Frustrated Kim snaps putter, finishes with 3-wood

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ATLANTA – A hilly layout with fairways lined by long, Bermudagrass rough. It’s enough to remind Justin Thomas of the site of his greatest triumph, and East Lake could be the place where he puts the perfect ending on an impressive season. Thomas is tied for the lead halfway through the TOUR Championship, sitting at 7 under par to share the top spot with Paul Casey and Webb Simpson. A win would clinch the FedExCup for Thomas, who has already won five times this season. “It’s so rare that we play Bermuda rough this long and this thick,â€� Thomas said after Friday’s 66, which was capped with an eagle at the par-5 18th. “The only place I have was Quail (Hollow). So, in terms of the premium of hitting the fairway and how important it is, it’s definitely somewhere in that aspect.â€� He has excelled off the tee this week by eschewing his usual power game for more control off the tee. Instead of trying to bomb it over fairway bunkers, Thomas is teeing the ball lower to hit those head-high, fairway-finding “stingerâ€� tee shots. After struggling with his driving at the BMW Championship, where he finished 47th, Thomas has hit 20 of 28 fairways at East Lake Golf Club, second-best in the field. “If you’re in the fairway you can attack the golf course,â€� said Dustin Johnson. A win at East Lake would put a bow on Thomas’ dream season, allowing him to leave Sunday on the high of a FedExCup crescendo. His five wins this season includ the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow and the second event of the FedExCup Playoffs, the Dell Technologies Championship. This season’s accomplishments also include a 59 in his Sony Open in Hawaii victory and a record-setting 63 at the U.S. Open, where he finished ninth. Despite this lengthy list of accomplishments, he arrived at East Lake at No. 2 in the FedExCup standings, surpassed by Jordan Spieth’s consistent postseason play (he’s posted two runners-up and a T7 in three Playoffs events). Any player in the top 5 of the FedExCup standings can clinch the Cup with a win at East Lake, regardless of how his closest competitors fare. A FedExCup-clinching win by Thomas would mirror Spieth’s victory here two years ago. Spieth was the best player during the regular season, winning four times and the season’s first two majors, but Jason Day passed him in the FedExCup standings by the time they’d arrived at East Lake. Wanting to put a cherry atop a historic season, Spieth rode a hot putter at East Lake to victory over Henrik Stenson, earning both the TOUR Championship and the FedExCup. Three of the past four FedExCup champions were No. 2 in the standings when they arrived at the TOUR Championship. Thomas, of course, finds himself in the same position. He won his second start this season, then added back-to-back wins in Hawaii. Some inconsistent midseason play preceded his PGA Championship win, and he added victory No. 5 at TPC Boston. “I want to win any week but it definitely would be a nice cap,â€� Thomas said. Not only would a win give him the FedExCup, but it would be his sixth of the season. That’s the most since Tiger Woods won six times in 2009. Thomas is hitting the ball well enough at East Lake that he’s in the lead despite losing strokes to the field on the greens. He leads the 30-man field in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee by missing just eight fairways while averaging 306.5 yards on all tee shots. He’s also fourth in Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green, having hit 27 of 36 greens. Thomas, who’s had 58 putts through two rounds, is 19th in Strokes Gained: Putting this week. Friday’s 66 was the second-lowest round of the day – bested only by Patrick Reed’s 65 – but Thomas felt it could have been lower, as he failed to convert on several opportunities where he had wedge in his hand from the fairway. “I had a couple wedges I didn’t hit as close as I felt like I should have, and just really hit some good putts that I don’t know how they didn’t go in,â€� said Thomas, who had 30 putts Friday. He’ll have his work cut out for him, though, as the top 10 players on the leaderboard are separated by just two shots. John Rahm, No. 5 in the FedExCup, is one shot back, along with Reed and Justin Rose. Some say the TOUR Championship is an easy tournament to win because of its small field, but it’s also made up solely of players who’ve proven to be the best over the entire season. Winning will not be easy, but he can take comfort from the simplicity of the task that awaits him this weekend. Winning takes care of everything. “It’s nice to have everything in my own hands and know that if I just take care of what I need to do, then it’s over with,â€� he said. He can provide the perfect ending to the season with a win at East Lake, but that’s easier said than done.

