Spieth says Fleetwood is big threat at British Open

Russell Knox ... Despite all that differentiates us, the narrative of 2020 forever will be that significant challenges have affected everyone. The Scot's added personal layer is that he endured a spell of 10 consecutive missed cuts that bridged the three-month shutdown. He found a whiff of form late last season but still missed the Playoffs. Armed with an additional season of fully exempt status thanks to the eligibility adjustments, he's made it count early with a T9 at the Safeway Open and top 20s in his last two starts. Currently fifth on TOUR in greens hit and 27th in proximity, the latest form is vintage. He's also 4-for-5 at Sea Island with a personal-best T20 last year. Ryan Armour ... There's nothing wrong with stereotyping him as a horse for courses. There are worse things for one of the shortest hitters with a TOUR card, especially at 44 years of age. He proved it again at Port Royal where he matched a T8 in last year's inaugural Bermuda Championship with another three weeks ago. Now he descends on Sea Island for the sixth time. He's yet to miss a cut and he recorded top 25s in the last two years. Scott Brown ... The native of Augusta, Georgia, has been as comfortable at Sea Island as anywhere else throughout his career. Overall, he's 5-for-7 with four top 20s, including a T14 last year. He's profiled as a guy who retains his card thanks for the occasional blast of form that he also rides for a short period of time. It's not so much streaky-good as it's reliably substantive when it's in motion. Given that he's fresh off a T24 at the Vivint Houston Open, and that it's his second-best finish since his trip to the Golden Isles last year, his trends are converging. Hank Lebioda ... Cue the Nappy Factor! The 26-year-old is due to become a first-time father and of a boy, so it's not surprising in the least that he's off and running this season. The lefty already has two top 25s on the board thanks to a crisper short game. Whether he can sustain it over time is the question, but his priorities are changing by the day and he's embarking on his third straight season with a TOUR card, so the learning curve is beginning to flatten. He also has a solid chance of extending the bump at Sea Island where he's 2-for-2. Davis Thompson ... It's a special time for the 21-year-old senior at the University of Georgia. He just scaled to the top of the World Amateur Golf Ranking in its latest update thanks in part to a pair of top fives in collegiate action since qualifying for the U.S. Open by virtue of a special category carved out for the best amateurs (in the USGA's effort to build a familiar field during a pandemic). His first career PGA TOUR start occurred in The RSM Classic last year. All he did was lead the field in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green (for the three lasered rounds at Seaside) and rank third in scrambling and T5 in par-5 scoring. Oh, and it's a home game as he lives on Saint Simons Island. NOTE: Sleeper is a relative term, so Rob uses unofficial criteria to determine who qualifies. Each of the following usually is determined to be ineligible for this weekly staple: Winners of the tournament on the current host course; winners in the same season; recent major champions; top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking; recent participants of team competitions.

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Tiger Woods, who earned a share of second place at the Valspar Championship last week, opened the Arnold Palmer Invitational with a 4-under 68.

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MELBOURNE, Australia – Notes and observations from the second round of the ISPS Handa Melbourne World Cup of Golf where teams played the Foursomes format in wet and windy conditions. LEADING LIGHTS
 WEATHER A PHYSICAL CHALLENGE: The temperature dropped, the winds lifted and the rain came down but while most teams went backward in Round 2 it was Belgium and Korea who withstood the tough test. Foursomes, or alternate shot, is hard enough but when the Melbourne weather turned wild it became a beast at Metropolitan Golf Club. Temperatures hovered around 56 degrees with cold winds at a steady 20 miles per hour with heavier gusts. Only four of the 28 teams in the even managed an under-par round, with Greece showing how bad it could get after a 15-over 87. The Belgium team of Thomas Pieters and Thomas Detry held firm with a 1-under 71 to move to 10 under for the tournament where they are joined by Korea. Former PLAYERS champion Si Woo Kim and Byeong Hun An shot even-par 72. “It was really fricking tough out there,â€� Pieters said. His partner was expecting to be called off the course early. “To be honest, I didn’t think we would finish today. Waking up this morning and getting here, it was just like horizontal rain,â€� Detry said. “So wind got up, wind didn’t drop, so it was just a tough day all around.â€� Korea were able to offset three bogeys with three birdies. “It was chaos,â€� An admitted. “It was a cold day, so it was like just trying to hold on.â€� Italy (71) shares third at 8 under alongside India (72), Malaysia (73) and England (74). NOTABLES USA: Hopes of adding to the USA’s stellar World Cup record might be over after Matt Kuchar and Kyle Stanley struggled to a 7-over 79 to be 1 over and tied 21st — some 11 shots back.   AUSTRALIA: The home nation looked set to be heading toward an uphill battle before a late rally saved some face. A 4-over 76 dropped them to 6 under overall but close enough with 36 holes still to play. At one stage they sat seven shots back thanks to a pair of costly double bogeys before a run of three straight birdies resurrected their hopes. “It was pretty brutal. You know when it’s like this in Melbourne it’s going to be tough, especially on a golf course like this,â€� Marc Leishman said. “Obviously not the start we were after, but I think to put a positive light on the day, we kind of fought back there at the end.â€�    ENGLAND: Overnight co-leaders Ian Poulter and Tyrrell Hatton scratched out a 2-over 74 to move to 8 under and into a tie for third. Both vented some frustrations as Hatton smashed a tee box marker at the 10th with his driver after a wild shot while Poulter believed conditions were borderline and made it known post round. “The (tee markers) are very fragile, obviously that wasn’t a great moment,” Hatton said of his outburst. “We all got finished, so I guess it was playable. We didn’t have any balls blow on the green, which I think if you look at it was a good thing, otherwise we probably would have stopped,â€� Poulter added. QUOTABLES There’s a phrase I would use, but I probably wouldn’t use it on camera.It’s fun, it’s fun. That’s why we’re here, for this kind of experience.The drainage is phenomenal. I thought it was going to be just absolutely unplayable and it was good. There’s a little bit of puddles here and there, but the fairways are phenomenal. The golf course can take a lot of rain.We never say sorry when we hit a bad shot and I think that helps.

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