A deep dive into Sergio Garcia’s golf bag

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – We’re halfway through THE PLAYERS Championship and so far, pretty much everything has played out according to plan. Louis Oosthuizen and Kyle Stanley each shot 66 and are tied at the top at 9 under, (predictable), while J.B. Holmes, who isn’t sure TPC Sawgrass fits his left-to-right ball flight, shot 69 and is two back (of course). Vijay Singh, 54, was riding a streak of seven straight missed cuts on the PGA TOUR, but fired a 68 to reach 6 under par, three off the lead. (Nailed it.) And the strength of his game so far this week has been putting. (As usual.) “It was sad I three-putted the last hole,” said Singh, who has made more than 200 feet of putts in two days and ranks 16th in strokes gained: putting through 36 holes. “But that’s a strong part of my game right now. If I keep putting like that, I’m going to be right there on Sunday.” To say this edition of THE PLAYERS has been upside-down doesn’t quite cover it. Although THE PLAYERS Stadium Course traditionally plays no favorites and has thus been a hard place to predict the winner, this week’s doings have been even weirder than usual. “It’s nice to kind of see a lot of the work kind of come together,” said Stanley, who ranks sixth in the field in strokes-gained: putting. “But that being said, there’s a lot of golf left. Still got to be really patient. Can’t get too far ahead of yourself.” Three weeks ago, Singh partnered with Carlos Franco to win the Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf on the PGA TOUR Champions. But he hasn’t won on TOUR in nine years, when he won twice in the Playoffs to claim the 2008 FedExCup. Stanley hasn’t been in this position for a while, either—he hasn’t won since the 2012 Waste Management Phoenix Open—but that just means they’re well-rested, right? Jordan Spieth shot a second-round 75 to miss the cut and afterward gave away one of his shoes to a little girl in the gallery. His play-of-the-day moment may have been when he found playing partner Phil Mickelson’s wayward tee shot at the par-4 10th hole. “The funny thing is I never find my own ball,” Spieth deadpanned to the gallery. “But I find Phil’s like that.” He snapped his fingers; the spectators laughed. “Although I’m not sure he wanted me to find it,” Spieth added. More laughter. Mickelson’s unpredictability is the stuff of legend, so he has fit right in this week. After not playing a practice round at the revamped Stadium Course, he climbed to within a shot of the lead with a 3-under 33 on the front nine Friday. The 2007 THE PLAYERS champ was back! Then he hit iron into the bushes left of the left fairway bunker on 10—leading to Spieth’s quip, and a bogey—and double-bogeyed the par-3 17th after his ball landed near the back pin but took a giant first hop and trundled over the bulkhead and into the water. “I don’t know what to say,” Mickelson said after his 72. “I played well today.” At least he had company: There were 29 balls in the water on 17 Friday, the most in a second round since 2003. And amid all the other oddities this week, playing well and scoring well have seldom looked more at odds. In fact, they seem to have begun a trial separation. Take Justin Thomas, who has made 10 birdies and an eagle so far. Pretty great, right? But Thomas is at even par after throwing in 10 bogeys and a double while shooting 73-71. “It seems like any time I got momentum I seemed to give it right back,” he said. Still, Thomas hardly is out of it. That’s the other upside-down thing about this PLAYERS and every PLAYERS. We think we know who’s on the fast track to winning, but we don’t. Just 12 of 43 second-round leaders/co-leaders have gone on to win the tournament. “If you make the cut here,” Thomas said, “you have a chance to win the tournament.” In other words, maybe the stars are not in as much trouble as it might seem. Defending champ Jason Day shot 72 and was at 2 under with Mickelson. Rory McIlroy, who revealed he has re-aggravated his back and will go in for an MRI on Monday, shot 71 and was at even. Dustin Johnson got nothing going and shot 73. He’s also at even par. Meanwhile, Luke List made the first eagle on the new par-4 12th hole, driving the green and sinking the putt from 14 feet, 9 inches. He shot 69. He missed the cut. At THE PLAYERS this year, great isn’t necessarily good, and mediocre isn’t all that bad, and the only sensible thing to do seems to be to reserve the right to withhold judgement. “It’s going to make us look pretty silly out there, a lot of spots,” Mickelson said of the Stadium Course’s firm greens. “But I hit a lot of good shots, including the one on 17 that went in the water. So, unfortunately, I made double there. But I’m in a good spot for tomorrow. I’ll come out tomorrow and see if I can shoot a number.” Stranger things have happened.

