By Daniel Rapaport
The last two weeks on the PGA Tour were more or less a case of the rich getting richer—limited field Invitationals, no cuts, pristine golf courses, perfect scoring condition. And, apart from some lesser-known Asian players getting exemptions, fields of mostly established players.

This week’s Bermuda Championship has a distinctly grittier feel. Apart from an unseasonably calm day on Thursday, there’s been a multi-club wind for players to deal with all week. And these players—most of the names at the top of the leaderboard are not exactly superstars. It’s a mix of up-and-comers, journeyman 40-somethings and guys trying to regain form they’ve lost.

Here are four takeaways from Saturday at Port Royal Golf Club:

Someone’s getting a life-changing win on Sunday
Only three players in the top 10 heading into Sunday have won a PGA Tour event—Brian Gay, who has four wins but none since 2013, and Matt Jones and Ryan Armour, who have one each. The remaining seven are chasing their first victory, and because this Bermuda Championship is no longer an opposite-field event, the victory comes with the full plate of riches: 500 FedEx Cup points (up from 300 last year), a spot into next year’s Masters and PGA Championship, and a two-year exemption that would essentially function as a three-year exemption for someone like Ollie Schniederjans, who does not have status on the PGA Tour this season.

Gregory Shamus Doug Ghim plays his shot from the eighth tee during the third round of the Bermuda Championship

Schniederjans is two back of Doc Redman, who holds the 54-hole lead at 10 under after an impressive 67. Redman, 22, won the 2017 U.S. Amateur at Riviera and left Clemson University after two years to turn pro. Since then, he’s quietly established himself as one of the better young players on tour—sure, he’s been completely overshadowed by the Morikawa/Wolff/Hovland triumvirate, but those guys are unicorns, and Redman’s progress has been fantastic by any reasonable standard. The next step for him to take is getting that first victory, and he’ll have a great chance to do that Sunday.

The man Redman beat in the finals of that U.S. Amateur, Doug Ghim, is three back heading into Sunday. Gay is two behind, and at 48, a victory would make him fully exempt until he’s old enough to play the Champions Tour, which is kind of the dream. Hickock has just one top-10 finish in his 51 starts on tour. We could go on here, but you get the picture—a bunch of guys fighting for a career-changing victory. It’ll a different type of drama than what you saw last week, with three top-15 players fighting for another piece of hardware for their ever-expanding trophy cases.

Gregory Shamus
Kiradech Aphibarnrat plays his shot from the first tee during the third round of the Bermuda Championship.

Kiradech is back, we hope

You won’t find a more popular player among fans or fellow players than Kiradech Aphibarnrat, the lovable Thai player with a … relatable … physique. He was a fixture in the top 100 for a half-decade and reached as high as world No. 29, but the Barn Rat has been struggling big-time for the better part of a year—he’s missed eight of his last 11 cuts around the world and does not have a top 10 since last year’s CJ Cup. As such, he’s dropped all the way to No. 236 and only has conditional status on the PGA Tour. He’s three back heading into Sunday. A victory would be his first on the PGA Tour, but a high finish would go a long way in helping him qualify for the FedEx Cup Playoffs and get his career back on track. We—and everyone else—are rooting for you, Kiradech.

Gregory Shamus
Will Zalatoris plays his shot from the 17th tee during the first round of the Bermuda Championship.

Will Zalatoris is officially a PGA Tour player … kind of
As a colleague pointed out, the current leader in top 10s on the PGA Tour this season is not even a PGA Tour player. Will Zalatoris has been one of the better golfers anywhere since the June restart—the 24-year-old Wake Forest product was the best player on the Korn Ferry Tour this year and has continued his success on the Big Tour, with three top 10s on the young season already, including a T-6 at the U.S. Open. As a result, he’s now ranked No. 59 in the world, the highest-ranking of anyone without PGA or European tour status and ahead of guys like Jordan Spieth, Phil Mickelson, Corey Conners and Cameron Champ.

Zalatoris entered this week needing just over three FedEx Cup points to achieve Special Temporary Membership status, which would allow him to receive unlimited sponsor’s exemptions, rather than being capped at seven. He’s tied for 15th heading into Sunday after a third-round 67, meaning he has the Special Temporary status all but locked up. One of the best parts of professional golf is that at its core, it’s a meritocracy. Zalatoris is way too good a player to not be on the PGA Tour, and so the Golf Gods are seeing that he gets his tour card.

First Sunday with fans!
It’s not exactly a Sunday-at-a-normal-Masters atmosphere, but this week marks the return of fans to the PGA Tour. There aren’t grandstands or anything, but tomorrow will be the first Sunday back nine with (limited) fan noise as a soundtrack.

