Woodland adjusting to life as a major champion

DUBLIN, Ohio – Early pace-setters Collin Morikawa and Xander Schauffele both found form in the opening round of the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide after changing putters pre-tournament. Morikawa’s 6-under 66 was the best of a weather interrupted opening round with Schauffele not far behind following a 68. They needed just 27 and 28 putts respectively with their new weapons. It was a story of back to the future for Morikawa. Despite winning the 2020 Workday Charity Open (a one-off event at Muirfield Village the week before the Memorial Tournament held due to the pandemic) with a blade style putter, the 24-year-old had since switched to a mallet style FCG TaylorMade putter. The mallet, combined with a saw grip, helped him claim the World Golf Championships – Workday Championship at The Concession earlier this season. But Morikawa wanted a more comfortable mindset and switched back. “The mallet, once in a while I just have a hard time setting it up and setting it down. And the best putters they’re never fidgeting with their putter, they just put it down and they know where they’re aiming, they know what it’s doing,” Morikawa explained. “So it’s a new putter, but it’s the same blade I used actually last year at this tournament, I used it a lot coming out of college. It’s just got a SuperStroke grip on, (and) a little different loft. “Overall, it’s a putter that I’ve used before, I feel comfortable with, I just wanted to go back to a blade because I’ve putted with a blade my entire life and why not just go back and figure out the things that I’ve been working on and forget about the stroke, forget about the putter, just try and make the putt.” While Morikawa is known to tinker with his putting the change was a little more surprising coming from Schauffele who ranked ninth on TOUR in Strokes Gained: Putting leading into the tournament. But Schauffele made a switch none-the-less, employing an arm-lock version of his regular putter as he looks to get even more advantage on the greens. Interestingly enough the four-time TOUR winner believes the putters should be banned. “My putting coach, my whole team honestly, we’re very against change and I had to see what the craze was about. I do feel funny, obviously being a top-10 putter on TOUR, switching putters or the style of putting. (But) it’s a distinct advantage,” Schauffele said. “I am for banning the armlock putters, but if everyone else is going to use it and I feel like they have a bigger advantage, I may as well do the same.” Schauffele said he’s got his sights on being the best putter on TOUR, this season that spot is currently held by South African Louis Oosthuizen. Leading into this week Oosthuizen gained +0.996 strokes a round putting while Schauffele sat at +0.737. “I know how good it can be and I think you still have to read putts and get the speed down correctly, but I’m in a very similar setup compared to my old putter and I know I can putt with a shorter putter, so I figured if I can get an advantage on the greens and maybe get to first in putting, that would be something special. So I’m giving it a go,” he added. “It’s better, it’s easier. It’s more consistent. My coach and I work a lot in San Diego on start lines and making sure the ball’s doing what we think it’s doing. And the fact that it’s anchored to your arm, you can flinch in your hands, but you can’t flinch your entire left arm, so that’s the process behind that.” The rules of golf outlawed anchoring to the body in 2016 but Schauffele thinks the armlock style should be included in that ban. “Because it takes the stress of putting out of the game. Obviously hitting shots and chipping and all kinds of stuff are difficult, but your putts are what give you the score on the card,” he said. “And so it’s ruined people’s careers and it’s helped people’s careers. I think putting is an art in our game and when you can lock it into your arm or anchor it to your body, it kind of gets rid of that.”

