Tag: 2020-21 PGA Tour

Rocket Mortgage Classic Fantasy Golf Power Rankings

We look at the fantasy golf power rankings and odds for the 2021 Rocket Mortgage Classic, with PGA Tour picks and predictions.

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Detroit Golf Club hosts the third running of the Rocket Mortgage Classic this week. The event is one of the final North American tune-ups for the 2021 Open Championship, which is set for July 15-18 in England. Below, we look at the fantasy golf power rankings and odds for the 2021 Rocket Mortgage Classic, with PGA Tour picks and predictions.

Bryson DeChambeau, entering the week at No. 6 in the Golfweek/Sagarin world rankings, returns as the defending champion and prohibitive betting favorite. He’s coming off a T-19 finish at last week’s Travelers Championship.

Detroit Golf Club was designed by Donald Ross and is a par 72 measuring 7,370 yards. The front nine plays tough with tight, tree-lined fairways, but the back nine is open and provides plenty of scoring opportunities.

2021 Rocket Mortgage Classic: Fantasy Golf Top 20

Odds provided by BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Odds last updated Tuesday at 11:11 a.m. ET.

20. Brendon Todd (+6600)

Bounced back from a missed cut at the U.S. Open with a T-30 finish in a quality field at the Travelers Championship. No. 1 on Tour in driving accuracy and should avoid the trouble on the front nine but will need to score on the back.

19. Si Woo Kim (+5000)

Missed the cut in this event in 2019 but tied for 57th last year. He’s 32nd on Tour in par-5 birdies or better percentage and has the distance to take advantage of the four par 5s.

18. Bubba Watson (+4000)

Finished in a tie for 19th last week with a disappointing Sunday round of plus-3 73. He missed the cut in both runnings of this event but should be motivated to get right ahead of The Open.

17. Emiliano Grillo (+5000)

Three top-10 finishes in 2021, highlighted by a T-2 showing at the RBC Heritage. Comes in off of back-to-back missed cuts but tied for 39th in this event last year with 0.87 Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green per round.

16. Jason Day (+2800)

Missed the cut at Detroit Golf Club last year but tied for 10th at the Travelers Championship. He was first among those who made the cut with 0.92 SG: Around-the-Green per round.

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15. Cameron Tringale (+4000)

Has gained 1.55 total strokes per round across eight rounds at Detroit Golf Club over the last two years. He tied for 30th in 2020 and for fifth in 2019.

14. Gary Woodland (+5000)

The 2019 U.S. Open champ seemed to be rounding into form prior to a missed cut at the Memorial Tournament and a T-50 finish at Torrey Pines. The weaker field should lead to a better finish as an under-the-radar play at inflated odds.

13. Keegan Bradley (+4000)

Has been undone by 0.49 strokes lost per round with the putter this season but is seventh among qualified golfers in SG: Approach. Tied for 45th here last year in another poor putting performance and just needs to be neutral with the flat stick.

12. Max Homa (+5000)

Back-to-back missed cuts at the US Open and Travelers Championship following a strong T-6 showing at the Memorial Tournament. He has two T-6 finishes and five missed cuts in his last seven events as a boom-or-bust fantasy option.

11. Doc Redman (+5000)

His 1.93 strokes gained on the field per round at Detroit Golf Club are the most among those with the maximum of eight career tournament rounds played here. The 2019 runner-up tied for 21st last year and has excelled on these greens.

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10. Garrick Higgo (+4000)

Still 39th in the Official World Golf Ranking despite back-to-back missed cuts at the US Open and Travelers Championship after winning the Palmetto Championship in just his second career start on the PGA Tour. He can rely on his putter at the relatively unimposing venue.

9. Matthew Wolff (+2500)

Last year’s runner-up to DeChambeau averaged 1.51 SG: Tee-to-Green and 1.52 SG: Putting per round. The two went on to finish in the same order at the 2020 U.S. Open. Wolff returned to play after a lengthy layoff with a T-15 finish at Torrey Pines but missed the cut last week.

8. Jason Kokrak (+2500)

His missed cut at the U.S. Open was his first through 14 events this year and followed his victory at the Charles Schwab Challenge. He tied for 29th in this event in 2019 despite struggling with his putter. He has been one of the Tour’s top putters over the last year.

7. Hideki Matsuyama (+1800)

April’s Masters champion tied for 21st at last year’s Rocket Mortgage Classic while ranking third in the field with 1.86 SG: Tee-to-Green per round. He struggled on and around the greens but needs to be only a little better than average in those areas to show well in this field.

6. Joaquin Niemann (+2500)

Tied for fifth in 2019 but didn’t play last year. He’s tied for 28th in par 5 birdie or better percentage and shouldn’t be punished as harshly as usual for his often wayward driver.

5. Sungjae Im (+3500)

Slipped to 46th in the Golfweek rankings with a modest two top-10 finishes through 19 events to start 2021. All four of his missed cuts on the year have come since his T-8 finish at The Honda Classic. He has averaged 0.68 strokes gained per round at Detroit Golf Club and should bounce back to form before long.

4. Patrick Reed (+1400)

Missed the cut here last year but tied for fifth in 2019. Tied for 25th last week with 1.95 SG: Tee-to-Green per round following a T-19 finish at the U.S. Open.

3. Will Zalatoris (+2500)

Bound to be one of the most motivated golfers in the field while still in need of a PGA Tour victory in order to obtain full PGA Tour status and be eligible for the FedExCup Playoffs. Enters the tournament at No. 18 in the Golfweek rankings and is among the leaders in SG: Approach for the season.

