Inside Jon Rahm’s putter switch before U.S. Open win

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Ignore Justin Rose for a moment. We swear Augusta National provided the promised test, demanding the most out of Masters competitors. The firm and fast conditions – a stark contrast to what we saw in November – were the talk of the town during practice rounds and they tested players during Thursday’s opening round. No golfer likes shooting higher scores, but players seemed to prefer seeing Alister Mackenzie’s masterpiece play to its potential, even if red numbers were harder to come by than tickets to this year’s Masters. When the greens are slick and balls are bouncing, the genius behind Augusta National’s greens is accentuated. Steep slopes help well-positioned shots funnel closer to the hole while penalizing mishits and wayward strikes. RELATED: Full leaderboard | Round 1 review: The Masters “The golf course is more fun this way,” Webb Simpson said after shooting 70, “because you really have to think.” Rose’s 65 – which included a 10-hole stretch that he played in 9 under par – was an outlier, an anomaly at Augusta National. His four-shot advantage is the second-largest Thursday lead in this tournament’s history. Only two other players broke 70. Simply breaking par put you in the top 10 at day’s end. Even Rose admitted that he didn’t think “today was the day for a 65.” He teed off at 12:48 p.m. om a day the latter half of the draw averaged 75.02 strokes. He seems to perform his best when Augusta National is at its most worst, however. This is the fourth time that Rose has held the 18-hole lead at Augusta National, tying Jack Nicklaus for the most all-time. Three of those 18-hole leads, including today, have come on days the scoring average was 74.5 or higher. After Dustin Johnson shot a record-setting 20-under 268 last year, we could be looking at the first Masters since 2017 that’s won with score that’s single digits under par. That was the year Rose lost in a playoff to Sergio Garcia. Even though players knew what was coming Thursday, they struggled to score. On Monday, the conditions were already comparable to what we’re accustomed to seeing on a Sunday, when courses traditionally play their toughest. Simpson was standing in the 14th fairway Thursday with a 9-iron in hand and he didn’t envision a way that he could hit the green. “Sure enough, it went over the green,” he said. Even short irons are bounding across these baked-out putting surfaces. An inconsistent breeze – which made shot selection a guessing game – added to the challenge. “It can go from blowing 15 (mph) to 0 pretty quick out here,” said Brooks Koepka. Jon Rahm arrived at Augusta National on Wednesday after the birth of his first child. New parents often speak glowingly about the perspective they’ve gained. Everything else seems less important than the little child you’re now responsible for. It’s often a perfect recipe for good golf because the 6-foot putts suddenly feel less stressful. Augusta National wasn’t interested in providing a warm welcome, however. “There was not one moment where … I felt relaxed out there,” Rahm said after shooting 72. We saw chip shots roll across the 15th green and into the water. Some putts didn’t stay on the putting surface. The patrons were back for the first time in two years but roars were rare. Players were on the defensive. Some of the Kansas City Chiefs were in attendance Thursday but this first round was more like facing the Steel Curtain. Hideki Matsuyama, who shot 70, said, “I’ve never seen the greens so firm and fast.” This is his 10th Masters. Kevin Kisner teed off before 9:30 a.m. He described the start of his round as a “nice, casual stroll around Augusta.” Sounds nice. By the time he got to the second nine, it was more like “a roller-coaster.” His scorecard showed it. Kisner made eight pars and one birdie on the first nine. His final nine holes featured two birdies, an eagle, a triple-bogey and two bogeys. He shot 1-over 37 on that side with just three pars. There is some hope for a respite. This week’s warm temperatures have contributed to the conditions, but Augusta National also let the course get this firm because of rain that is forecast to come in the next three days. There is no guarantee of precipitation, though. There’s a 40% chance of rain Friday and Sunday and a 60% chance Saturday. But even a little rain won’t be enough to substantially slow this fast track. That’s OK. Said two-time Masters champion Bernhard Langer, “This is the way it should be.”

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Former world No. 1 Inbee Park hit a flawless eight-under-par 64 to take a one-stroke lead after the opening round of the HSBC Women’s World Championship on Thursday as the LPGA returned to Asia for the first time in 18 months.

