Report: Rory McIlroy will continue to use friend Harry Diamond as caddie in 2018

NAPLES, Fla. — Gary Woodland and Charley Hoffman shot an 8-under 64 in modified alternate-shot play Saturday for a share of the lead in the QBE Shootout. Woodland and Hoffman birdied the final three holes to match the teams of Emiliano Grillo-Graeme McDowell and Brian Harman-Patton Kizzire at 19-under 125, with a better-ball round left at Tiburon Golf Club. Grillo-McDowell and Harman-Kizzire, tied for lead with Bryson DeChambeau and Kevin Na at 59 after the first-round scramble, each shot 66. Na and DeChambeau were a stroke back after a 67. Luke List and Charles Howell III shot 66 to get to 17 under, and LPGA Tour player Lexi Thompson and Tony Finau were another stroke back after a 67. Defending champions Steve Stricker and Sean’ O’Hair were 15 under after a 67. NOTES Graeme McDowell/Emiliano Grillo (125/-19)  Birdies came at Nos. 2, 6, 8, and five-consecutive on Nos. 10-14. They took bogey at the par-4 third and par-4 15th  McDowell is making his seventh start in the QBE Shootout, with runner-up finishes in 2017 (Shane Lowry) and 2010 (Darren Clarke). Grillo is making his first start in the QBE Shootout  In five starts this season on the PGA TOUR, Grillo has collected three top-15 finishes, highlighted by a T2 at the CIMB Classic  In his most recent start this season on TOUR, McDowell finished T11 at The RSM Classic  The second-round lead/co-lead at the QBE Shootout has held up 17 of 29 times. The last 36-hole leaders/co-leaders to hold on for the win was Steve Stricker and Sean O’Hair last year  Eleven players have won the QBE Shootout in their first attempt: Mark O’Meara (1989), Curtis Strange (1989), Fred Couples (1990), Scott McCarron (1997), Hank Kuehne (2003), Rod Pampling (2006), Woody Austin (2007), Keegan Bradley (2011), Brendan Steele (2011), Harris English (2013) and Cameron Tringale (2014) Gary Woodland/Charley Hoffman (125/-19)  Team made birdies at 6-8, 10, 14 and 16-18 for an 8-under 64, the low round of the day  The lowest score in Modified Alternate Shot belongs to the 1990 team of Fred Couples and Raymond Floyd (57)  Woodland is making his fifth-consecutive start in the QBE Shootout, with last year’s T4 finish with Brendan Steele his best showing  Woodland is coming off a 2017-18 PGA TOUR Season which included a victory at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, his third career TOUR title. So far this season, he has amassed three top-10 finishes in five starts, highlighted by a solo-second at THE CJ CUP @ NINE Bridges  Hoffman is making his fourth start in the QBE Shootout, with T3s in 2015 (Daniel Berger) and 2016 (Billy Horschel) his best showings.  Horschel and Woodland are playing together for the second year (2016/T3) Patton Kizzire/Brian Harman (125/-19)  Birdies came at Nos. 6, 7, 10, 13, 15 and 17. A bogey at the par-3 eighth was offset in part by an eagle-3 at No. 14  While Kizzire is making his first QBE Shootout Start, Harman is making his second (w/ Pat Perez in 2017/T3) On the strength of PGA TOUR wins at the 2017 Mayakoba Golf Classic and 2018 Sony Open in Hawaii, Kizzire finished the 2017-18 season ranked 30th in the FedExCup standings Harman amassed a career-best eight top-10 finishes in 2017-18, good for a 48th-place finish in the FedExCup standings  In four starts this season, Kizzire’s best showing is T15 in his adopted hometown of Sea Island, GA at The RSM Classic. Harman, a Saint Simon’s Island, GA resident, also secured his best finish in four starts at The RSM Classic (T32) Miscellaneous Notes  With a win this week, Stricker and O’Hair would become the third team to successfully defend their QBE Shootout title; Brad Faxon/Scott McCarron (2000, 2001) and Jeff Sluman/Hank Kuehne (2003, 2004)  Founded by World Golf Hall of Fame Member Greg Norman in 1989, this week’s QBE Shootout marks the 30th playing of the event.  Tiburon Golf Club at The Ritz-Carlton Resort in Naples, Fla. has now been home to the QBE Shootout for 18 consecutive years (2001).  The 12 two-person teams were selected on the following criteria:  Defending champions  The top 12 available players from the 2017-18 FedExCup points list  10 special exemptions (a minimum of four come from the top 40 on the PGA TOUR career money list)  Competitors in the 2018 QBE Shootout have combined for 90 victories (80 on the PGA TOUR and 10 by Lexi Thompson on the LPGA).  Ten of the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking are in this week’s QBE Shootout, highlighted by Bryson DeChambeau at No. 5.  Players making their first start in the QBE Shootout: Cameron Champ (with Kevin Kisner), Kevin Na (with Bryson DeChambeau), Andrew Landry (with Luke Donald), Emiliano Grillo (with Graeme McDowell), Luke List (with Charles Howell III), Patton Kizzire (with Brian Harman) and Harold Varner III (with Bubba Watson).  Two former FedExCup champions are among the 24-player field: Brandt Snedeker (2012) and Billy Horschel (2014). Snedeker celebrated his 38th birthday during Saturday’s second round.

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He has a share of the lead at the Rocket Mortgage Classic after two rounds. But it how far he has come in his personal life after taking seven months to deal with depression, anxiety and alcoholism that matters most.

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Tommy Fleetwood is the latest golfer to take the plunge and start using an alignment-aid augmented ball, joining the likes of Rickie Fowler and Phil Mickelson in rolling a rock that features graphics designed to help with visibility and a putt’s start line. Fleetwood put TaylorMade’s TP5x Pix golf ball in play at THE CJ CUP @ SUMMIT two weeks ago and has kept it in play. The backstory behind his switch – which helped him to a T7 finish in last week’s ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP — is an interesting one. As many golfers do, the Englishman had been drawing a black Sharpie line along his golf ball to aid with the alignment of his putts. However, he realized during a recent putting session with his coach that he was often misaligned. He was having difficulty getting the line aligned with his intended target. Enter TaylorMade’s Pix golf ball and its ClearPath alignment assistance. For your own clarity, you can see an illustration of the technology in action below. Of course, Fleetwood wasn’t just going make a wholesale ball switch. That is often a massive change that only takes place after tons of testing. “At this level of the game, particularly with Tommy who is so detailed with his equipment, players are only going to switch if they know it can improve their performance on the course,” said TaylorMade senior TOUR rep Adrian Rietveld. “There’s no change for the sake of change. However, Tommy will put equipment in play immediately when he feels he’s giving up performance without it.” Fleetwood originally used the Pix as a practice aid, further enhancing the ClearPath with a black Sharpie line. He then tested the TP5x Pix against his TP5x for the back nine of a practice round at Summit ahead of THE CJ CUP, measuring each of his shots on a TrackMan. “He had to be certain that the Pix golf ball gave him the exact same performance as his TP5x gamer. Of course, we knew they were identical golf balls – the only difference being the markings on the cover. But at that level, they leave no stone unturned,” Rietveld said. From a performance standpoint, Fleetwood found the Pix performed identically to the non-Pix TP5x, and the alignment assistance was welcome. He tied for 38th at THE CJ CUP before his top-10 at the ZOZO.

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