SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Justin Thomas did only one round in the 1960s at Harding Park, drawing 37th and losing the number 1 ranking he had held in a week.
The week was not a total loss.
Thomas has played so well this year with top three PGA Tour wins that he is certain to be the # 1 seed at the start of the following season at the FedEx Cup. That also means he wins the Wyndham Rewards for driving after the regular season. , which comes with a $ 2 million bonus.
So he made $ 45,000 from the PGA Championship, raised $ 2 million, and will likely lose around $ 5,000 for missing a putt (not for missing the putt, but because of his verbal reaction to why the ball didn’t go into the putt. cup).
The remainder of the Wyndham Rewards win – moving up to 10th place – has not been decided. Four players in the top 10 are on the pitch at the Wyndham Championship: Webb Simpson (# 3), Sungjae Im (# 5), Patrick Reed (# 6) and Brendon Todd (# 9).
Lanto Griffin and Abraham Ancer are not far from the top 10 and will have a chance to get an extra bonus.
golf for three months, the tour said in late April that players at least will keep the same status they had at the start of the 2019-20 season, with an opportunity to improve it based on their play." data-reactid="42">Otherwise, the final event of the regular season doesn’t hold the pressure as much as we normally do. At stake is the ability to continue playing in the lucrative playoff events. But nobody will lose their entire card. Due to the coronavirus pandemic that shut down golf for three months, the tour said in late April that players will maintain at least the same status they had at the start of the 2019-20 season, with the opportunity to improve it based on the their game.
This is good news for someone like Russell Knox, who has had a streak of 10 lost cuts – before and after shutdown – and is FedEx Cup number 124 for the Wyndham championship.
For others, it is simply an opportunity to improve their position during the post-season. This will be the second year of just three post-season events. The top 125 goes to the Northern Trust, but only the top 70 goes to the BMW Championship.
This makes the week especially important for Brooks Koepka, whose 74th Sunday at the PGA Championship was a missed opportunity for a historic triple and the FedEx Cup. Koepka, scheduled to play his sixth consecutive event, has just moved up four places. at number 92.
THE FIGHTS OF SPIETH
Jordan Spieth’s struggles have never been more evident than Saturday morning at Harding Park when he was paired with Justin Thomas, one of his best friends. They both cut the number. Only one of them remained near the lower back. Thomas has escaped five birds in seven holes. Spieth had four bogeys in six holes, shooting 76.
Spieth finished with a 67 to equalize for the 71st. It was the 14th time in the last 15 events that he has made the cut that he has finished at least eight shots out of command. The exception was Colonial, when he shot 71 on the last day to equalize for 10th, four shots behind.
Spieth declined interviews after the first three rounds at Harding Park, stopping briefly with ESPN on Sunday to talk about how the field played out.
golf course is always a good thing.''" data-reactid="50">”I enjoyed myself. I felt I swung the bat better and made some nice putts, ” he said. “Getting reps on a major championship golf course is always a good thing.”
Thomas wasn’t overly concerned about Spieth and said he believes his friend will be fine.
“Sometimes all it takes is a week and all of your confidence returns,” said Thomas.
Spieth returns to work this week at the Wyndham Championship. He hasn’t made it to the Tour Championship since 2017, the year of his last win. He’s now number 94, sure of the postseason, but with only three playoff events, there’s no guarantee he’ll play more than a week.
THE SHADES OF LEFTY
Phil Mickelson came back from closing wearing sunglasses and it wasn’t just a question of style.
During his time on the booth with CBS on Saturday at the PGA Championship, Mickelson said he treated his face with a cream that helps prevent sun cancer. For two weeks, he said, the skin becomes mottled as it kills cancer cells.
“And when I got out, I had to wear some protection,” he said. “ So I wore these glasses to protect the area around my eyes. ”
golf with them and had no issues." data-reactid="58">It turns out he liked them. They didn’t move in his face when he swung a club. He played golf with them and had no problems.
“This is kind of where it started,” he said. And then my eyes were much more relaxed at the end of the day. They weren’t squinting the whole time. ”
But he couldn’t leave it like that.
“Not everyone can pull that look out,” Mickelson said.
CLUTCH BY
Former Masters champion Charl Schwartzel had reason to celebrate Friday without ever being on the hunt for the PGA championship. He got up and down from a bunker on the 18th hole, making a par putt just within 15 feet for a 68 to cut the number.
That meant he was guaranteed at least two FedEx Cup points. And that’s exactly what he needed to match the number 125 points last year.
Schwartzel, who equalized in 58th place, struggled with a wrist injury and showed signs of progress. Making the cut was great. So it was his third place finish at the 3M Open two weeks earlier. This caught the attention of the PGA of America, which gave it an exemption in the PGA championship.
“It’s been a real struggle for me over the past couple of years with injuries,” Schwartzel said. ” I had to do a medical (extension) visit and went on a real roller coaster – some good things, and then some really bad things. It was wild and difficult to make things work. It has been up and down. ”
He is now number 125 in the FedEx Cup this year, 11 points clear of Bronson Burgoon. Schwartzel is playing in the Wyndham league this week, and he must at least hold his position to advance to the postseason for the first time in two years.
OPEN US
Li Haotong ended up with a double bugbear, and it was more expensive than just money. This knocked him out of the top 10 and cost him a spot at the US Open next month at the Winged Foot in New York.
The US Open offered seats to the top three PGA players not yet eligible, provided they were in the top 10. That double bugbear sent Li from a 10th draw to a 17th draw.
Two more seats are available at the Wyndham Championship, while the focus also shifts on the Korn Ferry Tour.
Five top-ranked players at last week’s Portland Open earned a spot at the Winged Foot: Will Zalatoris, Davis Riley, Lee Hodges, Taylor Pendrith and Paul Barjon. Hodges won in Portland to enter the top five.
Five other Korn Ferry Tour players can participate in the US Open based on a special money list from these next three events.
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Danielle Kang will try to become the first player in four years to win three consecutive LPGA Tour events. It’s at the Scottish Ladies Open. The last to do so was Ariya Jutanugarn in 2016. … Dustin Johnson is the first player to be ranked second in the PGA championship in subsequent years by Jack Nicklaus in 1964 and 1965 .. … The LOCALiQ series for players Canadian, Chinese and Latin American circuits for the PGA Tour now has a conclusion. The tour says an end-of-season tournament October 26-30 will be held at the Paradise Island Ocean Club in Nassau, Bahamas. It will culminate an eight-tournament season for those who have been sidelined by the smaller circuit seasons canceled by the pandemic.
STATISTICS OF THE WEEK
Over the past five years of the PGA championship, players have posted all four rounds in the 1960s without winning 16 times. That’s once more than in the previous 58 years combined.
FINAL WORD
Going down the stretch in the last nine of a major, everyone knows it’s time you go get it. Are you an observer of the ranking? Did you know where you were? What is your mindset at that moment in the last 2 and a half hours of your round? ” – Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry, asking Collin Morikawa the first question after winning the PGA championship.
