The ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP Recap: Cant Stop, Won't Stop

There are many ways to dissect what took place over four days at The ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP. Our biggest takeaway is that the Masters just got a whole lot more interesting.

Play gets underway at Augusta in less than three weeks, and we won't see many of the golfers who were in the loaded ZOZO field tee it up again until then.

Patrick Cantlay claimed victory Sunday at Sherwood Country Club to reestablish himself after a 2020 unbefitting of a top-10 player. Jon Rahm and Justin Thomas, even though they were seemingly paying so much attention to themselves that they didn't see Cantlay overtaking them down the stretch, showed that their games are largely in form. Rory McIlroy continued to offer evidence of emerging from his summer-long funk. And former Masters champions Bubba Watson, Patrick Reed and, yes, even Jordan Spieth can take away enough from the ZOZO to feel better about their games heading into Augusta.

This week the PGA Tour heads to Bermuda with a field devoid of any big names. Then comes the Houston Open with a few more notable golfers. That's it. Then it's Masters week.

MONDAY BACKSPIN

Patrick Cantlay
Cantlay had played 10 times since the restart and never really contended for a title. If you want to count the Shriners event, where he was the 54-hole co-leader but blew up early on Sunday, fine. But the point is, he had not been playing like he normally does. Now, he's back inside the top 10 of the world rankings at No. 9. At Sherwood, he ranked third in the field in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green. He also was 10th in putting and first in scrambling, which would really come in handy at Augusta. It's easy to forget amid all the Tiger Woods euphoria from last year's Masters that Cantlay was leading with three holes to go. Bogeys on 16 and 17 relegated him to a tie for ninth.
 
Jon Rahm
Rahm caught Thomas, the overnight leader, and held the lead early on the back nine. Back-to-back bogeys while Cantlay ran off three straight birdies effectively ended things, even though Rahm had medium-length birdie putts to tie on 17 and 18. That's what cost him all week. While he was second in SG: Tee-to-Green, he lost strokes putting three of the four days. Right now, Rahm is not in the Houston field. He's tied for ninth last year at the Masters and solo fourth in 2018. Oh, and Justin Thomas' birdie n 18 on Sunday cost Rahm solo second, which also cost him reclaiming the No. 1 ranking.

Justin Thomas
Thomas is not prone to blowing 54-hole leads but it's happened in the past few months; he led the Workday Charity Open in July but was beaten by Collin Morikawa in a playoff. Three weeks later, Thomas won the WGC-FedEx. Now, the Masters is in three weeks. Thomas has been good but not great in the Masters, with top-25s the past three years but no top-10s. Right now, he has not committed to Houston.

Tiger Woods
Since we're looking forward to the Masters, let's talk Woods here, even though he tied for 72nd in the 77-man field. This was a track at which he had won five times and finished second five times, albeit in only 18-man fields. We said at the beginning of the week that his best chances at record-breaking win No. 83 would come at Sherwood or Augusta, two courses he knows better than anyone else. Well, this past week was not a good sign for his Masters title defense. Woods really didn't do anything well all week. He ranked 70th in SG: Tee-to-Green and 65th in putting, though he said he was pleased with his play on the greens. He knows Augusta like the back of his hand, but being able to execute is another matter. He said he'd decide whether to play Houston in the next few days. He should. Not playing a lot has not worked out for him. By all accounts, his back held up this week. Go to Houston, Tiger.

Phil Mickelson
And now let's tackle Woods' Sunday playing partner. Mickelson returned to the big tour and finished second to last one week after making it 2-for-2 on the Champions Tour. Like with Woods, the Masters should take an asterisk when discussing Mickelson's inability to still compete on the PGA Tour; he knows his way around Augusta better than anyone but Woods. He was still deciding whether to play Houston or the Champions Tour in Phoenix next week. It probably won't alter his Masters result either way.

Bubba Watson
Watson finished in a four-way tie for fourth, his second top-10 in two weeks in elite fields. He also finished top-25 at the WGC in Memphis and in the first two playoff events, so this is a sustained period of good play for the mercurial Bubba. He also had a great stretch back in January-February. While Watson hasn't really contended for a title, 2020 on the whole is shaping up as a good year. He's now up to 46th in the world, one spot better than where he started the year. It's now been six years since Watson won his second Masters, but he was T12 last year and fifth in 2018. Hmmm.

Rory McIlroy
After meandering through the beginning of the restart, the real McIlroy appears to be returning. And at just the right time. He tied for only 17th at Sherwood, but he had a personal-best 29 birdies. He's finished 21st or better for five straight tournaments, and that included a T8 at the U.S. Open. McIlroy finished top-10 five years running at the Masters from 2014-2018 before tying for 21st last year. He is not in the Houston field as of now.

Patrick Reed
Reed tied for 14th, giving him two top-10s and two top-15s in his past four worldwide starts. The thing is, there was no part of his game really good at Sherwood. But he still figured out a way to get a high finish, which is what Reed is really good at. He finished only 13th in putting, by far his best SG category. He was T64 in scrambling. If those numbers improve at Augusta, and they should, he could find himself on the leaderboard.

Jordan Spieth
Sure, it's probably silly to put Spieth in the same sentence as other former Masters champs who are trending in the right direction just weeks before Augusta. He tied for 41st in a small field. But he had two great rounds, one of which was actually on the weekend. He shot 67 on Sunday, and that was with two bogeys and a double. His struggles off the tee were still prevalent, but he ranked seventh in the field in putting, something we had not been seeing from him lately.

Corey Conners
Conners finished top-15 on Tour last season in both SG: Off-the-Tee and Approach, and sixth in greens in regulation, yet his tie for eighth was his first top-10 in a year. That's how bad his short game is. At Sherwood, he ranked 18th in SG: Around-the-Green and 14th in putting, so you see what can happen. But it happens hardly ever, so it's hard to view this week beyond one good week.

Lanto Griffin
For the second straight week, Griffin didn't get things done on Sunday. He wound up tied for 11th while playing in the final group with Jon Rahm and Justin Thomas. He tied for seventh last week, also after a subpar final round. But of course they are two very good finishes, and have moved Griffin up to a career best 55th OWGR. He will defend his Houston title in two weeks and then play Augusta. Expecting much in a first Masters is asking a lot, but Griffin has putted very well lately. He was first at Sherwood and fourth the week before at Shadow Creek.

Jason Kokrak
Kokrak followed up his maiden win at the CJ Cup with a tie for 17th, moving him into the top-25 OWGR for the first time. The Masters probably isn't a good fit for Kokrak, but he'll be there.

Scottie Scheffler
Scheffler had his best outing in four starts since returning from a positive COVID-19 test. He tied for 17th. The Dallas native has yet to commit to Houston, but it seems like it would be a good move for him in advance of his first Masters.

Alex Noren
After missing the cut at the Memorial three months ago, the former No. 8 golfer in the world ranked 125th. Since then, though, Noren has played eight straight events without missing a cut, finished top-10 in three of them and top-25 in three more. That includes his tie for 17th at the ZOZO. He's now back to 88th OWGR, not far from where he started the year at 75th. Noren is not in the Bermuda field, but he could turn up in Houston. He did not qualify for the Masters.

Richy Werenski
Werenski broke Tiger Woods' Sherwood course record with a 61 on Friday. Then he shot 15 strokes worse on Sunday and tied for 57th.