Big names bounce back at TPC River Highlands

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – Morgan Hoffmann is playing for more than trophies. Hoffmann hopes to find a cure for muscular dystrophy after being diagnosed with the disease in November 2016. The 28-year-old has started a charity to fund muscular dystrophy research while still chasing the PGA TOUR dreams he’s had since childhood. “I could become a recluse and feel bad for myself, but what’s that going to do?� Hoffmann said Thursday, after shooting a first-round 67 at The Honda Classic. “I love being out here and I love playing on the PGA TOUR and that’s my dream, and to help people ultimately is my goal. I think I can do really special things with this platform.� Contending at the PGA TOUR stop in his adopted hometown will help him spread the word on his mission to end muscular dystrophy. He is back on the leaderboard one year after finishing runner-up here to former Oklahoma State teammate Rickie Fowler. He trails another Oklahoma State alum, Alex Noren, and Webb Simpson by one stroke after the first round of this year’s Honda Classic. Hoffmann announced his diagnosis in a December article on The Players’ Tribune. He has a charity event planned for Aug. 20 in his native New Jersey. “It was tough to hear,� he said about the diagnosis, “but I think we’re going to do a lot of really good things with the charity that I’m starting, hopefully find a cure.� Thursday’s good round came after a difficult stretch. He missed the cut or withdrew in his previous six starts, but he made just one bogey Thursday. The disease has led to a loss of swing speed, but Hoffmann didn’t blame it for his recent struggles. “I’ve lost a lot of speed in my swing but my swing is still there,� he said. “I’m on plane. It’s not like it’s really killing my golf game.� In 2014, when Hoffmann qualified for the TOUR Championship, he ranked 78th in clubhead speed and 48th in driving distance. He’s 184th and 101st in those statistics this season. He’s lost more than 5 mph of clubhead speed in that span, dropping from 114 mph to 108.8. That hasn’t stopped him from trying to win his first PGA TOUR title. He just has other sources of inspiration now. SHOT OF THE DAY  NOTABLES Alex Noren, who’s known for an unceasing work ethic, wasn’t done after his first-round 66 that gave him the lead after morning wave. “I’m going to go and maybe play some holes on another course and try to figure out how to play all these different iron shots because this golf course is an iron paradise,� said Noren, who made five birdies and just one bogey Thursday. He ranks ninth in Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green this season, but he wasn’t happy with Thursday’s ball-striking. “I hit a lot of wayward shots,� he said. Noren is playing his first season as a PGA TOUR member. He’s 33rd in the FedExCup, including a playoff loss to Jason Day at the Farmers Insurance Open. Justin Thomas attended the final round of last year’s Honda Classic only to congratulate Rickie Fowler on his win. Thomas had missed the cut, one year after finishing third. He’s back in contention at PGA National once again after shooting 67 in the first round. He’s coming off a T9 finish at the Genesis Open, his best finish since winning THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES in October. Daniel Berger, who grew up in south Florida, shot a bogey-free 67 while playing alongside Thomas and Sergio Garcia (72). Berger lost a playoff to Padraig Harrington at the 2015 Honda Classic during his Rookie of the Year season. “I’m a different golfer now than I was then,� said Berger, a two-time PGA TOUR winner. He missed just three fairways and five greens Thursday. He hit his tee shot at the par-4 sixth hole into the water but was able to save par after hitting his ball out of the water and getting up-and-down. Tiger Woods played the best round of his young comeback, shooting an even-par 70 in Thursday morning’s breezy conditions. He hit 7 of 14 fairways and 10 of 18 greens, but mostly avoided the big misses that have plagued him. For more on his round, click here. CALL OF THE DAY  QUOTABLES It can make you look bad in a heartbeat.You can see the Tiger effect when you come out here. There’s thousands of people.

