2016 Hyundai Tournament of Champions pre-tournament notes
Dates: January 6–10, 2016
Where: The Plantation Course at Kapalua Resort
City, State: Maui, Hawaii
Par/Yards: 36-37–73/7,452 yards
Field: 32 winners of PGA TOUR events from the 2015 calendar year
2015 champion: Patrick Reed
Purse: $5,900,000
FedExCup: 500 points to the winner
Format: 72-hole stroke play (no cut)
Website: PGATOUR.com/Hyundai
Facebook: www.facebook/HyundaiTOC
Twitter: @HyundaiTOC
Instagram: HyundaiTOC
Pre-tournament Interviews
Tuesday, January 5
Rickie Fowler – 1:30 p.m.
Wednesday, January 6
Jason Day – 10:30 a.m.
Jordan Spieth – Before Pro-Am
Patrick Reed – After Pro-Am
Davis Love III – Before or after Pro-Am
2015-16 PGA TOUR Storylines
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The Hyundai Tournament of Champions marks the eighth official event of the PGA TOUR’s wraparound 2015-16 season schedule.
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Year 10 of the FedExCup consists of 47 events including the four FedExCup Playoff events.
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The Hyundai Tournament of Champions field includes winners from the 2015 calendar year, including the seven official events played in the fall. The Hyundai Tournament of Champions marks the resumption of the 2015-16 PGA TOUR schedule after a six-week break from official events.
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Continuing a trend from the 2014-15 season that saw a TOUR-record 24 victories by players under the age of 30, four of the seven winners so far this season have also been in their 20s.
A look at the 2015 Hyundai Tournament of Champions
Patrick Reed overcame a two-shot deficit to defeat Jimmy Walker with a birdie on the first playoff hole to win his first Hyundai Tournament of Champions and fourth PGA TOUR event overall. The Texan’s dramatic comeback was accentuated by his eagle on the par-4 16th, holing an 80-yard wedge shot for the only eagle on the hole that week. Reed’s final round, 6-under 67, found him tied with Walker through 72 holes, one clear of Jason Day, Russell Henley and Hideki Matsuyama. With the win, Reed became the fourth player, joining Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Sergio Garcia, to record four or more wins before the age of 24 years and six months (Jordan Spieth joined that group later in the season).
Patrick Reed overcame a two-shot deficit to defeat Jimmy Walker with a birdie on the first playoff hole to win his first Hyundai Tournament of Champions and fourth PGA TOUR event overall. The Texan’s dramatic comeback was accentuated by his eagle on the par-4 16th, holing an 80-yard wedge shot for the only eagle on the hole that week. Reed’s final round, 6-under 67, found him tied with Walker through 72 holes, one clear of Jason Day, Russell Henley and Hideki Matsuyama. With the win, Reed became the fourth player, joining Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Sergio Garcia, to record four or more wins before the age of 24 years and six months (Jordan Spieth joined that group later in the season).
Breakdown of the 32-player field:
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The 32 players in the field have accounted for 128 PGA TOUR wins, led by Davis Love III, whose triumph at the Wyndham Championship put his career total at 21. He is followed by 2014 Hyundai Tournament of Champions winner Zach Johnson (12), Dustin Johnson (9), Bubba Watson (8), Jason Day (7) and Brandt Snedeker (7).
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Winners of seven major championships including all three winners of the four major championships in 2015: Jordan Spieth, winner of the Masters and U.S. Open, Zach Johnson, winner of the Open Championship and Day, winner of the PGA Championship. Other major champions in the field include Watson, Love III and Graeme McDowell.
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Two winners of THE PLAYERS Championship are in the field this week, including defending champion Rickie Fowler, who also captured the Deutsche Bank Championship during the FedExCup Playoffs. Love III is the other PLAYERS champion in the field, and he is a two-time winner of THE PLAYERS.
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The field includes four players with multiple wins in the 2015 calendar year:
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Jordan Spieth (5) – Valspar Championship, the Masters Tournament, U.S. Open, John Deere Classic, TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola
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Jason Day (5) – Farmers Insurance Open, RBC Canadian Open, PGA Championship, The Barclays, BMW Championship
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Jimmy Walker (2) – Sony Open in Hawaii, Valero Texas Open
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Rickie Fowler (2) – THE PLAYERS Championship, Deutsche Bank Championship
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Thirteen players who competed in The Presidents Cup 2015 are in the field: Zach Johnson, Dustin Johnson, Bubba Watson, Jason Day, Bill Haas, Jordan Spieth, Jimmy Walker, J.B. Holmes, Chris Kirk, Patrick Reed, Rickie Fowler, Steven Bowditch and Danny Lee. Davis Love III was a captain’s assistant on the U.S. Team, and is the captain of the U.S. Ryder Cup team in 2016.
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There are 14 first-time winners in the field – Alex Cejka, Fabian Gomez, Emiliano Grillo, James Hahn, Smylie Kaufman, Kevin Kisner, Russell Knox, Brooks Koepka, Danny Lee, David Lingmerth, Peter Malnati, Troy Merritt and Justin Thomas.
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16 of the top 30 from the 2014-15 final FedExCup standings, including four of the top five.
