WiretoWire: Revisting a magical Masters week

The first eight holes of his second round at the Masters were boring, at least by Phil Mickelson’s standards. Then he arrived at the ninth hole, where everything went haywire for a little while.

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Joseph Bramlett … If you’ve missed it, the Korn Ferry Tour also restarted when the PGA TOUR got back to business two weeks ago. If you did, then you’ve overlooked him finishing a respective T2 and T3 at the first two tournaments on the developmental circuit. Playing time always is a tough get in invitationals at the highest level, but that reality has been multiplied in the era of the pandemic. So, he just went ahead and led the field at the Korn Ferry Challenge at TPC Sawgrass in greens in regulation and The King & Bear Classic at World Golf Village in putts per GIR. Oh, and he’s just inside the top-125 bubble of the FedExCup race thanks to an 8-for-12 season with a T9 among three top 20s. Patrick Rodgers … The last time he made the trip to TPC River Highlands, he was a Sleeper. That was in 2018. He finished T26. It was his fifth consecutive payday in as many editions on the course. The highlight was a T3 in 2016. This season, he’s gone for five top 25s, the latest just two weeks ago at Colonial (T14) where he showcased both his muscle off the tee and touch on the greens. With his familiarity of the routing this week, the Travelers Championship presents as strongly as any tournament on the schedule where he could break through for his first victory. Including three appearances on the PGA TOUR as a decorated amateur out of Stanford, this marks his 150th career start. Brice Garnett … The 36-year-old last appeared in Sleepers for the Mayakoba Golf Classic and promptly delivered with a T11. He’s added three top 20s since to sit a comfortable 86th in the FedExCup. His latest effort was a T17 at last week’s RBC Heritage where only runner-up Abraham Ancer hit more greens in regulation. Garnett is making his fifth appearance at TPC River Highlands. He logged a personal-best T20 in 2015 despite fading late after sitting T8 through 54 holes. Kevin Tway … It feels like ages ago that he broke through at the 2018 Safeway Open because it’s been over 10 months since his last top 25. Yet, because of the valuable timing of the win, he already was exempt through next season without the aid of the lifeline extended by the PGA TOUR during the hiatus. Still, he’s just 169th in the FedExCup, so there’s work to be done to shore up that bonus. Makes sense that he makes a dent in the deficit this week as he been a monster at TPC River Highlands in the last two years with a T6 (2018) and a T5 (2019). Will Gordon … Don’t forget about this guy. While Sahith Theegala and Peter Kuest will generate the lion’s share of the attention at TPC River Highlands this week, it’s the 2019 SEC Player of the Year who’s already on his way at the professional level. Like the recently turned professionals out of Pepperdine and BYU, respectively, Gordon, a product a Vanderbilt, also is making his tournament debut, but he’s already recorded a T10 and another two top 20s on the PGA TOUR this season. His equivalent of 133.533 FedExCup points would slot him 147th among members, so he’s all but a lock to secure eligibility for the 2021 Korn Ferry Tour Finals. This week’s appearance is his fifth of an allotted seven sponsor exemptions. NOTE: Sleeper is a relative term, so Rob uses unofficial criteria to determine who qualifies. Each of the following usually is determined to be ineligible for this weekly staple: Winners of the tournament on the current host course; winners in the same season; recent major champions; top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking; recent participants of team competitions.

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The World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play continues Friday from Austin Country Club. Among those looking to move on are Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Viktor Hovland, Patrick Cantlay, and Scottie Scheffler. Here’s everything you need to know to follow the action, including PGA TOUR LIVE and newly expanded and extended coverage on ESPN+. Click here for more details. Scores Full tee times Bracket HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Wednesday-Friday, 2 p.m.-8 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. (Golf Channel), 2 p.m.-6 p.m. (NBC). Sunday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3 p.m.-7 p.m. (NBC) Radio: Wednesday-Saturday, 2 p.m.-8 p.m. ET. Saturday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday, 11 a.m.-7 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio) For outside of the U.S., click here for GOLFTV powered by the PGA TOUR PGA TOUR LIVE PGA TOUR Live is available exclusively on ESPN+ • Main Feed: primary tournament-coverage featuring the best action from across the course • Marquee Group: new “marquee group” showcasing every shot from each player in the group • Featured Groups: traditional PGA TOUR LIVE coverage of two concurrent featured groups • Featured Holes: a combination of par-3s and iconic or pivotal holes FEATURED MATCHES Marquee Group Scottie Scheffler, Matt Fitzpatrick Featured Groups Billy Horschel, Thomas Pieters Tyrrell Hatton, Daniel Berger Featured Holes No. 4 (par 3), No. 7 (par 3), No. 11 (par 3), No. 13 (par 4) MUST READS Match recaps from Thursday: WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play Who will advance? All the scenarios for Friday Bryson DeChambeau rides rules relief in injury return, floats long drive appearance after Masters Five Things to Know: Austin Country Club What do the numbers say about match play?

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