Hadley cards flawless 64 to grab the 54-hole lead

Jason Day shot a 7-under 63 to take a first round lead at the Wells Fargo Championship and said afterward he is “obsessed with honing his new swing and improving his results.

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AUSTIN, Texas –  For a moment there it looked as if Stephen Ames was going to have company in the unwanted record books at the World Golf Championships – Dell Technologies Match Play. Bubba Watson’s dominance early in the final at Austin Country Club over fellow University of Georgia alum Kevin Kisner – where he won the opening five holes – had everyone scrambling for the record books for largest wins. To be fair, most remember Tiger Woods giving Ames a 9 and 8 belting in the opening round of the 2006 tournament … but could Watson reach the almost mythical 10 and 8? The short answer is no – instead he settled for a 7 and 6 result – but it could have quite easily been more. Watson had legitimate chances to win the first 10 straight holes – and did win seven of them. It was a Bubba blitz of epic proportions – a combination of good golf and a tired opponent. It stands as a new record for a winning margin in an 18-hole final – with Woods’ 8-and-6 win over Stewart Cink in 2008 coming when the final was played over 36 holes. “I really don’t think it was pressure,â€� Watson said of Kisner’s performance. “I think it was just energy. I don’t think I scared him on the first tee. I think it was just his energy was gone after a couple of holes. And he was fighting, but just didn’t have the fight that he really wanted and needed.â€� Kisner had gone 19 holes in his semifinal against Alex Noren, a grinding match he probably should have lost, but showed great guts to win. Watson needed just 16 holes to oust Justin Thomas and had a comfortable lead for most of that match, expending much less physical and mental energy. “I don’t know what was going on. It was just pitiful. I couldn’t hit anywhere close to where I was trying,â€� Kisner lamented. “Long week. A little tired, probably. Lose some legs, and just didn’t have it. And finally made a few good swings coming in, but those were too little, too late.â€� In the final, Watson opened with five straight wins – the first player to do so all week. It all began with a birdie for him on the opening hole, setting the tone for the match. He even had a short putt to make it six in a row but proved human by missing on the low side. Another win on the seventh hole had him firing again and the now 11-time PGA TOUR winner had looks from 18 and 14 feet on the eighth and ninth, respectively, to win those holes only to let them slip. Another birdie on 10 followed before Kisner slightly delayed the inevitable with a long-range birdie and win on the 11th. Another Watson birdie on the 12th hole secured his second career WGC title and second TOUR win this season. “It’s absolutely amazing,â€� Watson said after moving to fourth in the FedExCup. “You don’t think about lists or anything, you just think about trophies and trying to win. And having two majors, and now having two World Golf Championships … the closest things to majors … what an honor and a privilege, overwhelming sensation to know that I have another trophy at the house.â€� CALL OF THE DAY SUPERLATIVES Best Match: The semifinal between Kevin Kisner and Alex Noren needed an extra hole to decide it. After the two traded some stunning golf early in the match it became a grind late. At one stage, Noren made five straight birdies but won just one hole. On the back nine, Kisner won the 12th, and then won it again in overtime to claim the win. Noren had multiple short putts to win holes, including on 18 in regulation, but couldn’t get it done. Read all match recaps here. Most Dominant Performance: Clearly it was the 7-and-6 rout Watson handed Kisner in the championship final. Most Holes Won: The eight holes won by Watson in the final was the pick of the four Sunday matches. Least Holes Won: Kisner at least got on the board with his long birdie bomb on the 11th hole in the final … the only hole he won. Best Learning Experience: FedExCup leader Justin Thomas had the chance to get to world No. 1 if he could beat Watson in their semifinal on Sunday morning but instead struggled to bring his best. Thomas admitted it got to him – an experience he can certainly learn from. “I haven’t had such a hard time not thinking about something so much. And that really sucked. I couldn’t stop thinking about it, to be perfectly honest,â€� Thomas said. QUOTABLES Well, yeah, there’s only two of us. Jell-O.If we do our job well, we think we’re good enough to beat the other guys. In the end it might be a good thing going to Augusta without that. I get to go do what I was going to do and let DJ have all that pressure. It was one of the hardest losses probably ever for me.

