By Brian Wacker
In 2018, Phil Mickelson beat Tiger Woods in The Match, a $9 million pay-per-view exhibition played on Thanksgiving weekend at Shadow Creek, the swanky Las Vegas course built by hotel and real-estate magnate Steve Wynn and designed by Tom Fazio.

Now the PGA Tour will try its hand there.

Tour officials announced on Monday that this year’s CJ Cup will be moved from Nine Bridges Golf Club on Jeju Island, South Korea, to Shadow Creek because of the COVID-19 pandemic. With current travel restrictions in South Korea, which include a 14-day quarantine for anyone traveling into the country from the United States, staging the event in Asia this year became too big an obstacle.

The tournament, officially renamed the CJ Cup @ Shadow Creek for 2020, will continue to have a limited field (78 players). It is scheduled for Oct. 15-18, the week after the tour’s annual stop in Las Vegas, the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open at TPC Summerlin, making it easier for players to compete in both events.

“While our players have always looked forward to visiting Korea, the current circumstances provided this new opportunity to bring the event to Las Vegas which will also provide brand exposure and awareness to the viewing audience in the United States and around the globe,” said Ty Votaw, PGA Tour executive VP, International, in a press release. “We are thankful for the partnership and support that CJ Group and the Korean PGA have shown in view of the circumstances. We are confident this year’s event will showcase a stellar field while bringing the CJ Group’s brand values to a new time zone.”

Shadow Creek ranks 26th on Golf Digest’s most recent ranking of America’s 100 Greatest Courses, and fifth among public courses. First constructed as a private club in 1990 for Wynn to entertain clients and his celebrity buddies, its exclusivity was at one time legendary—up until 2000, the only way on it was through an invite from Wynn. That March, MGM acquired Shadow Creek as part of its $4.4 billion purchase of Wynn’s Mirage Resorts, and the course was opened to the public.

Not that a round comes cheap. The greens fee is $500, which also covers a limo ride from the Vegas Strip 20 minutes to the south, and golfers must stay at an MGM hotel in order to play it. Tee times are available on a limited basis and only a handful of groups are allowed on the course each day.

The course has also undergone some changes since it first opened. Originally 7,239 yards, it was lengthened by more than 300 yards as part of a redesign in 2008. A seven-acre short-game facility was added to the grounds as well.

Shadow Creek is also the home to Woods’ annual Tiger Jam Invitational, typically held in May as part of a two-day weekend of events to raise money for the Tiger Woods Foundation. This year’s event was postponed because of coronavirus.

Justin Thomas is the defending CJ Cup champion, having also won the inaugural edition of the event in 2017. Brooks Koepka claimed the title in 2018.

As for the tour’s other two events on its Asian swing—the Zozo Championship in Japan and the WGC-HSBC Champions in China, held the two weeks following the CJ Cup—their fates are unclear. Tour officials have not commented about the status of either event. However, sources tell Golf Digest that the Zozo will be brought to the U.S. as well for 2020, with California’s Sherwood Country Club lined up as a one-time host.

The WGC-HSBC Champions, meanwhile, is likely not to be played, with China having cancelled all sporting events for the remainder of 2020 (with the exception of trials that are related to the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing).

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By John Feinstein
Although the PGA Tour has been able to pull off a restart to its 2020 schedule during the past six weeks, the rest of the year remains in flux.

Last week’s Memorial Tournament was supposed to be the first event to allow fans to return. This week’s 3M Open outside Minneapolis, at one point, was going to be allowed to take the step of staging pro-ams and having some corporate hospitality. The spike in the COVID-19 pandemic forced the tour to call off the fans and the pro-ams. And earlier last week, the remaining events on the tour schedule through Labor Day weekend’s Tour Championship also announced they will be held without either.

There is also the issue of the three events that had been scheduled to be played in Asia in October: the CJ Cup @ Nine Bridges in South Korea, the Zozo Championship in Japan and the WGC-HSBC Champions in China. According to sources at the tour, it is virtually certain that none of those events will be played in Asia, although the first two are likely to be moved to sites in the United States.

