Ian Poulter making most of second chance at THE PLAYERS Championship

Here are nine tidbits from the third round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard that gamers can use tomorrow, this weekend or down the road. The Bay Hill Club and Lodge in Orlando, Florida, plays 7,419 yards (par 72). The Final Group Henrik Stenson opened with a 64 and hasn’t looked back. After sharing the 36-hole lead with Bryson DeChambeau, his lead is one (-12, 204) as he looks to claim his first title at Bay Hill. History is not in his corner as the only European to lift the title in 39 previous events was Martin Laird in 2011. Stenson had the 54-hole lead in 2015 but couldn’t hold off Matt Every as he finished second. His worst final round score in his last five Sundays at Bay Hill is 71. … DeChambeau hasn’t finished outside the top five in his last four tournaments where he’s been tied or one back of the 36-hole lead so I wouldn’t expect him to fade tomorrow. He said his WD last week was due to not getting enough rest. After having the last tee time Saturday and playing in the last group tomorrow, I would suggest he would be fresh and ready to go. Rising Rory With only four bogeys and a double this week, it looks like Rory McIlroy is turning up the heat with the Masters right around the corner. His ball-striking came to life on Saturday but it continues to be the flatstick that keeps his momentum rolling. He’s second this week in Strokes Gained: Putting on lightning-fast TifEagle greens. He’s closed the last three years 70, 65 and 69 last year so I’m expecting something in that neighborhood tomorrow. His 67 is his lowest round of the year in the States and only trails by two. Rose Blooming Justin Rose leads the field with 19 birdies and six of those were circled on Saturday against just one bogey as he posted 67. Rose has also been close here before as he shared the 36-hole lead in 2013 before finishing second to Tiger Woods. Gamers will be expecting a big finish tomorrow after not being able to close the deal from the final group last week at Valspar. He played with and beat Woods by two shots Saturday to move up 13 spots to T4. #Trending. Been There, Done That Speaking of Woods, the eight-time champion needed a low one Saturday to get back into the fight. His 69 was solid but finds him five shots off Stenson’s lead. He’ll need to equal or match his lowest closing round, 66, tomorrow to have any kind of a chance. He won’t get any help from the weather, as it’s forecasted to be perfect again. It’s also unlikely that ALL of the premium players in front of him will fall apart. I’m interested to see if he can put the pedal to the metal when he knows that’s what it’s going to take to win. Running Down a Dream There are only two players in the top 10 that haven’t won on TOUR, rookie Talor Gooch (T6) and Bud Cauley (T10). Since 1995, the only two winners to earn their maiden win on TOUR at this event have been Paul Goydos (1996) and Matt Every (2014). The odds aren’t stacked in their favor, especially with the household names in front of them on the leaderboard, but I’m interested to see how they handle the big stage. Rickie Don’t Lose That Number After sitting just one shot off Stenson’s lead with two holes to play, Rickie Fowler played the final two holes 3-over-par. He’ll start four shots back (T6) as he looks to add only his second top-10 finish at Bay Hill in seven events. Gamers don’t need to be reminded that his only other top 10 in five starts this year was T4 at the Sentry Tournament of Champions. Repeat After Me Hey look, another very solid round from Ryan Moore! He backed up his Friday 67 with his lowest round in this event on Saturday in seven tries with 69. Of his previous six Sunday rounds at Bay Hill the best of the bunch is 70. It’s also the only one in red figures. His ball-striking suggests he could improve on that number tomorrow. Moving Day The warmer temperatures helped the early guys get off to flying starts. John Huh has never MC at Bay Hill but he’s also never collected a check for better than T27. He’ll have a chance tomorrow after his 66 moved him up 48 spots to T18. He has just as many rounds in the 80s on Sunday as he does under par (two each) at Bay Hill. … Austin Cook shared the low round of the day with Huh and also shared the biggest jump, 48 spots. After making four birdies in the first two rounds he circled eight on Saturday, confirming he’s a quick study in his first event at Bay Hill. … Jason Day’s ailment(s) from Friday didn’t carry over on to his scorecard Saturday as his 67 vaulted him to T18 as well. The 2016 wire-to-wire champion is probably too far behind to win but another low one will reward investors in every format. Moving Day: Wrong Way 2016 U.S. Amateur champ Curtis Luck reinforced how difficult Bay Hill can be for the youngsters. He sat T11 after 71-68 but 74 in Round 3 knocked him down 24 spots to T35. Astute gamers know this is only his 11th start on TOUR as a pro and will remember he was T5 at the Quicken Loans National and T20 at The Greenbrier last summer. … Luke List gave back all of the ground he made up with Friday’s 67 with 74 on Saturday to knock him out of the top 10. He’s currently T28 but T26 is his worst payday in his last five. I’d expect a positive reaction tomorrow. Study Hall Patrick Reed has rinsed five balls in the drink this week. He’s also made 18 birdies and sits T10. … Sam Horsfield (68), Brian Stuard (68) and Graeme McDowell (69) signed for the only bogey-free rounds of the day. One of those is not like the others. Round 3 played under par at 71.260, by far the easiest of the week. … Tweet of the Day

