Hideki Matsuyama and his ever-changing equipment

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Each day at THE PLAYERS Championship, PGATOUR.COM’s staff writers will dive into the big issues and questions everyone is discussing. Spoiler alert – lots of talk about Webb Simpson. How would you best describe Webb Simpson’s course-tying 63? Ben Everill (Staff Writer) – Entertaining. Insane. Dramatic. It was certainly fun. A 63 with a double bogey … that’s impressive stuff. Sean Martin (Senior Editor) – Unbelievable. His putting was absolutely incredible. Everyone in his group could only laugh when he holed that putt from behind the 15th green. The ball slammed into the hole. It was headed 10 feet by if it didn’t hit the hole. Instead, it dropped in for birdie. Mike McAllister (Managing Editor) – When you have your competitors openly rooting for you to shoot 59 … well, that about says it all. Yet somehow, the island-green 17th still got the last laugh. Cameron Morfit (Staff Writer) – Justin Rose said it best: miracle round. Simpson made nearly 300 feet of putts over the first two days, which is astounding. It’s the best putting performance I’ve seen since Sung Kang over the first two days at the Houston Open last year. With a commanding 5-shot lead, is this tournament over? Everill – Not by a long shot. History at this tournament says it is but if ever there is a place to see a big swing, it is TPC Sawgrass. There were 57 double bogeys and 14 others in the second round alone. Martin – No one who has led by three or more strokes at THE PLAYERS’ halfway mark has failed to win. No reason to see that changing. This course is a great fit for Simpson, who is quietly having a great season. After qualifying for last season’s TOUR Championship, he’s 36th in this season’s FedExCup. McAllister – Maybe at some other courses, but not here. The last two holes alone keeps everybody honest. Simpson has the big lead, but he’s also wearing the big target. Morfit — Well, I mentioned Kang in Houston last year. I should also probably mention that he didn’t win. Russell Henley did. Of the chase pack, who’s most likely to track him down? Everill – Jason Day. The 2016 champion is seven shots back but at T8 he’s close enough. As conditions no doubt get tougher, the grinder in Day will come to the fore. Martin – I think Jason Day is a threat. He’s coming off a win and always a threat to go low. McAllister – I’m with Ben and Sean. Day will go super-low at least one of the weekend rounds. Whether that’s enough is the question only Simpson can answer. Morfit — I like Patrick Cantlay on this course, maybe because he absolutely loves this place. How many players say that? Several notable names – Tiger, Spieth, JT – made the cut on the number. Do they have any hope? Everill – No. Nada. Zip. Nothing. Buckley’s. Duck Egg (please reference your Australian dictionary for full understanding). Martin – There’s nothing a couple 65s couldn’t solve. But I don’t see it happening. McAllister – Fourteen shots off the pace? No. But I’m interested in who’ll play well in a seemingly hopeless situation. Spieth showed at Augusta National this year that he can produce the unexpected fireworks. Morfit — There’s an old golf writer trick that goes like this: To get an idea who has a chance and who doesn’t, erase the top guy on the scoreboard and then decide who’s still in it. But even playing that silly game, I’m going to say anyone who made the cut on the number has absolutely no chance.

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Adam Long (+400 for a Top 20) … From multiple angles, he took care of business at Mayakoba where he had recorded podium finishes in both prior appearances. His performance this time wasn’t as gleaming but he still signed for four red numbers and a T22. That extended his laughable trend of nine consecutive top 30s – when he’s made the cut – in his last 26 starts. That’s right; he missed the cut in all of the other 17. Hopes remain again in Houston where he finished T11 with four rounds of par or better last year. Martin Laird (+400 for a Top 20) … The Scot saunters in having connected top 25s for the first time since July of 2019. After a T11 in his title defense at TPC Summerlin, he finished T22 at Mayakoba. Always strong from tee to green, and with a little pop when he needs it, Memorial Park suits his long game, so he’ll need to tighten the screws on his putting that cost him a shade over four strokes en route to a missed cut on the track last year. If he does that, the next target would be another top 25. He hasn’t had three in a row since early 2015. Luke List (+375 for a Top 20) … He last appeared in Sleepers for the Sanderson Farms Championship and answered the bell with a T17. In the interim, he’s added a T7 at the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP. He can be fairly judged as a long hitter and little more, but in the last four months, he’s 7-for-10 with a pair of top fives to open that stretch. Just like with Laird, the putter is List’s nemesis, but it cost him only 1.40 strokes en route to his missed cut here last year. It’s important to add that he wasn’t showcasing the kind of overall form that he has been lately. Taylor Moore (+300 for a Top 20) … Not all momentums are alike, but he can’t be unhappy with his transition from a torrid 2021 portion of the Korn Ferry Tour to his foray on the PGA TOUR. With a pair of T10s to open the KFT Finals, the 28-year-old born in San Angelo, Texas, fortified his position in the opening graduate reshuffle. and sat out the finale. After missing the cut at Silverado, he went T17-T24 before sitting out the last four weeks. It’s too early to judge his skill at this level, but early on he’s aligning with what got him here in the first place. En route to a win, a second and two thirds among 13 top 10s on the 2020-21 KFT, he ranked T6 in total driving, 10th in greens hit, fifth in ball-striking, sixth in scrambling, sixth in the all-around and fourth in scoring average. Dawie van der Walt (+800 for a Top 20) … Although he’s a native South African, he’s a local. He lives in Kingwood, which is north of the city, and it’s not a small thing that he’s stayed given the fact that Hurricane Harvey flooded his home in 2017. This will mark his fifth career start in the tournament, four via a sponsor exemption (including this week) and once as an open qualifier (2018). The first three were forgettable but there was magic in the air when the event moved to Memorial Park in 2020. He sat T4 at the midpoint and T6 entering the final round. A closing 1-over 71 on what was the easiest day for scoring bumped him back to a T20 that remains his second-best finish in 34 career PGA TOUR starts. The 38-year-old came close with a T22 at the season-opening Fortinet Championship, which was an extension of form on the Korn Ferry Tour where he concluded its campaign with three top 15s in four starts to earn his second TOUR card. Odds were sourced on Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021. For live odds, visit betmgm.

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Quick 9: Open triumph heals Spieth’s Masters wounds

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