finishes in 2013 and 2014 kicked off his streak and T10 in 2021 and T11 in 2022 have provided the bookend, for the moment. He shares the post-2015 course record of 64 with McIlroy and Molinari, as he posted that in Round 3 in 2021.
(cuts made/event starts; odds)
Chris Kirk (7/11; +5500): Just like Honda last week, his last two at Bay Hill (T5, T8) are his best two. Also has six T25 or better with five of those T15 or better. Sizzle.
Sungjae Im (4/4; +3300): T3 in 2019 debut followed with solo third in 2020. The last two years he’s “cooled” with T20 and T21.
Keith Mitchell (4/4; +5000): Similar to Im, he started hot with T6 in 2019 backed with T5 in 2020 before not cracking the top 40 the last two years. He led or co-led the field in birdies in 2019 and 2020.
Jordan Spieth (1/1; +4500): Sat two back of the 54-hole lead before cashing T4 in his only visit in 2021.
Jason Day (7/11; +3300): Only top 10 is his victory in 2016 but also has five T25 or better.
Zach Johnson (18/19; +22500): Made cut run is now 12 in a row.
Top 20 OWGR (not listed above)
Player | Starts/Cuts Made | Top 10 | Best Finish | Odds |
01 Jon Rahm | 1-Jan | 0 | T17 2022 | 650 |
04 Patrick Cantlay | first appearance | +2000 | ||
06 Xander Schauffele | 1-Jan | 0 | T24 2020 | 2000 |
07 Will Zalatoris | 2-Feb | 1 | T10 2022 | 2200 |
08 Max Homa | 3-Mar | 1 | T10 2021 | 1800 |
09 Justin Thomas | 1-Jan | 0 | T49 2015 | 2500 |
10 Collin Morikawa | 2-Feb | 1 | T9 2020 | 1800 |
11 Viktor Hovland | 4-Apr | 1 | T2 2022 | 3000 |
12 Tony Finau | 4-Feb | 0 | T28 2017 | 2200 |
14 Sam Burns | 5-Apr | 1 | T9 2022 | 4000 |
15 Tom Kim | first appearance | 5000 | ||
16 Cameron Young | 1-Jan | 0 | T13 2022 | 3300 |
19 Billy Horschel | 10-Sep | 1 | T2 2022 | 10000 |
20 Shane Lowry | 0/4 | 0 | mc | 5500 |
There’s also some course history to note at the Puerto Rico Open, where another full field will tee off this week with hopes of earning FedExCup points and improving (or obtaining) long-term TOUR status. Here’s a look at some horses that stand out at Grand Reserve Golf Club, which has served as a springboard for players such as Jason Day, Jordan Spieth, Tony Finau and most recently Viktor Hovland:
A winner here in 2013, Scott Brown (+8000) has never missed the cut in all 10 of his visits, with half resulting in top-10 paydays. … Sponsor’s exemption Josh Teater (+5000) came close in 2020 (second behind Hovland) and has followed with T22 results the last two season. … It just means more to Puerto Rico native Rafael Campos (+6600). His last five starts here have reached the weekend, and three went for top-10 finishes including his best (T3) in 2021. … Nobody loves a trend more than I do, and Brice Garnett (+3500) is on one here! His last three starts have been the best of his six career appearances (T7, T5 and T20). … Chris Stroud (+5500) hasn’t teed it up here since a career-best T8 in 2017. He’s cashed in six straight, including the last five at T27 or better.
Special betting markets abound for Tiger Woods’ return at Genesis
By: PGA Tour
PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. – Tiger Woods says he’s ready to compete against the best of the PGA TOUR in his return to competition at The Riviera Country Club. But just what the betting and fantasy audience can expect from the 82-time TOUR winner remains to be seen.
The last time Woods went four competitive rounds was the Masters in April of last year, while his last TOUR start was his emotional missed cut at St. Andrews last July at The 150th Open Championship.
Of course, we’ve seen him pop up at The Match with Rory McIlroy, where they were beaten by Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas, and his efforts at the PNC Championship with his son Charlie last December. But those contests were a far cry from PGA TOUR-level competition.
Woods’ return at Riviera, his first start here since 2020, brings with it some special betting options at BetMGM sportsbook. Outside of his +12500 odds to win (down from +15000 on Tuesday), Woods is +2200 for a top five finish, +1100 for a top 10, +450 for a top 20 and +150 for a top 40.
Then there are some special markets available for his opening round, where he’ll tee off at 3:04 p.m. ET alongside Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas:
· In his 42 rounds at Riviera, Woods has been bogey-free just three times. Two of those came back in 1999. The other time Woods managed a clean sheet was way back in 2001.
