Course Guide: We visit Sherwood Country Club this week, which has never seen a regular PGA Tour event in its history. However it did host the Tiger Woods’ World Challenge from 2000 through 2013 and the Champions Tour Invesco QQQ Championship from 2016 through 2019. The Nicklaus design is short at just a tad under 7,100 yards and plays as a Par 72, with 5 par-5s on the scorecard. Classical in its nature, the course features tree-lined fairways, multiple doglegs, plenty of elevated tees elevation changes galore. The course isn’t long by modern standards but the classical parkland style punishes errant drives and approach shots.
Sherwood Country Club, Thousand Oaks, California: Designer: Jack Nicklaus, 1989, renovation 2016; Course Type: Classical, Mountain Valley, Mid-Score; Par: 72; Length: 7,073 yards; Holes with Water Hazards In-Play: 8; Fairways: Bentgrass; Rough: Ryegrass 3″; Greens: 7,200 sq.ft average featuring 007 & Tyee Bentgrass; Stimpmeter: 12.5ft.
Course Designer Links: For research purposes, other Jack Nicklaus designs include:
- Annandale Golf Club – (Sanderson Farms Championship through 2013)
- Glen Abbey (2008, 2009, 2012, 2015 and 2016 RBC Canadian Open)
- Montreux GCC – Barracuda Championship
- Muirfield Village – Memorial Tournament
- PGA National – Honda Classic
- PGA West, Tournament Course – The American Express
- PGA West – Nicklaus Private (Humana Challenge through 2015)
- Valhalla Golf Club (2014 PGA Championship)
Course Overview: Unlike last week at Shadow Creek, Sherwood Country Club has hosted plenty of action in the past, although no actual PGA Tour tournament. Previously, Sherwood was the host venue for the Greg Norman inspired Shark Shootout from 1989–1999. When Norman moved the Shark Shootout to Florida, Woods brought his World Challenge charity tournament to Sherwood, where it was contested from 2000 through 2013. In 1999, Sherwood was also the site of a match-play challenge exhibition between Tiger Woods and David Duval, billed as the “Showdown at Sherwood.”
We’ve also seen plenty of recent competitive action here since the Jack Nicklaus renovation which opened in early 2016. The Invesco QQQ Championship was played here from 2016 through 2019, in late October, with the course playing as a 7,006 yard, Par 72. Tom Pernice Jnr, Bernhard Langer, Scott Parel and Colin Montgomerie were the victors over the Champions Tour 54-hole format.
Sherwood Country Club is a pretty unique format, especially in the United States. A short Par 72, which features 5 par-3s and 5 par-5s in-total. The back nine features 3 par-3s, 3 par-4s and 3 par-5s. Quirky! The first thing you notice about Sherwood is the fantastic elevation changes, huge trees and beautiful valley scenery. Fair off the tee but landing your approach shot on the right part of multi-tiered green complexes are crucial. Miss a green and top-short game is required. It’s a typical Jack Nicklaus design, which get’s tougher the closer you get to the hole. Set next to Lake Sherwood, the course also has plenty of water in-play via waterfalls, running streams and ponds.
Described as a shot-makers golf course, trouble is never too far away if you miss fairways, and the course undoubtedly requires strategy and placement. Low scores are more than possible, but you won’t overpower Sherwood Country Club. Instead excellent ball striking and a tidy wedge game will unlock opportunities. There have been some changes since the World Challenge tournament left here in 2013. A Jack Nicklaus renovation, which completed in early 2016, saw all green complexes re-built and re-bunkered. They were also re-grassed with 50% 007 Bentgrass and 50% Tyee Bentgrass. So the greens contain no Poa Annua, which they would have in the World Challenge days.
Best skill-set summary for Sherwood Country Club is strategic, patient, with great approach play with longer irons and wedges, plus the ability to make putts on Bentgrass greens.
Winners (Narashino Country Club): 2019: Tiger Woods (-19).
Tournament Stats: We’ve published some key player statistics for this week’s event that are well worth a look. Naturally they’ll help to shape a view on players who could go well this week: Current Form | Course Form | First Round Leader | Combined Stats.
Published Predictor Model: Our published predictor is available here. You can build your own model using the variables listed on the left hand side. Top 10 of my published predictor are Webb Simpson, Jon Rahm, Collin Morikawa, Russell Henley, Justin Thomas, Rory McIlroy, Tyrrell Hatton, Xander Schauffele, Joaquin Niemann and Rickie Fowler.
