JACKSON, Miss. – Cameron Champ’s booming drives have made him quite the curiosity during his short time on the PGA Tour.

The rest of his improved game has turned him into a contender this week at the Country Club of Jackson.

Champ shot a 7-under 65 on Thursday to take the first-round lead Thursday in the Sanderson Farms Championship.

Cameron Tringale was a stroke back, and Rory Sabbatini, D.J. Trahan, Andres Romero, Chad Ramey and Robert Streb followed at 67. There were still 12 players on the course when play was suspended because of darkness. Seth Reeves was at 5 under through 16 holes.

Champ’s drives sliced through the wet, windy and unseasonably cool conditions without much of a problem. On the par-4 18th, he blasted a 347-yard drive and hit his approach to 4 feet to set up his fifth back-nine birdie. The 23-year-old earned his PGA Tour card on the Web.com Tour last season.

Even more impressive about that 347-yard drive? He wasn’t really going for distance because of the weather conditions.

“Today I was just trying to hit the fairways,” Champ said. “The rough out here is pretty thick.”

Champ played in college at Texas A&M and said the windy conditions in that area of the country have given him plenty of practice for dealing with what he experienced on Thursday. He kept most of his drives in the fairway, which allowed him to have a solid day with his short game and putting.

“It’s great that you can hit it far, but if other parts of your game aren’t good you’re not going to be able to play the game,” Champ said. “That’s just kind of the way I look at it now.”

The slender 6-foot, 175-pound Champ doesn’t look like he’d be one of the tour’s biggest hitters, but he’s consistently among the leaders in that category. He averaged 328 yards per drive on his way to a tie for 25th at the Safeway Open this month, which is the only other event the rookie has played this season.

Former champion Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., carded a 3-under-par 69 to share 18th place.

The 31-year-old Tringale made the cut at the Safeway Open three weeks ago and had another good performance during Thursday’s first round. It’s an encouraging start to the season for someone who made just seven of 26 cuts last year.

Tringale said better drives have allowed him to be more competitive.

“It’s definitely nice to have a good opening round like this in this tournament and just something to build off,” Tringale said. “I’ll take all the positives I can and replay the good shots in my head tonight.

“Hopefully I can have a few more days like it.”

The soggy conditions in Jackson are expected to give way to much better weather during the final three rounds.

SHANGHAI – Patrick Reed had a Ryder Cup he’d like to forget and spent three weeks at home in Texas preparing to finish the year strong.

He was at his best Thursday in the HSBC Champions.

Even in blustery conditions, Reed putted for birdie on every hole at Sheshan International and closed out his bogey-free round with a 25-foot birdie putt for an 8-under 64, giving him a two-shot lead over Tony Finau and Xander Schauffele.

“It felt really good, because if you can go out and shoot rounds like that in these kind of conditions, you know you’re going to have confidence when the wind dies down and there are perfect conditions out there,” Reed said.

Schauffele also managed a bogey-free round in wind strong enough to be a two-club difference at times. He saved par on the final hole at No. 9 from the right rough with an approach that narrowly cleared the water into a patch of fairway short of the green, a pitch-and-run to 10 feet and another solid putt.

Matt Fitzpatrick had five straight birdies to overcome a rough start and post a 67.

Brooks Koepka, in his debut at No. 1 in the world, didn’t deliver much excitement. He had 16 pars, one bogey and one birdie for a 72. He was stunned when his second shot in the par-5 18th spun off the front of the green and into the water, forcing him to scramble for par at the turn instead of an easy birdie or better.

“I felt like I played good enough to shoot 4- or 5-under par,” Koepka said. “It was those momentum-building shots.”

Reed was last seen winning a meaningless singles match at Le Golf National after Europe was well on its way to victory. The last he was heard from was a telephone interview with The New York Times an hour after Europe won, blaming Jordan Spieth for them not playing together in the Ryder Cup and U.S. captain Jim Furyk for leaving Reed on the bench twice during the week.

Reed, the Masters champion, headed home to Houston and after a few days of rest went right back to work.

“From that point, my coach and I have been out there fine-tuning everything,” Reed said. “Just trying to set goals to finish the year off right.”

Reed led a strong American presence atop the leaderboard, nothing new at the World Golf Championships this year. The U.S. is trying to become the first country to have four players win all four World Golf Championships in one year after Phil Mickelson won the Mexico Championship, Bubba Watson won the Match Play and Justin Thomas won the Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone.