· The first hole at Riviera is one of the easiest par-5s on the PGA TOUR. Woods has made birdie or better on 30 of his 42 trips around the iconic layout.
· Woods has racked up four or more par-breakers in a round at Riviera 20 times, or just under half the time. He failed to do this at all over his four rounds in 2020, when he finished last among those that made the cut, but he did so three times in 2019.
· Woods has just seven eagles from his 42 rounds at Riviera, but astonishingly five of them came in his last two appearances of 2019 and 2020. Prior to that, Woods had just one eagle in 2001 and made another in 2004.
· Woods has shot 70 or better at Riviera in 22 of his 42 prior rounds. His scoring average is 70.55 on the par-71 layout. His career-best round at Riviera is a 64 from the final round in 2004, with a high of 78 as an amateur in 1993. His highest round as a professional was his last on this course, a final-round 77 in 2020.
You can also bet Woods at lofty +400 odds against his first-round playing partners McIlroy (+105) and Thomas (+150) in a 3-ball to see who will have the best opening-round score.
On the 14 occasions Woods has played with Thomas, Thomas bested Woods 12 times. In 26 times playing together Woods has beaten McIlroy 13 times with three ties. Woods also beat McIlroy in a head-to-head match in the 2019 WGC – Dell Technologies Match Play.
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Tiger Woods/Rory McIlroy to take on Jordan Spieth/Justin Thomas in ‘The Match’
By: PGA
The next iteration of “The Match,” the popular made-for-TV series on Turner Sports, will pit new business partners Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy against friends and Presidents Cup teammates Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas on Dec. 10.
The seventh iteration of the exhibition series will start at 6 p.m. under the lights at Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, Florida, a suburb of St. Petersburg.
This will be the third appearance in “The Match” for Woods, who helped launch the concept when he took on Phil Mickelson in 2018. Woods and Peyton Manning defeated Mickelson and Tom Brady in “The Match” in 2020, when the world was reeling from the Covid crisis and fans had few other options when it came to televised live sports.
Woods and McIlroy have combined for 105 PGA TOUR victories, 19 majors and five FedExCup titles, and are business partners in TMRW Sports, which is focused on “building technology-focused ventures that feature progressive approaches to sports, media, and entertainment.”
In August, they announced a new tech-infused golf league in tandem with the PGA TOUR.
Spieth and Thomas have been friends since their junior golf days and are coming off a 4-0-0 performance as teammates at the Presidents Cup at Quail Hollow, where the U.S. Team won. Each won once last season, with Thomas picking up his second PGA Championship title.
Neither has played in “The Match,” although Thomas was an on-course commentator in 2020.
McIlroy got his 23rd and most recent victory at THE CJ CUP in South Carolina last month, part of a banner 2022 that has seen him return to world No. 1. He also won a record third FedExCup title in August despite starting six strokes back and opening with a triple-bogey.
Woods, 46, is still recovering from injuries sustained in a car crash in early 2021. In limited action, he made the cut and finished 47th at the Masters Tournament, then made the cut against at the PGA Championship at Southern Hills. Alas, after a third-round 79 he was in too much pain to continue and withdrew. He missed the cut at the Open Championship at St. Andrews.
But while it’s been a quiet year, competitively, it’s not over yet.
The winner of 82 PGA TOUR titles, including 15 majors, Woods will host the unofficial Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas in early December but has not said if he will play. He also could tee it up again with son Charlie at next month’s PNC Championship.
Power Rankings: THE CJ CUP
By: PGA
From South Korea to South Carolina, albeit eventually and out of necessity.
After three years contested on Jeju Island at the southern tip of the Asian country, THE CJ CUP has been held in the United States since 2020 due to ongoing challenges related to the pandemic. This year’s host is Congaree Golf Club in The Palmetto State.
If the stage for THE CJ CUP at South Carolina sounds familiar, it should. Keep reading beneath the projected contenders for a brief history of the worthy track, how it should test and more.
POWER RANKINGS: THE CJ CUP
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Collin Morikawa, Hideki Matsuyama, Billy Horschel and Tyrrell Hatton will be among the notables reviewed in Draws and Fades.
The PGA TOUR’s first (and only prior) stop at this week’s host course was for the Palmetto Championship at Congaree in June of 2021. Garrick Higgo prevailed, and after gaining entry via a commissioner exemption no less. To put the timing of that tournament into perspective, it was two seasons ago and it marked the first anniversary of the Return to Golf after the three-month shutdown due to COVID-19.
