B. Watson snaps driver, still near top of Travelers

HONOLULU — Abraham Ancer can’t remember playing better with so little to show for it. His hope is the payoff is not far away. RELATED: Players rally to Australian bushfire relief cause | Players to Watch in 2020: Abraham Ancer | The First Look  Ancer arrived for the Sony Open in Hawaii with his confidence still brimming from a solid debut in the Presidents Cup last month in Australia. He was among seven rookies on the International team. That didn’t keep Adam Scott from saying on the eve of the matches he would be shocked if the 28-year-old Mexican wasn’t “a big point winner for us.� Ancer delivered by going unbeaten in four teams matches. And when the pressure was even greater — singles against Tiger Woods, with social media driving a plot that Ancer wanted a piece of him — Ancer held his own until Woods outlasted him in 16 holes to start a U.S. comeback. “A lot of good stuff came out of the Presidents Cup,� Ancer said. “Just playing a lot of golf under a lot of pressure. I like to put myself in those situations. I become a better player when I put myself in those situations, and moving forward, I feel like I will be a little calmer in situations where I would be normally stressed out.� He felt like every shot mattered, not just for him but for the team. Now he’s back on his own, playing against a 144-man field at windy Waialae Country Club, not nearly as many fans watching from along the ropes or in front of the TV. He is among 15 of the top 50 in the world ranking, led by Justin Thomas, who won the Sentry Tournament of Champions last week at Kapalua and has won three of his last six starts on the PGA TOUR. Ancer is still looking for his first PGA TOUR victory. He won late in 2018 at the Australian Open, which earned him a spot in the Open Championship. He did well enough last year, particularly his runner-up finish to Patrick Reed at THE NORTHERN TRUST, to make it the TOUR Championship and earn a spot in the Masters for the first time. “It just shows me what I need to get better at, how you feel under pressure,� Ancer said of his 3-1-1 mark at Royal Melbourne. “I can take that and look back when I’m in a situation like that, maybe playing in the last round for a chance to win. I’ll draw back and remember how I felt that day.� A great week for him ended awkwardly because of his match against Woods. Ancer was asked a month before the Presidents Cup who he wanted to play, and he mentioned Woods, the greatest of his generation and an idol for most players on both teams in Melbourne. It was portrayed as poking Tiger, with his quote posted on social media accounts as a reminder. Woods played well, and the match turned on the 14th hole when Woods made an 8-foot par putt and Ancer missed his par from about 6 feet. Woods went 2 up and closed him out with a birdie on the 16th. “Abe wanted it. He got it,� Woods said during the winner’s press conference. Ancer didn’t want the loss or the narrative to ruin an otherwise good week. “I tried not to let it get to me,� Ancer said. “That was actually a month before in Mayakoba when I got asked this question. I was like, ’Well out of the 12 guys who would I like to play on a big stage in a big event like that? Yeah, obviously I would like to play my hero growing up, Tiger Woods. It would be an incredible experience.� And it was, on and off the course. “I didn’t only learn from the golf course and from golf, I learned a lot about the media and how it can get twisted,� he said. “Definitely got twisted, just the context how I said things. And maybe Tiger didn’t know the way I said it. He just kind of took it from what he was reading or what he heard, which is fine. “Maybe it was a little bit of a downer because people didn’t know I said it,� Ancer said. “Some guy reached out to me and said, ‘You were really, really cocky.’ I was like, ‘What?’ I was thrown off by some of the comments.� Ancer faces a big year, his first playing in all four majors, and he virtually is a lock to represent Mexico in the Olympics. For now, golf is back to the individual sport it normally is. Six of his teammates from the Presidents Cup are at the Sony Open in Hawaii, including Marc Leishman, with whom Ancer won a match and halved another. Matt Kuchar is the defending champion. Thomas will try to sweep the Hawaii swing for the second time in three years.

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ST. LOUIS – Some players like being under the proverbial radar. Jordan Spieth doesn’t mind it. But come Sunday afternoon, Spieth hopes to be the brightest blip on the screen. While Spieth knows the 2017-18 season on the PGA TOUR has not been his best, the 25-year-old has still been a factor in two of the three majors. Spieth was third at the Masters, almost producing the best Sunday comeback in Augusta National history. He held a share of the 54-hole lead at the recent Open Championship only to fade to a ninth-place finish. But at the end of the day, almost winning is not winning. With 10 PGA TOUR wins in the three seasons prior to this one, trophies are now expected from him. Winning this week would be an incredible way to break the recent slump that has seen him drop from world No. 2 at the start of 2018, to his current position of eighth. Because if he claims the Wanamaker Trophy, Spieth enters notable company as just the sixth man to achieve the career grand slam behind Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods. “This tournament will always be circled until I’m able to hopefully win it someday … which will ultimately achieve a life-long goal for me,â€� Spieth said. “So certainly, emphasis in my head on it, but nothing overpowering, nothing that takes over once I start on the first tee, just more going into the week.â€� This is just Spieth’s second chance to complete the slam after last year’s whirlwind where he claimed the Claret Jug and turned up to Quail Hollow as hot property. He admits to being more anxious then because he was in form and going to a course he felt he could contend. But this year the focus is on the likes of four-time winner Woods, world No. 1 Dustin Johnson and defending FedExCup and PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas. “I like to come in in form,â€� Spieth said when asked if he’d prefer his current spot of under the radar or being the brightest spot on it. “I feel somewhat under the radar this year. I’ve kind of felt that way a lot this year, I don’t mind it. “But at the same time, after one round it changes. So ideally, going into Sunday you’re a bright spot.â€� Statistically the problem for Spieth has been putting. He ranks 165th in Strokes Gained: Putting after being inside the top 10 on TOUR in two of the last four seasons and inside the top 40 in all four seasons. But at Carnoustie he lamented “two bad swingsâ€� that took him out of the tournament when he bogeyed the fifth and doubled the sixth hole. 
 He’s seen the good and the bad with majors, winning three and of course letting a few slip. He points out Jack Nicklaus had multiple near misses to go with his 18 wins, which makes the losses easier to accept. “Each week, if I don’t have a chance to win on Sunday, I’m disappointed waking up. But I understand this year’s been kind of a building year for me, and I’ve been working back towards the level that I like to be at,â€� he said. “If I look back, I try and focus on four tournaments a year, I have a huge emphasis on them, and two of them I’ve had a chance to win on Sunday this year. So if I’m looking at it from that standpoint, it’s kind of mission accomplished with one to go.â€� “But obviously, getting in the winner’s circle when it’s been over a year is something that I obviously would like to do. “I don’t feel any added pressure from it, I won’t, but if it happens or doesn’t happen through the rest of this calendar year, I’m working in the right direction, I’m doing the right things, and again if you get yourself in position enough, the bounces will go your way.â€�

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What are the biggest questions heading into the PGA? From Tiger’s long break to Brooks Koepka’s motivation, we go through the list.

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