Given the restrictions in international travel, few players were going to risk travelling to or from Asia in October. “It isn’t just about getting there, it’s the possibility of being quarantined and being stuck there for a period of time,” one source said. “With the way the pandemic has been trending here, the chances that we could make the events happen even if players were willing to go isn’t great right now.”

The tour’s initial plan, according to sources, was to play the CJ Cup and the Zozo in Las Vegas because those events come immediately after the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open already scheduled for TPC Summerlin. That could create a three-week bubble in the same city—perhaps at the same golf course. But with Las Vegas being one of the areas hard hit by the recent COVID-19 spike, moving both of the Asia events to other cities is now an increased possibility.

The event in China almost certainly won’t be played for a number of reasons. China has announced it is cancelling all sporting events for the rest of the year except for trials leading to the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. And HSBC wouldn’t want to play the event anywhere without its defending champion, Rory McIlroy. It was highly unlikely that McIlroy would chance taking a trip to China two weeks before the rescheduled Masters in November. Even if the HSBC were to be moved to the United States, it’s unclear whether McIlroy or other big names would enter that close to the Masters, which now comes near the end of what will be an active summer and fall for most players.

Zozo’s defending champion is Tiger Woods. The tournament is scheduled for three weeks out from the Masters and, if it is played in the U.S., the chances of Woods playing are much greater. “They might just call Tiger and say, ‘Tell us where you want to play,’ and go there,” one player said. “As long as he enters, they’ll be happy.”

With the Asia events still three months away, sources say the tour is holding off on any final decisions on where to play until it has secured courses and consulted with the players. The latter hasn’t happened yet. “I’ve been on a lot of conference calls about all sort of issues the last couple of months, but Asia hasn’t come up yet,” said Charley Hoffman, chairman of the Players Advisory Council [PAC]. “I’m sure they want to get their ducks in a row before they bring it up to us.”

Kyodo News
Tiger Woods celebrates after winning the 2019 Zozo Championship.

PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan was no more transparent with the media when asked about the Asian tournaments this week than the tour has apparently been with the players.

“We have three great partners in Asia in Zozo, CJ and HSBC, and we’re well aware of some of the challenges that we have in every market that we’re playing, and we’re working through those challenges with our partners,” Monahan said during a Wednesday press conference at the Memorial. “At this point I don’t have anything to offer other than that, but as soon as we’ve been able to determine what our answers are going to be, you guys will be the first to know.”

More pressing than Asia is the tour’s decision to continue to not allow fans, play pro-ams or have corporate hospitality at any tournaments. Sponsors put up millions to get TV exposure first and foremost, but also to entertain corporate clients. One sponsor, John Deere, pulled out for this year, but the tour had Workday willing to jump in on short notice. Workday will apparently be rewarded next year with a fall event, according to reports, most likely to be played in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Monahan was asked about the fall and when fans might be allowed back to tournaments, and was cautious in his response.

“We’re spending a lot of time in each of the subsequent tournaments, or each of the tournaments in the fall, working on a number of different ways to stage the event, which includes full capacity, partial capacity and obviously the way that we’re operating now, which is no spectators,” Monahan said. “And that will be largely dependent on what we hear from the communities where we play.”

Warren Little
Bryson DeChambeau walks with his pro-am group in the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club

Other sponsors are accepting their fate of fanless events in the near term for several reasons: They know that the tour’s carefulness is understandable, the tour has picked up the entire tab for purses since play started again, and the tour is apparently in a position to cover full purses at least until the end of the calendar year, if need be. Normally the tour pays for half of each week’s purse.

“You have to understand, they went 10 weeks without paying out purses, so they’re a little more flush than usual,” one source said. “Plus, they have an emergency fund that they can use, and their new TV deal [starting in 2022] will give them a 70 percent boost overall. You add that all up, and they’re in pretty good shape, even if this lasts a while longer.”

