Collin Morikawa back from missed cut with strong debut at Muirfield

HONOLULU, Hawaii - There was a new addition to Waialae Country Club on the eve of the Sony Open in Hawaii - a row of white out-of-bounds stakes between the 18th and 10th holes inside the property. PGA TOUR Officials took the eleventh-hour step - and sent a text blast to all competitors at around 7 p.m. local time - after seeing a bunch of players cutting the corner off the tee on the par-5 dogleg left 18th by hitting into the 10th fairway. RELATED: Full leaderboard | Featured Groups roundtable They were then able to just wedge the ball up and over some palm trees to set up relatively easy eagle looks due to the fact there are none of the usual grandstands during the COVID-19 spectator-free event. "The funny story was I [was] playing my Pro-Am yesterday and Justin Leonard who is a really good buddy just happened to be on that green we were playing. He goes, “Hey, do you think about going down No. 10?”," Billy Horschel said Thursday after an opening round 5-under 65 had him just three shots back of the morning wave lead. "In years past that never even crossed my mind. I’m like, “No.” Then he said, “Well a lot of guys are. They are having like flip wedges into the green.” So, I was like, “Well, maybe I’ll have to look at it when I get on the tee.” But somewhere around 7 p.m. last night, we got a text saying that there was an internal OB now on No. 18, which is smart. I think the hole should be played the way it was designed and not take advantage of whatever you want to take advantage of." Brendan Steele, who hooked his second shot on the 72nd hole from the fairway a year ago on his way to falling into a playoff he would lose to Cameron Smith, was happy to see the move. He was particularly happy the stakes run out some 50 yards from the green meaning they're really only in play off the tee and his wild shot from a year ago would not have been as severely punished. "The only thing was a little troublesome about it was we didn’t know where they were going to be," Steele said after shooting an impressive 5-under 65 of his own as he looks for redemption. "I was hoping that they would do the right thing and only put them where guys would try to go in between the trees down 10 fairway and not where if you over-hook one trying to get it going left that it would actually go out of play... they did a good job. "I wouldn’t have been out-of-bounds (last year). But if you know it’s out-of-bounds, you probably don’t hit it over there, either." Defending champion Smith - after an opening 67 - couldn't resist a little tongue in cheek humor having remembered Steele's shot last year that ended up getting significant free relief because of the grandstands. "I think it’s a great idea. Too many guys hitting it down there, anyway," he smirked in fun. "It would be a significant advantage to hit it down 10. I hit the best possible drive today and I had 9-iron in. If I had hit it down 10, I would have had gap wedge in, like 20- or 30-yards' difference." The new penalty area stung at least one player in the opening round with Rory Sabbatini hooking his tee ball left into the death zone before having to re-tee and battle his way to a bogey.

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PONTE VEDRA BEACH - PGA TOUR officials have added internal out-of-bounds to TPC Sawgrass' iconic 18th hole for THE PLAYERS Championship this week. Officials declared the left side of the lake that runs down the famous finishing hole will be declared OB after suggestions players might look to hit tee shots across the lake towards the ninth hole, before hitting back across water to the green. Players on the ninth hole are not affected, with balls lost into the water on that hole treated as a normal hazard. "In the interest of safety for spectators, volunteers and other personnel, The PLAYERS Championship Rules Committee has installed an internal out of bounds left of the lake for play of hole 18. Similar instances of internal out of bounds for safety purposes have occurred at The Open Championship (No. 9) in 2017, the 2021 Sony Open in Hawaii (Nos. 13, 18), and most recently, the 2021 Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard (No. 6)," the TOUR said via statement. Earlier on Tuesday, Bryson DeChambeau had indicated he might entertain the idea of bombing a drive or two over the lake despite not seeing a significant advantage. That choice has now been eliminated from his thinking. DeChambeau's significant length helped him win the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard last week - his eighth TOUR win. "I’ll probably give it a try, but it’s most likely not going to happen. If there’s stands there, there’s really no reason to go for it, when I could just drive it 100 yards from the green if I get a good wind normally," DeChambeau indicated. "It’s not really that big of an advantage but taking the water out of play and having an easier second shot, it may be easier." PGA TOUR rules official Stephen Cox said while players actions can certainly be a driving factor in determining these sort of decisions, the main issue on this occasion was safety. "It's not the way the hole was designed to be played and when a player does choose that option it brings fairly significant safety concerns for us," Cox said. "As we saw at Birkdale in 2017, players tend to take obscure lines and locations to gain a strategic advantage but if it is placing others at risk and danger the committee needs to act on it quickly. "Just as we reintroduce fans the last thing we would want is to have someone walking back towards the tee at the ninth hole and get a ball in the face because someone hits it down there. Errant tee shots are errant tee shots but when someone deliberately takes it down there it is more of a concern for us."

