Catlin receives rare slow-play sanction at PGA

JERSEY CITY, N.J. – A couple beers last Saturday and good conversation with those closest to him was enough to get Harold Varner III back in the right frame of mind. He had a self-described “meltdown” earlier that day after flying the green with his approach shot to Sedgefield’s 11th hole in the third round of the Wyndham Championship. Don’t worry, there were no broken clubs. Just a bad attitude. But it was unacceptable to Varner. “Having a bad attitude probably makes me more mad than … playing bad golf,” he said Thursday, after shooting a first-round 66 at THE NORTHERN TRUST. “That’s the only thing you control. You don’t really control what you’re going to shoot or where your golf ball is going to end up, but you control how you approach each shot.” A good mindset was imperative Thursday at the trouble-laden Liberty National, which was buffeted by inconsistent breezes. Varner countered with a hot putter. He gained approximately three strokes on the greens, and that doesn’t include the 22-footer he holed from the fringe on the fifth hole. That was a belated birthday gift for Varner, who celebrated his 31st birthday Sunday. “That’s a lot of … luck,” he said. “There was a clump of mud on one side of it. I was like, I’ll just roll it down there, whatever, and ended up going in. Perfect pace.” Varner finished T3 at Liberty National two years ago. At the time, it was the best finish of his PGA TOUR career (he bested that this season with his runner-up at the RBC Heritage). His good result the last time he played in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty – he finished two back of winner Patrick Reed – had no impact on Varner’s play Thursday, however. “That was in 2019. It’s 2021. Do your job,” Varner said. “The biggest thing for me is … having a better attitude. That’s what it comes down to, especially with the conditions like they are right now, windy.” He shot 68 or lower in all four rounds here in 2019, which was good enough to skyrocket from 102nd to 29th in the FedExCup standings. He didn’t stay in the top 30, however, after finishing second-to-last in the next Playoffs event, the BMW Championship. He still finished a career-best 38th in the FedExCup that season. It’s the only time in his five FedExCup campaigns that he has advanced to the BMW. Varner arrived at Liberty National ranked 72nd in this season’s standings. His runner-up at the Heritage is his lone top-10 thus far this season but his eight top-25s are one off his career high. After one round at THE NORTHERN TRUST, Varner has put himself in position for his biggest FedExCup payday. With a baby boy due in October, some of that would undoubtedly go towards diapers.

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HOUSTON - Jason Day is accustomed to the question. "How's your health?" he was asked after his second round of the Vivint Houston Open. "I feel like I've had that question a lot in my career," Day said Friday. "Yeah, I feel pretty good." He had to like his position on the leaderboard as well. After shooting a second-round 68, Day was just two strokes behind leader Sam Burns after the morning wave. The last time Day was in contention on the PGA TOUR, he withdrew just one hole into the final round of THE CJ CUP @ SHADOW CREEK. He was playing in the second-to-last group but had to walk off because of injury. Day, whose winless drought has lasted more than two years, has been working on swing changes to alleviate the back pain that has hampered him throughout his career. Day split with long-time swing coach Col Swatton in late July. There were some promising signs late in the summer, as Day posted four consecutive top-10s, including a T4 at the PGA Championship, to re-enter the top 50 in the world ranking. He hasn't finished better than T38 in his last six starts, however. "The form's been very inconsistent because I'm trying to change my swing a little bit just to try and help the back out," Day said Friday. "I guess I'm stuck in between patterns right now. What I want to feel, my body just won't handle it and sometimes it just compensates elsewhere. That's why it happened to my neck at CJ." Day's last win came at the 2018 Wells Fargo Championship. It was his second win in seven starts, but he hasn't hoisted a trophy in 53 events since. This is the first time he went back-to-back seasons without a win since he had three straight winless seasons from 2011-13. Day was 2 over par on his opening nine holes this week, but had eight birdies and just one bogey over his next 27 holes. The 30 he shot on his back nine Thursday was his lowest nine-hole score in more than a year. He has hit 14 greens in each of the first two rounds and is 6 for 8 in scrambling. The steep banks of short grass around Memorial Park's greens have challenged players, but Day, who led the TOUR in Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green last season, is known as a master scrambler. "It’s one of these golf courses, you leave yourself on the wrong side ... and you’re just struggling the whole day," Day said. "It’s one of those courses where you’ve just got to be patient and try to get your birdies when you can."

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Of the top 10 longest drives in Dustin Johnson’s PGA TOUR career, he produced three of them last week in winning the Sentry Tournament of Champions. That includes his 430-yard tee shot at the par-4 12th Sunday that he nearly holed for an ace. Johnson now has 23 career drives of 400 yards or more — 13 of those have come at the Plantation Course at Kapalua. Seasons of success Johnson’s win Sunday means that he has won at least one PGA TOUR event in each of his first 11 seasons. Just six players in TOUR history have won an event in each of their first 10 seasons, and DJ is the only active player on that list. Short birdie putts Johnson’s average birdie putt made in winning by eight strokes was 4 feet, 10 inches. In the ShotLink era, he’s the only PGA TOUR winner to make more than 20 birdies and average less than 5 feet per birdie putt.

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