Recent Player Skill Rankings: These top 25 in the field rankings are based on an 8-tournament window that stretches back to the BMW Championship and UK Championship, which includes PGA Tour and European Tour events. Rankings are based on performance relative to the rest of the field:
- Driving Accuracy: 1) Brendon Todd; 2) Tyler Duncan; 3) Matt Kuchar; 4) Kevin Kisner; 5) Adam Long; 6) Matthew Fitzpatrick; 7) Harris English / Satoshi Kodaira; 9) Sungjae Im / Rory McIlroy / Collin Morikawa; 12) Abraham Ancer; 13) Bubba Watson; 14) Corey Conners; 15) Tyrrell Hatton / Adam Hadwin; 17) Joel Dahmen / Adam Scott; 19) Kevin Na; 20) Scottie Scheffler / Webb Simpson / Michael Thompson; 23) Jon Rahm; 24) Brian Harman; 25) Russell Henley / Viktor Hovland Sebastian Munoz.
- Greens in Regulation: 1) Jon Rahm / Bubba Watson; 3) Tony Finau; 4) Viktor Hovland / Ryan Palmer; 6) Russell Henley; 7) Sungjae Im; 8) Tyrrell Hatton / Rory McIlroy / Collin Morikawa; 11) Joaquin Niemann / Kevin Streelman; 13) Jason Kokrak / Xander Schauffele; 15) Scottie Scheffler / Matthew Wolff; 17) Corey Conners / Lanto Griffin / Mackenzie Hughes / Brendan Steele; 21) Abraham Ancer / Harris English / Matthew Fitzpatrick; 24) Justin Thomas; 25) Patrick Reed.
- Scrambling: 1) Russell Henley / Webb Simpson; 3) Joaquin Niemann; 4) Hideki Matsuyama / Xander Schauffele; 6) Patrick Reed; 7) Patrick Cantlay; 8) Byeong Hun An; 9) Matthew Wolff; 10) Jon Rahm; 11) Tony Finau / Viktor Hovland; 13) Jason Day; 14) Daniel Berger / Brendan Steele / Justin Thomas; 17) Paul Casey / Tyler Duncan / Andrew Landry / Sebastian Munoz / Alex Noren / Brendon Todd / Bubba Watson; 24) Brian Harman / Adam Long.
- Putting Average (Putts per GIR): 1) Xander Schauffele; 2) Adam Scott; 3) Justin Thomas; 4) Matthew Fitzpatrick; 5) Mackenzie Hughes; 6) Tom Hoge; 7) Rory McIlroy / Patrick Reed / Brendon Todd; 10) Tyrrell Hatton; 11) Cameron Smith / Gary Woodland; 13) Justin Rose; 14) Tony Finau / Hideki Matsuyama; 16) Scottie Scheffler; 17) Collin Morikawa; 18) Rickie Fowler; 19) Tommy Fleetwood / Jason Kokrak / Joaquin Niemann / Jon Rahm; 23) Daniel Berger; 24) Brian Harman / Harry Higgs / Matthew Wolff.
Recent Player Strokes Gained Rankings: These top 25 in the field rankings are based on an 8-tournament window that stretches back to the BMW Championship and UK Championship, which includes PGA Tour and European Tour events. Player’s rankings are based on performance relative to the rest of the field:
- Top 25 SG Off The Tee: 1) Rory McIlroy; 2) Jon Rahm / Bubba Watson; 4) Joaquin Niemann; 5) Cameron Champ / Tony Finau / Tyrrell Hatton / Scottie Scheffler; 9) Sungjae Im; 10) Dylan Frittelli; 11) Viktor Hovland; 12) Harry Higgs; 13) Corey Conners / Harris English; 15) Jason Kokrak / Matthew Wolff; 17) Paul Casey / Billy Horschel / Carlos Ortiz; 20) Xander Schauffele; 21) Webb Simpson; 22) Jason Day / Tommy Fleetwood / Rickie Fowler / Hideki Matsuyama.
- Top 25 SG Approach: 1) Bubba Watson; 2) Russell Henley; 3) Tony Finau; 4) Justin Thomas; 5) Jon Rahm; 6) Lanto Griffin; 7) Patrick Reed / Matthew Wolff; 9) Viktor Hovland; 10) Collin Morikawa; 11) Corey Conners / Xander Schauffele; 13) Byeong Hun An; 14) Matthew Fitzpatrick / Sungjae Im / Jason Kokrak / Kevin Streelman; 18) Daniel Berger / Tommy Fleetwood / Tyrrell Hatton / Brendan Steele; 22) Andrew Landry / Hideki Matsuyama / Cameron Smith; 25) Kevin Kisner.
- Top 25 SG Around The Green: 1) Tony Finau / Webb Simpson; 3) Patrick Cantlay; 4) Adam Hadwin / Xander Schauffele; 6) Justin Thomas; 7) Russell Henley; 8) Viktor Hovland / Phil Mickelson; 10) Byeong Hun An / Rory McIlroy; 12) Harris English / Hideki Matsuyama / Cameron Smith; 15) Ryan Palmer / Matthew Wolff; 17) Jon Rahm; 18) Collin Morikawa / Sebastian Munoz / Bubba Watson; 21) Tommy Fleetwood / Joaquin Niemann / Michael Thompson; 24) Mackenzie Hughes; 25) Patrick Reed.
