The Upshot: Tom Hoge will draw on experience playing with Tiger Woods at the Sony Open in Hawaii

DETROIT – Trust the process. That’s what Tiger Woods told Wyatt Worthington, II at a Tiger Woods Foundation junior clinic in Columbus, Ohio, 20 years ago. Worthington was 14, but he remembers it vividly. The advice sounds simple, but for those on the fringes that trust can be hard to come by with obstacles around every corner. Tournament fees, equipment costs, gas money, food and lodging – the costs of trying to make it can be prohibitive. Then along comes The John Shippen, a limited-field, two-day tournament to further the careers of top amateur and professional Black men and women golfers. The Shippen, in its inaugural playing at Detroit Golf Club, paid for airfare, rental cars, lodging and meals so that competitors could chase the dream. “This is unbelievable to me,” Worthington (75-70) said. “I’ve never had anything like this.” John Shippen, Jr., was the first American-born golf professional and the country’s first Black golf professional. His eponymous tournament Sunday and Monday featured 21 men playing for a spot in this week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic, and 12 women, who played a team format. They were vying for spots in the LPGA Tour’s Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational, also a team event, July 14-17; and the Cognizant Founder’s Cup, Oct. 4-10. Tim O’Neal, who will turn 49 in August and is thus on the cusp of PGA TOUR Champions eligibility, shot a second-round 68 to reach 5 under par and win the men’s tournament by two over playing partner Kevin Hall (69). R.J. Young (68) and Kamaiu Johnson (69) tied for third at 2 under, three back. On the women’s side, Shasta Averyhardt and Anita Uwadia won the team portion, while 17-year-old Amari Avery, who played in the U.S. Women’s Open and was featured in the documentary “The Short Game,” won the individual shootout. O’Neal has missed seven cuts in seven career PGA TOUR starts, the last at the 2019 Genesis Invitational. He’s made his living on the mini-tours, including the Korn Ferry Tour and minority-focused APGA Tour. He was “so super happy,” he said, to punch his ticket into the Rocket Mortgage, but aware of the bigger picture, too. Because in a sense, with the Shippen allowing players to test their games on a PGA TOUR course in TOUR conditions, there was more than one winner. “Guys are getting exposure playing courses like this,” O’Neal said. “It’s going to help them down the road, for sure. It’s just a little bit different from playing in a regular tournament.” Joseph Bramlett, who along with fellow Rocket Mortgage participants Cameron Champ and Harold Varner III showed up to the trophy ceremony afterward, echoed that sentiment. “Absolutely,” Bramlett said. “It’s a two-day event, so more than just an 18-hole qualifier. It’s not an opportunity you get very often to get to play out here, and to be able to take that knowledge and see how your game stacks up, it’s invaluable.” O’Neal made seven birdies, including two on his last three holes. He was the oldest player in the field, but with 84 made cuts including nine top-10 finishes in 153 career Korn Ferry Tour starts, better to call him battle-tested. “Hopefully it’s going to inspire guys not to quit and keep grinding,” he said. The grinders were everywhere you looked at the Shippen. Worthington, a teaching professional from Columbus, Ohio, who also plays the APGA Tour, qualified for the 2016 PGA Championship at Baltusrol. Although he missed the cut, he learned from the experience and fondly remembers playing partners Chris Kirk and Freddy Jacobson. “I’m fortunate and blessed to have had that opportunity,” he said. “It’s different when you’re right there with those players, but I knew then that I could do this if I just get the opportunity.” As soon as he found out he was in The Shippen, he called Andy Gibson, an old college friend who now works as the first assistant pro at Bonita Bay Club in Naples, Florida, to caddie for him. They enjoyed some nice moments – Worthington made five birdies in his first 11 holes Monday – even if it didn’t all add up to a win in the strictest sense. Others in the Shippen field are just starting out, but they, too, are familiar with the grind. Ryan Alford (75-77), who played for Louisiana Tech, just turned 25. He has played some with David Toms, and was high school teammates with TOUR winner Sam Burns, who is still a friend. “Getting to see a PGA TOUR course in tournament conditions, I think it’s awesome,” Alford said as he packed up, bound for Tyler, Texas, and a qualifier for the state open. “I’m glad they’re doing it.” Andrew Walker (72-77), a newly minted Michigan State graduate, was headed for Alabama to play in the Auburn University Club Invitational, the second event on the Forme Tour. He, too, was disappointed, but not hugely so. He’d gotten an all-expenses trip to play on a TOUR course, and had a small, mobile fan club in his mom, Nancy Walker, who drove nine hours from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula; and his older brother, Filmore, who caddied for him. “It’s hard to say anything else other than it’s awesome,” Walker said. “I think if you were to ask any of my playing competitors or any of the people around here, it’s something that’s great to see finally happening. Hopefully it’s the first step of many to try to bring some more equality to the game.”