Equally important to the local tournament organizations, the tour has also pitched in to make sure the charities that normally receive money from the events are still getting their normal donations, or close to those numbers.

There’s no plan, at least for the moment, to alter purses for players. “If you get into next year and things haven’t changed, then they’d have to look at cutting purses,” said one source. “For now, though, the players are loving life. Full purses, no pro-ams, no corporate appearances, no autographs and almost no media. What could be more perfect for them?”

The players know that this isn’t a format that can survive long-term, however. “We understand the importance of pro-ams and corporate hospitality for the sponsors,” Hoffman said. “And we certainly understand the importance of the sponsors. When we can play pro-ams, we’ll be ready to play them. But I don’t blame the tour for being cautious.”

For now, the new norm will be the norm. Players and their corporate sponsors go to Asia every fall because there is lots of product to sell there. For this year, though, those trips won’t be happening.

Never in the history of sports has the old Brooklyn Dodgers rallying cry, “Wait ’til next year,” had more meaning.

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By Brian Wacker
Good closers are hard to come by (go ask the Yankees).

In golf, getting it done on Sunday is even more difficult. No one has done it better than Tiger Woods (duh). When leading or tied for the lead after 54 holes, he has a remarkable 55-4 record. When leading by himself, golf’s ultimate frontrunner is 43-2, the latest of those conversions coming at the 2018 Tour Championship, where he had a three-stroke cushion going into Sunday and cruised to his first victory in five years.

Leading by three helps of course. Justin Thomas had no such advantage at the CJ Cup @ Nine Bridges in South Korea after making a mess of the par-5 18th hole at Nine Bridges Golf Club on Saturday. He entered the final round tied with Danny Lee but shot a five-under 67 to win by two.

The victory was the 11th of the 26-year-old’s career on the PGA Tour and it put him in rare company. Only Tiger and Jack Nicklaus have compiled more Ws by age 27, with 34 (!) and 20, respectively. Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth are next, also with 11.

That’s the list.

Not lost in Thomas’ latest triumph: He’s now eight for 11 when leading or tied for the lead after 54 holes, which brings to mind a question:

Is Thomas the best closer in golf?

When comparing him to his contemporaries, at least, there’s a strong case to be made.

Let’s start with 30-year-old McIlroy and 26-year-old Spieth. They are seven for 12 and nine for 16, respectively, when it comes to cashing in final-round leads on tour.

The last time McIlroy led going into Sunday was at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude, where he had a one-shot edge over Brooks Koepka and got dusted, shooting a 71 to Koepka’s 65. A month later, McIlroy got the revenge he was seeking, erasing a one-shot deficit to Koepka to win the Tour Championship and FedEx Cup. Still, he has at times struggled to close (see, 2018).

Spieth, who hasn’t won an official tournament since the 2017 Open at Royal Birkdale, has endured missed opportunities, too. In an odd pattern, he failed to convert the first four times in his career that he led or shared the lead, before cashing in nine straight leads/co-leads, and then failing to do so the last three occasions. The most infamous of those came at the 2016 Masters, where he led by a shot going into the last round and led by five with nine holes to play before imploding with a bogey-bogey-quad run on 10, 11 and 12.

Jason Day, who won The Challenge: Japan Skins, an unofficial event, on Monday, followed a similar trend as Spieth early on. He converted just one of his first six leads/co-leads into victory. Since then, however, the 31-year-old 12-time tour winner is six for seven.

Koepka, who has seven career victories on tour, has also proven adept at closing. The 29-year-old four-time major champion is four for six overall, having gotten the job done each of the last four times he has been atop the leader board. The most recent of those came at the PGA Championship in May.

Koepka’s fellow bash bro Dustin Johnson? The 35-year-old with is eight for 17. He also has three additional wins in events that were shortened to 54 holes, having won two of those when leading after 36 holes.

Then there’s Rickie Fowler. He’s just two for seven, though he’s at least trending in the right direction, having won each of the last two times he took a lead into the final round, including earlier this year in Phoenix.