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RIDGELAND, S.C. — Rory McIlroy made two eagles that made the rest of his day feel better Saturday at THE CJ CUP in South Carolina. His 4-under 67 was enough for a one-shot lead and a clear road to return to No. 1 in the world. McIlroy, the reigning FedExCup champion, hit a 6-iron that took the slope and rolled out to 2 feet for eagle on the par-5 fourth. He smashed a 376-yard drive and made his second eagle with a 30-foot putt from the tightly mown grass off the green on the par-5 12th. The rest of the round was even par, a mix of good birdies and sloppy bogeys, and it added to a one-shot lead over Jon Rahm, Kurt Kitayama and K.H. Lee. “You take away those two holes and I was even par for the rest of the round. Felt like it was a little scrappy coming in, but did enough to hang in there and shoot a solid score,” McIlroy said. McIlroy was at 13-under 200, with hopes set on going back to No. 1 in the world for the ninth time in his career, and first time since the summer of 2020. Having been there, all he said he truly cared about was winning. Ditto for Rahm, who had to scrap his way through a series of bogeys for a 70. Rahm started the second round tied for the lead. He was five shots behind when McIlroy made his eagle on No. 12. But the big Spaniard was solid coming in at Congaree, picking off birdies with two good bunker shots and making a great escape for par on the 16th, where he purposely took free relief into the trees because of a tiny gap. “A lot of battle today. I’m proud of it,” Rahm said. “I’m standing on 12 tee … I thought things could get ugly. But I just stayed on my own game and tried to make some birdies coming in and put myself in position for tomorrow.” His only disappointment was not getting into the final group with McIlroy, a power group in the low country. Lee matched the low round of a day made challenging by some tees moved back and some pins in perilous positions. He also made amends on the 17th hole, the toughest at Congaree this week. Lee four-putted — the last three putts from 5 feet — for a double bogey Friday. This time he made one of only three birdies. “Much better than yesterday,” he said. Kitayama is the most curious of the contenders, a 29-year-old Californian who spent two years on the Korn Ferry Tour without much success, and then four years toiling across Asia and Europe, winning three times. He battled Rahm in the Mexico Open and finished one back. He finished one behind Xander Schauffele in the Genesis Scottish Open. Saturday was the first time he had a share of the lead going into the weekend on the PGA TOUR, and he held his own. He was tied for the lead until his 65-foot putt across the 17th green ran some 7 feet by the cup, and he missed the comebacker for par. Aaron Wise, much like Rahm, also had to piece together a game that didn’t feel like it was there. He had consecutive bogeys in the middle of the back nine, but scratched out pars coming in for a 71 and put him in the group three shots behind. Tom Kim had a 69 and was four shots back in his bid to win for the third time before turning 21. The 20-year-old has won two of his last five starts.

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On Tuesday, February 8th, the PGA TOUR Wives Association held its largest fundraiser – the PGA TOUR Wives Golf Classic at the WM Phoenix Open in Scottsdale, Arizona. This was the 19th playing of the bi-annual event that featured a Superhero’s and Villains theme and offered the unique chance to see spouses/significant others of PGA TOUR Players tee it up while their husbands caddied alongside them. This 9-hole team scramble was as competitive as ever with the top three teams separated by just two strokes. Ultimately, the team of Martina Sabbatini (Rory), Alicia Malnati (Peter), and Samantha Marzke (Denny McCarthy) finished in 1st place with a score of 8-under on a day filled with great shots and plenty of laughs all around. The day would not have been possible without tremendous support from the Thunderbirds and TPC Scottsdale. Proud supporters of the event include: Nuna Baby Essentials, Lerner & Rowe Injury Attorneys, FineMark Bank, TRUE Linkswear, The Long Drink, Lily Pulitzer, Oakley, Tequila Corcel, G/FORE, International Golf Logistics (IGL), and many more. The funds raised during the event will go to support over a dozen children’s-based charities across the PGA TOUR calendar over the next two seasons. For more information about the PGA TOUR Wives Association and their mission, please visit www.pgatourwives.org.

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