2. Webb Simpson (+1800)

Averaging 1.08 SG: Tee-to-Green per round and has been excellent on and around the putting surfaces. Tied for eighth in his debut at Detroit Golf Club last year.

1. Bryson DeChambeau (+750)

The top-ranked player in the field has an implied win probability of 11.76% in the full-field event. He can’t be bet at these low odds, but he’s a strong fantasy selection with the wide-open back nine well-suited to his aggressive angles off the tee.

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Lynch: Complaints about British Open COVID rules make players look like the whiny 1 percent

Those who have enjoyed less stringent guidelines on the PGA Tour didn’t take the R&A’s COVID rules for the Open well.

The Open Championship has long been a bonanza for bellyaching by professional golfers, regardless of where the game’s oldest major is contested. British weather is too fickle (accepted as fact by all but disputatious Scots). British food is too lardaceous (“Do you have any vegetables that aren’t fried?” a former editor once asked a waiter. Answer: “No.”). British water pressure makes showering feel like being peed upon (if only the water were that warm). And that’s all before the capricious linksland bounces that short-circuit the minds of those accustomed to hitting a golf ball through the air and seeing it stop in proximity to where it landed.

This year’s Open at Royal St. George’s should have been this year’s Open at St. Andrews, but because last year’s Open at Royal St. George’s didn’t happen, this year’s Open at St. Andrews has become next year’s Open at St. Andrews, while last year’s Open at Royal St. George’s becomes this year’s. One thing hasn’t changed: the griping. What has changed is that it has commenced much earlier than usual.

This week the R&A outlined for Open competitors the COVID-19 safety protocols that will be in place for the tournament. For players, caddies and coaches who have enjoyed the successful but less stringent guidelines on the PGA Tour, the R&A’s communique went down about as well as a haggis breakfast with a hangover.

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While players are exempt from Britain’s mandatory quarantine, they will be required to provide a negative COVID test within 72 hours of entering the country and another on arrival at Royal St. George’s, unless they travel on a charter flight from the Scottish Open. Tests are required regardless of vaccination status. Players will not be allowed to visit restaurants, grocery stores or bars where they might mingle with the public. But the real source of angst—like generations of Open-going professionals before them—is accommodations.

They must stay in either an official hotel or in private self-catering homes with a maximum of four occupants, all four of whom must be part of the player’s support group—defined as caddies, coaches, medical support or translators. Alert fans will already have noticed this isn’t sufficient manpower to transport Bryson DeChambeau’s gadgetry to the range, much less accommodate the rest of his entourage. Players are also allowed one accredited family member. Unlike players and support teams, family members are not exempt from quarantine—which is currently a minimum of five days. That means many are likely to skip the trip, which would be devastating for Brit tabloid media’s traditional WAGs coverage.

The ban on visiting pubs, restaurants and grocery stories also applies to support teams and family members, and the verboten locations also includes the accommodations of other players. “No one outside the accommodation buddy group is permitted to visit others in self-catering/private accommodation,” the R&A warned. “This would be seen as a breach of the COVID-19 protocols and could lead to withdrawal from the Championship.’’

There go Jay Monahan’s hopes of a detente dinner between DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka.

Players are also subject to being disqualified if they are in contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19. The PGA Tour currently requires daily testing of players deemed to be a contact but withdrawal only if the player tests positive, as happened to Jon Rahm at the Memorial Tournament. The R&A gave no indication that a positive result would be needed before booting a player from the Open for being a contact.

“Our absolute priority is maintaining the safety of the players, fans and all involved in the Open and we are doing as much as we can to minimize the risks,” the R&A said. “We fully recognize the continuing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and that case numbers are rising in many parts of the country. The U.K. has strict contact tracing legislation in place and we are creating a minimized risk environment to protect players, caddies, officials and staff.”

The Claret Jug on display on the 1st hole tee box during the final round of the 2019 Open Championship. (Steve Flynn/USA TODAY Sports)

The triggering word there is “fans”—32,000 of them, to be exact. About 80 percent of a typical daily crowd at an Open. Complaints from players, coaches and caddies center on the presence of so many fans while they must exist in a contained bubble (cost is the unspoken subtext here, since caddies and coaches often share homes to save money but can’t do so under these rules). In fact, protocols are strict for spectators too.

Every fan in attendance at Royal St. George’s is required to show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test in the previous 48 hours. A test taken on Monday admits a spectator for Tuesday and Wednesday, but if they want to return later in the week then another test is needed. Fans will also be kept socially distanced from players at all times. This hardly suggests a mob of potentially viral spectators running rampant.

We don’t have to search hard these days to find COVID guidelines that are excessive, arbitrary and non-sensical. Some of the R&A’s rules seem so too, not least the puzzling disregard for vaccination status in deciding how insulated a person must remain for the week. In its effort to return fans (and revenue) to the only major championship that wasn’t held in 2020, the R&A is adopting a lockdown mentality that seems overbearing. But it’s not wholly unreasonable.

Britain has suffered more than 128,000 COVID-related deaths and is seeing a spike in cases due to the worrisome Delta variant. After 15 months, there exists in Britain the same frustration and anger about travel and social restrictions and about government mismanagement as you’ll find in most other affected nations. The precariousness of this social and political tinderbox only adds to the importance of this summer’s effort to return British fans of all sports to stadia. The Open is a major test of that strategy. In that environment, it’s not beyond the pale to ask players and their teams to suck it up for a week in a comparatively comfortable bubble.

