Pick ‘Em Preview: Shriners Children’s Open

CROMWELL, Conn. – Bubba Watson didn’t like the attitude he displayed during the first three days of this week’s Travelers Championship. He was miserable about his opening even-par 70, feeling he gave away too many shots due to mental mistakes on a TPC River Highlands course that has treated him so well. Not even a second-round 63, a score that allowed him to make the cut, was enough to cheer his spirits. “Even that day, I was upset,â€� he said. So on Saturday night after his third-round 67 that wasn’t nearly as productive as he hoped, he sent caddie Ted Scott a voice text – “I can’t spell, so I voice text,â€� Watson said – to apologize. Bubba said his attitude needed to be better. Scott texted back and told Watson not to worry, to just keep his head down and move forward. “You’re playing great,â€� Scott told him. “Let’s just have fun out there tomorrow and see what happens.â€� Indeed, Bubba and his caddie had plenty of fun Sunday. Starting the day six-shots behind leader Paul Casey, Watson posted his second 63 of the week to zoom past the Englishman to win his third Travelers title. It’s also his third win of the PGA TOUR season, the most of any player as he climbs to third in the FedExCup standings. Of course, Watson needed help, specifically from Casey, who started his round with a four-shot lead but fought his swing all day and made just one birdie, on the opening hole. Casey’s 2-over 72 opened the door for someone to make a move. No surprise that it was Watson, whose second Travelers title in 2015 also came at Casey’s expense in a playoff. “I didn’t get it taken care of today,â€� Casey said. “Credit to his great play. I would have loved to have won outright or at least have another go at him in a playoff would have been nice. But not to be.â€� Watson had made up just two shots on Casey at the turn, but a hole-out from the greenside rough at the 10th started turning things serious. When he reached the 16th tee box, Watson – playing four groups ahead — had caught Casey. Still, the outcome remained in doubt when Watson stood over his approach on the 18th fairway, a downwind, tight lie from 77 yards. It was difficult to get any spin on his shot, but Watson found a way, setting up a 3-foot birdie that sealed the deal. Scott put his arm around Watson and simply said, “Amazing shot.â€� Watson’s first Travelers win – and the first of his TOUR career – came in 2010. Since then, he and wife Angie have adopted two kids, Caleb and Dakota. He’s won two majors and now has 12 career wins. Things have changed. Big, positive changes. But his growth as a person continues. Perhaps the apology to Scott on Saturday night is one small indication of that. “Our joke as a team is I’ve changed more than anybody in the world from when I got on TOUR to now,â€� Watson said. “You know, it’s just growing up. We’re going to make mistakes. I’m going to three-putt, I’m going to duff chips. I’m going to do a lot of things on the golf course bad and off the golf course bad and I’m going to have to apologize. Like I said earlier, I’m the fastest to apologize. “I’ve got two kids now. They’re watching me. They’re going to see. They’re going to find out YouTube at some point. They’re going to see old videos and hear things. … It’s a learning curve for me, but it’s also helping me. It’s helping me grow. I’ve been able to grow as a person and as a man.â€� He’s certainly grown as a player. Three wins and counting this season. And if he has to apologize for something along the way, no worries. Even that works out pretty well. NOTABLES Stewart Cink’s wife Lisa, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016, has been traveling with her husband quite a bit this season. But she wasn’t in town earlier this week, arriving only this weekend. Cink said the difference was palpable – he started Sunday feeling very peaceful. “I just felt like I had a good vibe out there from the get-go,â€� he said. Cink birdied six of his first seven holes en route to an 8-under 62 that ties his career low score on TOUR. His 10 birdies, meanwhile, was his most in any round, as he finished tied for second. “I never really thought I had the chance to win the tournament,â€� said Cink, a two-time Travelers winner, “but I knew my position gave me a chance to really shoot up and pass a lot of guys today, and that’s exactly what’s going to happen.â€� Rory McIlroy ranked first this week in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green and Strokes Gained: Off the Tee. But after finishing his tournament at 11 under and a tie for 12th, McIlroy wasn’t entirely happy with his swing this week. “I wasn’t really in control of my golf ball much,â€� McIlroy said after finishing with a 3-under 67. “My iron play especially … it just didn’t feel that comfortable.â€� He did say he was happy with the new driver he put into his bag this week. Defending champ Jordan Spieth opened with a 63 to share the first-round lead but was a non-factor the rest of the week. He was 3 over for the final three rounds to finish T-42. Originally planning to take the next three weeks off before defending his title at the Open Championship, Spieth said he now may add a start to his schedule (although he will take next week off). “I don’t feel like I have to, but it certainly could help,â€� he said. Brooks Koepka admitted this week he was exhausted after winning his second straight U.S. Open, but he played well Sunday, shooting a 65 to finish T-19. He’ll put away the clubs for the next few days but it doesn’t sound like he’ll get much rest. He’s hanging out in Boston with a bunch of friends this week, then heads back to his Florida home for a night, then off to a bachelor party for a friend. “I was really hoping to get some rest, but I don’t know how much that will happen.â€� He said. Chase Seiffert finished T-9 after a final-round 64 – a huge result for the Monday qualifier who has no status on any TOUR. It means he’s automatically in the field for A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier. “I was telling my instructor and caddie David there, today is my Monday qualifier for The Greenbrier,â€� Seiffert said. “If I play well today, I can kind of get myself in, so I went out that and tried to attack.â€� He’s the fourth Monday qualifier to finish in the top 10 this season. QUOTABLES I wasn’t thinking about victory today. I was just playing golf. I fought my golf swing all day.I thought about 59. SUPERLATIVES Lowest round: Stewart Cink’s 8-under 62. Longest drive: Rory McIlroy’s 381-yard tee shot at the par-4 seventh. Longest putt: Brett Stegmaier’s putt from 44 feet, 1 inch for birdie at the par-4 ninth. Hardest hole: The 171-yard par-3 16th played to a stroke average of 3.135, with 12 birdies against 17 bogeys, 1 double and 1 other. Easiest hole: The 574-yard par-5 sixth played to a stroke average of 4.689, with 1 eagle and 28 birdies against just five bogeys and 1 double. CALL OF THE DAY For play-by-play coverage of next week’s Quicken Loans Invitational, listen at PGATOUR.COM. SHOT OF THE DAY

