Long leads British Masters by one stroke

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – There’s a small, handwritten note in the Quail Hollow clubhouse that points out the course record and the direction of the first tee. The sign, which hangs in a hallway that leads out of the club’s bag room, sits under an oversized scorecard, written in perfect Calligraphy, that commemorates the 61 that Rory McIlroy shot here three years ago. It almost had to be replaces Saturday, as Peter Uihlein took advantage of softer conditions to shoot a 62 that put him in contention at the Wells Fargo Championship. Pars on his final three holes kept Uihlein from matching McIlroy’s mark, but Uihlein now owns the lowest score at Quail Hollow since it underwent renovations before last year’s PGA Championship. He has a chance to win after sneaking into the weekend with just a shot to spare. He made just three birdies over the first 36 holes hole, shooting back-to-back 72s to start Saturday’s round in 48th place. “The way the golf course was set up today, it felt you could get after it a bit,� Uihlein said. “The first two days felt like a U.S. Open.� He teed off at 8:46 a.m. Saturday and walked off the 18th green almost an hour before the final group teed off. When he signed for his seven birdies and an eagle, Uihlein was tied for first with 36-hole leader Peter Malnati. It was Uihlein’s best single-round performance this season in both Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green and Strokes Gained: Putting. He parred the first four holes, then played his next six holes in seven under. He capped off the run by hitting a 3-iron to 14 feet at the par-5 10th hole and making the putt for eagle. “It started out very innocently, and then in the middle of that stretch, the quality of shots he hit – the high, cut 6-iron into 6, and then on 10, hitting a 340-yard drive over the bunker and hitting a 3-iron into the green – at that point you kind of sensed that something is going to happen,� said playing partner Mackenzie Hughes, who shot 70. “He played phenomenally. It was a clinic. I was getting lapped.� Uihlein added birdies at Nos. 14 and 15, then concluded his bogey-free round with three consecutive pars. He missed birdie putts of 24 feet and 40 feet on Nos. 16 and 17, then saved par after his approach shot to 18 trickled off the green. A 31-footer at the ninth hole was the only putt for birdie or eagle that he made from outside 15 feet. Five of those eight putts were shorter than 10 feet. He didn’t miss from inside 15 feet Saturday, making all 17 of his attempts. He gained 3.4 strokes with his putter after needing just 25 putts. He holed all five of his attempts from 3-7 feet and both of his putts from 10-15 feet. He is currently the fourth alternate for THE PLAYERS Championship, but could gain entry in the field with a win this week. This isn’t the first time Uihlein had an opportunity to break 60 in a professional event. He shot 60 at Kingsbarns in the 2013 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. He just missed an eagle putt at the last that would have given him the first 59 in European Tour history. The 28-year-old is playing his first season on the PGA TOUR after graduating from last year’s Web.com Tour Finals, where he won the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship. He ranks 86th in the FedExCup after finishing in the top 10 in two events in Asia last fall. He finished T10 at the CIMB Classic and T5 at the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions. Before this week, he’d missed the cut in five of his previous 11 starts. His only top-25s were T17s at the CareerBuilder Challenge and World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions. Uihlein switched coaches last December and now works with Justin Parsons. Uihlein made practice swings Saturday with his glove tucked under his right armpit, a drill that helps him maintain the connection between his arms and body. It worked. He hit 15 of 18 greens Saturday, gaining slightly more than three strokes on the field with his approach play. McIlroy’s final-round 62 in 2010 remains the best single round from a Strokes Gained perspective at Quail Hollow in the Wells Fargo Championship. He gained 10.7 strokes on the field with that round, which led to his first PGA TOUR victory. He shot 66-62 on the weekend after making the cut on the number. McIlroy gained 10.2 strokes with his third-round 61 in 2015 that led to his second Wells Fargo Championship. McIlroy’s record is safe. Now Uihlein will focus on trying to win his first PGA TOUR event.  