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13 of the top 30 in the Official World Golf Ranking, including four of the top six: Spieth (1), Day (2), Watson (4), Fowler (6).
A closer look at the field:
Patrick Reed
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Reed’s four-career PGA TOUR victories make him one of the premier young players on the PGA TOUR, as he is one of five players to win four times before the age of 24 years, six months (Tiger Woods, Sergio Garcia, Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth). He is also 2-1 in playoffs in his career, winning the 2015 Hyundai Tournament of Champions on the first playoff hole over Jimmy Walker.
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The Augusta State standout and Texas native used the win and 14 top-25finishes to record his best FedExCup finish at No. 12. His two missed cuts were the fewest of his career, and he advanced to the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola for the second consecutive season.
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Reed recorded a 1-2-1 record at The Presidents Cup 2015 helping the U.S. Team to a narrow victory against the International Team in South Korea.
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This is Reed’s third start in the Hyundai Tournament of Champions, finishing T16 in 2014 to go along with his victory last year. He will attempt to become the first player since Geoff Ogilvy was able to accomplish the feat in 2010.
Jordan Spieth
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Won five times last season, one of only six players to win five or more times in a season (Tom Watson (1980), Nick Price (1994), Vijay Singh (2004), Woods (1999-2003, 2005-07, 2009 and 2013) and Jason Day (2014-15)). Spieth was named the 2015-16 PGA TOUR Player of the Year, and his victory at the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola made him the FedExCup champion.
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Spieth won at a torrid pace early in the season, notching four wins before the Open Championship, which hadn’t been accomplished since Tiger Woods in 2000, recording wins at the Valspar Championship in a dramatic playoff, the Masters in record-breaking fashion, The U.S. Open in a gritty display and the John Deere Classic, site of his first victory on TOUR. He then added a victory at East Lake to become the youngest winner of the FedExCup.
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By winning the first two major championships of the year, and first two of his career, Spieth became the youngest player to win two majors since Gene Sarazen in 1922 and only the sixth player to win the Masters and the U.S. Open in the same season, joining Woods (2002), Jack Nicklaus (1972), Arnold Palmer (1960), Ben Hogan (1951, 1953) and Craig Wood (1941). His wire-to-wire victory at the Masters made him the third player, along with Woods and Sergio Garcia, since 1940 to record three victories before turning 22. His 270, 18-under total tied Woods’ scoring mark in the Masters set in 1997, and he is the only player to ever reach 19-under in the event’s history.
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Spieth finished just one-stroke out of a playoff at the Open Championship at St. Andrews in July, ending his bid for the Grand Slam, and recorded a runner-up finish at the PGA Championship to complete one of the best seasons in major championship history, which also landed him atop the Official World Golf Rankings for the first time.
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Compiled a 3-2-0 record at the 2015 Presidents Cup en route to a victory of the U.S. Team in South Korea.
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This is Spieth’s second start in the Hyundai Tournament of Champions. He finished runner-up to Zach Johnson by one shot in 2014.
Jason Day
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2014-15 was a triumphant, breakthrough year for Day, whose five-win season, including a win at the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits, would have earned him Player of the Year honors in almost any other year, if it weren’t for Spieth’s superb season.
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After winning the Farmers Insurance Open in January, Day struggled with a severe case of Benign Positional Vertigo that peaked during the U.S. Open at Chambers Bay. Despite the health struggles, Day held a share of the lead heading into the final round and played alongside Dustin Johnson in the final group, but struggled to a final-round 74 and a T9 finish.
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But Day’s near-miss at the U.S. Open was long forgotten by the end of the season that saw Day win four of his final six starts, including the PGA Championship where he set the new 72-hole low total in relation to par at 20 under.
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In addition to his first major championship, Day recorded victories at the RBC Canadian Open with a dramatic putt on the 72nd hole, and in two events during the FedExCup Playoffs, The Barclays and the BMW Championship, the latter of which vaulted him to the top spot in the Official World Golf Ranking, becoming the third, and youngest, Aussie to do so.
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He finished third in the final FedExCup standings, the best finish of his career.
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Day’s wife, Ellie, gave birth to the couple’s second child on Nov. 11, 2015, a daughter, Lucy.
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Day had a disappointing Presidents Cup for the International Team, recording an 0-4-1 record in a losing effort for the team.
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This is his third start in the Hyundai Tournament of Champions, finishing T9 in 2011 and T3 last year.
Zach Johnson
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Captured his 12th career PGA TOUR victory at the Open Championship at St. Andrews, becoming the sixth player to win major championships at Augusta National (Johnson won the Masters in 2007) and St. Andrews, joining Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo and Sam Snead.
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Johnson (2009 Sony Open in Hawaii, 2014 Hyundai Tournament of Champions) became the ninth player to win each of the PGA TOUR’s Hawaii events at least once: Jim Furyk (1996 Sony Open, 2001 Tournament of Champions), Jack Nicklaus (1974 Sony Open, 1963-64, 1971, 1973, 1977 Tournament of Champions); Lee Trevino (1968 Sony Open, 1981 Tournament of Champions); Lanny Wadkins (1988, 1991 Sony Open, 1982-83 Tournament of Champions); Paul Azinger (1991 Sony Open, 1990 Tournament of Champions); Mark O’Meara (1985 Sony Open, 1996 Tournament of Champions); Ernie Els (2003-04 Sony Open, 2003 Tournament of Champions); Vijay Singh (2005 Sony Open, 2007 Tournament of Champions).
