Power positive for COVID; out of Zurich Classic

BETHESDA, Md. – Tiger Woods has cranked up his putter and pushed his way into contention after a 5-under 65 in the second round at the Quicken Loans National. After making just 48 feet, 7 inches of putts in Thursday’s opening 70, Woods rammed home 122 feet, 5 inches of them on Friday to move to 5 under for the tournament and just four shots off the clubhouse lead through the morning wave. While his putter was decidedly better, it was a chip-in on the 18th hole, his ninth of the round, that really kick-started the 79-time PGA TOUR winner’s charge. Coming off a three-putt bogey on the 17th, Woods missed the 18th green short and to the right but then clipped his wedge shot perfectly for birdie. It meant he turned in 2 under and made three more birdies in the next five holes to ride the momentum and have him in striking distance. “I was hitting that shot in the practice round and it’s exactly the same shot and it was pretty sweet because I was just trying to hit kind of a high cut spinner in there and it worked out perfectly,â€� Woods said of his chip. Woods had defiantly stated he putted well on Thursday despite ranking 92nd of 120 players in Strokes Gained: Putting. He reiterated that on Friday when he finished his round ranked fifth in the same stat of those playing the morning wave. After years of using a blade-style putter, the 42-year-old switched to a mallet style this week. “I tried to clean up my ball‑striking a little bit and continue doing what I was doing on the greens yesterday,â€� Woods said of his round. “I hit a lot of good putts (yesterday), they just didn’t go in. I started on my line with the right pace and today I did that and a lot of them fell. “I haven’t done that in probably about four tournaments, they’re going to start falling and today they fell.â€� Perhaps the important part of the round was the final two holes where he got up and down for par from bunkers. It enabled Woods to put TOUR win No. 80 firmly in his sights. But with temperatures expected to soar over the weekend it is going to be tough for all competitors. Woods was tied for second through 36 holes at the Valspar Championship earlier this season and would go on to be runner-up. He started the weekend just two shots back. In all his other starts, he’s had to climb from well back to get into contention. “I didn’t want to lose it on the last couple holes … I could have easily lost it but I made two nice saves,â€� Woods added. “I’m not that far away from putting it together where I can win. Right now, I’m only four back. I’m in a similar position to where I was at Valspar. The scores aren’t going to be that low and it’s going to be a tough weekend. “It’s going to be hot, it’s going to be long grinds. It will be hotter than now, which is scary. It will be over 100 degrees and it will be a long weekend mentally and physically. I’m in a good position.â€�

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Round 2 of the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links takes place Friday. Here’s everything you need to know to follow the action. Round 2 leaderboard Round 2 tee times HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Thursday-Friday, 3 p.m.-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday-Sunday, 1 p.m.-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3 p.m.-6 p.m. (CBS). PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday 6:45 a.m.-6 p.m. (featured groups), Saturday-Sunday 7:45 a.m.-3 p.m. (featured groups). Saturday-Sunday 3 p.m.-6 p.m. (featured holes). Radio: Thursday-Friday, 12 p.m.-6 p.m. Saturday-Sunday 1 p.m.-6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio). FEATURED GROUPS Rory McIlroy, C.T. Pan, Rickie Fowler Friday: 1:05 p.m. ET (No. 1 tee) Daniel Berger, Brooks Koepka, Patrick Reed Friday: 12:54 p.m. ET (No. 1) Webb Simpson, Bryson DeChambeau, Davis Love III Friday: 7:18 a.m. ET (No. 10 tee) Dustin Johnson, Hideki Matsuyama, Gary Woodland Friday: 7:29 a.m. ET (No. 10 tee) MUST READS Spieth rebounds from triple, cards eight birdies Els gets off to fast start Horses for Courses: Harbour Town Q&A: Fabulous dad life of Mike Thomas Inside bulked-up Bryson’s big drives CALL OF THE DAY

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AVONDALE, La. – Sometimes we all need a little help to get to where we need to go. And sometimes that help needs to come from somewhere outside the norm. The opposites attract theme certainly went to a new level as Billy Horschel and Scott Piercy combined perfectly to take out the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. Horschel is a wild child known for his fiery temperament and outward displays of emotion. Piercy is insular. Laid back. Barely you see more than an understated fist pump when he plays. But this week when it was needed Horschel lifted Piercy up, and likewise Piercy quietened Horschel’s mind back down when the time was right. And it actually all started well before a ball was hit in New Orleans. It turns out the usually blazing fire of Horschel had been burning a little dim of late. After missing the cut in five of six events from the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-am through the Masters,  Horschel’s frustrations were rising although he hoped changes being made would turn things around. He’d already brought in a new sports psychologist. He’d figured out his putter was the wrong length. And his coach was working on simplifying swing thoughts and efforts. But it was a pep talk from Piercy – who came in and roomed with his teammate in Hilton Head during the RBC Heritage – that helped tip things over the edge. “Pretty much it’s just the same thing that my team has been telling me for the last month, but Scott comes in… just closes the deal type deal,â€� Horschel admitted. Not one to usually interfere with other players’ situations unless asked, Piercy couldn’t resist when it came to his teammate. “He’s been close and I just kind of felt like I could get him over the edge,â€� Piercy said. The talk centered around going to a stock shot more often – if not always. For Horschel that was his draw. “Billy can get going and start just striping it; hit every shot he wants. But when you get off with your ball striking … I like to try to keep it simple and just hit one shot,â€� Piercy explained. “It’s kind of taking out the two-way miss a little bit. I felt like once he could get the draw going for him that the cut would be easy when he needed it.â€� “I got to simplify it for Billy because he’s like, ‘Hey, is it good here? Is it good here? Is it good here? Hey, what about this?’ And you’re like, no, just go hit the draw. Go hit your draw. I think it calms his mind a little bit. Just instead of being technical and the perfectionist that he says he is … give himself a little more margin.â€� Horschel was fifth at Hilton Head and 11th at the Valero Texas Open leading to their win in New Orleans … so clearly it worked. A final round 5-under 67 in the difficult alternate shot format pushed the pair to a one-shot victory over Jason Dufner and Pat Perez. The win is 2014 FedExCup champion Horschel’s fifth PGA TOUR triumph – which includes the 2013 Zurich Classic back when it was an individual stroke play event -  and takes Piercy’s win tally to four almost three years since he last won. But the help between teammates was not a one-way street. Piercy had lost some of his confidence on the greens this season. And certain shots around TPC Louisiana just didn’t make him comfortable. He wasn’t his usual cool self. At 172nd in Strokes Gained: Putting on the season Piercy needed to find some of Horschel’s passion. “He really picked me up this week with the putter,â€� the 39-year-old Piercy said. “Seeing his ball go in the hole time after time, it gave me sort of an inner fire to want to do the same thing because I haven’t been doing that this year. “It’s kind of weird, because I don’t feel like I played very well at all. But him doing what he did, I just kind of helped a little bit here and there. “His energy also gave me a boost for sure.â€� He joked the key was having a partner who putted for him all week – and Horschel certainly made the lions share for them – but Piercy made a few that he hadn’t been making this year. And he was the one who had to make the short putt to win – although the team admitted to a few nerves when it “did a victory lapâ€� around the hole. Horschel was there with encouragement and reads to lift his friend all week. Including the winner. “Scott is not a bad putter. He just needed to see a couple putts go in. He rolled the ball well the last couple days,â€� Horschel added. “The last putt … it just wanted to take a little trip around the hole once or twice to soak it in.â€� It’s amazing what we can accomplish – with a little help from our friends.

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