Arnold Palmer Invitational viewer’s guide

Matt Kuchar said he plans to call caddie David Giral Ortiz later Friday to apologize. In the meantime, he has paid Ortiz the $50,000 he requested, and pledged a donation to the Mayakoba Classic charities.

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Bryson DeChambeau promised pre-tournament he would get after it. Winged Foot's reputation be damned. U.S. Open setup history be damned. DeChambeau said he would predominantly grip it and rip it with his new power game and figure it out from there. The jury is out on whether the method of slamming the cover off the ball, or perhaps snapping the head off the driver like he managed at the PGA Championship, will win a major championship. But one thing is for sure - it can help you contend. RELATED: Full leaderboard | Winged Foot fights back in Round 2 DeChambeau was riding a typical U.S. Open rollercoaster on Friday until he came to his final hole, the par-5 ninth. Ready. Aim. Boom. The six-time PGA TOUR winner annihilated his drive some 380 yards into the fairway and then took a pitching wedge from 179 yards and stuck it to 6 feet. He both drove for show and putted for dough, sending the eagle putt home for a 2-under 68. With the afternoon wave heading out to play, the former U.S. Amateur champion sits 3 under with just two players above him. When asked afterwards if he felt he had a significant advantage with his length and if he felt he would produce more birdie opportunities than anyone else he couldn't get the word "absolutely" out quick enough. "When I was in the fairway I was able to attack and take advantage and finished really well today. I hit a great drive on nine that just set me up to be able to attack that flag today, and that was a fun way to finish off at a U.S. Open so far. It’s great," DeChambeau beamed. "I still want to hit it straight ... I know my driver is going to be going far; sometimes straight, sometimes a little crooked. But if I can hit my irons really well, then I feel like I’ll be good for the rest of the day ... If my iron play is great, I feel like I can play from anywhere." And he did play from everywhere. DeChambeau hit just half of his fairways and a combination of that, and a tough course, meant while he had six birdies, he also had six bogeys. It was the finishing eagle that put the exclamation mark on the round. While the drive was incredible, the fact he used a wedge on approach is important. DeChambeau practiced his wedges into almost darkness the night before. He was "recalibrating". "My wedges yesterday weren’t that good. I was flying them too far and I wanted to know what the problem was and we figured out what the problem was. It just was going farther than I thought it was," he said. "We didn’t practice them as well as I should have leading up to this tournament, but we made that adjustment, and it worked out beautifully for me today." After being a non-contender at his first 14 majors, DeChambeau claimed his first top-10 with a T4 at the recent PGA Championship. Now he's looking to better that. The doubters still say the power game will be nullified as Winged Foot progressively plays harder but DeChambeau says bring it on. "I feel great. Confidence is at an all-time high right now, driving it well, iron play is fantastic, wedging is getting better each and every day, and I’m putting it like I know I can. So very happy," he said. "I want it to play as hard as possible. I feel like there’s so many holes out here that I can take advantage of that some people can’t. Now, that doesn’t mean that I’m going to win or anything. You’ve still got to execute; you’ve still got to hit the driver straight. "If I’m hitting the driver far but all over the place, you can’t make birdies from the rough. It’s very difficult to. So I still have to work on hitting it straight while hitting it far. And that’s a unique combo that I’m going to strive for for the rest of my life." If he gets it right for two more days it will be remembered for the rest of his life and beyond and could possibly be a watershed moment in the sport’s history.

