Inside the Field: Houston Open

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Keith Mitchell briefly held the lead in the first round of the Wells Fargo Championship before a late double-bogey left him with a 4-under-par 67 on Thursday. It was a good round, not a great one, but in relative terms it was a whole lot better than the last scorecard he signed, a final-round 82 at the Valspar Championship outside Tampa on Sunday. How to explain the drastic turnaround? RELATED: Full leaderboard | Inside Max Homa’s mind “My putter was bent on Sunday,” Mitchell said. “It was two degrees upright and a degree or so with too much loft which effectively is like six degrees of loft which is not what you need.” Not that he knew that. All he knew was that his setup felt awful, he couldn’t get comfortable, and every time he stroked a putt it felt like the putter cover was still on. He tallied a whopping 42 putts as his 82 dropped him to last among those who made the Valspar cut. Mitchell was flummoxed. Hadn’t he been playing well? He didn’t figure out what happened until Tuesday at Quail Hollow, when his coach was the first to notice the problem: Mitchell’s mallet putter, a TaylorMade Spider, didn’t look right as he set up on the practice green. They took it to the equipment truck, where the technicians confirmed it was bent. They fixed it, bending it back true, and Mitchell went out for his practice round. He feels a little better about his horrific finish to the Valspar, but at the Wells Fargo, where he’s tied for fourth, three behind leader Phil Mickelson, he still wonders how the club got so bent. “I don’t know,” he said. “I mean, I got angry a couple times on Saturday, but I don’t know if it was any of those. I know I just realized all my putts were missing and I couldn’t figure out why.” Mitchell hit 10 of 14 fairways, 14 of 18 greens, and took 28 putts at Quail Hollow on Thursday. It was a far cry better than 42. Said a bemused Mitchell, “It’s got to be a TOUR record.”

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Rory McIlroy defends his title at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, where last year’s back-nine blitz snapped an 18-month victory drought. Tiger Woods, meantime, hopes to get his season heated up at place where he’s won eight previous times. Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, 2016 winner Jason Day, and honorary co-host Justin Rose also top the marquee, as Bay Hill once again becomes the final tuneup for THE PLAYERS Championship. FIELD NOTES: Reigning Open Championship titleholder Francesco Molinari makes his first start on U.S. soil since the Sentry Tournament of Champions, topping an international sector that includes Ryder Cup partner Tommy Fleetwood, Hideki Matsuyama, Ian Poulter and Haotong Li. … Phil Mickelson, the 1997 Bay Hill champion and a recent winner at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, returns to Arnie’s Place for the first time since 2013. … Bay Hill expects to welcome 17 of the FedExCup’s current top 30. … U.S. Amateur champion Viktor Hovland makes his third TOUR start since capturing that crown. The Oklahoma State junior is No. 1 in the collegiate rankings, one spot ahead of teammate Matthew Wolff, who recently made the cut at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. … Hovland isn’t the only collegian in the field. Fourth-ranked Justin Suh also is playing. He recently won the Southwestern Invitational, his seventh win in his past 16 collegiate starts. … Other exemptions went to former NCAA champion Braden Thornberry and Sam Horsfield, born in England but raised in nearby Davenport, Florida. FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 points. STORYLINES: McIlroy, whose win last year was his first since the 2016 TOUR Championship, hopes Bay Hill can get him over the hump again. He arrives off four consecutive top-5 finishes, including a runner-up at the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship… Woods makes his 18th Bay Hill start with momentum from a share of 10th in Mexico, his first top-10 of the season. He tied for fifth last year in his first visit since winning in 2013. In addition to his eight TOUR titles at Bay Hill, he also won the 1991 U.S. Junior Amateur there. It was the first of his six USGA amateur titles. … McIlroy’s victory was the seventh by an international player in the past 13 editions, after going the first 27 years with just one non-American winner. … Rose, already a winner at the Farmers Insurance Open, adds the role of co-host this year, one of three sharing the function Palmer once enjoyed. Former Golf Channel anchor Kelly Tilghman and Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings round out the trio. COURSE: Bay Hill Club & Lodge, 7,419 yards, par 72. Acclaimed by Palmer as the “best course in Florida� after playing a 1965 exhibition on Orlando’s western edge, it turned into a 50-year love affair as Palmer made Bay Hill his winter base and eventually bought the property. Bay Hill first welcomed the TOUR in 1979, when the old Florida Citrus Open moved across town. Built in 1961 by Dick Wilson, Palmer’s constant tinkering over the years left no doubt about whose stamp it bears. Bay Hill’s closing trio of holes often generates a dramatic finish, most notably the 7-iron hole-out at No. 18 by Robert Gamez to stun Greg Norman in 1990. For those visiting Central Florida, must-play courses include ChampionsGate GC (ChampionsGate, Florida), Hawks’ Landing GC (Orlando) and Mission Inn Resort & Club (Howey-in-the-Hills, Florida). Book your reservations via TeeOff.com. 72-HOLE RECORD: 264, Payne Stewart (1987). 18-HOLE RECORD: 62, Andy Bean (2nd round, 1981), Greg Norman (2nd round, 1984), Adam Scott (1st round, 2014). LAST YEAR: McIlroy notched his 14th TOUR victory in a manner Palmer would have been proud of, blitzing Bay Hill’s back nine with five birdies in his final six holes on the way to a three-shot romp. McIlroy began the day two shots behind Henrik Stenson and didn’t make his first birdie until No. 6, then suddenly seemed as though he couldn’t miss. The highlight came with a chip-in at No.1 5, part of a four-birdie run that began at the 13th. McIlroy’s closing 64 was the lowest final round by a Bay Hill winner since Gary Koch in 1984. It was a special win in another way, as McIlroy’s last triumph – the 2016 TOUR Championship – came on the same day Palmer passed away. DeChambeau finished second after a 68, while Woods stayed in the hunt until driving out of bounds at the par-5 16th on the way to a share of fifth. HOW TO FOLLOW TELEVISION: Thursday-Friday, 2-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday-Sunday, 12:30-2:30 p.m. (GC), 2:30-6 p.m. (NBC). PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday, 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m. ET (featured groups). Saturday-Sunday, 9 a.m.-2:30 p.m. (featured groups), 2:30-6 p.m. (featured holes). International subscribers (via GOLFTV): Thursday-Friday, 12:30 to 23:00 GMT. Saturday, 14:00 to 23:00. Sunday, 13:00 to 22:00. RADIO: Thursday-Friday, noon-6 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, 1-6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com).

