Time to heal: Wie taking rest of season off

Here are nine tidbits from the second 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. PAIN OR GAIN These were the top-five picked golfers in the PGA TOUR Fantasy One & Done presented by SERVPRO: With 15 players stranded, Round 2 will not be completed until tomorrow morning. The cut is not official yet and neither will be the places used in the descriptions below. I’ll use the current suspended leaderboard as a point of reference with the understanding it can change tomorrow. As it stands, all five above will be playing the weekend with Mickelson leading the group at T26. Yikes. Hey, at least DJ rallied and made the cut! There’s hope! You See, L.A.! Former UCLA Bruin and Southland native Patrick Cantlay looks to add win No. 2 to the season as he shares the clubhouse lead after his first two rounds. The Shriners champion pointed out today that when he was at UCLA they practiced at Bel-Air Country Club and didn’t play Riviera much. He’s looking to join John Merrick (2013) as the only Los Angelinos to win this event. He’s leading the field in strokes-gained: approach-the-green and putts per GIR. Gee, Mac! Last week after round two at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, I wrote about Graeme McDowell shooting 80 at Spyglass after 71 on Pebble Beach. He opened this week with 69 and followed it with 66 to currently share the lead in the clubhouse on 135 (-7). He opened         69-70 last year before 71-77 on the weekend (67th). He also shot 66 in 2009 en route to T41, his best finish in five tries before this year. Best of luck to both of you who played him this week in the PGA TOUR Fantasy One & Done presented by SERVPRO. Not Finished Yet Sam Saunders continues to pique the interest of gamers for a second year in a row at Riviera Country Club. The first-round leader from 2017 has three more holes to tame Saturday morning that could see him possibly lead after 36 holes this year. He’s tied with Cantlay and McDowell currently even with a double on his card Friday. His 11 birdies over his first 33 holes have been impressive. … Scott Stallings backed up his even-par round Thursday with a monster Friday, as he’s currently five-under-par with two holes remaining. He’s been trending properly (T23, 7th) the last two weeks and is rewarding gamers who have jumped on board. Momentum Rafael Cabrera-Bello, making his first start at the Genesis Open, rattled off six birdies in his first seven holes on Friday. The Spaniard moved up 50 places to T11 after signing for 67 (-4). He keeps reinforcing his class regardless of prior course knowledge. … German Martin Kaymer is on his debut as well as posted a bogey-free 67 (-4) to move up 71 spots to T15. … One of my favorite fantasy players, Austin Cook, is following suit of the Ryder Cuppers above. He moved up 90 spots after a magnificent 66 (-5) that included a whopping seven birdies against two bogeys. Quick learners! Night Shift Top 10 selections in the PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO Daniel Berger and Marc Leishman are going home early regardless of what happens early Saturday morning. Berger, the sixth-most popular selection and Leishman, No. 10, need to be subbed out if they are currently occupying a spot in your live, line up. Berger now has MC in two starts in this event while Leishman continues his all-or-nothing run with his fourth MC in nine tries. Berger will get another long look from gamers next week at PGA National. He lost in a playoff to Padraig Harrington in his first try in 2015. Streakers K.J. Choi had never missed a cut here in 17 previous tries in his career. His 74-74 this week ends that marvelous streak. … Southern California native Cameron Tringale was perfect in seven tries with five checks cashed for T25 or better. He’ll join Choi in traffic after 74-73. … Brendan Steele snuck in the back door (72-71) for his seventh weekend in a row at Riviera. … Brian Gay’s streak of top-10 finishes ends at two weeks in a row with 74-75. Wood You? Tiger Woods checked in at No. 15 in the most-selected player department in the PGA TOUR Fantasy One & Done presented by SERVPRO. He was also the 13th-most selected in the PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO. His only stat category inside the top 50 this week was two-hole driving distance. He made bogey on 12 of his 36 holes and also recorded a double. This course doesn’t have any water but PGA National does and that’s where he’s heading next week. He’s never won that event either. Study Hall Jim Herman is shutting it down for a while, according to this tweet. Weekly and season-long gamers also read some interesting news today about Stewart Cink: Nicholas Lindheim WD during round 1 with an illness. It’s his second in-tournament WD this season. He also withdrew at Shriners after round one last November. … Jim Furyk returned to competition and MC after 73-73.

