Major rules controversy leads to official’s resignation

KAPALUA, Hawaii – One round is not a great sample size but for now Bryson DeChambeau is a genius. As he had indicated he would in the months leading up to golf’s new rule changes, DeChambeau took advantage of one of the much talked about alterations – being able to putt with the flagstick in. The five-time PGA TOUR champion alternated between leaving it in and taking it out throughout his opening round at the Sentry Tournament of Champions and drained a number of putts that rattled off the flagstick. After he signed for a 4-under 69 one stat stood out – he led the field in Strokes Gained: Putting at +3.868. While Justin Thomas said he couldn’t take himself seriously if he left the stick in earlier this week, DeChambeau’s results are as serious as they come. “I feel like I maximized my potential on that, especially on 16 today, where it’s kind of blowing downwind, five percent slope, straight downhill you want that pin to help. So that’s what I kind of did and utilized it to my advantage,â€� DeChambeau said. “I felt like for the most part I needed the pin to be in and it went in and it was a very nice help.â€� One of the concerns was playing partners may be inconvenienced but Dustin Johnson said there was no issue. “It was definitely weird, well not weird, but different looking watching somewhat putt with the flag in but it actually worked out where it wasn’t a big deal today,â€� Johnson said. “It didn’t really slow us down or anything. There were a couple of times where if we were close and the flag was out I would just putt it because I knew he would put in back in.â€� The two spoke briefly before the round about the issue with Johnson just advising DeChambeau’s caddie to grab the flag on the greens so as it wouldn’t be an issue. DeChambeau, who is currently running eighth in the FedExCup, will continue to monitor how it works for him over time. “It’s so situational and I don’t know when it’s actually going to hurt me, if it is going to hurt me. So that’s why I got to understand that, when it does hurt me I’ll know and that I won’t do it anymore,â€� he said. “But as of right now it seems like it’s a pretty nice benefit. “On 14, I kind of pushed it a little bit and it went in the right side and if I hit it a little harder it may lip out, but instead it hit the flag and went in easily. So it’s totally situational, still liquid, I’m still learning, under competition, when it’s the right thing to do.â€� DeChambeau wasn’t the only player to leave the flag in on a few occasions, but they were not for strategic purposes. Marc Leishman tapped in his first eagle of 2019 from three-inches and couldn’t help but laugh at himself as he had left the pin in.  “I thought I could just lag it in the front edge and make sure it didn’t hit the pin and bounce out,â€� he joked. “It was the first one I’ve done, probably the last, but I thought I better get one out of the way.â€� MUST-READS    Tway taps in to Kapalua memories Mid-round interviews a hit

Click here to read the full article…

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Justin Thomas made a rocky start in his bid to win a third successive CIMB Classic when he managed only a 2-under-par 70 to sit six strokes behind leader Cameron Smith on Thursday. Thomas has thrived under sweltering conditions in Kuala Lumpur in the last two editions to rank No. 4 in the world, but stuttered in his final nine holes after erring with two bogeys. Smith, an Australian, posted a blemish-free round of eight birdies, including five on the front nine for a 64. “The putting was easy actually,” Smith said. He’s chasing his second PGA TOUR victory after winning the Zurich Classic in April.

