Els wins Principal Charity for 4th Champions win

2020 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Round 2 Current cutline (top 60 and ties, decided after 3 rounds): 65 players at -3 or better (T45) Top 3 projected cutline probabilities: 4 under par: 28.6% 3 under par: 25.0% 5 under par: 18.3% Top 10 win probabilities: Nick Taylor (1, -14, 17.5%) Dustin Johnson (T6, -9, 16.6%) Jason Day (2, -12, 15.8%) Phil Mickelson (3, -11, 12.0%) Patrick Cantlay (T8, -8, 9.7%) Paul Casey (T14, -7, 3.7%) Lanto Griffin (T8, -8, 2.4%) Matt Every (T8, -8, 2.2%) Scott Piercy (T6, -9, 1.8%) Kevin Chappell (T8, -8, 1.7%) NOTE: These reports are based off the live predictive model run by @DataGolf. The model provides live “Make Cut�, “Top 20�, “Top 5�, and “Win� probabilities every 5 minutes from the opening tee shot to the final putt of every PGA TOUR event. Briefly, the model takes account of the current form of each golfer as well as the difficulty of their remaining holes, and probabilities are calculated from 20K simulations. To follow live finish probabilities throughout the remainder of the Sony Open in Hawaii, or to see how each golfer’s probabilities have evolved from the start of the event to the current time, click here for the model’s home page.

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HOUSTON — Jason Day was back in contention after two eventful days alongside Phil Mickelson. RELATED: Final leaderboard | Mickelson misses cut Winless in 2 1/2 years and fighting lingering back and neck problems, Day shot a 2-under 68 on Friday in the Vivint Houston Open to pull within two strokes of second-round leader Sam Burns at difficult Memorial Park. The Australian watched the 50-year-old Michelson hit into the water twice en route to an 8 on the par-3 ninth, then hole out from 193 yards for eagle on the par-4 18th. Lefty missed the cut, following an opening 76 with a 73. "He kind of left himself in some pretty tough positions and you're just struggling the whole day," Day said. "It's one of those courses where you've just got to be patient and try to get your birdies when you can." Day had three birdies and a bogey. "It's one of those courses where you can walk off kind of shaking your head even though you play some good golf," Day said. "I was chatting to Phil about that on the second hole today because he went out there and hit a nice 9-iron, pulled up short, rolled away off the green and you've got a 60-footer putting back up that hill. It's one of those golf courses where it can be a little bit frustrating at times, so just got to kind of be smart about it." Day was in contention three weeks ago in Las Vegas in THE CJ CUP @ SHADOW CREEK when the neck problem forced him to withdraw early in the final round. The 12-time PGA TOUR winner returned the next week at Sherwood to tie for 60th, and took last week off. "It's been very inconsistent, obviously, because I'm trying to change my swing a little bit just to try and help the back out," Day said. "I guess I'm stuck in between patterns right now, what I want to feel, my body just won't handle it and sometimes it just compensates elsewhere. That's why it happened to my neck at CJ." Burns birdied all three par-5 holes in a bogey-free 65 to reach 7 under. “It takes a lot of discipline around here," Burns said. "You get out of position, you just try to get it back to where you can get it up-and-down or get it in a section of the green where you can lag putt it. Fortunately, early we got some good looks and I was able to convert, so solid." Winless on the PGA TOUR, the 24-year-old Burns also took a two-shot lead into the weekend in the season-opening Safeway Open in September. He ended up tying for seventh that week at Silverado. "I think slowing down a little bit, really talking through the shot with Travis (caddie Perkins) and making sure we have a clear picture of what we're trying to do," Burns said. "I think that was really helpful to learn that." Carlos Ortiz of Mexico had a 68 to match Day at 5 under. First-round leader Brandt Snedeker followed his opening 65 with a 71 to drop into a tie for fourth at 4 under with Dawie van der Walt (66), Corey Conners (67), Aaron Wise (66) and Patton Kizzire (67). "Didn't drive it as good today as I did yesterday and that's going to put you behind the 8-ball here," Snedeker said. Top-ranked Dustin Johnson followed an opening 72 with a 66 to get to 2 under in his return after a positive coronavirus test knocked him out of THE CJ CUP and ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP. "It was very solid today," Johnson said. " I felt like I played pretty well yesterday, just a little rusty. … I swung it pretty well, just hit a couple bad iron shots. But I think that was more just from not trusting what I was doing, just from not being out there. But today did a lot better, hit a lot of really nice iron shots and felt like I managed my game very well, drove it well, hit a lot of quality shots." The tournament — at public Memorial Park for the first time since 1963 — is the first domestic PGA TOUR event to have fans since March. Tickets are capped at 2,000 a day. Brooks Koepka was 2 over after a 70 on the course where he served as a consultant on architect Tom Doak's renovation. Koepka’s playing for the second time since a two-month layoff to heal injuries. Jordan Spieth, playing alongside Koepka, missed the cut with rounds of 73 and 71.

