Crane penalized 8 strokes for stickers on clubs

A Wentworth revival?

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ERIN, Wis. – It was near the end of his round Friday, and Jason Day’s fate had been sealed. Doomed to his first missed cut at a U.S. Open, he was simply trying to stay out of the way of playing partner Rory McIlroy, who suddenly had a hot hand. Given the wayward shots coming from Day’s clubs, it was not a difficult task. “Unfortunately with where I was hitting it,� Day said, “I wasn’t in the way.� Pardon the gallows humor. After shooting a 3-under 75 to finish at 10 over for his two round at Erin Hills, it was all Day could muster. McIlroy, the reigning FedExCup champ, fared slightly better. Thanks to four birdies in his last six holes, he managed a 1-under 71. Alas, due to his struggles on Thursday when he shot 78, McIlroy finished at 5 over and suffered the same fate as Day. Both will have to watch the final two rounds of the U.S. Open on television this weekend. Seeing the world’s No. 2 (McIlroy) and No. 3 (Day) ranked players miss the cut this week certainly is shocking. In his last 17 starts in majors, McIlroy had won three times, posted 10 top-10 finishes and missed the cut just twice. Day, meanwhile, was riding a streak of 17 consecutive made cuts in majors, with one win and – again – 10 top-10 finishes. Plus, on a course that has measured more than 7,800 yards in each of the first two rounds, you would have expected both to thrive with their power games. In retrospect, perhaps the missed cuts are not a total surprise – at least from McIlroy’s standpoint. He was sidelined earlier this year with a rib injury and has made just five PGA TOUR starts in 2017. He feels healthy now, but he came in rusty – and it showed in his opening round. After hitting just five fairways and nine greens on Thursday, McIlroy’s ball-striking improved in the second round, as he hit 11 fairways and 12 greens. He was still 9 over for the tournament going into his last six holes, but he found a groove that offered at least a few good vibes heading into next week’s Travelers Championship. “Gave myself a lot more looks,� McIlroy said. “But I think at the end of the day, it’s competitive rounds and get the card in my hand. I’ve been very light on competitive rounds this year and it’s just a matter of getting into a good round of golf now. “I saw some positives there on the back nine coming in, and hopefully I can take them to the Travelers.� After Thursday’s round, McIlroy and his coach Michael Bannon discussed his swing issues. McIlroy said his transition was too quick, that he would get to the top of his swing and then essentially lunge at the ball. “I just tried to smooth out the transition today,� McIlroy said, “and it definitely worked. … I think at this point in time, I just need to play a round of golf. Even though it’s very disappointing to not be here on the weekend, I think these last two rounds will serve me well going into the summer.� As for Day, he entered this week with a stellar track record at the U.S. Open – five top-10 finishes in six career starts. Even though he hasn’t won since THE PLAYERS Championship in 2016, he had been playing better of late, finishing second late last month at the AT&T Byron Nelson. He was certainly confident in his prep work for Erin Hills; in fact, he called it the best preparation he’s ever had going into a major. And having already won the most recent major in Wisconsin – the 2015 PGA Championship at Whistling Straits – he felt an unusual sense of calmness. But two triple bogeys on Thursday when he found trouble in the fescue were simply too costly to overcome, especially on a day when a record 44 players broke par. He ended up hitting balls after his afternoon finish, but he thinks now the late-night range session might have been a mistake, as it left him sluggish going into Friday’s early-morning tee time. Pressing to go low to make the cut, he didn’t have enough reserves to draw upon to ever make a move Friday. Plus, his usually stellar short game deserted him, as he failed to get up-and-down several times in his two rounds. “When you see someone that shoots 7-under [which Rickie Fowler did Thursday] and the guys in the morning tear up the golf course, I’ve got to try to be a little bit aggressive,� Day said. “But then again, you sit there and it’s the U.S. Open. Things can turn pretty bad – which they did for me.� Ironically, while others were glad to see the unusually wide and generous fairways at Erin Hills, Day thought it might have been a hindrance for him. He said the width of the fairways negatively affected his focus off the tee. “I think when you’re trying to aim at a target usually at a normal golf course, with normal-width fairways, there’s some pressure into hitting the fairway because it is a lot narrower than we have out here,� Day said. “I think with everything so large, your target is larger and your misses get even more extreme. “Being out of position off the tee does not help. The execution was not there.� On the flip side, though, Day did enjoy one aspect of his two rounds at Erin Hills. “I enjoyed the walk,� he said. “The walk was great.� Pardon the gallows humor. Again.

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A perfect 3-0 in pool play this week at the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play, Ian Poulter is clearly firing on all cylinders — no surprise from the Ryder Cup stalwart who always seems to elevate his play for head-to-head contests. Poulter won this event in 2010 and now has a chance to win it for a second time even though he started this week as the No. 60 seed. There's clearly something about Poulter in this format. This is the eighth time that he has made the Round of 16 in this event, tied with Tiger Woods, Matt Kuchar and Sergio Garcia for most all time. However, following a pair of missed cuts, the three-time PGA TOUR winner was hardly in full flight prior to the Match Play. And at 61st in Strokes Gained: Putting, Poulter entered the week in Austin in the midst of his worst work with the flatstick since 2017. It's with respect to that portion of his game that the six-time Ryder Cupper made an interesting switch this week. Poulter put his Odyssey White Hot XG 7 putter in timeout as it has "gone cold," he said, and is gaming a new Scotty Cameron Phantom X 11 Prototype. Poulter's penchant for putter-testing is well-publicized, and he mentioned no shortage of the rock-rollers arrive at his doorstep from all variety of manufacturers. "I am kind of trying them and I’m trying to get the right feel, the right look, and Scottie [Cameron] made me one a week ago, two weeks ago," Poulter said. "I told him … I wanted some grooves in the face. He did it. It sits right, and that’s all I want. I want something that sits well, that looks nice and feels good. At the minute it’s working out quite nice!" According to Titleist, Poulter worked with Scotty Cameron tour rep Drew Page at last week's Honda Classic. Following some additional testing, he put it in play in Austin. "Ian just loved the look of the 11 and the way it sits on the ground," Page said. "Players continue to talk about how well the putter sets up and it's a big reason that more and more continue to go into play. It doesn't open, it doesn't close, it just sits perfect." Poulter's prototype putter has horizontal grooves on the face, whereas the retail Phantom X models feature a traditional milling pattern.

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