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Patrick Reed says a much-needed visit to the eye doctor and his first pair of corrective lenses may have been the secret to his breakthrough Masters victory last month. The doctor’s visit led to Reed getting a new pair of contact lenses the Monday of Houston Open week, and less than two weeks later he was wearing the Green Jacket. “You know, it was just something (where) I was able to make a lot of putts,â€� Reed said Wednesday at Quail Hollow Club, home of this week’s Wells Fargo Championship. “Honestly, that has to be credit to not only the work that we put in the week before, but also the work my wife (Justine) had to do to drag me to Vision Source to get my eyes checked. “First week ever wearing contacts,â€� Reed added, “and I go ahead and make every putt I look at and win a golf tournament.â€� A year ago, when the Wells Fargo Championship was at temporary home Eagle Point Golf Club in nearby Wilmington, Reed had a chance to win but came unglued with a final-round 75 to finish well back. He came to Quail Hollow for the PGA Championship in August, and finished second. What no one knew then was that he was competing with less-than-perfect vision. Anything outside 30 yards, he says now, was blurry, and he was constantly asking his caddie, Kessler Karain, where the ball went. The situation finally came to a head when Reed was watching TV with his wife and in-laws 10 days before the start of the Masters. “I’m sitting at the kitchen table in our kitchen, and we have a pretty big TV in the den, and kind of flipped through channels and I cannot read the guide,â€� Reed said. “I’m just moving slowly. Justine goes, ‘You can’t read that?’ I’m like, ‘No, can you?’â€� As it turned out, everyone in the house could read the words on the TV screen, except Reed. He could, however, make out the disbelieving looks from all of them, even his father-in-law, who wears thick glasses and still had no trouble deciphering the words. How could Reed not be able to read the screen? “He’s like, ‘Maybe that’s the reason why we haven’t been making putts for a year,’â€� Reed said. You could say the trip to the eye doctor has paid off. Reed had to learn how to put contacts in his eyes, but they’ve proven surprisingly effective. Before picking up his sixth TOUR title at the Masters, where he held off Rickie Fowler by one and a hard-charging Jordan Spieth by two, Reed, 27, hadn’t won since THE NORTHERN TRUST in August 2016. To his father-in-law’s point, part of the problem was his putting. He came into the Masters ranked 75th in strokes gained: putting, but was third best in the field at Augusta. “I got a prescription for contacts, put them in, and all of a sudden I’m just looking out like, ‘Wow, I can see everything,’â€� Reed said. “Now all of a sudden I’m not having to ask Kessler where that ball goes. … Now all of a sudden I can read greens pretty well, and it worked at Augusta.â€�

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