2022 U.S. Open: Phil Mickelson struggling early, Rory McIlroy throws a club and more from Round 1

Rory McIlroy defends his title at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, where last year’s back-nine blitz snapped an 18-month victory drought. Tiger Woods, meantime, hopes to get his season heated up at place where he’s won eight previous times. Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, 2016 winner Jason Day, and honorary co-host Justin Rose also top the marquee, as Bay Hill once again becomes the final tuneup for THE PLAYERS Championship. FIELD NOTES: Reigning Open Championship titleholder Francesco Molinari makes his first start on U.S. soil since the Sentry Tournament of Champions, topping an international sector that includes Ryder Cup partner Tommy Fleetwood, Hideki Matsuyama, Ian Poulter and Haotong Li. … Phil Mickelson, the 1997 Bay Hill champion and a recent winner at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, returns to Arnie’s Place for the first time since 2013. … Bay Hill expects to welcome 17 of the FedExCup’s current top 30. … U.S. Amateur champion Viktor Hovland makes his third TOUR start since capturing that crown. The Oklahoma State junior is No. 1 in the collegiate rankings, one spot ahead of teammate Matthew Wolff, who recently made the cut at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. … Hovland isn’t the only collegian in the field. Fourth-ranked Justin Suh also is playing. He recently won the Southwestern Invitational, his seventh win in his past 16 collegiate starts. … Other exemptions went to former NCAA champion Braden Thornberry and Sam Horsfield, born in England but raised in nearby Davenport, Florida. FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 points. STORYLINES: McIlroy, whose win last year was his first since the 2016 TOUR Championship, hopes Bay Hill can get him over the hump again. He arrives off four consecutive top-5 finishes, including a runner-up at the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship… Woods makes his 18th Bay Hill start with momentum from a share of 10th in Mexico, his first top-10 of the season. He tied for fifth last year in his first visit since winning in 2013. In addition to his eight TOUR titles at Bay Hill, he also won the 1991 U.S. Junior Amateur there. It was the first of his six USGA amateur titles. … McIlroy’s victory was the seventh by an international player in the past 13 editions, after going the first 27 years with just one non-American winner. … Rose, already a winner at the Farmers Insurance Open, adds the role of co-host this year, one of three sharing the function Palmer once enjoyed. Former Golf Channel anchor Kelly Tilghman and Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings round out the trio. COURSE: Bay Hill Club & Lodge, 7,419 yards, par 72. Acclaimed by Palmer as the “best course in Florida� after playing a 1965 exhibition on Orlando’s western edge, it turned into a 50-year love affair as Palmer made Bay Hill his winter base and eventually bought the property. Bay Hill first welcomed the TOUR in 1979, when the old Florida Citrus Open moved across town. Built in 1961 by Dick Wilson, Palmer’s constant tinkering over the years left no doubt about whose stamp it bears. Bay Hill’s closing trio of holes often generates a dramatic finish, most notably the 7-iron hole-out at No. 18 by Robert Gamez to stun Greg Norman in 1990. For those visiting Central Florida, must-play courses include ChampionsGate GC (ChampionsGate, Florida), Hawks’ Landing GC (Orlando) and Mission Inn Resort & Club (Howey-in-the-Hills, Florida). Book your reservations via TeeOff.com. 72-HOLE RECORD: 264, Payne Stewart (1987). 18-HOLE RECORD: 62, Andy Bean (2nd round, 1981), Greg Norman (2nd round, 1984), Adam Scott (1st round, 2014). LAST YEAR: McIlroy notched his 14th TOUR victory in a manner Palmer would have been proud of, blitzing Bay Hill’s back nine with five birdies in his final six holes on the way to a three-shot romp. McIlroy began the day two shots behind Henrik Stenson and didn’t make his first birdie until No. 6, then suddenly seemed as though he couldn’t miss. The highlight came with a chip-in at No.1 5, part of a four-birdie run that began at the 13th. McIlroy’s closing 64 was the lowest final round by a Bay Hill winner since Gary Koch in 1984. It was a special win in another way, as McIlroy’s last triumph – the 2016 TOUR Championship – came on the same day Palmer passed away. DeChambeau finished second after a 68, while Woods stayed in the hunt until driving out of bounds at the par-5 16th on the way to a share of fifth. HOW TO FOLLOW TELEVISION: Thursday-Friday, 2-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday-Sunday, 12:30-2:30 p.m. (GC), 2:30-6 p.m. (NBC). PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday, 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m. ET (featured groups). Saturday-Sunday, 9 a.m.-2:30 p.m. (featured groups), 2:30-6 p.m. (featured holes). International subscribers (via GOLFTV): Thursday-Friday, 12:30 to 23:00 GMT. Saturday, 14:00 to 23:00. Sunday, 13:00 to 22:00. RADIO: Thursday-Friday, noon-6 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, 1-6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com).

