Xzibit A-loha

Life is pointless and everything is very bad (not good).

In news that does not concern the Chicago Bears and their perpetual need to disappoint their fans, Xander Schauffele shot a round of 62 (-11) to come from five shots back and win the Sentry Tournament of Champions. His stellar round left him one shot above Gary Woodland, who started the day with a three-shot lead. Leaderboard

X Always Gonna Give it to Ya

After an opening bogey on Sunday afternoon, Xander Schauffele found himself six shots back and was definitely not thinking about hoisting a trophy. Eight birdies and two eagles later, he found himself on top of the leaderboard. X capped the round by going six-under over his last seven holes, including birdies on the final two. He will move to sixth in the world rankings, the highest of his career.

Xander isn’t new to the spotlight. He now has victories at a WGC event, theTour Championship, and the opening event of the 2019 season. He truly seems to thrive on the adrenaline that comes with contention and finds a new gear when it comes time to close down the stretch. Schauffele now has four victories in just over two seasons on Tour to go along with a t2nd at the Open, a t5th and t6th at the U.S. Open, and a t2nd at the PLAYERS. He’s pretty good at golf.

The Traj Man

You have to feel for Gary Woodland. He started the day with a three-shot lead, shot a very solid 68 (-5), and still found himself with a second-place check. Therunner-up will be his fifth top 10 in his last six starts and will move him to 22nd in the world.

Woodland played extremely steady golf all week long. He shot rounds of 67-67-68-68 and was four shots clear of third place. He truly just ran into a buzzsaw on Sunday and is now 1 for 8 in converting 54-hole leads. While this one will sting, you have to feel good about Woodland’s game as we head into the rest of 2019.

Other Leaderboard Notes

After a couple of benign rounds, Justin Thomas was able to rally with a Sunday 65 and finish in 3rd place. Dustin Johnson also shot a final-round 67 to get into the top 5. Big surprise, they are also good at golf.

Rory McIlroy was the closest to Woodland heading into the final round but could not get anything going on Sunday. A final-round 72 left him in a tie for fourth place and adds to the recent trend of Rory failing to charge on Sunday. Since 2016, he has been in the final group six times and has won zero of those events. He is +8 in those events with a scoring average of 72.5.

Shotgun Start: The X-man gets a chase-down W, more fun with the new rules, and the Lucy Li controversy

We have a new No.1 in the FedExCup standings! Andy and Brendan discuss Xander Schauffele’s incredible Sunday 62 to win the Tournament of Champions. They get into the X-man’s future prospects after another win puts him atop the FEC. They also address Gary Woodland’s impressive week and Rory’s unimpressive Sunday flop. They then continue to review the new rules in action, including Bryson DeChambeau’s struggle to comprehend the new drop height. After watching the rules officials loosen up a bit and wear Hawaiian shirts, Andy hypothesizes about placing “undercover plain clothes” rules officials in the crowd. They end with a discussion on Lucy Li’s amateur status controversy after it came out that she starred in an Apple Watch commercial. Listen on iTunes, Stitcher or Spotify.

The PGA Tour’s Roberto Castro joins The Fried Egg Podcast

PGA Tour player Roberto Castro joins the podcast. In part one, Andy and Roberto talk about the role of golf course architecture in golf, Roberto’s time on the PGA Tour and Web.com Tour and how distance has changed the game. Roberto also discusses the difference in major championship setups to theregular week setup and how winning is underrated. Listen on iTunes, Stitcheror Spotify.

Quick Hooks

Jordan Spieth apparently has the urge to get his season started and announced that he will be in the field for the Sony Open next weekend.

Lucy Li, the 16-year-old sensation, is currently under investigation by the USGA for her appearance in an Apple advertisement. Her amateur status is in question as no amateur is allowed to receive any benefit from advertising any product before becoming a professional. Story

Surprise, surprise, it appears that the USGA and the PGA Tour are going to further dive into the structure of flagsticks on tour. Bryson led the field in strokes gained putting this week… Full story