The TOUR’s return to Congaree is for a much different competition. Whereas the Palmetto Championship hosted a full field of 156 with a 36-hole cut, THE CJ CUP at South Carolina reserves room for only 78, and there is no cut. Officially, eight spots are saved for golfers from South Korea – five KPGA members and three via the Official World Golf Ranking – but there are 14 natives or golfers with South Korean heritage committed thanks to the growing depth of talent among members. Of those who competed in the Palmetto Championship, 19 are back this week. Higgo did not qualify.
Congaree Golf Club was designed by Tom Fazio. He and his team sought out to replicate the kind of layout that you’d find in Australia’s Sandbelt region in Melbourne. So, there isn’t a relevant sightline that isn’t consumed with sand and/or native area.
Congaree is a par 71 with three par 5s and it tips at 7,655 yards. Rough essentially is a rumor on the property, but what little there is has been allowed to scale to four inches. Champion bermuda greens are average in size and prepped to run as far as 13 feet on the Stimpmeter.
Hot and humid conditions dominated for the first three rounds here in 2021, but the elements this week will be considerably different, as you’d expect four months and change later in the year. Thursday’s daytime high won’t eclipse 70 degrees. It will warm gradually thereafter but the highest temperatures will settle in the mid-70s. Rain is not expected and winds will be light, so Congaree is poised to be pure.
The host course averaged 71.743 for the 156-man field in 2021. That slotted it as the second-hardest of all non-majors in the super season of 2020-21 and about a half-shot higher than third-hardest Riviera Country Club, host of 120 golfers for The Genesis Invitational.
Because of its length, Congaree will reward distance off the tee, but the fairways are generous, so it’s more of a second-shot exercise than it seems. Taut games on approach and with the shortest sticks will define the final leaderboard.
Celebration of Champions kick-starts special week at The Open
By: PGA
ST. ANDREWS, Scotland – Rory McIlroy beamed as he grabbed the hand of Tiger Woods and excitedly pointed up to a window high in the Rusacks Hotel that flanks the 18th fairway at St. Andrews.
The pair then waved animatedly in the direction of 22-month-old Poppy McIlroy, daughter of the 21-time PGA TOUR winner and four-time major champion as they finished up play in The Open Championship’s Celebration of Champions on Monday.
Just moments earlier they had posed for photos together on the Swilken Bridge, with 18-time major champion Jack Nicklaus no less, but this moment was arguably just as incredible. It was raw. It was pure. And in an age where renumeration can dominate headlines, it showed what this is really all about. Being part of, or bearing witness to, history.
This is indeed a very special week – one that will ultimately crown the champion golfer of the year – but one that is so much bigger than any leaderboard. For this is the 150th Open Championship. At the home of golf.
It is a celebration of the game born in the Scottish sheep paddocks around this area that has now blossomed into a game that will see hundreds of thousands of fans swarm through the gates this week. It is a game that is still inherently open to all and enjoyed by multiple generations.
And while Poppy likely won’t ever remember the special time where Woods, an 82-time TOUR winner with 15 majors – two of which came at St. Andrews – made her the center of attention despite being in the middle of a spiritual setting on golfs grandest stage… Rory will.
“If you had of told 10-year-old me that I would play in something like this I’d have hardly believed it. Playing with my idol, ahead of such a special week, it’s just really really cool,” McIlroy said.
Woods and McIlroy were part of the last four-person team that included two-time Open champion Lee Trevino and 2018 Women’s Open champion Georgia Hall to take on the first, second, 17th and 18th holes at the Old Course in a better ball format competition that, as the name suggests, celebrates the former champions of The Open.
Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus and Lee Trevino pose for a photo at the Celebration of Champions Challenge during a practice round prior to The 150th Open at St Andrews. (Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)
Fans were treated to a cavalcade of legends including gems of the past like Tom Watson and Gary Player to current stars Jordan Spieth and Collin Morikawa among many more. Nicklaus is also here to become just the third American, behind Benjamin Franklin and Bobby Jones, to be given honorary citizenship of the town having won The Open here in 1970 and 1978.
This was pinch yourself stuff. Tell your grandkids stuff. One golf analyst was going to leave early to buy a desk fan for his non-air-conditioned accommodation before the light bulb went off… when will you see something like this ever again?
The fans cheered for them all. But they saved the loudest roars for Woods who will tee it up Thursday in likely his last real chance of making it three wins at the iconic venue. Despite the numerous complications he faces with his body following a car accident last year, Woods showed glimpses of the smarts that helped him dominate in 2000 and plot his way to another win in 2005 as he birdied two of the four holes.
