Caddie Confidential: A perfectly tricky day at Augusta National

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The man in the arena at the Puerto Rico Open qualifier was medalist Christian Salzer, who rebounded from a three-putt bogey at the opening hole to card 7-under 64, earning his first career PGA TOUR start. The 23-year-old who turned professional last June had made just one start in a PGA TOUR-sanctioned event, missing the cut at the Korn Ferry Tour’s Astara Golf Championship presented by Mastercard in early February. The North Carolina State alum has mostly tested his game on mini-tours. In his professional debut, he finished T3 at the 2021 Mimosa Open on the GProTour after carding rounds of 64-65-68. He felt like his game had been solid all year, he said, but hadn’t really cashed in until Monday. “Whole lot different than college golf,” Salzer told PGA TOUR Digital after the round. “Pars are good in college, but they don’t cut it in professional golf no matter what level you are. Mini-tours teach you to keep your foot on the gas and keep making birdies.” Salzer, who chalked up eight birdies on Monday, always believed he had the talent to compete on the PGA TOUR. But it has taken time and veteran advice from former North Carolina State golfer and 2010 PLAYERS Championship winner Tim Clark to propel Salzer’s game. “Tim told me something once when we were at his house for a college tournament,” Salzer said. “He said that the club and the golf ball don’t know what the shot is for, or how much it means, or what could go wrong. It resonated with me and put things in perspective. Golf doesn’t change or get harder. No matter the situation, only the player can put the pressure on and make it harder.” Salzer will look to channel that newfound perspective this week as he makes his PGA TOUR debut at the Puerto Rico Open. Patrick Flavin qualified for his second PGA TOUR event of the season after posting a 6-under 65. Flavin’s T17 finish at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship was tied for best for a Monday qualifier this year until Martin Contini’s finish at The Honda Classic last week. Alejandro Tosti tied Flavin at 6-under and will make his PGA TOUR debut at the Puerto Rico Open. Tosti becomes the third Argentinian in the last two weeks to qualify for a PGA TOUR event. The 4-for-1 playoff to decide the last qualifier for the Puerto Rico Open ended on the fourth extra hole when veteran Brett Stegmaier made birdie. His most recent PGA TOUR start came at the 2018 Wyndham Championship, finishing T11. Drew Nesbitt, Brian Carlson and Brian Richey fell just shy of Puerto Rico Open entry via the 4-for-1 playoff. It marked the second consecutive week in which Richey lost in a Monday qualifier playoff, after he competed in last week’s 16-for-1 playoff at The Honda Classic qualifier. Here’s a capsule look at the four Puerto Rico Open qualifiers … Christian Salzer (7-under 64) Age: 23 College: North Carolina State Turned pro: 2021 PGA TOUR starts: 0 Notes: Will make PGA TOUR debut at the Puerto Rico Open … Made Korn Ferry Tour debut at the Astara Golf Championship presented by Mastercard, resulting in missed cut … Played four years of college golf at North Carolina State … Finished senior year with 71.57 scoring average, which was 12th lowest in program history … Prior to North Carolina State, Salzar ranked as the No. 2 junior in the state of South Carolina … Won the 2015 South Carolina Junior Championship … Represented the United States at the 2015 Can – Am Championship. Alejandro Tosti (6-under 65) Age: 25 College: University of Florida Turned pro: 2018 PGA TOUR starts: 0 Notes: Will make his PGA TOUR debut at the Puerto Rico Open … Has two top-25 finishes in three starts on PGA TOUR Latinoamerica this season … Currently No. 18 on Totalplay Cup… Finished inside the top-10 three times in eight events on PGA TOUR Latinoamerica in 2019 … Won the 2019 Termas de Rio Hando Invitational on PGA TOUR Latinoamerica … Turned pro in 2018 … Had already recorded two finishes inside the top-20 on PGA TOUR Latinoamerica as an amateur … Played collegiately at the University of Florida … Was 2017 Golfweek First Team All-America and First Team All-SEC … Made the 2015 SEC All-Freshman Team … Won individual portion of the 2017 SEC Championship at Sea Island, Georgia … Won first and last event while playing for the University of Florida … Represented Argentina at the 2014 World Amateur Team Championship in Japan … Finished T2 with Lucas Herbert in the 2014 Eisenhower Trophy for individual play, three strokes shy of winner Jon Rahm. Patrick Flavin (6-under 65) Age: 26 College: Miami (Ohio) Turned pro: 2018 PGA TOUR starts: 2 Cuts made: 1 Notes: Will make second start of the 2021-22 PGA TOUR season at the Puerto Rico Open … Qualified for the 2021 Butterfield Bermuda Championship