Down a rib, Merritt makes his move

Here are nine tidbits from the second round of the Masters that gamers can use tomorrow, this weekend or down the road. Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia, plays to 7,435 yards (Par-72). PAIN OR GAIN These were the top-five selected golfers in the PGA TOUR Fantasy One & Done presented by SERVPRO: Nobody on this list was cut but there were nervous moments for the Woods contingent as he flirted with disaster. The top four are all in the top eight and ready to pounce if leader Patrick Reed (-9) can’t handle the white-hot spotlight. The cut ended up +5 as 52 pros and amateur Doug Ghim will play the weekend. People’s Choice: Bubba Watson The two-time green jacket winner (2012, 2014) posted one of only seven rounds in the 60’s on Friday with 69. After making only one birdie on Thursday he responded with five in Round 2. There’s no secret as to what is working this week for the lefty and that’s his ball-striking. He leads the field hitting 30 of 36 GIR and is T2 in fairways with 23 of 28. The next big step will be overcoming the elements, which have bothered him before, as he’s seven behind Reed. Keep ‘Em Separated Entering the week Reed’s lowest round in four previous Masters was 70 twice. He’s now the only player who has a chance to post all four rounds in the 60’s. That’s never happened in this event. Reed was second to Justin Thomas at the PGA Championship last August but that’s his only top 10 in 16 previous majors. If he continues to hole putts (T1) and keep his tee ball out of trouble (T6) he will present a problem. He built his lead on being the only player in the field to birdie all eight Par-5 holes in the first two rounds. His 66 today matched Spieth’s opening round score and was the lowest of the round. Off the Leish I’ve opined in the past that being paired with Woods the first two days of any tournament isn’t easy sledding. The Aussie fired 67 and had no problem embracing the masses outside the ropes again. He beat Woods (+4) by 11 and Fleetwood (E) by seven. For the second day in a row he birdied two of the first three holes to get off to a great start. He went one better on Friday and circled the first three. #54Watch ended quickly but through two rounds he hasn’t flinched. He hit one bad shot on Thursday and only squared one bogey on Friday. He’s two shots a drift but will play in the final group on Saturday. Back-to-Back is Back Justin Thomas forgot about his opening round 74 and jumped right back into the conversation with 67 in Round 2. Thomas won his first major at the PGA Championship last year and is looking to keep his streak alive. He’s now found the weekend in three consecutive appearances at AGNC. He’s one of eight major champions in the top 13 who are trying to run down the leaders on the weekend. 3 Up Dustin Johnson pulled himself back into contention as well as he posted 68 to join Thomas on T6. He’s never cracked par in six Saturdays but if the weather rolls in I’ll be keeping both eyes on him. If he’s on your bench he’s going to need a second look on burning a start. Those of you who put him in for Round 2 should stand pat. … Justin Rose was favorite 1A in plenty of places and rightfully so. He doubled his output of birdies in a more difficult Round 2 and cut his score by two shots. His 70 pushed him into the top 10 at T8. He won his U.S. Open at Merion in wet conditions so he’s already passed that test. … Jon Rahm entered the week No. 3 in the OWGR but gamers weren’t sold. He finished just outside the top 10 in both fantasy formats but those who climbed on board were thrilled with his AGNC career-best round of 68. The next step is improving on his 73-75 weekend from last year. If the event isn’t testing his patience, I wonder if the conditions tomorrow might. 3 Down, But Not Out Jordan Spieth’s first-round lead was out the window after two holes as he opened double bogey-bogey. The great news is that the rest of the round was played one-under-par and only dropped to T4. I’m not letting those two holes throw me off the scent. He’s proven he can handle adversity here. … Tony Finau matched Spieth’s 74 but part of me is surprised he’s still playing and sitting T8. To nobody’s surprise his putting leveled off in Round 2 but his birdie at the last helped dinner taste better. … Rickie Fowler posted even-par 72 after opening with 70 but burned a handful of edges during the round. This suggests he’s close to having it dialed in. He’s only made birdie on two of eight Par-5 holes so there’s room for improvement. MC HOF Every week and every major there are guys who just don’t fire. Defending champ Sergio Garcia counted 13 of them on Hole No. 15 Thursday to all but knock him out. His 78 on Friday confirmed that he knew his race was run the night before. … Charl Schwartzel continues his bizarre results at this event. His 2011 is well chronicled, obviously, but his 68-68 weekend here saw him take third last year. He’s never finished inside the top 25 in six other starts. … Alex Noren has played this event the last two years and his lowest round is 74 twice. He ranked in the top 20 of both fantasy games this week and that stings gamers who were late to his party. Study Hall Friday’s scoring average was 74.56 beating Thursday’s number of 73.79. … Tiger Woods made the weekend on the number and will be one of the first groups out Saturday. I haven’t seen him hit three solid shots in a row. I’m moving him out of my lineup. … Kiradech Aphibarnrat deserves a special mention. In his first Masters in 2016 he collected T15 honors. This year he opened with 79 and looked to be down for the count. He fired 70 to make the cut on the number and reward those of you who stuck your neck out on a long-shot-course-horse. … Thomas Pieters continues to frustrate gamers as his T4 in his maiden voyage last year raised many eyebrows and awareness. His 78 in Round 2 knocked him out the weekend in his second try.  

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A lot can happen before the scheduled first round back at the Charles Schwab Challenge. Some of how this will work is clear, but there’s just as much that still has to be figured out.

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Stewart Cink is preparing to play in The Open Championship at St. Andrews with unreleased irons and an unreleased putter. The 2009 Open champion combining veteran experience with new-school technology at the Old Course. In recent years, the 49-year-old Cink has shown no signs of slowing down, winning two times last season and reaching the TOUR Championship. Catching up with Cink ahead of this year’s Open Championship, GolfWRX spotted new prototype clubs in his bag. These aren’t just prototypes made specifically for him, however; they may actually be a looking glass into future Ping releases. His irons, given their “i230” nomenclature, could possibly be upcoming replacements to Ping’s previous i210 irons. It’s been nearly four years since Ping launched its i210 irons to the public, but PGA TOUR players such as Viktor Hovland and Matt Fitzpatrick still have them in the bag. Cink himself previously had i210 irons in the bag but he’s evidently upgraded. Ping currently has a number of new iron models that are used on TOUR, including the i59 (three-piece forged irons that replaced the popular iBlade irons), the i525 (hollow-bodied distance irons used mostly as driving irons on the PGA TOUR), and Blueprint Forged irons (blade-style, one-piece constructions for maximum control). Compared to the previous i210 irons, the unreleased i230 cavity-back irons appear to have a slimmed-down topline and slightly less offset. Ping also appears to have added a screw into the toe section of the irons. In its recent releases – such as the i59, Blueprint, and i525 irons – Ping has used tungsten screws to help improve forgiveness by manipulating weight in the heads. The company has yet to reveal design details about the i230 irons, so we’ll have to wait and see what the new technologies are all about. Ping did confirm, however, that pros Tyrrell Hatton and David Lingmerth are also currently using Ping i230 irons. Additionally, Cink showed up to The Open with a Ping PLD prototype mallet with a white finish and a black alignment line. The putters were first revealed to Tour players at this year’s U.S. Open, as reported by @GolfWRX on Instagram. Cink took a particular liking to the white mallet putter after testing it at the recent Travelers Championship. While he didn’t use the putter that week, it was the only putter in his bag as of Tuesday at St. Andrews. Cink is set to play in his 21st Open Championship this week. On Thursday, he’ll tee it up alongside Sergio Garcia and Aaron Jarvis at 12:35 p.m., with a bag full of prototypes.

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