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AUGUSTA, Ga. — Hideki Matsuyama showed he could handle Augusta National when he first showed up as a 19-year-old amateur. Ten years later, the Japanese star put himself on the cusp of a green jacket Saturday at the Masters Tournament. RELATED: Leaderboard | Round 3 review: The Masters In a stunning turnaround after storms doused the course, Matsuyama had four birdies, an eagle and a superb par at the end of a 7-under 65, turning a three-shot deficit into a four-shot lead as he tries to become the first Japanese player to win a major. “This is a new experience for me being a leader going into the final round in a major,” Matsuyama said. “I guess all I can do is relax and prepare well and do my best.” Matsuyama was at 11-under 205, and no one could stay with him after the delay. It lasted 1 hour, 18 minutes because of dangerous weather and just enough rain fell that crusty Augusta National was a little more forgiving. He hit what he said was his worst shot of the day right before the delay, a tee shot into the trees on the right. He punched a 7-iron out to 20 feet for birdie and was on his way. The break brought the Masters to life, and at times it was hard to keep up. Xander Schauffele ran in a 60-foot eagle putt across the 15th green to momentarily join a four-way tie for the lead. Seconds later, Justin Rose holed a 25-foot birdie putt back on the par-3 12th to regain the lead. That lasted as long as it took Matsuyama to knock in his 5-foot eagle putt on the 15th to take the lead for good. The entire sequence took no more than two minutes. But after that, no one could catch Matsuyama. When the round ended, Schauffele (68), Rose (72), Marc Leishman (70) and Masters rookie Will Zalatoris (71) were all at 7-under 209. Jordan Spieth was within two shots of the lead despite a double bogey on the seventh hole, but he couldn’t keep pace and shot 72 to fall six shots behind. Matsuyama will play in the final group with Schauffele, a comfortable pairing. Schauffele’s mother was raised in Japan and he speaks enough Japanese to share a few laughs with Matsuyama during Saturday’s pairing. That won’t eliminate all the pressure. His lone shot at a major was at Quail Hollow in the 2017 PGA Championship when he was one shot behind with three holes to play and missed a crucial par putt. He was in tears after that round, a player under enormous pressure in golf-mad Japan. Matsuyama wasn’t the first Japanese star of his generation — that was close friend Ryo Ishikawa — but he is by far the most accomplished. Matsuyama has 14 worldwide wins, five on the PGA TOUR. He has reached as high as No. 2 in the world. He won the Asia-Pacific Amateur in 2010 that earned him a spot in the Masters the following year. He was the only amateur to make the cut, finishing on the same score (1 under) as defending champion Phil Mickelson. A decade later, he is on the cusp of history. The only other player from an Asian country to win a men’s major is Y.E. Yang in the 2009 PGA Championship at Hazeltine. Matsuyama wouldn’t have believed he could leave Augusta National on Saturday night with a four-shot lead. But he knew he was playing well, and he showed it. On a course that has played difficult all week, he delivered the first bogey-free round of the week. The signature shot was his 5-iron to a left pin to 5 feet for eagle. Equally stellar was an 8-iron to the front right shelf on the par-3 16th to 5 feet for a birdie, and then his pitching wedge to 10 feet behind the hole on the 17th. His work still wasn’t through. From a fairway bunker on the 18th, Matsuyama sent it soaring over the green and up the walkway toward the clubhouse, some 25 yards to the hole with little margin for error with a back pin. His chip bounced with enough spin to trickle out to 3 feet for par. It was reminiscent of Spieth closing out his third round in 2015 with a tough par save on the 18th to take a four-shot lead into the final round. That’s what Matsuyama has on Sunday, with a nation watching. He rarely can go anywhere on the PGA TOUR without a dozen or more Japanese media following. Their numbers are limited this year because of COVID-19 travel restrictions. “Being in front of the media is still difficult. It’s not my favorite thing to do,” Matsuyama said through his interpreter. “It’s been a lot less stress for me. I’ve enjoyed this week.” A victory would give Japan a sweep this week. Tsubasa Kajitani won the Augusta National Women’s Amateur last Saturday.

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Billy Maxwell, who grew up next to a golf course and led a full life of golf as a top amateur and successful touring professional before becoming a golf course owner, has passed away at the age of 92. Born on July 23, 1929, Maxwell was raised in his family’s home off the fourth green at Abilene (Texas) Country Club. The sport became his passion as Maxwell developed into a leading amateur who won the 1951 U.S. Amateur and helped North Texas State College win three straight NCAA Division I Championships (1950-1952). At North Texas, Maxwell teamed with fellow future Texas Golf Hall of Fame members Don January and Joe Conrad all three championship years, which in fact followed the school’s first-ever NCAA title in 1949. In September of their second championship year together, Maxwell advanced to the finals of the U.S. Amateur at Saucon Valley Country Club in Pennsylvania. Before a tournament-record crowd of approximately 7,000, he defeated career amateur Joe Gagliardi, 4 and 3. At age 22, Maxwell became the second-youngest U.S. Amateur champion at the time. Following college, Maxwell served in the U.S. Army before turning professional in 1954. He had a successful PGA TOUR career, winning eight times, including three wins in 1961. His final victory came at the 1962 Dallas Open Invitational, a year in which he finished a career-best 12th place on the money list with nearly $32,000. Although he never won a major championship, Maxwell performed consistently well at the three U.S. majors, finishing with eight top-10s, including ties for fifth at the 1962 Masters and 1963 U.S. Open and PGA Championship. Also in 1963, Maxwell competed in his first and only Ryder Cup at the former Atlanta Athletic Club site, now occupied by East Lake Golf Club. Though a rookie at age 34, he had a sterling performance as the only player to go 4-0-0 to help the U.S. cruise to a 23-9 victory over Great Britain. Maxwell teamed with Bob Goalby to win his first match in foursomes, then teamed with Billy Casper twice to win in four-balls and concluded with a 2-and-1 singles victory over Christy O’Connor. Once Maxwell’s playing began to wind down, he turned his attention to the business side of golf, partnering with fellow Texas touring professional Chris Blocker in 1971 to purchase Hyde Park Golf Club, a public course in Jacksonville, Florida, that was designed by famed Scottish architect Donald Ross and opened in 1925. Once home to the PGA TOUR’s Greater Jacksonville Open and site of LPGA great Mickey Wright’s first professional victory, Hyde Park was where PGA TOUR players such as Dan Sikes, Mark McCumber and Charles Raulerson honed their game as youths. After Blocker died in June 2016, Maxwell’s daughter and husband, Melanie and Tommy Bevill, took ownership of Hyde Park. But Billy remained dedicated to the course he owned for more than four decades until his passing.

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