The Sam Saunders Mindset

Yesterday Sam Saunders became the first player to shoot 59 in a Web.com Tour Finals event. Are you curious how he did it?

He says it was his putting, and it's true that he took only 20 putts.



He says he got lucky, and that's true as well. As he said, he made a couple of putts that really had no business going in. (That happens to Jordan Spieth all the time but that's another story.)

And he says that, when a player gets in the zone like that, they really don't think much about what they're doing. They just do it.

But early in the day, long before he teed off, he talked with Chantel McCabe about his mindset these days. And that mindset might help some of you take strokes off your own game.

Sam said that he had finally accepted the fact that he wasn't always going to play well. If you're playing well, you won't do it every day. And if you're playing badly, it probably won't last. He said he liked the general direction his game was going and he was just going to go out and play.

The quotes you heard after the round (and quoted in this PGATOUR.com article) fit into that mindset very well.

“It was fun. You know, it was a good time out there and it was a real special day. Certainly memorable. I played with my buddy Steve Wheatcroft and we kind of fed off each other,” said Saunders of his fellow Atlantic Beach member. “Honestly, it just felt like a regular day at home playing our little money game and I got into a good rhythm. It was a blast.”

Brandel Chamblee noted after the round that Sam was #20 in birdies on the PGA Tour this season. That's better than Mickelson, Day and Casey, and all of them made it to the Tour Championship. Yet Sam was ranked #24 going into this week's final event, needing something special just to keep his card.

After the first round, he's ranked #1. It's amazing how much difference your attitude makes.

I'm interested to see how Sam follows it up in today's second round. Things will be different -- playing at a different time of day, different tee boxes, different pin positions, different conditions. Expecting to shoot the same kind of score on a different course is where many players get derailed.

But if Sam holds on to the attitude he told Chantel about, he could very well win this final event... and perhaps get to the Tour Championship next year. Never underestimate the power of your mindset.

The Skinny on Ben Crane's 8-Stroke Penalty and DQ

Today I've just got a link for you. Here is Golf Digest's explanation of what happened to Ben Crane at the Albertson's Boise Open in the Web.com Playoffs. After reading the article I finally understand why Ben got DQ'ed. At least Ben had a sense of humor about it.



But it still seems a bit senseless to me. The stickers had no more influence on the club's performance than the company engravings on the clubhead did. And given that he hadn't even used the clubs...

Let's just say I have mixed emotions about this ruling. There's the letter of the law, and there's the spirit of the law. Perhaps the rather important distinction between the two has been forgotten here.

Stacy and Peter Finally Break Through

With the Limerick Summary delayed a day for the PGA Tour's Monday finish, I thought I'd take a quick look at two nice stories from Sunday.



First, Stacy Lewis broke her three-year winless streak with a victory at the LPGA's Cambia Portland Open. Not only did she pick up a win and a $195k winner's check but, since she had already pledged her entire check this week to the Houston relief effort, her sponsor KPMG announced they would match her donation. And then her husband flew in to be there when she broke her win drought. It was a feelgood story all the way around.



Likewise, when Peter Uihlein turned pro several years ago, he decided to go the same route as Brooks Koepka -- head over to Europe, use the Challenge Tour to get a card on the ET and then use that experience to make it to the PGA Tour.

As it turned out, Peter's route was a lot longer than Brooks's was. He hasn't done badly by any measure -- he's currently #12 in the Race to Dubai. But this year Peter decided to come over to the Web.com Tour Finals and try to get a PGA Tour card that way. And while Peter made $15k less than Stacy with his win at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship, it was enough to lock up his Tour card for 2018. As things stand, he plans to play both tours.

On Sunday, both stories took a happy turn with Stacy getting her win (and two huge checks for her hometown's relief efforts, once you add KPMG's) and Peter getting his win (and tour card). And both players have time to celebrate, since today is a holiday here in the US (Labor Day).

Meanwhile, the rest of us get to watch a loaded leaderboard duke it out for the Dell Technologies Championship today. Not a bad weekend at all!

REMINDER: The Web.com Tour Begins Today

The Web.com Tour is experimenting with new schedules this year... and guess who's hitting the season's opening shot?



That's right. Greg Norman will be hitting the ceremonial first tee shot because this week's event -- the Bahamas Great Exuma Classic -- is being played at the Sandals Emerald Bay Golf Course in Great Exuma, which Norman designed. If you'd like to get a preview of the beautiful scenery, you can check out this post featuring a number of photos of the course.

But the biggest news is certainly the scheduling of the event. The first two events of the season are both in the Bahamas and both are running from Sunday to Wednesday, rather than the typical Thursday to Sunday finish.

Web.com is experimenting with the new schedule in hopes of increasing the Tour's profile. While Sunday rounds may not draw as many viewers since they'll be up against the final rounds of PGA Tour and LPGA Tour events, they will have a virtual monopoly on live golf Monday through Wednesday.

How well will the new scheduling work? That's anybody's guess. But a large number of industry insiders believe that this is a brilliant move by the Web.com Tour and, if it's successful, may eventually become the standard for their Tour.

In the meantime, we'll get to watch the first of the experimental events starting today at 3pm ET on GC. It should make for an interesting experiment... plus more tropical scenery for us snowbound viewers over the next few days.

"Beef" Continues His PGA Tour Quest

In the first of the Web.com Tour Finals events, Bryson DeChambeau locked up his Tour card. Andrew "Beef" Johnston, by comparison, only made $6910 -- probably around $30,000 short of the magic number.

But he's got three more tries, and this week he's at the Albertsons Boise Open to narrow the gap.