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ORLANDO, Fla. — Tyrrell Hatton made a 30-foot birdie putt on the final hole for a 1-over 73 to end the most brutal day at Bay Hill in 37 years and build a two-shot lead going into the final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard. Related: Leaderboard | Morikawa takes over top spot for consecutive cuts Sunday might not be much of a reprieve. More wind and no rain are in the forecast. Greens have progressed from firm to brick-hard. It has created a test that feels more like a U.S. Open in June than the Florida swing in March. Rory McIlroy was happy with his run of 13 straight pars, delighted to make his first birdie on the par-5 16th and not terribly bothered by a bogey on the final hole for a 73. His goal was to survive, and he managed that. McIlroy joined another past champion, Marc Leishman (72) just two shots behind. Hatton had a wild ride at the end as temperatures felt like the mid-50s with the wind. He had one par over his final five holes — birdie-bogey-bogey-birdie — before thrusting his fist in the air when the final putt fell. Hatton was at 6-under 210, the highest 54-hole score to lead at Bay Hill since Ben Crenshaw in 1993. Max Homa played early — no advantage on this day with wind and cold air that felt more like the West Coast — and made double bogey on the 18th hole that ruined a tremendous round. He had to settle for 70. By the end of the day, it was the only score under par. The average score was 75.91, the highest for any round at Bay Hill since it was 76.29 in the second round in 1983. It was the highest round at Bay Hill after the cut since it was 78.84 in the final round of 1980. That also was the last time no one broke 70. Palmer loved a hard test and surely would have given this day a thumbs-up. As for the players? That depends on who was asked, and particularly what they shot. Brooks Koepka played his final four holes in even par for an 81, his highest score on the PGA TOUR, surpassing the 80 he shot in the second round at Muirfield in the 2013 Open Championship. Patrick Reed, who started the day three shots out of the lead, was still in the mix until two shots in the hazard on the 11th hole for a triple bogey. He three-putted for a double bogey on the 15th. And then it got ugly on the par-5 16th when his second shot from a bunker rifled through a tree and into the water. There was carnage everywhere. Sung Kang was the only player to reach 8 under for the day. He started out in a tie with Hatton and was holding his own until hitting his tee shot and his approach into the water for a triple bogey. He went out-of-bounds with his final tee shot and closed with another triple bogey for a 78. He still was only five shots behind. Only eight players remained under par. Leishman has rarely been more thrilled with a round at even par — two bogeys, two birdies, 14 pars. He had to make sure that’s what he scored. “I actually added my score up and kind of did a double-take,” Leishman said. “It added up to 72 and it felt like I shot 65. So yeah, it was really tough. The greens were firm, fast. It was exactly how you wanted the golf course to play, really. Par was a great score, and hopefully I can play like that again tomorrow.” McIlroy got off to a rough start — or so he thought — with a bogey on No. 2 and having to make an 18-footer from the fringe for par on the next hole. He didn’t birdie two par 5s with an iron in his hand for his second shot. But he kept grinding, aiming away from flags when a miss in the wrong spot could lead to a big number. He was tied for the lead when his drive into the cold wind on the 18th took once last roll into ankle-deep rough. He tried to chase it up the gap onto the green, but it came out a little right and into the rocks. “I saw some of the scores this morning and saw it was tough, but I guess I thought I could still go out there and shoot something sub-70,” McIlroy said. “And then once I got out there I was like, `Oh, maybe not.'” Christiaan Bezuidenhout of South Africa scratched out a 73 and was three shots behind, along with Sungjae Im, who made a 55-foot birdie putt on the last hole for a 74, and Danny Lee, who double bogeyed the last hole for a 75.

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