There’s been a lot of talk as to whether not having fans has benefitted younger players. The thought is, the kids don’t have experience closing the deal on a noisy Sunday, and the quiet finishes don’t feel markedly different from college tournaments, where they obviously had success. And again, Sunday won’t be electric, but it’ll be interesting to see whether having spectators will have any impact at all.

The post Life-changing win likely in Bermuda and three other takeaways from Day 3 appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Christopher Powers
Ollie Schniederjans knew his game wasn’t where it needed to be this past offseason. This must have been a difficult admission for the former No. 1-ranked amateur in the world, who racked up eight top 10s and three top-three finishes over his first two full seasons on the PGA Tour. But while his game appeared like it was good enough to contend on the best tour in the world, he knew something was missing.

This forced Schniederjans to completely break it down, a risky endeavour when you don’t see the immediate results necessary to keep your card. However, if they pay off at the right time, it makes all the tinkering, tweaking and toying worth it.

Saturday at the Players Championship is as good a time as any for everything to click, which was the case for Schniederjans on a chilly, overcast day at TPC Sawgrass. The former Georgia Tech standout went out and fired a third-round seven-under 65 at the Stadium Course, vaulting him 36 spots up the leader board and into the top five. Schniederjans made six birdies, an eagle and just one bogey, and he survived a nearly harrowing experience at the 17th, where his tee shot hung up in the wind, landed on the green and spun back towards the water.

“I hit it exactly like I wanted,” said Schniederjans, who played a high draw to the front left pin. “But the wind felt like it was dying down, but as soon as my ball got up in the air, it hit it hard, and I still thought it was fine, but when I saw it land, it looked like it was about a foot over. I guess it was a little bit longer than that, but it just looked really close. I thought it was about to spin back in the water. It was a huge relief that it didn’t go in.”

The ball hung on, preserving one of the rounds of the week while also causing Schniederjans to place his hand over his heart, take a deep breath and have a moment with caddie Damon Green. He two-putted for par, then laced a drive down the middle at the 18th hole and closed with another par.

Schniederjans’ 65 is by far the lowest round of his season, a year that has included several missed cuts and a high finish of T-33 at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. Through it all, Schniederjans has not been discouraged. He knew a day like this was coming.

“It’s been a long grind for me and a process,” he said. “But I feel like my game has felt really, really good this week. A lot has come together. The first two days were, played solid but didn’t get the putts to go and didn’t really score super well, but today I finally had some things go my way.

“I’ve made a lot of changes. Made a lot of moves over the off-season, and I’ve been working on my swing and made a lot of big swing changes and a lot of big changes to how I go about what I’m doing with my body and with my full swing. That’s been a process, and I’ve had times where I feel it’s in a great place, and then I’ve just had things come up, and I have to just kind of keep knocking things down and trying to put together sort of my little formula to be consistent.”

The offseason work has been key, but Schniederjans says he came to the realization that he needed an overhaul a year and a half ago. During that same time he had finished solo second at the Wyndham Championship, and a shot he hit at the 17th hole on Sunday, a low, bullet cut with an iron, instantly went viral thanks to CBS’ shot-tracer. As cool as it looked, he knew it wouldn’t be effective at courses with long rough, and found that out the hard way the following week in the FedEx Cup Playoffs. He missed the cut in the first two legs, then finished 66th at the BMW Championship and failed to qualify for the Tour Championship.

To be one of the best players in the world, he knew it was time for big changes.

“These top players in the world are top-10ing half their tournaments and winning three times a year, and I didn’t feel like I was in a place to play any golf course and do that, and ultimately that’s the place I want to be at. So I took some risk and made some changes to put myself long-term at that level. I’ve learned a lot, and it’s been a process, and it’s just nice, obviously, to finally have a round like today and just to feel like I do about my game, to feel like I have a chance out there to go low and get in contention in big tournaments. Last year I didn’t feel like that.

“I wasn’t hitting it good enough. I couldn’t work it both ways. I couldn’t get it in the air real well. I lost a lot of speed last year. I’ve been number one in driving distance like three weeks in a row, so I’m obviously moving a lot better and getting my distance back, and I’m able to hit it high and low and shape it both ways.”

He hasn’t done it alone. On two separate occasions, once in December and once in January, Schniederjans worked on his swing with Butch Harmon, who has helped him change “everything,” from how he sets up, how his body moves and how he uses his hands. He’s also hired a new trainer and become more dedicated in the gym, and veteran caddie Damon Green has added a whole new element to his game.