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The career grand slam never should be accepted as a given, yet there is a sense that it’s only a matter of time before Rory McIlroy converts on the final leg at the Masters. Even urgency isn’t yet a narrative despite this week’s attempt being his fifth since winning the 2014 Open Championship. He’s only 29 years of age. Of course, in the context of hoisting the hardware in all four, clutching the last piece is hardest. There’s a singular target and everyone knows it. Byron Nelson, Sam Snead, Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson, Raymond Floyd and Lee Trevino each came up one major short of the achievement. Among active players, you (and they) don’t need a reminder that Jordan Spieth (PGA Championship) and Phil Mickelson (U.S. Open) also are one major shy. Only Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods have accomplished what McIlroy is up first this year to attempt. The vibe that McIlroy will join golf’s most impressive club is in no small way attributed to his adaptation to worldwide scheduling in 2019. He’s streamlined and simplified. He wants the green jacket so badly and without any additional delay that he’s cleared the lane ahead. A Master of his own domain, you might say. And it’s no contest. It’s working. Since opening the calendar year with a T4 at Kapalua, McIlroy has gone T5-T4-2nd-T6-Win-T9, entirely on the PGA TOUR. So, the form is tip-top. And in the last four Masters, he’s recorded a 4th-T10-T7-T5 run, so it’s not like he’s a long shot as it concerns the tournament proper. If you haven’t figured it out by now, it’s time to ride McIlroy into the history books. If I didn’t burn him at Bay Hill, I wouldn’t hesitate. He’s addressed the potential pressure of the career grand slam with exactly the kind of professionalism that the challenge requires. Reviewing other options, when it comes to the Masters, it’s all about the chalk for the course. While McIlroy prevailed at THE PLAYERS Championship, this week’s process essentially is the opposite of the same for TPC Sawgrass where we search on the fringe for our selection to save on talent. Whereas the Stadium Course always wins, there is zero concern about leaning on a notable who has played well at Augusta National Golf Club before. If you’re new to the tournament, come to learn that this is precisely the point of the experience, which is rewarded over time. They don’t hand out degrees, but it’s called the Masters for a reason. Jordan Spieth is a modern-day machine at Augusta National, and his expectation to perform is high because of his success. For him to navigate to the top of your list, you need to ignore the cobwebs and crickets of his 2018-19 season. However, I can’t endorse that philosophy. Continue to wait him out. If he has the goods, he’ll deliver, and then he will again later. As crazy as it sounds, he’s a trap in our format this week. Consider again in 2020. Then there’s Woods for whom the Masters easily is his best remaining slot on the schedule. He would have been my pick at Bay Hill, but his early withdrawal compelled me to pivot to McIlroy. There isn’t anything that Woods hasn’t done that he’s set out to do, so his pursuit of major victory No. 15 just happens to remain one of his goals. Regardless of your position, he’s an easy pick. (As if you needed me to support that!) Justin Rose is the last big stick on the board who captures my attention to the degree of recommending him as strongly as McIlroy and Woods. No one is more comfortable with who he is and he’s checked off every box during his career. While a Patrick Reed-to-McIlroy fitting of the green jacket conjures provocative imagery, it’d make as much sense to watch the Englishman slide his arms into the sleeves. If you’re considering another, please refer to my Power Rankings for general confidence and crosscheck with Future Possibilities below. Because that preview encompasses the entire field of 87, it should be easier than usual to discern my opinion for everyone. That said, because decisions can vary if you’re pacing or chasing, front-runners should feel confident with Dustin Johnson, Paul Casey and Louis Oosthuizen as well. If you want to gain ground and avert the stymie, Rickie Fowler, Bubba Watson and Hideki Matsuyama are relatively strong angles for various reasons. While positioned in my Power Rankings, the likes of