If there was a way to count it, it’s possible a world record number of phone photos would’ve been taken in the four-hole stretch. A chef at The Old Course Hotel on the 17th fairway snuck away from his burners and grabbed his pictures through the glass while down below him, sitting out on a grass lawn, was former Masters champion Adam Scott and his father Phil, also realizing the significance of the occasion enough to come out and soak it all up.
“For a lot of guys who haven’t been here like myself, to come here, look out the hotel, walk down 17, 18 on Sunday when you have the public just walking, that’s the coolest experience as a fan, as a golfer, anyone could ask for because it’s a game for everyone,” defending champion Morikawa said.
“The stretch of just teeing off on No. 1, just seeing 17, just seeing 18, you feel the history, and you feel the importance of everything that has come before us at this golf course and golf in general. It’s really cool to be here.”
For the record, the team of Sir Nick Faldo, Louis Oosthuizen, Zach Johnson and John Daly – all winners at St. Andrews – posted the low score Monday to claim bragging rights over the fellow former champs. They won be three shots and perhaps foreshadowed what might be a birdie fest later in the week. Some are fearful the modern golfer might have usurped The Old Course … Nicklaus isn’t one of them.
“They might shoot low. So what? That’s sort of the way I look at it. They’re shooting low now compared to what they shot 100 years ago. But times change and golfers get better, equipment gets better, conditions get better,” Nicklaus said.
“I don’t think it really makes a whole lot of difference, frankly. It’s St. Andrews and it is what it is, and it will produce a good champion. It always has. That’s the way I look at it. Bobby Jones always said a golfer’s resume isn’t complete unless he’s won at St. Andrews.”
And so we await which golfer will complete his resume – but ultimately – just being part of this iconic week – is enough.
Rory McIlroy returns to RBC Canadian Open to face strong field
By: PGA Tour
TORONTO, Ont. – Rory McIlroy marked his ball with a Canadian $1 coin, nicknamed a ‘Loonie,’ the last time he played the RBC Canadian Open. He received one from his pro-am partner in 2019 and that extra luck worked. He won.
This year, tournament organizers came prepared.
“I turned up to the locker room and there was already one in my locker,” said McIlroy with a smile. “And then one of my pro-am partners gave me one this morning on the first green as well.
“I’m loaded with loonies this week.”
McIlroy will (finally) defend his title this week in Canada, three years after he won by seven shots at Hamilton Golf and Country Club. He flirted with 59 much of the final day before shooting a thrilling 61 that separated him from the field.
He comes to St. George’s Golf and Country Club looking to go back-to-back for the first time on the PGA TOUR, but to do it he’ll have to top one of the strongest fields north of the border in recent memory.
McIlroy is one of five golfers ranked in the top 10 in the world who are teeing it up this week in Toronto, including Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns. The top two players in the FedExCup are making their Canadian Open debuts. Scheffler, who also sits atop the world ranking, has won four times this year, including the Masters, while Burns earned his third win of the season by beating Scheffler in a playoff at the recent Charles Schwab Challenge.
PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas and THE PLAYERS champion Cameron Smith are the other two top-10 players in the field this week. There are 20 Canadians teeing it up in their national open as well, including Corey Conners, the top-ranked Canadian in the FedExCup standings.
“It’s really exciting to have those guys here,” Conners said of the stout field. “I think national championships, wherever they’re played, have a little bit more prestige and guys think really highly of this event. There are so many historic names on the trophy, and it would be awesome to be added to that and I think a lot of those guys feel the same way. It’s a good part of your legacy to be able to call yourself a Canadian Open champion and national open champion.”
McIlroy comes into the week after a T18 at the Memorial. He notched three consecutive top-10 finishes in his previous three starts, including a runner-up at the Masters and an eighth-place finish at the PGA Championship. He sits 15th on the FedExCup standings.
So far, he’s “loved” St. George’s Golf and Country Club, which is hosting its sixth RBC Canadian Open. He said it’s a “really good” traditional layout – built in 1929 – that will serve as a strong place to compete before next week’s U.S. Open.
McIlroy will be grouped with Conners and Thomas for the first two rounds.
Thomas said he took a few days off after he missed the cut at the Charles Schwab Challenge and celebrated his PGA Championship victory with some high-school friends back home in Louisville. Playing the week before the PGA Championship paid off with his win at Southern Hills and he’s hoping it will do the trick again with the U.S. Open coming next week. But Thomas is quick to recognize the legacy of the Canadian Open, as well. This is the 111th playing of the tournament.
