Dustin Johnson benefits in rules row to win World Golf Championship

WILMINGTON, N.C. — Once the rain finally stopped, the wind took over Friday in the Wells Fargo Championship. Billy Hurley III and Seamus Power of Ireland did their best to figure out the strong gusts and wound up atop the leaderboard at the end of a long day. The second round started three hours late because of a violent storm that dumped nearly 2 inches of rain on Eagle Point, and 65 players had to return Saturday morning to complete the round. Hurley hit a 4-iron from 174 yards that came up 15 yards short, and he managed to get up-and-down to cap off a strong finish for a 3-under 69. Power shot a 71 and joined Hurley at 5-under 139. John Peterson’s last hole was a birdie on the par-5 12th hole. He was at 5 under and had six holes to play Saturday morning. Francesco Molinari of Italy, who opened with a 66, also was at 5 under and had seven holes remaining. Dustin Johnson couldn’t get off the golf course fast enough. In his first tournament since a slip down the stairs knocked him out of the Masters Tournament, Johnson opened with a tough par save and a birdie to get within two shots of the lead until dropping shots on a pair of par 3s, getting out of position off the tee on the reachable par 5s and ending with a third bogey on No. 13. Johnson was 2 over for his round, five shots out of the lead. With the worst of the weather out of the way, one bizarre dynamic was in play depending on how the second round finishes Saturday morning. When play was halted by darkness, 80 players were at 1 over (either finished or on their back nine). That could mean only a six-shot separation between leading and making the cut on the number, meaning a wide-open weekend. The key was to get through Friday’s wild weather. The wind was so strong that it blew Phil Mickelson’s hat off his head as he was preparing to hit his tee shot. Mickelson went along nicely until missing the green to the right on No. 9, dumping a chip into the bunker and making double bogey on his last hole for a 72. He was at 1-under 143. “It was more difficult with the wind,” Hurley said. “Thankfully, with the rain it was softer. It we didn’t have this rain, and then we had this wind, it would have been pretty brutal. So we didn’t have to completely worry about the ball running away from you on the ground as much as it did yesterday.” Hurley was 1 over for his round when he ran off four birdies over his last seven holes, including a couple from tap-in range, yet it was the par on No. 9 that excited him as much as the birdies. The green is exposed as much as any at Eagle Point, and he holed a 10-foot par putt. Power played No. 9 in the middle of his round, hit a 6-iron and came up 40 yards short. His pitch barely reached the fringe, and he made bogey. Walking back up the hill to face the 186-yard, downhill 10th hole, he hit 5-iron and held his breath. “It’s unusual. It messes with your eyes because you’re uncomfortable hitting that show knowing that if the wind dies, you might watch a ball sail into the water around the greens,” Power said. “You’ve just got to pick a number and you’ve got to go with and just try to get through those.” Jon Rahm of Spain knows the feeling. Rahm made five birdies and had to settle for a 71, but he was at 4-under 140 along with Vaughn Taylor (69), Rafa Cabrera Bello (71) and Brian Harman (69). Rahm began his round on the par-3 10th with a shot that came up some 20 yards short of the pin. What really got his attention was the par-3 second hole, where he hit a beautiful tee shot that went 192 yards — except the hole was playing only 161 yards. “There were a couple moments where the difference between the wind being just straight right-to-left or being a little bit in, that wind could mean easily 20 yards because it was blowing so hard,” Rahm said. “What happened to me on No. 2, after a great stretch of holes, I carried it about 30 yards farther than what I wanted. I’m not the only one dealing with this. It probably happened to a couple other guys where they were 20 yards short or 20 yards long.” Was it more fun than a calm day? Rahm smiled. “It is fun because I played good,” he said. “But it does get a little frustrating sometimes.”