- Top 25 SG Tee to Green: 1) Bubba Watson; 2) Jon Rahm; 3) Tony Finau; 4) Xander Schauffele / Justin Thomas; 6) Russell Henley / Rory McIlroy; 8) Viktor Hovland / Webb Simpson; 10) Matthew Wolff; 11) Joaquin Niemann; 12) Byeong Hun An; 13) Patrick Reed; 14) Patrick Cantlay / Tommy Fleetwood; 16) Collin Morikawa; 17) Tyrrell Hatton; 18) Harris English / Matthew Fitzpatrick / Jason Kokrak; 21) Hideki Matsuyama / Ryan Palmer; 23) Sungjae Im; 24) Sebastian Munoz; 25) Brendan Steele.
- Top 25 SG Putting: 1) Brendon Todd; 2) Patrick Reed / Xander Schauffele; 4) Brian Harman; 5) Joaquin Niemann; 6) Jason Kokrak; 7) Adam Scott; 8) Rory McIlroy / Cameron Smith; 10) Webb Simpson; 11) Mackenzie Hughes / Justin Thomas; 13) Tyrrell Hatton; 14) Daniel Berger; 15) Alex Noren / Harris English / Billy Horschel / Viktor Hovland / Jon Rahm; 20) Matthew Wolff / Gary Woodland; 22) Abraham Ancer; 23) Matthew Fitzpatrick / Kevin Kisner / Richy Werenski.
- Top 25 SG Total: 1) Xander Schauffele; 2) Tony Finau; 3) Rory McIlroy / Jon Rahm / Justin Thomas; 6) Webb Simpson; 7) Joaquin Niemann; 8) Patrick Reed; 9) Russell Henley / Bubba Watson; 11) Jason Kokrak; 12) Viktor Hovland; 13) Matthew Fitzpatrick / Cameron Smith / Matthew Wolff; 16) Daniel Berger / Patrick Cantlay / Brian Harman / Tyrrell Hatton / Hideki Matsuyama / Brendon Todd; 22) Tommy Fleetwood; 23) Harris English / Collin Morikawa; 25) Sungjae Im.
Winners & Prices: 2019: Woods 33/1. For a full summary of winner’s odds on the PGA Tour since 2010 click here.
Weather Forecast: The latest weather forecast for Thousand Oaks, California is here. We move 300 miles south west from Las Vegas to Thousand Oaks. Just 5 miles inland from Malibu on the Pacific Coast, Sherwood Country Club’s weather is intrinsically linked to the ocean and this week the main difference from Shadow Creek will be the temperatures. With a best of 22 degrees Celsius across the 4 days of the tournament, this will be relatively chilly by PGA Tour standards. However conditions will be sunny in the main, with light winds throughout.
Tournament Trends & Key Factors: Analysing the final stats of Invesco QQQ Championship winners since across 2016 through 2019 held here at Sherwood Country Club on the Champions Tour gives us a little more insight into the requirements for this test:
- 2019, Colin Montgomerie (-14). 271 yards (36th), 82.1% fairways (11th), 77.8% greens in regulation (7th), 66.7 % scrambling (20th), 1.62 putts per GIR (1st).
- 2018, Scott Parel (-11). 287 yards (8th), 71.8% fairways (37th), 79.6% greens in regulation (1st), 81.8 % scrambling (3rd), 1.77 putts per GIR (22nd).
- 2017, Bernhard Langer (-11). 287 yards (10th), 84.6% fairways (12th), 57.4% greens in regulation (36th), 78.3 % scrambling (4th), 1.65 putts per GIR (4th).
- 2016, Tom Pernice Jnr (-13). 267 yards (38th), 74.4% fairways (39th), 72.2% greens in regulation (11th), 66.7 % scrambling (18th), 1.54 putts per GIR (1st).
Tournament Skill Averages:
Driving Distance: 23rd, Driving Accuracy: 25th, Greens in Regulation: 14th, Scrambling: 11th, Putting Average 7th.
So let’s take a view from players as to how Sherwood Country Club sets up and what skill sets the course favours:
Tiger Woods: “You just have to make sure your misses are in the correct spots. For a perfect example, 13, Graeme hits it in there, he’s right below the hole with an almost impossible bunker shot. He can’t get it close, and I knew I had to throw it to the right and make sure I missed it to the right, and I did, and I had all the green in the world to work with. That’s what you have to do around this golf course. I left myself in some good spots. That’s the key. The key to this golf course is you have to miss the ball in the correct spots, and when I did miss, it was 20 feet in the correct spot, and when I hit it good, it was under 10 feet but still in the correct spot. As I said, I only made a couple downhill putts that were breaking. Most of the putts were in the correct spots.”