Those who consider that to be an intolerable burden are free to vote with their feet and stay home, but public grumbling about being inconvenienced amid a deadly pandemic just makes golfers look like the whiny one percent. Sometimes a professional just has to forget about things out of their control and focus on the job at hand. This is one of those times. And if that’s simply too big an imposition, well the PGA Tour has an opposite field event that week in Kentucky.

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Bubba Watson, Kramer Hickok top crowded leaderboard at windy Travelers Championship

Every year, the pros on the PGA Tour torch TPC River Highlands with low scores. That continues this year.

CROMWELL, Conn. – Every year, the pros on the PGA Tour torch TPC River Highlands with low scores. Par on the 6,802-yard layout is 70, but 63s fly around here like the redtail hawks over the nearby Connecticut River. On Friday, Charley Hoffman, Kevin Kisner and Justin Rose all carded a 63. Jason Day, an overnight co-leader, shot 62 on Friday.

Saturday, however, Mother Nature provided a measure of protection. After two days of stillness in the air and softness on the greens, a swirling wind gusted to 25 miles per hour around the course. Good scores could still be had, but players had to be more careful. They had to trust that the wind would be consistent for a few moments. Sometimes it complied, but on other occasions, it didn’t.

Kramer Hickok was breezing along on Saturday and after making birdies at 14 and 15, he had a two-shot lead at the Travelers Championship. Then bogeys at 17 and 18 dropped him back to 10-under par and with 18 more holes to play Sunday, he is now tied with three-time Travelers champion Bubba Watson on top of the leaderboard.

Travelers Championship: Tee times, TV | Leaderboard | Photos

They have a one-shot advantage over Cameron Smith, Russell Henley and Jason Day, who are at 9-under par. Harris English, Brice Garnett, and K.H. Lee are two shots back at 8 under.

“The first two rounds were pretty negligent with the wind, then we played adding 20 to 25 yards on some shots,” Hickok said after signing for 68. “I had 170 yards into 16 and hit a 6-iron. Sometimes it’s hard to commit to that with water short and trouble long, and you’re hoping that the wind stays fresh. If it dies down, you’re 20 yards over the green. So, it just makes it tough. You just got to time it right and it hit the shot you’re trying to hit.”

Watson is a crowd favorite here, and he will get overwhelming support again Sunday. But he has to hit the shots, not the fans outside the ropes.

“When you’re playing in the afternoon you know the challenge ahead of you. Even though it seems like a birdieable course, when it gets windy like this, it’s very tough,” he said.

Henley, who has shot 67-66-68 this week, was a co-leader last week after three rounds at the U.S. Open. Paired with Rory McIlroy in the penultimate group, he shot 76 and finished T-13. Still, he learned something at Torrey Pines that could help him win his fourth PGA Tour event Sunday.

“I can handle more pressure than I thought I could,” he said Saturday evening. “In contention, I feel like I’ve been able to handle it and win a few times out here, but last week was more pressure than I’ve experienced. So that gives me confidence.”

In all, there are 14 players within three shots of Hickok, who has never won a PGA Tour event, and Watson, who made two birdies and three bogeys on the back nine Saturday. On a course that has yielded the PGA Tour’s only 58, that means the group of pros with a legitimate chance at winning is massive.

That group includes Dustin Johnson, who shot the low round of the day, a 65, and Bryson DeChambeau, who shot 68. Both of those major champions will start the final round three shots behind the leaders at 7 under.

“It’s going to take 7 or 8 under for sure tomorrow, which can happen out here,” DeChambeau said Saturday afternoon. “You’ve just got to execute shots and be confident and make some good putts.”

Before heading to his car, Day explained what it is going to take to win on Sunday.

“It’s crucial to have a good back-side tomorrow. If you can hole the 10- to 15-footers out there tomorrow, someone from three or four back could win this,” he said. “I feel like this tournament yields a lot of winners that way.”

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Jason Day shoots 62 and leads the Travelers Championship

The Travelers Championship is an annual buffet of birdies After two rounds, Jason Day, Bubba Watson and Kramer Hickok have feasted.

CROMWELL, Conn. – Last week at Torrey Pines, carding a birdie was as easy as stealing a steak from a Rottweiler. The lowest score posted at the 2021 U.S. Open was 67, but this week at TPC River Highlands, site of the Travelers Championship, a 67 doesn’t feel special. On Thursday, Kramer Hickok and Satoshi Kodaira shot 63s, Talor Gooch shot 64 and five players shot 65.

The Travelers Championship is an annual buffet of birdies, open to bombers and shorter hitters alike. After two rounds, Jason Day, Bubba Watson and Kramer Hickok have feasted like kings. Through six combined rounds, they have made 33 birdies so far.

Day made eight birdies himself on Friday afternoon and shot a bogey-free 62 that catapulted him to the top of the leaderboard. He will start Saturday’s third round at 9 under, a shot ahead of Watson and Hickok. Seven other players will start the third round two shots back at 7 under.

“I was fortunate enough to not really get in my own way today. I hit a lot of good quality drives and my tee to green was pretty solid, I thought. Then holed a lot of crucial putts out there,” Day said.

At the same time, the 33-year-old Australian’s back has been stiff this week, and he moved gingerly around the course. To compensate for pain when he shifts to the left side, he’s made a minor adjustment.

“I’ve been hitting a lot of flighted shots. You know, sometimes when I get a little bit too far left, everything has to go back and start crunching on the right lower part of my back again,” he explained.

Watson, playing in the morning wave, shot a second 66 of the tournament. He broke his driver on his 11th hole, but still managed to birdie it.

Watson has won this event three times, loves the course and the area.

