Five things to know about Branden Grace (who’s challenging at the PGA Championship)

AKRON, Ohio. – Notes and observations from Thursday’s opening round of the World Golf Championships – Bridgestone Invitational where Thomas Pieters found his way to the lead after a 5-under 65. Belgian Thomas Pieters was bogey-free to be one clear of Scotland’s Russell Knox (66). Six players, including former FedExCup champions Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth share third at 3-under. For more from Firestone Country Club, check out the Daily Wrap. SPIETH VETOES GRELLER VETO Jordan Spieth is still understandably riding a confidence high after his fightback win in The Open Championship – so much so he’s trying, and pulling off, impossible shots. Sitting in the right rough on Firestone Country Club’s eighth hole (his 17th of the day) Spieth appeared completely blocked out by trees. As caddie Michael Greller went about looking for the right layup spot Spieth said, “I’m going to do something stupid here.â€� As Greller went to invoke one of his vetoes Spieth quipped, “Just put the bag over there and watch, Okay?â€� The former FedExCup champion then went about hitting a wedge through the jungle of trees to 22-feet. “I hit one of the best shots I’ve ever hit in my life today,â€� Spieth said in his first start since his famous recovery shot from the driving range at Royal Birkdale. “Michael came over and he’s like, “Where are you looking hereâ€� and afterwards he said, “I really wanted to use one of my vetoes,â€� but he goes, “The timing of it, the first round after we win a major, there was no use in me using a veto there. “I split a hole that was 60 yards in front of me with a pitching wedge and cut it to get onto the green. It was a really cool shot. I was shocked I pulled it off after, and normally when I see it, I kind of expect myself to do it.â€� At round end Spieth signed for a healthy 3-under 67 to be tied third just two shots back. Just a few holes earlier he had bagged back-to-back long range putts including a 51’11â€� bomb on the 6th. It’s a fun time to be Jordan Spieth. DRIVER WOES DON’T PUNISH PIETERS Firestone Country Club rough is pretty penal at the best of times but for Thomas Pieters it was no sweat as he miraculously went bogey-free despite hitting just four of 14 fairways. The Belgium bomber had to slide his driver back in the bag and throttle down to his 3-wood after losing all confidence with the big stick. Despite ranking T65 in driving accuracy in a 76-man field Pieters carded five birdies to lead the way in his World Golf Championships – Bridgestone Invitational debut. “I can’t hit the damn thing,â€� Pieters said of his driver. “Off the tee I was very bad but managed to find a lot of greens and I didn’t leave myself too many downhill putts, so I think that was key. “I hit plenty of 3-woods. When I hit driver, I shouldn’t have, I was just not confident with it. So I’ll have to do plenty of work on the range this afternoon, I’m sure I’ll get it back.â€� Pieters, who accepted Special Temporary Membership on the PGA TOUR earlier this year, is looking to improve on his three top-5 finishes. He was tied second at the Genesis Open, T5 at the World Golf Championships – Mexico Championship and T4 at the Masters. He is on track to earn a tour card for next season but would become eligible for this year’s FedExCup Playoffs if he were to win at Firestone. “I’ve had good results this year. I’ve been in contention, that’s all I want to do. I just haven’t had that win,â€� he said. “I feel like if I had a win already this year, my year would have been really good, but I just haven’t finished it off. I still have plenty of tournaments to go, but even if I get myself in contention 10 more times and don’t win, that’s all you want to do. “Of course you have to finish it off (eventually), but I’ll learn that along the way.â€� McILROY ADJUSTS TO EXTRA WORK It has been quite a few years since Rory McIlroy paced out and calculated his own yardages but the FedExCup champion was pleased with his efforts in his first round with new caddie Harry Diamond. Diamond, McIlroy’s close friend who took over from long-time looper J.P. Fitzgerald, played the role without too much issue. While there were a few loose shots here and there the pair seemed to work well together as McIlroy put up a tidy 3-under 67 to be just two shots off the lead in a tie for third. “Awesome,â€� was how McIlroy described his friends debut. “We both did the numbers and I sort of consulted him a couple of times. It was good. “There was a couple of shots that I hit or a couple of clubs that I pulled that I maybe should have just thought a little bit more about, but, no, really good.â€� McIlroy was impressive on the way to leading the field in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee but his approach game, particularly his wedges, left a bit to be desired. He missed seven greens and averaged 35-feet in proximity. But his putter bailed him out for the most part. He is looking to replicate his 2014 heroics where he won at Firestone before backing up to win the PGA Championship. He has circled this PGA for some time as it is at Quail Hollow, where he has two PGA TOUR wins. “I’m just looking for good signs in my game. I got off to a good start here. Go out and hopefully see little improvements as the week goes on,â€� he added. “Hopefully tomorrow I can drive it similar again. Maybe my wedge play can get a little bit sharper as the week goes on. I feel if I do that, taking the result out of it, obviously, I would love to win, I would love to go into next week with a lot of confidence.â€� CALL OF THE DAY HONEST KNOX KNOCKING ON DOOR Russell Knox quietly put himself in second place with a 4-under 66 thanks to an old friend. Knox, a former WGC winner in China, hasn’t had a top 10 finish this season since finishing third at the OHL Classic at Mayakoba last November. But it was his old putter, with which he won the World Golf Championships – HSBC Champions in the 2015-16 season, that was his special weapon. “I figured it did work at one point,â€� he said. “I rolled the ball beautifully. I switched iron shafts, which I haven’t done in five years. That seemed to make it a little easier for me.â€� Knox was upfront when asked why he ever went away from said putter. “I don’t know, we’re sick, man. Us golfers are sick. I mean, it’s amazing, I’ve probably went through 20 putters since then and just doing the search, but today felt unbelievable,â€� he said. “It’s a good lesson. You always blame your equipment rather than yourself, so maybe I just have to take the blame and say I sucked and the putter worked.â€� ODDS AND ENDS Defending champion Dustin Johnson carded a 2-under 68 to sit well poised in a tie for ninth. Johnson has three wins this season, including the last two WGC’s played, but hasn’t won since the WGC – Dell Match Play in March. He hopes a new driver will be the catalyst to yet another victory. “The game’s there, it’s there for sure. I’m starting to play golf again. I’m not out there trying to find it,â€� he said. “I got a new driver this week. I got a higher loft, I’m using actually a 12-degree but opened up so I can get it to fade a little bit easier.â€� Adam Scott, the 2011 champion, surged to the lead at 5-under through 12 holes before a late mini collapse. Scott, who needs to bank a bunch of FedExCup points in the next two weeks before taking paternity leave, bogeyed four of his last six holes. He managed one birdie in the late stretch to finish at 2-under 68 in a tie for ninth. Bubba Watson has started strongly as he looks to lock up a spot in the FedExCup Playoffs. Watson, who has struggled at times this season, sits 117th on the standings. But a tidy 3-under 67 leaves him tied third and projecting to 92nd, which would lock up post-season play. Jon Rahm eagled the 661-yard par-5 16th hole on his way to recording a first-round 67. In only two previous World Golf Championships starts, Rahm has finished T3 and 2nd in the Mexico Championship and Dell Technologies Match Play, respectively. BEST OF SOCIAL MEDIA

