Expert Picks: 3M Open

Click here to read the full article…

DETROIT – Matthew Wolff made things too complicated after his maiden PGA TOUR victory at the 3M Open last year. He put every facet of his game under a microscope – and got worse. No more wins, not even any top-10 finishes, just aggravation. Changing course, Wolff resolved to keep it simple. He’s obviously sticking to that, because by his own admission he shot a second straight 64 at Detroit Golf Club not because he’d optimized his spin rate or anticipated the nitrogen levels of the grass. No, no. Not even close. “I heard an ice cream truck circling the property,” said Wolff, 21, who will carry a three-shot lead over Ryan Armour (67) and Bryson DeChambeau (67) into the final round. “Seemed like every time I heard that, I made birdie or made a putt, so I’ve got to give a lot of credit to that.” RELATED: Leaderboard | Wolff: ‘Maybe I need to impress the old greats’ | Armour makes quiet ace If that seems like a wacky explanation, then maybe it’s because Wolff, he of the wacky swing trigger, had a decidedly wacky round: five pars, nine birdies, an eagle, and three bogeys. Add it all up and he’ll be aiming for win No. 2 almost exactly one year to the day after his first. Ice cream? The only guy who’s made more of the Fourth of July weekend is Joey Chestnut. “Felt like the putter was really good today,” Wolff said. “Wasn’t really thinking about much over the putt, lining it up, feeling confident in the line and stroking it really nice.” Not thinking about much other than ice cream, that is. (He’s a vanilla guy.) He didn’t even let a missed five-footer at the second hole get to him. He made over 117 feet of putts – second for the week in Strokes Gained: Putting – including a 13 1/2 footer for eagle at the par-5 14th. Now comes the hard part: Keeping his carefree outlook even with the trophy on the line Sunday. It might have been an intriguing study in contrasts had Wolff been paired with DeChambeau on Sunday. Each crushes the ball, each is a classic iconoclast, but they are mondo different between the ears. One guy, DeChambeau, squirts his golf balls with mist to study how they react in the rain. The other guy, Wolff, lets his thoughts drift with the seductive trills of the Mr. Softee truck. Anyway, it’s a mood point because Wolff will play the final round with Armour, whom he calls “a super good guy.” More than twice Wolff’s age, Armour has the same number of career PGA TOUR wins, one, but he may not go away quietly. After missing a three-foot putt to double-bogey the 17th hole, Armour drained a 21 1/2 foot birdie on 18 to get back to 16 under. “You can see a picture in your eye of what shot you want to hit based on the framing of the trees,” Armour said of the Donald Ross-designed Detroit Golf Club, which he said fits his eye and reminds him of his junior golf days in Akron, Ohio. “I think that’s really pretty.” DeChambeau, by the way, was relegated to a share of second place by Wolff’s eagle putt on the 72nd hole at the 3M. No telling whether history will repeat itself at the Rocket Mortgage, but rest assured the Mad Scientist won’t be thinking about ice cream trucks and trees. “Just going out there and being aggressive, being aggressive where need be,” DeChambeau said of his plan for the final round. That shouldn’t be a problem. He nearly drove the green at the par-4 first and 13th holes, birdied both, and leads the field in driving distance (347.3) by a wide margin. Still, he hasn’t quite put it all together. Five more players – Troy Merritt (67), Mark Hubbard (69), Seamus Power (69), Chris Kirk (70) and Wesley Bryan (65) – are at 14 under, five off the lead and with an outside chance. There will be fireworks. There will be ice cream. There will be golf. “I’ve really got to give it to a lot of mindset,” Wolff said of his success. “I feel like there was a lot of times in the past where I had good rounds and I let my head get in the way – I need to close this out or I need to do something, I want to try to make more birdies coming in. “Instead I would go the other way,” he continued, “whereas I’m taking it shot by shot, hole by hole and whatever happens, happens.”

Click here to read the full article…

Here’s how the field qualified for the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard as of 2/26/2021. Check here for updates. Former Winners of the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard Jason Day Robert Gamez Paul Goydos Tyrrell Hatton Tim Herron Marc Leishman Rory McIlroy Francesco Molinari Winner – The Masters (Last 5 Years) Patrick Reed Danny Willett Winner – THE PLAYERS Championship (2016-2019) Si Woo Kim Winner – U.S. Open (Last 5 Years) Bryson DeChambeau Winner – The Open Championship (2016-2019) Shane Lowry Jordan Spieth Henrik Stenson Winner – WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play (2018-2019) Kevin Kisner Winner – Tournament Winner in the Past Year Harris English Brian Gay Jim Herman Max Homa Viktor Hovland Jason Kokrak Martin Laird Kevin Na Robert Streb Hudson Swafford Richy Werenski Member of Last Named U.S.Presidents Cup Team Rickie Fowler Member of Last Named International Presidents Cup Team Byeong Hun An Adam Hadwin Sungjae Im Louis Oosthuizen Cheng Tsung Pan Top 50 – World Golf Ranking (through 2/22) Matthew Fitzpatrick Paul Casey Tommy Fleetwood Hideki Matsuyama Victor Perez Justin Rose Christiaan Bezuidenhout Lee Westwood Billy Horschel Bernd Wiesberger Robert MacIntyre Will Zalatoris Brendon Todd Life Member Davis Love III Sponsors Exemptions – 2018-19 Top 125 FedExCup / 2019 KFT Category Matt Every Matt Wallace Sponsors Exemptions – Members not otherwise exempt Jason Dufner William Gordon Padraig Harrington Graeme McDowell Keith Mitchell Ian Poulter Brandt Snedeker Frederick van Rooyen Sponsors Exemptions – Unrestricted John Augenstein Jazz Janewattananond Kamaiu Johnson Sung Kang Matthias Schmid Charl Schwartzel Steve Stricker Camilo Villegas Top 70 on Prior Year’s FedExCup Points List Sebastián Muñoz Lanto Griffin Cameron Champ Adam Long Brian Harman Joel Dahmen Tyler Duncan Mark Hubbard Danny Lee Brendan Steele Nick Taylor Tom Hoge Alex Noren Corey Conners Dylan Frittelli Talor Gooch Robby Shelton J.T. Poston Maverick McNealy Charles Howell III Top 70 on Current Year FedExCup Points (thru The Genesis Invitational) Peter Malnati Wyndham Clark Sam Burns Cameron Tringale Aaron Wise Henrik Norlander Cameron Davis Chris Kirk Matt Jones Tyler McCumber Matthew NeSmith Charley Hoffman Doug Ghim Nate Lashley Russell Knox Kyoung-Hoon Lee Austin Cook Patton Kizzire Sepp Straka PGA Section Champ/Player of the Year Rod Perry Below 70th position from Current FedExCup Points List Emiliano Grillo Zach Johnson Doc Redman Rory Sabbatini Kyle Stanley Keegan Bradley Brian Stuard Andrew Putnam Chez Reavie Denny McCarthy Bo Hoag Luke List Lucas Glover Kramer Hickok Anirban Lahiri Cameron Percy Harold Varner III John Huh

Click here to read the full article…