The First Look: Puerto Rico Open

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Collin Morikawa got a big stroke of fortune at the DP World Tour Championship. Rory McIlroy felt he got no luck at all. The drama in the second round of the European Tour’s season-ending event was reserved for the final hour at Jumeirah Golf Estates on Friday — and the tournament’s two headline players were at the center of it. Morikawa, looking to become the first American to win the Race to Dubai title, pushed his tee shot at the par-3 17th hole and shouted, “Get in the bunker.” The ball, instead, bounced on a downslope in the rough and headed toward water, only for it to hit a hazard post and stay dry. An up-and-down for par followed by a final-hole birdie saw The Open champion shoot a second straight 4-under 68, leaving him three shots off the lead and in a strong position to finish the season as European No. 1. “Those are the kind of breaks you need heading into the weekend,” Morikawa said. McIlroy, the first-round leader after an opening 65, reached the 18th tee with a one-stroke advantage despite hitting only five of 13 fairways to that point. He drove left into a bunker and his third shot kicked left short of the green and dribbled into the water. A double-bogey 7 completed a round of 70 which saw him fall out of the lead, held jointly by Shane Lowry (65), John Catlin (65) and Sam Horsfield (66) on 10 under par. “That part of the fairway where the ball was, was just sort of thatchy and came up spinny into the wind,” McIlroy said. “I hit a good golf shot and felt like I didn’t deserve to be in the water.” McIlroy will play with Morikawa in the third round as he goes in search of back-to-back wins following victory at THE CJ CUP @ SUMMIT on the PGA TOUR last month. Morikawa doesn’t need a win to have a successful week in Dubai. He came into the tournament ranked No. 1 in the Race to Dubai standings, narrowly ahead of compatriot Billy Horschel, who is only even par after rounds of 74 and 70. Horschel needs to win or hope Morikawa finishes well down the 52-man field to jump into first place. Neither of those scenarios look likely. Only four other players — Tyrrell Hatton, Min Woo Lee, Paul Casey and Matt Fitzpatrick — can overhaul Morikawa but they would also need a win on the Earth Course. Casey and Fitzpatrick are best placed to launch a weekend move, having shot rounds of 69 to be 5 under overall and five strokes off the lead. Like McIlroy, Morikawa struggled off the tee and said he didn’t hit his irons well, a rare occurrence for a player many regard as the best iron player on the PGA TOUR. He birdied four of his first seven holes — starting by chipping in from just off the green at No. 1 — but was a picture of frustration after making five straight pars around the turn and then missing a 10-foot putt for par at No. 13 to drop four shots off the lead. Two of his best shots of the day came in the final two holes, his pitch to nine feet from near the water at No. 17 helping him save par before his third shot at the par-5 last settled inside three feet. “Wasn’t hitting (the same) quality of golf shots,” Morikawa said, comparing his second round to his first, “but was able to make some birdies and kind of minimize the bogeys.” McIlroy retained his lead throughout his front nine, but found himself one back from Lowry, Catlin and Horsfield after missing a 6-foot par putt at No. 10. He responded by chipping in from the fringe at the 11th hole and went back into the lead by rolling in a birdie putt from 16 feet at No. 16. Everything went wrong down the last, though, after choosing to take driver — a club he struggled with all day. “It wasn’t the greatest way to finish and I was just sort of holding it together most of the day,” he said. “It would have been nice to finish off a bit better but still right in the golf tournament.” Lowry had a bogey-free round that really caught fire in the back nine with three birdies and a chip-in eagle in a five-hole span from No. 11. The 2019 Open champion will go out in the last group with Catlin, the 129th-ranked American. “It’s two more days left and then the end of a long year and a half,” Lowry said. “I’m looking forward to giving everything and leaving it on the course this weekend.”

