Charles Howell III still has burning desire to add to trophy collection

Poland’s Adrian Meronk will go into the final round of the European Tour’s Alfred Dunhill Championship with a slender one-shot lead.

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PALM HARBOR, Fla. – Elton John is on a farewell tour in 2019. So is rocker Bob Seger. And don’t forget golfer Kenny Perry. He may not be selling t-shirts to tournament attendees, but he is the midst of one last go-around, too.  Perry, 58, firmly established as a force on the Champions Tour (where he has won 10 times, including the 2017 U.S. Senior Open), decided to use his career top-50 earnings exemption this season to go back and compete at some of his favorite PGA TOUR spots. Innisbrook’s Copperhead is one of those tracks he loves, with Perry having played here 10 times since 2000. Friday, he was inside the cutline at the Valspar Championship with two holes to play before a double-bogey at the par-3 eighth (his 17th) would send him home early once again.  For those keeping track, that’s five starts and no made cuts this season for Perry, who a decade ago on the PGA TOUR still was a cash machine.  You know what? He may be 0-for-5, but Perry nonetheless is managing to enjoy himself.  When Jim Furyk, soon to be 49, talked earlier this week about staying competitive on the regular tour beyond his 50th birthday, he pointed to Perry, with a heaping of respect and a dash of amazement. “When I think back,� Furyk said, “Kenny Perry was a stud at 48, 49. He was playing on Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup teams and not only playing on those teams, he was one of our best players on those teams.� But Perry said Friday at Valspar that competing against the young guns on lengthy PGA TOUR layouts – Innisbrook’s Copperhead this week is a par 71 measuring 7,340 yards – is something he doesn’t possess the firepower to do any longer.  “My results tell me that I can’t play out here,� Perry, a 14-time winner who has made 648 PGA TOUR starts and has more than $32 million in career earnings, said after a second-round 72 left him at 3-over 145. “I don’t hit it far enough and I don’t spin the ball enough. I mean, I’m playing with Louis Oosthuizen, and his ball is spinning and dancing all over the place out there.� When Perry won the U.S. Senior Open two years ago, he talked about struggling to find the motivation needed to get him playing good golf again. Asked if competing against the best players in the world was motivating him, he said, “Honestly, it probably works the other way for me. It just tells me that I can’t play out here. That’s OK. I love being out here, and love watching friends of mine like Scott Stallings and Justin Thomas compete. I’ve almost become a fan. I’m 58, and I still love to compete.� Perry will return to the Champions Tour next week when it visits Biloxi, Miss., but he’ll soon be back for more action on the PGA TOUR. He wants to play Colonial, where he’s won, and Memorial, where he’s won, and possibly Hilton Head.  “I’m definitely playing the 3M, too,� he said, referencing the first-year PGA TOUR event in Minneapolis at TPC Twin Cities, which has undergone some significant changes to better challenge PGA TOUR professionals. “I’ve won that event three times on the Champions Tour – though it won’t on the same golf course.�

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ORLANDO, Fla. – A year ago, Collin Morikawa was finishing up his collegiate career at Cal. Today, he’s already a PGA TOUR winner (Barracuda Championship) and stands on the precipice of his first start in THE PLAYERS Championship next week. His wild ride got even wilder still at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard on Friday. RELATED: Leaderboard While Tommy Fleetwood was shooting his second straight 76 to end his TOUR-leading made-cuts streak at 33, Morikawa, who turned 23 last month, carded a 1-under 71 to reach 3 under overall, four back of co-leaders Tyrrell Hatton (69) and Sung Kang (68). With Morikawa’s 21st straight made cut, and with Fleetwood’s off-week at Bay Hill, Morikawa takes the No. 1 spot on the TOUR’s consecutive cuts list. “A little bit,� Morikawa said, when asked if he was surprised. “It’s not easy out here, and every week you’ve got to go in, be prepped, you can’t let up. These courses will bite back.� Exhibit A: Fleetwood was coming off a week in which he contended to the bitter end at The Honda Classic, so his 8 over total, five on the wrong side of the cut line, was a surprise even to him. His last missed cut on TOUR came at the 2018 Wells Fargo Championship. Friday also marked his first missed cut in 48 worldwide starts. “Just a bad week, really,� he told golfchannel.com afterward. “It was going to happen eventually. It was just poor on most fronts this week. It’s disappointing.� Morikawa’s round included an eagle at the par-5 16th hole, where his second shot stopped 5 ½ feet from the pin. He said he was aware of being the new No. 1 on the cuts list, and added that he and his caddie, J.J. Jacovac, joke about chasing the 142 straight cuts by Tiger Woods (1998-2005). Some believe that record may never be broken. “I want to get to the next level of contending every week, not just making cuts and finishing whatever,� Morikawa said. “For me, it’s what can I pinpoint, where can I save a shot or two or three through the tournament, because it really matters out here. It makes a big difference. “Me and J.J.,� he added, “we laugh about whatever Tiger’s at, one forty-something. Why not? For me, I just have to keep doing the things I need to do to play my golf, even if it’s a course that doesn’t necessarily fit my eye or my game. It’s what the best players do.�

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