Inside the Field: Valspar Championship

Click here to read the full article…

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Tommy Fleetwood has won in Scotland, England, the United Arab Emirates, France, South Africa, even Kazakhstan. Victory in the U.S. hasn’t happened yet. Related: Leaderboard | Contenders at The Honda Classic have endured hardship The Englishman is in position to change that Sunday. Fleetwood birdied four of his final six holes on the way to a 3-under 67 in the third round of The Honda Classic on Saturday, moving to 5 under for the week and one shot ahead of Brendan Steele at PGA National. Fleetwood has been close to getting that elusive win on U.S. soil with two runner-up finishes. “If you’re going to win around here, you’ve proven yourself as an all-around golfer,” Fleetwood said. “Realistically, yeah, it probably is another step in my career. I’m not going to lie and say, `Ah, I don’t really mind about winning in America.’ Of course I do. I want to win everywhere I play and the PGA TOUR is for sure one of those places where I haven’t done it yet.” Steele shot 71. He was alone on the lead through 36 holes at 5 under, birdied two of his first three on Saturday to get to 7 under and then made four bogeys in an eight-hole span. But he survived, which was the order of the day for the leaders. “It feels like a major championship toughness-wise,” said Daniel Berger, who is three shots back. Fleetwood rolled in a birdie from nearly 50 feet on the par-3 17th to highlight his big finish. But he thought his two most important shots on Saturday were putts that dropped on the 10th and 15th holes. And both were for bogey. Let that speak for how challenging PGA National was — yet again. Of the 69 players who made the cut, only 11 broke par on Saturday. Fleetwood’s 67 was the second-best round of the day; Mackenzie Hughes, who made the cut on the number Friday, shot a 4-under 66 on Saturday and went from tied for 59th to start the day to tied for eighth with 18 holes left. Fleetwood’s score of 5 under is the highest by any leader through 54 holes since the Honda moved to PGA National. “It’s just a strong test of your all-around game,” Fleetwood said. Luke Donald birdied the last to finish a 71 and get to 3 under for the week, two shots off the lead. Lee Westwood (71) was tied with Donald going into the final round, surviving an up-and-down day where he birdied two of his first three holes — and then made just one more in the last 15 holes. “I didn’t have my A game today,” Westwood said. “But, ground it out and didn’t do too much damage. I don’t feel like two shots is much around this golf course.” True, but the Honda — at least the current incarnation of it — is not exactly known for comeback victories. Since the tournament moved to PGA National, 12 of the 13 winners have been either first or second after 54 holes. And in terms of deficits overcome, the biggest has been three shots — Padraig Harrington rallied after being three back of Ian Poulter in 2015, and Ernie Els was three shots behind Donald, Matt Jones and Mark Calcavecchia in 2008 before prevailing. Berger (69), Charl Schwartzel (70) and Sungjae Im (70) were tied for fifth at 2 under, three back of Fleetwood. There was a five-way tie for the lead — Schwartzel, Steele, Im, Donald and Fleetwood — on the back side for a brief spell Saturday at 4 under. It didn’t last long as all five dropped a shot within a span of about 15 minutes, a span in which Schwartzel got a reminder of how fast things can change at PGA National. He put his tee ball in the bunker on the par-4 16th, then saw his second shot hit the lip of the sand and plummet into the water to set up a double bogey. “I thought I was really good today out there,” Schwartzel said. “I played well, made a stupid decision on 16, but hit good shots after that and kept going. It’s a tough golf course.”

Click here to read the full article…

THE OVERVIEW Aaron Wise joined elite company when he qualified for the 2018 TOUR Championship. Only Tiger Woods, Jordan Spieth, Sergio Garcia and Si Woo Kim made the TOUR Championship at a younger age. All four own either a major or PLAYERS Championship. That bodes well for Wise, whose PGA TOUR career is already off to a promising start. The 22-year-old was named the 2018 Rookie of the Year for after winning the AT&T Byron Nelson, finishing second to Jason Day at the Wells Fargo Championship and posting top-10s at a World Golf Championship (T6, Bridgestone Invitational) and FedExCup Playoff event (T5, THE NORTHERN TRUST). Wise was one of just 12 players with at least three top-20 finishes in the Playoffs. He was the only rookie to make it to East Lake, finishing 24th in the FedExCup. Wise was playing alongside the TOUR’s elite little more than two years after winning the NCAA Championship as an Oregon sophomore. He won his third pro start, on Mackenzie Tour-PGA TOUR Canada, and was victorious last year on the Web.com Tour. It took him just 18 starts to win on the PGA TOUR. “It seemed pretty seamless, but it’s been a lot of hard work and there have been a lot of tough times,â€� he said. – By Sean Martin Click here to see who else made the Top 30 list. BY THE NUMBERS How Aaron Wise ranked in Strokes Gained statistics during his last full season on the PGA TOUR: FEDEXCUP UPDATE Current 2018-19 position: 60th Playoff appearances: 1 TOUR Championship appearances:1 Best FedExCup result: 24th in his rookie season of 2017-18. SHOTLINK FUN FACT Aaron Wise made the second-most birdies (69) by a rookie in any season in the ShotLink era. Jordan Spieth had 74 in 2013. INSIDER INSIGHTS PGATOUR.COM’s Insiders offer their expert views on what to expect from Aaron Wise in 2019. TOUR INSIDER: Unforeseen circumstances briefly set Wise’s rookie season off course. He broke two drivers at the Fort Worth Invitational, just days after his victory across town at the AT&T Byron Nelson. Wise struggled until he could find a trustworthy replacement, missing his next five cuts. He finally found a new driver during a two-week break before the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. “The driver has always been a strength of my game,â€� said Wise, who ranked 27th in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee last season. “As soon as I lost that, I felt like I wasn’t in position to make good scores on holes.â€� — By Sean Martin FANTASY INSIDER: Kids these days, amirite? The 22-year-old is among the evidence that the learning curve can be just a theory. His pedigree lifted his inbound fantasy value, but to record a breakthrough victory among four top 10s and another five top 20s en route to the Rookie of the Year award sated even the most demanding of investors. As he scales to status as a regular in the majors and World Golf Championships, his overall scheduling will be impacted … in theory. — By Rob Bolton EQUIPMENT INSIDER: Wise switched to a Callaway Rogue driver (10.5 degrees) in the beginning of 2018, and he averaged 302.9 yards per drive last season ranking 11th in total driving. He employed a Fujikura Pro Tour Spec shaft during his win at the 2018 Byron Nelson, but he’s since switched into a Fujikura Evolution III shaft. Wise has also been tinkering with different prototype hybrid shafts in his Callaway X-Forged UT 2 iron in the past year, going from a UST Mamiya proto to a KBS Tour proto. While Wise uses Callaway irons (Apex 2016 4 iron, Apex Pro 2016 5 iron and Apex MB 2018 6-PW), he uses Titleist Vokey SM7 wedges. — By Andrew Tursky STYLE INSIDER: With a plethora of players wearing Nike, Wise would do well to create a signature style for himself. Sticking with a vibrant color palette would help him to stand out from the crowd. His New Year’s resolution should be to size down in his shirts. His wiry frame would do well with a slimmer fitting polo. — By Greg Monteforte

Click here to read the full article…