“My first win (was) here, with my dad watching,” he said. “So many things that happened with my family at this place. This community, it just means so much to us, and so when I get here, I just feel energized. I feel like the people are behind me and they’re pulling for me.”

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Kramer Hickok made nothing but pars on his opening nine, then holed a 23-foot putt for birdie on 10 and another 23-footer on 11 for birdie. He drove the green on the 279-yard, par-4 15th hole, then two-putted for a third birdie to move into the lead at -10. After hitting his tee shot on the par-3 16th long and into the rough, he three-putted for a double-bogey five and dropped from -10 to -8.

Among the other golfers shooting low rounds Friday were Charley Hoffman (63), K.H. Lee (64), Scottie Scheffler, Aaron Wise and Ryan Moore (65).

Many players have said that playing a week after the U.S. Open, handling fatigue and maintaining a good mindset are especially important.

“I think it kind of hit me on Wednesday. I thought I was good Tuesday, and then Wednesday, I remember feeling like, ‘Okay, that did take a lot out of me.’ (I) didn’t really realize it,” said Russell Henley, who was among the leaders heading into Sunday at Torrey Pines and shot 67-66 over the first two days here.

Kevin Kisner struggled at Torrey Pines and missed the cut. Thursday, he made 18 pars at the Travelers Championship, but on Friday made a birdie on the first hole, then made five more birdies and an eagle on the way to a 63.

“I think I probably hit the ball about the same, probably closer on the approach,” Kisner said. “I really didn’t make any putts yesterday. I rolled it nicely so I wasn’t that frustrated, but to see them going in early certainly helped.”

Justin Rose also missed the cut last week at the U.S. Open after shooting 73-77, but after a 1-under 69 Thursday, he shot a 5-under 30 on the front-nine
before making birdies at 10, 11 and 14. The Englishman finished the day with a 63.

“I putted great today. I made a lot of mid- to long-range putts, which obviously got my scorecard lit up,” Rose said. “But (it) probably started before that, just the mindset of not pushing too hard, not going to flags when I didn’t have the right number or kind of hitting driver off holes that I wasn’t front loading the gamble. Just being a bit more patient with my game.”

While some players feasted on birdies Thursday and Friday, it was a famine for others. Among the notable golfers who struggled this week and who failed to make the 36-hole cut Max Homa (69-71, even), Tony Finau (76,67, +3), Rickie Fowler (69, 75, +4) and Matthew Wolff (76,69, +5).

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Bubba Watson breaks his driver but climbs the Travelers Championship leaderboard anyway

The head of Bubba Watson’s driver flew off in Round 2 of the Travelers Championship, but that hardly derailed Watson’s day.

CROMWELL, Conn. – Parents know that sometimes, kids break their toys even when they don’t mean to do it. Whether they are at home or on the playground, accidents happen. Friday morning at TPC River Highlands, which may as well be Bubba Watson’s personal playground, the three-time Travelers Championship winner broke his driver.

But the incident did not derail Watson’s march up the leaderboard as he shot a second-straight 66 to take the lead at 8-under par as the morning wave finished.

The incident occurred after Watson hit a 295-yard tee shot up the hill on the par-4 second hole (his 11th). The pink head of his driver flew off.

“It’s one of the things where the driver is (traveling), heat, cold, whatever it is, over time, overuse, my driver head popped off,” he said after the round. “It’s the shaft right above the hosel. It’s cracked, broke, whatever you want to call it.”

He was thankful that the head did not reach the crowd and that no one was hurt.

“Nobody in my group knew where the ball was,” he explained. “Once you hit, you’re focused on where the driver head goes.”

Ted Scott, Watson’s caddie, retrieved the head and could be seen digging into it and banging the hosel area repeatedly on the ground and with the end of the shaft.

It turns out the shaft tip that allows the loft to be increased or decreased broke, and a piece stuck inside the hosel portion of the head.

Watson made birdie on the hole and walked to the third tee.

“I like 3-wood here Bubba,” Scott said with a smile. Moments later, with Paul Casey having already teed off, Phil Mickelson asked Watson if he wanted him to play out of turn intentionally. The move would give the person running to Watson’s car to get his backup driver a few more moments to reach the group on the third tee.

“If you don’t mind, go ahead,” Watson said, but the backup driver did not arrive on time. Watson hit a high cut around a large oak tree that guards the left side of the fairway. His ball came to rest about 5 yards behind Mickelson’s in the fairway.

Watson made par on the hole and got this backup drive beside the third green.

On the third hole, Watson used the backup driver and hit a 279-yard drive into the fairway. He hit it again on the sixth, 307 yards, to set up a fourth birdie for the day.

Watson took the outright lead after draining a 50-foot birdie putt on the seventh. He made par on the eighth but missed a 5-foot put on the ninth hole for his only bogey of the day.

“When you come off the U.S. Open everything seems easier,” Watson said. “As long as you stay out of the bunkers you can still move the ball forward and you feel like you have a chance to hit the green. That’s really what I’ve felt over the years, is that I can play no matter where the ball ends up.”

Even with a broken driver, Watson has had plenty of fun on his playground again at the Travelers Championship.

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Satoshi Kodaira shines as Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau sputter at Travelers Championship

On a day when some of the biggest names in golf struggled at TPC River Highlands Japan’s Satoshi Kodaira topped the leaderboard.

CROMWELL, Conn. – On a day when some of the biggest names in golf struggled to get on the birdie train at TPC River Highlands, Japan’s Satoshi Kodaira rode the express to the top the leaderboard.