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THE OVERVIEW ORLANDO, Fla. — When it comes to Tiger Woods and his comfort zone at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, a remarkable sense of symmetry surrounds his total of eight victories. To wit, there have been eight different standings after Round 1 and eight different players who have been his runner-up: Davis Love III, Phil Mickelson, Michael Campbell, Stewart Cink, Bart Bryant, Sean O’Hair, Graeme McDowell and Justin Rose. Where the story has achieved a semblance of consistency is Woods’ blueprint for success at Bay Hill. In his eight wins, he has fired a solid sub-par second round (scoring average: 66.63) to roar inside the top 10, then assumed even greater control in Round 3 (scoring average: 68.36) to get into at least a share of first (seven times) or second. That, in turn, has afforded Woods a position he relishes — the chance to pretty much go head-to-head against a reduced list of competitors. The result has been vintage Woods as his final-round scoring average in the eight wins is 68.63, while the 12 players who have been second to Woods through 54 holes and the one who led him (O’Hair) have a fourth-round average of 72.31. Uncanny stuff, especially when you consider that some high-octane names have been in position through 54 holes to outplay Woods here — Love, Sergio Garcia, Bubba Watson and Rickie Fowler, to name a few. Yet for all of that, Woods will be the first to polish some caution onto his story here. Mostly due to injuries, Woods hasn’t played in the last four tournaments at Bay Hill and the eight times when hasn’t won, he pretty much has been well back — five times outside the top 20, just once inside the top 10. “Just because I won here eight times doesn’t mean I’m going to win this week,â€� Woods said Tuesday, just three days after tying for second at the Valspar Championship. “I’ve got to do some serious homework (Wednesday) and really get to know and get the feel of how this golf course is playing this particular year.â€� THREE PLAYERS TO PONDER Jason Day Playing for the first time in a month, he’ll be well-rested on a course that’s treated him well (2016 win). Tommy Fleetwood Six top-10 finishes in his last nine worldwide starts for the new special temporary TOUR member. Rory McIlroy Hard to believe: In his last eight starts on American soil, he has exactly zero top-10 finishes. THE FLYOVER Want to make a birdie down the stretch at Bay Hill? Your best bet is the 511-yard par-5 16th. Last year, it was the only hole among the closing five holes at Bay Hill to play under par (4.393 stroke average). In fact, of the 900 holes on TOUR last season, it was the eighth easiest. THE LANDING ZONE The 458-yard par-4 18th isn’t the toughest closing hole in Florida – that belongs to the 18th at TPC Sawgrass – but it’s still one of the toughest on the PGA TOUR. A year ago, it ranked as the fourth toughest, playing to a stroke average of 0.283 over par as water on the right side challenges approach shots. Here’s a look at where all tee shots landed last year. WEATHER CHECK From PGA TOUR meteorologist Stewart Williams: “Below normal temperatures can be expected through Thursday as high pressure builds over the gulf and slowly moves east across Florida. Temperatures will be quite cool each morning, with lows in the low to mid 40s and highs generally in the upper 60s to low 70s each day. The high will shift east on Friday, producing more of a southerly flow. This will provide a quick warming trend with highs returning to the low 80s this weekend.â€� For the latest weather news from Orlando, Florida, check out PGATOUR.COM’s Weather Hub. SOUND CHECK “I thoroughly enjoyed being around him, being with him and we had so many great times — none more so than last time I won here. We were over there, I’m cleaning out my locker, and he’s over there having his ice tea thing and so he’s just sitting there and, hey, grab a seat. Absolutely, yes, sir. So we sat down, we just started to BS and have a great time together and I’m going to miss those times, for sure.â€�  BY THE NUMBERS 122.5 – Average clubhead speed off the tee for Tiger Woods this season. That’s more that 4 mph faster than his average in 2013 when he won five events. His average driving distance of 303.4 yards is 10 yards longer than his 2013 average. 0.478 – Strokes above par average for the field at the opening three holes at Bay Hill last year. That was the highest average of any opening three holes on TOUR last season. 