The First Look: Fort Worth Invitational

Webb Simpson tees it up for the first time since his runaway at THE PLAYERS Championship, joining favorite son Jordan Spieth to headline a strong roster as the PGA TOUR makes its 73rd visit to venerable Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas. Jon Rahm and Justin Rose also are in the field, choosing Colonial over the European Tour’s BMW PGA Championship, while Rickie Fowler gives the tournament four of the top 10 in the current world rankings. Kevin Kisner is defending champion. FIELD NOTES Rose tees it up at Colonial for the first time since 2009, telling reporters he chose the event to fulfill a TOUR regulation requiring members to play one stop they haven’t visited in the past four years. U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka makes his third start since returning from a wrist injury. He tied for 11th at THE PLAYERS Championship. In all, the Colonial field features 13 of the top 30 in the rankings. Keith Clearwater, the 1987 champion, is set to make his 30th start at Colonial. That’ll move him within three of Ben Crenshaw’s all-time record. Chilean teen Joaquin Niemann, making his fourth professional start, tops a wealth of young talent also on display. Niemann placed sixth in his pro debut at the Valero Texas Open. The list of young guns also features Sam Burns – already a winner on the Web.com Tour – and former No.1 amateur Maverick McNealy. FEDEXCUP Winner receives 500 points. STORYLINES Spieth, whose 2016 title stands as his only win in his home state, remains in search of his first win since last year’s sizzling Open Championship finish. Though his closing 64 at the Masters is one of five scores of 66 or better since late March, he also has three cards of 74 or higher. Ryan Palmer, a Colonial member, owns four top-15 finishes in the past six years, including a share of third in 2016. He also tied for fifth in 2012 and ‘14. Kisner seeks to join Ben Hogan as the only man to record back-to-back wins at Colonial. Hogan did it twice – 1946-47 and 1952-53. Eight of the past nine winners have done so in come-from-behind fashion, with Spieth the lone exception. Barring a late WD, Matt Kuchar, Peter Uihlein and Jhonattan Vegas will be the only players to tee it up in all five Texas stops this year. It’s the 15th anniversary of Annika Sorenstam’s historic entry, becoming the first woman to tee up in a PGA TOUR event since World War II. The Invitational returns next year with a new title sponsor in Charles Schwab investments, a longtime sponsor of the PGA TOUR Champions season race. COURSE Colonial Country Club, 7,209 yards, par 70. A staple on the PGA TOUR schedule since 1946, only Augusta National has served a longer uninterrupted tenure as host. The 1936 Perry Maxwell/John Bredemus design is a timeless shotmaker’s layout, challenging golfers with tight fairways and several doglegs. It also was the first Texas club to install bentgrass greens. Colonial welcomed the U.S. Open in 1941 – the first Open contested south of the Mason-Dixon Line – and the TOUR settled in five years later. Colonial also staged the second edition of THE PLAYERS in 1975, along with the 1991 U.S. Women’s Open. 72-HOLE RECORD 259, Zach Johnson (2010). 18-HOLE RECORD 61, Keith Clearwater (2nd round, 1993), Lee Janzen (4th round, 1993), Greg Kraft (3rd round, 1999), Kenny Perry (3rd round, 2003), Justin Leonard (4th round, 2003), Chad Campbell (3rd round, 2004). LAST YEAR Kisner captured his second PGA TOUR victory, capping a 4-under-par 66 with a clutch par save to hold off Sunday challenges from Spieth, Rahm and Sean O’Hair. Three straight birdies to start Colonial’s back nine moved Kisner to the front, adding another at No.15 for a two-shot advantage before a bogey at the par-3 16th. Spieth’s challenge went wayward off the tee at No.18, and Rahm’s 10-foot try for a closing birdie just skirted the hole. Kisner’s approach at the 18th rolled off the back of the green, but he putted up the slope to 5 feet and converted the par save as Spieth stood on a chair to see the finish. Kisner’s victory followed runner-up weekends earlier in the spring at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and Zurich Classic. HOW TO FOLLOW TELEVISION: Thursday-Friday, 4-7 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday-Sunday, 1-2:45 p.m. (GC), 3-6 p.m. (CBS). PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday, 8 a.m.-4 p.m. (featured groups), 4-7 p.m. (featured holes). RADIO: Thursday-Friday, 1-7 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 1-6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com).

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