Minty Bets is joined by Jay Busbee to give his top picks for the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte this weekend.
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SOUTHPORT, England – News and notes from Thursday’s first round at The Open Championship. Jordan Spieth and Brooks Koepka were early clubhouse leaders after 5-unders 65 at Royal Birkdale. Rust? What rust? It’s four weeks later. It’s a different course, a different country, heck, even a different continent. Last month had wide fairways; this week, the fairways are tight. And yet, Brooks Koepka turned Thursday into essentially his fifth round at Erin Hills. After tying the all-time lowest winning score at the U.S. Open (16 under) in mid-June, Koepka kept the hot hand with an opening 65 that included a hole-out for eagle from a bad lie in a greenside bunker at the 17th. Though he didn’t swing a club for more than two weeks after winning his first major, Koepka picked up right where we last saw him when he shot 67 on the final day at Erin Hills. “Just fun to get back playing again,â€� Koepka said. “… After taking four weeks off, it’s kind of nice to get back inside the ropes and finally get those competitive juices flowing.â€� Success after a lengthy layoff is nothing new for Koepka. Prior to his first PGA TOUR victory at the 2015 Waste Management Phoenix Open, he had taken nearly a month off. Instead of getting rusty, he finds the downtime necessary to stay fresh and avoid the week-to-week mental grind. “If I start playing four or five weeks in a row, everything just seems to get nonchalant,â€� he said. “… You get to be in the routine and get used to it. And it just doesn’t seem like I’m fully ready to play. If you take some time off and kind of recharge mentally, physically, I feel like I’m in really good shape right now, even with that time off mentally.â€� So what did he do during this most recent break? He went to Las Vegas with a few friends – and evidently had a great time, since he deftly avoided providing details. (“It was funâ€� was as much as he wanted to offer.) He returned home on July 1, missing the gym more than missing his clubs. It wasn’t until the next week that he got back on the course, playing a fun match with his manager Blake Smith. He gave Smith 13 strokes – and his manager needed just 10 to win. If Koepka maintains his current major form, getting strokes may be the only way the rest of the field can beat him. In his last 12 major starts, he has five top-10 finishes (including his win) and five other top-25 finishes. “Look at all the majors that I’ve played … the record has been pretty good,â€� Koepka said. “Anytime you put something on the line like that, I get up for it.â€� It’s a tie game for Justin Justin Thomas is used to wearing a tie. He wore one every day while attending high school at St. Xavier in Louisville, Kentucky. He wore one during his Walker Cup days. So for Thomas, it was no big deal to wear one as part of his apparel script this week at Royal Birkdale. Yet he figured it would be a conversation starter for everyone else. “Obviously knew it was going to get a lot of publicity,â€� he said. “… But I didn’t come here to dress well. I came here to try to play some good golf. And I guess that just happened.â€� Indeed it did. Thanks to an eagle at 17, Thomas finished with a flourish, carding a 3-under 67. Just like four weeks ago at Erin Hills, Thomas appears ready to contend in another major. In that third round at the U.S. Open, Thomas tied a major record by shooting 63 that left him one shot off the lead and put him in Sunday’s final pairing. But he followed with a disappointing 75 and a tie for ninth. Still, it’s easy for him to shake off the high score and concentrate on his third-round performance. “I can think of 63 shots that come to mind before Sunday,â€� Thomas said. “Yeah, Sunday is definitely not something I’m taking from that week. I’m taking the experience of Sunday and the fact that I was there to start the day on Sunday.â€� As for the tie? It will stay hidden inside the closet for the rest of the week. Spieth’s key adjustment The par-4 sixth hole, which faces toward the south, has been the most difficult the last two times Royal Birkdale has hosted the Open. It just so happens that the driving range faces in the same direction. Jordan Spieth used that to his advantage Thursday. Facing an approach shot that was 192 yards to the front of the green and 215 to the pin, Spieth opted for his 4-iron. Normally, he hits that upwards of 225 yards on the range back home in Dallas, Texas. But during his warm-up session Thursday, Spieth’s coach Cameron McCormick brought the TrackMan to calculate how much Spieth would need to adjust his yardage calculations in Thursday’s 55-degree weather. They figured the cooler temperatures resulted in a 10-15 yard reduction. Throw in the wind conditions, and it’s another 20-30 yards. Thanks to the adjustments, Spieth ripped his 4-iron and set up a two-putt par during his bogey-free round of 65. “Because I knew how far balls were carrying from our session this morning, I was able to know how far that ball would carry and then I can trust that,â€� Spieth said. “And that’s the most important thing, because you feel like you’re hitting so much club. You feel like you’re going to fly the world. And then it goes on the front green and I’m 60 feet away. I mis-hit it, it was a good club to get close to the hole. “I thought that was really well done by Cameron, because I didn’t even ask him to. He just brought it out and said, ‘Let’s figure this out, so you know at least when you’re coming into the wind what true effect it’s having.’ And it’s more an effect than anywhere I’ve experienced in the States.â€� Poulter back on track A year ago, Ian Poulter was part of Sky Sports’ broadcast team at Royal Troon. He did not like it. It wasn’t because he doesn’t like to talk. But he’d rather have been swinging a club than holding a microphone. Unfortunately, a foot injury kept the Englishman from making his 15th consecutive start in his national Open. This year, he had to qualify for the Open. Fortunately, one of the venues was his hometown course in Woburn. In front of several thousand fans, Poulter posted a score and then had to sweat out a 45-minute wait before securing one of the three spots that advanced to Royal Birkdale. “I certainly felt a bit of pressure — pressure to obviously make sure I take one of those three spots,â€� Poulter said. Now he’s back at Royal Birkdale. The last time he played here, he shot 69 in the final round in 2008 to finish solo second behind Padraig Harrington. It felt like old times on Thursday, as he shot a 3-under 67. The winds on Thursday were different than in the practice sessions, but Poulter was ready. It was the same kind of wind he played in nine years ago in the final round. On Wednesday night, he took out his old yardage book and adjusted his gameplan. “I almost played a round of golf last night in my head,â€� Poulter said, “and I had a lower score in my head last night than I did today. But don’t we all?â€� Two months ago, Poulter tied for second at THE PLAYERS Championship, his best result on TOUR in nearly four years. He followed that by making six more cuts on his worldwide schedule, including a tie for ninth last week at the Scottish Open. Apparently, he’s found his groove. “THE PLAYERS Championship was a big week for me,â€� he said. “I think that was a huge turning point. And I’m definitely a freer player on the golf course. I can be more aggressive. I can hit more of the shots that I’m kind of visualizing.â€� More playing. Less talking. Poulter is fine with that.
