Colsaerts confident of claiming win in Turkey

HOUSTON – Later this month, Peter Malnati will become a father. His wife Alicia is due on Oct. 26, and whether their first child is a boy or a girl remains a surprise until the delivery. For the last couple of months, they’ve been making preparations to turn their new house into, as Peter says, a home. So it’s understandable that he’s been a little distracted lately inside the ropes. His results reflect it. He ended last season with a pair of missed cuts, then started the 2019-20 season with a Saturday WD due to a bad back, a T45 finish at the Sanderson Farms Championship, and consecutive missed cuts in his last two starts. Entering this week, he hadn’t broken 70 in his last eight rounds. Already planning to take the next five weeks off, Malnati wondered if he should even be playing the Houston Open. “The last couple weeks I’ve let it be a distraction in that I haven’t really prepared the way I normally would because my head’s back home. I want to be home,â€� Malnati said. “This week I was like, ‘dude, this is your last tournament before you become a dad, like do something with it.’ “The best thing you can do for your wife and your kid is to go out and play good.â€� So he did. Related: Leaderboard | Hammer roots on Astros after 67 | Beem’s ‘simply incredible’ first round Malnati shot a 3-under 69 on Thursday, followed by a bogey-free 7-under 65 on Friday morning at the Golf Club of Houston. That leaves him at 10 under. When he walked off the course, he was the clubhouse leader, with first-round co-leaders Austin Cook and Talor Gooch just starting their day. Given the windy conditions that kicked in in mid-morning after a 2-hour rain delay, the field average soared to nearly 73 for those with an early tee time. That means Malnati’s 65 was nearly 8 strokes better than the field. His caddie Chad Antus, who has been on the bag for about 2-1/2 seasons, called it the best round he had seen Malnati play. The only other round worthy of a comparison was the 10-under 62 that Malnati shot at the 2018 Korn Ferry Tour Championship, a round that included an eagle and 10 birdies. “Given the conditions of the course and everything else going on,â€� Antus said, “this round today was No. 1.“ While the next few weeks certainly will be exciting, Malnati is now in position to make the next two days exciting, too, as he chases his second career PGA TOUR win. He won the Sanderson Farms four years ago. “I practiced with a lot more focus this week and it’s nice to see that that does result in some better golf for me,â€� he said. “Yes, my head is definitely a little bit elsewhere, but again, the best thing even after the kid comes, when I do decide me and my wife decide it’s time for me to go play again — the best thing I can do when I’m at a tournament is focus on the tournament. “That’s what they need me to do, so that’s what I’m trying to do this week. It’s beyond words to say I’m 98% excited, 2% terrified, all of that is definitely at play right now. My wife’s the best and she’s going to be the best mother, so we’re going to handle things all right back home.â€� Perhaps Friday is an indication that he’s handling things inside the ropes too. Last season, Malnati’s only top-10 finish in 26 starts last season was in a team event, the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, when he and Billy Hurley III were T9. But he was steady enough to make the FedExCup Playoffs and keep his TOUR card, actually improving his status from the previous year when he missed the Playoffs. In some ways, though, it was a breakthrough season for Malnati. He cites two areas of improvement – improved iron play and increased distance off the tee. On Friday, he said he “drove the ball beautifullyâ€� and was excited to see where he ranked in the field in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee, a statistic in which he’s never ranked better than 150th in the previous four seasons and generally gives up strokes to the field. “I’m not a huge guy into stats,â€� he said. “At the end of the day, there’s only one that matters and that’s score and I had a good one of those today, but I do like to look at my driving stats and they’ve been really, really a weakness for me for a year.â€� What a story it would be if Malnati could pull off a win in Houston this weekend. What better way to enter fatherhood than with a shiny new trophy to show his child. “Most kids, when they kick it around at their home course growing up, they’re dreaming about that putt to win the Masters or that putt to win the U.S. Open or that putt to win THE PLAYERS Championship or something like that,â€� Malnati said. “I always took that dream one step farther. My dream, I used to as a little kid, I would watch and you would see these guys hole out to win the big tournaments and their wife and their little kids would just come running out on the green. That to me, that’s where the dream really is. That was the dream stuff. “I already won a Korn Ferry Tour event with my wife caddying for me, I won a big amateur event with my mom caddying for me, so I’ve gotten to have some of those kind of family moments at the end of a tournament. But the idea of actually being a father and then one day hopefully having my kids get to see me do what I love to do, which is this, and hopefully do it well is something that I kind of get emotional even just thinking about that. “That’s going to be so awesome for me.â€�

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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Each day at THE PLAYERS Championship, PGATOUR.COM’s staff writers will dive into the big issues and questions everyone is discussing. Webb Simpson shot a final-round 73 to win by four over Xander Schauffele (67), Charl Schwartzel (67) and Jimmy Walker (67). What moment/shot/round will you remember about the winner this week? Ben Everill (Staff Writer): For me the end of all hope for anyone else came in round three when he holed out from the back bunker on the par-5 11th for an eagle. That ball tracked on the green for a long time and never looked like missing. That’s when you know something special is afoot. Sean Martin (Senior Editor): The putt on the 15th green in the second round, from the chipping area long of the green. He hit it too hard. His ball was headed 10 feet past the hole, but it hit the back of the cup and dropped straight in. It was his sixth consecutive birdie, and all Webb and his playing partners, Jhonattan Vegas and Tyrrell Hatton, could do is laugh. It was clear that he was in the midst of a magical round. Mike McAllister (Managing Editor): Despite a performance in which his putter meant everything, I’m going with the hole-out from the bunker on Saturday at the par-5 11th for eagle. To me, that was the “OK, we’re seeing something specialâ€� moment. Cameron Morfit (Staff Writer): I’ll remember Simpson rolling in that par-saving putt on 18 on Saturday. Message to the field: If you want back into this tournament, I’m not going to help. Tiger Woods birdied six of his first 12 holes and shot 69. He finished T11, but even he sounded impressed. Was this an even bigger step in his comeback than his runner-up at the Valspar Championship? Everill: Absolutely. This was against the best field in golf and showed the rust – and any excuses – are now gone. As far as I am concerned, Woods is starting on equal pegging with everyone now and a magic four days could be just around the corner. Martin: It was, but you still have to wonder about his inability to finish off his rounds. He was 14 under par on Nos. 1-13 on the weekend, and 4 over on the final five holes. Yes, there are some hard holes in that stretch, but he also failed to birdie the par-5 16th both days. There are a lot of positive signs, but those finishes were a bit disconcerting. McAllister: Yes, I’d say on this course, against the best field in golf, to produce the kind of golf he displayed on the weekend has to be his bigger confidence booster of the season. Now if he can just solve the late-round fade … Morfit: Somehow this felt different, and more significant, than the Valspar. Tiger was flighting it how he wanted to, moving the ball both ways, putting well. He couldn’t overcome two mediocre rounds (72-71) on Thursday and Friday, but his game looks pretty sporty going into the summer. Xander Schauffele tied for second in his first look at TPC Sawgrass, which isn’t supposed to happen on such a technically demanding course. Simpson wasn’t known as an ace putter. What was the biggest surprise of the week for you? Everill: Simpson’s dominance was certainly a surprise. He didn’t just win, he killed them. The other surprise for me was Jason Day failing to find a birdie on the back nine on Sunday. Maybe he was just finally out of gas. Martin: I think Jimmy Walker’s second-place finish. It has been a tough road since he was diagnosed with Lyme disease, but he’s starting to turn the corner. This second-place finish came on the heels of a T20 at the Masters and T4 at the Valero Texas Open. He’s risen to No. 49 in the FedExCup. McAllister: Two 63s that tied the course record is probably the biggest surprise. I didn’t expect the scores to be this low. The winning score of 18 under is the lowest in more than two decades. Morfit: Simpson. I’d forgotten how good he is when he’s on. Justin Thomas came into the PLAYERS at No. 1 in the FedExCup, but now he’s also No. 1 in the world, taking over for Dustin Johnson. Thomas says he absolutely loves TPC Sawgrass. Is he your early pick to win the 2019 PLAYERS? If not, who is? Everill: What an achievement for Thomas. Holding the FedExCup title and world No. 1 at the same time. But I would take Jason Day as my PLAYERS favorite. Winner in 2016, T5 this week and clearly in the midst of a revival back towards the top of the golfing spectrum. Martin: Jason Day. He’s rededicated to the game after a winless 2017 and it is showing. He won the Wells Fargo Championship and finished fifth this week. That’s two top-five finishes in his past three PLAYERS. McAllister: Jack Nicklaus is the only three-time champion of THE PLAYERS. Think Tiger might like to join him in the record book? A year from now, with more reps and a smoothing out of the issues he has with the game, Tiger will be in better shape to contend than he was last year. Plus, he’s already won once on a Championship Sunday on St. Patrick’s Day (2002 at Bay Hill) – and that’s when THE PLAYERS Championship ends next year. Morfit: Patrick Cantlay has the look of a PLAYERS winner, and for a while I thought it was going to be this year. I’ll take Cantlay for 2019.

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Melbourne will host golf’s World Cup for the third-straight time, with the nation-based tournament to be held at the Metropolitan Golf Club in November 2018.

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