Draws and Fades: The American Express

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Will Zalatoris, who shot his second 66 to reach 8 under halfway through the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, was tight-lipped when asked about his recent back injury earlier this week. He was fine, he said. As it turns out, Zalatoris – making his first start since getting hurt hitting a shot out of the rough and withdrawing from The Open Championship – is not actually fine. More accurately, he said after his round at TPC Southwind on Friday, he is taking it day by day. In fact, he almost didn’t play this week. “I’ve got a little bit of an issue with my back,” he said. “I took about two weeks for me to finally feel at least somewhat remotely in the same ballpark in terms of range of movement.” If someone had asked him last Saturday whether he was going to play in Memphis, he continued, “I’d have told you 50-50 at best. I played for the first time Sunday and thought I was moving OK. Doc said just listen to your body. It takes a lot for me to not play golf.” Zalatoris was playing well and within shouting distance of the leaders on July 16 when he hurt his lower back gouging a shot out of the rough on the 15th hole at Royal St. George’s. “It felt like I was getting stabbed in the back of my left leg,” he said. “It was not fun. I’ve never had anything happen like that in one golf swing. Part of being 24, maybe a little dumb and a little fearless, I didn’t think I was gonna hurt myself.” He finished the round, but soon announced on social media that he had withdrawn. Although back pain had compelled him to withdraw from the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday earlier this season, he had never felt anything like this. The injury was to a disk in his lower back. “It’s a couple things,” Zalatoris said. “It’s a little structural, a little muscular. The muscular part is easy to take care of, the structural part is a little harder.” Always reluctant to take much time off, he now didn’t have much choice. He went home to Dallas, where he said he nearly drove his fiancé crazy knocking around the house. His only job was not to play golf but to do physical therapy with his trainer, Damon Goddard. It seems to have worked, as his late decision to play this week is paying off. Subsisting on Advil as his only form of pain relief – he says he tried a nerve-blocker and didn’t like it – Zalatoris has made 12 birdies and four bogeys. He hasn’t lost distance, he said, thanks partly to adrenaline. One of the oddities of his situation is that as a Special Temporary Member of the PGA TOUR he is not eligible for the upcoming FedExCup Playoffs. Only a win this week or next would get him in. Barring an eleventh-hour victory to change his status, he is considering playing some events on the European Tour. Alas, that would be a lot of time on an airplane. For now, he said, he’s taking it one day at a time. “It’s a work in progress,” he said. “It’s going to take some time for me to get back to normal.”

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It did not take long for us to see a dominant performance in this new PGA TOUR season as Marc Leishman found his mojo in Malaysia and stormed to a five-shot win at the CIMB Classic. Welcome to the Monday Finish where we are recovering from some all-night golf watching just as 6-year-old Harvey Leishman is … although he’s lucky enough to be getting a trophy out of it. Here are five observations and insights from Leishman’s fourth PGA TOUR win. 1. Marc Leishman had a pretty good 2017-18 season – after all he made the TOUR Championship with six top-10s and was runner-up twice. But try telling that to Leishman. After winning twice the season before, the Australian now holds himself to higher standards and being winless was not part of the plan. It was not part of the psyche of his sons Harvey (6) and Ollie (5) who garner much excitement from daddy bringing home trophies. With the pressure starting to mount from his own expectations at that of his high-spirited boys, Leishman went to Asia with a little chip on his shoulder. Having played well on the Asian Swing before he had reason to be confident. He even booked his flights back from planned Christmas time in Australia through Maui with the Sentry Tournament of Champions in mind. And so when he sat on the 54-hole shared lead it was not a nervous time. He felt he belonged. And Sunday he proved his confidence was justified, blowing away the challengers in the first five holes and cruising to victory. This is a guy not afraid of the spotlight. 2. While on the proverbial spotlight … Leishman for whatever reason is still trying to convince some in the golfing world that he is elite. Whenever he gets into contention – which has been a lot for the former PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year (2009) in recent times – it appears as if people are surprised. He now has four wins on TOUR, three in his last 44 starts, but yet he continues to fly under the radar. The reason is mostly the man doesn’t crave or seek out the spotlight. He’s more than content in who he is, which is a great father, husband and golfer. There will however come a time where everyone knows his name and with play like this week it will be sooner rather than later.   3. While the trio of players who finished tied for second at TPC Kuala Lumpur failed to put any heat on Leishman on Sunday, they did prove they are going to be up-and-comers to watch this season. Emiliano Grillo was Rookie of the Year just a few years back before having a mini sophomore slump. Last season he rebounded with more consistent play before falling just short of a TOUR Championship berth. This season shapes up as another with more improvement for the Argentine. Bronson Burgoon was unable to keep the pace of his opening-round 63 going, but he did enough to pull off the second runner-up finish of his career. Burgoon popped up for a mini purple patch in the early summer last season but has eyes on being a more consistent contender. This was a good start. And then Chesson Hadley – a former winner on TOUR who was unable to match his own hype after such a great start to a career – has continued his resurgence. Seven top-10s last season left him 44th in the FedExCup. He has an early one here this season as he chases a first TOUR Championship berth. Don’t be surprised if all three make waves this season. 4. India’s Shubhankar Sharma is another name we need to acquaint ourselves with more. Last year he came from the clouds during the World Golf Championships – Mexico Championship where he threatened a major boil over before fading on the final day. But in 10 other PGA TOUR starts he failed to find the same magic. It had most of us thinking he might be a flash in the pan. But watching him closely in Malaysia it was clear he is supremely talented and is maybe still learning to harness his nerves at key moments while carrying the expectation of being India’s next sporting superstar. It should be an interesting little battle to see who gets a PGA TOUR win first … Sharma or his mate Anirban Lahiri. 5. Don’t think we didn’t notice former two-time CIMB Classic winner Justin Thomas make a final-round surge into a tie for fifth. Thomas now heads to Korea, as the defending champion, looking pretty impressive. Having lost his FedExCup title to Justin Rose last month, Thomas is rededicated to getting it back. He knows a fast start in the fall is a huge part of taking the pressure off the points list for the remainder of the season. Thomas winning early has become a habit so betting against him to keep it up might be unwise. FIVE INSIGHTS 1. Leishman was incredible on the front nine at TPC Kuala Lumpur, going 19 under on those holes for the tournament. On the opening five holes he was 14 under and twice notched up four in a row from the second through the fifth. It set the tone for his rounds and made him the man to catch, forcing others to press. 2. Leishman’s putter was incredible over the tournament. He needed just 102 putts over the four rounds as he drained almost everything. 3. Leishman moved to second in the FedExCup and 16th in the world rankings. It is his fourth PGA TOUR win in 250 starts, but third in last 44 starts. 4. Leishman’s 26-under 262 tied Justin Thomas in his 2015 victory for the lowest 72-hole total since the tournament moved to TPC Kuala Lumpur. 5. Gary Woodland (T5) notched up a third top-5 finish in the event without a win. He has now held the 54-hole lead/co-lead six times in his career and has never converted it into a victory. He previously held the 54-hole lead/co-lead at the 2011 Career Builder Challenge (lost in a playoff), 2013 The NORTHERN TRUST (T2), 2014 Farmers Insurance Open (T10), 2016 the Memorial Tournament (T4) and 2016 OHL Classic at Mayakoba (2).  

