USA Today - 03.10.2019

4C z THURSDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2019 z USA TODAY E2 SPORTS

Key stat

58

Length of putt in feet that

Bryson DeChambeau made

for eagle on the 16th hole in last

year’s final round en route to vic-

tory in the Shriners Hospitals for

Children Open. DeChambeau

closed with a 5-under 66 to finish

at 21 under, one shot ahead of

Patrick Cantlay, who won the

championship the prior year.

Tee times

Golf Channel’s first-round cov-

erage Thursday features DeCham-

beau, Cantlay and 2014 champion

Webb Simpson (3:10 p.m. ET).

Young stars Joaquin Niemann,

Collin Morikawa and Matthew Wolff

• who have each won on the PGA
  Tour in the last three months – are
  grouped (3 p.m.). Friday’s coverage
  features the group of world No. 1
  Brooks Koepka, reigning U.S. Open
  champion Gary Woodland and
  Adam Scott.

FedExCup

Cameron Champ jumped 47 spots

with his victory in last week’s Safe-

way Open. This is the 14th edition

of the FedExCup, which features 46

regular-season events and a post-

season of three events, culminat-

ing with The Tour Championship at

East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. Rory

McIlroy is the defending champion.

1. Sebastian Munoz ..................... 605


2. Cameron Champ ..................... 526


3. Joaquin Niemann .................... 506


4. Sungjai Im ................................. 352


5. Tom Hoge .................................. 315

SHRINERS HOSPITALS

FOR CHILDREN OPEN

Site: Las Vegas

Course: TPC Summerlin

Yardage: 7,255. Par: 71.

TV (ET):Thursday-Friday, 4-8 p.m.

(Golf Channel); Saturday-Sunday,

5-8 p.m. (Golf Channel)

LAS VEGAS – Brooks Koepka turned
in another sterling campaign last sea-
son, winning three times, including his
fourth major triumph at the PGA Cham-
pionship, as well as posting runner-up
finishes in the Masters and U.S. Open
and finishing in a tie for fourth in the
British Open.
It turns out the world No. 1 did much
of his work on a bum knee.
Ahead of his season debut in the
Shriners Hospitals for Children Open at
TPC Summerlin, Koepka revealed
Wednesday that he had a stem cell pro-
cedure for a partially torn patella ten-
don. He did it to relieve discomfort and
strengthen a left knee that had been
bugging him since March. The proce-
dure was performed Sept. 2 in Orlando.
“It’s stem cell, so they go in and inject
it into my knee,” Koepka said. “I’m
watching it on the screen, as they were
doing it, and it was probably one of the
most painful things – I was screaming
when they did it.”
Koepka, 29, limped out of the clinic
and stayed off his feet best he could for
three days, then started rehabbing the
area. He started practicing 10 days ago.
Koepka said he often limped last sea-
son inside the ropes, especially walking
downhill. The ailing knee didn’t bother
him much through the swing, but he
could feel it.
“Was a little hesitant to get on my left
side, where now, I’ve got no issue,” he
said.
There’s no longer an issue with prac-
tice, either. Last year, Koepka said, he
didn’t practice much, which raised
some eyebrows in the golf community.
What Koepka didn’t say last year was
that injuries kept his practice time to a
minimum.
“I can finally practice again without
pain,” he said. “I finally feel this year I
can practice again. I think people forget,
too, I also had a wrist injury. I was just
coming back off that. My wrist wasn’t
100%, and my knee was bugging me
from about March on. Just not going to
make excuses. It’s nice to feel good for
once.
“I finally feel good enough where I
can actually practice and feel prepared
coming into golf tournaments. Not try-

ing to find it on Tuesday or Wednesday.

“I’ll be practicing this year.”

Despite his injuries, Koepka was in

line to win a second consecutive PGA

Tour Players of the Year award. But to

the surprise of many – including the

winner himself – Rory McIlroy was vot-

ed the POY by his peers.

McIlroy certainly had an outstanding

season: three wins, including The Play-

ers Championship and the Tour Cham-

pionship, for his second FedExCup title.

He also had the lowest stroke average on

the PGA Tour and 14 top-10s in 19 starts.

Koepka, who had nine top-10s in 21

starts, won a major and a WGC title

among his three wins. He also finished

in the top four in all the majors, a feat

accomplished just six other times by

four players.

When asked about the POY, Koepka

was his blunt self. “I don’t play for

awards,” he said. “I just play to win, win

trophies, win tournaments. It would’ve

been great, but I think everybody in this

room knows. I mean, LeBron has only

won four MVPs and I’m pretty sure he’s

been the best player for more than just

four years.”

Well, his new campaign starts Thurs-

day. Last year Koepka won in Korea in

his season debut.

He is making his fifth start in the

Shriners. He missed cuts in 2014 and

2016, tied for fourth in 2015 and finished

second in 2017. Seeing that it’s an odd

year, if this trend continues, he’ll be in

the hunt come Sunday.

Which is all he wants.

“It’s great to finish second, but I have

one goal – just to win. That’s it. Win as

many times as I can this year,” he said. “I

enjoy the competition. That’s what I

want. I want to be the best. Right now, I

can set that pace, and, you know, every-

body is in the rearview mirror. I just got

to figure out how I can consistently stay

on top and even grow that lead.”