Click here to read the full article…

Brendan Steele knows all about a fast start to the season. What he’d like to avoid is the slow finish. Steele won the Safeway Open a year ago, and he felt he was on his way. He made the cut in his next 16 tournaments. He had three top 10s, including a tie for sixth in THE PLAYERS Championship. He made the cut in both majors he played during that stretch. He was 13th in the FedExCup, and the TOUR Championship looked like a sure thing. And then it wasn’t. “I really felt like at the end of the season through the summer, I definitely limited myself as to what I was trying to achieve,” Steele said. “I just wanted to make the TOUR Championship so bad, I was just trying to scratch and claw for every point I could. There was never going to be a week where I had a chance to win playing like that because you play to the level you’re thinking. “If you’re trying to make the cut, you’ll be right around the cut line,” he said. “I wasn’t trying to win. I wasn’t trying to play my best. I was just trying to get whatever points I could and I played right to that level.” He made only three cuts in his last seven events, and two of those tournaments didn’t even have cuts. Steele was at No. 27 going into the BMW Championship, closed with a 72-72 weekend and missed the top 30 — and the TOUR Championship — by two shots. Since the wraparound season began in October 2013, Steele became the first player to win the season-opening event and not make it to East Lake. He hopes he at least learned from last year. “I just started playing a little more cautiously and a little bit more afraid,” he said. “I don’t know if I got a little bit more tired or what happened, but I was just worried about the outcome and not the process of actually hitting good shots and playing good tournaments. … I’m going to try not to do that this year and just really move forward and try to win as many tournaments as I can, and get myself into contention in majors and do all the things that everybody wants to do out here.” He gets his first chance quickly. After his two-shot victory to repeat at the Safeway Open, he was on a flight to Malaysia to play the CIMB Classic. ___ CAREER MONEY EXEMPTIONS: Tim Clark is coming up on the two-year anniversary since he last played on the PGA TOUR at the 2016 CareerBuilder Challenge. Instead of taking a major medical extension, he is using a one-time exemption for being among the top 50 in career money (No. 47). Whether he plays depends on his health. Clark spent time this year working with Russell Henley on his wedge game. Also using a one-time exemption for top 50 in career money is two-time U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen, who is No. 26 in career money. Goosen, who turns 49 in February, narrowly kept his card for last season. Ernie Els (No. 5) and K.J. Choi (No. 25) are using one-time exemptions for top 25 on the career money list. Els, who turns 48 next week, can still use the one-time exemption for top 50. Bo Van Pelt also is on a career money exemption, but that has been carried over from 2015-16. Van Pelt hasn’t played since Pebble Beach in 2016 after having surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left arm. ___ BACK IN ITS PLACE: With a hurricane approaching, Justin Thomas took some of his most valued possessions to a sturdy safe at the home of his neighbor Rickie Fowler. That included the Wanamaker Trophy from the PGA Championship. And that’s where it stayed. Thomas headed for Chicago, then Atlanta for the TOUR Championship, followed by New York for the Presidents Cup. He headed over to Fowler’s to retrieve his major championship hardware, and then found the perfect spot for it. “It doesn’t quite fit in my office. I have a little bookcase, and it’s a little bigger than the other trophies I have,” Thomas said. “But it’s kind of a nice little ledge above the fireplace in my living room that it just fits perfect right when you walk in the front door. And I think I’m going to leave it there.” ___ THREE-PEATS: Justin Thomas is going for a third straight victory at the CIMB Classic in Malaysia, and that’s just the start. Over the next 12 months, Thomas will be among five players trying to win the same tournament three years in a row. Hideki Matsuyama has won the last two years at the Waste Management Phoenix Open at the start of February. Daniel Berger is a back-to-back winner at the FedEx St. Jude Classic. He’ll get his chance in June. Then, a little more than a month later, Jhonattan Vegas goes for three in a row at the RBC Canadian Open. And then it circles back to Brendan Steele, who on Sunday won the Safeway Open for the second straight year. The last player to win the same PGA TOUR event three straight times was Steve Stricker at the John Deere Classic in 2009, 2010 and 2011. Before that, it was Tiger Woods at two tournaments. He won three straight at a pair of World Golf Championships from 2005 through 2007. One was the Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone. The other was held over three courses — the American Express at Harding Park (2005), The Grove (2006) and Doral (2007). ___ DIVOTS: The Olympic Golf Course in Rio de Janeiro finally gets to host another tournament. The Brazil Open starts Thursday on the PGA TOUR Latinoamerica. … Atlanta-based Delta Airlines has become the third company to become an international partner of the Masters, joining Rolex and UPS. The Masters has only three global sponsors in AT&T, Mercedes-Benz and IBM. … The LPGA Teaching and Club Professional membership has announced one winner for the Ellen Griffin Rolex Award and the Nancy Lopez Golf Achievement Award — Sandy LaBauve, the founder of LPGA-USGA Girls Golf program. ___ STAT OF THE WEEK: The top 10 in the men’s and women’s world ranking each have players from six countries. The men are represented by the United States, Japan, Spain, Northern Ireland, Sweden and Australia. The women are represented by South Korea, the United States, Sweden, China, Thailand and New Zealand. ___ FINAL WORD: “I’m going to win. It’s a matter of time. I don’t know if it’s tomorrow, I don’t know if it’s in China, but it’s going to happen. It’s going to happen soon because I’m starting to play well enough to do it.” — Phil Mickelson after the third round of the Safeway Open.

Click here to read the full article…