and finished T17 … Has made two cuts in three events on the 2021-22 PGA TOUR Latinoamerica … Best finish was 18th at the 115 VISA Argentine Open presented by Macro … Played five events on the 2020-21 PGA TOUR Latinoamerica, recording one finish inside the top-10 at the 61 Abierto Mexicano de Golf … Played 13 events on the 2020-21 Korn Ferry Tour, finishing T5 at the Evans Scholars Invitational presented by First Midwest Bank and T10 at the Wichita Open Benefitting KU Wichita Pediatrics … Finished T5 in the Forme Open at TPC River’s Bend and T7 at the Forme Tour Championship on the 2021 Forme Tour … Played 16 events on PGA TOUR Latinoamerica in 2019, winning the Bupa Match Play and finishing inside the top five in two other events (Shell Championship; 66 JHSF Aberto De Brasil) … Two-time Miami (Ohio) Athlete of the Year … Stands No. 658 on the Official World Golf Ranking. Brett Stegmaier (5-under 66; birdie on fourth hole of 4-for-1 playoff) Age: 38 College: University of Florida Turned pro: 2006 PGA TOUR starts: 80 Cuts made: 40 Notes: Puerto Rico Open will be Stegmaier’s first PGA TOUR event since the 2017-18 PGA TOUR season … Played 34 events on the 2020-21 Korn Ferry Tour … T11 at Live and Work in Maine Open was best result … Opened 2019 Korn Ferry Tour season with back-to-back finishes inside the top-10 in the Bahamas … Best Korn Ferry Tour finish was second at the 2014 Chitimacha Louisiana Open presented by MISTRAS … Played on the PGA TOUR from 2015-16 to 2017-18 … Best finish was T2 at the 2015 Shriners Children’s Open … Stands No. 915 on the Official World Golf Ranking. Notables to fall short of qualifying: Brian Richey, Chase Koepka, Tom Lovelady, M.J. Maguire, Erik Compton, Mickey DeMorat, Jamie Lovemark, Max Sear, Daniel Wetterich, Ben Silverman, Kyle Reifers, Marcelo Rozo, Andrew Svoboda, Andrew Loupe, Nicholas Thompson, Stephen Stallings Jr., Mark Baldwin This week’s Puerto Rico Open qualifiers will aim to build on the momentum cultivated at The Honda Classic last week. Three of The Honda Classic’s four open qualifiers survived the cut. Argentinian Martin Contini was T7 heading into the final round at PGA National (Champion) before finishing T16. It was the best finish by a Monday qualifier so far in 2022. Rick Lamb, who qualified last Tuesday morning after making eagle on the first hole of a 16-for-1 playoff, carried his quality play to PGA National and finished T30. It was his best finish on the PGA TOUR since the 2017 Wyndham Championship. Sam Stevens, medalist at The Honda Classic qualifier, was T19 heading into the final round before carding 4-over 74 and finishing T55. 2021-22 Monday qualifier statistics Top-25s: Martin Contini (T16, The Honda Classic); Grant Hirschman (T17, Sanderson Farms Championship); Patrick Flavin (T17, Butterfield Bermuda Championship) Best finish: Martin Contini (T16, The Honda Classic) Most times qualified: Patrick Flavin (2); Kyle Wilshire (2); Ben Silverman (2) Last event’s qualifier results (The Honda Classic): Martin Contini (T16); Rick Lamb (T30); Sam Stevens (T55); Fabián Gómez (MC) Next PGA TOUR qualifier: Valspar Championship; Southern Hills Plantation Club, March 14

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NASSAU, Bahamas – They would seem like a lock, given that the U.S. Team nearly won the Presidents Cup a day early at Liberty National two years ago. Not so fast. “I believe we can win next week,� Adam Scott said from the Australian Open, which, given the lopsided history of the Presidents Cup, is itself a radical statement. But his optimism may be well-founded. This is a young International Team, blessedly absent scar tissue. They’ll be at home. And there are uncertainties hanging over the U.S. Team. Abstractly, as U.S. mainstay Patrick Reed reminded reporters at the Hero World Challenge, which starts Wednesday at Albany Golf Club, “A lot can happen in two years.� More specifically, the Americans will roll into Royal Melbourne with sticky questions about both personnel – injuries, illness, and a late roster move – and logistics. RELATED:  Hero World Challenge pairings may give Presidents Cup hints | Predicting the partnerships for Presidents Cup First, there’s a 16-hour time difference between Nassau and Melbourne, Australia, to which most of the International Team – playing in the Australian Open this week – will have adapted. “I think this is one of the best chances for the Internationals to really compete for the Presidents Cup because not one of their players is here,� the Golf Channel’s Notah Begay III said from Albany, “so they’re not going to have to deal, to the extent of a lot of these guys, with jet lag.