“He’s been out here for a long time, caddied for a Hall of Fame career and won majors and a bunch of tournaments out here, so obviously he’s a huge asset to me. I’ve learned a lot from him, what him and Zach [Johnson] did, and he’s been around these places a dozen times. Obviously, that’s a huge help to me. He’s given me a lot of confidence in my decision making and judging distances and stuff like that.”

It’s been a long, arduous journey for Schniederjans, who sounds like he went through some difficult times to get where he is now. Speaking to Golf Digest this past November at a Callaway photo shoot, he summed it up nicely.

“This has to be the hardest, most frustrating professional sport by far. You grind as hard as you possibly can, sometimes for a bunch of weeks in a row, and you might get nothing for it. I don’t care who you are, you need really good coping skills in this job.”

Depending on how Sunday goes, he might “get nothing,” at least in the trophy case, for his effort this week either. But whatever happens, it’s all part of the process.

The post Players Championship 2019: Ollie Schniederjans took some big risks with his game, and the results might pay off just in time appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

While the “stinger” was a shot Tiger made famous, it’s no longer exclusive to the 14-time major champion. Current PGA Tour pros who grew up watching Tiger can not only recreate it, but hit it even better, most notably fledgling star Ollie Schniederjans. Look no further than Schniederjans’ absolutely ridiculous 341-yard “stinger” at the Wyndham Championship this August:

Incredible stuff from Tiger and Ollie, no doubt, but this guy’s “putter stinger” that’s currently going viral on Instagram is impressive in its own right. Check it out:

Putter stinger ?? I actually hit this putter so well ? #golf #golfswing #stinger #tiger #golfgods #golfstagram #trickshot #golfaddict @sas_golf_ @golf_gods @golfballed

A post shared by Dave Benford (@dbenford_golf) on Nov 16, 2017 at 11:19am PST

Striped. The video was posted by Dave Benford, who appears to be a pretty good player according to his Instagram page. Per the comments, Benford estimates he hits this Adams A7 64 series putter between 200-250, which is very Justin Thomas-esque if you ask us.

The post This guy’s “putter stinger” is absolutely mesmerising to watch appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Christopher Powers
Not since last October at the WGC-HSBC Champions had we seen Henrik Stenson in contention with a chance to win on Sunday. But it’s a place the 2016 British Open champion has been in many times before, and his experience in those situations showed on Sunday at the Wyndham Championship, the PGA Tour’s final regular-season event of 2016-’17. The Swede posted a final-round six-under 64 at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, N.C., that included birdies on four of his final six holes to prevail by one stroke over Ollie Schniederjans.

Stenson, 41, made four birdies and two bogeys on his first seven holes, then began a quiet streak of pars for the next five holes. The late charge began at the par-4 13th, where he rolled in a six-footer for birdie and rode the momentum all the way into the clubhouse. After making par at the 14th, Stenson made three straight birdies, including a 27-foot dagger at the par-4 17th that allowed him to par the 18th for a 22-under 258 total, earning him his first win of the season.

Schniederjans, 24, did his best to make plenty of noise in the group ahead of Stenson. The PGA Tour rookie made a late charge, nearly holing out for eagle at the par-5 15th, rolling in a 40-footer for birdie at the 17th and almost holing out for eagle again from 163 yards away at the par-4 18th. He matched Stenson’s closing 64, but finished one shot back at 21-under 259. The solo second is the best finish of his career, and fifth inside the top 10.

Finishing in solo third was Webb Simpson, who carded a three-under 67 to finish at 18-under 262. It’s the North Carolina native’s fourth top-6 finish at the Wyndham Championship.

Kevin Na made the turn in four-under 31 on Sunday, but dropped three shots on the final nine for a two-under 68 and finished at 17-under 263. It’s his fourth top-10 of the season, and his second top five.

A number of players needed strong finishes on Sunday to get into the top-125 in the FedEx Cup standings, keep their tour cards for 2017-’18 and get into the field at next week’s Northern Trust at Glen Oaks Club. One of those players was Rory Sabbatini, who shot a final-round 64 to get 17 under. The T-4 finish moved Sabbatini from 148th to 122nd in the standings and gets him into his first playoff event since the 2015 BMW Championship.

Also finishing at 17 under was Ryan Armour, who shot a final-round 64. It was a valiant effort, but it won’t be enough for Armour to earn a spot in the FedEx Cup Playoffs. The T-5 finish, his first inside the top-10 since the 2007 Valero Texas Open, only moved him from 187th to 161st.

Cameron Smith, Martin Flores and Shane Lowry tied for seventh at 15-under 265. Only two of the three, Flores and Smith, will be teeing it up at the Northern Trust. Flores shot a 63 on Sunday that included a hole-in-one on the par-3 16th to leap from 139th to 118th. As for Lowry, he came up two spots short, finishing the season just four points back at 127th.

