Mickelson makes Masters return: ‘Fun to be back’

Russell Knox … When he was ramping into his PGA TOUR career in earnest four years ago, the Scot was displaying one of the most balanced and superior attacks throughout the bag. While it’s the reason he sustained top-shelf form and nabbed two victories since, it’s also exactly the mold benefited most at TPC Scottsdale. Case in point, he debuted here with a T15 in 2015. In his return visit last year, he was inside the top 20 of the Official World Golf Ranking and missed the cut by four. Now having slipped to 78th in the OWGR, the 32-year-old has regained that patented consistency. He’s started this season 7-for-7 with a pair of top 10s and he’s 36th in the all-around, his highest rank since finishing 2013-14 slotted 31st. William McGirt … If you can accept assessing any golfer on any course at any time, then you’ll understand why this is his second consecutive showing as a Sleeper. He last attracted attention at the Sony Open in Hawaii where he settled for a T65, but he demands the same elevated expectation at TPC Scottsdale. Since debuting in 2011, he’s perfect in six starts, each of which resulting in a finish somewhere from T19 through T32. His scoring average in those 24 rounds is a tidy 68.96. Thanks in part to a T25-T10-T8 flourish pre-holidays this season, he’s fifth on TOUR in adjusted scoring. McGirt is lso T31 in total driving, 16th in GIR and eighth in scrambling. Emiliano Grillo … This member of the famed “Class of 2011â€� hasn’t so much been forgotten as overshadowed by his brethren, even though he hasn’t missed any of the big events since capturing the Rookie of the Year award in 2015-16. However, and suddenly it seems, he’s in the last year of the exemption for winning the Safeway Open to launch that season, as well as measurably outside the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking (currently 73rd) and eligible for only one major (Open Championship) and one WGC (Bridgestone) at the moment. Perhaps those realities are inspiring improved form since he capped 2017 with a T9 at Mayakoba. And now, the 25-year-old arrives for this third start at TPC Scottsdale (2-for-2) fresh off a T12 at Torrey Pines. Grillo is currently 14th on TOUR in total driving and T42 in greens hit. Brian Stuard … Essentially the prototype for what kind of skill set should thrive at the redesigned TPC Scottsdale, and he has. In both of his previous trips (2015 and 2017), he’s scored 10-under 274 for respective finishes of T10 and T16. And that’s after failing to break par in both opening rounds. His tee-to-green proficiency has already yielded a trio of top 10s this season, and with a taut short game (31st in scrambling), he’s 21st on TOUR in adjusted scoring. Robert Garrigus … Profiles as the kind of bomber that makes sense on occasion at TPC Scottsdale, just as long as his putter is cooperating. The 14th club has been both his bane and boon over the years. It was on display in the opening round last year when he signed for a 66 en route to a pedestrian T36. Perhaps it’s warming up again, as he authored a sporty T8 at Torrey Pines where he ranked second in scrambling. Garrigus did that while finishing T11 in greens in regulation, an area that has rarely been an issue in the long-term.  

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GREENSBORO, N.C. — Thursday’s first round at the Wyndham Championship started poorly for Brandt Snedeker, as he snap-hooked a 3-wood off the 10th tee, leaving him on the wrong side of the cart path left of the fairway. It was 7:40 a.m. at Sedgefield Country Club, and already he was in scramble mode. Not to worry. His next 58 shots were of significantly higher quality. The final stroke was a birdie putt from 20 feet, 4 inches, just off the fringe and below the hole at the par-4 ninth, and it put Snedeker in the record book with the 10th round of 59-or-better on the PGA TOUR. Thanks to his opening bogey, Snedeker’s 59 is the first in which a player was over-par at any point of the round. “Crazy day,� he said, still wrapping his head around the 11-under round — and an 8-under 27 coming in — that left him with a substantial first-round lead. On one hand, it’s not surprising that Snedeker joined the 59 Club. You might even make the argument that it was inevitable, given that when he heats up, he runs hotter than most. He’s shown that on several occasions, most notably the third round of the 2012 HSBC Champions in China, when he reached the 18th hole with a chance to shoot the first 59 on the European Tour. He couldn’t convert the birdie putt, leaving him with a 60 — still tied for the lowest score on that tour. He also showed early in his TOUR career that he can go super-low. In just the eighth round of his first full season in 2007, he shot an opening 61 at Torrey Pines North that included seven birdies and an eagle for a 27 in his first nine holes. Of the TOUR’s 13 nine-hole scores of 27-or-better, Snedeker is the only player to do it twice (Corey Pavin is the only one to record a 26). He knows