How to watch the Travelers Championship, Round 2: Featured Groups, live scores, tee times, TV times

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – There was much made of the calendar switch from May to March for THE PLAYERS Championship. In the equipment world, many wondered if there was going to be an equipment trend that would follow – different wedge grinds, a different set makeup at the top end of the bag, or possibly more equipment testing given it’s new positioning ahead of The Masters. TOUR reps from several different companies, and players themselves, however, said that March versus May had little-to-no effect on a trend of equipment changes. That being said, a few specific players made changes this week at THE PLAYERS. Here are the highlights of all the noteworthy club changes this week. Mickelson’s Epic Flash Sub Zero one-diamond proto Phil Mickelson went on record proclaiming that he’d use a Callaway Rogue driver at least until The Masters, instead of the Callaway Epic Flash Sub Zero prototype he played early in 2019. He did, in fact, switch back into a Callaway Epic Flash driver at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, however. At THE PLAYERS, PGATOUR.COM took photos of his new Epic Flash that has just one diamond lasered onto the hosel, instead of the three-diamond prototype he used previously in 2019. Bryson’s festive headcovers The most noteworthy piece of equipment given the event’s place on the calendar was Bryson DeChambeau’s headcovers, honoring St. Patrick’s Day. The gold colorway of the covers could actually have a dual meaning; signifying the Irish “pot of gold,� and the new PLAYERS trophy is all gold. The headcovers are also imprinted with his initials “BD,� and they have four-leaf clovers stitched into them. DeChambeau also had a St. Patrick’s Day-themed golf bag made by Vessel. Tiger’s fresh wedge Tiger Woods, who’s been known to put fresh wedges in the bag ahead of majors, put a new 60-degree TaylorMade Milled Grind wedge in the bag for THE PLAYERS. There was much speculation on social media that it was a new wedge grind for the week, but his caddie Joe LaCava assured PGATOUR.COM that it was simply a new wedge made with the same specs and grind as his previous 60-degree wedge. Woods’ lob wedge is made with 11 degrees of bounce on the sole. Click here to see Tiger’s full WITB for 2019. Tony Finau makes a big switch Finau has used Accra prototype shafts in his metalwoods for his entire tenure as a Ping staffer, but that changed at THE PLAYERS. He switched into new Mitsubishi Diamana RF-series shafts in his Ping G410 Plus driver and three wood. While he picked up about 5 mph of ball speed, according to a Ping representative, the main reason for the switch was his ability to start the ball more on line with the shafts, yet still allowed for him to hit the fade he prefers. Click here for more information and photos on Finau’s new shafts. Patrick Reed makes a huge iron change Reed, who’s used a mix of Callaway MB-1 prototype irons and Razr X MB irons for years, put a Titleist 718 CB 4-iron and Titleist 718 MB irons (5-PW) in the bag this week due to their look, turf interaction and higher launch. They have loads of lead tape on the bottom portion of their back cavities. The 4-iron is equipped with a True Temper Dynamic Gold AMT X100 shaft, and the 5-PW are equipped with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shafts. After switching to a Srixon Z-Star for the first round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Reed switched back to a Titleist Pro V1 for the rest of that event, and he stayed with the Pro V1 at THE PLAYERS. Brandt Snedeker’s golf ball and shaft switch up Snedeker has used a Bridgestone golf ball for quite some time on TOUR, but he switched to a Srixon Z-Star XV golf ball at THE PLAYERS. He also conducted extensive driver testing ahead of the event, testing heads and shafts from various companies. Ultimately, he went with the TaylorMade M5 driver head he’s used throughout 2019, but switched from a Fujikura Speeder shaft to a Fujikura Ventus 6X. Jason Dufner changing it (back) up Dufner, who’s been bouncing around with different flatsticks lately, put his custom-made Scotty Cameron putter back in play that he’s used off-and-on since 2015. This time around, however, it has an LA Golf Shafts Ozik putter shaft in it. Also, while Dufner’s been experimenting with a Cobra driver for weeks (but hasn’t put in play during competition), he switched from his gamer Titleist driver to a Ping G410 Plus driver that’s equipped with a Project X HZRDUS Yellow shaft. Ryan Moore goes to Toulon Moore, who made headlines for not having to putt at all after making a slam-dunk hole-in-one on No. 17 this week, has been switching putters plenty so far in 2019. At THE PLAYERS, Moore put a new Odyssey Toulon Las Vegas putter in play with a Stroke Lab shaft. Champ goes back to iBlades While Champ was one of the numerous Ping staffers to switch into Blueprint irons in 2019, he switched back into the iBlade irons he played in 2018, and when he captured his first PGA TOUR victory. Along with switching heads, he also went back to the KBS Tour C-Taper 130X iron shafts. Champ switched into an LA Golf Shafts prototype driver shaft at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, but he returned to a Fujikura Pro Tour Spec shaft at THE PLAYERS that he’s played throughout his professional career. Hideki goes to a TaylorMade driver Hideki Matsuyama is no stranger to making club changes. His staff bag is routinely filled with 20+ clubs during any given practice round day. But while his bag is typically packed with different irons and wedges, Matsuyama switched from a Callaway Epic Flash driver to a TaylorMade M5 driver at THE PLAYERS. He switched heads but not shafts; his new driver remains equipped with a Graphite Design Tour AD-DI shaft. For more equipment photos from THE PLAYERS, check out our full gallery. 