Click here to read the full article…

Shane Lowry forever will celebrate his victory at The Open Championship at Royal Portrush in 2019, but even though the pandemic canceled last year’s edition of the oldest major, if all you remembered were images and stories of the after-party in his native Dublin, you’d understand why it could have taken two years to simmer down. Lowry’s title in Northern Ireland was just as popular a coronation as the lone major victory of Northern Ireland’s Darren Clarke at Royal St. George’s in 2011, albeit for very different reasons. Indeed, both Irishmen would be prominently positioned in a Power Rankings consisting of blokes with whom you’d trade barbs over a pint or three, but Clarke was 42 years of age and still in the throes of life without his wife, Heather, who died of cancer five years prior. The 149th staging of The Open returns to Royal St. George’s this week. It’s the 15th time that it’s hosted. Clarke and Lowry are in the field of 156 that required the R&A to play every club in its bag to construct. For more on that, the backdrop, the weather – naturally – and other details, continue reading below the expanded ranking of projected contenders. RELATED: Nine things to know about Royal St. George’s | How the field qualified POWER RANKINGS: THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP Bryson DeChambeau, Tyrrell Hatton, Webb Simpson, Sergio Garcia, Daniel Berger and Tommy Fleetwood will be among the notables reviewed in Tuesday’s Fantasy Insider. If you’re among the devotees who follows how fields are built, then you’ve witnessed one of the busiest turnstiles in history. Including past champions who have been returning regularly, as of Monday there have been 21 early withdrawals. Many but not all have been connected to complications caused by COVID-19, but the R&A has solved the puzzle on how to present the strongest field available, and an international smattering of talent at that. (For the entire field and the 21 who opted out, read Qualifiers. Of those committed, 30 competed in the 2011 Open Championship at Royal St. George’s. Like it did that year and will again this week, the track in Sandwich – as the seabird flies, the town in southeastern England is closer to France than it is to London – will test at a par of 70. The seventh and 14th hole serve as the par 5s. The course tips at 7,189 yards, down 22 yards from a decade ago. Averaging 73.018 in 2011, Royal St. George’s ranked as the hardest course in relation to par of all that season. When it was laid out as a par 71 in 2003 – the fourth hole was a par 5 – it was even more difficult at 3.802 strokes over par. This is expected in this tournament. Unpredictable lies are the backbone to the links experience, even on the shortest grass, and the uncertainty of ever-changing conditions atmospherically deliver 1-2 punches throughout. Unlike most links layouts, Royal St. George’s consists of a front nine that snakes out to the sea with a recoil on the inward side. There also is uncharacteristic separation in between holes, and six are adjacent to the coast, although, and of course, all 18 are subject to the wind. PGATOUR.com’s Ben Everill is on site and assembled a helpful guide in “Nine Things to Know.” Courses in The Open rota are as much about execution and experience as they are about patience and understanding. You take what it gives, you don’t force the issue and you walk away with a smile when you connect with the relative successes earned. Baked into all of that is a belief that reducing errors is more important than circling par breakers. Prevailing winds will push in from the north and are forecast to be sustained at 10-15 mph for the first and final rounds. They’ll freshen a bit in between. Daytime highs will open in the low 70s before retreating into the 60s for the remainder. Most surprisingly, rain is not expected. That is not a misprint. In addition to the Claret Jug, the champion will receive 600 FedExCup points, $2.07 million, exemptions into The Open through the age of 60, exemptions into the next five editions of the other three majors and a five-year membership exemption on the PGA TOUR. 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.

Click here to read the full article…

Joaquin Niemann … All right, here we go. It doesn’t seem like 10 months ago when he first appeared in this space (for the U.S. Open), but he kept busy in the interim. His whirlwind schedule included redemption at the Latin America Amateur Championship and another victory in a professional event in his native Chile, this time by five strokes four weeks before his first appearance at the Masters that his LAAC victory yielded. Speaking of debuts, the Valero Texas Open marks his first tournament anywhere as a pro. He leaves behind the No. 1 ranking in the World Amateur Golf Ranking at just 19 years of age. Starts at the AT&T Byron Nelson (May 17-20) and Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide (May 31-June 3) are among others to follow. Chris Kirk … A moving target no matter your criteria, he connected for a T8 and T13 at TPC San Antonio in 2015 and 2016, respectively, but bracketed them with a T48 in 2011 and a missed cut last year. The 32-year-old also has registered a trio of top 15s in 2018, the last a 13th-place finish at Bay Hill a month ago, but he finished outside the top 30 in all of his other seven starts. While inconsistency among most touring professionals isn’t unusual, it is surprising that he’s competed the entire season while positioned no better than 150th in the Official World Golf Ranking, especially when you further consider that he’s 41st in strokes gained: tee-to-green, 46th in proximity, 43rd in adjusted scoring and 28th in bogey avoidance. Shawn Stefani … As he has before at the Houston Open, the native Texan delivered in his last start there with a T24. He warmed up the previous week with a T13 in the strong winds at Puntacana. While comfortable in that challenge, he’s also proven to be streaky, so there’s multiple reasons to expect him to sustain form in San Antonio where he’s 3-for-3 since 2015 but still chasing his first top 25. His confidence comes to life on the greens on which he’s 41st in strokes gained: putting this season. Nate Lashley … The 35-year-old has endured the usual challenges facing rookies at this level, but he’s turned it around just enough to warrant some attention in the wind of the Hill Country. After placing T28 at Corales where he prevailed on the Web.com Tour last year, he recorded a career-best T18 in Houston. What’s more, his strength of striping irons matters most in his debut at TPC San Antonio. Currently 49th on the PGA TOUR in greens in regulation and leading the circuit in proximity to the hole. Also T26 in bogey avoidance. Daniel Summerhays … A tournament that has been very, very good to him extended another opportunity in the form of a sponsor exemption this week. Saddled with conditional status this season, playing time has been limited to seven starts. He failed to crack a top 50 in the three cuts he made, but since 2012 at TPC San Antonio, he’s 6-for-6 with three top 10s and a T13.

Click here to read the full article…