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Nasa Hataoka ran away with the DIO Implant LA Open on Sunday at Wilshire Country Club to open the LPGA Tour’s two-week run in the Los Angeles area.

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From South Korea to South Carolina, albeit eventually and out of necessity. After three years contested on Jeju Island at the southern tip of the Asian country, THE CJ CUP has been held in the United States since 2020 due to ongoing challenges related to the pandemic. This year’s host is Congaree Golf Club in The Palmetto State. RELATED: Play Pick ‘Em Live | The First Look If the stage for THE CJ CUP at South Carolina sounds familiar, it should. Keep reading beneath the projected contenders for a brief history of the worthy track, how it should test and more. POWER RANKINGS: THE CJ CUP Collin Morikawa, Hideki Matsuyama, Billy Horschel and Tyrrell Hatton will be among the notables reviewed in Draws and Fades. The PGA TOUR’s first (and only prior) stop at this week’s host course was for the Palmetto Championship at Congaree in June of 2021. Garrick Higgo prevailed, and after gaining entry via a commissioner exemption no less. To put the timing of that tournament into perspective, it was two seasons ago and it marked the first anniversary of the Return to Golf after the three-month shutdown due to COVID-19. The TOUR’s return to Congaree is for a much different competition. Whereas the Palmetto Championship hosted a full field of 156 with a 36-hole cut, THE CJ CUP at South Carolina reserves room for only 78, and there is no cut. Officially, eight spots are saved for golfers from South Korea – five KPGA members and three via the Official World Golf Ranking – but there are 14 natives or golfers with South Korean heritage committed thanks to the growing depth of talent among members. Of those who competed in the Palmetto Championship, 19 are back this week. Higgo did not qualify. Congaree Golf Club was designed by Tom Fazio. He and his team sought out to replicate the kind of layout that you’d find in Australia’s Sandbelt region in Melbourne. So, there isn’t a relevant sightline that isn’t consumed with sand and/or native area. Congaree is a par 71 with three par 5s and it tips at 7,655 yards. Rough essentially is a rumor on the property, but what little there is has been allowed to scale to four inches. Champion bermuda greens are average in size and prepped to run as far as 13 feet on the Stimpmeter. Hot and humid conditions dominated for the first three rounds here in 2021, but the elements this week will be considerably different, as you’d expect four months and change later in the year. Thursday’s daytime high won’t eclipse 70 degrees. It will warm gradually thereafter but the highest temperatures will settle in the mid-70s. Rain is not expected and winds will be light, so Congaree is poised to be pure. The host course averaged 71.743 for the 156-man field in 2021. That slotted it as the second-hardest of all non-majors in the super season of 2020-21 and about a half-shot higher than third-hardest Riviera Country Club, host of 120 golfers for The Genesis Invitational. Because of its length, Congaree will reward distance off the tee, but the fairways are generous, so it’s more of a second-shot exercise than it seems. Taut games on approach and with the shortest sticks will define the final leaderboard. ROB BOLTON’S SCHEDULE PGATOUR.com’s Rob Bolton recaps and previews every tournament from numerous perspectives. Look for his following contributions as scheduled. MONDAY: Power Rankings TUESDAY*: Sleepers, Draws & Fades WEDNESDAY: Pick ‘Em Preview SUNDAY: Medical Extensions, Qualifiers, Reshuffle * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf, which also publishes on Tuesday.

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