By Joel Beall
Three players have withdrawn from the Valspar Championship due to positive COVID-19 tests, the PGA Tour announced.

Will Gordon and Brice Garnett registered positive tests on Monday, with Sepp Straka pulling out of the tournament for the same reason Tuesday morning. Due to the CDC guidelines, all must now enter self-isolation.

Garnett was coming off a strong performance at the Zurich Classic, teaming with Scott Stallings to finish T-11 at TPC Louisiana last week. The 37-year-old also posted top 10s at the Puerto Rico Open and Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship. He entered the week 113th in the FedEx Cup. After his WD, Garnett posted an offer to fans on Twitter. “I don’t get to play this week,” Garnett wrote, “but I do have 2 Ticketmaster tickets available each day if anyone is in the Tampa area and wanting to watch some golf.”

Gordon, who earned full status on the tour this season through 11 starts via exemptions, qualifiers and special temporary membership last campaign, the WD continues a rough 2021. The Vanderbilt product has made 12 of 20 cuts but produced a lone top 25 finish. Ranking 152nd in strokes gained and 148th in the FedEx Cup, Gordon has some work to do over the second half of the season to keep his card for 2021.

Straka has been enjoying a quietly consistent campaign, making the cut in 15 of 20 starts this season. Ranking 88th in the FedEx Cup, Straka posted a T-29 finish last week with Josh Teeter at the Zurich.

In a memo released to players last week, the PGA Tour is changing its testing policy, as well as updating its health and safety protocols, for those who have been vaccinated against COVID-19. The biggest change involves no more routine testing for those who have been fully vaccinated, stated as 14 days since the last vaccine shot was administered. For those who are not vaccinated, testing will remain a condition of participation. However, on-site testing operations will discontinue at the end of June. Once those operations stop, non-vaccinated players will be required to show proof of a negative test at their own expense 72 hours before tournament arrival. This will be required not only for players but caddies, along with others inside the tour’s bubble.

Taking the place of Gordon, Garnett, and Straka in the field are Tim Wilkinson, J.J. Spaun, and Nelson Ledesma. The Valspar Championship begins Thursday at Innisbrook Resort’s Copperhead course. Cancelled due to the pandemic last spring, 2019 winner Paul Casey is the defending champ.

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By Christopher Powers
The 2021 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am (or lack thereof) doesn’t have the strongest field in tournament history, nor does it have the overall energy that both the fans and celebrities bring to the event each year. But Pebble is still Pebble. For those of us staring out the window and seeing nothing but snow, that’s good enough.

Even with a dearth of star power, the handful of top players who did make the trip to the Monterey Peninsula showed up on Thursday. If they show up the next three days, too, this AT&T could end up being a damn good one after all.

Here are four takeaways from Day 1 at Pebble.

Patrick Cantlay is a robot (in a good way)
When pre-tournament favourite Dustin Johnson withdrew on Monday, Patrick Cantlay became the lone favourite at single-digit odds. He showed why he was the favourite on Thursday, shooting a first-round 62 at Pebble, matching the course record. As it often looks, Cantlay played in an almost robotic fashion, the former No. 1 amateur in the world looking to get back inside the Official World Golf Ranking top 10 with another high finish this week. His last three rounds on the PGA Tour read a little something like this: 65-61-62. If not for a sloppy 71 on Friday at The American Express, he likely would have won his second tournament in four starts (he wound up losing by one to Si Woo Kim). Remember his poor stretch between late July and late September, when he … GASP … made five of six cuts, but failed to post a single top-10? That’s the standard of consistency he had set for all of 2019 and the first half of 2020, where Cantlay not top-10ing every week was cause for concern. He seems to be back to that level already, which will have the whole world on the Cantlay bandwagon as we inch closer to the Masters (only 60 days away, if you can believe it).