how to produce lots of birdies. In three of the previous seven seasons, he’s finished inside the top 10 on TOUR in birdie average. Most of the damage he does with his flatstick. “That putter,� said his caddie, Travis Perkins, not feeling the need to elaborate. Plus, it’s no surprise that Snedeker went low at Wyndham. Of his three previous career-low rounds of 61 on TOUR, one of those was at Sedgefield in 2015. And his lowest final round on TOUR was also in the Wyndham, albeit at Forest Oaks in 2007. He shot a 63 that Sunday to win his first TOUR event. On the other hand, Snedeker entered this week hardly in the best shape to shoot a 59. His last win was two years ago. His eight missed cuts this season are in his most since 2011, and he’d only finished top-3 just once in 22 starts, last month at The Greenbrier. He tried to convince himself that his game was coming around, but he acknowledged on Wednesday that it has been a frustrating season, that his hard work on the range had yet to be rewarded. His play during the pro-am was nothing to get excited about. “As much as I tried to positive self-talk myself into playing good, I didn’t see 59 coming today, to be honest with you,� Snedeker said. “But I kind of found something late yesterday on the golf course that kind of built on what I was working on earlier in the week.� Even later that night, he was on the range at Sedgefield. He hit five balls, was thrilled that his swing seemed to be properly syncing up, and called it an evening. He left thinking he could take an aggressive approach into Thursday. He didn’t let the wayward opening tee shot derail him. He rolled in a putt from 26 feet, 3 inches for birdie at the 13th and followed with a birdie from practically the same distance on the next hole. Two more birdies immediately followed, but the key stroke might have been his bunker shot at the 18th. He blasted to within 8 feet and made the putt for par. “Probably not many guys are going to get up-and-down out of that bunker today,� Snedeker said. “It’s just a death place to be. Hit a great bunker shot and to make that putt to keep the momentum going.� Said Perkins: “He made a couple of long putts, but he wasn’t hitting it that great. Then something clicked right as we made the turn.� Indeed. His approach at No. 1 finished inside 4 feet. Birdie. His approach at No. 2 finished inside 2-1/2 feet. Birdie. His tee shot at No. 3 finished inside 5-1/2 feet. Birdie. His third shot to the par-5 fifth finished inside 2-1/2 feet. Birdie. “You can see why I shot 59,� Snedeker said, smiling. “I had a lot of tap-ins.� Then came the par-4 sixth. He didn’t even need his putter. From 176 yards on his approach shot, he cut a 7-iron and the ball sailed into the hole for eagle. He didn’t even see it go in; in fact, he didn’t realize it until he reached the green. Once there, he also realized his ball had “destroyed the cup a little bit.� Damage to the cup forced tournament officials to first, try to fix the issue (to no avail), then eventually moving the cup 18-20 inches. Snedeker was now 9 under through 15 holes. The unusual delay as the hole was re-cut allowed him to take an emotional breather and contemplate his legitimate chase at history. “I’ve got two birdie holes left I know of — that’s 8 and 9,� Snedeker recalled. “It’s not crazy to shoot 59. Like that’s why we’re here. Let’s keep going. Don’t be complacent now because you’re 9-under par. Take advantage of the opportunity.� Which he did with a 5-iron to inside 3 feet at the par-3 seventh. Now he was 10 under and headed to the shortest and easiest par-4 on the course, the 352-yard eighth. At that point, playing partner Billy Horschel figured 59 was now inevitable. “Almost made a hole-in-one,� Horschel said. “Oh my gosh, he’s going to shoot 59. This is awesome.� Actually, 59 was no longer the biggest target. Snedeker now had a shot at joining Jim Furyk, the only player on TOUR to shoot 58. He turned to Perkins and said simply, “C’mon, two more.� His approach at the eighth finished inside 3 feet. Another tap-in, right? Only this time, he missed the delicate birdie putt. “We left it on the wrong side of the hole,� Perkins said. “It was downhill, right to left. That was a tough putt to make.� The missed putt could have easily been the momentum killer, an emotional deflater. Snedeker refused to let it carry over to his final hole. “Try to tell myself, listen, it’s not the end of the world,� Snedeker recalled. “You still have a birdie hole left. I kind of had in my mind if I make this putt, I’ve got one more birdie to shoot 58 and tie Jim Furyk for 58. “So when I missed the putt, I got a little disappointed right away, but I said, you know what, if I hit the fairway on 9, I’m going to have a birdie opportunity. I’m going to figure out a way to get it done.