Click here to read the full article…

The 121st United States Open returns to Torrey Pines South this week, bringing memories of Tiger Woods’ playoff victory over Rocco Mediate in 2008. have changed 13 years later – the most jarring being Woods’ absence due to injuries sustained in a single-car accident in February. Xander Schauffele, one of the pre-tournament favorites this week, was a teenage fan watching from a tree in ’08. The golf course, which Rees Jones renovated again in 2019, is also different. It has hosted the San Diego City Amateur, the Junior World, the Farmers Insurance Open, and now, for the second time, it will be the setting for the U.S. Open – with a few subtle changes. Here are nine things about Torrey Pines South. 1. It is named for a tree – and a man The Torrey pine – which is featured in the trophy for the Farmers Insurance Open, the annual PGA TOUR stop – is native only to the 36-hole golf complex, Torrey Pines State Reserve next door, and Santa Rosa Island (near Santa Barbara). The tree features clusters of five pine needles, and because it is protected, when some 30 Torrey pines were removed from the South Course they were simply relocated and transplanted. Although early Spanish explorers certainly knew of the tree, Dr. Charles Christopher Parry, a botanist for the U.S.-Mexico Boundary Survey, officially discovered it. He named it for his mentor, Dr. John Torrey, who had co-written “A Flora of North America” and was the solo author of “A Flora of New York State.” Torrey never visited the region, but Parry sent him samples of the tree. 2. It was a military training camp Camp Callan opened on what is now Torrey Pines Golf Course in 1941, just prior to the Pearl Harbor invasion. It was used for anti-aircraft artillery replenishment, and roughly 15,000 people lived on site. There were movie theaters and chapels, among other conveniences. After WWII, the government sold the land and buildings back to the city of San Diego. Lumber from the buildings would be used to build housing for veterans. 3. It was a racecourse The term “driver” once meant something completely different at Torrey. After Camp Callan, the land was repurposed to build a grand prix racecourse, hosting car-racing contests that included some of the biggest names in driving. Among them were Carol Shelby, who was played by Matt Damon in the movie “Ford vs. Ferrari.” The last race was held in 1956. 4. A father-son team built the golf courses William P. Bell, who was born in 1886 and apprenticed under Willie Watson and George Thomas, Jr., was a turf consultant for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during WWII, and shortly after that was joined by son William F. Bell in the family golf course design business. A special city election in ’56 led to the dedication of roughly 100 acres of the former Camp Callan being set aside for the creation of a golf course. William P. had the original vision for Torrey Pines, but he had died by the time Torrey Pines was built. His son, William F., oversaw its creation in the late 50s. The City of San Diego Parks & Recreation has called them “California’s First Family of Golf Course Design,” noting their work on Torrey Pines, but also the father’s contributions to Bel-Air, Riviera and Los Angeles country clubs, and the son’s involvement in Sandpiper and Industry Hills golf clubs, and Bermuda Dunes Country Club. 5. It has had many redesigns Rees Jones (2001, 2019) isn’t the only one to have a hand in transforming Torrey South. Billy Casper, perhaps the most famous golfer in San Diego history, and architect David Rainville oversaw the first redesign in the mid-1970s. Stephen Halsey and Jack Daray, Jr., redid it in ’88. In the spring of ’99 the City of San Diego Parks and Recreation began a five-year capital improvement program for the courses. Jones moved four green structures and added 10 new tees to stretch the course from 7,000 to nearly 7,600 yards. The most difficult hole in ’08 was the narrow, 501-yard, par-4 12th, which often plays into the wind coming in off the Pacific Ocean. Two new bunkers were added in the ’19 Jones redesign, but that’s not all he changed. A new tee and two new bunkers down the left side have added a new wrinkle to the 612-yard, par-5 13th hole. A new tee has added 37 yards to the par-4 15th hole, as has a new low chipping area front-left of the green, which will collect errant shots. A new tee has been added to the left of the previous tee on 17, creating a new angle that favors a draw into the fairway. The hole features the shallowest par-4 green, 26 yards. 6. There will be similarities to ’08 The fairways and rough are still mostly kikuyu, the greens poa annua. Devlin’s Billabong, the large bowl of soup fronting the 18th green, is still the only water hazard (other than the Pacific Ocean). The 387-yard second hole is still the only par 4 under 400 yards. Additionally, the picturesque, 195-yard third hole, which plays downhill into the prevailing wind, is still the signature par 3. With multiple teeing areas and wind directions, it can call for anything from a pitching wedge to a long iron. As in ’08, the dogleg-right sixth hole, which plays as a 560-yard par 5 during the Farmers Insurance Open, will be converted to a 515-yard par 4. The easiest hole in ’08 was the 568-yard, par-5 18th (4.79 average), the site of the do-or-die Woods’ putt, and Dan Hicks’ call: “Expect anything different?” Expect it to be the easiest this time around, as well. 7. Torrey Pines Lodge has transformed, too The sprawling hotel nestled up against the 18th hole has also changed appearances. It was originally built as a 74-room inn in 1961. It was closed in 2000 for a total remodel, and reopened in ’02 as a 170-room luxury hotel in early California craftsman style, with two restaurants and lounges. It has an AAA Five Diamond rating. 8. Tiger isn’t the only big name there In addition to winning the ’08 U.S. Open, Woods has won the Farmers Insurance Open seven times – including four straight from ’05 to ’08 – at Torrey South. But Tom Weiskopf is another big name at Torrey. He redesigned the North Course in 2016, and won what would become the Farmers in its first year using Torrey South in 1968. (It used a variety of sites, primarily Stardust Country Club, before that.) Jack Nicklaus won in ’69, so you could say Torrey South got off to a solid start. 9. Phil Mickelson still has good vibes Phil Mickelson, who is coming off a stunning victory at the PGA Championship last month and needs only to win the U.S. Open to complete the career Grand Slam, has admitted to struggling at Torrey South since Rees Jones redesigned it in 2001. Paul Azinger speculated on an NBC conference call that he lost his advantage of knowing the greens. Mickelson faulted his too-aggressive style of play, especially on approach shots. Still, it’s worth remembering that he won what we now know as the Farmers Insurance Open in 1993, 2000 – halting Tiger’s six-tournament winning streak – and 2001. “I tried to force it,” Mickelson said recently of his struggles since then. “A lot of pins you can’t go to, you have to play 60, 50 feet away and a lot of holes I get overly aggressive, obviously that’s my nature. There’s a proper way to play it, and I’ve seen it and I want to have the discipline to do it and so I want to spend some time out there to develop a good game plan.”

