Patrick Reed near top of Masters leaderboard after first round

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MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Harris English shot a 5-under 65 on Friday at TPC Southwind to hold onto the lead in the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational. English withstood strong challenges from Cameron Smith and Abraham Ancer to hold the top spot at 13-under 127. Smith had a 62 that required only 18 putts, tying a PGA TOUR record for fewest putts in a round. Ancer shot a bogey-free 62, his tour-leading 14th bogey-free round of the season. RELATED: Full leaderboard | Leishman’s emotional reunion with parents Ian Poulter (66), Scottie Scheffler (65) and Sam Burns (64) were 10 under, and Louis Oosthuizen (64) and Bryson DeChambeau (66) were 9 under. DeChambeau missed the Tokyo Olympics last week because of a positive test for COVID-19. English opened the World Golf Championships event Thursday with a 62 to match his lowest PGA TOUR score and entered the second round with a two-stroke advantage over a foursome that included Poulter. The 2013 winner at TPC Southwind, English showed no signs of relinquishing his lead from the outset. Starting on the back nine, he rolled in a 35-foot birdie putt on the par-3 11th and added birdies at 14 and 16. The only blemish during English’s round was a bogey on the par-4 second hole. He missed a 9-foot par putt, but recovered immediately with an eagle on the par-5 third. He hit his approach inside 5 feet and made the putt to go up by three strokes. He added another birdie at No. 8. Two of English’s four PGA TOUR victories come this season, the Sentry Tournament of Champions in January in Hawaii and the Travelers Championship in June in Connecticut. He finished third in the U.S. Open. “This game is all about confidence and if you have confidence on your side, you just run with it,” English said. “In years past, a (bad shot) would send me into a downward spiral. Now I’m enjoying the grind of it.” A relatively wind-free day produced an abundance of low scores. Of the top 37 on the leaderboard, 34 shot 69 or better. With 48 of the world’s top 50 players in the 66-player field, English can’t afford to be comfortable with how the first two rounds have gone. “You’ve got to keep the gas pedal down,” he said. “The scores are pretty low right now and you can’t let up.” Smith, who finished 10th at the Tokyo Olympics last weekend, said he wasn’t aware of how few putts he had taken until he “adding them up” as he walked down the 17th fairway. “I said, `That can’t be right’,” Smith said. “It was just a good day on the greens. The surfaces here are so good.” Smith also had a bogey-free round that included an eagle on the par-5 third hole. He needed only seven putts through the first nine holes. On the back nine, he rolled in birdies on Nos. 12, 14 and 16 – all inside 25 feet – and nearly added a birdie on 18, sliding his 22-foot putt just left of the cup. Ancer used solid iron play to post his 62. Each of his eight birdie putts was inside 17 feet. “I’m really happy with the way I stroked the ball,” he said. “My long irons were spot on.”

