After a year off and still with strict player restrictions, The Open is set for its complicated return

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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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. - Resilience has ensured Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm will head to the weekend at TPC Sawgrass with plenty of opportunity to collect a maiden title at THE PLAYERS Championship. DeChambeau rebounded from a terrible opening-hole double bogey by carding five birdies for a second consecutive 3-under 69. It left him 6 under through 36 holes, good enough to be sitting just a shot off the clubhouse lead set by Chris Kirk after the morning wave. Rahm continued to recover from his inauspicious start on Thursday. The Spaniard has now played his last 26 holes in 7-under par and sits 4 under for the championship after a Friday 68. DeChambeau evoked memories of Rory McIlroy's opening hole on Day One when he butchered the par-4 10th in the early hours of Friday's second round. But unlike the 2019 PLAYERS champion, DeChambeau shook it off and set about rectifying things. "You don’t expect to do that the first hole out. Especially I was hitting it pretty good this morning, and then you go out there, you hit one and you squeeze one right, and it goes pretty far right," DeChambeau said. "(Then) you don’t hit your second shot where you need it to be and mess up. So you just aren’t feeling comfortable. I wasn’t feeling as comfortable as I should have been feeling, and unfortunately, that’s the way my day started. But I was able to make a nice up-and-down on the next hole to settle it down." Birdies on Nos. 11, 16 and 17 came before the turn before he added two more on the front side leaving last week's Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard champion extremely well poised for the weekend. True to character, the FedExCup leader said he would be heading to the range to work on his game after feeling like he was far from his best. He hit just six of 14 fairways in both opening rounds. "I’m happy with the fact that I’ve still been able to keep myself in it and score well." he said. "I’ve been pretty lucky, for the most part. I don’t think that’ll happen this weekend. I’ve got to make sure that my game is good off the tee, so I don’t have those issues occurring and I don’t have to rely on luck for the most part. I have to get it in the fairway." The end of the day was a welcome relief for Rahm who knocked in a final hole birdie on the par-5 ninth to shoot 4-under 32 on that side of the course. He managed to hit 15 of 18 greens in regulation despite missing half his fairways. "It was a pretty stressful round. I was barely in the fairway, fought all day," said Rahm, who held the 54-hole lead here in 2019 before fading. "It’s hard to be defensive with a wedge in your hand but you have to be a lot of times. Pars aren’t bad on any hole, so you’ve just got to manage that and take advantage of the times you can. You have to be pretty smart with where you’re putting the golf ball pretty much all day."

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AUSTIN, Texas –  For a moment there it looked as if Stephen Ames was going to have company in the unwanted record books at the World Golf Championships – Dell Technologies Match Play. Bubba Watson’s dominance early in the final at Austin Country Club over fellow University of Georgia alum Kevin Kisner – where he won the opening five holes – had everyone scrambling for the record books for largest wins. To be fair, most remember Tiger Woods giving Ames a 9 and 8 belting in the opening round of the 2006 tournament … but could Watson reach the almost mythical 10 and 8? The short answer is no – instead he settled for a 7 and 6 result – but it could have quite easily been more. Watson had legitimate chances to win the first 10 straight holes – and did win seven of them. It was a Bubba blitz of epic proportions – a combination of good golf and a tired opponent. It stands as a new record for a winning margin in an 18-hole final – with Woods’ 8-and-6 win over Stewart Cink in 2008 coming when the final was played over 36 holes. “I really don’t think it was pressure,â€� Watson said of Kisner’s performance. “I think it was just energy. I don’t think I scared him on the first tee. I think it was just his energy was gone after a couple of holes. And he was fighting, but just didn’t have the fight that he really wanted and needed.â€� Kisner had gone 19 holes in his semifinal against Alex Noren, a grinding match he probably should have lost, but showed great guts to win. Watson needed just 16 holes to oust Justin Thomas and had a comfortable lead for most of that match, expending much less physical and mental energy. “I don’t know what was going on. It was just pitiful. I couldn’t hit anywhere close to where I was trying,â€� Kisner lamented. “Long week. A little tired, probably. Lose some legs, and just didn’t have it. And finally made a few good swings coming in, but those were too little, too late.â€� In the final, Watson opened with five straight wins – the first player to do so all week. It all began with a birdie for him on the opening hole, setting the tone for the match. He even had a short putt to make it six in a row but proved human by missing on the low side. Another win on the seventh hole had him firing again and the now 11-time PGA TOUR winner had looks from 18 and 14 feet on the eighth and ninth, respectively, to win those holes only to let them slip. Another birdie on 10 followed before Kisner slightly delayed the inevitable with a long-range birdie and win on the 11th. Another Watson birdie on the 12th hole secured his second career WGC title and second TOUR win this season. “It’s absolutely amazing,â€� Watson said after moving to fourth in the FedExCup. “You don’t think about lists or anything, you just think about trophies and trying to win. And having two majors, and now having two World Golf Championships … the closest things to majors … what an honor and a privilege, overwhelming sensation to know that I have another trophy at the house.â€� CALL OF THE DAY SUPERLATIVES Best Match: The semifinal between Kevin Kisner and Alex Noren needed an extra hole to decide it. After the two traded some stunning golf early in the match it became a grind late. At one stage, Noren made five straight birdies but won just one hole. On the back nine, Kisner won the 12th, and then won it again in overtime to claim the win. Noren had multiple short putts to win holes, including on 18 in regulation, but couldn’t get it done. Read all match recaps here. Most Dominant Performance: Clearly it was the 7-and-6 rout Watson handed Kisner in the championship final. Most Holes Won: The eight holes won by Watson in the final was the pick of the four Sunday matches. Least Holes Won: Kisner at least got on the board with his long birdie bomb on the 11th hole in the final … the only hole he won. Best Learning Experience: FedExCup leader Justin Thomas had the chance to get to world No. 1 if he could beat Watson in their semifinal on Sunday morning but instead struggled to bring his best. Thomas admitted it got to him – an experience he can certainly learn from. “I haven’t had such a hard time not thinking about something so much. And that really sucked. I couldn’t stop thinking about it, to be perfectly honest,â€� Thomas said. QUOTABLES Well, yeah, there’s only two of us. Jell-O.If we do our job well, we think we’re good enough to beat the other guys. In the end it might be a good thing going to Augusta without that. I get to go do what I was going to do and let DJ have all that pressure. It was one of the hardest losses probably ever for me.

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