Amateur takes relief with Rae’s Creek potty break

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PALM HARBOR, Fla. – Jordan Spieth is having problems with his putting. Rory McIlroy is struggling with his full swing. Those are usually their strengths, but not this week at the Valspar Championship. Both players finished at 5-over 147 at Innisbrook’s Copperhead Course to miss the cut. Spieth finished 10 shots behind playing partner Tiger Woods after shooting 76-71. McIlroy fired 74-73. This was McIlroy’s sixth consecutive over-par round, the second-longest streak of his PGA TOUR career (he had eight consecutive over-par rounds in April 2010). McIlroy has finished 18 strokes behind Woods in six rounds since leaving Riviera. Spieth and McIlroy, winners of two of the past three FedExCups, find themselves farther down the standings than they’d like at this point in the season. Spieth started this week at No. 52, while McIlroy is 175th. McIlroy is scheduled to play next week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, while Spieth will take a week off before the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Championship in his college town of Austin, Texas. McIlroy began the year by shooting 40 under par in two top-three finishes in the Middle East. He has two missed cuts in four PGA TOUR starts and is coming off a T59 at The Honda Classic. He’s 14 over par in his past six rounds. “It’s hard because when I play my weeks off or practice, it feels pretty good,� McIlroy said. “When I get out on the course it isn’t quite the same.� He hit just half his greens through 36 holes and 14 of 26 fairways. “I’ve shown signs of good play this year already and I just need to see a couple of good scores and I think that will maybe give me a little boost going forward,� McIlroy said. Spieth thought he was making progress with his putting, but admitted that this week was a “step back.� It’s his first missed cut at the Valspar Championship. He won in 2015 and had finished no worse than T20 in his previous four starts here. He had finished in the top 25 in five of six starts this season; a missed cut at the Waste Management Phoenix Open was the exception. He made just three of 16 putts from 7 to 15 feet this week. “When I look up, I’m looking right of where my putter is pointed and therefore there’s just not much of a commitment and not much consistency,� Spieth said. He points to his win at last year’s Open Championship as inspiration. He was struggling with his setup but started rolling putts once he started addressing the ball properly. “I don’t want it to be streaky,� he said. “I’d rather be consistent but the good news is my confidence can flip into a pretty elite level once that kind of clicks. I’ve just been searching for that.� NOTABLES Corey Conners – The PGA TOUR rookie who unsuccessfully tried to Monday qualify for the Valspar Championship held onto the lead with a 2-under 69 on Friday. Conners, who got into the field after the qualifier, is two shots ahead of five players: Paul Casey, Brandt Snedeker, Tiger Woods, Ryan Palmer and Kelly Kraft. He made four birdies and a double-bogey (on the par-3 fourth hole) on Friday. Conners has made 10 of 11 cuts this season but has yet to record a top-25 finish. He is 133rd in this season’s FedExCup. Tiger Woods – He held the solo lead after a birdie on his 14th hole, but he made his lone bogey of the day at the last hole. He’ll start the weekend in a share of second place, two strokes behind Corey Conners. Click here for more on Woods’ round. Brandt Snedeker – The former FedExCup champion is having his best week since suffering a rib injury last July. He’ll start the weekend in second place, two shots behind Conners. Snedeker, No. 74 in the world ranking, needs a high finish to qualify for the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play. He also must crack the top 50 in the world ranking to qualify for the Masters. Snedeker will play with Woods in Saturday’s second-to-last group at 1:45 p.m. Justin Rose – The winner of this season’s World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions sits at 3-under 139 (70-69) after making just three bogeys over 36 holes. He’s in contention, despite hitting just 12 of 26 fairways and 19 of 36 greens through two rounds. Sam Burns – The Web.com Tour member got in the field with his T8 at The Honda Classic, where he outdueled Tiger Woods in the final round. Burns is back in contention, sitting in 12th place after two rounds. He could earn special temporary membership with a T3 finish this week. Five years ago, Jordan Spieth earned that status at the Valspar Championship. Burns also is in the field for next week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational. Patrick Reed – Three years after losing a memorable playoff here to Jordan Spieth, Reed finds himself in contention once again after shooting a second-round 69. Reed sits at 2 under par, four shots off the lead. He made just one bogey Friday. Tony Finau – The seventh-ranked player in the FedExCup missed the cut after shooting consecutive 74s. It’s just his second missed cut in 10 starts this season (Waste Management Phoenix Open). QUOTABLE I want him to win again because I want these kids to see what we dealt with for a long, long time. SUPERLATIVES Longest drive: 406 yards. Seamus Power on the par-4 10th hole. It was the day’s longest drive by 36 yards. Longest putt: 77 feet, 10 inches. Tyrone Van Aswegen holed that long birdie putt on the par-3 17th. He also made a 35-foot birdie putt and 32-foot birdie putt. Lowest round: 65, Van Aswegen. His bogey-free round jumped him 90 spots on the leaderboard into a tie for 12th. Hardest hole: The 456-yard, par-4 16th played to a 4.29 stroke average Friday. Easiest hole: The 571-yard, par-5 11th played to a 4.67 scoring average. Sam Burns made one of two eagles on the hole Friday. SHOT OF THE DAY

