An seeking first win at Wyndham Championship

AVONDALE, La. – On Sunday morning, with her husband on the verge of his first PGA TOUR win in nine years, Jennifer Palmer and their son Mason hopped on a plane from Dallas to New Orleans. Daughter Madelyn opted to stay back home. Normally, Jennifer would’ve been here all week. After all, she explained, “it’s New Orleans. Yummy food, and everything else.â€� But she had mom duties. Mason was involved in a middle school play, “Shrek Jr.â€� Opening night was last Thursday, with more performances the next two nights. Plus, he had weekend hockey practice. He wanted to see dad, though, so he skipped Sunday’s practice to join his mom. The trip was worth it. The 42-year-old Palmer ended his lengthy drought, partnering with 24-year-old Jon Rahm to claim the Zurich Classic of New Orleans by three strokes over Sergio Garcia/Tommy Fleetwood. RELATED: How Palmer and Rahm paired up | Jennifer Palmer’s cancer battle | Final leaderboard | FedExCup For Rahm, it’s his third victory in as many years on TOUR, and his seventh worldwide win since turning pro. The Spanish youngster’s future is as bright as they come. “He’s got a special art, that’s for sure,â€� Palmer said. “He’ll be winning lots of tournaments, multiple majors … [I’m] honored to be a part of his story.â€� The most touching story on this day, though, was the one Palmer has been through. 2017 was a difficult year for the Palmers. Jennifer was dealing with breast cancer; she had started chemotherapy the previous fall on Ryan’s 40th birthday. Meanwhile, inside the ropes, his career had reached the tipping point. He couldn’t putt. “He had the yips,â€� recalled his long-time caddie and good friend James Edmondson, uttering the one word no golfer never wants to hear. And certainly never wants to admit. “I’m not going to use that word,â€� Palmer said “… but it was getting close to it.â€� It was indeed bad. Two-footers were troublesome. In 2012, Palmer was a top-20 putter on the PGA TOUR. In 2017, he ranked 190th. He didn’t even know there were that many players to be ranked. At the time, Palmer was 7 years removed from his last win. Edmondson, who’s been on his bag since 2002, worried about his good friend’s future. “I thought he was done,â€� he admitted. “It was really, truly hard to watch. I just had to tell him – you gotta change something.â€� Palmer always has used a conventional putting grip. It has served him well, with three TOUR wins. But now at a crossroads, he was willing to make an adjustment. At first, he looked at changing putters – he went to a golf store in San Antonio and bought six different putters. Later, he was testing out 10 different putters. But he decided to stick with his old putter but, on the advice of coach Randy Smith, change hit putter grip to a Flat Cat, which is essentially four-sided instead of rounded. That resulted in a grip change, as he moved away from conventional and opted for the claw grip. His first tournament using the changes was the 2017 John Deere Classic. Results weren’t immediate, but he stayed with it, worked diligently on his putting that off-season. “Just kept grinding and grinding with it,â€� Palmer said. Then at the 2018 Farmers Insurance Open, he was part of a three-man playoff. Jason Day won the tournament that day, but for Palmer, it solidified his confidence in the new grip. “It was a last-ditch effort to change the putting stroke,â€� said Edmondson, an accomplished golfer himself, having won the club championship multiple times at Colonial in Fort Worth, where he and Palmer are members. “That’s what kept him out here the first 10 years and it almost took him off. “For him to battle that, along with everything else that was going on at home, just shows the character he has and the hard work he put into it.â€� The renewed confidence still wasn’t translating into victories. He had a couple of sniffs last fall, including THE CJ CUP @NINE BRIDGES in Korea when he tied for third. He was top-5 at The Honda Classic in February. But at age 42, and with kids like Rahm making noise, not taking advantage of those opportunities can make an veteran wonder just how many are left. Palmer never lost faith. “One round kind of kept me out of it each time,â€� he said. “But I just kept believing in what I was doing. I knew my game was good enough.