The Asian Swing kicks off a three-event “mini-season” on Jeju Island South Korea for the third edition of the CJ CUP. The Club at Nine Bridges hosts for the third consecutive year of this relatively new event with a select field of 78 players. RELATED: Expert picks | Daily fantasy advice | Sleeper picks For the first time in three events the CJ CUP AT NINE BRIDGES will be the first stop in the Far East. The old warm-up act, the CIMB Classic, is no longer on the schedule so it will be a week of body-clock adjustment for most. Jeju Island has taken on over 50 inches in the last five weeks as three different typhoons have battered the area. The bentgrass layout, which drains well, should be lush and somewhat soft after the pounding it has taken. The major defense for this layout is the wind. Generous landing areas and massive green complexes (7,800 square feet on average) give plenty of targets to aim at but this par-72 doesn’t even stretch to 7,300 yards. While the recent rains should keep the roll off the tee to a minimum, the altitude of 3,500 feet should shrink this track even more. The two winners have been the reigning PGA TOUR player of the year and winners of the PGA Championship but that streak ends this week as Rory McIlroy isn’t entered! Need more Course Info? Check Rob Bolton’s Power Rankings, The First Look and Course Preview. Recent Winners  2018: Brooks Koepka (-21, 267) Fresh off two majors and a Player of the Year, Koepka rolled into town, set the 54-hole and 72-hole scoring record and kicked off the new season with a four-shot win over Gary Woodland. Won in his first appearance. … Played the last 54 holes 20 under. … Closed with 29 on the inward 18 on Sunday. … T2 birdies (23). … Led Par-4 scoring. Notables: Woodland led the field with 27 birdies and was 18 under his final 54 holes. … Ryan Palmer circled 10 birdies, including the final seven holes, in the final round to set the course record of 62. … The top four on the leaderboard posted 64, 63, 65 and 62 in the final round. … Rafa Cabrera Bello (T3) posted 65-65 on the weekend. … Scott Piercy (T5) led after 36 holes. … Si Woo Kim (T23) was the best Korean finisher. … Defending champion Justin Thomas was T36. 2017: Justin Thomas (-9, 279) Sizzling hot after winning the PGA in August and a FedExCup event in September, Thomas continued his heat-check by winning the inaugural event in a windy playoff over Marc Leishman. … Neither Thomas nor Koepka finished in the top 20 of fairways or greens hit for the week. … Both finished in the top five of Birdie-or-Better Conversion Percentage, Putting Average, Par-4 and Par-5 scoring. … Scoring average was 73.187 versus 70.944 last year. #Windy. Notables: The only bogey-free round on Sunday was 68 by CIMB champion Pat Perez (T5). … Cameron Smith (3rd) missed a birdie putt at the last to join the playoff. … 36-hole leader Luke List (T5) opened 68-67 before closing 76-72. … Byeong-Hun An (T11) posted the lowest round of the weekend, 67, in Round 3. … There were a TOTAL of eight rounds in the 60s on the weekend. … Whee Kim (4th) was the best Korean finisher. Key stat leaders Top golfers in each statistic on the 2018-19 PGA TOUR are listed only if they are scheduled to compete this week.  * – previous top 10 finish here Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green  2  *Justin Thomas  3  Hideki Matsuyama (T18, 2018)  7  Byeong-Hun An  9  Corey Conners 12 *Brooks Koepka 13 Tommy Fleetwood (first appearance) 15 Emiliano Grillo 16 *Gary Woodland 19 Kevin Streelman (first appearance) 23 Joaquin Niemann 24 Sergio Garcia (first appearance) 25 Lucas Glover Birdie-or-Better Percentage  2  Jordan Spieth (first appearance)  3  *Justin Thomas  5  *Gary Woodland  8  Wyndham Clark (first appearance) 11 Si Woo Kim 13 Andrew Putnam 16 *Rafa Cabrera Bello 17 *Brooks Koepka 18 Hideki Matsuyama 20 Troy Merritt (first appearance) 22 *Ryan Palmer 23 Vaughn Taylor 30 Phil Mickelson (first appearance) Par-5 Scoring  1  *Justin Thomas  2  Wyndham Clark  4  *Gary Woodland  6  Sungjae Im 10 *Brooks Koepka 12 Matt Jones 12 *Ian Poulter 12 Troy Merritt 17 Jhonattan Vegas 17 Sergio Garcia 23 Hideki Matsuyama 23 *Luke List 23 Kevin Tway 31 Si Woo Kim 31 Rory Sabbatini 31*Marc Leishman Frequent Fliers Cameron Smith: One of only two players to cash in the top 10 in the first two appearances. He’s 19 under over eight rounds with six of those in the red for T7 and 3rd. Pat Perez: While both winners are in their 20s, Perez, 41 at the time, backed up his 2017 CIMB win with T5 and last year added T7. Decided to WD the morning before the Houston Open to fill out this year’s field. That tells me all I need to know about what he thinks of the course/event. Two-for-Two-Top 18 Edition Rafa Cabrera Bello: Didn’t break 71 in his first visit (T11) or in his first two rounds last year (73-70) before unlocking the mystery (65-65) to cash T3. Jason Day: The Aussie has found solace in a wide-open, target-rich environment to show off his short game and putter. Backed up T11 with T5 (65-67) last season as six of eight rounds are under par. Chez Reavie: Rattled off four rounds of 70 or better last year (T7) after T15 in the first go-around. Hardly a big hitter, Reavie is hyper-accurate off the tee and an above-average putter. Ian Poulter: Seven of his eight rounds are in the red as the Englishman cashed T10 last year after T15 the year prior. Marc Leishman: I had to go back and change the title to this section when I realized he was T18 last year. It shouldn’t be lost in the shuffle that he closed 68-66 last year after struggling in the first two rounds.