Harold Varner III finished at 14-under 266, good enough for a T-10 finish, which moved him from 138th to 123rd and safely in.

Geoff Ogilvy and J.J. Henry, who each finished at 11-under 269, both earned spots at the Northern Trust with their T-16 finish.

The post Henrik Stenson wins Wyndham Championship by one over Ollie Schniederjans appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Christopher Powers
For some PGA Tour pros, certain courses on the schedule just fit their eye. A prime example would be Webb Simpson and Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, N.C., a place he has had nothing but success in his career. After missing the cut in the 2009 Wyndham Championship, his seven appearances since have included his first PGA Tour victory in 2011, three top 8s and two top 25s.

It’s no surprise that after 36 holes Simpson is at the top of the leader board once again, tied with Ryan Armour at 13-under 127 after posting a second-round six-under 64 on Friday.

Simpson, 32, began with birdies on his first two holes Friday, rolling in putts of 20 and 14 feet. He added six more on the round, including four on his first six holes of the home nine. The North Carolina native, who ranks 143rd on tour in strokes gained putting, has ridden a hot putter this week, ranking sixth in the field in that same category through two rounds. He hasn’t won since 2013, but has given himself a few chances this season, losing in a playoff to Hideki Matsuyama at the Waste Management Phoenix Open and playing in the final group at the Dean & DeLuca Invitational.

Armour, 41, posted the low round of his career, a bogey-free nine-under 61 that matched the low round of the tournament, shot by Matt Every on Thursday. The former Ohio State All-American finds himself at 187th in the FedEx Cup standings, more than 200 points back of the top 125. A victory this week would get him into the top 75, securing him a spot in the first two legs of the of playoffs. It would be a huge accomplishment for Armour, who’s never won on tour and has only competed in one FedEx Cup event in his career.

One back at 12-under 128 is Henrik Stenson after carding a four-under 66 that featured just one bogey, his only dropped shot of the week. The 2016 Open Champion has struck his irons according to reputation, hitting 32 of 36 greens in regulation, which ranks in a tie for sixth in the field. He’s played some of his best golf of late, finishing T-17 or better in four of his last five events.

Vaughn Taylor and Ollie Schniederjans are two shots off the lead at 11-under 129.

The most surprising name near the top is a familiar one. Hunter Mahan, who hasn’t finished inside the top-10 on the PGA Tour since the 2015 Deutsche Bank Championship, carded a second-round five-under 65. He’s three back at 10-under 130, tied with Davis Love III and Kevin Na. Mahan entered this week ranked 197th on the FedEx Cup points list, not only looking on the outside to get into the playoffs but running the risk of nearly not qualifying for the Web.com Tour Finals series, which includes players No. 126 to 200.

A few FedEx Cup bubble boys are within striking distance at nine under, including Harold Varner III, Sam Saunders, Shane Lowry and Johnson Wagner, who had a wild round that featured an albatross and an eagle.

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Charles Howell III and Ollie Schniederjans are each in very different spots in their careers, but both have had plenty of success in 2017. Howell III, 38, is in his 17th year on tour, with two wins and well over $30 million in career earnings. Schniederjans, 24, is making just his 32nd start on the PGA Tour, and has shown promise in his limited appearances. The young gun and the veteran are tied for the first-round lead at the John Deere Classic in Silvis, Ill., after posting eight-under 63s on Thursday.

Something about TPC Deere Run brings good vibes for certain players, and Howell III (pictured) is one of them. He’s finished in the top-25 six times in 10 tries at the John Deere, including a solo third in 2000 in just his third start on tour as a professional. His consistency during his career has been well-documented, and 2017 has been no exception. Howell III has made 16 of 17 cuts, the only miss coming at the Safeway Open, his first start of the season last October. His round on Thursday was bogey-free and the lowest of the year.

For Schniederjans, his 63 is the lowest round of his nascent career, featuring birdies on three of his last four holes, all coming inside 10 feet. Unlike Howell, the former Georgia Tech standout has no prior experience at the John Deere, making his first round in the event all the more impressive. He’s still in search of his first victory, but four top-10s and a T-3 at the RBC Heritage indicate that day might be coming soon.

Another veteran who has enjoyed success at the John Deere is Zach Johnson, who posted a six-under 65 and sits just two back. Johnson, 41, won the event in 2012 in a playoff and lost it in a playoff a year later. He now has 12 rounds of 65 or lower in his career at TPC Deere Run, the most of any player.

Also at six under are Rory Sabbatini, Patrick Rodgers and Chad Campbell.

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