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Tiger Woods has been hospitalized and is in surgery after suffering multiple leg injuries following a Tuesday morning car crash.

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It’s impossible not to be moved by photographs and video of the catastrophic damage suffered when Hurricane Dorian descended upon the Bahamas last month. Home after home after home reduced to rubble. Trees snapped in two like they were a child’s pick-up sticks. Cars, even shipping containers bigger than semi-trucks, upended, coated in sand and mud. Most importantly, so many lives lost and so many others that will never be the same. For Rafael Campos, the devastation hits very close to home. Campos picked up his first win at The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at The Abaco Club last January. He’s also a Puerto Rican, and before Dorian there was Maria, another vicious Category 5 storm, that hit his homeland two years ago, killing nearly 3,000 and leveling entire neighborhoods, as well. So, Campos has a unique perspective and followed the frequently changing weather reports carefully. He actually spoke with Brian Shaver, the director of golf at The Abaco Club, when the hurricane was battering the island. They have known each other since Campos’ junior golf days, and he has spent a good deal of time in the Bahamas over the last few years. “They said, hey, everything underneath them was completely destroyed,â€� Campos recalls. “So, it is really sad to know what they had to go through, and I know that lives got lost because of Mother Nature.â€� Shaver actually rode out the storm at the resort, where Darren Clarke and Thomas Aiken have homes, along with several other employees and posted videos of the winds whipping across the island on his Facebook page. When the hurricane – which battered Great Abaco with winds in excess of 185 miles an hour for nearly two days – finally exited, worst fears were realized. Campos acted quickly and pledged $100 for every birdie he made in his first start as a PGA TOUR member at A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier to the relief effort. Several of his friends followed suit and a total of $6,400 was raised. There have been several other fundraisers initiated by TOUR players to help the relief effort, as well. Justin Thomas, who has often vacationed in the Bahamas, is pledging $1,000 for each birdie he makes in the four tournaments he plays this fall. “It truly is my happy place,â€� Thomas says. “When I need to go clear my mind and I need to go get away from everything in the world, that’s where I would go.â€� Tiger Woods, who hosts the Hero World Challenge at Albany on the Bahamian island of New Providence, has partnered with entertainer Justin Timberlake, among others, to create the ONE Bahamas Fund. The group has made a challenge gift of $6 million and will match dollar-for-dollar the next $6 million raised. “It’s horrifying to see the videos and hear the stories about the effects of Hurricane Dorian,” Woods said in a statement. “The need in The Bahamas is very real.” And Justin Leonard, who is a member at Bakers Bay on the island of Great Guana Cay, Brad Faxon and PGA of America CEO Seth Waugh have organized the Bahamas Strong Pro-Am. The tournament will be played Oct. 8 at Old Marsh Golf Club in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Campos is well-aware that at one point, Dorian appeared headed for Puerto Rico, which had taken that disastrous direct hit from Maria two years earlier. Soon, though, the Bahamas were in the storm’s crosshairs and the storm appeared to stall over the islands with gusts reaching 220 mph. “I can’t imagine what they went through because we (in Puerto Rico) had it for 12 hours,â€� Campos said. “They had it for 20 some, 30 hours, you know, in those constant, in that constant weather.â€� When Maria hit Puerto Rico in September of 2017, Campos was in the midst of what is now known as the Korn Ferry Tour finals. He had access to a private plane – commercial flights were canceled — and wanted to come to see how he could help in the days afterwards. But his mother advised him to stay away. “My mom was like, don’t even think about coming here,â€� he recalls. “There’s absolutely nothing to look for here. You won’t be able to practice. You won’t be able to do anything. It’s actually a burden if people come in.â€� So, Campos went to the Dominican Republic for three months and finally returned home in December of 2017. While his penthouse apartment weathered the storm with little damage and his folks, who live at the bottom of a hill, escaped the flooding, he still saw damage everywhere he looked. “It’s really sad,â€� he recalls. “It took us a year, a little bit more than a year to kind of get back at normal, you know. And I honestly cannot imagine what Abaco will, how long Abaco will take because it’s a tougher thing. So, yes, absolutely horrendous. They need help. They really do. “And we have to find a way to get supplies over there. The essentials, you know, water. I mean just anything would help.â€�

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