Ranked No. 294 in the Official World Golf Rankings coming into this week, Kodaira, who has won seven times on the Japan Tour, combined pinpoint accuracy from the fairway with a hot putter to card four birdies on Nos. 12 through 16 (he started on No. 10) Thursday at TPC River Highlands. After making the turn, he went birdie-eagle-birdie to start his second nine. That dropped his score to 8 under, one better than Kramer Hickok, who shot a 7-under 63 in the morning wave to take the early lead.

On the par-3 eighth hole, a three-putt bogey dropped Kodaira back into a tie with Hickok at 7 under. Still, it was easily the best round of the season for the 31-year-old.

“(I) had a good flow going at the beginning of the round, and that continued throughout the round, and so it felt really good,” Kodaira said afterward. “Before the round I wasn’t thinking this way, but I been playing well these few tournaments, so the flow of that is continuing, so I felt really well going into this round.”

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Heading into the Travelers Championship, Kodaira earned three top-20 finishes, but those were his best showings of the year. He has appeared at 20 PGA Tour events this season and missed the cut 10 times. His best finish this season is T-11 at the Wells Fargo Championship in May, and before today’s 63, Kodaira’s lowest score this season was 66, which he shot three times. Thursday’s 63 matched his career low-round on the PGA Tour, posted during the second round of the 2018 RBC Heritage, a tournament he went on to win.

Low scores like Hickok and Kodaira’s 63s are nothing new at TPC River Highlands. Jim Furyk posted the PGA Tour’s only 58 here in 2016, and playing as an amateur on a sponsor’s exemption in 2011, Patrick Cantlay shot 61 on Friday to take the tournament lead. Last year, Dustin Johnson shot 61 on Saturday before winning the next day.

As Kodaira was lighting up the 6,841-yard, par-70 course on Thursday afternoon, several big-name players struggled.

On a day when the field’s scoring average was 70, Brooks Koepka made three birdies and two bogeys on the way to shooting 69.

“I’m awful the week after a major, especially U.S. Open, because it takes so much out of you,” he said. “But still, I should have played better. No excuses. I mean, I’m kind of tired. I am going to enjoy getting to bed tonight.”

Rickie Fowler, Bryson DeChambeau, Adam Scott and Phil Mickelson also shot 69.

“I had a fun day. I didn’t score as low as I wanted to but didn’t hurt myself,” Mickelson said Thursday evening. “I need to come out tomorrow and play a good round.”

Dustin Johnson, the defending champion and world’s No. 2-ranked player, carded two bogeys and a double-bogey that offset four birdies and shot even-par 70.

Playing with what appeared to be a sore back, Paul Casey shot 71, while Tony Finau and Matthew Wolff shot 76.

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Tiger Woods spotted in Los Angeles on crutches as fans remember his 2008 U.S. Open win at Torrey Pines

Tiger Woods seems to be managing well on crutches as he arrives in Los Angeles. Meanwhile, U.S. Open week churns on in San Diego.

Three days into U.S. Open week at Torrey Pines in San Diego, the references to Tiger Woods’ win there in 2008 on a broken leg seem never-ending. (Is there a better U.S. Open hero story from recent memory? For a reminder,  check out the new plaque commemorating that victory at Torrey Pines.)

Woods obviously is not in this week’s field to make the same kind of magic as he continues his recovery from a single-car accident in February, but on Tuesday video surfaced on social media of Woods walking on crutches.

The video, posted by TMZ (and picked up on Instagram by the handle @twspot), shows Woods walking a short distance from an unidentified building to a waiting car. He is seen putting some weight on the injured right leg and maneuvering quite well.

The caption indicated that the video captured Woods’ arrival in Los Angeles.

For now, the wait continues for Big Cat to make a hopeful return to the competition stage, but you can count on a few hundred more Woods references before U.S. Open week is over.

U.S. Open heat index: Who to pick at Torrey Pines?

Using the rankings, we’ve identified players who are trending heading into this week’s U.S. Open at Torrey Pines.

Looking for a player to pick in your office pool? One strategy is to consider players who have had the most success in the months leading up to this week’s U.S. Open, the third major of 2021.

The entire U.S. Open field is broken down below according to the Golfweek/Sagarins and the Official World Golf Ranking. The left column, or the “heat index,” is a player’s ranking based on his play the past four months. That can help you pick a player who is trending.

So far in the 2020-21 Tour season, the average ranking of the winner heading into the week in which he won a PGA Tour event has been 90.8 in the Golfweek/Sagarins and 91.6 in the OWGR.

