Sebastián Muñoz wins Sanderson Farms title

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RIO GRANDE, Puerto Rico – He was a late addition to the Puerto Rico Open field, but so far, Charl Schwartzel is making the most of his week. The two-time PGA TOUR winner shot 4-under-par 68 Friday at Coco Beach Golf Club, tied for his lowest round of the 2018-19 season. Schwartzel admitted the 7,500-yard course was playing difficult through two rounds with swirling winds testing the patience of some of the best players in the world. He said keeping the ball in play was key, and Friday Schwartzel hit two more fairways and four more greens in regulation than in his first round. The par fives (two of which on the back nine measure over 600 yards, and one, the par-5 15th is into the wind and is the second-hardest hole on the course) were playing particularly tough, he said. “They’re so long you can’t reach, and with the wind blowing, they’re tough to score on – and that’s where we do most of our scoring,� he said. “It (was) a hard round of golf. You can’t let up on any shot… but I played well today.� Schwartzel finished T-70 at THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES but hasn’t made a cut at a full-field event this season. He acknowledged he’s been having some bad results, but feels like he’s close to putting it all together. “I just had some crucial moments in the rounds in the last few weeks gone wrong, so you miss the cut by one or two shots and you sit at home again,� he said. Schwartzel, who finished 105th in the FedExCup standings last year, decided to enter this week’s event in Puerto Rico on Friday evening last week. He was a victim of some bad weather at the Genesis Open, he said, but was playing well and wanted to get the competitive juice flowing again. “I didn’t want to sit at home and keep practicing because I felt like there is no need to practice,� he said. “I was lucky enough to enter Friday evening and I’m glad I did. It’s nice to be here.� The 2011 Masters winner said he’s feeling “100 percent� health-wise, he just hasn’t been able to string four good rounds together this season. He’ll make his first cut of the season in Puerto Rico and is within shouting distance of the lead. Schwartzel said with the course conditions being so difficult, he won’t be changing his approach over the weekend. “You have to keep the ball in play and take the opportunities when they come,� he said. “I feel like I’m putting well, so if you’re going to do anything on the weekend you’ll need to make a few more putts and that obviously will get you running up the board.�

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It didn’t take Dustin Johnson long to break in his new TaylorMade equipment on the course. Using a new M4 driver for the very first time, Johnson hit the defining shot of the tournament with the club on the par-4 12th hole at Kapalua’s Plantation Course during the final round.  Coming off a frustrating bogey, Johnson rocketed his tee shot over 430 yards and watched as it raced down the hill to within a couple inches of the cup for a tap-in eagle. The improbable shot started a torrid stretch that saw Johnson go five under over the next five holes to pull away from the field en route to an eight-shot victory at the Sentry Tournament of Champions.  Johnson hit two drives over 400 yards on Sunday with the new driver that debuted in Maui. The club (along with M3) features the company’s new Twist Face design that improves accuracy on off-center hits by curving the face more open in the toe portion of the face and more closed toward the heel.  Johnson tested both M3 and M4 in practice early in the week and felt M4 produced a flatter ball flight that would be better suited for the wind at Kapalua. The loft sleeve was adjusted one click open, to the standard setting, to produce Johnson’s go-to fade shot shape. Here’s a look at the rest of the TaylorMade equipment in Johnson’s bag.  Driver: TaylorMade M4 (Fujikura Speeder 661 Evolution 2.0 Tour Spec X shaft), 9.5 degrees 3-wood: TaylorMade M4 3HL (Project X HZRDUS Black 6.5 95X shaft), 16.5 degrees) Irons: TaylorMade P-790 (3-iron; True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shaft), TaylorMade P-730 DJ Proto (4-PW; True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shafts) Wedges: TaylorMade Milled Grind (52 and 60 degrees; KBS Tour Black 130X shafts), TaylorMade Hi-Toe (64 degrees; KBS Tour Black 130X shaft) Putter: TaylorMade Spider Tour Black Ball: TaylorMade TP5x PGA TOUR Superstore: Buy equipment here

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