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BLAINE, Minn. – You’d be hard pressed to find two more popular players at TPC Twin Cities this week than native sons Tom Lehman and Tim Herron. And the two veterans didn’t disappoint in the first round of the 3M Open with the 60-year-old Lehman firing a 4-under 67 and Herron making the second hole-in-one of his PGA TOUR career. “Minnesotans, they’re homers,â€� Lehman said with a smile when someone mentioned the warm reception he got at every hole on Thursday. “They like the Joe Mauers of the world and the Kent Hrbecks of the world. “They love the homegrown people.â€� Those former Minnesota Twins, who were born in St. Paul and Minneapolis, respectively, have nothing on Lehman and the man whose nickname is Lumpy. The two TOUR vets were playing in successive groups and shared a hearty handshake when each took their turn in front of the local media. “I told him Lumpy’s Lager for the house,â€� Lehman said, referring to his long-time friend’s brew. “A lot of people out here for him to take care of.â€� Herron’s ace came courtesy of a cut 5-iron that went the distance on the 208-yard, par-3 eighth hole. He saw the ball hit and bounce, but he didn’t see it go into the hole. Not that he needed to, though. “The crowd reaction was good, so I knew it went in,â€� the 49-year-old Herron said. “So, I did a hail storm around the tee and stuff. I had some family there. … I’ll probably remember this more than any of them because I’ve never won a car or anything.â€� Lehman, who has his 16-year-old son Sean on the bag this week, has been a full-time member of PGA TOUR Champions for the last decade and picked up his 12th win earlier this year at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai. But Lehman couldn’t pass up the chance to play before the home crown again in the 3M Open – particularly after being tasked to toughen up the course in the year since the 50-and-over set played its last tournament there. His bogey-free round was particularly satisfying. “There’s a lot to be said for being comfortable with a golf course,â€� Lehman said. “Even though we’ve made some changes to it, the greens are the same and I know the greens extremely well. “Just it’s very long. There’s some shots that I had to swing from the heels just to get it to the fairway; on No. 11, for example, and on the last hole, No. 9, 240 with a 3‑iron. I hit it as hard as I possibly could to try to get it to the green.  So, it makes it tough for me, so I’m very pleased with 4 under. “I don’t necessarily feel like I can do that every day out here, but I think when I play well, I can.â€� Lehman found every fairway on Thursday and hit 15 of the 18 greens that he called “welcomingâ€� in regulation. “So if you drive in the fairway and your irons are reasonable, you’re going to have a lot of chances at birdie,â€� he said. Lehman started on the back nine and turned in 33, then added a fourth birdie at No. 1 where he drained a 35-footer. He expects to see some excitement down the stretch on Sunday because the back nine is the more scoreable of the two. “There are a couple long holes, but there’s some real opportunities on the back nine,â€� Lehman said. “I think that come Sunday, I think you end up seeing a lot of fireworks with guys making eagles on the par 5s, and you can now make a double on the 18th hole.  It used to be you almost couldn’t make a bogey on 18, it played so short. “So, I kind of like the way the course is playing. You’ve got to really suck it up and go on the front nine and then the back nine gives you some chances.â€� Lehman is also pleased at the reviews the re-engineered TPC Twin Cities is getting. He’s proud of the reception the TOUR players are getting, too. “They seem to really enjoy the golf course, thinking it’s a very fair test but not a pushover,â€� he said. “So, I think if they all walk away from Minneapolis saying they had a great time and had a great experience and loved it and can’t wait to come back, I think we’ve done a lot of things right.â€�

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