Leaderboard: What’s happening at the Charles Schwab Challenge

Tiger Woods entered a new realm before returning to the place where he’s most familiar. Woods, who is scheduled to return to golf at the Hero World Challenge later this month, made his podcast debut with a 77-minute interview with University of Connecticut women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma. Woods sandwiched the interview between a workout – “The endorphins are up,â€� he told Auriemma – and a 40-mile bike ride.  “I think I feel really good in the fact that my back’s not aching, my legs are starting to come back and my overall golf fitness is starting to come around,â€� said Woods, who had an anterior lumbar interbody fusion in April. “I’ve never had my back fused. It’s a different feeling. I’m a little bit tighter. I don’t have the pain. It’s a whole new realm for me. I don’t know if I’m going to loosen up or if this is the way I’m always going to be.â€� Later in the interview, he said that the surgery has helped his posture while addressing the golf ball. “Any time (before surgery) I tried to build a good posture over the golf ball, I would get pain down my leg and my right foot wouldn’t work,â€� he said. He’ll also be able to run soon, something he hasn’t done in five years because of his back problems. This is likely the longest recorded interview with Woods that’s ever been released. It was impossible to not learn something new from it. But in a forum that begged for him to open up in an unprecedented way, the listener was left without any significant insights or revelations that gave a deeper understanding of Woods. Some of that responsibility, of course, falls on the interviewer, and Auriemma didn’t seem interested in pushing his friend too far into unprecedented territory. Even so, it’s always enjoyable to listen to Woods talk about golf. He’s arguably the greatest golfer of all time, and an astute student of the game. The podcast was like prime-time television: entertaining, but not paradigm-shifting. Woods’ interview came in the second episode of “Holding Court with Geno Auriemmaâ€�. Basketball stars Kyrie Irving and Sue Bird headlined the show’s debut. Woods and Auriemma discussed the golf ball (Woods joined the chorus of voices calling for it to be rolled back) and influences in Woods’ life, as well as fly fishing and his vengeful 9-and-8 win over Stephen Ames in the 2006 World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play. “I just think that he didn’t quite respect the way I could play the game of golf. I just had to show him that I could still play,â€� Woods said. “You have no idea how ticked I was to miss that putt on the 10th hole to beat him 10 and 8.â€� Woods and Auriemma had a chummy rapport, and most of the interview had the tone and depth you would expect from a conversation between two men whose success has come in the sporting realm. The conversation did drift occasionally into Woods’ life away from golf, though. He said his children, Charlie and Sam, play soccer and flag football and enjoy fishing. “I’m trying to get my son into fly fishing,â€� Woods said. “That’s something I thoroughly enjoy, to be able to present a fly in the perfect spot and have it drift over a fish and have him hit it.â€� Woods called a good cast “the ultimate.â€� He told the story of his children meeting Lionel Messi and Rafael Nadal, and how he impressed on them that the two men they’d just met are legends in their respective sports. “They said, ‘Yeah, but we live with one, too,’â€� Woods said. “I didn’t really think that they knew me that way. That put me backwards a little bit. I was very shocked by that.â€� Auriemma, who said he won an $800 off Woods from a wager on last year’s Hero, did try at least three times to get him to talk about his closest friendships. Woods didn’t give much, leading Auriemma to ask if he’d ever consider a career in politics because of his propensity to answer a question without revealing too much. “Everything you say is very measured, very thoughtful, very thought out,â€� Auriemma said. “I’m surprised because our friend Charles (Barkley) is like turning on the spigot.â€� Woods referred to “a couple guys in the business world, self-made billionairesâ€� when asked about his confidantes, though that question also led him to talk about getting his handprint set in cement with Nelson Mandela. Three copies of the cast were made: one for Woods, one for Mandela and one for Mandela’s museum. “I still get chills just thinking about it,â€� Woods said in probably the weightiest moment of the interview. “The middle of the palm, the blank spot, is the shape of Africa.â€� Woods said he plays golf with Justin Thomas and Rickie Fowler and employees in his office but also admit that, “I have a lot of acquaintances.â€� His closest friends are the people from his childhood, but “they have their own lives. We’ve grown up together, done a lot of things together, but we all lead different lives.â€� When asked who gets to see the “realâ€� version of himself, Woods fell back on his oft-discussed enjoyment in giving his peers and fellow players “the needle.â€� “It’s usually my friends. It’s me giving them a bunch of crap about a lot of different things, more than anything when we compete,â€� Woods said. “That’s when it really gets fun.â€� Auriemma is obviously a passionate golf fan – he quickly recalled Oregon’s Pumpkin Ridge as the site of Woods’ third U.S. Amateur victory – and the highlights came when he asked Woods about his time between the ropes, where Woods said he feels “more at home there than I do most places.â€� Woods said he would like to see the golf ball fly shorter distances and called for bifurcation (different rules for professionals and amateurs) but said the difficulty lies in determining the “line of demarcationâ€� where the divide in rules should occur.  “If the game keeps progressing the way it is with technology, the 8,000-yard golf course is not too far away,â€� he said. “I don’t see (bifurcation) happening in the near future, but at least there’s talk about it now.â€� Woods named Moe Norman and Lee Trevino as the greatest ball-strikers he’s ever seen, and said that Vijay Singh and David Duval were the best among his contemporaries. Among this current crop of players, he singled out Thomas, the FedExCup champion, and World No. 1 Dustin Johnson. Of Thomas, Woods said: “The way Justin Thomas hits the ball is pretty impressive. It doesn’t have a whole lot of curve to it. He hits it very, very flush.â€� And he noted Johnson’s ability to “hit the golf ball at that speed and that velocity and not hit it crooked.â€� Comparing today’s players to their predecessors, Woods said that YouTube has led to the end of unique golf swings because it gives players an endless number of technically sound swings to analyze from every angle. “You can copy a golf swing and make yourself look like that particular person,â€� he said. “These guys didn’t have video cameras. They had to go find it in the dirt and whatever worked for them, that’s what they went with.â€� Auriemma closed the interview by asking Woods for ways in which he felt he was misunderstood. He compared himself to a courtroom lawyer to dispel the theory that he didn’t enjoy the game, which he called his “bastion.â€� “If you’re a lawyer and you’re in the courtroom, are you smiling the entire time as you’re trying to win your case? No, because you have work to do,â€� Woods said. “That’s what I’m trying to do. I’m trying to grind it out and shoot the best score possible, and it takes a certain level of focus for me to do it. Unfortunately, that’s what people have based their assumptions on. What they see.â€�

Click here to read the full article…

Round 3 of the RBC Canadian Open takes place Saturday from St. George’s Golf and Country Club. Wyndham Clark leads the RBC Canadian Open by one stroke with a score of 7-under-par. Here’s everything you need to know to follow the action, including Featured Groups for PGA TOUR LIVE and newly expanded and extended coverage on ESPN+. Click here for more details. Leaderboard Full tee times HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Saturday-Sunday, 1 p.m.-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3 p.m.-6 p.m. (CBS) Radio: Saturday-Sunday, 1 p.m.-6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio) For outside of the U.S., click here for GOLFTV powered by the PGA TOUR PGA TOUR LIVE PGA TOUR Live is available exclusively on ESPN+ • Main Feed: primary tournament-coverage featuring the best action from across the course • Marquee Group: new “marquee group” showcasing every shot from each player in the group • Featured Groups: traditional PGA TOUR LIVE coverage of two concurrent featured groups • Featured Holes: a combination of par-3s and iconic or pivotal holes FEATURED GROUPS Marquee Group Carlos Ortiz, Corey Conners Featured Groups Mackenzie Hughes, Dylan Frittelli Trey Mullinax, Cameron Smith Featured Holes: No. 3 (par 3), No. 6 (par 3), No. 13 (par 3), No. 16 (par 3) MUST READS Wyndham Clark leads by one heading into the weekend at the RBC Canadian Open Burns, Scheffler in weekend mix at RBC Canadian Open McIlroy brings old friend off the bench to caddie in Canada Mackenzie Hughes aims to break Canadian drought at RBC Canadian Open Five Things to Know: St. George’s Golf and Country Club Best Canadian golfers ever

