CBS Golf analysts Michael Breed & Greg Ducharme join CBS Sports HQ Spotlight to discuss the golfers that are fighting for the last spots to compete in the PGA Tour FedEx Cup Playoffs.
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Two more events left before the playoffs, which means players are fighting for the spots on the top 70 of the FedEx Cup standings. This is the third year only 70 players could reach the first playoff event. Take a look at some of the guys on the bubble. Some big names there. So, we are going to break it down just a little bit more for you. We’re going to welcome in our golf analyst. That would be Michael Breed and Greg Ducharm. Guys, welcome. Michael, let’s start with Ricky Fowler. He was on the bubble last year, but he’s got no margin for error here. What does he need to do to make the cut? Currently sitting at 63. I think he has to do more of the same. I think he’s really gained a lot more confidence this year. He’s playing a lot more consistently. And Greg, one of the things that sticks out to me is the driver’s gotten a whole lot better. And that kind of sets the tone for each hole. when he starts to hit the ball in the fairway, when he starts gaining a little bit of distance, now all of a sudden his confidence comes back. And I think that’s really one of the things that I’m seeing with with Ricky is he’s starting to trust himself a little bit more out there. He played nicely at the Open. He played nicely at the John Deere Classic as well. And it’s been really a much improved year this year for him. And I totally agree that it’s all starting with the driver. Um, you know, in his last eight events, he’s gained over two strokes to the field in five of them with just the driver alone. And I think that’s a really strong sign of confidence. It’s led to a top 20 finish in five of his last eight events for Ricky Fowler. Go out there, get the putter hot this week, get yourself in contention, and you could take a week off next week heading into the playoffs if that’s what you choose. And who would not love a week off, get that putter hot. Nice to hear that he trusted himself this season. All right, let’s move on to Keith Mitchell. He’s sitting at 70. Currently the last player in. He’s had some highlights this year, but he is sitting right on that line for the cut. What is it you guys need to see from Mitchell? Well, I would say that we need to see Keith Mitchell put four rounds together on Michael, you know this, it’s been a it’s been two different guys, two different Keiths. We got Keith on Thursday and we got Mitchell on Saturday. You look at his scoring average. He’s 67.53. He’s beating Scotty Sheffller in first round scoring average, but he’s 107th in round three scoring average, and it’s not much better in round four. Well, and to that end, he’s 29th in round two. So, you talk about like what he does in round one. He backs it up in round two and he puts himself in a really good position, but to your point, he’s not showing up on the weekends. And what he’s got to do, he’s playing a lot of weekends. He’s just playing like Mitchell on the weekends. I like that one there. And what we got to get out of Keith is we’ve got to get him to have that same sort of urgency on Saturday and Sunday that he plays with in rounds one and round two. So, when I look at at Keith, I’m sitting there thinking, this is a great week for him. He’s had a fifth place finish here in 21. He’s had a tied fifth uh back in 23. This is a golf course he’s comfortable with. And if he can get off to the start that we expect him to, he’s number one on the PGA Tour on uh round one scoring. If he can get off to that same hot start that he has all year long and then keep it going over the weekend, he’s not going to have to worry about is he going to be in the top 70? He’s going to play himself right into that top 50 without a problem. All right, we love to see it. We’ll look forward to see if he starts showing up on weekends. Let’s move on to Gary Woodland. My goodness, an easy guy to root for. What a story. He had surgery to remove a brain tumor in September of 2023. Recently the recipient of the PGA Tour Courage Award, playing full-time at 40 years old. He’s sitting at 78. Guys, I want to hear your prediction, Michael. We’ll start with you. Well, I mean, you know, it’s interesting with with Woody because he’s he’s been streaky this year and and Greg, what I what I find with with Woody is he misses three cuts in a row and he comes back after that third miscut and he plays really really nicely and then he misses three of four cuts in a row and then he starts playing really nicely and he’s in another one of those good play performances. He missed the cut at the US Open. He comes back, he makes the cut at the the Travelers. He finishes tied 36 there. And then some good play, not great play, but good play. A lot to of confidence that he can build off of. He’s got to start to be a little bit more aggressive. And this is a golf course that suits a guy like Gary Woodland, who who finished tied 11th, by the way, here in 2021. And I I look at this, I think this is a great week, comes at an important time for him. He’s just got to be more solid around the green. You think of long hitters like Johnny Vegas, Cameron Champ, Matthew Wolf, Tony Fen, now these are players who have all won here at the 3M Open. I I think that Gary Woodland’s skill set definitely fits that mold. Um coming from 78th in the FedEx Cup standings, the inconsistency at least there’s half of it that’s a good thing cuz he’s had the ability to gain eight, nine strokes just on approach for the week. And if he can put together one week like that over these next two, he’ll secure his spot in the playoffs. And who knows, maybe even work his way towards that top 50. All right, we will see if that happens. Moving on to Adam Scott. He is very much on the outside looking in at 85. Perhaps the most notable player on the outside looking in. He needs some top 10 finishes. What do we expect, guys, from him? Well, uh, from Adam Scott, we’re looking at a player where the open championship didn’t go very well. But that being said, before that he had three top 20 finishes in the five events before that. And the thing that um that I really like about Adam Scott, similar to Ricky Fowler, is his driver has gotten a whole lot better this year. And before the Open Championship, Michael, he had beaten the field in six in a row, six events in a row off the tea. I I love what he’s done. Ky Green, the driver has been great. The problem is the putter. It’s been poor. In fact, it’s his worst putting performance this year since 2018. And when you start thinking about a guy who’s 45 years of age, he’s got all the skill sets. He’s got the golf swing everybody wants to mimic. But that putter, which was great for him, has been poor. He’s got to find some success on the putting greens if he’s going to end up making it uh to the to the tour championship and certainly to the playoffs. All right, we will watch to see if he gets some improvement on a short game there. All right, let’s talk about Max Homa. obviously the six-time PGA Tour winner, historically very good, but he is also on the outside looking in. Give us the details on Homa and what you expect from him. Greg, we’ll start with you. Yeah, Max Homa is we we know that he’s been struggling with his game since I’d say the the Masters of last season. Um, but perhaps there was a a good sign, Michael, at the John Deere Classic. I mean, he he gained 8.68 six eight strokes ball striking against the field and in that top five finish. Um that was his best since the 2023 Open, but then he finishes tied 44 45th at the Barracuda the very next week. So I know that Max is fighting. I know he’s trying, but all the evidence tells me that he’s really really struggling. Yeah, this is a really important week for him. You mentioned 102nd um in the FedEx Cup points list. This is an important one. he doesn’t want to be on the outside looking in um when it comes to the fall series. So, there’s a lot of things for him to play for. The only thing that he’s got going on in a positive light is the putter and that is 91st on the PGA tour. I just I just look at Max and I think, you know what, this is maybe an experiment that hasn’t really worked out nicely for him. Um it’s it’s been, as Greg pointed out, all the way back at the Masters of last year. And you go through the end of that season last year and this season it’s been poor all the way around for a guy who uh just a couple of years ago was a five tool player and we were thinking he was going to win a major championship with all the wins that he had and now he’s not even going to make the playoffs. I don’t think he’s going to make the playoffs. I don’t think there’s anything positive to really look at with his game right now and I think it’s been a a a poor couple of years for him. Well, there you have it. You can’t argue with that. A crucial week for him. All right, guys. Thank you so much for the time. We’ll look forward to watching that bubble down the stretch. A reminder, you can watch 3M Open right here on CBS on Saturday and Sunday. also streaming on Paramount Plus.
