Leaderboard: What’s going on at Pebble Beach

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Experience is supposed to count at TPC Sawgrass but someone forgot to tell the Spanish duo of Rafa Cabrera Bello and Jon Rahm. Cabrera Bello has just one previous appearance (where he missed the cut) and Rahm is on debut at THE PLAYERS Championship. Yet the two have given themselves a great shot at joining Sergio Garcia as Spanish champions of the PGA TOUR’s signature event. With help from three birdies in his final four holes Cabrera Bello shot a 2-under 70 to grab a share of the morning wave clubhouse lead at 5-under while Rahm’s 72 has him just a shot back at 4-under. The 22-year-old Rahm, a winner at the Farmers Insurance Open, and a runner up at the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play comes off a fourth place finish at the Wells Fargo Championship. At fourth in the FedExCup standings, the 22-year-old Rahm’s confidence is sky high. He remained positive after notching four birdies to counter four bogeys on Friday. “I’m not a perfectionist, but I expect a lot of myself,” Rahm said. “… I try to have full confidence in my abilities and that’s probably partly why maybe when I haven’t been playing my best golf I’ve still been able to score because I have full confidence in I myself and try not to doubt it.” Cabrera Bello is looking to be just the third player to make his first PGA TOUR title come at THE PLAYERS – joining Craig Perks (2002) and Tim Clark (2010). ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT WORKS WONDERS A more open-minded approach paid dividends for Webb Simpson during the second round of THE PLAYERS Championship. As a result, the former U.S. Open champion finds himself firmly in the mix after making some changes in his putting earlier in the week. First, though, he needed a bit of an attitude adjustment. “I’ve been more open minded to changing, to tweaking,” Simpson said. “I’ve always been open minded with the full swing so I thought, why do I get so closed minded with the putting, why not try a few different things, kind of a ‘who cares’ mentality. “We tweaked a few things with setup, with the grip, with the routine even and found something that’s been good.” Simpson entered the week ranked 186th in strokes gained putting. He ranked 26th among the field that now numbers 144 after the first round, though, and was in the top 10 when he finished the second. Four birdies in a five-hole stretch as he made the turn vaulted Simpson up the leaderboard. He chipped in at the seventh hole, then made putts of 25, 10 and 14 feet at Nos. 9-11 to get to 5 under. The real key, though, and perhaps the most satisfying part of the round for Simpson, were the putts he made on Nos. 13-18. He saved par with putts of 11, 12, 6, 8 and 10 and made a 10-footer for bogey at No. 14. “It proved to me that the 6-, 8-footers are huge, because if I miss a couple of them in the middle of the round, I lose momentum,” Simpson said. “But I made them and I kept going.” Simpson, who lost in a playoff earlier this year at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, has never had a top-10 finish at THE PLAYERS in seven previous starts. In fact, Friday’s 69 was just the fourth time he’s broken 70 in 22 rounds on Pete Dye’s diabolical layout. DÉJÀ VU ALL OVER AGAIN For the second straight week, world No. 1 Dustin Johnson finds himself near the cut line at even par after rounds of 71-73. Johnson can only hope to have the same kind of success as he did last weekend at the Wells Fargo Championship. After consecutive rounds of 67 at Eagle Point, he was waiting in the clubhouse for a potential playoff that could have given him a fourth win in as many starts. Then Brian Harman drained a dramatic 30-footer on the 72nd hole to leave the man who ranks first in the FedExCup one stroke shy and in a tie for second. Johnson said Friday that he felt that if THE PLAYERS lead stayed around 6 or 7 under he’d have a chance this weekend. “I’m going to have to play two really good rounds on the weekend,” he said. “But tomorrow I’ll probably be teeing off pretty early and (I can) go out and post a good number and get myself back in the golf tournament.” HEARN BACK IN CONTENTION David Hearn is no stranger to the leaderboard at THE PLAYERS Championship and 2017 is no exception. A 69 on Friday left the Canadian veteran tied for the early lead with Rafa Cabrera Bella. Hearn has never missed the cut in five starts at TPC Sawgrass and posted his best finish, a tie for sixth, in 2014. A year later Hearn was tied for the lead after the first round and trailed by two after the second and third. A final-round 78 sent him tumbling down the leaderboard but did nothing to temper his enthusiasm for the course. “I think that I enjoy playing this golf course because I think it’s a mental test from beginning to end,” said Hearn, whose caddy lives in nearby St. Augustine. “There’s no real gimme holes on this golf course. … “I think a lot of guys think this golf course can play really, really hard but I enjoy that challenge. So it’s been a good two days for me and I’ve had some good success here in the past so I’m looking forward to another good weekend.” ODDS AND ENDS Chez Reavie looked to have thrown away his decent start to the tournament with three bogeys in his first six holes Friday but he fought back late with three birdies in his final four holes to grind out a 72 and stay at 4-under… Sergio Garcia aced the island green 17th on Thursday but on Friday he needed a little bit of luck to stay dry. His club selection of pitching wedge nearly cost him as his ball barely reached the green, bouncing hard off the railroad pillars and ricocheting to the putting surface… When Anirban Lahiri came to the 18th tee he sat just five shots off the lead at even par. Sadly the Indian star then hit three balls in the water on his way to a 10, just one short of Andre Stolz’s record 11 from 2005.

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What was once taboo is becoming wildly popular. From gum to eye droppers, CBD oil is becoming as common in professional golf bags as tees and ball markers.

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The postseason has arrived. Now it’s time for the PGA TOUR’s best to compete for the FedExCup. Every postseason participant has a chance to take home the TOUR’s season-long crown. With FedExCup points quadrupled in the Playoffs, players in the back of the pack can make a Cinderella run. The regular season’s strongest performers still have an advantage, though. The top 125 in the FedExCup standings are eligible for THE NORTHERN TRUST, which begins Thursday at Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, New Jersey. The top 100 will advance to next week’s Dell Technologies Championship at TPC Boston. Then 70 players will compete in the BMW Championship at historic Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania.  The Playoffs field will be pared to 30 for the season finale, the TOUR Championship at Atlanta’s East Lake Golf Club on Sept. 20-23. While every player in the TOUR Championship field can still win the FedExCup, the top 5 in the standings can clinch the Cup with a win at East Lake. Here’s a quick look at the men who will play for that prize.

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