There are quite a few former PGA Tour winners in the field this week, as well as some hungry Web.com Tour players who didn't make The25 during the regular season. But you can be sure that Beef doesn't feel all that much pressure. In fact, as he told PGATOUR.com, he's enjoying himself:

“The more I’ve shown it [his personality], the better I’ve played,” he said. “If people want a high-five, or pictures, I love it. Everywhere I go, I feel like I’m at home. It’s a real good feeling.”

He feels like he's in a good place -- a feeling many of his fellow competitors wish they had -- and says he has nothing to lose.

“It’s just good timing to come and give it a chance,” Johnston said on a cool, London-like Wednesday at Hillcrest Country Club on the rationale for why he was playing in the Web.com Tour Finals. “I have exemptions in Europe until 2018. I’m in good position to give it a go. You want to play the best events wherever they are, and America has a lot of them. If I can get a card and play some of the best events in America and the best in Europe, it’s a great schedule for the whole year.”

The initial weather report for Hillcrest Country Club in Boise ID is light wind, 42% humidity and 62℉ today. Craig Perks said the conditions will likely favor a winning score around -15, which is one of the lower scores to win at this course. That could play out well for Beef, as he has been in double digits only a couple of times this year.

Of course, I doubt that stats bother him very much. If attitude can get him a Tour card, he's a sure thing. A couple of Top15 finishes are probably all he needs.

Beef tees off today at 1:34pm MT, which is 3:34pm ET -- and that means he should get some TV time. GC's broadcast window today is from 3pm-6pm ET.

The photo came from this article at gossiponthis.com. The article was done in July, and it's as entertaining as the photo!

Bryson DeChambeau Leads at the DAP

While we've all been watching the BMW Championship, hoping for some clue who Davis Love might pick as his first three Ryder Cup picks on Monday, Bryson DeChambeau has been quietly moving to the top of the leaderboard at the DAP Championship.



Although DeChambeau isn't exactly setting the stats boards on fire with his driving, he still seems to be doing better this week than he has most of the season. The driver head he replaced this week must be having some effect because he's T2 in birdies this week (14). But even at that, he's only one stroke ahead of Zach Sucher and two ahead of D.A. Points.

And just behind them is a quintet of very capable chasers -- Andres Gonzales, Will MacKenzie, Trey Mullinax, Rory Sabbatini and Stuart Appleby.

Granted, this is only the first of the four Web.com Finals events. But if Bryson DeChambeau can somehow hold on and win today, he'll lock up his PGA Tour card for next season. It would also put him in a good position to win the "Golden Ticket" at the end -- a fully-exempt 2017 Tour card. (And perhaps entry into the 2017 THE PLAYERS. I believe that's included as well.)

But first DeChambeau has his work cut out for him. Nine different players held the lead at some time during the third round. And true to its history, Canterbury Golf Course is standing up the way you'd expect from a major venue. If he can win today, he'll certainly be have earned his Tour card.

If you want to see how DeChambeau does -- and if the weather plays nice -- the final round will air today on GC at 2pm ET.

The Web.com Tour Finals Are Here!

The third FedExCup Playoff event starts today, but so does the first Web.com Tour Final event. There are roughly 150 players in the field -- 75 from the Web.com Tour and 75 from the PGA, European and other Tours. And for those guys, Tour cards are on the line.



The event is the DAP Championship in Beachwood OH, which is a new event in the Web.com Tour Finals. It adds an interesting twist to the Finals, because players will next go the Albertsons Boise Open in Boise ID then double back for the Nationwide Children's Hospital Championship in Columbus OH. The Web.com Tour Championship will then be held in Jacksonville FL.

As I said, the scene of the crime this week is Canterbury Golf Club in Beachwood OH, which is near Cleveland. Will it be a challenge? Well, according to PGATOUR.com:

"[It's] only one of two [courses] in the United States that has hosted five of the rotating men’s ‘major’ tournaments (Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, New York being the other): the U.S. Open, PGA Championship, U.S. Senior Open, Senior PGA Championship and U.S. Amateur."

That's a pretty serious venue, if you ask me. It should give the boys something to think about.

And the field is very interesting as well. In case you haven't seen the list of players, you can check it out on this page. But I'll mention a few of the more familiar names teeing it up this week.

• I suppose the name getting the most attention is none other than Andrew "Beef" Johnston, who's decided to try for a PGA Tour card after a breakout year on the ET. Beef could have a really profitable career over here if he can deal with the celebrity-level attention he'll draw.
• The other most-mentioned name is Bryson DeChambeau. Bryson has struggled a bit trying to get his card, but it appears that his driver -- which seemed to desert him not long after that first T4 at the RBC Canadian Open -- may have been damaged. Cobra suggested he try a new driver head and that seems to have straightened out most of the waywardness he'd been experiencing.
• College standout Ollie Schniederjans has already locked up a Tour card -- he finished 6th on the season money list -- but is looking to improve his status, in hopes of grabbing a ticket to THE PLAYERS next year.
• Trick shot artist Wesley Bryan won the "battlefield promotion" a month back and is already fully exempt next year... but he'd like that PLAYERS spot as well.
• Curtis Thompson (that's Lexi's brother) is exempt to the Web.com Tour next year but wants a PGA Tour card.
• Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, who you may recognize from the European Tour, also has Web.com Tour status next year... but at 64 he could use a better ranking if he doesn't get his PGA Tour card.
• Gerina's husband Martin Piller is trying to regain his PGA Tour card, as is Arnold Palmer's grandson Sam Saunders.
• And I wouldn't want to forget Kiradech Aphibarnrat from Thailand.

Of course, there are a number of other names you'd recognize as well. It's going to be a packed field.

The website only lists today's broadcast time, on GC at 12:30pm ET. (That's just half past noon, not after midnight.) With so many recognizable names on such a historic course, this should be a pretty good event.