â€� On Sunday, in the Foursomes alternate-shot format that may be the cruelest in all of golf – Geoff Ogilvy, as noted many times on the TV coverage Sunday, once called it a “ 4-1/2 hour guilt tripâ€� – Palmer certainly never wanted to leave his partner hanging. He was putting not only for himself but for Rahm. At the eighth hole, he saved par by rolling in a 6-footer. At 11, he saved par with a 7-footer. At 14, he rolled in an 11-footer for birdie. One hole later, Rahm followed with a 24-foot birdie putt that essentially sealed the deal. That allowed Palmer and Rahm to join their walk toward the 18th green at TPC Louisiana, soaking in a victory that, while shared, felt just as sweet as their individual accomplishments. Certainly it did for Palmer, who – even though he is a Dallas Cowboys fan — loves New Orleans and is a good friend of Saints coach Sean Payton. Minutes after the last putt dropped, when asked about the nine-year journey, the tears started to come from a man who, like most Texans, usually plays it close to the vest with his emotions. Palmer then hugged his wife, hugged his son, hugged his friends from his hometown of Amarillo who also made a special trip to see him win. Jennifer is cancer-free now, although she still must attend to things in hopes of staying that way. Ryan, meanwhile, has his favorite part of the PGA TOUR season coming up with events back home in Dallas and his beloved Colonial at the Charles Schwab Challenge. And now he’s back in the winner’s circle — not that it’s really any surprise to his caddie, who offers not only tough love, but unwavering faith and devotion. Around Christmas time, buoyed by that close call in Korea, Edmondson told some of his buddies that Palmer was not done winning. He never told that to Palmer himself, but he believed in his man. One friend said it was all talk. Edmondson said he would put it into writing, and so he did, signing his name to a document that Palmer would win in 2019. It may not be notarized, but the evidence is there in case anyone needs proof. And now? “We’re going to Maui,â€� said Edmonson, looking ahead to next season’s Sentry Tournament of Champions. “It’s been awhile.â€�

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PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — Justin Thomas was playing well enough to want to keep going, with six birdies in a seven-hole stretch before it was too dark to continue Friday at the Genesis Open. It also was raining. It was cold. And he already had been slogging through Riviera for nine hours. “It’s hard playing 30 holes, but it’s really hard when it’s raining and it’s soft,” Thomas said after making 14 birdies on a long day that sent him home tied for the lead with Adam Scott at 10-under par. “My legs are tired, so I just need to go home and rest and get some food and try to go to sleep early as I can.” Thomas, who opened with a 5-under 66 in the morning, was 5 under for his second round through 12 holes. He had an eight-hole stretch when he didn’t make a par (six birdies, two bogeys), ending with a two-putt par on No. 3. Scott was in the group right behind him and just as efficient, also opening with a 66 and reaching 5 under. His only blemish was a long three-putt for bogey on the par-5 17th on a course he loves. Scott won at Riviera in the rain 14 years ago, a tournament that was cut short to 36 holes and decided in a playoff. “I just got the momentum going and I kept it going,” Scott said. Tiger Woods had a few big moments that didn’t last long. He had four straight birdies around the turn in the morning, a streak that ended with a three-putt bogey at No. 12. He had four three-putts in the first round for a 70. His highlight in the afternoon, as the temperatures and rain became steady, was a 45-foot eagle putt on the par-5 first to start his back nine. It really was an Instagram moment, for a fan screamed out, “Make this! It’s going on Instagram!” Woods delivered, only to bogey the next two holes to end his day at even par for the second round, 1 under for the tournament. “I’m stiff right now,” Woods said after playing the most number of holes in one day since his return from a fourth back surgery. “It got pretty chilly toward