Click here to read the full article…

Dustin Johnson returns to defend his title at the Travelers Championship, his first win last season which propelled him to win his first FedExCup. TPC River Highlands boasts an impressive field with many of the TOUR’s top players travelling across the country from the U.S. Open in California the week prior. FIELD NOTES: Current FedExCup leader Patrick Cantlay is looking for his third win of the season… Five of the top-10 golfers in the world are teeing it up in Connecticut including Cantlay, Johnson, Patrick Reed, Bryson DeChambeau, and Brooks Koepka… Phil Mickelson, who won this event in 2001 and 2002, is back at TPC River Highlands as the reigning PGA Championship winner… Garrick Higgo, who won the Palmetto Championship, will make his first non-major start as a PGA TOUR winner… Ten former winners at TPC River Highlands will tee it up including Bubba Watson, who has won the event three times… Sponsor Exemptions include Chase Koekpa (brother to Brooks), John Pak (much celebrated college player of the year), Davis Thompson (formerly ranked as the No.1 amateur in the world), and Austin Eckroat (four-time All-American)… Rickie Fowler returns to action after missing his first U.S. Open since 2010. FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 FedExCup points. COURSE: TPC River Highlands, par 70, 6,841 yards. Located between Connecticut towns Hartford and New Haven, TPC River Highlands has been a PGA TOUR venue for 38 years now. The course is site of the TOUR’s lone 58 (Jim Furyk, 2016) but the key stretch comes on No’s 15-17 which play around a four-acre lake. Pete Dye oversaw a redesign of the course in the early 1980s, while Bobby Weed worked on an upgrade about a decade later after consulting with TOUR players Roger Maltbie and Howard Twitty. STORYLINES: Can more low scores be put up at TPC River Highlands? Besides Furyk’s 58, Patrick Cantlay shot 60 in 2011 (the low score in TOUR history by an amateur), plus Johnson’s 61 last year in the third round… Bubba Watson is still looking to join Billy Casper as the only four-time winner of the Travelers… The tournament was played without fans in 2020 but will welcome approximately 10,000 per day for the tournament… 14 total major championships have been won by golfers in the field at TPC River Highlands, and Phil Mickelson accounts for six of those. Mickelson returned to the Travelers after a 15-year absence in 2019 but has teed it up every year since… The U.S. Open fatigue hasn’t quite impacted the winners of the Travelers Championship. Each of Dustin Johnson, Chez Reavie, Watson, Jordan Spieth, Watson again, and Russell Knox all played the U.S. Open, but Johnson (COVID-19 schedule change) and Knox (Olympic schedule change) get asterisks since their events happened at different times. 72-HOLE RECORD: 258, Kenny Perry (2009) 18-HOLE RECORD: 58, Jim Furyk (4th round, 2016) LAST TIME: Dustin Johnson’s victory at the 2020 Travelers Championship marked the first of three wins on the season as Johnson would go on to win the FedExCup. He backed up a sizzling 61 on Saturday with a 67 on Sunday to top Kevin Streelman by one shot – despite making bogey on two of his final six holes. Streelman birdied No’s 10 and 13 but was stuck in neutral the rest of the way in. He hit his approach on 18 to 37 feet and when he couldn’t convert the birdie, the title was Johnson’s. Will Gordon and Mackenzie Hughes finished at 17-under for the week and T3, while Kevin Na, at 16-under, rounded out the top five. Johnson’s victory broke a 20-tournament drought. It was his 13th TOUR season and with the win in Connecticut, he had won in each of them. HOW TO FOLLOW (All times ET) Television: Thursday-Friday, 3 p.m.-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday-Sunday, 1 p.m.-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3 p.m.-6 p.m. (CBS). PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday 6:45 a.m.-6 p.m. ET (Featured Groups), Saturday-Sunday 8 a.m.-3 p.m. ET (Featured Groups). Saturday-Sunday 3 p.m.-6 p.m. ET (Featured Holes). Radio: Thursday-Friday, 12 p.m.-6 p.m. Saturday-Sunday 1 p.m.-6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio).

