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Buddy Referral Program

• Purchase either golf membership or Player’s Card before 12.31.2018
• Bring in New Annual Member, and we’ll give you $500 in club credit to use for anything at Otter Creek. You will get $500 Credit for the second and $250 subsequent referrals!
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Buddy Referral Program

• Purchase either golf membership or Player’s Card before 12.31.2018
• Bring in New Annual Member, and we’ll give you $500 in club credit to use for anything at Otter Creek. You will get $500 Credit for the second and $250 subsequent referrals!
• Bring in Player’s Card Holder, and we’ll give you $100 in club credit to use for anything at Otter Creek. You will get $50 Credit for the second and subsequent referrals!

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September 17, 2018
By Sean Martin, PGATOUR.COM

FedExCup update: The final 30 in Atlanta

The PGA TOUR took a week off before its season finale, but the Monday Finish isn’t taking a break. Instead of looking back at last week, we will look ahead to the TOUR Championship and the race for the FedExCup. Here are some numbers you need to know before the action gets underway Thursday at East Lake.

1. THE YOUNG AND VICTORIOUS

FedExCup leader Bryson DeChambeau celebrated his 25th birthday on Sunday. That could be a good omen. The average age of the past four FedExCup champions? Twenty-five years old.

That’s a drastic difference from the first seven FedExCups, when the average champion was 35.1 years old.

DeChambeau leads the FedExCup after winning the first two events of the Playoffs. He and Rory McIlroy are the only players to win multiple Playoffs events before the age of 25. Jordan Spieth, Xander Schauffele and Justin Thomas are the only other players to win a Playoffs event before the age of 25.

DeChambeau’s wins were the ninth and 10th victories this season by a player 25 or younger. That’s tied for the second-most in TOUR history (since the PGA TOUR started keeping age records in 1970).

Most wins by 25 and under
2016-17: 18
2017-18: 10
2000: 10

In 2000, Tiger Woods accounted for nine of the 10 wins by a player aged 25 or under.

2. DRIVE FOR DOUGH

Here’s a quick look at how the TOUR Championship field ranks in the four Strokes Gained statistics. Though the saying “Drive for show and putt for dough” has been around for decades, the modern thinking on TOUR is that ball-striking is the true key to consistent success. It’s obviously important to putt well, and each player gets it in the hole in a different fashion, but the game’s top ranks are dominated by its best ball-strikers.

Average ranking of TOUR Championship qualifiers
Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee: 54.2
Strokes Gained: Approach: 42.2
Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green: 58.7
Strokes Gained: Putting: 69.4

TOUR Championship qualifiers in top 20
Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee: 13
Strokes Gained: Approach: 11
Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green: 9
Strokes Gained: Putting: 5

Nearly half of the TOUR Championship field is in the top 20 of Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee. Eight of the top nine players in that statistic – Dustin Johnson, Bubba Watson, Gary Woodland, Jon Rahm, Brooks Koepka, Francesco Molinari, Patrick Cantlay and Rory McIlroy – qualified for East Lake.

3. DJ’s FEDEXCUP QUEST

Dustin Johnson is fourth in this year’s FedExCup standings. He has already finished in the top five of the FedExCup four times, tied with Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk for most top-five finishes in FedExCup history.

Woods (2007, ’09) and Furyk (2010) each have a FedExCup victory included among their handful of high finishes. Johnson is seeking his first.

This is the 10th consecutive season that Johnson has qualified for East Lake, the longest streak on TOUR. He finished a career-best second in the 2016 FedExCup. He shared the 54-hole lead at that year’s TOUR Championship but shot 73 in the final round. Rory McIlroy beat Ryan Moore in a playoff to win the TOUR Championship and FedExCup (Johnson would have claimed the Cup if Moore had won the playoff).

Johnson finished fourth in last year’s FedExCup.

4. WISE FOR HIS AGE

Aaron Wise is the only rookie to qualify for East Lake, a feat that should make him a lock to win the Rookie of the Year award. Just two years ago, Wise was winning the NCAA Championship as a sophomore at Oregon.

Wise, 22, is in a select group to make the TOUR Championship at such an early age. Only Tiger Woods, Jordan Spieth, Sergio Garcia and Si Woo Kim have made the TOUR Championship at an earlier age.

Wise arrives at East Lake ranked 21st in the FedExCup standings.

He turned pro immediately after winning the national championship, then graduated from the Mackenzie Tour-PGA TOUR Canada that same year. He needed just one season on the Web.com Tour to graduate to the PGA TOUR.