Dustin Johnson wouldn’t figure to contribute to that opportunity. Johnson lost a six-shot lead in the final round a year ago at the HSBC Champions, and he was wild as ever in opening with a 74 on Thursday.

He twice had more than 150 yards for his third shot into par 4s, and made double bogey on the 15th hole. He was happy to find his tee shot on the par-5 18th and had to make a 10-foot putt just to salvage bogey. Johnson scratched his way back to 1 over for the round until back-to-back bogeys.

Defending champion Justin Rose, who last year rallied from eight shots behind to win after Johnson closed with a 77, hit a few wild drives of his own but atoned for those with plenty of birdies in his round of 69.

The feature group was anything but that – Johnson, Rory McIlroy and Francesco Molinari combined to shoot 6-over par. Molinari, the British Open champion and Ryder Cup star as the first European to go 5-0 for the week, made three straight bogeys around the turn and had no birdies on his back nine.

Canadian Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., carded a 2-over-par 74 to sit in a tie for 49th.

McIlroy also was wild at times off the tee, though it really only cost him on the short 16th hole. He punched out the trees by inverting his wedge to play a left-handed shot, but then flubbed his flop shot into a bunker, blasted that over the green and made double bogey. He wound up with a 72.

Reed, playing an hour ahead of the final group, drove onto the front of the 16th green for a two-putt birdie. He started to stretch his lead after making the turn, holing a 12-foot birdie putt on No. 1, two-putting for birdie on the par-5 second and then hitting a wedge to 6 feet for birdie on No. 3.

He had several other good looks at birdie, and as good as his 64 was on Thursday, it was about the worst he could have shot.

“I was hitting the ball really solid,” Reed said. “I was hitting irons where I was looking and I was able to control it, not only directional-wise but also trajectories and what kind of heights I wanted to hit it. I felt like that was key because when it’s windy like that, you have to have full control over it. And I was able to do that.”

JEJU ISLAND, Korea, Republic Of – Brooks Koepka is golf’s new No. 1 after winning the CJ Cup at Nine Bridges on Sunday by four strokes.

Koepka, who displaced Dustin Johnson for the world’s top ranking, shot a final-round 8-under 64 for a 21-under total of 267. Koepka, who had never held the top ranking, led by four strokes after three rounds.

“To be No. 1 is something I’ve dreamed of as a kid,” Koepka said. “I don’t think this one is going to sink in.”

Gary Woodland certainly made it interesting. Woodland started the day five strokes behind Koepka, who was only 1-under after nine, but Woodland pulled level after making six birdies in seven holes on the front nine.

The two dueled on the back nine, with Woodland birdieing 15 and 16 to again pull level. But Koepka did the same, and a bogey by Woodland on the par-3 17th gave Koepka the cushion he needed to close out the win despite a birdie on the 18th by Woodland.

The biggest moment came on the 16th. Koepka went from a fairway bunker to just left of the green, about 70 feet away. Koepka hit a chip-and-run that was stopped by the pin and dropped for the birdie.

Koepka finished in style with a 25-foot eagle putt on the 18th for a 29 on the back nine.

“I’m not somebody who’s going to panic if things go the wrong way,” Koepka said of his slow start. “I felt like the one at 15 was quite big with Gary making a charge.”

Canadian Adam Hadwin surged up the leaderboard in Sunday’s finale with an 8-under-par 64. The Abbotsford, B.C., native closed the event with a share of 10th.

Woodland finished second after a 63. Ryan Palmer birdied his last seven holes to shoot a course-record 62 and finish in a tie for third place with Rafa Cabrera Bello (65), four strokes behind Koepka.

Woodland was happy with his final round, but looked back to a few missed birdie chances on Saturday.

“Brooks with the lead.not much fazes him,” Woodland said. “So you knew you had to make a lot of birdies and I made a lot today. I was trying to put as much pressure as I could. But just shows I was too far back to start after not making too many putts yesterday. I gave myself a chance, I was tied for the lead there. Brooks obviously just made some clutch shots down the stretch.”

Palmer said he became more confident with each of his seven straight birdies on the back nine.

