Stock watch: Rose rising at the right time

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AVONDALE, La. – Branden Grace wanted to make something very clear – he’s actually younger than Justin Harding, his partner this week at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. Evidently, there’s a perception that Grace, who turns 31 next month, is the grizzled veteran compared to the boyish-looking Harding, who turned 33 in February. “I just want to state that,� Grace said. “A lot of people are asking me. He seems too young.� And so is their partnership that’s in prime contention entering Sunday’s final round of Foursomes at TPC Louisiana. A third-round 61 in Four-balls (the low score of the round) moved them to 22 under, just one shot off the lead shared by Jon Rahm/Ryan Palmer and Scott Stallings/Trey Mullinax. Although the two South Africans have known each other for many years, having played against each other as juniors, this week is the first time they’ve competed with each other. Grace, of course, has teamed with Louis Oosthuizen as one of the International Team’s most productive duos at the Presidents Cup. Harding, meanwhile, has never made a Presidents Cup team, and is making his first start at the Zurich Classic, as he plays mostly on the European Tour. “This might be the first time we’ve actually played together as a team or as a partnership,� Harding said. “We tend to play against each other more.� Grace and Ooosthuizen were partners at TPC Louisiana in 2017, finishing T-24. They were supposed to play together last year, but Grace withdrew to be his wife as she delivered their first child. Related: Tee times | Rahm/Palmer an unusual partnership that works | Day/Scott team misses cut at TPC Louisiana This year, Oosthuizen played another South African star, Charl Schwartzel, thus leaving Grace with Harding. While Oosthuizen-Schwartzel missed the cut, Grace-Harding have a chance to win with a big showing in Sunday’s Foursomes. “I got fired, so I had to look for a new partner,� Grace joked. “Obviously I made a good pick.� So why has it worked with this first-time duo? Well, obviously the talent is there. So is the South African kinship and camaraderie. “Look, both of our games are similar. We’re a good match,� Harding said. “We like to keep each other quite jovial out there on the golf course, lots of jokes and some banter – which probably shouldn’t be shared – but it’s good fun.� Added Grace: “He’s a better putter than I am. I get streaky but he is definitely better. We have fun out there. We give each other hell, as well, and we take it the right way.� It’s obviously working this week – and it’ll likely give International Team Captain Ernie Els something to think about in December when he decides on his pairings at Royal Melbourne. Of all the partnerships involving players from International Team countries, Grace-Harding have by far been the best. For once, they’re finally on the same side of the battle.

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GERMANTOWN, Tenn. – Rickie Fowler’s spot in the FedEx St. Jude Championship came by the slimmest of margins. It wasn’t secure until Sunday evening. The first round at TPC Southwind also was Fowler’s first since splitting with the caddie he’d had for his entire professional career. The perfect recipe for Fowler’s best round in nearly a year, right? It wouldn’t seem so, but he shot 65 on Thursday to perhaps start a Cinderella run through the Playoffs. Thursday’s round was Fowler’s lowest score on the PGA TOUR since a third-round 63 in THE CJ CUP @ SUMMIT in October. His third-place finish there was his lone top-10 of the season and accounted for half his FedExCup points. It was still enough to earn the final spot in the Playoffs after missing out for the first time in his career last year. His presence at the Playoffs opener seemed unlikely after he missed the cut at last week’s Wyndham Championship but the final 36 holes played out in his favor, as he finished eight points ahead of Matt Wallace for the 125th spot in the FedExCup standings. With his Playoffs fate out of his control, Fowler didn’t watch the Wyndham Championship’s final round. He played a casual round Sunday at Michael Jordan’s The Grove XXIII in South Florida, occasionally checking the PGA TOUR app to see his FedExCup standing. Now that he’s in, he has nothing left to lose. He was projected to move to the cusp of the top 70 in the FedExCup standings and needs no worse than an 11th-place finish to crack the top 70 and advance to next week’s BMW Championship at Wilmington (Del.) Country Club. It’s been three years since he last qualified for the BMW. “Being 125, obviously need to play well to just make it to next week,” said Fowler, who had Cobra tour rep Ben Schomin on the bag Thursday. “Kind of leave it all out there, see what happens, but definitely happy with the start, especially with not making a whole lot.” Fowler made five birdies, an eagle at the par-5 16th and two bogeys to sit three shots off the lead of Si Woo Kim and J.J. Spaun after the morning wave. Fowler missed just one fairway and hit 13 greens; he gained around two strokes on the field with both his play off the tee and approaching the greens. Fowler, who led the PGA TOUR in Strokes Gained: Putting five years ago and was 13th in that stat in 2019, gained just 0.2 strokes on the greens Thursday. A 12-footer was the longest putt he made all day. He had a new putter in the bag this week, a Scotty Cameron Newport Plus that is slightly wider than the traditional Newport head. It was the latest putter switch for Fowler, who has cycled through several flatsticks this season. The most recent switch came two weeks ago, when he switched back to a Scotty Cameron Newport 2 GSS that had come from a set of heads once reserved for Tiger Woods. Fowler first used the club in 2014. “There was a lot of good out there today. Actually, a lot of really good putts,” Fowler said. “Left a couple short, but other than that, some of it was just a little off on read.” The margins are small on the PGA TOUR. Fowler knows that as well as anyone this week.

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