Wise has won in each of his first three pro seasons, claiming a title on each of the three tours he has played in his brief career.

5. XANDER RETURNS

Xander Schauffele waited until the 11th hour to earn the opportunity to defend his TOUR Championship title. Schauffle jumped from 41st to 18th in the FedExCup with his third-place finish at the BMW Championship.

The TOUR Championship may be the toughest title to defend in golf. There are no invitations for past champions. Every player, even the previous year’s champion, must finish in the top 30 of the FedExCup to make it to East Lake.

Schauffele is just the fourth player in the FedExCup era to earn an opportunity to defend his TOUR Championship title. Phil Mickelson (won in 2009), Brandt Snedeker (2012) and Jordan Spieth (2015) are the others.

Schauffele hasn’t won this season after his two-win rookie campaign, but he has had several impressive finishes in some of golf’s biggest events. In addition to his third-place finish at Aronimink, he was runner-up at both THE PLAYERS Championship and Open Championship and sixth at the U.S. Open.

The pressure of increased expectations has had an impact on Schauffele. He finished third in last season’s FedExCup, the highest finish ever by a rookie. He had been a career-long underdog, an overlooked member of the sterling Class of 2011 who starred at a smaller school (San Diego State). Now he’s one of the game’s top prospects.

“I felt like I was supposed to come out here (this year) and win and make it look easy. It’s been quite the contrast,” Schauffele, 24, said at the BMW. “We’re dealing with that and just trying to get better.”

Source: pgatour.com

NORTON, MA – SEPTEMBER 03: Bryson DeChambeau of the United States reacts on the 15th green during the final round of the Dell Technologies Championship at TPC Boston on September 3, 2018 in Norton, Massachusetts. 

Bryson goes back-to-back

This time in 2016, Bryson DeChambeau didn’t have his tour card. He’s now weeks away from cashing golf’s biggest paycheck.

Fresh off a resounding win at Ridgewood, the 24-year-old ran the performance back at TPC Boston, his final-round 67 good enough for a two-shot victory over Justin Rose to capture the Dell Technologies Championship.

“Consistency has been a big thing for me,” said DeChambeau, who will be No. 1 spot in the FedEx Cup standings heading into East Lake no matter what happens at the BMW Championship. “I’ve been trying to get that week in and week out, and I was able to kind of figure something out last week on the putting green and that’s kind of progressed me to move forward in the right way.”

DeChambeau began the weekend seven shots back of the leaders, but made his charge on Sunday, an eight-under 63 earning him a spot in the final pairing with Abraham Ancer. Bryson put an early end to the afternoon with five birdies on the front nine, his steady ball-striking (sixth in sg/tee-to-green) and short game (sixth in putting) keep contenders at bay.

DeChambeau is only the second player to win the first two legs of the FedEx Cup (Vijay Singh accomplished the feat in 2008). The win also comes near the two-year anniversary of DeChambeau, in the Web.com Finals after struggling in his first summer on tour, grabbing the DAP Championship to earn promotion to the bigs. Moving to No. 7 in the world—a ranking better than Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler, Jason Day and Patrick Reed—and a Ryder Cup bid looming, don’t think you’re going to see DeChambeau back in the minors anytime soon.

Speaking of Ryder Cup…

Finau making life easy on Furyk

The most important responsibility of a Ryder Cup captain is choosing his at-large selections. And also the most scrutinized. Case in point: Darren Clarke picking Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer due to their experience rather than their play in 2016. A move that backfired, with the two going 1-6 in seven matches at Hazeltine.

Which brings us to Jim Furyk, manning the helm of the American squad this fall. Furyk technically has four picks at his disposal, although—thanks to strong seasons, their roles in the team’s brain trust, and frankly, their importance in promotion and marketing—many believe Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson are already on the team. That leaves two spots, one of which DeChambeau has essentially locked up. And if DeChambeau’s work the past two weeks have earned him the nod, the same could be said about Tony Finau.

A week after finishing runner-up to DeChambeau at the Northern Trust, Finau turned in another fine display, finishing T-4 at TPC Boston. Following Sunday’s round, Finau was not shy about this Paris ambitions.

“The more solid I play each week, I’m making it tough to not pick me, if I’m being honest,” Finau said. “I’m not the one that gets to pick, I’m the one that just gets to play. But I’ve played some nice golf these last couple weeks, and if that’s what it comes down to when (Furyk) makes his decision to pick a team for the Ryder Cup, and that’s what he’s waiting for for those picks, then I think I’m going to be a hard guy to look past.”

