Tiger overcomes stiff back for 72, ‘no biggie’

To corn farmers and their communities in the Midwest, to be knee-high by the Fourth of July means something. It’s the easy-to-remember phrase to measure the growth of the crop on a specific date and get a feel for the eventual yield. The statistical abstract of the exercise also can be a way for PGA TOUR members to size up their placement in the FedExCup standings. With only five weeks and seven tournaments contributing to set the field for the Playoffs and begin the process of assigning membership status for next season, the John Deere Classic is a timely checkpoint immediately after America’s birthday. TPC Deere Run annually is there for the taking. It’s right out there in front of the field of 156 assembled in Silvis, Illinois. The only trick is to capitalize on one of the easiest par 71s on the schedule. Scroll past the projected contenders for a confirmation of the expectation, Dylan Frittelli’s curious path to his breakthrough victory in 2019 and more. RELATED: How the field qualified | The First Look POWER RANKINGS: JOHN DEERE CLASSIC Kevin Na, Si Woo Kim, Pat Perez, Charles Howell III and defending champion Dylan Frittelli will be among the notables reviewed in Tuesday’s Fantasy Insider. As golden as the fields surrounding the Quad Cities, so is the anniversary of the John Deere Classic. This week’s tournament is celebrating its 50th since the inaugural staging won by Deane Beman in 1971. It wasn’t an official event until the following year, but Beman won that one, too. Two years later, he became the second commissioner of the PGA TOUR. The 2020 edition was canceled by the pandemic, so Frittelli has been among the throng who has experienced an extra year as a defending champion. The South African already had a pair of victories on the European Tour, but his title at TPC Deere Run in 2019 served as his coronation on the PGA TOUR. In what was his tournament debut (and as a first-time TOUR member), Frittelli adhered to the script for what it takes to tackle TPC Deere Run. He ranked T10 in greens in regulation, 15th in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green and second in SG: Putting. Hidden on his scorecards was the fact that he led the field in scrambling, salvaging 15 of 16 chances, but he had to because he was a pedestrian 35th in turning greens in regulation into par breakers. If you were to ask Frittelli which is more important at the Deere, scoring or saving par, the correct answer would be, “Yes.” His missed only two of 62 tries inside 10 feet and was perfect on 53 looks inside seven feet. The output was a two-stroke margin of victory at 21-under 263. The field averaged a predictable 69.510 and it clobbered the ball off the tee like it hadn’t collectively in years. The average distance of all drives was 293.1 yards. That’s nine yards longer than the longest of the previous five editions (2017). Some regression to the historical mean should be expected, but that fact is incentive not to throttle down. There have been no changes to the 7,268-yard walk. Just as it has been in the two non-majors since the U.S. Open at Torrey PInes, primary rough is trimmed to four inches and the bentgrass greens are governed to average 12 feet on the Stimpmeter. After a pleasant opener with a high in the upper 70s, rain and maybe storms could disrupt the proceedings on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Wind likely will pose a problem only in the form of outflows from encroaching inclement weather. The final exemption into The Open Championship is reserved for the top finisher at TPC Deere Run, not otherwise exempt. As of Monday, 15 in the field already have qualified. ROB BOLTON’S SCHEDULE PGATOUR.COM’s Fantasy Insider Rob Bolton recaps and previews every tournament from numerous angles. Look for his following contributions as scheduled. MONDAY: Power Rankings TUESDAY*: Sleepers; Fantasy Insider SUNDAY: Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Medical Extensions, Rookie Watch * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf, which also publishes on Tuesday.