Click here to read the full article…

One guy is from the heart of Texas, the other the Basque country of northern Spain. But my, how they clicked. Ryan Palmer and Jon Rahm, each having found himself without a partner heading into the 2019 Zurich Classic of New Orleans, high-fived, hugged and ate Skittles on the way to a three-stroke victory over Tommy Fleetwood/Sergio Garcia. “It never felt odd to me,� Palmer said on a conference call with reporters Tuesday, when told that they’d been described in one news account as a Felix-and-Oscar odd couple. There are all sorts of origin stories for the teams at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. Some share a last name (brothers Brooks/Chase Koepka, T22 last year). Others have the same first name (Alex Prugh/Alex Cejka, T13 last year). They share a sponsor, agent, nationality (India’s Shubhankar Sharma/Anirban Lahiri, T22 last year), or all of the above. Kevin Kisner and Scott Brown, who lost in a playoff in 2017, the first year the Zurich Classic was a team event, are friends from Aiken, South Carolina. Cameron Smith and Jonas Blixt, who beat them, teamed up because Smith’s caddie was living with Blixt in Jacksonville Beach, Florida. (Then-23-year-old Smith even later moved to the area himself.) South Georgia hunting buddies Patton Kizzire, who is 6 feet, 5 inches, and Brian Harman, who measures just 5 feet 7 inches, really do look like an odd couple. And while they missed the cut at the Zurich last year, they won the unofficial 2018 QBE Shootout in Naples, Florida. Then there’s Palmer (the Texan) and Rahm (the Spaniard currently ranked world No. 2), who were set to defend their title this year until the coronavirus pandemic had other plans. With Rahm’s caddie, Adam Hayes, giving them Skittles for birdies at TPC Louisiana, they made nine best-ball birdies for a third-round 64, Rahm accounting for eight of them. Palmer, who helped them avert disaster when both hit into the water on 17, then made several clutch putts in the final round as they brought it home with an alternate-shot 69. They slipped on the customary white winners’ belts with 6-inch rhodium-plated buckle designed by Malcolm DeMille and featuring New Orleans symbols like musical notes, the fleur-de-lis, and gators. That this even had a chance to happen was a quirk of fate, God’s wink, kismet, and maybe some good old New Orleans juju. Palmer’s usual Zurich partner, Jordan Spieth, had decided to take the week off, and Rahm’s partner, Wesley Bryan, was inactive due to shoulder surgery. “When Wesley told me he was having shoulder surgery a few months before the event, I was in no-man’s land,� Rahm said last year. “I’m really happy I said yes (to Palmer).� Said Palmer on Tuesday, “It was an easy text and he jumped right on it.� Easy because their caddies, Hayes and Palmer’s friend and bag man James Edmondson, are friends. Easy because Rahm had played in Palmer’s charity event, and they’d gotten to know each other. And, yes, easy because Rahm was already one of the best players in the world. Their age difference? Not a big deal. “I spent two years playing with Jordan,� Palmer said, “I’m real good friends with him and he’s the same age as Jon. I thought, ‘What a great opportunity to partner up with a great player.’ � Palmer misses being in New Orleans this week. He misses the food, and hanging out with his friends there, including Sean Payton, head coach of the Saints. They’re pro-am partners, and Payton has brought Palmer into the team’s NFL Draft room to peer behind the curtain. As for New Orleans, he added, he and Rahm have kept in touch, two solid ball-strikers who fade the ball off the tee and play the occasional practice round together. So, no, they’re not as odd a couple as you might think, but there was one odd part. It happened long after they won, and, needing to eat before getting on planes to fly to their respective homes, the Zurich Classic’s newest power couple walked into a Popeyes for some fried chicken. Said Palmer, laughing at the memory, “We were still wearing those belts.�

Click here to read the full article…