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SANDWICH, England – Jordan Spieth says “living in the external” is where he belongs, and it was the key to an impressive start at The 149th Open. The former FedExCup champion continued his return to form this season, putting everyone on notice at Royal St. George’s with a very tidy 5-under 65 during the early wave. The 2017 Open champion sat just one off the pace set by 2010 champion Louis Oosthuizen as he relied on feel and instinct, much like he did in his giant-killing years of 2015-2017 that yielded 10 victories. His mastery of the blustery winds on the seaside links course helped provide six birdies over his last 14 holes including a run of four straight on the front nine but perhaps more impressive than the birdie barrage was the mentality the 12-time PGA TOUR winner showcased post round. “There’s a lot of external factors over here, and I think that external is where I need to be living. You get less swing-focused and more shot-focused over here because the second you take your brain off of what you’re hitting, you may not find your ball,” the Texan explained. Since February’s Waste Management Phoenix Open where he tied for fourth Spieth has notched up eight top 10s from just 13 starts including his drought breaking win at the Valero Texas Open, a runner up finish at the Charles Schwab Challenge and third place efforts at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-am and the Masters. From 2018 until Phoenix this year, Spieth went winless and had just 12 top 10s in 70 TOUR starts. He spent most of that time preaching patience as he worked through swing issues but now he’s talking up his chances. “To be honest, the path that I’m on and where I’ve been before in the game, I feel really good about my chances going forward, (being) as good as they have been historically,” he said as a warning shot to the field. “I feel like I’ve been trending the right way and certainly had a chance this year already at Augusta. Made some mistakes in the first round and second round that I shouldn’t have made that I very well could have won that golf tournament this year. I like where I’m at. “By no means do I feel like I’m where I want to be mechanically yet, but this year has been a really, really good progression for me, and that’s all I’m trying to do is just get a little bit better each day.”

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Professional golfer Justin Rose and his wife, Kate Rose, have announced a $1 million donation to the Blessings in a Backpack Orlando chapter to help feed elementary school children who might otherwise go hungry on the weekend. This donation from the Kate & Justin Rose Foundation will go on to immediately feed 1,000 children, and help enhance the food bags they are given. The newly announced donation will also help start a match program for the Orlando nonprofit, founded in May 2020, to get volunteers on board to start new programs for the organization. The gift has been set up to have maximum immediate impact on feeding children, while also creating sustainability for the organization. This $1 million donation is in addition to their original gift of $1.15 million to found the Kate & Justin Rose Foundation Chapter of Blessings in a Backpack, Orlando, affectionately known as ‘Rose Blessings Orlando'. WHAT: Kate & Justin Rose Foundation $1 Million Donation to Orlando Nonprofit WHO: Interview with Kate Rose (by appointment), board members and/or volunteers who have seen the impact firsthand. WHEN: Interested media members should contact Joe Culotta to set up an interview. WHERE: Due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, interviews will only be available through Zoom. More about the Kate & Justin Rose Foundation's Connection with Blessings in a Backpack … Feeding hungry tummies and curious minds is what the Kate and Justin Rose Foundation is all about. Its focus is on a three prong approach to improving children's lives by providing nutritional support, funding education and providing ‘first exposure' positive life experiences for children. Through nutrition, the Foundation teamed up with Blessings in a Backpack beginning in 2009 to provide weekend nutrition to children who would otherwise go hungry. Their support has grown over the years, ultimately providing more than 500,000 hunger-free weekends to more than 15,000 children over the course of 11 years. Seeing what a huge impact they have had on feeding food-insecure children in Orlando, they put more resources behind their ongoing efforts. A gift of $1.15 million was made in 2019 to found an official chapter of Blessings in a Backpack in Orlando, the Kate & Justin Rose Foundation Chapter of Blessings in a Backpack, affectionately known as ‘Rose Blessings Orlando', to ensure sustainability and to reach their goal of feeding 16,000 children by 2030. Because of the increased need due to COVID-19 and the success the Orlando Chapter has had in reaching children, the Kate & Justin Rose Foundation has agreed to invest an additional $1 million to feed 1,000 more Orlando-area children immediately, to create a matching gift pool for grassroots/volunteer-led programs, and to accelerate their goal of feeding 16,000 children. About Blessings in a Backpack Blessings in a Backpack mobilizes communities, individuals, and resources to provide food on the weekends for elementary school children across America who might otherwise go hungry. As closures caused by COVID-19 lead to a rise in unemployment and poverty, it is projected that 18 MILLION CHILDREN* are experiencing food insecurity. That's one in four American children who may be struggling with access to food. The consequences of hunger are much more than a growling stomach. Poor nutrition can result in a weaker immune system, increased hospitalization, lower IQ, shorter attention spans, and lower academic achievement. Children are fed during the school week by federal government programs. We want to make sure they're getting nutritional meals over the weekend, too, so that they can show up for school on Monday nourished and ready to learn. For more information, please visit Orlando.blessingsinabackpack.org.

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