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With ten top-10 finishes under his belt, including one win, Johnson finished the 2014-15 season ranked No. 6 in the FedExCup standings. It marked Johnson’s seventh trip to the FedExCup Playoffs in his career. He owns the course record at East Lake – a 60 carded in the third round of the 2007 event, when he finished T2 for the tournament and seventh in the FedExCup. His sixth-place finish last year matches his final finish in 2009, his best finish was in 2013, when he finished fifth.
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This is Johnson’s ninth appearance at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions. Other than his victory two years ago, Johnson’s only other top-10 finishes were a T6 in 2009 and seventh last year.
Rickie Fowler
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In a year in which many PGA TOUR stars in their 20s excelled, Fowler had the strongest year of his career, capturing THE PLAYERS Championship in striking fashion, and then adding a second title at the Deutsche Bank Championship during the FedExCup Playoffs. He also added a win on the European Tour in the Scottish Open the week prior to the Open Championship.
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Fowler was largely an afterthought through much of the final round at THE PLAYERS in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., trailing the leaders by three entering the day, but a furious finish saw him play the final four holes in 5-under par, going birdie-eagle-birdie-birdie to force a playoff with Kevin Kisner and Sergio Garcia. The playoff was the first three-hole aggregate playoff in tournament history, beginning on the 16th, and Fowler and Kisner were still tied following the three holes. The two headed to the 17th for the third time on Sunday, and Fowler delivered his third birdie on the daunting island green that day. In total he birdied the hole five of six attempts that week on the way to the biggest win of his career.
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Shot a final-round 3-under 68 to come from one shot back and defeat third-round leader Henrik Stenson at the Deutsche Bank Championship, good for his third career PGA TOUR victory. Earned the win at age 26 years, 8 months, 25 days in his 150th career start.
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Finished fourth in the final FedExCup standings behind 10 top 25s, including his two victories, a career-best finish in the season-long competition.
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Compiled a 1-3-0 record at The Presidents Cup in a winning effort for the U.S. Team in Korea last fall.
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This is his second appearance at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions, he finished T6 in 2013.
Davis Love III
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With 21 career wins Davis Love III has the most victories of anyone in the field this week. Love opened and closed the Wyndham Championship with rounds of 64 on the way to picking up that 21st victory, a full 23 years after first winning the Wyndham Championship in 1992. It had been more than seven years since his last win on TOUR, the 2008 Children’s Miracle Network Classic. In the final round, he opened with a bogey, but recovered on holes Nos. 2-6 with a birdie-birdie-birdie-eagle-
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The win at the Wyndham Championship made Love the third oldest winner in PGA TOUR history at 51 years, 4 months and 10 days, trailing only Sam Snead and Art Wall.
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Love is life member of the PGA TOUR, based on his 20-plus wins in his career, and he is T29 on the all-time win list.
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Love was a captain’s assistant for the victorious 2015 U.S. Presidents Cup Team, and is the captain of the 2016 U.S. Ryder Cup Team.
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Love is playing in his fourteenth Hyundai Tournament of Champions, his best finish a win in 1993, to go along with 8 other top 10s.
Youth Movement
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Emiliano Grillo won the season-opening event at the Frys.com Open at the age of 23, making it his second professional victory in a row, as he also captured the Web.com Tour Championship at Dye’s Valley at TPC Sawgrass in the start before. He is the first player to win in his first start as an official PGA TOUR member since Russell Henley at the 2013 Sony Open in Hawaii.
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Smylie Kaufman became the second rookie to win to start the season the very next week at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, winning at the age of 23.
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Justin Thomas, at 22 years of age, captured the CIMB Classic in Malaysia for his first PGA TOUR win in his sophomore season.
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Peter Malnati, another recent Web.com Tour graduate, added to the tally of under-30, first-time winners in 2015-16, winning the Sanderson Farms Championship.
Full field list:
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Steven
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Bowditch
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Alex
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Cejka
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Jason
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Day
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Matt
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Every
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Rickie
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Fowler
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Fabian
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Gomez
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Emiliano
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Grillo
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Bill
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Haas
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James
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Hahn
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Padraig
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Harrington
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J.J.
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Henry
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J.B.
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Holmes
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Dustin
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Johnson
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Zach
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Johnson
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Smylie
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Kaufman
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Chris
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Kirk
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Kevin
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Kisner
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Russell
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Knox
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Brooks
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Koepka
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Danny
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Lee
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David
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Lingmerth
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Davis
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Love III
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Peter
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Malnati
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Graeme
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McDowell
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Troy
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Merritt
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Scott
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Piercy
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Patrick
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Reed
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Brandt
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Snedeker
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Jordan
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Spieth
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Justin
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Thomas
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Jimmy
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Walker
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Bubba
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Watson
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