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HIDEKI USED TO NO. 1: Thanks to his win at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, Hideki Matsuyama is making his fourth stint of the season atop the FedExCup standings. Matsuyama spent five weeks at No. 1 after winning the WGC-HSBC Champions last October. After winning the Waste Management Phoenix Open, he spent another four weeks at No. 1. He briefly moved back into the top spot the week after the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard; his tie for 45th allowed him to jump past Justin Thomas, who did not play that week. And now he’s back at No. 1. The consistency that the Japanese star has shown this season is reflected in his FedExCup points ranking – he’s never dipped below No. 3 in any week. In fact, since the 11th week of the 2015-16 season, he’s never been outside the top 20 after any week. If Matsuyama ends the regular season at No. 1, he would be the fourth non-American to claim that spot entering the Playoffs. The others: Australia’s Jason Day in 2016, Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy in 2014 and South Africa’s Ernie Els in 2010. In the first 10 years, Tiger Woods entered the Playoffs ranked No. 1 five times. The other Americans: Jordan Spieth in 2015 and Nick Watney in 2011. STROUD’S BIG MOVE: Chris Stroud went into the Barrucuda Championship ranked 144th in points and in serious danger of missing the Playoffs. But now he’s all but guaranteed a spot in the first two Playoffs events and is on knocking on the door of the third event. Stroud’s win in Reno moved him to 76th in points, his best position this season and the first time he’s been inside the top 125 in points since week nine. Stroud did not make the Playoffs last year, and he’s advanced to the BMW Championship just three times. With 70 players advancing to the BMW, Stroud’s path just became a lot less difficult. SCOTT NOT YET SECURE. Adam Scott said last week that he will take time off to be with his wife for their birth of their second child, and thus will not play in the first two Playoffs events. He said last week’s Bridgestone Invitational and this week’s PGA Championship are his last two events to secure enough points to earn a spot at the BMW. Scott produced a nice showing at Bridgestone, finishing tied for 13th. That moved him from 70th to 61st in the standings but still leaves him vulnerable. He’ll need a similar showing at the PGA Championship, which offers increased point values (600 points to the winner). A similar finish at Quail Hollow would likely leave him around the 700-point total. That total hasn’t been good enough in recent years to advance to the BMW, but projected totals are lower this season, so he may have a chance. THREE FOR ALL THREE: Just three players have qualified for the BMW Championship in each of the first 10 years of the FedExCup Playoffs – Charley Hoffman, Phil Mickelson and Bubba Watson. Hoffman is guaranteed to continue that streak, currently sitting at 11th in the standings after his third-place finish at Firestone. Mickelson is 45th and should be also be set for the BMW. Watson, however, remains on the outside looking in. He gave himself a little breathing room just to make the Playoffs, moving from 117 to 111 with his tie for 17th at Firestone. But he still has lots of ground to make up. HELPING THEIR CAUSE: Richy Werenski and Greg Owen lost to Stroud in the playoff at the Barracuda, but they made big moves up the FedExCup standings. Werenski went from 154 to 122, and must only maintain his position the last two weeks to secure a spot inside the top 125 that advance to the Playoffs opener, THE NORTHERN TRUST. Owen, meanwhile, went from 162 to 136 and now has a fighting chance. Sam Saunders also had a good week, with an eighth-place finish, and is now 127th in points. Unfortunately for Werenski, Owen and Saunders, none are in the field at this week’s PGA Championship, so they could find themselves slipping back before next week’s regular-season finale, the Wyndham Championship. Meanwhile, at the Bridgestone Invitational, Zach Johnson’s runner-up finish moved him from 83 to 36 and guaranteed his spot in the BMW Championship.

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