“The more I made, the more free I felt in my swing and I was able to hit some close,” Palmer said. “I made some long putts coming down the stretch. Actually on 17, I looked at my scorecard, I was like, ‘oh, that’s six in a row.’ It is kind of back there, but you don’t think about it. What a special day.”

Defending champion Justin Thomas, who could have prevented Koepka from moving to No. 1 with a repeat win, finished at 5-under after a 68 Sunday.

Koepka is the third player this year to reach No. 1 for the first time, joining Justin Rose and Thomas. The last time that happened was in 1997, when Ernie Els, Tom Lehman and Tiger Woods each rose to No. 1.

It was Koepka’s 12th victory worldwide, including four wins on the European Challenge Tour. He now has won in six countries – the U.S., South Korea, Spain, Italy, Turkey and Scotland.

“Everything I’ve done this year it’s been working. So I don’t want to change anything,” Koepka said. “Just keep improving.

“I’m so excited right now, you have no idea. I can’t wait to go play again.”

He’ll get his chance soon. Next week the PGA Tour heads to Shanghai for the final stop on its Asian swing, the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions.

JEJU ISLAND, Korea, Republic Of – Brooks Koepka has improved his chances of taking over as No. 1 golfer in the world, shooting a bogey-free 5-under 67 Saturday for a four-stroke lead after three rounds of the CJ Cup at Nine Bridges.

Koepka had a three-round total of 13-under 203. Ian Poulter, who shot 68 Saturday, was tied for second place with second-round leader Scott Piercy, who had a 72.

The 28-year-old Koepka, who trailed by one stroke after two rounds, will move to the top of the world rankings if he wins the tournament and former No. 1 Justin Thomas, the defending champion here, does not finish any better than second.

Thomas shot a 71 Saturday and is at 1 under, 12 strokes behind Koepka and tied for 43rd. It would be Koepka’s first appearance at No. 1.

Dustin Johnson is currently No. 1, Koepka is third and Thomas fourth. Johnson and No. 2 Justin Rose are not playing this week.

There were six golfers tied for fourth in South Korea, including Rafa Cabrera Bello, who shot 65 Saturday, and first-round leader Chez Reavie (70).

Shubhankar Sharma of India had the round of the day, a 64, to move to 3 under, 10 strokes behind Koepka.

Koepka, the three-time major champion who was recently voted the Player of the Year on the PGA Tour, started with eight straight pars.

His round included back-to-back birdies on the ninth and 10th holes, and then a key par save from a difficult lie in the greenside bunker on the 11th – the only hole where he looked in any kind of trouble.

“It was good on the 11th, just to make sure I didn’t have any bogeys, that was kind of the big thing,” Koepka said. “I unfortunately three-putted the next (par-5 12th). Just got to work on my wedge game, which wasn’t very good today.”

Looking ahead to the final round, he added: “My confidence has always been pretty high. Anytime you can win three majors you’re going to be feeling pretty good about yourself. To do what I’ve done over the last two years has been special, but I’m looking to build on that.”

After a round of five birdies and a bogey, Poulter also knew what he needed to do on Sunday.

“Tomorrow, I think it’s not as windy as Thursday, so with that in mind, I think the scoring’s going to be pretty good,” said Poulter, who has improved to No. 35 in the rankings after coming close to losing his card on the PGA Tour in 2016.

“Tomorrow, I’m going to need to make a few birdies. Obviously, Brooks is in cruise control right now and obviously I am going to need a shoot a low one.”

Canadian Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., dropped 16 spots after an even-par 72 on Saturday – he sits T31 at 2 under for the tournament.

Piercy, looking for his first individual win on the PGA TOUR since the Barbasol Championship in July 2015, started with a birdie, but needed to make birdies on his last two holes to ensure he finished on even-par.

“I’m a little frustrated. I felt I rolled the ball really well today and I kept hitting lip after lip. A couple mistakes like hitting it in the cross bunker on the sixth.just a little sloppy and the ball-striking wasn’t quite there,” said Piercy. “Just made stupid little mental errors today and it’s hard to come back from it.”

The $9.5 million tournament is the second in the PGA TOUR’s three-week Asian swing culminating in the WGC-HSBC Champions next week in Shanghai.

JEJU ISLAND, Korea, Republic Of – Brooks Koepka, recently named the PGA TOUR player of the year, gave himself the perfect opportunity to become the No. 1 player in the world when he shot a 7-under par 65 to move to within one shot of the lead in the CJ Cup on Friday.