Ezra Shaw

We will not declare Jordan Spieth back. We will not declare Jordan Spieth back. We will n-….
After the letdown of all letdown final rounds from Spieth last Sunday at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, it was extremely fair to wonder if Saturday was just a flash of brilliance for the three-time major champion. Hey, he’s shown those flashes since 2017 before, and it’s amounted to zero wins. Maybe he wasn’t back. Maybe he just had a Steph Curry-like day from long range with the putter. Maybe he got some really lucky breaks and was able to term them all into birdies. Maybe we all jumped the gun.

Thursday’s first-round 65 at Pebble, which has Spieth just three off the lead, has us thinking that maybe we didn’t. Maybe he did really find something last Saturday at TPC Scottsdale, and even though he didn’t finish the job off, he gained a ton of confidence from the weekend as a whole. That sure seemed to be the case in his opening round, which included a hole-out for eagle on the par-4 10th, plus six birdies and just one bogey. The approach game was strong again (eighth in the field in strokes-gained/APP), the driving was serviceable, and his putting and around-the-green play was as good as ever. No, we’re not declaring him fully back, but this was another huge step in the proverbial “process.”

Ezra Shaw

Is Akshay SZN upon us?
Our Daniel Rapaport, who is on site this week, has the full Akshay Bhatia story from Thursday, but it’d be disrespectful to not tip our cap to this young king here. The 19-year-old (yes, 19) threw up an eight-under 64 at Pebble, giving him a share of T-2 with Henrik Norlander. He gained more than 2.5 strokes on approach, which ranks him third in the field, and gained a silly 3.201 strokes putting. “It’s the first time I’ve ever putted this well,” said Bhatia, who switched to a short putter after using the arm-lock technique for “awhile.” Most impressively, hit all 18 greens, something that had only been done three times in the last 25 years at Pebble Beach, the last coming in 2008, when Ryan Palmer accomplished the feat. The kid is an S-T-U-D stud, and is quickly becoming a welcome addition to this crop of young stars on tour.

Harry How

Daniel Berger and Will Gordon should be feeling very good about their chances
At the end of Round 1, Gordon is four back and Berger five back, but they probably both feel like they are right near the top. Why? Well, these two went low at Spyglass Hill, the far more difficult of the two courses players will face this week. Six under and five under there is getting a huge head start, and if they do something similar on Friday at Pebble, one of them could very well end up with the 36-hole lead. One thing working against them, though, is that there are 10-to-20 mph winds in the forecast, so Pebble Beach won’t play nearly as easy as it did Friday. But posting a low one on Spyglass is still a win. As it stands, these two are the only players in the top 21 who played Spyglass on Thursday.

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By Joel Beall
The PGA Tour announced Monday that Will Gordon and Erik van Rooyen have earned PGA Tour membership next season.

Gordon, 23, competed this year without any status on a major circuit after Canada’s Mackenzie Tour was cancelled for the summer. The former SEC Player of the Year contender at the Travelers Championship, ultimately finishing T-3. Coupled with a T-10 at the fall’s RSM Classic and three other top-30 finishes—including at T-27 at the regular-season finale Wyndham Championship—Gordon has punched his ticket to the show.

As for van Rooyen, the South African already had job security thanks to his win at last year’s Scandinavian Invitation on the European Tour. But van Rooyen, 30, made a PGA Tour push starting at February’s Genesis Invitational, and though he missed the cut in five of 11 starts, he made the most of the weekends he did make, highlighted by a T-3 at the WGC-Mexico Championship and a T-20 at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude.

As non-members competing on tour this season, neither gained entry into the FedEx Cup Playoffs (which can only be done by non-members through a win). However, Gordon and van Rooyen should consider themselves lucky. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, there is no relegation or loss of status to tour pros falling outside the FedEx Cup top 125, the upshot meaning the elimination of Korn Ferry graduates for 2020-’21.

The 2020 FedEx Cup Playoffs begin this week at the Northern Trust at TPC Boston.

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By Brian Wacker
One man’s pain is another man’s pleasure. Will Gordon wouldn’t disagree.