72.890 – The field stroke average last year at Bay Hill. The 0.890 strokes above par made it the fifth toughest course on the PGA TOUR last season. 3,008 – Balls in the water at Bay Hill since 2003. The par-5 sixth has accounted for 21 percent of those balls (636). SCATTERSHOTS Australians enter on a two-year winning streak, with Jason Day winning in 2016 and Marc Leishman winning last year (when 10 Aussies were in the field). This week, there are six Aussies teeing it up – Day, Leishman, Stuart Appleby, Adam Scott, Cameron Smith and Curtis Luck. Matt Every’s two career PGA TOUR wins have been at Bay Hill. If he wins this week, he would become the first player to post his first three TOUR wins at the same tournament since 1934, when Leonard Gallett won his third Wisconsin PGA event. Bay Hill has some of the toughest par 3 holes on the PGA TOUR. When Tiger Woods won in 2013, he played the par 3s in 1 over – the worst par-3 performance of any Bay Hill champion in the last five years. On the flip side, Matt Every had the best performance at 3 under while winning his second consecutive Arnold Palmer Invitational in 2015. University of California junior Collin Morikawa is in the field this week thanks to the Arnold Palmer Cup exemption. The 20 participants of the Arnold Palmer Cup – a Ryder Cup-style tournament featuring the top male university/college golfers – vote on the player who best represents the “Arnold Palmer Legacy.â€�

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Vijay Singh will go down as one of the hardest working golfers of all time. In addition to his work ethic, the Fijian is also known on the PGA TOUR for his attention to detail when it comes to his golf clubs—especially his irons. This week at The Honda Classic, his unique taste for specific iron specs is on full display with his Mizuno MP-20 blades, that have a secondary number stamped above the club’s assigned number. To get more information about the reason for the double-stamped soles on Vijay’s irons, we talked to Jeff Cook, head of Mizuno’s PGA TOUR operations, for the behind-the-scenes information. “Vijay had previously used our MP4 irons, and the one thing he wanted to see with the MP20s was more bounce. So what we have done is, for example, taken a 9-iron which is standard at 42 degrees of loft and bend it to 45 to make it his pitching wedge. By doing this we have added three degrees of bounce and created slightly less offset in the heads.” “This relationship works up the entire set with the 8-iron playing like the 9-iron, 7 like the 8 and so on up the set. By doing this we gain bounce (versus the standard specs) and our technician Kyle stamps the clubs with the new numbers and paints them to make sure there’s not a mistake made in club selection.” Now, bounce is something you normally only hear about when discussing wedges, but like any club that has to travel through the ground, bounce and sole design play a big factor in how irons will perform for any specific player. Vijay Singh, for example, has a steep swing and takes larger divots than most. Without enough bounce, his irons wouldn’t get through the ground as efficiently, which would result in poor ball flight and inconsistent contact. “Bounce” is a term most golfers have heard, but in terms of what it “is,” bounce is the relationship between the leading (front edge) of the clubs sole and the trailing (back) edge and is assigned a value based on the angle relative to a plane perpendicular to the shaft. A picture is worth 1,000 words here. From a club building perspective, the relationship of loft to bounce is one to one when bending; for every degree of loft added you add a degree of bounce, and for every degree taken off you will also lose a degree of bounce. Bending clubs for loft and to add or decrease bounce is no different than changing the loft on an adjustable driver or fairway wood and is 100 percent conforming to the Rules of Golf. Bending clubs is common practice for players looking to finetune club specs from driving irons to putters, it’s just that we don’t see it taken to such an extreme too often. So, now you understand what happens when Jeff Cook says they take Singh’s “9-iron, which is standard at 42 degrees of loft, and bend it to 45 to make it his pitching wedge.” … and why Vijay Singh may be the only player in The Honda Classic field with two numbers stamped on the soles of his irons.

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