Caddie Confidential: Winds test both golfers and caddies during second round

Brendon Todd broke his left big toe the other day. He dropped a 45-pound weight on it while working out back home in Athens, Georgia, but while it hurt - he limped through an opening-round 77 at THE CJ CUP @ SHADOW CREEK two weeks ago - he's got no complaints. Since he completed one of the most audacious comebacks in recent history with back-to-back victories at the Bermuda Championship (he'll defend his title this week) and Mayakoba Golf Classic last season, Todd has been putting distance between himself and his famous slump, all while living the good life. Tiger and Phil told him great playing. So did Jason Day. In Southern California for the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP @ SHERWOOD last week, Todd took his oldest son to get a lesson from in-demand instructor George Gankas, Matthew Wolff's swing coach. "It was a blast," Todd says. "I've definitely felt like a new sense of respect and camaraderie with the better players that I didn't have before, even during my previous good play." Todd has joined the game's elite, having made the TOUR Championship and finishing 18th in the FedExCup last month. Now he aims to return to East Lake, contend in a major, and make the U.S. Ryder Cup team for 2021 and/or the Presidents Cup team the year after that. Not bad for a guy who missed 43 cuts in 55 starts heading into last season, and who had never been to Bermuda before kicking off his amazing run. Todd's parents honeymooned at the tournament's host hotel, the Fairmont Hamilton Princess, and he jokes that that good mojo must explain everything. It makes as much sense as anything else. How does a guy who couldn't hit it straight shoot a final-round 62 to beat Harry Higgs by four? "Absolutely not," Todd says, when asked if he had a premonition that it would be his week. He had regained his TOUR card through the Korn Ferry Tour Finals but started last season with four straight missed cuts. Then came a T28 at the Houston Open, followed by a two-week break. Little did he know what was just around the corner. "I did play a really good round at home, shot 65 with Davis Thompson, a really good Georgia player, at UGA the Saturday before (Bermuda)," he says. "But when I flew there, I could only play nine holes in torrential conditions Tuesday, and could only chip and putt Wednesday, so I wasn't even able to play the whole course. I had no idea how the week was going to go. "I had confidence," he adds. "I had had a good year in that I played out of the past champion category, worked my way into the (Korn Ferry Tour) Finals, finished second, got my card back. But I had missed my first four cuts, and when you go to a new country, new golf course, and don't play every hole in practice, it's hard to walk out there like, ‘Yep, I'm going to win.'" The final-round 62 in Bermuda, he says now, was the absolute hottest he's ever been, and was the lowest final round by a winner since Rory McIlroy at the 2019 RBC Canadian Open. "I parred the first hole but burned the edge from 15 feet," he says. Then: seven straight birdies. "Then I lipped out on nine from 15 feet," he says, "birdied 10 and 11, and on 12 I had 5 feet for birdie, but it horseshoed at me. I felt like through 12 I should have birdied every hole." Todd is rarely asked to talk about such glory. With him, people want to hear about the slump. It started how these things often start, after a win. Upon winning the 2014 AT&T Byron Nelson, Todd decided he had time to retool his swing to create a higher launch angle. Instead he ended up with a big right miss and faded off the TOUR. Total FedExCup points in 2018: zero. Todd and his wife Rachel considered franchising a Your Pie pizza restaurant - plan B, hold the anchovies - but a book called "The Great Ballstrikers" by Bradley Hughes, an Australian who played the inaugural Presidents Cup and became Todd's swing coach, provided hope. So did a book by Rick Ankiel, a baseball pitcher who had battled the throwing yips. Todd also called on Ward Jarvis, a caddie on the Korn Ferry Tour who fought and overcame a stuttering problem before becoming a firefighter and performance coach. Eventually, Todd says, he began to "keep it between the trees" and claw his way back. "Every interview, I get asked about it," he says. "And I get calls from other people in slumps, or Instagram messages. I am tired of sharing all the details, that's for sure. But I'm happy to use it to help people, because everybody who plays golf for a long time is going to have a slump, and probably even go through the yips. It's nice to be able to share how I worked my way out of it. "I've had some teachers say they've been really encouraged by what I did," he adds. What he did could have been even better. He held the outright 54-hole lead a TOUR-leading four times last season, not just at Mayakoba but also The RSM Classic, Travelers Championship and World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational. Only in Mexico did he get the win. "I have no regrets," he says. "I felt I prepared for each final round well. I didn't feel nervous or overwhelmed, had a good mentality, and I learned from each one. All three were different." At RSM it was a three-quarter 7-iron that found the hazard at the fifth hole, leading to a double-bogey. At the Travelers it was what he calls "one goofy chip" - a bad mistake from a terrible lie that led to a triple. And he just couldn't make a putt at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude. "I'm not the longest guy," he says, "so I definitely rely on my putting to get it under par." No, at 187th in driving distance last season, Todd is definitely not the longest even if he might be the longest longshot. Or he was, anyway. Now he's firmly established among the game's elite. "I learned that my natural good ball-striking is good enough to play great out here," he says. "I think it probably always was; just keep being me, and good things will happen."