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A year ago, Jordan Spieth’s return to the PGA TOUR winner’s circle at the Valero Texas Open at TPC San Antonio was the culmination of months of elite play. A Saturday 61 at TPC Scottsdale launched him into contention at the WM Phoenix Open, where he was tied for the lead entering the final round (he ultimately tied for fourth). He would hold the outright 54-hole lead the following week at Pebble Beach, then post strong finishes at The Genesis Invitational (T-15), Arnold Palmer Invitational (T-4) and WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play (lost in round of 16). Spieth’s ascent would peak in his home state of Texas, then carry on to a strong performance at Augusta National. How did he rediscover his best golf, and how close is he to finding it again? Spring Forward When Spieth arrived to the 2021 WM Phoenix Open, he was in the statistical doldrums. He ranked 204th on TOUR for the season in Strokes Gained: Approach, and not much better in scoring average (183rd). Of 242 players to statistically qualify to that point in the season, only 11 were hitting fewer greens in regulation than Spieth (59.4%). His Official World Golf Ranking had dropped to 92nd, his worst position since the summer of 2013, the week before his first TOUR victory at the John Deere Classic. Then, Scottsdale happened. Across the months of February and March of 2021, Spieth ranked third on TOUR in Strokes Gained: Approach per round, trailing only Collin Morikawa and Sergio Garcia. His form with his iron play during that stretch – gaining 1.20 strokes per round via approach shots – well-surpassed what he did in 2015, when he was PGA TOUR Player of the Year. That season, he averaged about 0.62 Strokes Gained: Approach per round, 11th-best on TOUR. Spieth’s putting improved during the stretch, too, but not to the levels of his approach game. In February and March, Spieth ranked 37th on TOUR in Strokes Gained: Putting, a big jump from earlier in the season (0.06 per round, 119th). In all, 67% of Spieth’s total strokes gained during this stretch came from his stellar approaches. At TPC San Antonio, Spieth’s incredible improvement in his wedge game led him to victory. He led the field for the week in average proximity from 50 to 125 yards (10 feet, 5 inches). His average distance from the hole in those situations was more than 10 feet better than the field average for the tournament. This was especially significant considering where Spieth was with this part of his game months prior: entering Phoenix, he ranked 235th on TOUR from that range (23 feet, 4 inches), limiting his birdie possibilities after having wedge in his hands. The ball-striking trend continued down Magnolia Lane into The Masters. The 2015 champion ranked in the top 10 that week in both Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee and Strokes Gained: Approach. No player gained more strokes than Spieth did tee-to-green (3.44 per round) for the tournament. It was his putting that let him down – of 54 players to make the cut, only three had a worse Strokes Gained: Putting performance than Spieth for the week. Spieth wouldn’t win again in 2020-21, but he got awfully close a couple of times. He finished runner-up at both the Charles Schwab Challenge and at The Open Championship. He put together eight consecutive tournaments where he amassed positive Strokes Gained: Approach, something he did in fewer than half of his starts in 2020. By the time the season concluded, Spieth had ascended from 161st to 24th in scoring average. Recent Outlook While Spieth got close at Pebble Beach earlier this year (2nd place, two behind winner Tom Hoge), his form statistically hasn’t been as sharp since spring of last year. That isn’t to say Spieth has been playing poorly: he’s averaging positive strokes gained per round in every discipline. During that span, he’s a respectable 37th on TOUR among qualified players in scoring average. This season, he’s averaging his most Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee per round since 2018 and is in the top 25 in average driving distance for the first time. Again, the biggest statistical difference between Spieth’s recent play and when he was red-hot comes from his approach numbers. Spieth is gaining just 0.14 strokes per round with his approach play since last May, a drop-off of more than a full stroke from that February-March stretch. It adds up to more than 4 strokes per 72 holes, a deficit that is virtually impossible to overcome with the other facets of his game. As for that wedge play that was so good in San Antonio a year ago: This season, Spieth is ranked a strong 20th in average proximity from 50-125 yards, at 16 feet, 1 inch. However, his average score to par in those situations – just -0.07 to par – is ranked 168th. Spieth simply hasn’t been converting those opportunities – the TOUR average from that position is -0.16, more than twice as good in relation to par. No player in each of the next two TOUR fields has had as much success on those courses as Spieth has. A return to friendly confines could be just what’s needed to bring out the best in the 12-time TOUR winner.

