Live leaderboard: Round 3 of the Farmers

JACKSON, Miss. – Kevin Stadler visited more than a dozen doctors in the three years since his last PGA TOUR start. He pondered retirement when he couldn’t find answers for the blinding pain that would shoot through his left hand. “It’s over and done with now, thankfully, but it (took) a long time to find an answer,� Stadler said after a first-round 70 at the Sanderson Farms Championship. The pain started after the best year of his career. He won for the first time at the 2014 Waste Management Phoenix Open and finished eighth in his Masters debut. He started the following season with a solid performance in Las Vegas, shooting four sub-par rounds to finish 28th in the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. It remains his last made cut on the PGA TOUR. A broken hamate bone was the problem. For a long time, the fracture was too tiny to be diagnosed, though. An MRI after a failed comeback attempt on the Web.com Tour last year revealed that the bone was now 75 percent broken. Stadler had surgery last August. By May, he could practice and play without hesitation. He made the first of three rehab starts on the Web.com Tour in June. He will play this season with a major medical extension. He has 26 events to earn 454 FedExCup points or $717,890 to remain exempt for the remainder of the season. “I walk through the locker room and feel like I don’t know three-quarters of the people in there,� Stadler said. “It’s my first time to this venue. It feels like my first year out here. It’s been four years since I’ve played pain-free.� Three weeks after the Shriners, he had to withdraw two holes into the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions. He returned at Kapalua but had to quit after the second round of the Sentry Tournament of Champions. He tried to play through the pain at the Masters, where he shot 77-74, and John Deere Classic (MC). He waited two years to play his next event. He could “slap it around� a couple times per week at home, but his hand couldn’t withstand the constant repetitions of practice. “I just tried to not go any more insane than I already am,� he said. He thought his next start, the Web.com Tour’s Digital Ally Open in July 2017, may be his last. He had to withdraw after a first-round 72 because of pain that he compared to an “explosion� in his hand. “I still didn’t have any answers for what was wrong,� he said. “I’d been dealing with doctors for 2 ½ years at that point. It was feeling better, but I look back and laugh that I thought that was better. I played one day and it was back to the pain I felt on day one. I thought at that point that was probably going to be it.� Little did he know that an answer was around the corner. He’s understandably rusty but the University of Southern California alum is hoping his game will be in shape in time for his beloved West Coast events. “This is what I’ve done my whole life,� Stadler said. “Just getting out and playing golf for real, this is great.�

Click here to read the full article…

Earlier this year, a set of irons purported to be used by Tiger Woods during his famous ‘Tiger Slam’ sold for more than $5 million. Now a Scotty Cameron putter signed by Woods is on the auction block. Golden Age Auctions, the same company that sold the ‘Tiger Slam’ irons, is auctioning the putter as part of a lot that includes clubs from Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Ben Hogan, as well as a 58-degree wedge that is said to have once belonged to Woods. The signed Scotty Cameron ‘Red Dot’ Newport 2 is the same model as the putter Woods used to win 14 of his 15 majors. This putter is said to have been made as a backup for Woods’ gamer around 2005. Woods usually tested the backups to ensure they were to his liking, but confirming that he used them is difficult because he did so in private. This putter, which comes with a certificate of authenticity from Scotty Cameron confirming the putter is an authentic Cameron, is said to have been signed by Woods during a 2005 auction for the Tiger Woods Learning Center. “When it comes to Tiger Woods backup putters, the dream is to somehow put that putter into Tiger Woods’ hands – almost always an impossible feat,” reads the putter’s description on the Golden Age Auctions website. “Well, we know that the offered putter was handled by Tiger Woods himself – as Tiger beautifully autographed the face. “Then, on October 1, 2005, Tiger auctioned this putter at a fundraiser called The Tiger Woods Learning Center Block Party, which was held at The Grove in Anaheim. The event raised money for the foundation’s first TGR Learning Lab campus. Our consignor’s parents were early supporters of Tiger’s charities. They attended that 2005 event at The Grove in Anaheim, CA, and being transfixed by Tiger Woods up on stage and in the giving spirit, our consignor’s father kept outbidding anyone who bid against him for this legendary putter when Tiger Woods put it up for auction. The putter was then put into a shadowbox, where it has lived for the past 17 years until it finally surfaces again in this auction.” The putter started with an opening bid of $5,000 and was nearing $50,000 as of midday Thursday. Bidding concludes Sunday, Sept. 18 on GoldenAgeAuctions.com. Ryan Carey, owner and founder of Golden Age Auctions, estimates the putter will sell for “well into the six figures.” Another Scotty Cameron made for Woods is also among the items Golden Age is currently auctioning, as is a Nike wedge that once belonged to Woods. Other items in this lot include Arnold Palmer’s putter, clubs belonging to President Dwight Eisenhower (along with his Augusta National Golf Club headcovers) and personally-used clubs from players like Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Ben Hogan, Sam Snead and Byron Nelson.