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GREENSBORO, N.C. – Martin Flores would prefer not having his back against the wall. But it seems to bring out the best of him, especially at the Wyndham Championship. A year ago, he entered Wyndham ranked 139th in FedExCup points but made the Playoffs thanks to an ace and a birdie down the stretch on Sunday. He began this week in even more of a precarious spot, ranked 162nd in points, which means he’ll likely need a solo third place or better in order to again bust the Top 125 bubble and retain his TOUR card for another season. FEDEXCUP: Latest projected standings | This week’s scenarios He took a big step Thursday with a 6-under 64, his lowest score in 83 rounds this season. It’s the same score he shot in last year’s opening round at Sedgefield and has left him tied for fourth. Asked if he feels comfortable in these do-or-die situations, Flores said: “I don’t really like it, but I seem to perform well when that is the case. I definitely have unfortunately made a small habit of it of late. I would like to change that, for sure.â€� Flores needed to finish inside the top 10 a year ago. That opening 64 left him tied for 10th but he had fallen to T-23 entering the last round. He was still outside the Playoff cutline going into the final three holes. He then aced the par-3 16th and birdied the 18th to finish with a 63, moving him into a tie for seventh and 118th in the FedExCup standings – good enough to make the Playoffs for the fourth time in his career. “I can draw a lot of positives from last year,â€� Flores said. “This is definitely not the situation you want to be in. You cannot come here and expect to do that every time.â€� It hasn’t been a productive season for the Texan, whose best finish is a T-13 in March at the Corales Puntacana Championship. But he started working last week with Dallas-based coach Josh Gregory, who altered his putting grip and set-up. Flores also changed putters. On Thursday, he rolled in 160 feet of putts, ranking first in the field in strokes gained: putting. He had entered the week ranked T-184 in that category. “I really felt like I couldn’t putt any worse, to be honest,â€� Flores said. “It was time for something different.â€� PROJECTION AFTER 59: Brandt Snedeker’s 59 on Thursday not only gave him a four-shot lead after the first round, it moved him up significantly in the projected FedExCup standings. The 2012 FedExCup champ is projected to finish 30th in points after starting the week in 80th. Only the top 30 after the third Playoffs event, the BMW Championship, will have a shot to win the FedExCup at the TOUR Championship. PERFECT STREAKERS: Sergio Garcia and Bill Haas entered this week outside the top 125 and in danger of missing the Playoffs for the first time in the FedExCup era. Garcia (131st) opened with a 66 while Haas (150th) shot a 69. Both remain projected outside the 125. Garcia said he wasn’t aware of his perfect attendance record in the Playoffs. “I’ve never been a big fan of records,â€� he said. Garcia’s playing for the fifth straight week and has missed the cut in three of his previous four starts. “We’ll see what happens,â€� he said. “If I play well, great. If I don’t, it’s also good because I’ll get to rest. … It’s a lot of golf – and at the age that I am, even more.â€� BUBBLE BOY UPDATE: Tyrone Van Aswegen is No. 125 in points and likely needs to finish 45th or better to make the Playoffs. He opened Thursday with a 2-under 68 that included a double bogey and is currently projected to fall outside the 125. “I’ve got to do something fairly well this week in order to keep my card,â€� the South African said. “I can’t just coast and I can’t miss the cut.â€� PROJECTED IN/OUT Here are the players who are projected to move in and out of the top 125 after Thursday’s first round at Sedgefield. PROJECTED IN Corey Conners (128 to projected 122) – The rookie shot a 5-under 65, with four birdies in his last six holes. Nick Taylor (129 to projected 123) – Taylor – who, like Conners, is Canadian – also shot a 5-under 65, fueled by a string of four straight birdies on his back nine. PROJECTED OUT Martin Piller (124 to projected 126) – Piller shot an even-par 70. Tyrone Van Aswegen (125 to projected 127) – The South African shot a 2-under 68.

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PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — Tiger Woods needs reps … and the best way to get those is making the cut, which he’ll attempt to do in Friday’s second round of the Genesis Open. Woods, making his second PGA TOUR start since returning after a year’s absence following back surgery, opened with a 1-over 72 in the first round and is hoping to improve on that score in order to secure a weekend spot at Riviera. PGATOUR.COM is on the scene and will have live coverage, as well as hole-by-hole results once he tees off at 3:22 p.m. ET. MORE TIGER: Scorecard | Rd. 1 analysis | Set-up game | Riviera struggles

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