� So he found the fairway, then hit a 9-iron that left his ball clinging on the fringe. It was uphill, right to left, into the green. Snedeker could be aggressive with the putt. He told himself one thing. You’re not going to leave this thing short. You don’t know when this is going to happen again. His stroke was solid and pure. The ball was still 6 feet from the cup, but he knew it was going to fall. He knew 59 would be the number written on his scorecard. He celebrated with handshakes and hugs from both playing partners, Horschel and Hideki Matsuyama. Horschel had never seen a 59 in person. His smile was almost as big as Snedeker’s. “I was jacked up for him,� Horschel said. “I said, ‘Oh dude, that was awesome. Special playing.’ I was thrilled. I mean, I was speechless.� Snedeker wasn’t speechless. More like satisfied. An opportunity had presented itself — and now he was in the record books. “It’s very rare out here when you have something you’re trying to do and you step up with this pressure and all the stuff on you and you do it,� he said. “You hit the shots you’re supposed to hit and you make the putts you’re supposed to do. “If you don’t get excited for that, then you need to find another job.�

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We’ll have to wait and see if Tiger Woods is playing in this year’s Masters after the five-time champion tweeted Sunday that his appearance will be a “game-time decision.” “I will be heading up to Augusta today to continue my preparation and practice. It will be a game-time decision on whether I compete,” he wrote. Woods also congratulated Anna Davis, 16, on her win Saturday in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur. Unlike weekly PGA TOUR events, there is no commitment deadline for the Masters. There are no alternates, either, so no player is waiting to fill Woods’ spot if he cannot compete. Only one more spot in the field remains, for the winner of the Valero Texas Open on Sunday. Anticipation around Woods’ potential appearance at Augusta National started ramping up after videos were posted on social media of him walking his home course, Medalist Golf Club in Hobe Sound, Florida, with his caddie, Joe LaCava. Woods played practice rounds at Augusta National earlier this week after his plane was tracked flying to Augusta. “He’s trying to see what he can do,” Rory McIlroy said from the Valero Texas Open. “Obviously no one knows but him if he can make it around and if he believes he can compete.” Woods said at his Genesis Invitational in February that he did not know when he would return to competitive golf. Some theorized that his comeback would begin this summer on the relatively flat links of St. Andrews, where Woods has twice won The Open. The Masters seemed too soon and Augusta National’s terrain too hilly for Woods as he continues to recover from the single-car accident in February 2021 that nearly resulted in the amputation of his right leg. “We didn’t know if he was going to make it through (the accident), and to be in this position where people are talking about, ‘This guy might actually play in the Masters,’ I think it’s amazing,” two-time U.S. Open champion Andy North, who will call the Masters for ESPN, said earlier this week on a conference call. “ CBS’ Jim Nantz visited Woods in Florida last month for a documentary on his historic 1997 Masters win, but received no hints that Woods may play this year. Nantz said Woods’ appearance would be “astonishing” and a fitting addition to the first Masters at full capacity since Woods’ 2019 win. This year also marks the 25th anniversary of Woods’ first Masters win, a 12-shot rout where he also set the tournament’s scoring record. CBS will mark that anniversary before the final-round broadcast of this year’s Masters with a documentary titled, “A Win for the Ages.” The show will feature Woods discussing his relationship with his father, as well as pioneers Lee Elder and Charlie Sifford, and his recollections of the win. North called Augusta National “the last place you would’ve thought he could possibly play.” That seemed true after Woods’ press conference from Riviera in February, where he expressed frustration at the pace of his comeback. Woods played golf publicly for the first time at the PNC Championship in December, where he and son Charlie finished second to John Daly and his son, John II. Woods was able to ride a cart and did not need to hit every shot in that tournament’s scramble format, however. The Masters would require Woods to walk multiple rounds on one of the most physically demanding courses players see all year. ESPN’s Curtis Strange, a two-time U.S. Open champion, called Augusta National “the hardest walk in golf.” Woods said in February that “the walking part is something I’m still working on, working on strength and development in that. “It takes time,” he added. “What’s frustrating is it’s not at my timetable. I want to be at a certain place, but I’m not. I’ve just got to continue working. I’m getting better, yes, but as I said, not at the speed and rate that I would like. You add in the age factor, too. You just don’t quite heal as fast, which is frustrating.” Whether Woods is ready to return at Augusta National remains to be seen.

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