Thomas? He’s had his moments. At the Northern Trust earlier this year, he blew a four-stroke lead in the final round, imploding with a four-over 75 on a wind-whipped Sunday at Riviera.

Hey, no one’s perfect, not even Tiger, whose most infamous 54-hole lead that slipped away came when Y.E. Yang took him down at the 2009 PGA Championship.

Sometimes, someone else simply plays better. Sometimes, a player chokes.

Thomas is proving he doesn’t do much of the latter.

“I don’t think you can ever necessarily call yourself the best closer,” he said after his victory at the CJ Cup. “I’ve only won 11 times. I feel like once I get to 40 or 50 times and I’ve closed a lot of those, then I think that’s kind of different.”

Thomas is off to a good start.

“The biggest thing I think that I’ve gotten a lot better at is just learning, taking experiences and learning from them,” he said. “That’s what I did early in my career. There were a couple times I felt like I should have won the tournament but I did something incorrectly or hit a wrong club or thought how I shouldn’t have, and I was able when I finished to look back at that.

“That’s all I’m trying to do because I feel like if I can just improve a little bit every year, then there’s not really a ceiling that I feel like I can’t reach.”

The post Justin Thomas is making a case he’s the best closer in golf appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

As a youngster, Thomas would play the short course at PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla., determined to ace every hole. That doesn’t sound all that unusual, but this kid was different; if he didn’t ace it, he’d promptly move on to the next hole. Go low or go “doh.”

Now, it’s dough. And it keeps rolling in.

On Sunday on Jeju Island, South Korea, Thomas won the CJ Cup @ Nine Bridges, shooting a five-under-par 67 in the final round to beat Danny Lee by two strokes. The victory, which came with a $1.755 million payday, was Thomas’ 11th on the PGA Tour, adding his name to a group of players who have won at least that many times before the age of 27—Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Rory McIlroy and good friend Jordan Spieth, his roommate for the week. Thomas completed 72 holes in 20-under-par 268 for his second win in the event’s three-year history and his fourth victory in Asia.

Thomas, 26, appeared poised when he shot a second-round 63 on Friday at the Nine Bridges course, equaling his opening-round score from two years earlier when nine-under was good enough for victory. In August, at the BMW Championship at Medinah Country Club’s No. 3 course, Thomas obliterated the course record with a third-round 61. He won that won, too.

In six of his 11 wins, Thomas has shot at least one round of 63 or better. That includes the 2017 Sony Open in Hawaii, where he eagled the final hole at Waialae Country Club for a 59. Later that year, he tied the U.S. Open record with another 63, and set the record for the lowest round in relation to par at nine-under at Erin Hills.

Brooks Koepka’s body language looks fearless and Rory McIlroy’s swing looks flawless. OK, manufacture a rivalry if you like—and before aggravating a knee injury and withdrawing Koepka, World No. 1, added fuel to one with a putdown that was factually accurate if not facile—but does anyone want to tangle with Thomas in a scorecard playoff?

RELATED: A timeline—and appreciation—of Brooks Koepka’s brashness in 2019

Lee, a New Zealander of Korean heritage, tried his darndest. He began the final round tied with the Kentucky native and was still even until Thomas sank a 10-foot birdie putt on the 14th hole. Lee responded by bogeying the next two. They matched birdies on 18 for the final accounting.

“It is kind of bizarre knowing that I’ve won four times here,” Thomas said of his success in Asia. “I obviously like the golf courses, and I feel like they fit my game well, but it must be all the beef, maybe that’s what it is. No, I don’t know. I feel comfortable over here. I think it’s at a good time of year. But I worked really, really hard the last couple weeks to make sure I was ready for this tournament and I was glad that it showed.”

Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images
Thomas celebrates on the 18th green after clinching his fourth career win in Asia.

Going back to the BMW at Medinah, Thomas has finished first, third, fourth and first. He’s been no worse than T-12 in his last seven tournaments after recovering from a wrist injury he suffered in March at the Honda Classic that pushed him off the course for a month and forced him to miss the PGA Championship, which he won in 2017, the year he captured the FedEx Cup title and rose to No. 1 in the world for four weeks.