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ORLANDO, Florida — After Demo Day on Tuesday, it was time to head indoors for the 2019 PGA Merchandise Show at the Orange County Convention Center. Inside the show, hundreds of golf companies displayed their latest products. My job was to find the coolest and newest products. Below are the highlights. Bushnell’s new Pro XE rangefinder One of the most popular rangefinder makers in golf has a new version that not only measures slope, but also measures temperature and altitude to produce an adjusted “Elementsâ€� yardage. The rangefinder can be made USGA conforming using a toggle that provides only the actual number, as well.  Previously, Bushnell used Jolt technology that would vibrate when the laser locked onto the flagstick. Now, the rangefinder will not only vibrate when locked on target, but a red ring will flash on the display, thus providing visual feedback that a golfer has measured the flagstick, and not a tree behind the green.  Additionally, using BITE technology, the Bushnell Pro XE has magnets on the side of the bodies that golfers can use to mount on a golf cart.  The new rangefinders will sell for $549.99 starting “sometime in March,â€� according to a Bushnell representative.  Voice Caddie SC300 Voice Caddie’s new portable launch monitor uses Doppler Radar technology, and it measures carry distance, swing speed, ball speed, smash factor, launch angle and flight apex. It also has a distance voice output – in other words, an audible reading of how far you hit the ball – and it measures atmospheric pressure.  At the PGA Show, Voice Caddie was running a deal for $330, but the regular price of these launch monitors will be $549.99.  Mizuno launches golf balls in North America Live at the PGA Show on Wednesday morning at its display booth, Mizuno announced new RB Tour and RB Tour X golf balls. These are Mizuno’s first golf balls to ever be released globally.  The higher-flying, higher-spinning RB Tour, and the lower-flying, lower-spinning RB Tour X golf balls each have four-piece constructions with urethane covers. The golf balls have C-dimples to reduce drag, Mizuno said, in addition to a “high-energy ionomer mantle layerâ€� and a dual core with graduated firmness.  They will sell for $43, hitting retail worldwide in February. EvnRoll’s new putters, Roll Board Since 2016, EvnRoll has been making milled putters designed by Guerin Rife that have “Sweet Faceâ€� technology on their faces to improve roll across the impact area. The company has now launched four new head models and “gravityâ€� grips.  The new models include an ER1TS blade, an ER2.2 midblade, an ER5B mallet and an ER8.3 players mallet. The line is highlighted by the ER1TS due to its extreme offset. EvnRoll said the slanted hosel, which makes the shaft measure one-inch from the leading edge of the putter head, helps create greater stability. The increased offset, according to EvnRoll, also helps golfers set the wrist without the need for a forward press.  All of the new putters come stock with ER5 Black grips, but new gravity grips are available for an upcharge. The V-shaped gravity grips have 35-gram EVA foam bodies, nine-inch 70-gram steel rods that run up the lower portions of the grips, and a 15-gram outer wrap. EvnRoll says the 120-gram grip designs help increase stability.  Available in 33-35 inches, the new EvnRoll putters will sell for $359 for the stock grip, and $399 with a gravity grip.  Cobra’s new King MIM wedge Cobra’s new wedges are completely machine-made.  First, the wedge bodies are made using metal injection molding (MIM), a process typically used in golf to make Tungsten inserts for club heads. As part of the process, a mixture of 304 stainless steel powder is heated and injected into a mold. Then, the wedges undergo a robotic polishing procedure on areas such as the sole and topline, instead of any hand polishing. The grooves are CNC milled, and the faces have a circular CNC-milled pattern to maximize spin. Additionally, the wedges are chrome plated.  The aim for Cobra, by eliminating hand polishing, is to make the same shape every time, thus ensuring consistency among retail products.  Cobra’s King MIM wedges come with a “Versatileâ€� grind, which the company said is the same grind Rickie Fowler uses, KBS Rev 2.0 shafts, and they come in lofts of 52-60 degrees. The wedges hit retail on March 15 and will sell for $139 apiece.  Garmin Approach G80 With both radar and GPS technologies, the Garmin Approach G80 acts as both a yardage-gathering device and a launch monitor. The 3.5-inch device measures club head speed, ball speed, smash factor, swing tempo and distance. It also provides golfers access to more than 41,000 golf courses worldwide, according to the company, acting like a GPS; the courses display in color on the screens. The G80 has Touch Targeting to get distances to specific targets, and it provides yardage numbers to front, middle and center of the green.  The Approach G80 is currently available for $499.99.  Wilson launches Staff Model Blades to the public The Wilson Staff blade irons that Gary Woodland popularized over the last few months will now be available in a retail version. They’re forged from 8620 carbon steel, have a high-polish mirror finish, a Fluid Feel Hosel and milled diamond patterns that frame the scoring lines.  Currently available in right-hand only, the new Wilson Staff Model Blades (3-PW) are selling for $1,199 and come stock with Golf Pride Tour Velvet grips and True Temper Dynamic Gold shafts. Golf Pride’s new grips Golf Pride has unveiled four new grip models for 2019, including a “Plus 4â€� Tour Velvet that’s built up with 4-wraps worth of rubber under the bottom hand, a Z-cord Align grip that adds to the Align lineup, new grips (MCC Plus 4 and Tour Velvet 360) that have Arccos sensors built into the butt end, and a new Tour SNSR grip shape that has less curve on the top portion of the grip.  The grips will launch on March 1, according to Golf Pride.  Lynx Golf’s interchangeable driver face Lynx Golf was displaying a number of new products for 2019, but the highlight is its new Prowler VT that has an interchangeable face. Using SFT, or “Switch Face Technology,â€� Lynx’s new driver has a removable face that’s attached using screws. Between different lofts and face angles, the Prowler driver has 25 different face options, according to Lynx.  The drivers displayed in two colorways – orange/black and silver/black – and they come with one face; additional faces will be available at an upcharge. The drivers are expected to go into production in March and sell for $525, according to the company.  Fling Golf This wouldn’t be a proper PGA Show highlight story without at least one outlandish golf product. Fling Golf provides a twist on the traditional game of golf with “sticksâ€� that look like a hybrid between a golf club and a lacrosse stick. Instead of using them to hit a golf ball, Fling Golf sticks are mostly used by loading a golf ball into the head and throwing it … until it’s time to putt, at least. To play Fling Golf, participants need just one stick. They start at $109, and are available in three models; the Launch for beginners (short, medium and long lengths), the Stinger, and the “BallStick,â€� which measures 51 inches and is made for “tall or potentially crazy players,â€� according to the company.  Fling Golf says there are more than 15,000 golf courses that are “Fling Golf ready.â€� BUY EQUIPMENT HERE: PGA TOUR Superstore

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