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Each additional event on the PGA TOUR schedule rewards 300 FedExCup points to its winner, a two-year membership exemption and spots in the next editions of THE PLAYERS Championship, the PGA Championship and many other invitationals, but because the Barbasol Championship is positioned inside the final fifth of the season, it feels like so much more is on the line. After this week’s doubleheader that includes The Open Championship, only four events will remain to determine the field for the Playoffs, the Korn Ferry Tour Finals and other considerations domestically and internationally. Keene Trace Golf Club’s Champions Trace Course outside Lexington, Kentucky, hosts the Barbasol for the third time. Like The Open, this tournament was canceled in 2020, so Jim Herman has been the defending champion for two years. For a recap of how he prevailed in this shootout, where Keene Trace challenges most and other details, scroll past the projected contenders and others to consider. POWER RANKINGS: BARBASOL CHAMPIONSHIP OTHER TO CONSIDER • Mito Pereira … After missing the cut in his PGA TOUR membership debut at the Rocket Mortgage, he manufactured a T34 at the John Deere to get on the board. Now he can look around Keene Trace and feel like he’s back on the Korn Ferry Tour where he won three times to earn the automatic promotion. Six of his old fellow members have capitalized on the special exemptions extended, so it’s time to flex again. • Richy Werenski … Perfect for this position because he shared runner-up honors here in 2018 and finished T24 in 2019. His scoring average in those eight rounds is 67.375. However, a T25 in Detroit two weeks ago is his only cut made in five starts. No doubt he has the firepower but he has more trouble just lighting the fuse. • Kevin Tway … This is a long time coming, but the form is respected. He went 22 months without a top 25 before a T14 at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, and then validated with a T23 at the John Deere Classic. • Josh Teater … The Lexington native and resident answered a T40 here in 2018 with a T6 in 2019. Always among the most accurate off the tee, he’s signed for a slew of red numbers but his playing time has been limited due to conditional status. He’s dangerous because he’s overlooked when reviewing the big picture. It would be fun if he broke through in his backyard and Sergio Garcia won The Open on the same day so that fans would try to figure out who’s who in the celebratory photos. When PGA TOUR-caliber talent descends on any course for the first time, the general rule of thumb is that most require only one loop to find a reliable pulse of the property. Short of something funky tee to green, the uncertainty lies primarily in the nuance on the putting surfaces. Yeah, whatever. In its debut in 2018, Keene Trace surrendered a scoring average of 69.905. It was the lowest clip among all par 72s of stand-alone competition and Troy Merritt recorded a one-stroke victory at 23-under 265. (The field consists of 132 golfers.) The following year, Herman posted 26-under 262 that underscored an even lower scoring average of 69.589. After the 2018 field converted 43 eagles, the 2019 gathering pummeled the course for a TOUR-record 114. (The previous mark of 95 was established at TPC Summerlin in 2008.) The 2019 field hit 13.35 greens in regulation and connected for par breakers on 4.54 of those chances on average. Herman co-led with 15.75 GIR per round and ranked 14th in paying them off with two eagles and 24 birdies. He squared only two bogeys all week and led the field in scrambling. When a course is vulnerable from the air, as Keene Trace most definitely is, there almost always is an inverse relationship between greens hit and putts required. The size of the greens and weather conditions impact total GIR, while sections and undulations on the targets affect how many strokes needed to finish the holes. Keene Trace is no different in that its one-putt percentage of 37.39 and three-putt avoidance measurement of 3.57 percent were 12th- and ninth-lowest of all courses during the 2018-19 season. The bentgrass greens again will top out at 11-and-a-half feet on the Stimpmeter. However, the course also slotted 11th-lowest in conversion percentage inside 10 feet. This is where Herman went to work. He was second in the field within that range, missing on only three of 66 attempts of which he was 25-for-28 outside three feet. So, with knowledge of the greens entering its third edition for enough to do damage, and with the stock formula of hitting GIR and sinking putts proven in a shootout, this is a sprint near the end of a marathon. In a juxtaposition of the elements, while Royal St. George’s is forecast to be dry all week, central Kentucky will not be. After a cooperative opening round, a reasonable threat of inclement weather will move in by Friday and will loiter into the weekend. Daytime highs will fall into the low 80s and wind likely will be a factor only as energy nears. ROB BOLTON’S SCHEDULE PGATOUR.COM’s Fantasy Insider Rob Bolton recaps and previews every tournament from numerous angles. Look for his following contributions as scheduled. MONDAY: Power Rankings (The Open) TUESDAY*: Power Rankings (Barbasol); Sleepers (The Open); Fantasy Insider SUNDAY: Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Medical Extensions, Rookie Watch * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf, which also publishes on Tuesday.

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