“You look at the history of this event, it kind of speaks for itself,’ says Thomas. “The opportunity to come to a place and a tournament that’s so historic … definitely makes it a little bit more special.”
Scheffler said “it was easy” for him to include the Canadian Open in his schedule with a comparable set-up at St. George’s to The Country Club at Brookline. With seven of the top 25 in the world (Matt Fitzpatrick, Tony Finau, Tyrell Hatton and Shane Lowry are the others) all playing this week, it’ll be a solid challenge.
“I’m preparing for next week’s U.S. Open, but I really want to win this week. I really want to win every time I tee it up and play,” says Scheffler. “We (drew) a really good field this week and so definitely looking forward to competing against these guys.”
While Scheffler is on top of the FedExCup standings with his excellent play so far this season, it’s two-time FedExCup winner McIlroy who has quickly become the top draw in Canada.
This is, of course, attributed to winning in his debut in 2019 – “It would be nice to keep that percentage up this week, for sure,” he said – and the fact that he acted as the ‘defending’ champion for two extra seasons. His group drew the biggest crowds in Wednesday’s pro-am at St. George’s.
“I’ve worked hard to get to this position,” he says. “I mean if I didn’t like the attention I would go and I would play another sport or I would get another job or whatever. But there’s a lot of things that come along with being one of the top players in the game and yeah, I do relish it. I like that, I like being in that position.”
Another position McIlroy enjoys being in is first place on PGA TOUR leaderboards, something he’ll try to do again this week in Canada.
And he’s got a good-luck coin ready to go.
RBC Canadian Open makes long-awaited return
By: PGA Staff
The population of Toronto is higher than that of Chicago, Houston, and Philadelphia. In fact, Toronto is the fourth-most populous city in the whole of North America.
And its mayor, John Tory, is a big fan of golf.
Count Tory as just one person who is thrilled to see the RBC Canadian Open return to the PGA TOUR schedule after a two-season hiatus due to complications from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s a big event,” Tory, who has been Toronto’s mayor since 2014, told PGATOUR.com. “It creates a lot of activity in the city for people to come and visit… and it’s just one more sign of a return to more normal life after a dismal period during the pandemic.”
The RBC Canadian Open is the only North American event on the TOUR’s schedule not to have been contested in both 2020 and 2021. The membership of St. George’s Golf and Country Club voted in favor of keeping the event at its course after the cancellation of 2020 and again in 2021, and the championship will return to the club – 11 miles from the CN Tower – for the sixth time.
In his Canadian Open debut, Rory McIlroy shot a 9-under 61 to win the 2019 Canadian Open by seven shots. The crowd was abuzz. McIlroy was the most notable entrant in that year’s field, and the Toronto Raptors were in the midst of their NBA Championship run.
So how do tournament organizers top that effort?
By going as big as possible.
“You take the bad and make the best out of it,” said Tournament Director Bryan Crawford. “When it was time to come back, we were going to come back in a big way, and that’s what is about to happen.”
John Sibley, Golf Canada’s Chief Commercial Officer, called this year’s Canadian Open the “largest operational undertaking” in the organization’s history. There will be approximately 210,000 square feet of hospitality – 92,000 more than at Hamilton Golf and Country Club three years ago.
The Rink will also make its return. It’s a somewhat Canadian cliché, but the par-3 16th hole will have hockey boards set up around it along with hospitality suites dubbed “penalty boxes.” But even Corey Conners, Canada’s top-ranked male golfer, enjoys The Rink’s buzz. He says he plans on giving away “a jersey or two” during tournament week.
“The atmosphere is really cool,” said Conners. “It’s something new and a little extra special about the event and hopefully we can hit some good shots.”
RBC Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Mary DePaoli has had a hard time containing her excitement with the return of the bank’s home-country event. RBC and AT&T are the only title sponsors on the TOUR schedule that operate two separate tournaments.
DePaoli said her team has learned a lot from operating the RBC Heritage at Hilton Head the last two years and is keen to put some of those lessons into practice at St. George’s. She said she’s excited for the support from the hometown fans, as well as PGA TOUR commissioner Jay Monahan and PGA TOUR Chief Tournaments & Competitions Officer Andy Pazder.
“They cannot wait to see this tournament come back online and mark the return of it back to Canada,” DePaoli said. “They know from their players there is a lot of enthusiasm for this tournament. They’re very proud of this tournament.”
Golf in Canada, despite its shortened season, has experienced a boom similar to most cities in North America. Between the pent-up excitement for the event and golf’s never-before-seen popularity, it should be a thrilling week for Canadian fans.