At the Nine Bridges course, the three-time major champion made an eagle on his closing hole to finish on 8-under par 136 after two rounds, just one stroke behind Scott Piercy, who was bogey-free in matching Koepka’s 65.

With the wind subsiding and the course playing much easier than on the opening day when the scoring average was 73.26, 44 players – more than half the field of 78 – had under-par rounds.

Overnight leader Chez Reavie added a 70 to his opening-round 68 to sit in third place at 138, three behind Piercy. Sweden’s Alex Noren was the other player in with a 65, which moved him into a tie for fourth place alongside Ian Poulter (69), four out of the lead.

The best round of the day was a 64 by Brian Harman, who was tied for sixth and five behind Piercy.

The 28-year-old Koepka will move to the top of the world rankings when they are announced on Monday if he wins the tournament, as long as former No. 1 Justin Thomas, the defending champion here, does not finish any better than second.

Thomas, playing alongside Koepka, matched Koepka’s eagle on the last, but that was only for a 70 and he is tied for 22nd place at 1-under.

Koepka’s only bogey was on the par-5 ninth hole, where he hit a wayward tee shot. But he was otherwise pleased with the state of his “caveman golf.”

“I feel like my game is in a good spot. I feel like the way I played today, if I can carry that momentum into Saturday and Sunday, it will be fun,” Koepka, winner of the U.S. Open and the PGA Championship, said.

“My game is pretty simple. I guess you can call it like caveman golf – you see the ball, hit the ball and go find it again. You’re not going to see any emotion just because I’m so focused, but I’m enjoying it.”

Piercy, who has fallen to No. 252 in the world ranking despite winning the Zurich Classic earlier this year with Billy Horschel – there are no world ranking points for a team event – was rarely out of position in a round in which he found 13 of 14 fairways off the tee and reached 16 greens in regulation.

“Obviously, the wind was down a little bit and from a little bit different direction, so 10 miles an hour wind versus 20s is quite a big difference,” said Piercy, who is looking for his first PGA Tour win since the Barbasol Championship in July 2015.

“It was a good day. Hit a couple close and then my putter showed up and made some putts of some pretty good length.”

Canadian Adam Hadwin carded a second consecutive 71 to sit at 2 under par through 36 holes of play. Thanks to shots like the one below, the Abbotsford, B.C., product shares 15th place with six others.

Australia’s Marc Leishman, winner last week at the CIMB Classic in Kuala Lumpur, shot a 71 and was seven behind. Paul Casey’s 73 included a hole-in-one on the par-3 seventh hole and the Englishman is nine behind Piercy.

JEJU ISLAND, Korea, Republic Of – Chez Reavie overcame cool, windy conditions for a 4-under 68 and a one-stroke lead after the first round of the CJ Cup at Nine Bridges on Thursday.

In the breezy conditions, the back nine of the course posed the most difficulty, but the 36-year-old American made two birdies and negotiated it in 35 after starting on the 10th tee, and then picked up three shots on his final nine.

Danny Willett and Si Woo Kim shot 69 while the large group at 70 and tied for fourth included Ian Poulter, Nick Watney and Michael Kim.

Brooks Koepka, playing in his first tournament since being voted PGA TOUR player of the year, shot 71 and was in a group three strokes behind and tied for 11th which included Paul Casey and Hideki Matsuyama.

Canadian Adam Hadwin o]was also in the mix at 1 under par. The Abbotsford, B.C., native struggled early with three bogeys on the front but clawed back with four birdies after the turn to sit three back of the lead. He’ll tee it up in Friday’s second round at 8:05 a.m. local time.

Jason Dufner and Brandt Snedeker shot 72. Defending champion Justin Thomas had a 73, as did Jason Day, Ernie Els and J.B. Holmes.

Marc Leishman, who won last week’s CIMB Classic in Malaysia, and Adam Scott had 75s.

Reavie’s only PGA Tour win came at the 2008 RBC Canadian Open, and he finished second in back-to-back starts last year in Phoenix and Pebble Beach, losing at Phoenix in a playoff.

“It was a great day, I hit the ball really well,” Reavie said of Thursday’s round. “The wind was blowing really hard all day long so you had to really start the ball well and keep it out of the wind. Luckily, I was able to do that.”

