Featured Groups: Quicken Loans National

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Story By: Staff  |  PGATOUR.COM

Which Tiger Woods will we see at this week’s Quicken Loans National?

He was a roll of the ball from a playoff at the Valspar Championship earlier this season, but is coming off a missed cut at the U.S. Open.

He’s a two-time champion at the QLN (’09, ’12), which he returns to play for the first time since 2015, and has yet to tee it up at the revamped TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm since the course’s extensive renovations.

Woods will headline a field that also includes Quicken Loans ambassador Rickie Fowler, who thrilled fans with his final-round 65 but double-bogeyed the drivable par-4 14th hole and came up just short last year. Defending champion Kyle Stanley and Charles Howell III, whom Stanley beat in a playoff, are also back to tee it up as the Washington, D.C. area prepares for Independence Day.

Caddie bibs will have camouflage swatches as part of the tournament’s recognition of the armed forces, and active military will be awarded upgraded tickets.

TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm is a tough, par-70 track that played to a 71.458 scoring average last year, when 7 under was good enough to get in a playoff. Among non-major par 70s, only PGA National, host of The Honda Classic, is as hard. Avenel Farm’s 17th hole alone is enough to cause heartburn. From an elevated tee, the 190-yard long, par 3 requires a forced carry over water. In the wind and with the tournament on the line, club selection can be especially tricky.

PGA TOUR LIVE Thursday-Friday broadcasts will begin at 7 a.m. ET and end at 3 p.m. We will move to Featured Holes Coverage at 3 p.m. The Featured Holes consist of the short, par-4 14th hole, which proved so pivotal last year (eagle for Howell; double-bogey for Fowler); and the vexing, 190-yard, par-3 17th over water, which can make or break players in the tense moments of late Sunday afternoon. Saturday and Sunday PGA TOUR LIVE coverage begins at 1 p.m. with Featured Holes; we will add coverage of the par-4 first hole on the weekend.

Here are the Featured Groups:

(Note: All times Eastern; FedExCup ranking in parentheses.)

THURSDAY

Kyle Stanley (34), Billy Hurley III (210), Nick Watney (87)

Last year’s champion Stanley is primed for a successful title defense after three top-15 finishes in his last five starts, including a hard-luck playoff runner-up at the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide. Hurley is seeking his first top-10 finish this season, and coming off a T47 at the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands last weekend. Watney’s best this year is a T2 at the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow. He missed the cut at the Travelers.

Tee time: 8:08 a.m. off the 10th tee

Billy Horschel (42), Jimmy Walker (45), Stewart Cink (72)

Horschel missed the cut at the Travelers, but no matter. He is already a winner this season after taking the Zurich Classic of New Orleans with partner Scott Piercy. Walker is also enjoying a banner year, with six straight top-25 finishes (prior to his T56 at the U.S. Open) signaling a full return from Lyme Disease. Meanwhile, Cink, 45, is coming a final-round 62 and a T2 finish at the Travelers. He also finished T4 at the FedEx St. Jude Classic earlier this month.

Tee time: 8:20 a.m. off 10

FRIDAY

Gary Woodland (33), Rickie Fowler (16), Chesson Hadley (19)

A winner earlier this season at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, Woodland is coming off a T36 at the U.S. Open and T23 at the Memorial. Fowler could have been in the QLN playoff last year, or even won the tournament outright, had he not made such a mess of the drivable, par-4 14th hole, where he double-bogeyed. He has two runner-up finishes but no wins yet this season. Hadley opened this season with three straight top-five finishes, but is coming off two straight missed cuts.

Tee time: 8:08 a.m. off 10

Marc Leishman (21), Bill Haas (134), Tiger Woods (61)

Woods did not play particularly well in missing the cut at the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills, but didn’t look far off in finishing T23 at the Memorial before that. Haas, the 2011 FedExCup champion, is coming off a T36 at the U.S. Open and still looking for his second top-10 finish this season. Leishman, who tied for fifth at the QLN last year, is a threat to win anywhere, but especially here.    

Tee time: 8:20 a.m. off 10