McIlroy returns to defend his title from 2019. FedExCup leader Scottie Scheffler also will be there, as will PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas, and PLAYERS champion Cam Smith.
There’s also a plethora of Canadians looking to win their national championship; there hasn’t been a homegrown winner since Pat Fletcher in 1954. Led by Conners and buoyed by fellow Presidents Cup hopefuls Mackenzie Hughes and Adam Hadwin, the Canadian contingent is strong. In fact, this could be the best year in recent memory for Canadian hopefuls.
Hadwin was low Canadian in 2019, finishing sixth at Hamilton. Mackenzie Hughes finished T14. Four Canadians made the cut.
“It’s a really special week for me… it’s right up there with the majors on my schedule,” said Conners. “I’m looking forward to trying to get myself in contention and I know it’ll be a great event. I’ve been telling lots of people: The Canadian fans are sure going to be excited that the PGA TOUR is coming back north of the border.”
Even the mayor thinks someone from the Canadian contingent has a good shot this year at St. George’s. Tory, 67, remembers George Knudson and Moe Norman and Mike Weir, but their successes came as singular stars. Now, he said, Canada has strength in numbers.
“I’m very proud of that as a golfer and as a Canadian,” he said. “We still have that one elusive victory – to have a Canadian win the Canadian Open. But given the performance of some of our players on the TOUR, this may well be the time that happens and that would be a wonderful thing.”
The mere return of the RBC Canadian Open itself is already a wonderful thing.
Top 10 equipment stories of the 2020-21 PGA TOUR season
The TOUR Championship has wrapped, concluding the 2020-2021 PGA TOUR season. Patrick Cantlay hoisted the FedExCup trophy thanks in no small part to a putter switch he made late in the season.
We may be slightly biased here at the Equipment Report, but we think it’s the perfect time to look back on some of the most significant PGA TOUR equipment stories of the year — and we had some good ones!
Harris’ HoHum
In January, Harris English won the Sentry Tournament of Champions with the same putter — a Ping Scottsdale HoHum — he used for his 2013 Mayakoba Golf Classic victory. Unique-looking putter, and a unique equipment tale here as we got the story from Ping TOUR Rep Tony Serrano about what English loves about his HoHum.
Hideki’s Scotty switch
Eternally in pursuit of the perfect putter, Hideki Matsuyama made a switch two weeks prior to the Masters, putting a 2012 Scotty Cameron Newport 2 Tour Prototype in the bag that was outfitted with a different grip than his Cameron Timeless.
Rory returns to old Protos
Rory McIlroy made a number of equipment changes in 2021. Most significant among the switches, certainly, was his return to his 2017 TaylorMade Rors Prototype irons prior to winning the Wells Fargo Championship.
Phil’s PGA Championship-winning driver
En route to his incredible PGA Championship victory, Phil Mickelson wielded a Callaway Epic Speed driver with a 47.9-inch shaft (right up against the USGA limit of 48 inches). We got the inside story of Phil’s build.
Morikawa finds a putter that performs
Struggling with alignment, Collin Morikawa built himself a custom TaylorMade TP Juno putter using the same MyTP custom putter builder that’s available to the public. While his gamer was ultimately slightly different, it was a wild “they’re just like us” tale.
Rahm’s U.S. Open-winning wand
Jon Rahm switched to an Odyssey Rossie S the tournament prior to his epic U.S. Open triumph. We got the full story of what happened at the Ely Callaway Performance Center in Carlsbad and why Rahmbo made the move away from the 2-Ball Ten putter he had been using.
Rory calls a Cameron into Olympic duty
Full-bag TaylorMade staffer captured the full attention of the golf equipment world when he arrived in Tokyo not with his TaylorMade Spider putter but with a Scotty Cameron 009M flatstick. We went in search of the story, and even though Rory has now made a return to the TaylorMade mallet, it was a fun feature to fill out.
Phil takes the armlock plunge
Always willing to experiment with his equipment, Phil Mickelson tried his hand (and arm) at armlock putting. Additionally, he used a prototype putter that featured an interesting backstory. And while the experiment is over, the story is well worth digging back into.
JT takes a teen’s advice
A question from a 15-year-old junior golfer prompted Justin Thomas to reconsider benching the Scotty Cameron Phantom X 5.5 with which he won 14 of his 15 PGA TOUR titles.
