Casey part of 3-way tie for the lead at World Challenge

Jordan Spieth speaking to the media ahead of today’s tee-off at the Hero World Challenge. Hideki Matsuyama (75) was the only player in the 18-man field who didn’t break par.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) – Brandt Jobe won the Champions Tour qualifying tournament to earn one of five fully exempt spots next year, closing with a 2-under 69 for a one-stroke victory. “And with great conditions, I am actually surprised no one went real deep”. The Bengaluru-based player also dropped a 16-foot birdie putt on the par-4 13th hole to make his presence felt on the tough course.

Round of the day: Walker started slowly, but picked up the pace significantly on the back nine.

“I just break things down into specific golf terms”, Spieth said. He won the Vardon Trophy for lowest scoring average (68.94) and was the best putter on Tour; he led in putting average, one-putt percentage (44.26%) and putts per round. Still, there was one noticeable difference from past years.

Par on the first, maybe? There were many other players from the field of the Hero World Challenge including Rickie Fowler, Billy Horschel and others. It was at Sherwood Country Club in California until moving to Isleworth in Florida for a year ago, and now The Bahamas were Woods has property, along with Scott and Justin Rose.

For a moment on the back nine, there was a seven-way tie for first place.

There were a few exceptions. Walker took another step in working on a new move in his golf swing and drove the ball beautifully in his round of 65.

“I know to get to all my goals I need to get Ws, ” he said.

It didn’t go so well in the pro-am, mainly because there was a lot of standing around. His lone blemish, a bogey at 13, was followed with a birdie on the next hole and four concluding pars.

On the 172-yard second hole, Spieth hit a flawless 6-iron that landed just short of the hole, rolling right up to the cup and dropping for an ace with its last revolution.

“It’s still all about rest”, Spieth said. Winning two majors again might be asking too much.

Dustin Johnson might have had the largest gallery when he added his coach, a social media consultant, his wife, her brothers and their girlfriends.