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NAPA, Calif. – Notes and observations from Saturday’s gusty third round of the Safeway Open at sun-splashed Silverado Resort & Spa. LEADING LIGHTS SNEDEKER CLOSING IN. Brandt Snedeker was coming back from a rib injury and missed the PGA TOUR’s fall swing last year. As a result, he felt like he was playing catch-up all season and missed the TOUR Championship, a hard pill to swallow given that he won it along with the FedExCup in 2012. This time, Snedeker said after shooting a 69 to take a three-shot lead into Sunday, he’s determined to rack up as many FedExCup points as he can, as quickly as he can. “That’s the reason why I came here,� said Snedeker, a nine-time TOUR winner. “… I want to make sure I get as high on the list as possible so you can kind of set your schedule up and set your season up and not be worried about where you are on the list.� Saturday brought the most challenging conditions yet, with gusting winds that scattered leaves across the greens and made club selection tricky. There’s more wind in the forecast for Sunday, but Snedeker isn’t worried. He likes unsettled weather, and authored one of best bad-weather rounds ever in winning the 2016 Farmers Insurance Open. TWAY A LATE BLOOMER. Kevin Tway bowed out of the Playoffs after THE NORTHERN TRUST (T56) and Dell Technologies Championship (T43) last season. He started well at both, but finished poorly. At the RBC Canadian Open, he contended before a final-round 76 dropped him to a T17. Now, he says, he’s ready to take the next step in his career progression: finishing off a win. “It always takes me a while to kind of get comfortable in new places,� said Tway, who shot 68 to get to 13 under, three back and in solo second. “I got in contention a few times last year and didn’t do very good, so I’ll use tomorrow to learn from the bad and try to do better.� NOTABLES MICKELSON FALTERS. All week, Phil Mickelson insisted he was playing poorly despite posting good enough scores to work himself into the final threesome going into the weekend. The popular lefthander finally faltered in the third round, hitting his tee shot out of bounds on the way to a double bogey at the 8th hole and finding just 5/14 fairways as he shot 74. He missed a birdie putt of just over 6 ½ feet at the downwind, par-5 18th hole and went from three behind starting the day to eight strokes behind and in a tie for 15th. COUPLES CRUISING. A day after he made his 500th cut on the PGA TOUR, Fred Couples, who turned 59 earlier this week, kept on going with a third-round 70 to get to 8-under and in a large tie for 15th place. His round was highlighted by a hole-out eagle from the bunker at the par-5 9th, after which he mostly spun his wheels with a 1-over back nine. “I think this is a good course for everybody, whether you’re 29, 39, 109,� said Couples, who missed a 4 ½-foot birdie putt at the par-5 16th hole. “And I really like it, so that helps.� OBSERVATIONS HAAS TAKES LONG VIEW. Bill Haas is taking nothing for granted after a season in which he was in a car accident and wound up 152nd in the FedExCup, missing the Playoffs. At 36, the 2011 FedExCup champion has been in an especially reflective mood amongst so much youthful talent at Silverado. “Doesn’t matter what you’ve done in the past,� Haas said after shooting 67 to get to 11-under, five back. “You’ve got to keep playing. There’s young guys, year in and year out, coming out that are really good. You just can’t sit by and expect to play out here forever. So just motivated me a little bit to realize I’ve got to get after it if I want to hang around.� IM IN THE MIX. Sungjae Im didn’t waste any time last season as he started his Web.com Tour campaign with a win in his first start and a runner-up in his second. He wound up leading the money list wire-to-wire, and don’t look now, but he’s threatening to win his first start on the PGA TOUR, too, at the Safeway. Im shot his second straight 69 to reach 12-under and will go into Sunday four behind solo leader Snedeker. “I’m not looking at the leaderboard at all tomorrow,� Im said. “So I’m going to play my own game tomorrow.� GET TO KNOW … CHASE WRIGHT. University of Indiana product was mentored by fellow Hoosier and TOUR pro Jeff Overton; the two were even roomies for a time in Bloomington. Wright got engaged last week to Gretchen Zoeller, daughter of 10-time TOUR winner Fuzzy, and shot a third-round 70 to reach 10-under at Silverado. He’s tied for 5th place, six back. QUOTABLES I was kind of stunned.I’m not looking at the leaderboard at all tomorrow.It’s 1,000 percent attitude. SUPERLATIVES Low round: 67 by Bill Haas, Sam Ryder. Longest drive: 398 yards (Martin Trainer/No. 9) Longest putt: 57’ 9� (Sepp Straka/No. 5) Toughest hole: The 464-yard, par-4 13th played to a 4.267 average. Easiest hole: The 580-yard, par-5 16th played to a 4.535 average. CALL OF THE DAY For play-by-play coverage of the final round of the Safeway Open, listen at PGATOUR.COM. SHOT OF THE DAY

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