Click here to read the full article…

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – APGA Tour officials today announced the initial APGA Collegiate Ranking for the 2022-2023 season with Michigan State University’s Troy Taylor II holding the top spot. The APGA Collegiate Ranking was announced in October 2020 through a partnership between the PGA TOUR and the APGA Tour. Eligible players are black golfers from NCAA Division I or II programs – including HBCUs – who exhaust a minimum of four years of college eligibility. The APGA Collegiate Ranking is based on players’ Golfstat adjusted scoring average, designed to evaluate the top players positioned to qualify for APGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament access. Taylor II holds the top position in the standings while Howard University teammates Gregory Odom and Everett Whiten Jr. rank second and third, respectively. Whiten Jr. was No. 2 in the standings late last season before opting to utilize his final year of eligibility this season. The Class of 2023 Ranking includes Golfstat-ranked college tournaments played in Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Fall 2022 and Spring 2023. The top five players in the final APGA Collegiate Ranking will receive: • Scholarship access to APGA TOUR events through the remainder of the 2023 APGA Tour season • Scholarship access into the Korn Ferry Qualifying School for the 2024 season • The final No. 1-ranked player will receive a sponsor exemption into the 2023 REX Hospital Open on the Korn Ferry Tour • Additionally, the No. 1 player as of November 18, 2022, will receive an exemption to play in the APGA Farmers Insurance® Invitational as an amateur at Torrey Pines in January 2023 Rankings as of October 5, 2022 • Any player who wants to be removed from the list because they have decided to come back and complete their last year of eligibility needs to inform the APGA no later than April 15 • Players interested in opting into the program can register here: https://registrations.pgatourhq.com/forms/apga/ • A player must complete a tournament in each of the last three semesters (Spring 2022, Fall 2022 and Spring 2023) to be eligible for the APGA Collegiate Rankings top five benefits Full rankings will be updated monthly at https://www.apgatour.org/apga-collegiate-ranking. At the end of the 2022-23 season, APGA Tour officials will determine the minimum number of rounds to qualify.

Click here to read the full article…

Akshay Bhatia joined a short list - one that includes Jack Nicklaus - with his performance Thursday at the AT&T Pebble Pro-Am. Pebble Beach is known for its tiny greens but Bhatia hit all 18 of them in his first-round 64. He is the first player since 2008 to hit every green in a round at Pebble. RELATED: Full leaderboard "It was a good day," the 19-year-old said. He is just the seventh player since 1983 (when the TOUR started keeping hole-by-hole statistics) to hit all 18 greens in a round at Pebble Beach, including both the AT&T and the four U.S. Opens held at Pebble Beach in that span. A total of 10,303 PGA TOUR rounds have been played at Pebble Beach since 1983, meaning a player has hit all 18 greens just 0.07% of the time or once in every 1,472 rounds. Last season, Pebble Beach had the eighth-hardest greens to hit on TOUR (62.9%). Bhatia also gained more than three strokes on the greens, holing three putts from outside 15 feet. A recent switch from an arm-lock to a short putter paid off. "It's probably the first time I've ever putted this well," he said. The longest one he made was a 21-footer for birdie on his first hole of the day, the par-4 10th. He added birdies on 14 and 17 to make the turn in 3-under 33. Bhatia added birdies at Nos. 2 and 3 and 6-8. His last birdie came after a 207-yard dart to 3 feet on the eighth hole, which requires an approach over the cliffs to a tiny green. It was the most difficult hole Thursday, playing to a 4.23 average and allowing just five birdies. It helped that Bhatia was more concerned with his snack than the daunting approach. "I was peeling an orange and it was so bad that I was just thinking about the orange and my caddie goes, ‘OK, we got 207.' I said, ‘OK, I got to (hit),'" Bhatia said. "Just kind of hit-and-see kind of thing. It was a great birdie to steal there." He had no bogeys Thursday. Bhatia, 19, is making his fifth start of the season. He finished T9 at the Safeway Open, making him the youngest player to finish in the top-10 of a stroke-play event on TOUR since Justin Rose finished fourth at the 1998 Open Championship. Bhatia also part of another interesting note this week. His presence in the field means that Phil Mickelson has played the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am with players born in every decade from the 1920s to the 2000s.

Click here to read the full article…