Little changes, big playoff payoff for Cantlay
Most recently on the “significant equipment storylines” front, Patrick Cantlay switched to a Scotty Cameron X 5 putter with a sightline (from an alignment aid-free version) and had the best performance in strokes gained: putting history. He then rode the red-hot putter to a FedExCup victory at East Lake. Sometimes the smaller adjustments pay the biggest dividends!
McIlroy, Johnson Headline Charity Match for COVID-19 Relief
By Doug Ferguson, AP Golf Writer
FedExCup triumph caps McIlroy’s greatest season
ATLANTA – The celebration was more muted than the first time Rory McIlroy won the FedExCup. And that was intentional.
When McIlroy holed a 20-foot putt to win at East Lake three years ago, he twice let out a primal scream of “Come On!” His mouth was agape as he looked skyward and puffed out his chest.
The context played a part in his visceral celebration. McIlroy, who holed a wedge shot on the 16th hole of the final round, had to endure a tense playoff to win his first FedExCup.
This time, McIlroy gave a simple downward swing of his fist after he tapped in to complete a four-shot victory at the TOUR Championship.
Since leaving East Lake last year, McIlroy has tried to not be swayed by the emotional swings that are inherent in this game. He doesn’t want his score to define him. This decision was part of McIlroy’s unceasing quest for improvement, what he calls his “personal journey” for both personal and professional improvement.
“Who I am as a person isn’t who I am as a golfer, and it took me a while to get to that point where I realized who those two people were,” he said earlier this year.
McIlroy, once the teenage phenom with the mop top of hair, turned 30 earlier this year. A few gray hairs now peek out from under his cap, but there are also advantages to his advancing age. His maturation paid off with the best season of his professional career.
The TOUR Championship was his third win of the season. He also won his first THE PLAYERS Championship and claimed the RBC Canadian Open by sprinting past the field with a final-round 61. This was his first three-win season in five years, and his first campaign with multiple wins since 2016.
Some may say his multiple-major season of 2014, or his dominant 2012, were better, but McIlroy gives the nod to this season. Victories are the most memorable metric for fans, but they’re also an imperfect one. Too much is determined by other players’ performances.
Players emphasize consistency because their play is all they can control. A string of high finishes proves they’re playing well. The wins are just a bonus. McIlroy finished in the top-10 in 75% of his starts this season – only two players other players did that in more than half their starts – and had a career-high 14 top-10s. He missed just two cuts.
“I think some of the work that I’ve put in on the mental side of the game, … I think you’re starting to see the fruition of that,” McIlroy said.
With Sunday’s win, McIlroy joins Tiger Woods as the only two-time FedExCup champions. This was the first year that the FedExCup paid $15 million, a $5 million increase over previous years. It’s an impressive figure – the largest single payout in professional golf history – but there may be another number that means more to him: +2.55.
That’s the number of strokes McIlroy beat the field by per round this season. Officially, it’s known as Strokes Gained: Total. To calculate it, just subtract McIlroy’s score from the field’s scoring average each day.
McIlroy’s mark this season is the highest of this decade, beating his own performance in 2012 (+2.41). It’s also the highest single-season mark by anyone not named Tiger Woods, per 15th Club’s Justin Ray.
At this point, many people are probably rolling their eyes, wondering how any statistic could outweigh an eight-figure check or a major trophy. But this metric says McIlroy just completed the best season of his PGA TOUR career, and he concurs.
“I think it is. We talk about consistency,” he said. “That attitude and consistency, day in, day out, I think that’s what you’ve seen over the course of this year, and hopefully will continue to see going forward.”
When 2019 began, it had been more than eight months since McIlroy’s last win, at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard. That was his only PGA TOUR win since the 2016 TOUR Championship.
He started this year with five consecutive top-10 finishes before arriving at TPC Sawgrass for THE PLAYERS Championship. His game was displaying promising signs, but he was also facing questions about his Sunday struggles.
McIlroy ended those queries with his Sunday performance at TPC Sawgrass. He started the final round one stroke off the lead, then 70 to beat Jim Furyk by one. McIlroy overcame a double-bogey on the fourth hole with four back-nine birdies.
TPC Sawgrass was a course that long confounded him. Pete Dye’s design handcuffed him, forcing him to keep his biggest asset, his driver, in the bag. That was in May, though, when the course was firm and fast. The tournament’s move to March, when the course played longer and the temperatures were cooler, allowed him to use that club more often.
He bogeyed the 14th to fall out of the lead, but responded to that miscue by making birdie on the next hole from a fairway bunker. He calls that 6-iron to 15 feet the most important shot of the season.
