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DUBLIN, Ohio – It’s safe to say the members at Ledgeview Golf and Country Club in Abbotsford, British Columbia, have quite the rooting interest in this week’s Workday Charity Open. Adam Hadwin and Nick Taylor – who played their junior golf at Ledgeview – have put themselves squarely in the mix with rounds of 66 and 67, respectively, on Thursday. They’re chasing Collin Morikawa, who leads the tournament after a bogey-free 65 in the first round at Muirfield Village. RELATED: Full leaderboard | How to give Muirfield Village a second identity The 32-year-old Canadians – Taylor is the elder by six months – often roomed together on the road during their early years on the PGA TOUR. Each is married now, and both became fathers in the last year: Taylor’s son was born last October while Hadwin’s daughter arrived in January. For Hadwin, who tied for fourth at last week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic, Thursday’s round was his eighth straight in the 60s and tied his lowest at Muirfield Village, a course that hasn’t been very kind to him in the past. He’s played here five times previously and finished in the top 20 just once. “Obviously had a good week last week and kind of took that momentum into the round,” said Hadwin, who bogeyed his first hole Thursday but more than made amends with seven birdies. “Staying patient. It’s a golf course where you get too aggressive, it’ll sneak up on you pretty quick. “Even with softer conditions than what we’re used to, things aren’t running through fairways and greens are spinning and holding. You can be aggressive, but you get yourself on the wrong side of the hole, even though it’s sort of a tamer Muirfield Village than we may be used to, still a lot of slope on those greens. Just hitting good shots, quality shots to the right side.” Hadwin said his solid play has been building for a while even though he didn’t finish higher than a tie for 41st in his first two starts. Last week at Detroit Golf Club, he didn’t make the kind of rusty mistakes – balls hit out of bounds or in the water – that had marked his first two weeks back in action. “I felt like there were times where last week where I probably could have gotten a few more shots, but I really didn’t have any risk,” Hadwin said. “It was kind of a free-flowing, easy-type round and just not a lot of stress. When you can do that through multiple weeks, it helps a lot.” Hadwin’s buddy Taylor, though, didn’t know quite what to expect when he teed it up at Jack Nicklaus’ signature layout. He’s only played Muirfield Village twice and broken par just twice in six rounds. More to the point, though, the Workday Charity Open, which was essentially organized in a month after the John Deere Classic was canceled in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, marks Taylor’s first start since the TOUR resumed competition five weeks ago. “Obviously the break was great timing for a lot of reasons but have a bit of a cushion, take some more time off, I just really enjoyed being home,” said Taylor, who was grateful for the extra time with young Charlie. “… Yeah, I’m excited to get back out here and play, but it was nice to be home.” Taylor had picked up his second PGA TOUR win prior to the COVID-19 break, going wire-to-wire at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February. He played twice more and got in one round at THE PLAYERS Championship before the TOUR’s showcase event – and the season – was shut down. “I didn’t have a lot of expectations,” Taylor said, thinking about his five-month break. “I’ve played a lot of golf the last month, month and a half, so I felt ready in the sense of playing, in that playing mode. My coach has been here, so I’ve been able to tweak a few things, but I feel pretty good. “I know competitive rust is definitely a thing I’ve had to struggle with in the past, but I’ve felt that I’ve played enough, so I felt good there, and I had no expectations, which is a good thing. So, everything is going well.” Taylor, who is tied with Zach Johnson, Aaron Wise and Hideki Matsuyama, didn’t make a bogey on Thursday. He shot a relatively quiet 35 on the front nine, then drained a 33-footer for birdie at No. 10 and a mere 3-footer for eagle at the 11th to get into the mix. He finished with a flourish, making a 3-footer for a final birdie at No. 18. “I drove it really, really well,” said Taylor, who hit 11 of 14 fairways and 15 of 18 greens in regulation. “… I felt like I put myself in play, which is keeping me out here not being a bomber. … I putted solid, and just overall everything was great.”