the end. The ball wasn’t going very far.” No need telling that to Thomas. He was in the right rough after hitting driver 260 yards, leaving him 222 yards to a back pin on an elevated green. He pounded 5-wood to 10 feet and made his last birdie of the day. J.B. Holmes was another shot behind at the turn. Holmes was the 18-hole leader thanks to a hole-in-one on the par-3 sixth hole, followed by a birdie that led to an 8-under 63. At the time, he was one shot ahead of Jordan Spieth, who played all of six holes on Friday to complete his bogey-free 64 in calm conditions. Spieth figured it would be like that all day. He was wrong. Light rain fell as Woods, Thomas and Rory McIlroy (3 under through 12) were finishing the first round. It never really stopped the rest of the day. The start of the tournament was delayed seven hours Thursday, so just about everyone who makes the cut will face long days at some point. The second round resumes at 7 a.m., and the other half of the field starts their second round at 7:40 a.m. The cut figures to be made Saturday afternoon, leaving no more than about two hours of play the rest of the day. Those in or around the lead after 36 holes can expect to go 36 more on Sunday. Dustin Johnson played 36 holes on Sunday when he won the Genesis Open two years ago. Long before it was getting dark, Holmes could see just fine when he hit 8-iron to the back pin at No. 6, located just to the left of the bunker in the middle of the green. “Hit it exactly how I wanted it and it went in,” Holmes said. “It looked good the whole time.” Spieth took advantage of the restart on Thursday. His opening shot on the par-4 10th hit the cart path twice and went into shin-high grass so thick that it would have been hard work just to get it out. The round was scrapped and he returned for a routine par. He made the rest look easy except for the 13th hole, where he hooked his tee shot into a eucalyptus tree, played a slice on the outer side of the trees and got up-and-down for par. “It was probably better than any of the birdies,” he said. He holed two chips for birdie, one of them on the toughest hole at Riviera on No. 12, birdied all three of the par 5s and made a pair of birdie putts from about 10 feet when he returned Friday morning. He said those six holes were the best the putter has felt in some time. “I was able to kind of figure out a way to feel some freedom in the stroke and I was able to roll a couple of those in,” he said. Woods is the tournament host with his foundation running the event he first played in 1992 as a 16-year-old amateur. Next year, the tournament gets elevated status on par with the Memorial (Jack Nicklaus) and Arnold Palmer Invitational by offering a three-year exemption to the winners, getting a 120-man field and offering $9.3 million in prize money. But the course has never been kind to him. Riviera is where Woods has played the most times as a pro (9) without ever winning.

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2021 Rocket Mortgage Classic, Round 2 Top 10 win probabilities: 1. Joaquin Niemann (T1, -10, 17.9%) 2. Max Homa (T3, -9, 9.2%) 3. Tom Lewis (T1, -10, 7.6%) 4. Chris Kirk (T3, -9, 7.3%) 5. Troy Merritt (T3, -9, 4.4%) 6. Kevin Kisner (T6, -8, 4.1%) 7. Russell Knox (T6, -8, 3.4%) 8. Cameron Davis (T6, -8, 3.3%) 9. Sungjae Im (T14, -7, 3.2%) 10. Jason Kokrak (T21, -6, 3.1%) Top Strokes-Gained Performers from Round 2: Putting: Tyler Duncan +4.5 Around the Green: Sean O’Hair +3.1 Approach the Green: Vincent Whaley +3.4 Off-the-tee: Jason Kokrak +1.7 Total: Max Homa +6.4 NOTE: These reports are based off of the live predictive model run by @DataGolf. The model provides live “Make Cut”, “Top 20”, “Top 5”, and “Win” probabilities every 5 minutes from the opening tee shot to the final putt of every PGA TOUR event. Briefly, the model takes account of the current form of each golfer as well as the difficulty of their remaining holes, and probabilities are calculated from 20K simulations. To follow live finish probabilities throughout the remainder of the Rocket Mortgage Classic, or to see how each golfer’s probabilities have evolved from the start of the event to the current time, click here for the model’s home page.

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