Click here to read the full article…

Tiger Woods has announced he will release a book about his storied life and sensational career. The 81-time PGA TOUR winner has had a plethora of books written about him over the years, but this will be the first official account coming directly from Woods and those in his small inner circle. “I’ve been in the spotlight for a long time, and because of that, there have been books and articles and TV shows about me, most filled with errors, speculative and wrong. This book is my definitive story,â€� Woods said via statement Tuesday. “It’s in my words and expresses my thoughts. It describes how I feel and what’s happened in my life. I’ve been working at it steadily, and I’m looking forward to continuing the process and creating a book that people will want to read.â€� HarperCollins Publishers have secured the rights to the memoir entitled BACK and will publish it across the globe. A release date is yet to be announced. It will cover everything from his childhood, his stellar amateur career, his multiple injuries and personal battles, and of course his compelling professional golf career through his 15th major championship at the Masters in April. The publishers claim the book “is a candid and intimate narrative of an outsize American life: from growing up a celebrated golfing prodigy to shattering centuries-old racial barriers as a young pro; from rising to unprecedented fame and global icon status to battling devastating injuries and personal issues; from enduring years of physical anguish to mounting an astonishing comeback at 43 years old, culminating with the 2019 Masters, where his thrillingly impossible victory captured the imagination and hearts of people around the world.â€� “Meeting with Tiger, speaking with him at length about the process of writing a memoir, I was delighted to discover how much he has to say, and how ready, how eager, he is to say it,â€� editor Shannon Welch said. “He’s at a place in his career and his life where he’s thinking deeply about his story, the highs and the lows, and how it all relates and connects. I think the result will be extraordinary.â€� Woods, who hasn’t played since August and has had arthroscopic surgery on his knee, is due to start his 2019-20 PGA TOUR season next week at the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP in Japan, a few days after he battles Rory McIlroy, Jason Day and Hideki Matsuyama in The Challenge: Japan Skins. He will then focus on his captain duties for the Presidents Cup as he must select his four captain’s picks to round out the U.S. team, which may or may not still include himself, on Nov. 4.

Click here to read the full article…

Click here to read the full article…

SAN ANTONIO – Six-time PGA TOUR winner Jimmy Walker, honored Monday with induction into the Texas Golf Hall of Fame, said he was taking the Lone Star State’s highest golfing honor with his full-time work with new teacher Matt Killen as confidence he can return to golf’s highest levels. “This is a nice honor to be recognized by your home state for golf, along with being recognized by my school Baylor University for their athletic hall of fame, but I have really done it all in my career,� Walker said at the afternoon inductions ceremonies at the A.W. Tillinghast 1916 designed Brackenridge Park, Texas’ first public golf course. “I’ve got my card, I’ve lost my card, I’ve won at every level, I’ve played the Ryder Cup, Presidents Cup, made big putts, won big events. I was ranked as high at 9th in the world and at age 40, I still want to do it again.� Walker, who has battled Lyme Disease, along with his wife Erin, ever since he won the 2016 PGA Championship, said he feels as healthy as he has since before the PGA win and his illness. He has played two PGA TOUR events this fall in the 2019-20 season but will take time off until resuming play at the Sony Open in Hawaii in January. “Golf beat me up pretty good last year and the end of 2018, so I’m taking it easy now, working with Matt, resting and getting healthy,� he said. Walker comes off a season in which he failed to produce a top-10 finish for the first time since 2008 and had just three top-25 finishes, also his lowest since 2008. He failed to make the FedExCup Playoffs for the first time since 2009. “Everything happens for a reason; I really believe that,� Walker said. “I got sick right after I won the PGA Championship, but that gave me a five-year exemption. If I hadn’t done that, I might be out of a job right now.� He started working with Killen, who has worked with Tiger Woods, Justin Thomas and J.B. Holmes, full-time after the British Open at Royal Portrush and said he is excited with the results. “I ask a lot of questions and he had a lot of good answers,� Walker said. “He is working on my club transition, my short game and putting and a lot of good stuff. “Will this Hall of Fame honor bring my game back? Not by itself, but some low numbers and seeing the ball go in the hole will and that’s where I headed. “I know I can get back because I’ve done it before. I’ve been on a real strict diet and I’ve lost 10-20 pounds and I’m added it back with muscle.� Walker is the 40th Texas PGA TOUR player to be inducted into the Texas Golf Hall of Fame, located at Brackenridge Park. and the 11th PGA Championship winner. Walker was a member of the Presidents Cup in 2015 and said he plans to watch the competition on television in December, with the event being held in Melbourne, Australia. He attended Rickie Fowler’s wedding recently and was reunited with many of his previous Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup teammates, further fueling his competitive desire to regain a spot on the U.S. national teams. “I’ve played in two Ryder Cup teams and one Presidents Cup and I love the team game,� Walker said. “I’ve played some really good golf in the past and that’s what I know I can do again. I’m taking is easy for now, but that’s a huge goal of mine.�

Click here to read the full article…