Rickie Fowler: “Yeah, I’ve been able to play Sherwood a few times when Tiger’s event was there. I mean, the golf course is I think very much straight in front of you, it’s a golf course that you have to get the ball in play off the tee. There’s a couple holes that can kind of sneak up and you attack the golf course kind of from the fairway. I think Tiger, you would put him up there as one of the best of being able to manage his game on any type of golf course. Sherwood’s the perfect example of get the ball in play and go play your game from there, and he’s been one of the best iron players over time. So get the ball in play and then go score from there. It’s a great fit for him, but hopefully we’re able to take down the defending champ next week.”
Padraig Harrington: “I’m always a little bit intimidated out there on this course. I’m a little bit afraid. There’s a lot of, I don’t think there’s a shot out there you can relax on, hardly a shot anyway. There’s a lot of intimidating shots. You know, a lot of big shots have to be hit. So I think I tend to do better on those sort of golf courses because it pushes me, and you know, when I have, I tend to play better with fear, and I certainly fear a lot on a number of the holes out there. There’s a lot of really tough shots, second shot into 2, the tee shot on 3, tee shot on 4. If you miss any of those, you’re making doubles. And there’s a lot of intimidation out there, and that kind of keeps me going, keeps me focused.”
Colin Montgomerie (2019 Post Nicklaus Renovation): “Always have felt comfortable on this course. I was two ahead playing with Tiger a couple of times there and of course he beat me, but I always felt comfortable on this course. It’s a driver’s golf course and you’ve got to put the ball in play. I drove the ball extremely well this week. I was playing yesterday, this is very much like a course I had great success on in Europe, a place called Valderrama, right, where we played the Ryder Cup in ’97. Very similar feel, very similar look, the rollingness, the tightness of the, and I loved it there and I love it here.”
Bernhard Langer (2018 Post Nicklaus Renovation): “ I’ve always liked Sherwood. I played here in the Shark Shootout and then I played in Tiger’s event a couple times and always enjoyed it. It’s a Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course, I believe, where you really have to think a little bit and place the ball. It’s demanding off the tee, it’s demanding second shots and putting, so there’s really everything there. You can get punished very quickly around here. Well, some courses you get off the fairway and you make bogey, but here if you do that, you can rake in a quick double or triple or whatever. It’s a dangerous place in that sense where you really have to be pretty straight and precise and I’ve always liked that. I’ve liked where you have to think and position the ball in certain areas and the greens are really, really good.”
Path to Victory: Below are the end of round positions for the CJ Cup winners:
- 2019 – Tiger Woods: Round 1: 1st, Round 2: 1st, Round 3: 1st.
Shots From the Lead: Below are the winners and where they were positioned in terms of shots from the lead during the tournament:
- 2019 – Tiger Woods: Round 1: level, Round 2: 2 ahead, Round 3: 3 ahead.
Incoming form of winners:
- Tiger Woods: 37th BMW/WD Northern Trust/MC Open Champ/21st U.S.Open.
First Round Leader Analysis: First round leader(s), their wave and winning score since 2019.
- 2019 – Woodland/Woods -9/6 – Both 45/1
For the record, here’s the breakdown of pure Bentgrass green PGA Tour victors in the field since 2008:
- 7 – Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose.
- 6 – Tiger Woods.
- 5 – Jordan Spieth.
- 4 – Jason Day, Phil Mickelson, Kevin Na, Webb Simpson, Justin Thomas, Bubba Watson.
- 3 – Adam Scott.
- 2 – Rickie Fowler, Brian Harman, Marc Leishman, Hideki Matsuyama, Patrick Reed, Xander Schauffele.
- 1 – Daniel Berger, Patrick Cantlay, Dylan Frittelli, Billy Horschel, Kevin Kisner, Danny Lee, Joaquin Niemann, Kevin Streelman, Michael Thompson, Brendon Todd, Matthew Wolff.
First thing to point out this week at Sherwood Country Club is that quality tends to rise to the top here. Yes Tiger’s World Challenge has always been a ‘hit and giggle’ for the elite at the very top of the golfing tree, but his event here at Sherwood was won by himself (5 times), Graeme McDowell (twice), Davis Love III (twice), Zach Johnson (2013), Jim Furyk (2009), and Vijay Singh (2008) – every single one of them a Major winner.
We also have a number of professionals in this field who have played at the Hero World Challenge here at Sherwood over the years. I encourage you to look at our Sherwood course form statistics, I expect they are a rarity to find online.