Needing to finish in a two-way tie for third or better Sunday at the Travelers Championship to secure special temporary membership on the PGA Tour, the 23-year-old with no status on any tour was clinging to just that position following a final-round 64 at TPC River Highlands. But with a handful of golfers lurking close behind and still on the course, there was no guarantee he’d stay there.

Then Brendon Todd, alone in second after making 11 straight pars (and not making a bogey since Thursday), hosel-rocketed a chip shot on the par-4 12th. He went on to triple bogey the hole, dropped from just two strokes off the lead to five back and never recovered.

More importantly, at least as it relates to Gordon, it helped open the door for the 2019 SEC Player of the Year out of Vanderbilt. Gordon briefly moved into a tie for second before settling back into a two-way third, with Mackenzie Hughes at 17-under 263, two back of winner Dustin Johnson, to secure his status and earn unlimited sponsor’s exemptions for the rest of the season.

“Woah,” Gordon said when he was informed of the mess that Todd had just made.

A similar reaction would be appropriate for Gordon’s recent rise.

RELATED: DJ wins and four other takeaways from Sunday at the Travelers

Playing on sponsor’s exemptions—which is how he got into the Travelers—and in Monday qualifiers is a tough path to the PGA Tour. Still, Gordon managed three finishes of T-21 or better in six PGA Tour starts, earning enough FedEx Cup points to qualify for the Web.com Tour Finals, where 25 PGA Tour cards would ordinarily be handed out in the end-of-season series.

The only problem? The Korn Ferry Tour Finals were cancelled this year because of the 3½-month shutdown from the COVID-19 pandemic, meaning players on that circuit won’t have a chance to earn a promotion to the PGA Tour via Finals until the fall of 2021.

A win, meanwhile, would have given Gordon a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour, but he almost missed out on special temporary status, too.

After opening 66-62, Gordon stumbled on Saturday, shooting a one-over 71. On Sunday he was cruising, though, with a half-dozen birdies through his first 16 holes. Then he three-putted from 28 feet on the difficult par-4 17th.

“Unfortunately that one the lag putt I hit wasn’t very good and the wedge shot wasn’t very good,” Gordon said. “That bogey was kind of started from the fairway. So I wasn’t too upset, just tried to reset and play the 18th well.”

And he did.

Gordon hammered a 336-yard drive down the fairway, stuffed his wedge to three feet and made the putt for birdie.

“I knew the higher the better, so I was watching the leaderboard coming in,” he said. “I knew if I got up there T-1, T-2 by the end of [my] 18 holes that I might finish in the top three.”

It doesn’t hurt, either, that Gordon spent the break playing practice rounds with fellow Charlotte, N.C. resident Webb Simpson, whom he calls a mentor.

“It just furthers my belief in myself that I can hang with those guys,” said Gordon, who took home $436,600 for his T-3 showing. “I think the more I’m around those guys I just get more confident.”

After all, a little help can go a long way.

The post Will Gordon didn’t win the Travelers but he was the week’s biggest winner at TPC River Highlands appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Christopher Powers
As we’ve seen time and time again during Dustin Johnson’s career, he can never just coast to the clubhouse. This time, it was a rain delay, an out-of-bounds line and a water hazard that tried to stop his path to victory, but DJ powered through as he often does.

Johnson’s one-stroke victory over Kevin Streelman is his 21st of his PGA Tour career, but his first since the 2019 WGC-Mexico Championship, where he was able to coast to a five-stroke win over Rory McIlroy. He would have preferred that method on Sunday in Cromwell, Conn., but a win is a win. Here are our five takeaways from the final round of the Travelers Championship.

Is there ever a dull moment with Dustin Johnson?

The answer is an unequivocal NO. How have we not learned our lesson with this guy yet?