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The PGA TOUR season begins this week, which means the first Monday qualifier of the season. Here’s a look at the four players who earned spots in the Safeway Open on Monday. AARON BADDELEY (65) Age: 37 Hometown: Scottsdale, Arizona/Australia Alma mater: None PGA TOUR starts: 406 Cuts made: 251 Best PGA TOUR finish: Won, 2006 RBC Heritage; 2007 Waste Management Phoenix Open; 2011 Genesis Open; 2016 Barbasol Championship. Notes: The four-time TOUR winner has conditional status after finishing 132nd in last season’s FedExCup. He made the cut in 15 of 27 starts. His lone top-10 came at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, where he finished 10th. The former Presidents Cup participant led the TOUR in Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green last season. BRETT DREWITT (65) Age: 27 Country: Scottsdale, Arizona/Australia Alma mater: None PGA TOUR starts: 19 Cuts made: 9 Best PGA TOUR finish: T27, 2017 Barbasol Championship Notes: Drewitt finished 196th in the FedExCup in 2016-17, his lone season on the PGA TOUR. He shot a final-round 62 at the Barbasol Championship. Drewitt is a graduate of PGA TOUR China, finishing third on the Order of Merit in 2014 to earn his Web.com Tour card. This year, he finished 71st on the Web.com Tour’s regular-season money list with three top-10s, highlighted by a T3 at The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic at Sandals Emerald Bay. ANDRES GONZALES (66) Age: 35 Hometown: Lakewood, Washington Alma mater: UNLV PGA TOUR starts: 125 Cuts made: 59 Best PGA TOUR finish: T3, 2014 OHL Classic at Mayakoba Notes: Gonzales has qualified for the FedExCup Playoffs once in five PGA TOUR seasons, finishing 115th in 2015. He also is a two-time winner on the Web.com Tour (2012 Soboba Golf Classic; 2014 Utah Championship). He finished 113th on this year’s Web.com Tour money list this year. MARK ANGUIANO (66) Age: 25 Hometown: Whittier, California Alma mater: Cal State Fullerton PGA TOUR starts: 1 Cuts made: 0 Best PGA TOUR finish: MC, 2016 U.S. Open Notes: Anguiano finished 10th on the Mackenzie Tour-PGA TOUR Canada Order of Merit this year to earn an exemption into the final stage of this year’s Web.com Tour Q-School. He earned his first career victory at this year’s Windsor Classic. He also played on the Web.com Tour in 2017, finishing 98th on the money list. Anguiano was the 2014 Big West Conference Player of the Year at Cal State Fullerton. He played college golf for the Titans, who reinstated their golf program in 2009-10 after an absence of more than two decades. WYNDHAM CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFIERS MC. T.J. Vogel, 69-69 MC. Mickey DeMorat, 69-69 MC. Stewart Jolly, 70-71 MC. James Driscoll, 69-79 LAST SEASON’S QUALIFIERS Qualifiers: 95 Made cut: 28 Best finish: John Oda, T3 at Barracuda Championship Top-10s: 5 (Scott Strohmeyer, T4 at Sanderson Farms; Trey Mullinax, T8 at Valspar; Julian Suri, T8 at Houston; Chase Seiffert, T9 at Travelers; John Oda, T3 at Barracuda) Top-25s: 7 Most times qualified: T.J. Vogel (8)

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