Click here to read the full article…

ORLANDO, Fla. — Asking Davis Love III, John Daly and Greg Norman a few questions about driving the golf ball is a no-brainer. After all, each of the three have impressive credentials in that area. Love led the TOUR in driving distance (measured drives) in 1986 and 1994 and ranked inside the top 10 in that category a dozen other times. Norman ranked inside the top 10 in driving distance for nine seasons during his heyday. Daly, of course, goes down as one of the PGA TOUR’s biggest hitters, leading in driving distance 11 times during a 12-season stretch. In 1997, he was the first player to average 300 yards in a single season. All three players are in this weekend’s PNC Father/Son Challenge and were gracious enough to weigh in on a few driving questions. DAVIS LOVE III Q: Who would you say are the top-three drivers of the golf ball of all time? You can include yourself if you want. DAVIS LOVE III: “I won’t include myself. I’ll let someone else do that. I’m probably not in the top 10. I would go with Greg Norman.â€� Q: Is this in order? Is he one? Or just in the top three?  LOVE: “Oh. I’m going Greg Norman for No. 1 distance and direction. Who else? I’m going to go Calvin Peete just because straight. He drove it as straight as anybody I’ve ever seen. And then, um … who else would I want to drive for me? Right now, Rory McIlroy.â€� Q: What are you thinking about Cameron Champ? Do you think he’d be outdriving you when you were in your prime? LOVE: “Oh definitely. He reminds me a lot of me. I played with him first two rounds at [The RSM Classic]. And he’s got a driver and then a 2-iron. “He hits the 2-iron past everyone’s driver. That’s what I did when I came out. I had a driver and then a Ping 1-iron. He’s the modern technology. You know when I came out in ’86, he’s that now, but with more power, you know, with the modern clubs. It’s just a whole different … but he’s that much longer than everybody else. That’s what I did, I was the longest in comparison.â€� JOHN DALY Q: Who would you say — you can include yourself — are the top-three drivers of the golf ball of all time? JOHN DALY: “Oh, that’s a hard one. The generations have changed. A month ago, I was being called the greatest of all time, but that was from fans. I just don’t know how you would even predict it. How would you take it, like, fairways hit over your career and how far the average was. But we only (measure) two holes on TOUR. I guess Nicklaus had to be one of the greatest drivers of the golf ball.â€� Q: If you had one guy to hit the tee shot on No. 15 at Augusta. who would it be? I guess that would be a good determining factor right there. DALY: “If it’s with an iron, it’s Tiger. You know? (Laughs) Driver-wise I mean, right now it’s [Brooks] Koepka because he hits it so far and straight. Right now. But the greatest of all time? Man, that’s tough.â€� Q: Do you think, in your prime, you hit it farther than Cameron Champ? DALY: “It’s hard to say. Persimmon wood with a real soft ball? I think the ball is what’s made the difference in people hitting it so far now. How far do you think Nicklaus would have hit it in the era that we grew up in?â€� Q: Yeah, it’s tough, I mean how far would you be hitting it with a new ball and a new head back in your prime? DALY: “Well, I did know when I went from playing a Ping laminated driver back in those days and I switched to a bubble with TaylorMade, and back then with a balata ball, it didn’t change it. I think the golf ball is what’s changed it.â€� GREG NORMAN Q: Including yourself, who are the top-three drivers of the golf ball of all time? And is Cameron Champ on that list? GREG NORMAN: “No, he’s got a long way to go before he’s on that list. He’s a kid. He hasn’t played all the great golf courses under varying conditions and stuff like that. [Pointing to his caddie] He’d probably be the better one to ask. Who are the three best drivers of the golf ball of all time?â€� CADDIE TONY NAVARRO: “He is the best driver of all time (points to Norman). I’d say Trevino was probably really good, and I think Adam Scott’s a great driver of the golf ball.â€� NORMAN: “I would say Adam Scott. I’d put Adam right in there too. I would say there’s three different generations, right? Know what I mean?â€� Q: What about Jack? NORMAN: “Look, Jack was a good driver, I don’t think he was a great driver. I mean, a great driver of the golf ball is when you can put it out there and every time, there’s no fear, you’re just going at it. I’d put Jack in probably the top dozen.â€� Q: Does Tiger hit enough fairways to make that list? NORMAN: “He’s not, he’s not a great driver. Everybody picks up on Tiger, but he’s not a great driver of the golf ball, because he’s not consistent. He’s a great middle iron and iron player. But he’s not a great driver.â€�

Click here to read the full article…