Player Heat GW/Sagarin OWGR
 Jordan Spieth 1 19 24
 Collin Morikawa 2 12 4
 Jon Rahm 3 1 3
 Charley Hoffman 4 25 58
 Jason Kokrak 5 33 22
 Louis Oosthuizen 6 8 18
 Viktor Hovland 7 3 13
 Paul Casey 8 16 19
 Brian Harman 9 17 47
 Corey Conners 10 20 36
 Branden Grace 11 97 71
 Daniel Berger 12 9 16
 Webb Simpson 13 4 12
 Bryson DeChambeau 14 6 5
 Cameron Smith 16 26 28
 Scottie Scheffler 17 29 17
 Will Zalatoris 18 7 29
 Abraham Ancer 19 18 21
 Christiaan Bezuidenhout 20 31 46
 Shane Lowry 21 43 41
 Matt Fitzpatrick 22 34 20
 Kevin Streelman 23 32 54
 Joaquin Niemann 24 13 31
 Brendan Steele 26 41 79
 Xander Schauffele 27 2 6
 Tyrrell Hatton 28 14 9
 Billy Horschel 29 36 23
 Stewart Cink 31 44 44
 Patrick Reed 32 22 8
 Justin Thomas 33 10 2
 Jhonattan Vegas 35 75 138
 Tony Finau 36 11 14
 Garrick Higgo 37 164 39
 Hideki Matsuyama 38 30 15
 Sam Burns 42 39 37
 Ian Poulter 43 54 56
 Ryan Palmer 44 28 34
 Max Homa 45 66 40
 Robert MacIntyre 46 46 48
 Adam Scott 47 24 43
 Dustin Johnson 49 5 1
 Rory McIlroy 52 15 11
 Patrick Cantlay 53 21 7
 Matt Jones 54 53 60
 Brendon Todd 55 48 62
 Harris English 57 23 25
 Matt Wallace 59 61 55
 Bubba Watson 62 63 61
 Si Woo Kim 63 35 49
 Justin Rose 66 72 42
 Kevin Na 67 57 38
 Tommy Fleetwood 71 49 33
 Charl Schwartzel 73 91 110
 Marc Leishman 77 111 45
 Sungjae Im 78 51 26
 K.H. Lee 81 122 64
 Zach Johnson 85 37 123
 Sahith Theegala 87 128 702
 Thomas Detry 91 95 92
 Russell Henley 93 47 63
 Lee Westwood 95 84 27
 Troy Merritt 96 98 132
 Gary Woodland 97 103 57
 Matt Kuchar 98 70 59
 Carlos Ortiz 101 67 53
 Martin Laird 105 127 99
 Brooks Koepka 107 82 10
 Phil Mickelson 110 117 30
 Bernd Wiesberger 112 68 52
 Jordan L Smith 114 193 205
 Adam Hadwin 123 86 100
 Taylor Pendrith 125 65 194
 Lanto Griffin 129 74 70
 Sebastián Muñoz 132 106 65
 Sergio Garcia 133 64 50
 Wyndham Clark 135 104 147
 Erik van Rooyen 147 114 86
 Chan Kim 151 130 83
 Guido Migliozzi 161 311 103
 Victor Perez 166 185 35
 Marcus Armitage 182 189 122
 Jimmy Walker 195 298 332
 Francesco Molinari 207 115 173
 Mackenzie Hughes 216 92 67
 Bo Hoag 217 171 233
 Tom Hoge 218 179 125
 Patrick Rodgers 223 214 236
 Brian Stuard 229 177 232
 J.T. Poston 232 163 98
 Greyson Sigg 237 138 168
 Adrian Meronk 240 335 187
 Rikuya Hoshino 250 208 78
 Kevin Kisner 257 108 51
 Taylor Montgomery 274 224 347
 Cameron Champ 277 218 112
 Sung Kang 282 355 196
 Paul Barjon 285 252 216
 Rafa Cabrera Bello 288 223 139
 Yosuke Asaji 289 384 336
 Dylan Frittelli 298 160 89
 Chez Reavie 300 173 136
 Justin Suh 308 151 441
 Cameron Young 313 261 172
 John Huh 317 113 357
 Ryo Ishikawa 328 271 145
 Richard Bland 340 272 115
 Sam Ryder 344 306 215
 Robby Shelton 345 288 248
 Hayden Buckley 351 312 301
 Matthew Southgate 374 296 217
 Henrik Stenson 378 385 149
 Wilco Nienaber 392 324 141
 Zack Sucher 395 469 569
 Dylan Wu 406 403 489
 J.J. Spaun 421 338 496
 Andy Pope 442 396 1133
 Edoardo Molinari 444 592 375
 Johannes Veerman 456 361 330
 Fabián Gómez 466 448 423
 Peter Malnati 487 260 188
 Wade Ormsby 495 474 208
 David Coupland 500 421 458
 Martin Kaymer 554 284 104
 Rick Lamb 576 489 1131
 Chris Baker 589 424 617
 Brad Kennedy 617 577 193
 Eric Cole 623 546 702
 Matthew Wolff N/R 38 32
 Akshay Bhatia N/R 263 879
 Zach Zaback N/R 732 1740
 Thomas Aiken N/R N/R 1672
 Steve Allan N/R N/R 1168
 Luis Fernando Barco N/R N/R 1897
 Mario Carmona N/R N/R 1897
 Pierceson Coody N/R N/R 1897
 Roy Cootes N/R N/R 1897
 Chris Crawford N/R N/R 1897
 Wilson Furr N/R N/R N/R
 Luis Gagne N/R N/R 1897
 Cole Hammer N/R N/R 1897
 James Hervol N/R N/R N/R
 Joe Highsmith N/R N/R N/R
 Michael Johnson N/R N/R N/R
 Andrew Kozan N/R N/R N/R
 Joe Long N/R N/R 1897
 Dylan Meyer N/R N/R 1897
 Ollie Osborne N/R N/R N/R
 Spencer Ralston N/R N/R 1897
 Carson Schaake N/R N/R 1897
 Matthias Schmid N/R N/R N/R
 Matt Sharpstene N/R N/R N/R
 Davis Shore N/R N/R N/R
 Hayden Springer N/R N/R 1897
 Tyler Strafaci N/R N/R N/R
 Kyle Westmoreland N/R N/R 1897
 Alvaro Ortiz VV N/R 526

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Defending U.S. Open champ Bryson DeChambeau dominates headlines, as much for spat as for strategy

The Brooks Koepka-Bryson DeChambeau spat is still front and center in the golf world, but DeChambeau is there for other reasons, too.