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CARNOUSTIE, Scotland – You, watching back home on your hi-def 65-inch TV screen, go ahead and dream. You, having just paid 10 pounds for a nice fish-and-chips lunch in the spectator village, go ahead and dream. You, salivating in the media center about the possibility of the biggest golf story in a decade (this century?), go ahead and dream. Tiger Woods will not. He will not yet dream about winning his first major in 10 years. He will not project where it might rank in the pantheon of his major victories, currently in a holding pattern at 14. He will not get ahead of himself, even though his third-round 66 at The Open Championship secured a spot among the contenders heading into Sunday’s decisive round at Carnoustie. “We’re not there yet,” he said. “I know what you’re trying to say in asking but let me try and get there first. “Then ask me again.” He may not get there on a Sunday that promises to be full of drama and notable names, each anxious to produce his own winning story. He’ll start the final round at 5 under and in a tie for sixth, four shots off the lead shared by Jordan Spieth, Xander Schauffele and Kevin Kisner. Two other players are between Woods and the leaders — Kevin Chappell at 7 under and Francesco Molinari at 6 under. But Tiger is closer than he’s been in quite some time, certainly closer to the major form that hasn’t really been on display since four back surgeries left him wondering if he could even continue playing. Of course, he’s famously never won a major when he didn’t hold the 54-hole lead, and it’s a tall order asking him to do it now while he’s still in the midst of his comeback. Dreamers will dream, but the reality of the situation is that Woods may need another super-low round just to have a chance. At least Tiger has that chance. His 66 — his lowest score at any major since the 2012 PGA Championship, and his lowest at The Open since winning in 2006 at Royal Liverpool — was the product of consistent swings, off-the-tee accuracy and a few longer putts, including a 50-footer at the ninth hole that was his longest made putt of the PGA TOUR season. Even before he teed off Saturday, he saw that players were taking advantage of great scoring conditions, especially on Carnoustie’s first 14 holes. That meant the green light was on. “There were a bunch of guys that were putting up great scores, and the golf course was gettable,” Woods said. “I didn’t want to be too far back if the guys got to 10-under par today. I had to stay within reach. “And 5 [under] is definitely within reach.” At one point, Woods even had a share of the lead. That came after a two-putt birdie at the par-5 14th moved him to 6 under. Zach Johnson and Kevin Kisner – the 54-hole co-leaders who started the day at 6 under — had just teed off. It lasted less than 30 minutes until Kisner birdied the third hole. But the buzz was clearly evident – even if Tiger himself never realized he was the co-leader. “I didn’t know I was tied for the lead,â€� he said. “I knew I was within one. But I was right there. After I birdied 14, I still had some work to do. I’ve got four more holes to go. “I was just concentrating on trying to play the last four holes under par. As I said, not to try and let these guys get too far out of reach if they got to double digits.â€� Even if he doesn’t get it done Sunday, the signs are encouraging. Woods leads the field in driving accuracy – he’s missed just nine of 45 fairways this week — and his only wayward tee shot in the third round came with iron on the 18th hole. His drive hit just inches from the Barry Burn but bounced a few yards away into the rough. Woods had to pitch out to the fairway, but his wedge from 83 yards stopped just left of the pin for a tap-in par. He said the feeling on Saturday was similar to how he felt in May at THE PLAYERS Championship when he shot a third-round 65 that included eight birdies in his first 12 holes. Woods backed that up with a final-round 69 that left him tied for 11th at TPC Sawgrass. “In a major? I haven’t played too many,â€� Woods said when asked when the last time he felt this good. “I played pretty similar to this at THE PLAYERS Championship. Obviously the fifth major, possibly, but not like this in one of the big four events.â€� His last major victory was the 2008 U.S. Open, which he won by playing 91 holes on essentially one leg. It was a heroic performance as he grimaced every time he had to bend his left knee. Two days later, he underwent surgery and was out for the season. If and when he wins another major, it will be a different path but a similar sensation. A once- improbable achievement given his health two years ago. Now it’s a possibility. Maybe not on Sunday, but the Tiger of old is showing signs of awakening. “I’ve shown that I’ve been there close enough with a chance to win this year,â€� said Woods. “Given what happened the last few years, I didn’t know if that would ever happen again. But here I am with a chance coming Sunday in a major championship. “It’s going to be fun.â€�

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Professional golf resumes with Sunday’s charity exhibition, the TaylorMade Driving Relief best-ball Skins match, with the team of Rory McIlroy-Dustin Johnson facing the team of Rickie Fowler-Matthew Wolff at legendary Seminole. All proceeds from the match will go to COVID-19 relief. Although not long by today’s standards, Seminole is tough and will require the very best of each player to navigate the famed track. GolfWRX has identified a key club for each of the four golfers and will highlight one a day this week. Wolff’s TaylorMade Spider X putter SPECS Surlyn Insert, Full Sightline Loft: 3.5 Length: 33 Shaft: KBS Lie: 70 SW: D4 Grip: TaylorMade Lamkin “RedCap” As the “young gun” of the bunch this weekend at Seminole and already regarded as one of the purest ball strikers on TOUR, Matthew Wolff will ultimately have to putt well to give his team an opportunity to win the most skins. More than any club in his bag – yes, even his driver — Wolff lives and dies with his putter, and thus far in his young career, if he putts well, he’s extremely dangerous. TaylorMade Tour Tech Ryan Ressa has been working with Wolff since his days at Oklahoma State and this is what he had to say on Spider X. RYAN RESSA: “Wolff has been using the same Spider X copper since Jan 2019 when he was a sophomore at Oklahoma State. He put the putter in play in the first college event of the spring, the Amer Ari Invitational in Hawaii, and won. He was previously using a Mullen 2 Single Bend but immediately noticed better feel, alignment, and speed control. He has always played a single-bend model Mallet, occasionally testing other blades/mallets but always settling back to this gamer.” “His specs are 33 inches, full sightline, surlyn insert, 70-degree lie, 3.5 degrees of loft (as he likes to forward press right before he takes it back) … His putter is at D4 swing weight as well — relatively light for putter standards, but when we originally sent it out to him (early in the release), we still hadn’t received the weights for the back wings. He’s liked the weight the entire time and grown into it. Occasionally he will try heavier heads but always settles back on this original we sent him.” “In the past two years, he’s only played three rounds with a different putter. … In Korea, he played one round with the Del Monte before switching back in round two. The other event was the 2020 [Waste Management] Phoenix Open where he used the Truss Mallet for two rounds before switching back. He generally doesn’t tinker much with this X as he’s begun really grinding on his setup, alignment, and speed more so than trying new models. He’s got a lot of trust in this Spider X and is confident he can make anything with it.” Text provided by GolfWRX Director of Content @johnny_wunder Click here for more information on the TaylorMade Spider putters at PGA TOUR Superstore COMING THURSDAY: Rickie Fowler’s key club PREVIOUSLY: Rory McIlroy’s driver, Dustin Johnson’s wedges

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