“That basically set up me going on to win THE PLAYERS Championship. If I don’t win THE PLAYERS, I don’t know what happens after that and where the season might go,” he said.
McIlroy’s streak of seven consecutive top-10 finishes ended at the Masters, the one tournament he needs to win to complete the career Grand Slam. He was never in contention at Augusta National, but rebounded from that disappointment with consecutive eighth-place finishes at the PGA and Wells Fargo Championship.
His second win was preceded by a missed cut at the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide. Having the weekend off was a blessing in disguise, giving him two extra days to prepare for his debut in the RBC Canadian Open, where he had authored one of the most memorable rounds of his career.
McIlroy decided this year that he would no longer work on his swing at a tournament. This week was the first that his swing coach, Michael Bannon, was on-site. McIlroy believes it’s another reason he was so steady this season.
“I made a plan at the start of the year not to really focus or worry about my swing the week that I’m playing,” he said. “I think you should do your work before the tournament starts, and then once you’re there, just go with what you have. That’s basically what I did this year.”
McIlroy entered the final round tied with Matt Kuchar and Webb Simpson, but flirted with 59 to win by seven.
Even the best golf season is not be devoid of disappointment, though. For McIlroy, it came in his home country. The Open was visiting Northern Ireland’s Royal Portrush for the first time in more than 50 years, but McIlroy’s stay was short. He knocked his first tee shot out-of-bounds and shot 79. A spirited Friday-afternoon charge, in front of a raucous crowd that was trying to will him to the weekend, fell short, but McIlroy was so touched by the outpouring that he got choked up in post-round interviews.
McIlroy’s game left him at an inopportune time in the next week, as well. He shot 62 in the third round of the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational to set up a heavyweight fight with Brooks Koepka in Sunday’s final group. McIlroy hit more like a featherweight, though. He made just one birdie and lost by five.
Those disappointments set the stage for the TOUR Championship. They showed McIlroy, who’d been trying so hard to stay even-keeled, that there were still appropriate times to channel his emotions.
“Brooks went out there in Memphis and shot 65 and just basically dominated the tournament, dominated me. And I realized if I want to become the dominant player in the world again, I need to be more like that,” McIlroy said. “I guess that’s the ultimate compliment I can give Brooks, that today I wanted to be a little bit more like him.”
McIlroy arrived at East Lake ranked fifth in the FedExCup and five shots behind leader Justin Thomas. McIlroy started the final round a stroke behind Koepka, setting up another final pairing between the season’s two best players.
Koepka struggled with his driving, including a lost ball on the seventh hole. McIlroy, who shot a bogey-free 33 on Sunday’s front nine, took a one-shot lead at the turn.
He ranked in the top 25 of the four Strokes Gained statistics that measure each aspect of the game (Off-the-Tee, Approach, Around-the-Green, Putting), and he exhibited that well-rounded game on the final nine of the season. McIlroy pulled away early on the back nine, beating Koepka by four strokes on the first four holes of that side.
He parred the 10th hole, then executed a delicate flop shot from behind the 11th green. McIlroy stiffed an iron shot on 12, then holed an 11-footer for birdie on the next hole. He made back-to-back bogeys on 14 and 15, but holed a 9-footer for par on 16 before birdieing the last two holes.
“He played great golf today, pretty much mistake-free. He was impressive to watch. He put it in the fairway a lot, hit a lot of greens,” Koepka said. “And even his short game, the up-and-down he made on 11, that was pretty tasty right there. And then the way he finished it off right there was very impressive.”
McIlroy had returned the favor from the FedEx St. Jude Invitational. Beating Brooks just weeks after the beat-down in Memphis is part of a bigger theme to this season. McIlroy also is proud that he ranked 10th in bounce-back, the rate at which a player follows a bogey with a birdie. During his earlier days, McIlroy’s shoulders would slump shortly after making some bogeys. He is steelier now.
“If you look at my bounce-back stat this year, it’s way up there, and I think that’s a good indication of where my mind and my attitude is while I’m out there playing,” he said.
McIlroy now has 17 PGA TOUR wins. All have come since 2010, making him the unquestionable Player of the Decade. He’s seeking more wins in the next decade, but is driven by another benchmark.
“The Holy Grail is three,” he said. He was referring to 3.0 Strokes Gained per round. Woods is the only player who’s done that.
“I’m not going to stop until I get to three because Tiger has done that multiple seasons, and when you get to three strokes gained, you’re just in another league,” McIlroy said. “That’s what I strive towards.”
The FedExCup was the end of McIlroy’s most consistent season. And it may just be the beginning of another act in his career.