Despite the windy conditions, Reavie found all 14 fairways off the tee and hit 15 out of 18 greens in regulation, which he felt was the key to a good score.

“It’s tough because once you get above the hole with this wind, it’s really hard to chip it close,” he said. “The more greens you can hit, the better and that was key to my game.”

Willett, who has struggled with injuries and form since winning the 2016 Masters and has dropped to No. 342 in the world, made five birdies and two bogeys in his 69. Willett has just one top-five finish since finishing second in the Italian Open in September 2016.

Having committed to play on the PGA TOUR by taking up membership this season, Willet said it was important to make a quick start to the season.

“I’ve done two tours for a couple of years, and it’s very difficult,” Willett said. “We committed to play on the PGA TOUR, to play predominantly over here this year and next. It’s nice to kind of get in and get some points early if you can.”

The second of three PGA TOUR events in three weeks in Asia has a 78-player field and no cut. Only 19 players broke par on Thursday.

Tiger Woods finished off the PGA Tour season by tapping in for par to win the Tour Championship, a moment that ended any doubts that he could win again after four surgeries on his lower back. And then the moment was gone.

Hours later, Woods and 17 other players were headed to France for the all-consuming Ryder Cup. And with barely enough time to digest Europe winning and Patrick Reed pouting, the PGA Tour started up a new season in California.

A few nuggets were lost in the quick transition.

Justin Thomas tied for fifth at the Tour Championship, and that was enough for him to win the PGA Tour money title for the second straight year after earning $8,694,821, beating out Dustin Johnson by $237,469. That was the smallest margin since Matt Kuchar won by $100,855 over Jim Furyk in 2010.

The PGA Tour no longer talks about money in the FedEx Cup era, though Thomas still wins a trophy. The Arnold Palmer Award is given to the leading money winner. Thomas became the first back-to-back winner of the award since Woods in 2006 and 2007.

Johnson, meanwhile, won the Vardon Trophy for the lowest scoring average (the PGA Tour has the Byron Nelson Award, so Johnson gets two trophies). Johnson won for the second time in three years. The first time, in 2016, he wasn’t sure what it was.

Brooks Koepka won PGA Tour player of the year, which was no surprise considering his two major championships. The only time someone won two majors and was not PGA Tour player of the year was in 1990, when Nick Faldo wasn’t a PGA Tour member.

For the first time in 10 years, the tour’s three main awards were won by three players _ Koepka, Thomas and Johnson. In 2008, Padraig Harrington was the player of the year, Vijay Singh won the money title and Sergio Garcia won the Vardon Trophy.

Singh won the money title by $826,094 over Woods while playing 17 more events. That was the year Woods had season-ending knee surgery in June, so he was ineligible for the Vardon Trophy (Woods played only 20 rounds). Harrington won two majors that year.

As for Woods?

The Tour Championship was his 80th victory, which was well documented even with all the attention on the Ryder Cup. He also improved his record to 44-2 when leading going into the final round on the PGA Tour. Also worth noting is that Woods joined Johnson and Rory McIlroy with his fourth FedEx Cup playoff victory.

The victory also meant Woods has won five tournaments in three decades — Firestone, Torrey Pines, Memorial, Tour Championship and World Golf Championships at Valderrama in 1999, Ireland in 2002, Atlanta in 2003, Harding Park in 2005, England in 2006 and Doral in 2007 and 2013.

FATHER & SON

Bob Tway was 50 when he played his last PGA Championship, making the cut at Hazeltine in 2009 and tying for 56th. He never returned, even though Tway has a lifetime exemption from his 1986 victory at Inverness, where he holed out from a bunker on the 18th hole to beat Greg Norman.

Now it appears he will be heading back, all because he has company _ his son.

Kevin Tway’s victory in the Safeway Open earned him an exemption to the Masters, but it also gets him into the PGA Championship in May at Bethpage Black.

“Winning the PGA, you’re always invited to go back, but I never did,” Tway said. “I just did not want to go back kind of ceremoniously. I wanted to go back when Kevin went back. So I’m very, very excited.”

Kevin Tway has played the U.S. Open three times but never the PGA Championship.

NAPA TIME

Phil Mickelson is bullish on the future of the Safeway Open when the shortened PGA Tour schedule takes hold.