I made this analogy on Twitter, but it was so good (I got eight WHOLE likes) that I had to bring it here—Dustin Johnson is the guy who is beating you 28-7 in the fourth quarter of a game of Madden, but rather than step on your neck, he “makes things interesting” by letting you score a few times. Sometimes that works out and you still win 28-21. Other times you ground your club in a bunker and cost yourself a major. It’s dangerous business, as Johnson proved on the back nine. Each time he had a chance to run away with this thing, he immediately made a mistake—an OB tee shot at the par-5 13th, flirting with the water on 15, a bogey on the par-3 16th, just to name a few. He just refuses to win easily.

The thing is, DJ was beginning to get used to the win-it-easy life. His last four victories on the PGA Tour were by at least three strokes, and one of those was his epic walk-off eagle at the 2018 FedEx St. Jude Classic. But on Sunday at TPC River Highlands, he reverted to his old, hold-your-breath and chomp-on-your-fingernails form, ultimately claiming another title. Would he rather win by five? Sure, but that’d be a lot less fun to watch.

What a Sunday for Will Gordon

Maddie Meyer

After Will Gordon shot a third-round 71, I doubt anyone expected the unknown 23-year-old to bounce back the way he did on Sunday. But the 2019 SEC player of the year at Vanderbilt did more than just bounce back, shooting a six-under 64 that jumped him into a tie for third place, which earned him special temporary status on the PGA Tour after entering the week with no status on any tour. And Gordon birdied the 18th hole in order to get it. Talk about clutch. There’s only one winner every week on tour, but stories like Gordon’s show you can still win big without actually raising the trophy.

Is Bryson DeChambeau going to win or what?

Elsa

Obviously, yes, Bryson is going to win sooner or later, but Sunday’s T-6 marked his sixth straight finish inside the top-eight finish without a win. Not saying that’s a bad thing, but to not pick off even just one victory during this strong run of form is pretty surprising, if not alarming. Before this week, it was poor Saturday performances that were holding him back, but that wasn’t the case yesterday, when he shot 65. And while it feels like it’s his putting that’s kept him from winning, he finished 12th in strokes gained/putting this week. Again, he “should” get it done soon, but as we’ve seen these first few weeks with guys like Xander Schauffele, Rory McIlroy and Abraham Ancer, that’s much easier said than done.

Phil Mickelson had a quiet weekend

Elsa

Following rounds of 64 and 63, 50-year-old Phil Mickelson was the solo leader of the Travelers Championship. After Friday’s round, I wondered if he could keep it together all four days, something he struggles to do as he gets older at places not named Pebble Beach. I’m sad to report that my concerns were legitimate, as Lefty went 71-71 on the weekend to drop into a tie for 24th.

You’ll never believe this, but his driver failed him on Saturday and Sunday. After gaining strokes off the tee in each of the first two rounds, he lost 0.235 on Saturday and then lost 3.042 on Sunday, when he hit just five fairways. Someone who has never watched golf in their life could tell you that ain’t gonna get it done. Like many of you, I love it when Phil is in the mix and hope he continues to be as long as he wants, but it’s hard to get excited about the 63s and 64s when you know the one-over 71 is lurking right around the corner.

The PGA Tour rolls on

No COVID news is good news, and that was the case for the PGA Tour on the weekend at the Travelers. While Jason Day thought he was displaying symptoms, he wound up testing negative for the virus. Cameron Champ, who tested positive earlier this week and withdrew, released a statement saying he had tested negative three times since. After Denny McCarthy’s positive test, there were no more positives the rest of the week, not from a caddie, a player, family member, anybody.

This is good! We want the golf season to continue, and anyone who says different or believes that people are rooting for it to be shut down are utter fools. There are going to be more positive cases for sure, but hopefully they are as few and far between as possible, and the tour continues to follow all the proper protocols. Judging by what’s actually been a low number of positives so far, they’re doing the best job they can of handling this mess. As Bill Belichick would say “we’re on to Detroit.”