So, just to point out to the rivalry seekers, Thomas, who came into the week fifth in the World Rankings, has won a major in the last five years. In the last three, he has been among the top five in scoring average and top three in birdies, and he finished first in birdie average last season.

Thomas is the alpha golfer for this go-low era.

Though he has successfully converted a 54-hole lead eight of 11 times, Thomas dismissed the notion that he is a particularly good closer. Remember the mentality—hole-in-one or nothing for his younger iteration.

“I don’t think you can ever necessarily call yourself the best closer,” he demurred. “I’ve only won 11 times. I feel like once I get to 40 or 50 times and I’ve closed a lot of those, then I think that’s kind of different.”

Thomas doesn’t like to share his goals, but that sure appeared to hint at one. Another is continuing his education as a world-class player, which can only be achieved by winning.

“The biggest thing I think that I’ve gotten a lot better at is just learning, taking experiences and learning from them,” he said. “That’s what I did early in my career. There were a couple times I felt like I should have won the tournament, but I did something incorrectly or hit a wrong club or thought how I shouldn’t have, and I was able when I finished to look back at that. That’s all I’m trying to do, because I feel like if I can just improve a little bit every year, then there’s not really a ceiling that I feel like I can’t reach, I just want to try to win as many tournaments as I can.

“I feel like I’m starting to understand a lot better what I need to do, what my body needs to do on prior weeks before events, and I feel like I’m doing a good job,” he added.

With four fall victories, the most since the tour went to a split-calendar season in 2013, Thomas is entered in this week’s inaugural ZOZO Championship in Japan, so he has little time to assess his performance in South Korea—or to savour it. Not that he would be inclined to do the latter. There are more aces to chase, you know.

“In terms of the season, I definitely got off to a good start, there’s no doubt about that,” Thomas said. “So, you know, we’ll enjoy this win a little bit tonight. And then I need to get ready for next week because I have another tournament I’m trying to win next week.

“I’m ecstatic to have a trophy, another one of these in the library,” he added. “I still haven’t mastered how to write my name in Korean, I think I need to do that, but luckily I’ll have some practice, at least a year’s practice before next year.”

Numbers look the same, though, in any language. Thomas knows small ones loom large. He’s known it practically his whole life.

The post The secret to Justin Thomas’ success is simple: Never stop trying to go low appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Thomas, 26, shot a five-under-par 67 in the final round at the Nine Bridges course on Jeju Island, South Korea, to win by two over Danny Lee. He completed 72 holes in 20-under-par 268, two ahead of runner-up New Zealander Lee who was chasing his second PGA Tour victory, shot a three-under-par 69.

The two entered the final round tied for the lead and were still tied until Thomas holed a 10-foot birdie putt at the 14th hole and Lee bogeyed the 15th and 16th holes.

“I felt like this course provides a lot of opportunities for two-shot swings, so I kept trying to hit fairways and greens and give myself a lot of birdie chances,” Thomas said. “And he just kept getting up and down from everywhere. It was hard to kind of keep my composure and stay patient, but I knew that I was playing great golf and it felt like if I kept doing that, then at least I was going to have a great chance on the last couple holes.”

The victory was Thomas’ 11th in this his sixth season on the PGA Tour. It also was his second win in his last four starts, his first coming in the BMW Championship in August.

Those four starts represent a world-class player at the peak of his game. There was the victory in the BMW, followed by a tie for third in the Tour Championship, a tie for fourth in the Safeway Open, his first start of the new season, and now this, his second victory in the three-year history of the CJ Cup.

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By John Strege
Justin Thomas took a three-stroke lead into the 18th hole in the CJ Cup @ Nine Bridges on Saturday. But by the time he was done with the hole, he shared the lead with Kiwi Danny Lee heading into the final round.