SAN DIEGO – Before last year, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods were the only golfers in history to win the NCAA Division I Men’s Championship, the U.S. Amateur and the U.S. Open. Then Bryson DeChambeau started chugging protein shakes, lifting big weights and bulking up. He committed to speed and a bomb-and-gouge philosophy, then won at Winged Foot last September to join Jack and Tiger’s club.

DeChambeau is here at Torrey Pines this week to defend that U.S. Open title. He’s still in love with speed, still looking for every edge science can provide. But instead of focusing on his outlandish distance off the tee and analytical approach to the game, golf lovers have been fixated by DeChambeau’s social media feud with Brooks Koepka. On Tuesday, more intrigue was added to the plot.

Its origin goes back to a slow-play scuffle in 2018, but things really got interesting last month. After the second round at the PGA Championship, Koepka was being interviewed by Golf Channel when DeChambeau walked behind the scene and distracted him.

“I (expletive) lost … I lost my train of thought. Yeah, hearing that bulls—t,” Koepka said. His eye rolls filled in any blanks viewers of the leaked video might have had.

DeChambeau fired back on Twitter, saying it was nice to be living rent-free in Koepka’s head. Still, two weeks ago at the Memorial, the PGA Tour removed some fans who called DeChambeau “Brooksie” during the second round (saying DeChambeau “had an issue with some spectators and notified security, who dealt with them”).

Here’s where things get odd. On Tuesday at Torrey Pines during his press conference, DeChambeau acted like that never happened.

“All of it’s been good fun,” he said. “Shoot, to be honest, people saying Brooksie’s name out there, I love it. I think it’s hilarious.”

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This came after reports Tuesday morning that the USGA had reached out to see how DeChambeau would feel about being grouped with Koepka on Thursday and Friday. DeChambeau’s agent told Golfweek the call never happened, but Bryson’s answer Tuesday afternoon was more ambiguous.

“I would be okay with that, but there was never really anything that went through me,” he said.

So, we may never know if there was a call from the USGA to DeChambeau’s camp or not, and if there was, did someone squash the idea before Bryson was made aware of it?

We do know this: DeChambeau, who won earlier this season at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, plans to employ the same strategy he used at Winged Foot here at Torrey Pines.

“If I can keep hitting it to the front of the greens, two-putting when I get into trouble, I’m going to give myself a great chance this week,” he said. “When I hit it in the fairway, I have to take advantage of those holes, have to take advantage of the par 5s out here. If I can do those two things, I feel like I’ll have a great chance at contending.”

Those tactics served DeChambeau well at Winged Foot last fall. He was the only player in the field to finish below par for the week (6-under 274) on a course widely considered one of the toughest in the U.S. Open rota.

“If I have over 190 mile an hour ball speed, it’s going to be tremendous out here covering bunkers and whatnot,” he said. “But again, sometimes the bunkers are good to be in out here. They’re in really great condition, and the rough lies can be treacherous sometimes. It really depends what type of lie you get. I really don’t know if bunkers or rough is better, but for sure just getting it as close as I can to the green is going to be a strategy of mine.”

There were no fans on the course at Winged Foot, and there will be significantly fewer spectators here at Torrey Pines than there were in 2008 when Tiger Woods won. But San Diego is a microbrew hotspot, filled with people who love to enjoy a good lager or IPA on a sunny day. As they get “hydrated” throughout the days here at Torrey Pines, watching Bryson DeChambeau’s reactions and demeanor could be as fascinating as watch how he tries to win a second U.S. Open.

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U.S. Open: Behind Bryson DeChambeau’s power and bulk? Hours-long, sweat-filled speed-training sessions.

Members of Bryson DeChambeau’s team detail his exhausting quest to build strength and speed, and how it took his game to new heights.

Editor’s note: This is the second story in a three-part series.

Just before noon on a February Friday north of Los Angeles, Bryson DeChambeau signed off on his missed cut in the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club and immediately dialed some digits.

“I want to come down, I want to do some work,” he said into his iPhone.

DeChambeau hopped into his car, drove some 115 miles southward and about two hours later was at the Cobra Puma Golf headquarters in Carlsbad.

Meeting him there was Ben Schomin, director of Tour Operations for Cobra Puma Golf who has worked with DeChambeau his entire pro career.

“He was at the indoor hitting bay from 2 until 10,” Schomin said. “Delivered in some pizza for the night, and the next day we did the same thing all over again from 11 to about 9:30 Saturday night. And it was non-stop – tweaking things, moving weight around, testing different heads, theorizing about certain things.

“It got deep.”

DeChambeau knows no other way when pursuing a goal. He stretches his limits as far as he can and leaves himself, as nearly every member of Team DeChambeau will tell you, in a pile of sweat. Be it in the gym, during speed drills where he swings full bore until he can’t go anymore or on the putting green honing his stroke for hours on end, he puts his boundaries to a strenuous test.

“Stopping is not in his personality,” Schomin said. “In speed training sessions where he’s just swinging out of his shoes for an hour, he’s sweating profusely. One time, he said he was starting to get lightheaded, so he said, ‘If I pass out, you’re going to have to catch me.’ ‘Catch you? How am I supposed to catch you when you’re swinging a driver at 142 mph? What do you want me to do?’ So, there was a point where he literally had to get down on a knee because he was getting lightheaded. What he’s doing is different and it’s working.”

Since DeChambeau became Bison Bryson by adding 40 pounds to his already large mass last spring – with most of the poundage piling up during the 13-week quarantine the PGA Tour was forced to take because of the global pandemic – he’s turned golf on its head and won three PGA Tour titles, including the 2020 U.S. Open and the 2021 Arnold Palmer Invitational two weeks after he missed the cut in LA.