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LOS ANGELES — Sam Burns wanted to pay respect to tough Riviera by playing it safe. It led to a 5-under 66 on Friday to tie the 36-hole record at The Genesis Invitational and build a five-shot lead going into the weekend. RELATED: Leaderboard | Dustin Johnson lurks at Riviera Among those chasing is Dustin Johnson, the reigning Masters and FedExCup champion and a past winner at Riviera. Another shot back was Jordan Spieth, who is starting to make himself at home near the top of the leaderboard. Burns kept his bogey-free day intact toward the end of the round when he came up short of the eighth green, his 17th of the morning. He chipped it about 10 feet short — anything too strong could lead to big trouble — and made the par putt. He also handled two of the par 5s, and picked up so much roll on the firm turf at the 476-yard 12th hole that he had only a pitching wedge into the green and made a 5-foot putt. “Whenever we were kind of in a tricky spot, just kind of took what the golf course gave us,” Burns said. “There’s definitely times where I’ve tried to force it a little bit, but this just is not a golf course you want to do that.” Burns was at 12-under 130, matching the record last set in 2004 by Mike Weir and Shigeki Maruyama. Johnson led a group at 7-under 135 despite playing the three par 5s in only 1 under for the week. Part of the problem is that Johnson has hit only one fairway on the par 5s. That was the final one he played Friday, the 17th, and it set up a simple up-and-down that moved him a little closer. He also has a simple solution to improve his par-5 performance. “Drive it in the fairway,” he said. “I feel like I’m playing really well. Just need to get a little bit more out of the rounds.” Joaquin Niemann finished with eight pars for his round of 68 and was five shots behind. He and Johnson were joined by Tyler McCumber and Jason Kokrak, who each shot 68 in the morning. McCumber is the miracle worker this week. His finger got caught trying to open a window is his hotel room Tuesday, and his best option was for a doctor to remove the nail on his left index finger. He did that Wednesday, hit about five balls and figured he could give it a shot. “It’s pretty wild how quickly the body does adapt to things,” McCumber said. “I thought it was a little better today just to focus on the golf and not really worry about the finger.” Riviera injured some of the games best players. Rory McIlroy made only one birdie in his round of 76 and missed the cut. Justin Thomas followed his opening 77 with a 73 and missed the cut. So did U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau after a 69. McIlroy had the PGA TOUR’s longest active cut streak at 25 events dating to the 2019 Open Championship at Royal Portrush. The streak now belongs to Xander Schauffele at 22. Burns is a 24-year-old from LSU who has what it takes to win when it falls into place. He tied for sixth at the Barbasol Championship when he was still an amateur, and it took him only one year on the Korn Ferry Tour before he was in the big leagues. Now it’s a matter of breaking through, and he’s off to a strong start at Riviera. “I’d like to think that I have all the tools to win out here,” Burns said. “There’s a lot of good players — really, really good players. I try not to get caught up in that and just trying to get better each week.” Riviera is playing fast and difficult this year with such beautiful weather and occasional gusts of wind. Aside from Burns and his great play over 36 holes, no one else was better than 7-under par. Ten players in the 120-man field had two rounds in the 60s while playing in ideal weather. “It’s one of those rare weeks where you can’t get away with firing at flagsticks,” Spieth said. “There’s not much rough, but when you get in the rough it takes the spin off enough to where you can’t get into pins. A lot of times when you miss the greens, it’s harder to get it closer than where you could have hit your approach. “It’s such a different experience from what we normally have on TOUR.” Spieth was three shots behind going into the weekend in the Phoenix Open, shot 61 and shared the 54-hole lead. He tied for fourth. Last week at Pebble Beach, he had a one-shot lead after 36 holes and led by two going into the final round before tying for third. Now he’s six shots behind Burns, but in reasonable position on the leaderboard. It’s an upward trend. “It’s not like you can go chase people on this golf course,” Spieth said. “So I’m happy with where I’m at, but just eliminate a couple of the minor mistakes here and there and try to keep clean cards on the weekend and let the rest of it take care of itself.”

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Dustin Johnson and Wayne Gretzky are more than just professional athletes who’ve had success in Los Angeles. They’re family, as well. That’s why Johnson, a past winner of The Genesis Invitational, is wearing a pair of adidas TOUR360 22 shoes Thursday at Riviera that include several tributes to Gretzky, the former Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings star. The subtle nods to Gretzky on the shoe include his legendary number “99” – the only number retired by every team in the NHL – appearing on the lateral side of the right shoe and on the sockliner. Adidas also made sure to include a colorway and three stripes with the colors of the Edmonton Oilers, with whom he won four Stanley Cups. Thursday’s pair also features Johnson’s “DJ” logo on the left shoe and sockliner. The familiar navy colorway is a nod to one of Johnson’s favorite colors to wear in competition. “Once Dustin and Wayne started playing together pretty frequently in pro-ams we always had it in our heads to create something unique that celebrated both of them,” said Masun Denison, global footwear director, adidas Golf. “The TOUR360 22 provides the perfect canvas for something like this and knowing how much hockey players love to play golf, we know this will be exciting for fans of both sports.” While sold separately, adidas also created a special hat to commemorate this model. The headwear matches the colorways of the shoe and features the “99” logo across the front. Both the hat and limited-edition colorway of our TOUR360 22 will be available in limited quantities beginning Friday, February 25 on adidas.com, the adidas app, and at select retailers worldwide.

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