Don’t call it a Tiger comeback … yet

Brooks Koepka had four birdies in his match against Bryson DeChambeau on Friday en route to an easy 4-and-3 victory in a 12-hole match in Las Vegas.

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CROMWELL, Conn. – A few ticks of the clock may have cost Zach Johnson a share of the second-round lead at the Travelers Championship. With his 18-foot birdie attempt at the 424-yard par-4 third sitting on the edge of the cup Friday, Johnson walked up to the ball, counted off the 10 seconds he could legally wait under the rules, and then was about to tap in. But then the ball started to wobble, so he held up. It eventually dropped into the cup – but by then, at least six more seconds had elapsed. So instead of a birdie, Johnson had to settle for a par en route to a 68 that left him at 9 under and in a three-way tie for second, one shot behind 36-hole leader Brian Harman. “You can call it unfortunate. You can just call it the rules of golf,� Johnson said. “I really don’t know. I’m not going to lose one second of sleep. I don’t want to say it’s irrelevant. It’s just the way it goes.� While still on the third green, Johnson consulted PGA TOUR rules official John Mutch. He also met with Mutch and Vice President of Rules Mark Russell in the scoring trailer after his round. Johnson wondered what would have happened had he marked his ball. Would he get another 10 seconds? Does a wobbling ball reset the 10-second clock to zero? “Even if the ball is moving, it’s deemed to be at rest because it’s on the lip,� Johnson said after the discussions. “Don’t ask me why, but that’s just the way it is. So even if I would have hit a moving ball there, it would not have mattered. Technically, I wouldn’t have to tap it in either, I guess, because it’s a one-shot penalty. Once the ball’s in the hole, the ball’s in the hole.� Rule 16-2 addresses a ball overhanging a hole, stating: “When any part of the ball overhangs the lip of the hole, the player is allowed enough time to reach the hole without unreasonable delay and an addition 10 seconds to determine whether the ball is at rest. If by then the ballhas  not fallen into the hole, it is deemed to be at rest. If the ball subsequently falls into the hole, the player is deemed to have holed out with his last stroke and must add a penalty stroke to his score for the hole; otherwise, there is no penalty under this rule.� Russell was asked how long the entire process lasted once the 10-second countdown began. “About 16 to 18 seconds, something like that. Well over 10 seconds.� Russell added, “If that would have happened with eight seconds once he had reached the hole, he would’ve made a 3.� Russell said the 10-second countdown only begins “once you reach the hole and you’re in a position where you can tap it in.� Theoretically, then, Johnson could have taken his time reaching the hole, buying a few more seconds in hopes the ball would legally drop for birdie. “I could have walked really slow to the ball, yeah,� said Johnson, noting that the 10-second rule was there to address pace of play issues. “But I’m not so sure I would have felt good about that.� While the rules may have cost Johnson a stroke at the third hole, he did use the rule book to his advantage at the par-4 17th. After his tee shot found the water, Johnson utilized one of the five options under a lateral water hazard rule to drop near the 16th tee box, some 232 yards from the hole. He said it was a better option than dropping in the rough, where he’d just wedge out and play for a bogey. “It was kind of hard to determine where the ball crossed, but I think my playing partners and I were fairly conservative,� Johnson said. “I don’t like to push it on that. “So we took the mark and I used the rule to my advantage and went lateral, which was towards 16 tee box. There was kind of a brown area there that was within two club lengths, so I dropped it there and I thought, you know what? If I get a decent lie, I can maybe give it a whirl because there’s really not a whole lot there between me and the hole, and maybe I can get it around the green and make a 5. If I don’t get a good lie, I’ll just wedge it out on the fairway and try to get up-and-down for 5.� Instead, he opened up a 4-hybrid, started his shot over the grandstands, and heard the gallery reaction as the ball finished inside 8 feet. He then made the par putt. “If felt good to get away with that 4,� Johnson said. “That’s as good of an up-and-down as I’ve witnessed or performed.� As for the other 16 holes Johnson played Friday? Fairly benign. A couple of birdies on a bogey-free round. “A lot of good out there,� Johnson said. “There was a lot of boring fairway, green, missed putt golf. But there were a couple of incidents that were highlights and/or asterisks. I don’t know how you’d label it.�

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Emiliano Grillo was at a Caribbean resort while Bryson DeChambeau was bashing his way to a U.S. Open victory on Sunday. Winged Foot, where DeChambeau was the only player to finish under par, is one of the game's most stressful tests. The venue for this week's Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship is a stark contrast, an idyllic setting with six holes that run along the Caribbean Ocean. RELATED: Como's living room shows how technology can change players' games The contrast in their locales last weekend parallels the different styles of these two PGA TOUR winners. "(Bryson) is very intense. He's 200% into everything about golf," Grillo says. "I'm more of a relaxed, easy person. I'll work hard but I'm not going to put in the extra time that Bryson does. That got him to where he is at the moment, and I just have a different way of seeing my job at different times." They do share one thing in common: a swing coach. Both work with Chris Como, the Dallas-based instructor whom DeChambeau effusively praised Sunday for guiding him through the radical transformation of his body and game. Como's ability to assist one of the game's most obsessive tinkerers, and another student with a more laid-back approach, is credit to an under-appreciated aspect of coaching. It's not just what you know, but how you convey the information to your students. Como can be give DeChambeau the data he craves or tailor his teaching to Grillo, as well. "Chris is always 100% into it. He adapts to your personality," Grillo says. "I'm super different to Bryson and we both really match well with (Chris). That's what makes him very special." Grillo said he isn't planning a Bryson-esque transformation - "I enjoy a lot of other things, and I don't think adding weight for my job is a priority," he says - but he has been helped by Como's instruction. Whereas DeChambeau loves to rely on Trackman readings and his background in physics, it has been a simple key from Como that has benefitted Grillo. "It's actually very simple," Grillo said. "I'm hitting the ball with my right hip, creating space for the club (to travel through impact). It was a feeling that I was trying to do and find it, and he did it super easy for me." Grillo and Como started working together at this year's PLAYERS Championship, the last event before the season was paused by the coronavirus pandemic. Grillo had made the cut in just one of his six starts before arriving at TPC Sawgrass. The lone exception was a third-place finish at the Puerto Rico Open, a tournament that's played a big part in his career. He was a non-member when he finished second there five years ago, a finish that qualified him for the Korn Ferry Tour Finals. He won the Korn Ferry Tour Championship, then won his first start as a PGA TOUR member, the Safeway Open. Como didn't see a need for a dramatic overhaul of Grillo's swing. He just needed to help him get back to his old ways. Grillo finished third in Strokes Gained: Approach in 2019 and 20th in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee. "He was in a little bit of a funk. I just said, ‘You're a great ball-striker. We just need to figure out what you've done when you hit it well because your good is one of the best out here,'" Como says. "He just had some excess body motion that he didn't have when he played his best. His setup changed. He got too squatty in his knees. His head would pull away from the ball, and the club would come down from the inside compared to his preferred path." Grillo's struggles continued after the Return to Golf. He missed the cut in four of his first six starts after the season resumed, and his best finish was T39. Grillo was 122nd in the FedExCup, and in danger of missing the Playoffs for the first time in his career, in late July. But he responded with top-10s at the 3M Open and Barracuda. He finished third at 3M thanks to a 64-65 weekend. This new season is off to a promising start. He was in the top 10 through the first three rounds of the season-opening Safeway Open before a final-round 73 dropped him to T29. He finished the week ranked fourth in Strokes Gained: Approach and third in greens in regulation. Now, he'll try to follow another Como student into the winner's circle. He'll take a different approach to get there, however.

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