“This has really turned into a great tournament the first three years, and I think next year when it has a bit of a break between the FedEx Cup and the start of the season, I think the field here is going to get really strong,” Mickelson said. “I think it will be one of the best all year.”

Whether it measures up to perennially strong fields at regular PGA Tour events _ Riviera, Quail Hollow and Muirfield Village, for example _ remains to be seen.

The PGA Tour season ends on Aug. 25 next year, and there likely will be a break before the Safeway Open. This year, it was two weeks after the Tour Championship and, for Mickelson, the week after the Ryder Cup. It showed in the weak field.

It was the first time since July that the European Tour (Scottish Open, one week before the British Open) had a stronger field than the PGA Tour.

Mickelson at least has shown a change of heart.

It was in February 2015 when Mickelson explained that fall events won’t get Ryder Cup points because “you’re giving the bottom half of the tour a three-month head start over ultimately the top guys.” So maybe a few weeks will make a difference.

It’s also worth noting that eight months after Mickelson made those comments, his management company took over the Safeway Open. Mickelson played in Napa the following year _ his first fall event in a decade _ and has not missed it since then.

ASIA SWING

The PGA Tour will spend the next three weeks in Asia, which can pay off for those willing to travel.

For players like Joel Dahmen and Sam Ryder, it will be their first tournament without a cut in the CIMB Classic. For players like Pat Perez, who won the CIMB Classic last year, it can set him up for the rest of the year. Perez earned 56 per cent of his regular-season FedEx Cup points from the CIMB Classic, CJ Cup in South Korea and the World Golf Championships event in Shanghai.

Perez was among 16 players who took part in all three stops in the Asia swing.

Also at stake are world ranking points, especially for those close enough to the top 50 to think about the Masters. The top 50 in the world at the end of the year are invited to Augusta National. Perez is at No. 56 and not yet eligible for the Masters.

Others outside the top 50 going into the Asia swing are Russell Knox (No. 58), Ryan Moore (No. 61), Kevin Chappell (No. 63) and Peter Uihlein (No. 66). All but Knox are playing in Malaysia.

DIVOTS

Thomas Pieters is playing the CIMB Classic on an unrestricted sponsor’s exemption. Pieters took PGA Tour membership last year but failed to play the minimum 15 events. He would have to wait a year before joining the PGA Tour. … Justin Rose will have a chance to return to No. 1 in the world this week at the British Masters, where he is the tournament host at Walton Heath. … The USGA is increasing the field for the U.S. Junior Amateur from 156 to 264 players starting in 2020 at Hazeltine. The idea is to allow for more exemptions that will attract the best juniors from around the world.

STAT OF THE WEEK

Pat Perez earned 56 per cent of his regular-season FedEx Cup points from three tournaments in the Asia swing, most of that from his victory in Malaysia.

FINAL WORD

“It was nice to start or end the year, however you look at it.” —  Phil Mickelson after his tie for 17th in the Safeway Open, the first PGA Tour event of the new season and his last PGA Tour start of the year.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA – The PGA TOUR announced today that Brooks Koepka has been named the 2018 PGA TOUR Player of the Year as voted by the TOUR’s membership for the 2017-18 season.

PGA TOUR members who played in at least 15 FedExCup events during the 2017-18 season were eligible to vote. The balloting process ended on October 1.

Koepka, a 28-year-old native of West Palm Beach, Florida, finished a career-best ninth in the FedExCup following a season that included victories at both the U.S. Open and PGA Championship. He earned four additional top-10 finishes, including runners-up at the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions and Charles Schwab Challenge.

“On behalf of the PGA TOUR, our congratulations to Brooks Koepka on being voted PGA TOUR Player of the Year by his peers,” said PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan. “Brooks has brought a new brand of athleticism to the PGA TOUR, and we saw the results this year with his historic season at the major championships and a top-10 finish in the FedExCup. These feats were accomplished despite missing significant time due to injury, a testament to his work ethic and perseverance throughout the season.”

Following the Sentry Tournament of Champions in January, Koepka did not compete on TOUR while recovering from a left wrist injury, making his return in late April at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. He collected his first top-10 post-injury at the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club, a second-place finish to Justin Rose.

With his victory at the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills, Koepka became the first player since Curtis Strange (1988-89) to win back-to-back U.S. Open titles. Five starts later, Koepka won his third major title in his 100^th PGA TOUR start, capturing the PGA Championship by two strokes over Tiger Woods with a tournament record 16-under 264. At age 28, Koepka became the fifth American since 1945 with three or more major wins before the age of 29 and the fifth player to win the U.S. Open and PGA Championship in the same season.