The three-stroke swing occurred after Thomas hit his second shot from the middle of the fairway way right and into the water that surrounds the green on the par-5 18th at Nine Bridges on Jeju Island, South Korea. He would make a bogey 6, while Lee holed a 30-foot eagle putt from off the green.

Thomas, who is bidding to win the event for the second time in its three-year history, shot a two-under-par 70 and is at 15-under-par 201 through 54 holes. Korean-born New Zealander Lee shot a four-under-par 68 to tie Thomas.

The pair are three strokes ahead of Australia’s Cameron Smith and four strokes clear of South Korea’s Byeong Hun An and Wyndham Clark.

Early on the back nine, An and Thomas were tied at 14 under when they arrived at the par-4 11th hole. But An hit his tee shot into the woods and as he attempted to play out, his ball caromed off a tree and went deeper into the woods. He took an unplayable lie and eventually tapped in for a triple-bogey 7 to fall three behind Thomas. Lee also was three behind by virtue of making a double-bogey at the 10th hole.

Meanwhile, Viktor Hovland, 22, shot a 74 to bring an end to his record 19 consecutive rounds in the 60s.

The post Justin Thomas loses three-stroke lead at 18, will enter the final round tied with Danny Lee for the CJ Cup lead appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Joel Beall
Phil Mickelson is 11 shots off Justin Thomas’ lead heading into Day 3 at the CJ Cup. But the 49-year-old was the owner of the shot of the day in Round 2 on Friday.

On the par-4 14th at the Club at Nine Bridges, Mickelson’s drive found the green … then found the stick.

A near ace… on a PAR 4! ?

This @PhilMickelson tee shot is a MUST-SEE.#LiveUnderPar pic.twitter.com/NXvFoEJvbe

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) October 18, 2019

Honestly, that one is on Phil. Should have known to have his brother tend flag from 353 yards out.

The eagle—yes, Mickelson cleaned up the remaining two inches for eagle—was one of the few highlights for Phil, his even-par 72 dropping him to 33rd on the leader board. With two weeks left to make a Presidents Cup case, Mickelson’s candidacy is running out of time. But highlights like this don’t hurt his bid.

More proof, though, that you should always pull the pin.

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Thomas, who won this event in 2017, played a bogey-free round that included birdies on his first four holes at Nine Bridges on Jeju Island, South Korea. He is at 13-under par 131, two ahead of New Zealander Danny Lee and first-round leader Byeong Hun An of South Korea.

In his previous three starts on the PGA Tour, Thomas has finished first in the BMW Championship, tied for third in the Tour Championship and tied for fourth in the Safeway Open, his first start of the new season.

Thomas and Lee were tied for the lead late in the round, but Lee dropped a shot at the par-5 18th, a hole on which Thomas made a two-putt birdie to give him a two-stroke lead.

Defending champion Brooks Koepka, meanwhile, shot a three-over-par 75 and is at even-par 144.

The post Justin Thomas, a past champion, shoots a 63 to open a two-stroke lead in the CJ Cup @ Nine Bridges appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Alex Myers
Brooks Koepka’s four-shot win at the CJ Cup propelled him to No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time. It also created a different kind of first in OWGR history.

Koepka kept alive a musical chairs situation in the top spot the likes that has never been seen before. For the first time since the ranking’s inception in 1986, the current top four (Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Justin Rose and Justin Thomas) is comprised of players who all made it to No. 1 in the same year.

“It’s amazing to go World No. 1 on a win,” Koepka said after pulling away from the field in South Korea. “I think is something I’ve always wanted to do. I always wanted to earn my way to No. 1 in the world, and I felt like if I played and won, that would be exactly how I could draw it up. To do that this week has been special.”

It’s also just the second time that four different players ascended to No. 1 in the same year. The only other instance occurred in 1997 when Greg Norman, Tom Lehman, Tiger Woods, and Ernie Els all spent time in the top spot.

Overall, Koepka, 28, is the 23rd player to be No. 1 in the OWGR and the 11th in the past eight years.

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