PGA Featured Holes: Wells Fargo Championship

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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Paul Casey has long been one of the TOUR’s best iron players, an attribute that’s especially useful around TPC Sawgrass. A small change to his putter has helped Casey capitalize on his exceptional approach play and put him in contention at THE PLAYERS Championship. A small dot atop his Scotty Cameron 009M prototype putter has helped Casey with his ball position after he discovered that he was addressing the ball off the toe of his putter. Before this week, Casey had no sightlines or alignment markings atop the club. But, after doing some video work last week, he noticed that his improper address position was forcing him to reroute his stroke to hit the ball on the center of the face. Casey received the modified putter Monday at TPC Sawgrass. A week later, he’s one stroke off the lead entering Monday’s final round in the delayed PLAYERS Championship. “It’s the same 009 Scotty that I’ve been using for a long, long time, but … I put the dot on top purely to get the ball position,” Casey said about the Newport-style putter. “I’ve been lining up with the ball on the toe. … Nothing else has changed, but it feels like I’m swinging the putter a little bit better, keeping the head down better. That’s it.” Casey gained more than three strokes on the greens in the first three rounds at TPC Sawgrass, making three putts from outside 20 feet. He started the week ranked 160th in Strokes Gained: Putting this season, losing nearly a stroke per week on the greens. Casey is 21st in Strokes Gained: Approach this season. He’s ranked in the top 15 in that stat in each of the last eight seasons, including second last year and first in 2017. He was second in Strokes Gained: Approach through the first three rounds at TPC Sawgrass, gaining more than seven strokes on the field. “What an opportunity,” Casey said. “I love the fact that I’ve got an opportunity.” A small change to the shortest club in his bag has given him that chance.

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MEXICO CITY – Dustin Johnson still hasn’t made a bogey at the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship at Club de Golf Chapultepec. He made a double-bogey after getting caught up in the trees at the 10th hole, but, not one to panic, he responded with two consecutive birdies to erase it. “I knew I was playing well so I didn’t really let it bother me,â€� said Johnson, who shot 66 and is projected to move from 57th to 8th in the FedExCup with a win. Sure enough, his unflappability paid off as he birdied four of the last eight holes, never letting Rory McIlroy (68) get closer than three shots. Johnson, the 2017 winner here, has won seven times in 15 chances with at least a share of the 54-hole lead on the PGA TOUR. But unless McIlroy does it, who can reel him in? Johnson is a whopping seven shots ahead of his next closest pursuers. Patrick Reed (64), Patrick Cantlay (65), Sergio Garcia (69) and Cameron Smith (68) are tied for third. Reed made two eagles and had the day’s low round, but Cantlay hit the most memorable shot, driving the green at the 394-yard, par-4 12th hole, his ball nearly colliding with that of Kevin Kisner in the group ahead before stopping three feet away. Cantlay made the eagle putt. “I didn’t know I could reach the green,â€� he said. Johnson is known for similar heroics—his 369-yard tee shot at the second hole set up a four-foot eagle putt Saturday—but has also looked unbeatable around the greens. With nine par saves in 10 chances, he is No. 1 in Scrambling this week. He’s also No. 1 in Strokes Gained: Putting (+5.478). And the scary thing is he thinks he should be doing even better. Asked if he could recall the last time his short game felt this on-point, he gave a surprising answer. “Honestly, it doesn’t,â€� he said. “I know I hit a couple good chips today, but for the most part this week my short game’s been quite rubbish. I’ve hit the ball really well and I’ve played really good, but I missed a bunch of I felt like easy up-and-downs.â€� Why the discrepancy between his stats and how Johnson feels? The course’s multiple short par-4s. On those holes, where Johnson and others routinely either hit the green or come close off the tee, failures to get up and down from around the putting surface don’t register on the Scrambling stat. And Johnson has failed to birdie the easily reachable par-4 first hole the last two days. Otherwise, and other than the hiccup at the 10th hole, he’s done almost everything right. Should he hold on he would be the 38th player to reach 20 wins in the history of the TOUR. It would also give him 12 consecutive seasons with at least one win since he turned pro in 2008. He is the only player to win all World Golf Championships events, and is seeking his sixth WGC title. Johnson has won three times in five chances when leading by three or more strokes. He would join Tiger Woods (70, 6-under) as the only players to win a WGC tournament three times. For McIlroy, meanwhile, there is no doubt his short game needs to improve. He is 1st in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green but 30th in Strokes Gained: Putting. He’s made a few, but as he tries to reel in Johnson, not enough. After hitting an incredible second shot from the rough at the par-5 15th, a choked-up 3-wood that skirted the trees and rolled out to 12 feet for eagle, he missed the putt. He looked at the hole in disbelief, another chance gone by to put pressure on Johnson. McIlroy has won seven of his 13 TOUR titles when playing from behind, but how far behind is too far? He and Patrick Reed will join the leader for a 1:10 ET tee time Sunday. Reed talked about needing to shoot “something spectacularâ€� as he is almost certainly too far back. Even McIlroy may need to pull out all the stops to catch the frontrunner, whose gaffe at the 10th hole looks like a one-off.    “I’ve got a game plan out here,â€� Johnson said. “I’m not going to change it.â€�

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