Koepka posted season-low rounds of 63 on four occasions in 17 PGA TOUR starts, including the lowest final round ever at THE PLAYERS Championship. He closed the season with 13 of 16 rounds in the 60s over the four FedExCup Playoffs events.

Kopeka competed in his first ever RBC Canadian Open in 2008, where he failed to make the 36-hole cut.

Koepka, who will receive the Jack Nicklaus Trophy for winning PGA TOUR Player of the Year, was selected for the honor over Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson, Francesco Molinari, Justin Rose and Justin Thomas.

Some Canadian golfers are long-standing members of the PGA TOUR, while others secured status for the 2018-19 season at the last minute.

Add them all up and the CanCon will hit a record level at this week’s Safeway Open.

Eight Canadians are in the field for the season opener at the Silverado Resort and Spa North in Napa, Calif. That’s the most at a PGA TOUR event outside of Canada since the TOUR started keeping track in 1970.

TOUR regulars like David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., and Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., are joined by Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., Adam Svensson of Surrey, B.C., Roger Sloan of Merritt, B.C., and Ben Silverman of Thornhill, Ont.

Silverman, who’s entering his sophomore campaign, was among the group of Canadians who broke through in the last few years after spending time on lower-level TOURs.

“I think we were just pushing each other to get better,” Silverman said. “We were all very talented at the time but just not there yet, not at TOUR level yet. Just knowing that there was only two or three Canadians to look at — yet we were all right there in the mini-TOUR ranks — it just probably pushed us all and motivated us all to make it.”

The previous high for Canadians in a non-domestic TOURnament was seven, according to PGA TOUR senior communications manager Doug Milne. It happened twice in 1987 (John Deere Classic and BMW Championship), at the 2008 U.S. Open, and twice last year (Safeway Open and CareerBuilder Challenge).

The number could grow again when Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., makes his return. He has status on the PGA TOUR with a major medical extension but isn’t ready to play after undergoing back surgery in August.

Silverman needed a strong finish at the recent Web.com Tour Championship to book his return to the PGA TOUR. A tie for third did the trick as he moved into 22nd on the Web.com Tour Finals money list, just inside the 25-man cut.

Sloan was 10th on the list while Svensson earned his card by finishing 14th on the Web.com TOUR’s regular-season list.

Silverman’s best finish on the PGA TOUR last season was a tie for seventh at the Sanderson Farms Championship last October. His other top-10 result came a few weeks later when he was tied for eighth at the RSM Classic.

He earned US$793,140 over the campaign, made the cut at 17 tournaments and finished 136th in the FedExCup standings.

Reached this week in Napa, he said he was very pleased with how his rookie campaign played out.

“A whole slew of courses that I’ve never seen before, which is always tough to get used to,” Silverman said. “I think I handled it pretty well. I had some good finishes. I learned a lot about myself in terms of how many TOURnaments I can handle.

“I think 28 regular-season events was kind of a lot for me. I’m going to learn from that and try to manage my schedule a little bit differently so I can get some more rest this season.”

Ben Silverman (Getty Images)

Silverman said he was inconsistent at times due in part to his effort to develop a more well-rounded game. He wanted to be able to hit high-, medium- and low-trajectory shots either straight or with a draw or fade, all while trying to add different short-game skills.

This season, he plans to keep it simple and go with what got him to the PGA TOUR in the first place. He’ll go with more bump-and-run shots around the green and will stick with his “little fade” off the tee and on the fairways.

“The biggest adjustment with my game is I’m pretty much just sticking to one ball flight and never changing it,” Silverman said. “Whether it suits the hole from a traditional standpoint or not doesn’t matter to me anymore. I’m just going to stick to hitting shots that I feel comfortable with.

“That was my gameplan in Jacksonville in the Web Finals and I had great control of the ball all week. I’m just going to keep that strategy going moving forward.”

Hadwin is the lone Canadian in the top 100 of the world golf rankings at No. 58. Silverman is next at No. 240, followed by Taylor (No. 280), DeLaet (No. 294) and Hughes (No. 297).

Play begins Thursday on the 7,203-yard course. American Brendan Steele is the defending champion.

SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France – Payback belongs to Europe, and so does the Ryder Cup.

Two years after the Americans thought they had their Ryder Cup problems figured out, Europe reminded them Sunday why it practically has owned this shiny gold trophy for the last quarter-century.

British Open champion Francesco Molinari was just as good on his own as he was with Tommy Fleetwood. The best year of the Italian’s golfing life got even better at Le Golf National when he became the first European – and only second player since the current format began in 1979 – to win all five of his matches.

The last one set off a wild, champagne-soaked celebration.

Europe already was assured the 14 1/2 points it needed because they were guaranteed halves in two matches. Molinari made it official. He was 2 up and safely on the green at the par-3 16th green when Phil Mickelson hit into the water, removed his cap and conceded the match.

The finish was most appropriate.

The celebration and singing had already begun. The Europeans were treated like rock stars before more than 50,000 fans. All that remained was Alex Noren in the anchor match. He was 1 up on the 18th hole when DeChambeau stuffed his approach to 2 feet for a conceded birdie. Noren hit the final shot in this Ryder Cup, a 40-foot birdie putt to win the match, and the stoic Swede hurled his cap.

Europe won, 17 1/2-10 1/2, the most lopsided victory since consecutive 18 1/2-9 1/2 victories by Europe more than a decade ago when the Americans looked utterly lost. They formed a Ryder Cup Task Force, spearheaded by Mickelson, after the 2014 loss. The idea was to build continuity and momentum, and it seemed to work when they won at Hazeltine in 2016.

Now, maybe it’s back to the drawing board.

Mickelson was desperate to make this team because the 48-year-old saw it as his last chance to win a Ryder Cup on European soil. He wound up losing both his matches. He started the week by setting a record with his 12th Ryder Cup appearance. He ended it by setting a more dubious Ryder Cup record with 22 losses.

He wasn’t alone. Tiger Woods went 0-4, the first time in his eight Ryder Cups that he failed to contribute a single point.

But this was more about the Europeans as a team, and they were tougher than ever on a course they know well.

“This team has been incredible from the start,” Molinari said. “We were determined to do the job. Nothing was going to stop us. And you saw it on the course.”

Trailing 10-6 going into the final day of singles, the Americans needed to put red points on the board early to build momentum. It never happened. Justin Thomas won the leadoff match over Rory McIlroy, but not until the 18th hole.

Webb Simpson and Tony Finau, the lone bright spot among the wild-card picks for U.S. captain Jim Furyk, won easily. Behind them, Woods was hanging tough against Jon Rahm and Dustin Johnson started to pull ahead of Ian Poulter.

“There’s always a moment where it looks like a spark of light,” Furyk said. “When it was there for us, Europe played really well.”

It wasn’t there long.

Rahm won two straight holes with pars to seize control. Johnson went from 1 up to 2 down in a four-hole stretch that ended his chances.

Rahm dropped his putter after making a 5-foot birdie on the 17th hole as Woods stood to the side of the green, arms crossed. One week ago, he overcame four back surgeries to win for the 80th time on the Tour Championship, a signal that he was all the way back.

And then at the Ryder Cup, it was another result with which he is far too familiar. Woods has played on only one winning team in 1999.

“It’s disappointing because I went 0-4, and that’s four points to the European team,” he said. “And I’m one of the contributing factors to why we lost the cup, and it’s not a lot of fun. It’s frustrating because I thought we were all playing pretty well, and I just didn’t perform at the level that I had been playing, and just got behind early in the matches and never got back.”

Thorbjorn Olesen, who had played only one match the previous two days, went 5 up at the turn over Jordan Spieth and won in 14 holes. Spieth is now 0-6 in singles matches in the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup.

Sergio Garcia was in tears.

He played so poorly this year that he failed to qualify for the PGA Tour’s post-season. Thomas Bjorn picked him anyway, saying he was like the captain of a football team. Garcia showed why by going 3-1. That final victory over Rickie Fowler made Garcia the biggest contributor in Ryder Cup history with 25 1/2 points.

But this was more about team, and about redemption, even for a team that now has won nine of the last 12 times.

“We took a really tough loss at Hazeltine a couple of years ago and that stung,” McIlroy said. “That was my first experience of what it feels like to be on the other side, so coming in here, obviously none of us want to feel like Sunday afternoon.”