UPDATE: Unfortunately, just minutes after publishing this post, Dylan Frittelli became the fourth PGA Tour player to test positive for the virus. The South African has withdrawn from next week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic after testing positive on the test take in order to be able to fly on the PGA Tour charter to Detroit. Frittelli stated that he is “experiencing no issues and feel great physically and was surprised and disappointed to learn of the positive test.”

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By Joel Beall
CROMWELL, Conn.—Life on the PGA Tour can be a cozy existence. Assuming, that is, a player has status. Will Gordon does not. On any tour in 2020 for that matter.

“Correct,” Gordon confirms.

The 23-year-old did have membership on Canada’s Mackenzie Tour, but that was canceled due to the coronavirus. “My initial reaction was just kind of roll with the punches and take it in stride,” Gordon says of his career seemingly being put on pause, “and try to make the most of any opportunity I do get.”

Through two rounds, he’s making the most of the opportunity he received from the Travelers Championship. Playing on a sponsor’s exemption, Gordon turned in rounds of 66 and 62 to take the early Friday lead at TPC River Highlands, and finished the day tied for second, one stroke back of leader Phil Mickelson.

“After seeing the scores yesterday morning I knew that it was going to be gettable this morning,” Gordon said after his eight-under round on Friday. “Just tried to come into today with a really positive mindset and aggressive mindset, and I was able to do that and execute early. Whenever I get that momentum early, I usually don’t let it go, so I was pretty proud of myself and how I hung in there early.”

If the name isn’t familiar, you haven’t been paying attention. Gordon has posted three top-25 finishes in six starts this season, highlighted by a T-10 in the fall’s RSM Classic. His prowess, like so many of the under-30 ilk, has been predicated off power: Heading into Cromwell, Gordon ranked 21st on tour in strokes gained/off-the-tee.

However, his success so far at TPC River Highlands has been through the putter. With the afternoon wave still playing, Gordon has gained more than five strokes on the field on the greens this week.

“My putter really saved me yesterday,” Gordon said Friday. “Today I knew if I came out with a little bit better commitment and a more aggressive mentality that I could get the ball closer to the hole because the wind would lay down and I’d be a little bit more comfortable today.”

That is an understatement. Gordon racked up eight birdies in his first 11 holes on Friday, sounding the sub-60 sirens. He managed just a birdie in the final seven for “only” a 62.

“You’ve just got to kind of continually adjust, especially into the green, the ball is bouncing a lot more,” Gordon said. “As the greens get quicker and firmer, though, the wind starts to affect it a little bit, so you’ve got to be aware of that. But overall you’ve got to trust the compass and trust where you think the wind is and roll with it.”

Gordon knows a bit about navigation. Each year brings a wave of new faces to professional golf from the amateur level, each class seemingly more remarkable than the last. In fact, it was this week last year when recently-turned pros Matthew Wolff, Viktor Hovland, Collin Morikawa and Justin Suh sat on a dais in the Travelers media center. “This group that’s here before us today, what a bright future they have,” a moderator crooned. Those words came to fruition faster than most imagined, with Wolff and Morikawa winning on tour later that summer and Hovland capturing his first title in February.

Star-studded as that crew is, they were not the only talents to emerge from the college ranks last year. An All-American and SEC Player of the Year at Vanderbilt, Gordon went north to begin his career, making nine starts on the Mackenzie circuit. He finished 21st on the tour’s Order of Merit, and added made cuts at the PGA Tour’s Barracuda Championship and Korn Ferry Tour’s Utah Championship.

Alas, due to the coronavirus pandemic, Gordon is currently a golfer without a home. “The uncertainty of having kind of 18 months and being kind of at the mercy of the Monday qualifiers and sponsor exemptions makes you really thankful for the opportunities you do have,” Gordon said.

A high finish at the Travelers can alleviate those worries, and a win would do so much more.

“I’m just going to try to continue to play good golf and see what happens,” Gordon said.

For the moment, Gordon is on the outside of that cozy lifestyle. But through two days in Cromwell, he sure looks comfortable in his surroundings.

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