PUNTA CANA, Dominican Republic – After battling nerves early, former NFL quarterback Tony Romo fought back for a respectable opening-round score of 7-over-par 79 at the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship. Making his second TOUR start in the Dominican Republic, Romo had a tough day off the tee, hitting just 21 percent of his fairways. He missed a few short putts early – and bogeyed three of his first four holes – before getting into a bit of a groove. He lost his tee-shot on the tough par-4 8th, leading to a triple-bogey 7. However, on the tougher back nine at Corales, Romo was just 1-over. He said after his round there were some “signs of life.â€� “I got comfortable and the last 10 holes or so (and) hit some good shots. Just got to keep getting comfortable and playing golf in these types of situations and it starts to get easier,â€� he said. Romo’s coach, Andy Traynor, was out following his pupil all 18 holes. He said Romo could out-work anyone, and was playing very well coming into the week. But Romo admitted after his round that tournament golf is just a different animal. “I think a lot of this is just tournament golf in general. We work on stuff and then all of a sudden you have a different wind direction, it’s a little down and it’s a front flag and it’s like it needs to be flighted a different way than you normally would, stuff like that,â€� said Romo. “It’s just a little harder than what you see.â€� Romo played with Texan Kramer Hickok (1-under 71), who he’s played with a few times at home, and Denny McCarthy (3-under-par 69), who he played with in 2018. McCarthy – who said he had a combination of confidence and knowing he played well here a year ago (he finished T-7) as contributing factors to his hot start – said Romo didn’t have his best day, but it was evident that he eased into the round. “He played great after the 8th hole. He even mentioned it, he was a little tentative and nervous but played carefree coming in,â€� said McCarthy. “I got to know him pretty well last year and we had some nice conversations out there. It was a comfortable pairing for all of us.â€� Romo said he has improved a lot in certain areas of his game since 2018 and he’s eager for another crack at Corales on Friday. “I feel like I always want to be improving, but the score doesn’t always show that,â€� he said. “But for me the progression is going well and just have to stay at it. I think I’m going to play better tomorrow.â€�
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – The PGA TOUR and Grupo Puntacana, which owns and operates Puntacana Resort & Club in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, today announced a four-year extension for the Corales Puntacana Championship, the first-ever PGA TOUR event in the Dominican Republic. Formerly known as the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship, the event has been renamed the Corales Puntacana Championship starting with the 2022 playing. The 2022 Corales Puntacana Championship will be held March 21-27 with live broadcast coverage on Golf Channel. The event features 300 FedExCup points to the winner and will continue to be held the same week as the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play. “The PGA TOUR and our members are thrilled to return to Puntacana Resort & Club,” said PGA TOUR President and EVP Tyler Dennis. “Having been elevated to a PGA TOUR event in 2018 after a successful stint with the Korn Ferry Tour, the tournament continues to grow and thrive in making a lasting impact in the community. We look forward to many more years of great competition and showcasing the beauty of the Dominican Republic to our fans throughout the world.” Grupo Puntacana will continue as the host organization and the Tom Fazio-designed Corales Golf Course will remain the tournament course. The Corales Golf Course, which opened in 2010, plays along the cliffs, bays and coves of the Caribbean Sea and the inland lakes and coralina quarries. Six holes play along the ocean including the final three, known as the “Devil’s Elbow.” The 18th hole includes a forced carry over the cliff-lined Bay of Corales. “Through the Corales Puntacana Championship we can continue, for four more years, promoting the best of Dominican Republic and Punta Cana as one of the leading golf tourist destinations in the Caribbean; but most important, this partnership helps us develop our dream to empower and grow the community through our social and environmental programs,” said Frank Elías Rainieri, President and CEO of Grupo Puntacana. Proceeds from the Corales Puntacana Championship benefit the Grupo Puntacana Foundation, formed to improve the health and wellbeing of the local Punta Cana communities in basic areas of human development. In the last 10 years, Grupo Puntacana has contributed millions of dollars for social and community devolvement projects. In each district of the province, you can find a sponsored community project developed by the company. Funds donated through the tournament, have helped Grupo Puntacana develop initiatives for the community, translating to more than 150,000 people receiving medical assistance and more than 7,000 high school students and technicians graduating from educational centers. Last year, Joel Dahmen claimed his first PGA TOUR victory at the Corales Puntacana Championship edging Sam Ryder and Rafa Campos by one shot. Other past champions include Brice Garnett (2018), Graeme McDowell (2019) and Hudson Swafford (2020). Prior to 2018, the tournament had a two-year stint on the Korn Ferry Tour schedule where the winners were Dominic Bozzelli in 2016 and Nate Lashley in 2017.