Click here to read the full article…

THE OVERVIEW There are plenty of reasons to watch Ian Poulter. Maybe you love his chest-thumping passionate antics. Maybe you get rubbed the wrong way by this animated Englishman. Whatever end of the spectrum you fit, you cannot look away. At 42, Poulter might be getting closer to the veteran stage, but he’s got just as much passion if not more than any of the young stars coming through the ranks. His Houston Open victory last season, the third PGA TOUR title to go with his 10 European Tour wins, was inspiring stuff. Told the week before that he had earned a Masters berth before recalculations showed that he actually had not, Poulter left nothing to chance in Houston. He rebounded from an opening 73 to win in a playoff and punch his ticket to Augusta. Bottom line – if you fire this guy up, he will produce. Poulter competes with heart as much as anything else. His Strokes Gained stats all sat in reasonable spots last season without being spectacular but importantly he limited his weaknesses. As long as he maintains that base line, he can will himself to another level of competition when the whips are cracking. — By Ben Everill Click here to see who else made the Top 30 list. BY THE NUMBERS How Ian Poulter ranked in Strokes Gained statistics during his last full season on the PGA TOUR: FEDEXCUP UPDATE Current 2018-19 position: 59th Playoff appearances: 11 TOUR Championship appearances: 0 Best FedExCup result: 31st in 2009. SHOTLINK FUN FACT No player on the PGA TOUR last season putted better from 6 feet than Ian Poulter, who made 41 of 45 attempts for a 90.24 percent success rate. That’s the best-ever percentage from that distance in the ShotLink era. INSIDER INSIGHTS PGATOUR.COM’s Insiders offer their expert views on what to expect from Ian Poulter in 2019. TOUR INSIDER: Poulter can certainly polarize the golf public but I, for one, think he’s great for the sport. It wasn’t that long ago he appeared to be heading towards the golfing wilderness but he climbed off the scrapheap to win again and lengthen an already impressive career. If the Englishman can find a villain in his mind on a handful of occasions this season, there’s nothing to suggest he can’t win again. — By Ben Everill FANTASY INSIDER: While he’ll turn 43 in January, because of his profile as a grinder and a clutch putter, his game will age well on most tracks. As it correlates to our world, his limited schedule always has been a problem. It’s relegated him to a complementary role in full-season leagues in which you can’t roster more than a couple like him due to limited opportunities to score. However, that reality multiplies his value in weekly games, especially on the biggest stages on which he’s thrived. — By Rob Bolton EQUIPMENT INSIDER: Poulter, like many other golfers in 2018, is currently using a Mitsubishi Tensei CK Orange shaft, which has a counter-balanced design with an extremely stiff tip. As for the driver head, Poulter employs the new Titleist TS3 (9.5 degrees). While Poulter used to play combo sets of CB-MB irons when he first joined Titleist’s staff in the mid-2010s, Poulter now plays Titleist’s 718 AP2 irons, and a 716 T-MB 4 iron. With 13 Titleist clubs in the bag, Poulter uses an Odyssey #7 model putter. — By Andrew Tursky STYLE INSIDER: Best known for bold and colorful Tartans, Ian Poulter has toned down his wardrobe recently. Since shuttering his apparel company, he has stuck with simple and classic setups with modern fits. Although he remains one of the best dressed in the game, I wouldn’t mind seeing some of that old Poulter flair return in 2019. — By Greg Monteforte

Click here to read the full article…