Finau makes a compelling argument. Finau is crazy long (third in distance), racks up the red numbers (sixth in eagles, 11th in birdies), is tough as nails (remember that 68 at Augusta National after dislocating his ankle?), and only Dustin Johnson has more top-10 finishes this year. That three of those came at majors doesn’t hurt his cause.

The only real knock on Finau is his lack of wins—his only career victory came at the 2016 Puerto Rico Open—but it’s one he’s not giving much thought.

“I’m trying to win every time I play,” Finau said. “I haven’t been able to do it, but I just feel the more I give myself opportunities, it’s going to happen. And my game feels as good as ever.”

Furyk will announce three of his picks on Tuesday, with the final selection coming after the BMW Championship. Theoretically, Furyk could announce Finau next week. But the 28-year-old doesn’t need another tournament to make his case.

Short-game slump continues for Tiger

At one point, he was three shots off the lead on Monday. That was the good news for Tiger Woods. The bad is the 14-time major winner remains flummoxed on the greens.

Woods went to his third flat stick of the year in Boston, desperately seeking answers for a short game that ranked last in New Jersey. Though his putting showed signs of life earlier in the week, it failed him again as the tournament progressed, posting negative strokes gained totals on Sunday and Monday and needing 33 strokes on the greens in the final round. Trouble that transformed a possible top-five standing into a T-24 finish.

To be fair, it wasn’t just the putter that was off on Monday, as Woods’ usually-stout second-shot game failed to fire on all cylinders. His driving didn’t do him any favors, either.

Still, if Tiger hopes to make it to the Tour Championship—and perhaps more importantly, be formidable in France—he needs to right the ship with the short game, and in a hurry. That this week’s BMW Championship is at Aronimink Golf Club, one of the harder venues in the country, won’t help.

A brutal missed gimme

Of course, Woods’ putting woes are nothing compared to this.

“This” being Joe Durant at the 17th hole of the PGA Tour Champions’ Shaw Charity Classic. Durant was tied with Scott McCarron, looking at a birdie attempt to take the lead into the final hole. Alas, Durant’s attempt failed to find the cup.

And so did his par putt from gimme length.

Ahead, McCarron birdied the final hole, and though Durant also made bird, the gimme ultimately cost him a shot at a playoff.

Personally, I blame the yellow ball.

Mahan regains tour card

Hunter Mahan has lost his way inside the ropes the last few seasons. The former World No. 4 fell to a low as 859th after last year’s U.S. Open and, following a failed attempt at the Web.com Tour Finals, lost his tour card for the first time in his career. He’ll start his revival bid in earnest next season, with full exemption in tow.

Mahan, who made appearances on the tour this year thanks to past champion status, accumulated enough non-member points to earn a return to this year’s Web Finals. The six-time tour winner made an auspicious showing at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship, the circuit’s first postseason event, but it was his performance at the DAP Championship that is sending him back to the big leagues. Mahan bounced back from a so-so 71 start to turn in a 66, 65 and 67, rounds good enough to vault him to a runner-up finish at Canterbury Golf Club. The T-2 bestowed $88,000, a sum that guarantees Mahan will receive one of the 25 cards dispersed through the tour’s Finals.

Mahan, who’s made seven Ryder and Presidents Cups appearances for the United States and $30 million in his career, has just one top-10 finish on the PGA Tour since 2015. Mahan asserted that fighting his swing back happened to coincide with starting a family, and admitted he was unable to adjust according on the course.

“We have a lot going on,” Mahan said. “Mentally, you’d like to deal with one thing at a time. I think it overwhelmed me and I lost track of my swing a little bit. It feels like an avalanche, but it’s just a snow flurry.

“I’m a father and a husband, and I have to be there first. It’s hard to be there mentally in both places.”

This past year, Mahan’s family also dealt with the loss of his sister-in-law Katie Enloe, wife to SMU coach Jason Enloe, to leukemia.

However, Mahan had showed signs of life prior to the Web Finals, nearly winning the alternate event Barbasol Championship in July. With his tour card in hand, Mahan likely won’t return to the world’s top five. But he’s only 36 years old, and proved this week he still has plenty of gas left in the tank.

Source: golfdigest.com

This article is from Dew Sweeper, your one-stop shop to catch up on the weekend action from the golf world.