Reed, Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas, Francesco Molinari, Brooks Koepka, Sergio Garcia and Jason Day all make more sense as complements in roster formats. If still available to you in PGA TOUR Fantasy One & Done or your earnings-based format, holster for another event. With so many commodities, two-man gamers should employ the 1-1a formula. Being with the McIlroy-Woods ticket and bathe in other possibilities. FUTURE POSSIBILITIES NOTE: Select golfers committed to the tournament are listed alphabetically. Future tournaments are sorted chronologically and reflect previous success on the courses on which the tournaments will be held in 2018-19. The numerical values in parentheses represent the order of relative confidence of where to use each golfer if multiple sites are listed (e.g. 1 for strongest, 2 for next-strongest and so on). To present weighted confidence in real time, numerical values will not change all season no matter how many tournament remain listed for each golfer. All are pending golfer commitment. Keegan Bradley … Memorial (5); Travelers (4) Rafa Cabrera Bello … Wyndham (4) Patrick Cantlay … Memorial (3) Paul Casey … Masters (2); Wells Fargo (9); Travelers (1); TOUR Championship (3) Jason Day … Masters (4); Wells Fargo (6 defending); PGA Championship (3); U.S. Open (10); Open Championship (9) Bryson DeChambeau … Heritage (1);  Memorial (2; defending); Travelers (4); John Deere (7) Tony Finau … Memorial (2) Rickie Fowler … Masters (2); Wells Fargo (6); PGA Championship (9); Memorial (5); U.S. Open (10) Sergio Garcia … Masters (6); Open Championship (5); TOUR Championship (2) Branden Grace … Byron Nelson (5); U.S. Open (4) Emiliano Grillo … Charles Schwab (3) Charley Hoffman … Masters (4); Heritage (7); Charles Schwab (6); Travelers (1) J.B. Holmes … Wells Fargo (5) Billy Horschel … New Orleans (3; defending); Wyndham (6); TOUR Championship (1) Dustin Johnson … Masters (8); PGA Championship (11); Memorial (10); U.S. Open (1); WGC-St. Jude (6); TOUR Championship (7) Zach Johnson … Charles Schwab (5); John Deere (1); Open Championship (2); TOUR Championship (8) Si Woo Kim … Heritage (1) Kevin Kisner … Heritage (3); New Orleans (5); Charles Schwab (2); Memorial (6) Brooks Koepka … Masters (7); PGA Championship (2; defending); Charles Schwab (6); U.S. Open (1; two-time defending); Open Championship (8) Matt Kuchar … Masters (6); Heritage (2); Charles Schwab (7); Memorial (1); Open Championship (8) Marc Leishman … Byron Nelson (6); Memorial (4); Travelers (3); Open Championship (8) Hideki Matsuyama … Masters (4); PGA Championship (13); Memorial (8); U.S. Open (14); Wyndham (7); TOUR Championship (5) Rory McIlroy … Masters (4); Wells Fargo (3); Memorial (5); Travelers (8); Open Championship (1); TOUR Championship (6) Phil Mickelson … Masters (9); Wells Fargo (2); Open Championship (8); WGC-St. Jude (3) Francesco Molinari … Wells Fargo (6); PGA Championship (4); Open Championship (1; defending) Kevin Na … Charles Schwab (3); Wyndham (5) Louis Oosthuizen … Masters (2); U.S. Open (5); PGA Championship (4) Jon Rahm … Masters (5); Charles Schwab (1); TOUR Championship (7) Patrick Reed … Masters (5; defending); PGA Championship (4); U.S. Open (3); Travelers (7) Justin Rose … Masters (1); Charles Schwab (7; defending); Memorial (4); Open Championship (8); TOUR Championship (2) Xander Schauffele … U.S. Open (3); Open Championship (4); TOUR Championship (1) Adam Scott … Masters (6); Byron Nelson (11); PGA Championship (8); U.S. Open (9); Open Championship (7); TOUR Championship (3) Webb Simpson … Heritage (6); Wells Fargo (7); Charles Schwab (8); Travelers (9); Wyndham (1) Cameron Smith … Wyndham (3) Brandt Snedeker … Masters (10); Heritage (6); Charles Schwab (7); U.S. Open (5); Travelers (9); Wyndham (1; defending) Jordan Spieth … Masters (1); PGA Championship (7); Charles Schwab (5); Memorial (13); U.S. Open (4); Travelers (9); Open Championship (6); TOUR Championship (8) Henrik Stenson … Masters (5); PGA Championship (4); Open Championship (6); Wyndham (8); TOUR Championship (7) Justin Thomas … PGA Championship (9); Memorial (8); TOUR Championship (3) Jimmy Walker … Valero (2); Byron Nelson (6) Bubba Watson … Masters (5); Memorial (7); Travelers (2; defending); TOUR Championship (8) Gary Woodland … Memorial (4) Tiger Woods … Masters (2); Memorial (4); THE NORTHERN TRUST (6); TOUR Championship (5; defending)

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