� What’s more, the U.S. Team has personnel questions, starting with U.S. Captain Tiger Woods, who will play a minimum of two matches. He admitted Tuesday that no one is quite sure how that will go. For starters, he said, he’ll have to deputize one of his vice captains – Fred Couples, Steve Stricker, Zach Johnson – to take over while he’s competing between the ropes. “We’ll have one of them be the captain,� Woods said, “and I’m still waiting for the TOUR to tell me when that happens, whether or not – when do I relinquish the captaincy role and officially have someone be the captain? Because the captain’s the only one who can receive and give advice. The vice captains can receive advice, but they can’t give advice to the players or even caddies. Trying to figure that out now. “And then also, when do I play?� he added. “Still trying to figure that out, too. So, there’s a lot of moving parts to it.� Moving parts? Yeah, you could say that. World No. 1 Brooks Koepka’s knee injury didn’t heal in time to make the trip to Australia, necessitating a late roster move. “I was kind of on standby,� Rickie Fowler, Koepka’s replacement and Woods’ fifth captain’s pick, said with a smile as he spoke to the press here Tuesday. Fowler was an obvious choice, as he went 3-0-1 two years ago and is 4-3-1 in the Presidents Cup in his career. But will he be rusty? He planned a long fall break to get married, but five days after returning home from his honeymoon he got food poisoning, and WD’d from the Mayakoba Golf Classic. He hasn’t played since the TOUR Championship in late August. Instead, he has tried to keep sharp with matches against friends and fellow TOUR pros in South Florida. Five of them – Justin Thomas, Gary Woodland, Tiger Woods, Jordan Spieth and Fowler – met for a sort of summit of round-robin style matches last weekend. Fowler said he feels “good about my game across the board,� and now returns to a course where he shot an 11-under 61 to win just two years ago – not a bad place to knock the rust off. “This week’s big for me just getting some tournament rounds under my belt and getting back into the swing of things,� he said, “but it’s been really nice to actually have somewhat of an offseason. Definitely the longest break I’ve had away from tournament golf in September and October. I still played and practiced a decent amount, but was able to spend a lot of time the last three months in the gym and getting a lot of work done.� Woods sounded unconcerned about the long layoff. “Rickie just needs to go play,� he said. So does Dustin Johnson, who is returning from a knee injury. A question mark after not playing this fall, he was scheduled to make his return at the Hero but pulled out and is the only one of the 12 U.S. Team members not here. He is expected to join the team next week.    “There’s a lot of adjustments that had to be made, in talking to Tiger, because of Koepka not being available,� said the Golf Channel’s Begay. “The secondary concerns are Fowler hasn’t played in a long time, and Dustin hasn’t played in a long time. “Those are two guys,� he added, “who if you look at how much they played on the last two or three times, you could rely on for high volume. It’s going to be interesting to see how Rickie’s game comes back, and whether Dustin has rehabilitated enough to put a decent game together.� Tony Finau, another U.S. Team member, has either missed the cut or finished outside the top 50 in his last three starts. Matt Kuchar is coming off a missed cut at The RSM Classic. Then there’s Bryson DeChambeau, who finished T13 at the Safeway Open and T4 at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. It was at the Shriners that he announced he would be embarking on a new diet and exercise regime to add muscle, focusing largely on his core. Has it worked? At the Hero, he said he’d gone from under 200 pounds to 222 thanks to focused work with his Denver-based trainer in an effort to increase strength and speed. “He’s definitely gotten thicker,� Fowler said. “I think I put ‘thick’ on his Instagram post. I think I might have had like three Cs in there. He’s definitely put some work in. It’s not easy to put kind of proper weight on as it is also to lose weight, and we’ll see how it works. “I’m not a big fan of moving one way or the other that quickly or that much,� he added. Will this be the same DeChambeau who compiled five TOUR wins at 26? What about Fowler? And Johnson? How will Woods manage his player/captain role? He has told his players he’d rather not suffer a repeat of the ’98 Presidents Cup, also at Royal Melbourne, when he and the rest of the U.S. Team got crushed 20.5 to 11.5, still the Internationals’ only victory. Also, how will the U.S. players bounce back from their disastrous Ryder Cup loss last year? Answers to some of these questions will come at the Hero, while others will have to wait a week. Yes, the U.S. Team is favored, but complacent? No. There’s too much uncertainty for that.

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