PGA TOUR

Koepka reveals injury

Brooks Koepka had a stem cell procedure recently for a partially torn patella

tendon. ADAM HAGY/USA TODAY SPORTS

Steve DiMeglio
Golfweek | USA TODAY Network

Now that Rutgers has fired Chris Ash,
the title of college football’s most em-
battled coach goes to Southern Califor-
nia’s Clay Helton, who is seemingly
working on borrowed time amid the
Trojans’ continued swoon and the uni-
versity’s recent change at athletics di-
rector.
But Helton isn’t alone, even if the po-
tential USC opening promises to have
the most profound impact on this year’s
coaching cycle – the trickledown impact
of the possible opening could be monu-
mental, creating a domino effect of
coaching changes across multiple Pow-
er Five conferences. That’s if USC
doesn’t simply take Urban Meyer away
from his burgeoning TV career.
Almost every conference has at least
one coach on the hot seat. Here are the
coaches due to be under heavy scrutiny
in October and November.
zCharlie Strong, South Florida: Af-
ter winning 17 of his first 19 games with
the Bulls, Strong has since lost nine
games in a row against FBS competi-
tion. Overall, the program’s only win
since last October came on Sept. 14
against South Carolina State. The latest
defeat, a 48-21 debacle at home against
SMU, laid bare the conundrum USF
must address in the next two months:
Has Strong earned the benefit of the
doubt after his strong start and overall
reputation, or is it time to pull the plug
before things get worse?
zTony Sanchez, UNLV:After he re-
ceived a clear, bowl game or bust man-
date this offseason, Sanchez’s job secu-
rity is in a precarious position after Sat-
urday’s 53-17 loss at Wyoming dropped
the Rebels to 1-3 this season and 17-
overall since he was brought in after the
2014 season. Previously a Las Vegas
area coaching legend on the high school
ranks – he built a national powerhouse
at Bishop Gorman – Sanchez has yet to
win more than five games in a season at
UNLV and seems destined for a similar
finish in 2019. There’s almost no chance
he’ll return at four or five wins.

zJustin Fuente, Virginia Tech: Tak-

ing a look back at the last 12 months re-

veals an ugly picture: Virginia Tech has

been among the worst Power Five teams

in the country dating to last October,

putting Fuente under pressure to deliver

a midseason turnaround. Since that

point, the Hokies have lost twice to Bos-

ton College, to Notre Dame by 22 points,

to Georgia Tech by 21, to Pittsburgh by

30 and to Miami (Florida) by 24. The lat-

est loss, a 45-10 embarrassment against

Duke last Friday, was the lowest point

for Virginia Tech football in more than a

generation.

zJeremy Pruitt, Tennessee: The

wreck that is Tennessee might find its

latest scapegoat in Pruitt, who is floun-

dering in his second season while for-

mer coach and current athletics director

Phil Fulmer looms over the program.

The issues are too numerous to list in

full. A short list: Tennessee is losing by

huge margins to rivals, most recently

Florida; is losing to teams the program

has no business losing to, such as Geor-

gia State; can’t find an offensive identity

and has been unable to develop talent

from well-regarded recruiting classes;

and is constantly tripped up by the sort

of errors that reflect poorly on the

coaching staff.

zLovie Smith, Illinois: The returns

have been poor almost from the start,

even if Smith and his coaching staff did

get an early pass as they tried to inject

young talent and quick-fix transfers to

an often overwhelmed roster. Nonethe-

less, Illinois won three games in 2016,

two games in 2017 – going winless in Big

Ten Conference play – and four games

last season, and seem destined for an-

other finish in the bottom of the West

Division in 2019. Smith has a $4 million

buyout if fired after this season, but that

number drops to $2 million in 2020 and

to $1 million in 2021.

zClay Helton, Southern California:

The odds of Helton retaining his job into

2020 are decreasing almost by the day

and will reach an even more feverish

pitch if the Trojans lose to Notre Dame

next week to fall to an even 3-3 at the

midseason point. As noted, it doesn’t

help matters that USC is such a mess as

an athletics department; the successor

to Lynn Swann as athletics director

should be given the chance to wipe the

slate clean and start fresh, putting Hel-

ton’s position in even further jeopardy.

Any chance he does have at returning

next season might not demand a win

against the Irish but it does entail no ug-

ly losses the rest of the way and a com-

petitive finish in the Pac-12 South, if not

an outright division championship.. But

even that would very likely not be

enough.

zJim Harbaugh, Michigan: While

it’s wildly premature to assume Har-

baugh’s job is in any true jeopardy what-

soever, the team’s continued issues on

offense and the perceived gap between

the Wolverines and the rival Buckeyes

has supporters of the program feeling

restless, and deservedly so. Harbaugh

and his staff did right the ship last week-

end against Rutgers, as expected. But

crunchtime for Michigan begins again

this weekend against Iowa and con-

tinues through the biggest test of all: the

regular-season finale with Ohio State.

zSteve Addazio, Boston College:

Addazio has piloted Boston College into

postseason play in five of his six sea-

sons, which counts for something. In

none of those years, however, did the

Eagles win more than seven games. At

some point, the hopes and expectations

are for more than merely reaching a

bowl game and finishing in the middle

of the pack in the Atlantic Coast Confer-

ence. While the preseason projections

weren’t too high on Boston College – the

defense was seen as a liability even if

the offense had potential – there’s no

way to sugarcoat the 48-24 loss at home

to Kansas, the Jayhawks’ first road win

against a Power Five opponent since

2008.

Eight college football coaches on the hot seat

Paul Myerberg
USA TODAY

Coach Jeremy Pruitt reacts during his team’s loss to Florida, his 10th loss in 16

games since taking over the program in 2018.KIM KLEMENT/USA TODAY SPORTS