Leaderboard: Wells Fargo Championship

Arnold Palmer once opined that golf is both “deceptively simple and endlessly complicated.” In Thursday’s opening round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, Jon Rahm approached a 10-inch par putt at the par-3 seventh hole at Bay Hill Club & Lodge. After taking the putter back, Rahm decelerated on the follow-through, the ball moving just one inch. It marked the shortest missed putt of his PGA TOUR career. The world No. 1 tapped in for bogey, en route to an opening-round, even-par 72, seven strokes back of early leader Rory McIlroy. Rather than shying away from the situation, Rahm did his best to explain the short miss in his post-round meeting with the media. “I wish I could give you all the excuses in the world,” said Rahm as dusk descended upon central Florida. “It just didn’t feel good in my hands, and I tried to stop, and I didn’t. I just simply didn’t stop. I don’t know. It was very odd.” The bogey dropped Rahm to 2-over for the day. He made the turn at the same score before rallying with three birdies on the back nine, against a bogey at the par-4 18th. “It’s not like it affected my play the rest of the day, because I played really good,” Rahm reflected post-round. “But sitting at 1-under, I feel like, would feel a lot better than even par. “I’ve seen many things. I’ve seen the putter get a little stuck on a blade of grass on the way back and do something funny, hit the ground before because you’re not paying attention. I’ve seen so many things from a foot. I’ve seen some of the best putters in the world miss it because you don’t really take a proper stance. “It sucks to give away a shot like that, to be honest.”

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Here are nine tidbits from the first round of the Genesis Open that gamers can use tomorrow, this weekend or down the road. Be looking for the Emergency 9 shortly after the close of play of each round of the tournament. Know Thy Enemy These were the top-10 picked golfers in the PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO. A breezy morning caused a bit of havoc, as you’ll read below. Defending champ Dustin Johnson struggled out of the box and never could get anything going. Darkness stranded a handful of players still on the course, so Round 1 will finish early Friday morning. Automatic for the People The best news for gamers at The Riviera Country Club is there is another round before the cut and the PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO allows substitutions. For the second week in a row, Dustin Johnson was the overwhelming favorite in this format. I’m not saying it’s time to panic… yet. Johnson’s 74 today had essentially one really bad hole (triple bogey) on a track he usually dominates. To put it in perspective, it’s his first round over par since 2015, a streak of 10 loops. There’s no chance I’m taking him out of the lineup. Afternoon Edition Justin Thomas lamented on the telecast that there was wind this morning playing havoc through the canyon. Patrick Cantlay and Tony Finau (5-under 66) were in the later flight and share the lead in the clubhouse in Round 1. Both players with West Coast roots were on-point as Cantlay hit the most GIR (16 of 18) and Finau led in strokes-gained: off-the-tee. Both players circled six birdies against only one bogey because the putter also cooperated. Cantlay led the field in putts per GIR while Finau was second. They both set their career-low score here as well. Morning Show The early wave was paced by a trio of 67’s (-4) from Tom Hoge, Dominic Bozzelli and Sam Saunders. Pro gamers will point out that Saunders opened with 64 here last year to lead by two before ending up T49. Hoge’s name is familiar in this column, as he opened with 65 at Waialae and was sniffing around at Torrey Pines after Friday. Bozzelli finished last season No. 119 in the FedExCup standings. He didn’t play after the RCB Canadian Open as he tried to get healthy for the new season. This is only his fifth event of 2017-18, and that matches exactly how many people have rostered him this week in PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO. Bubba Conundrum Bubba Watson is off to a flying start as the two-time champion (2014, 2016) opened with 68 (-3) and sits T6. He’s playing in the NBA All-Star Game Celebrity Game Friday night, so he’ll be hustling to get off the course and to the Staples Center after his Friday round. According to his social media, he met with Ellen DeGeneres and Chuck Lorre earlier in the week, so maybe being in Hollywood is good for his game! Part of me wouldn’t be surprised if he posted a clunky one on Friday because of his pending night on the court in the big game. Caution. Reavie Relief Gamers who were late to the party but are jumping on board this week after P2 at TPC Scottsdale two weeks ago and T2 at Pebble Beach last week, you may now exhale. You’re not the jinx! Reavie hasn’t posted a round above par in 2018, and his 68 to open has him sitting T6 entering Friday. He was six-for-six scrambling in Round 1 to lead the field and didn’t make a bogey! Gamers are catching on as you can see in the chart above. Power Trio The featured PGA TOUR LIVE group of Tiger Woods (T63), Rory McIlroy (T36) and Justin Thomas (T17) saw the youngest member take home the medal honors with 69 (-2). Woods did hit more fairways and circled more birdies (5 to 1) than McIlroy, but the Ulsterman needed one less shot to complete the day. Gamers who have Woods in the lineup this week surely know that this is NOT one of his historical money grabs. I wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t get over the finish line tomorrow. McIlroy couldn’t putt last week at Pebble Beach, and that has followed him down the coast. He made one birdie and one eagle but needed almost two putts per green today. Wizard of Westwood That’s John Wooden, the famous UCLA basketball coach, not Ted Potter Jr., who won last week at Pebble Beach. Potter checked in at No. 130 of 144 who teed it up after his opening round 76 (+5). He’ll need something special to make the weekend, but his two-year exemption from winning last week is a very nice insurance policy. Study Hall Bill Haas is lucky to be alive after a Ferrari he was riding in was involved in an accident earlier in the week. The driver, Haas’s host in Los Angeles for the tournament, was killed and multiple vehicles were involved. I have no idea how this will affect Haas moving forward. It wouldn’t surprise me if he takes some time off. We’ll all follow this together. … Jim Herman WD with a foot injury, according to PGA TOUR Media. … Players returning to action this week that caught my eye include Jim Furyk (73) and Charley Hoffman (75). This is Furyk’s first start since the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow last summer. Hoffman WD last week at Pebble Beach with a back injury. … Woods and Marc Leishman both lost a ball in a eucalyptus tree today.

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Could John Oda be this season’s version of Austin Cook? Oda, who turned pro last fall, does not have any PGA TOUR status, but will be making his fourth start of the season at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. He earned his tee time at TPC Scottsdale by shooting 7-under 65 on Monday at McCormick Ranch Golf Club’s Pine Course in Scottsdale, Arizona. Oda was the medalist in the Phoenix Open’s Monday qualifier, which awards three spots in this week’s PGA TOUR event. Oda finished T8 in his pro debut after receiving a sponsor exemption into the OHL Classic at Mayakoba. That earned him a start at The RSM Classic, where he missed the cut. Oda is now 2-for-2 in Monday qualifiers this season. The Honolulu native qualified for his hometown TOUR event, the Sony Open in Hawaii, for a second consecutive year and now has a spot in the Waste Management Phoenix Open. Cook is a PGA TOUR rookie who won The RSM Classic in November. He first gained attention in 2015, when he finished in the top 25 in five of seven TOUR starts. He Monday qualified three times, received two sponsor exemptions and got into two events after finishing in the top 10 the previous week. Oda finished T67 at this year’s Sony. He’s earned 89 non-member FedExCup points, which most years would be sufficient for him to qualify for the Web.com Tour Finals. Players who earn non-member points equivalent to the amount earned by No. 200 in the FedExCup standings are eligible for the Finals. Three players – PGA TOUR member Cameron Tringale, Richard Lee and Eddie Olson — will participate in a playoff for the final two spots in the field. All three shot 66 on Monday. The playoff will resume at 8 a.m.

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