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LAS VEGAS - They say luck's a fortune in Las Vegas but skill can certainly get you further. Martin Laird showcased a brilliant combination of both as he claimed his second Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, outlasting Matthew Wolff and Austin Cook in a playoff at TPC Summerlin. RELATED: Full leaderboard | What’s in Laird’s bag? Playing on a sponsor's exemption as he returns from knee surgery, the Scotsman earned his fourth PGA TOUR win by getting the ultimate redemption on a hole that perhaps owed him some luck. It was his first title in over seven years. Chasing back-to-back wins after winning in 2009 (ironically in a three-man playoff), Laird joined Cameron Percy and Jonathan Byrd in extra holes in 2010. When they reached the par-3 17th he had to just stand in disbelief when Byrd made a hole-in-one to win the tournament. A decade later he would face the hole in sudden death against two others again. This time there was no ace but Laird did send a 22-foot, 11-inch birdie putt home after the other two players had missed their own chances to claim the win. "When I sit back and think about it, this win might go right to the top just because it’s been a while," Laird said. "I had a bunch of life changes since my last win. Now I’ve got a couple kids who kept asking me when I was going to win the trophy. It’s going to be nice to take a trophy home for them this time." "I’m unbelievably excited to have pulled that off today... you have some doubts at times whether you’re going to get another one. I just played so well all week this week tee to green; was probably the best I ever played. Just felt in control really all week. To see that putt go in on that hole, it was pretty special." His winning putt wasn't the only drama he faced on the infamous hole on Sunday. He came to it in regulation with a one shot lead but flailed his tee shot on the breeze and it went miles right onto a hill normally reserved for spectators. It left a tricky pitch from a downslope, over a cart path, through trees with water behind the green. The 37-year-old pulled off a magnificent shot to find the putting surface and then buried a 17-foot, 11-inch par putt. It was the longest putt he made all day Sunday (in regulation) and provided a buffer he needed when he was unable to get up and down on the 72nd hole for the win and was sent to extras. "That hole owed me one," Laird admitted. "To make that putt on 17 honestly was huge in regulation, and then to roll that putt in there to close it out, I mean, obviously it’s pretty special." Unbelievably it might not have been his best shot of the day. Earlier Laird was looking to push his early advantage on the par-5 9th hole, going for the green in two. His ball sailed on a great line only to come up fractions short, cannoning into the upper lip of a bunker where it stayed, seemingly buried and dead. But with an awkward stance and the putrid lie to deal with Laird would not only extricate the ball exceptionally, he would hole out the shot for an eagle. It was the third straight day he'd eagled the hole. "That second shot... if it flies another foot it’s an unbelievable 3-wood. It was a really bad break but it was almost lying so badly that I said to my buddy, this is lying so badly if I hit this as hard as I want it’s not going to go very far," Laird explained. "Obviously I wasn’t planning on holing it... but I was hopeful of getting inside maybe ten feet if it came out pretty good. I hit it hard as I could. The sand exploded and I couldn’t see anything, and I managed to open my eyes up as the ball landed and it started tracking. I enjoyed being down to the level of the bunker and watching that one go in. I’m not going to lie." Laird joins Jim Furyk and Kevin Na as multiple time winners of the event and won't need sponsor invites for a while having secured full status and a further two seasons after this one. He moved to fourth in the FedExCup with the win. Wolff has now finished runner up in his last two starts, falling to Bryson DeChambeau at the U.S. Open before this week. "Game is at an all-time high. I have a lot of the confidence carrying into the next two weeks and then the Masters, so looking forward to what’s next," the 21-year-old young star said. "My game has progressed amazingly and at pace that if you would’ve told me I would’ve been pretty amazed by it. I’m just looking to maybe get a win soon... I’m feeling like I can go out there and win any week now. Maybe a win is due sometime soon. But if I just keep on doing this, I’m sure it’ll come."

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