Much has been made about his ball speed, swing speed, single-length irons. But his work ethic involving both his body and mind deserves equal notice.

“His work ethic is not forced. It’s super natural to him. He wants to be out there working as long as he does,” said Chris Como, DeChambeau’s swing coach. “I don’t know how you stop someone with that energy. Now, there are times I’m in his ear, ‘You’re good, you’re good,’ and sometimes he’ll listen to me.

“But he’ll go, sometimes, ‘OK, one more ball.’ And we’ll go another hour.

“I really enjoy trying to figure something out, so to partner with someone as talented as he is and has the work ethic he does and we share the same amount of curiosity, willing to explore things to get better, allows me to channel my talents and go down rabbit holes with him.”

Still, DeChambeau had to take his work ethic up a notch or two or three when he befriended Kyle Berkshire, the long-drive king who can make DeChambeau feel small on the course. This guy’s stock yardages include 360 yards for his driver, 315 yards for his 3-iron, 240 yards for his 6-iron, 205 yards for his 8-iron, 165 yards for his pitching wedge.

There’s long and then there’s Berkshire long.

“Bryson’s probably the only person I ran into who is willing to push to where I would push my speed sessions,” Berkshire said. “He can typically hit 300 balls in one speed session, and he’d hit a number, let’s just say, 138 clubhead speed after 100 balls. After that I would tell him I want him to hit 144 and the next two hours would be filled with doing everything we can trying to get him riled up and get him into a good head space where he’s really pushing himself.

“Every single session ends with him in a puddle of sweat.”

Berkshire was the one who talked DeChambeau into taking himself to the edge, pushing himself to the brink of blacking out. And Berkshire said there’s a lot left in DeChambeau’s tank to tap into.

“I was a little scared to do it,” DeChambeau said. “First time I tried it I was very cautious with it. I was dead tired and he told me I was only 50 percent done. He kept pushing me. And when I nearly passed out, he said, ‘OK, you’re done.’

“But that was when I hit my max ball speed.”

Taking his body to the max comes with its aches and pains, which DeChambeau knows all too well. Just watching him violently swing or go all out in a workout can make you hurt.

“I hope we continue to see a healthy Bryson,” said Dottie Pepper, former LPGA Tour star and one of the game’s best on-course analysts. “It takes a lot of effort and he’s hitting so many balls so hard the ground eventually hits back.”

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DeChambeau has talked about how painfully sore he’s felt after brutal workouts and admitted he has to go easier on his body, thus he’s working on different ways to inherently have a faster motion without huge speed-training sessions.

“There was a point in time when I started this early on and I tried to get to 190 ball speed, I remember, there were times where I’m swinging literally out of my butt, and I was like, ‘Man, this is not good for my body. I can’t do this,’” he said. “I remember waking up of the next day, I’m like, dude, my hands, everything hurt. What am I doing? There were numerous times I felt like I had to backtrack for a bit.”

But as dangerous as what DeChambeau is doing looks to be, he’s confident all is safe.

That’s where conditioning coach Greg Roskopf comes in. The founder of Muscle Activation Techniques (MAT) based in Denver, who has consulted with various professional sports teams including the NFL’s Denver Broncos and the NBA’s Denver Nuggets and Utah Jazz, has worked with DeChambeau for four years to improve his mechanics and optimize his muscle function.

“The MAT process and methods look at the neuromuscular system specifically and how it is designed to relieve pain and improve mobility,” Roskopf said. “The foundational concepts behind MAT recognize that whenever you have stress, trauma or overuse to the muscles, the resultant inflammation alters the communication between the nervous system and the muscular system.

“It’s like having loose battery cables, with the brain as the battery, the nervous system as the cables and the muscles as the engine. The nervous system sends the information to the muscles, but the information does not get to the muscles as efficiently as it should. As a result, this altered communication impedes the ability for the muscles to contract efficiently. When muscles can’t contract efficiently, they can’t do their job to stabilize joints and protect the body from injury. And when the muscles can’t shorten effectively, the opposite muscles tighten up as a protective mechanism.

“We identify where the altered communication pathways are within the body and through a very specific hands-on stimulation technique, we ‘tighten the battery cables.’ This activation technique improves the communication between the nervous system and the muscle system. Through the improvement of the communication pathways, the muscles are able to contract more efficiently and then are better equipped to stabilize joints and protect the body from injury.

“The muscles actually get stronger on the spot.”

The goal of DeChambeau’s exercise program developed by Roskopf is to increase his strength throughout his body, movement by movement, muscle by muscle.

“All of this, working off the concept that when we put great amounts of force on the body, like Bryson does in his golf swing, we’re only as strong as our weakest link,” Roskopf said. “It is those weak links that eventually set us up for injury.

“But Bryson has not only gotten stronger but has actually been able to double his force output capabilities in all of the muscles in his body.”

Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee doesn’t think DeChambeau’s swing will lead to injury.

“Hardly. The people who injure themselves, like Brooks Koepka and Jason Day, are resisters with the lower body. And because they resist, they have to be explosive in transition,” Chamblee said. “Bryson doesn’t generate power like that. He turns his hips fully and releases fully. He’s not likely to hurt himself.

“Bryson didn’t metaphorically reach higher, he literally reached higher. He got his hands farther up, he extended his right leg, and he drew down in transition. He let his hands fall down close to his shoulder, thereby creating more moment of inertia. Like a skater when they draw their arms in, they spin faster. If they leave their arms out, they will spin slower. Bryson incorporated nearly every power principle you can imagine. He was willing take the risk and he’s reaping the rewards through science and hard work.”

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