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Two-time Wyndham Championship winner Brandt Snedeker is a creature of habit. Although the Tennessee native became an equipment free agent late last year, his dedication to some aspects of his bag has been unwavering. Take his putter, for example. The Odyssey Rossie has been in the bag his entire career. He’s been gaming it since he competed on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2006. He’s had it in the bag so long, in fact, that he’s had to replace its White Hot face multiple times. His irons shafts, Aerotech SteelFiber I95 S, have been a fixture since 2011. Since his second Wyndham win in 2018, however, the rest of his equipment has been in flux. He has been in multiple drivers, fairway woods, irons, and wedges, with the only constant being the putter. Snedeker’s launch profile compares to players like Ryan Moore, Zach Johnson, Brian Gay, and Jim Furyk. Snedeker doesn’t hit it a long way—averaging just 284.1 yards off the tee this season—nor does he hit the ball particularly high. He relies more on spin and accuracy than the now-popular high-speed game. Snedeker earned his first PGA TOUR title at the 2007 Wyndham and won the tournament 11 years later on the strength of a first-round 59. Some aspects of his bag remain unchanged since his last Wyndham win. The putter, 5-wood, lob wedge, and iron shafts have all stayed the same. It’s worth noting that although the logos and make of some of the equipment have changed, the DNA remains the same. Snedeker always leans towards a forged cavity-back iron. In his woods, he prefers metal shafts that are mid-launch and mid-spin. The structure of his set is exactly the same, as well: driver, 3-wood, 5-wood, 4-PW, 52-, 56- and 60-degree wedges…and the old trusty Odyssey. Here’s a closer look at what was in Snedeker’s bag when he won the Wyndham two years ago versus what he has in play today. 2018 Winning WITB Wyndham Championship Driver: Bridgestone Tour B JGR prototype (9.5 degrees) Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD IZ-6X Fairway woods: TaylorMade M3 (15 and 19 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura Pro Tour Spec Irons: Bridgestone J15CB (4-9 iron) Shafts: Aerotech SteelFiber i95 S-Flex Wedges: Bridgestone J40 (48 degrees), Bridgestone J15 (52 bent to 51 degrees, and 56 bent to 55 degrees), Titleist Vokey TVD Prototype (60-06K) Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 Putter: Odyssey White Hot XG Rossie Length: 34 inches Ball: Bridgestone Tour B X Grips: Lamkin Crossline WITB as of 2020 PGA Championship Driver: Ping G410 Plus (9 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 6 X 3-wood: TaylorMade M6 “Rocket 3” (14 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 7 X 5-wood: TaylorMade M3 (19 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 8 X Irons: Srixon Z785 (4-9) Shafts: Aerotech SteelFiber I95 S Wedges: Callaway Mack Daddy 4 (48-10S, 52-10S, 56-10S) Vokey SM8 (60K) Shafts: (48) Aerotech SteelFiber I95 S (52/56/60) True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 Putter: Odyssey White Hot XG Rossie Length: 34 inches Ball: Bridgestone Tour B X Grips: Lamkin Crossline

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