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SOUTHPORT, England – News and notes from Thursday’s first round at The Open Championship. Jordan Spieth and Brooks Koepka were early clubhouse leaders after 5-unders 65 at Royal Birkdale. Rust? What rust? It’s four weeks later. It’s a different course, a different country, heck, even a different continent. Last month had wide fairways; this week, the fairways are tight. And yet, Brooks Koepka turned Thursday into essentially his fifth round at Erin Hills. After tying the all-time lowest winning score at the U.S. Open (16 under) in mid-June, Koepka kept the hot hand with an opening 65 that included a hole-out for eagle from a bad lie in a greenside bunker at the 17th. Though he didn’t swing a club for more than two weeks after winning his first major, Koepka picked up right where we last saw him when he shot 67 on the final day at Erin Hills. “Just fun to get back playing again,â€� Koepka said. “… After taking four weeks off, it’s kind of nice to get back inside the ropes and finally get those competitive juices flowing.â€� Success after a lengthy layoff is nothing new for Koepka. Prior to his first PGA TOUR victory at the 2015 Waste Management Phoenix Open, he had taken nearly a month off. Instead of getting rusty, he finds the downtime necessary to stay fresh and avoid the week-to-week mental grind. “If I start playing four or five weeks in a row, everything just seems to get nonchalant,â€� he said. “… You get to be in the routine and get used to it. And it just doesn’t seem like I’m fully ready to play. If you take some time off and kind of recharge mentally, physically, I feel like I’m in really good shape right now, even with that time off mentally.â€� So what did he do during this most recent break? He went to Las Vegas with a few friends – and evidently had a great time, since he deftly avoided providing details. (“It was funâ€� was as much as he wanted to offer.) He returned home on July 1, missing the gym more than missing his clubs. It wasn’t until the next week that he got back on the course, playing a fun match with his manager Blake Smith. He gave Smith 13 strokes – and his manager needed just 10 to win. If Koepka maintains his current major form, getting strokes may be the only way the rest of the field can beat him. In his last 12 major starts, he has five top-10 finishes (including his win) and five other top-25 finishes. “Look at all the majors that I’ve played … the record has been pretty good,â€� Koepka said. “Anytime you put something on the line like that, I get up for it.â€� It’s a tie game for Justin Justin Thomas is used to wearing a tie. He wore one every day while attending high school at St. Xavier in Louisville, Kentucky. He wore one during his Walker Cup days. So for Thomas, it was no big deal to wear one as part of his apparel script this week at Royal Birkdale. Yet he figured it would be a conversation starter for everyone else. “Obviously knew it was going to get a lot of publicity,â€� he said. “… But I didn’t come here to dress well. I came here to try to play some good golf. And I guess that just happened.â€� Indeed it did. Thanks to an eagle at 17, Thomas finished with a flourish, carding a 3-under 67. Just like four weeks ago at Erin Hills, Thomas appears ready to contend in another major. In that third round at the U.S. Open, Thomas tied a major record by shooting 63 that left him one shot off the lead and put him in Sunday’s final pairing. But he followed with a disappointing 75 and a tie for ninth. Still, it’s easy for him to shake off the high score and concentrate on his third-round performance. “I can think of 63 shots that come to mind before Sunday,â€� Thomas said. “Yeah, Sunday is definitely not something I’m taking from that week. I’m taking the experience of Sunday and the fact that I was there to start the day on Sunday.â€� As for the tie? It will stay hidden inside the closet for the rest of the week.  Spieth’s key adjustment The par-4 sixth hole, which faces toward the south, has been the most difficult the last two times Royal Birkdale has hosted the Open. It just so happens that the driving range faces in the same direction. Jordan Spieth used that to his advantage Thursday. Facing an approach shot that was 192 yards to the front of the green and 215 to the pin, Spieth opted for his 4-iron. Normally, he hits that upwards of 225 yards on the range back home in Dallas, Texas. But during his warm-up session Thursday, Spieth’s coach Cameron McCormick brought the TrackMan to calculate how much Spieth would need to adjust his yardage calculations in Thursday’s 55-degree weather. They figured the cooler temperatures resulted in a 10-15 yard reduction. Throw in the wind conditions, and it’s another 20-30 yards. Thanks to the adjustments, Spieth ripped his 4-iron and set up a two-putt par during his bogey-free round of 65. “Because I knew how far balls were carrying from our session this morning, I was able to know how far that ball would carry and then I can trust that,â€� Spieth said. “And that’s the most important thing, because you feel like you’re hitting so much club. You feel like you’re going to fly the world. And then it goes on the front green and I’m 60 feet away. I mis-hit it, it was a good club to get close to the hole. “I thought that was really well done by Cameron, because I didn’t even ask him to. He just brought it out and said, ‘Let’s figure this out, so you know at least when you’re coming into the wind what true effect it’s having.’ And it’s more an effect than anywhere I’ve experienced in the States.â€� Poulter back on track A year ago, Ian Poulter was part of Sky Sports’ broadcast team at Royal Troon. He did not like it. It wasn’t because he doesn’t like to talk. But he’d rather have been swinging a club than holding a microphone. Unfortunately, a foot injury kept the Englishman from making his 15th consecutive start in his national Open. This year, he had to qualify for the Open. Fortunately, one of the venues was his hometown course in Woburn. In front of several thousand fans, Poulter posted a score and then had to sweat out a 45-minute wait before securing one of the three spots that advanced to Royal Birkdale. “I certainly felt a bit of pressure — pressure to obviously make sure I take one of those three spots,â€� Poulter said. Now he’s back at Royal Birkdale. The last time he played here, he shot 69 in the final round in 2008 to finish solo second behind Padraig Harrington. It felt like old times on Thursday, as he shot a 3-under 67. The winds on Thursday were different than in the practice sessions, but Poulter was ready. It was the same kind of wind he played in nine years ago in the final round. On Wednesday night, he took out his old yardage book and adjusted his gameplan. “I almost played a round of golf last night in my head,â€� Poulter said, “and I had a lower score in my head last night than I did today. But don’t we all?â€� Two months ago, Poulter tied for second at THE PLAYERS Championship, his best result on TOUR in nearly four years. He followed that by making six more cuts on his worldwide schedule, including a tie for ninth last week at the Scottish Open. Apparently, he’s found his groove. “THE PLAYERS Championship was a big week for me,â€� he said. “I think that was a huge turning point. And I’m definitely a freer player on the golf course. I can be more aggressive. I can hit more of the shots that I’m kind of visualizing.â€� More playing. Less talking. Poulter is fine with that.

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HONOLULU, Hawaii — Zach Johnson and Chris Kirk kept clean cards on a gorgeous day and each shot 7-under 63 to share the lead after the first round of the Sony Open in Hawaii. Jordan Spieth wasn’t as fortunate. Spieth hit four trees with four shots on the par-4 eighth hole — his 17th of the round — an episode that began with his tee shot caroming off a trunk and into a ditch. He wound up with a quadruple-bogey 8, marring his eight-birdie round for only a 69. Defending champion Justin Thomas opened with a 67, but he was all smiles on the 17th hole. Thomas, an Alabama alum, won a bet that required Georgia graduate Kevin Kisner to wear a Crimson Tide jersey from the tee box to the green.

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