How arm-lock putting became vogue on the PGA TOUR

MEDINAH, Ill. – It’s all about Justin Thomas now. After coming into the BMW Championship winless this season, 2017 FedExCup champion Thomas scorched Medinah No. 3 with an 11-under-par 61, a new course record, and will go into Sunday’s final round with a six-shot lead over Tony Finau (68) and Patrick Cantlay (68). “I’m just trying to get my lead to seven right now,â€� said Thomas, who won a combined eight times in 2017-18 but has been noticeably absent from the winner’s circle after missing time this season with a wrist injury. “It’s at six. That’s the one thing I’m focused on.â€� This will mark the 10th time Thomas has held or shared the 54-hole lead on the PGA TOUR; he has converted six of nine such leads into victories. Thomas, Finau and Cantlay will play in the last group at 1:20 p.m. ET. Players will go off in threesomes with storms in the forecast. Related: Leaderboard | Projected FedExCup standings | FedExCup update: Spieth, Tiger, Day in danger of missing TOUR Championship For Finau, it will be the second straight day of watching Thomas up-close. “This golf course, when I played here on Tuesday for the first time, I was almost convinced a single digit (score) was going to win,â€� Finau said. “… If you would have told me somebody would shoot 61 this week, I would have told you that’s a joke.â€� He was hardly the only player shaking his head. Thomas birdied six of the first eight holes and eagled the par-5 10th hole. He wasn’t perfect; he bogeyed the sixth. Also, he pulled his wedge shot left of the green at the par-5 14th hole, one of his few bad shots, but chipped in for birdie. Another bad shot: Thomas drove into the water on 15, but after he took a drop he simply got up and down for par from 63 yards. It was that kind of day, and it was about to get even crazier. “I’m five back right now,â€� said Jon Rahm (66), who was marveling at Thomas’ chip-in birdie on 14 as the leader finished up the back nine. “Hopefully JT doesn’t get too far away.â€� Well, so much for that idea. Because in short order, Thomas holed his 180-yard second shot with an 8-iron to eagle the 16th hole, and hit his tee shot to six and a half feet for another birdie on 17. “He was already playing well,â€� said Finau, who authored his own holed out from 119 yards for eagle at the fourth hole. “And that shot on 16 put him over the top from well to really well.â€� With a score of 65 or better, Thomas (65-69-61) would break Marc Leishman’s 72-hole BMW Championship record (261). A victory at the BMW, the penultimate event of the season, brings 2,000 FedExCup points, and Thomas is projected to move from 15th to first in the standings. That’s especially important this year, as it would put him in pole position by two strokes in the new staggered-start format of next week’s TOUR Championship at East Lake. The runaway leader, though, refused to think that far ahead. “I could care less, to be honest,â€� said Thomas, who needed just 22 putts Saturday. “I’m just worried about trying to win this tournament tomorrow.â€� The week began with Thomas calling this an “oddâ€� season so far because of his wrist injury, a bone bruise suffered while hitting a tree at The Honda Classic (T30). He finished T12 at the Masters Tournament, but seemed to re-aggravate the wrist, and opted to take a break. He missed three tournaments, including the PGA Championship – a tournament he had won just two years before – and upon returning to action at the Memorial Tournament Presented by Nationwide, he missed the cut. He also missed the cut at the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach but began to climb back at The Open Championship (T11), World Golf Championships – FedEx St. Jude Invitational (T12) and THE NORTHERN TRUST (T12). He huddled with his team, which consists largely of his father/coach, Mike, and caddie, Jimmy Johnson. What was he doing wrong? They all agreed the answer was not much. He was due. After struggling in his warm-up for the first round at the BMW, Thomas shot 65 and proclaimed that he was playing every bit as well as he did in his 2017 FedExCup-winning and Player of the Year season. After his fourth round of 61 or better on TOUR, no one is arguing the point. “I felt good about my game for a while,â€� Thomas said, “and you don’t know when something like this is going to happen, a round like this. We’ve all been talking the last couple of weeks that I’m due to have one and it’s nice when it happens. At the end of the day, this round was great and awesome, but it’s over with and I need to go focus on tomorrow.â€�

Click here to read the full article…

The U.S. Open is open again! After the resemblance of an invitational to accommodate the pandemic and a shift to September in 2020, the tournament is back in its traditional slot in mid-June with a Father’s Day finish. Oh, and the field of 156 reflects the familiar blend of survivors of the sectionals among the automatic qualifiers. As of Monday, 68 golfers gained entry via 11 sectionals, many of whom seasoned touring professionals, but they should be careful what they wished for. The souped-up South Course at Torrey Pines Golf Course in La Jolla, California awaits. For details on the host, how it will challenge and much more, continue reading beneath the extended ranking of projected contenders. RELATED: Nine things to know about Torrey Pines | How the field qualified POWER RANKINGS: U.S. OPEN Tuesday’s Fantasy Insider will include reviews of 2021 PGA Championship winner and six-time U.S. Open runner-up Phil Mickelson, surging San Diego native Charley Hoffman, Congaree champion Garrick Higgo, Congaree co-runner-up Tyrrell Hatton, Matt Fitzpatrick, Daniel Berger and other notables. For fans who typically do not monitor course setups, one of the lessons of the pandemic has been the timing of the need for overseeded grass. For many intents and purposes, the practice is utilized in months with cooler air and fewer daylight hours. Overseed adds body, and when maintained properly, the finished product is aesthetically pleasing. It’s not modeled after a program to thicken hair on a head, but you get the idea. In the context of the competition, the most important component is consistency. So, when the overseed isn’t necessary because of climate and other factors, the experience is poised to be pure. That’s what’s in store at Torrey Pines this week. For the Farmers for which the South Course is played three times by all golfers who complete the annual PGA TOUR stop, only the rough includes a measure of kikuyu grass (overseeded with ryegrass) due to its winter date, but the fairways are nothing but kikuyu for the U.S. Open. The rough still has an overseed of rye but that’s due in part to the allowance to grow to as high as five inches. Since Tiger Woods emerged from a playoff for his memorable victory at the U.S. Open in 2008, Rees Jones, who is part architect and part cosmetic surgeon for U.S. Open stages, and who renovated Torrey Pines seven years prior to Woods’ historic accomplishment prior to reconstructive surgery on his left knee, modernized the track ahead of the 2020 edition of the Farmers. Jones left the Poa annua greens alone, but he touched up everything else and installed new irrigation. Woods played the 2020 Farmers and finished T9, so he’s been tested by the update, but he will not be competing this week as he continues to recovery from serious injury. However, 53 golfers who pegged it alongside him qualified this week, and 61 from the 2021 Farmers are here. Forty-five competed in both editions. When Torrey Pines hosts the Farmers, it’s a stock par 72. Not this week. Just as it presented as a par 71 in 2008 for which Woods posted 1-under 283 in regulation, it will again for the 2021 U.S. Open. The sixth hole is converted from a 564-yard par 5 to a par 4 measuring 515 yards. Overall, the course tips at 7,652 yards. That’s 113 yards shorter than its setup for the Farmers and nine yards longer than the 2008 U.S. Open when the field averaged 74.712. Save the possibility for a marine layer in the morning, conditions will be ideal all week. Daytime highs probably will eclipse 70 degrees, it will not rain and winds will be light. Greens averaging just 5,000 square feet will be true throughout. All golfers positioned in the low 60 and ties at the conclusion of 36 holes will complete the tournament. The winner will earn a 10-year exemption into the U.S. Open, five-year exemptions into the other three majors, fully exempt status on the PGA TOUR through the 2025-26 season and $2.25 million of the $12.5-million prize fund. 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 TUESDAY*: Sleepers; 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.

Click here to read the full article…

Nobody was certain about the level of golf in this installment of The Match. But everyone knew there would be trash talk and other memorable moments.

Click here to read the full article…