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Here are nine tidbits from the final round of The Honda Classic that gamers can use tomorrow, this weekend or down the road.  Be looking for the Emergency 9 shortly after the close of play of each round of the tournament. Grin and Bear It For the seventh time in his last 31 PGA TOUR events Justin Thomas is taking home the trophy as he defeated Luke List in a playoff to win The Honda Classic. The 2017 PGA TOUR Player of the Year collects his eighth-career TOUR victory and second of the 2017-2018 season. Thomas now has two playoff wins this season as he defeated Marc Leishman at the CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES in October. Playing in his fourth Honda Classic, he adds this victory to T3 in 2016 and a pair MCs. Thomas only squared five bogeys and a double which was offset by 15 birdies (T4) to post 272. List was the only player to make fewer bogeys (4). Thomas reinforced that it takes a deep bag to win here as he led the field in strokes-gained: tee-to-green, sand saves and scrambling. The Champion Course at PGA National played easier as the week went on as the weather improved and the wind finally quieted down. The greens were crusty, firm and not holding many shots so it is not surprising scoring was high. The lowest round of the week was 65 and all four posted were on the weekend. The tournament record of 13-under-par set by Camilo Villegas in 2010 was never in doubt. There were only For the 10th season in a row the winner came from the final pairing. Gamers’ Choices — PGA TOUR Fantasy Game presented by SERVPRO If gamers are still wondering about Fleetwood and Noren, I can’t help them! This is the bloodiest top 10 that we’ve seen this season. Gamers’ Choices — PGA TOUR One & Done presented by SERVPRO   Gamers who faded Fowler this week will live to fight another day as Woodland and Garcia backers go quietly. With the tricky weather forecasted this week it’s not a surprise the ownership of Thomas was that low. It will be the last time we see it that low! Close Encounters Luke List is accumulating some excellent scar tissue that will help him the next time he’s contending late on the weekend. All of the facets of his game were firing this week but he ran into the wrong guy in the playoff. His P2 check is the biggest he’s collected and is his second top 10 of the year. He was T5 at the CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES. … If Alex Noren returns to this event next year he might be No. 1 on my list. He was 12-under-par in three of his four rounds including posting eight-under on the weekend. He learned his lesson from the 75 he posted Friday and finished third, missing the playoff by a shot. Noren is white hot as this is his second podium finish is four TOUR starts in 2018. … Tommy Fleetwood’s first visit saw him put all four rounds at par or better including his final three in red numbers. Movers and Shakers Byeong Hun An (T5) and Derek Fathauer (T13) shared the low round on Sunday with 65. An posted his lowest round of the year and his best finish since T11 at the CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES. Does anyone else see a pattern forming here?? This was the Korean’s first trip to the Champion Course. … Fathauer tried it a different way this week. After beginning last Sunday in the top 10 at Riviera he posted 74 to slip to T16. This week he made the cut on the number and used his break to shoot 71-65. The 65 on Sunday moved him up 41 spots to finish T13. He’s now cashed a check in five of six tries at this event. Grillo Means Go Emiliano Grillo entered the week with 10 consecutive cuts made and added another this week. The Argentine fired 69-66 on the weekend to post T8. He made the cut the previous two seasons here and each Sunday he posted 77. This is his best finish on TOUR since T7 at last year’s Arnold Palmer Invitational. #Hint#Hint. Tiger Woods He stood on No. 15 tee T6 (-3) and just four shots out of the lead. His tee shot found the water, again, and his double-bogey ended any chances of sneaking in the back door. His three-putt bogey on the next hole pushed him out of the top 10 as he finished 12th. I was interested to see how his swing would hold up on Sunday if he was in the fight. For the most part, it did. Go look at the tables above and count how many of those guys he beat this week. With back-to-back top-25 finishes, the next question is will he play again before Augusta? Stay tuned. Sunday Silence It wasn’t a great afternoon for South Africans not named Dylan Frittelli (11th) as Louis Oosthuizen carded 75 of them and dropped from T8 to T24. The “other” Rory still won that head-to-head but Sabbatini posted 73 to drop out of the top 10 and cash for T17. … Daniel Berger couldn’t match his Sunday 64 from his rookie year as he also carded 75 and fell to T29. … Hudson Swafford made a birdie on the final hole to post 80. He plummeted 53 spots to T64. … Rory McIlroy’s lowest round of the week was 72 (T59) and that should keep gamers guessing before he tees it up again. It will NOT be this coming week at the WGC-Mexico Championships as he is not entered. Study Hall 2017 NCAA Nicklaus Award winner Sam Burns, playing with Woods on Sunday, posted 68 (-2). He was playing his 14th round on TOUR. His T8 finish will get the Web.com player into the Valspar Championship in two weeks. … Lucas Glover also fired 66 on Sunday for T17, his best finish since T15 at the CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES. #Pattern. … Michael Thompson (T24) just missed fulfilling his major medical exemption and will have one more start remaining to do so. … Rookie Tom Lovelady showed some serious guts this week as he was seven-over-par thru his first eight holes. He made the cut on the number, fired a bogey-free 67 on Saturday and 70 Sunday to cash T17 for his best payday. … Jason Dufner (T17) has never missed in 10 tries at the Champion Course. Strangely he only has one top 10 to show for his efforts, T9 in 2009.

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