Click here to read the full article…

You wouldn’t think so to look at it as a whole, but there’re more flexibility in the PGA TOUR schedule than meets the eye. RELATED: The First Look While stretching 47 tournaments across essentially as many weeks – when setting aside the annual holiday break – prioritizes the fit of the jigsaw pieces over the process of moving them around for organizational purposes, there’s always been room for creativity and situational awareness. Without a World Golf Championship slotted adjacent to or during the Florida Swing this year, the Puerto Rico Open slides into an unprecedented position opposite the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard. That’s where PRO defending champion Branden Grace will be competing. Both tournaments host 120-man fields, but the annual stop at Bay Hill is an invitational that takes precedence. Yet, just as it always has since it debuted in 2008, the PRO remains an official event contributing to the FedExCup. For a breakdown of what’s up for grabs at Grand Reserve County Club east of San Juan, how it tests and more, scroll or swipe past the projected contenders and others to consider. OTHERS TO CONSIDER • Bo Van Pelt … Greg Kraft, Michael Bradley (twice), Alex Cejka, D.A. Points. All are former winners of the Puerto Rico Open and all were touring professionals of a certain age at the time of their triumphs. BVP is 46 but he’s made a few ripples in recent memory since returning from extended time away to heal from multiple injuries and surgery. That includes a T15 here last year to go 5-for-5 at Grand Reserve. • Chase Seiffert … It’s always a heavier lift for non-winners with conditional status than it is for winners who often receive more sponsor exemptions, but the 30-year-old is hanging tough with a pair of top 25s this season, including a T25 at The Honda Classic where he was lurking at the midpoint. He’s 2-for-2 at Grand Reserve with a T15 last year when he averaged 14 greens in regulation per round to rank T5. • Chan Kim … The 31-year-old continues to struggle finding success on PGA TOUR tracks. In 18 career starts spanning the last six seasons, he’s made 10 cuts but connected for only three top 25s. He’s just 1-for-3 with a T65 at Pebble Beach in 2022, but as the earnings leader on the 2020-21 Japan Golf Tour where he won twice last fall, expectations remain elevated to him to pop over here. • Ted Potter, Jr. … The Wizard has been precisely that at Grand Reserve. He’s 4-for-4 with a T6 and a T7 in the last two editions, respectively. They’re also his most recent top-15 finishes in PGA TOUR-sanctioned competition. He scored 14-under 274 in both. • Rafael Campos … This preview would be incomplete without him. The Puerto Rico native has teed it up in every edition of this tournament but one. In what was his debut season as a PGA TOUR member in 2020, he sat out that edition with a sore left elbow, but he returned with gusto for a personal-best T3 last year. It’s one of three top 10s in his last four appearances. A record purse of $3.7 million will be distributed to the low 65 and ties who survive the 36-hole cut this week. The winner will pocket $666,000, 300 FedExCup points and secure PGA TOUR membership through at least 2023-24. He’ll score exemptions into the PGA Championship in May and the 2023 Sentry Tournament of Champions, among other invitationals. He’ll also punch a ticket into THE PLAYERS Championship next week. Joseph Bramlett, Brice Garnett, Chesson Hadley, Kyle Stanley, Brian Stuard and Richy Werenski are the only commits at Grand Reserve who are already eligible for the PGA TOUR’s flagship event. Although ShotLink technology isn’t used on the stock par 72 measuring 7,506 yards, there are no analytical advantages per se. Paspalum greens average just 6,000 square feet, so the premium is on hitting them in regulation as persistent breezes push in from a prevailing easterly direction. They’re governed to just 11 feet on the Stimpmeter, so they’ll hold approaches even from primary rough that’s just three-quarters-of-an-inch high and also primarily paspalum. The threat of rain and thunderstorms – the latter of which a term we haven’t heard in a while on TOUR – will be as omnipresent as the flapping trousers along the northeastern shore of the island. There’s always a reasonable chance for rain in these parts at this time of the year, but the smaller field makes it easier to stay on time in case of a delay. ROB BOLTON’S SCHEDULE PGATOUR.COM’s Rob Bolton recaps and previews every tournament from numerous perspectives. Look for his following contributions as scheduled. MONDAY: Power Rankings (API) TUESDAY*: Power Rankings (PRO), Sleepers (API), Draws and Fades WEDNESDAY: Pick ’Em Preview SUNDAY: Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Medical Extensions, Rookie Ranking * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf, which also publishes on Tuesday.

Click here to read the full article…