Inside the Field: WGC-Bridgestone Invitational

LAS VEGAS — Tom Hoge wanted to be sure to take advantage of pristine conditions Thursday morning in Las Vegas. He did more than he expected, making two eagles on his way to an 8-under 63 for a one-shot lead in the Shriners Children’s Open. One of the eagles came with a gap wedge in his hand, part of a six-hole stretch he played in 6-under par in the middle of his round at the TPC Summerlin. The other eagle was a 35-foot putt down the hill on the par-5 16th. Equally important, Hoge kept bogeys off his card. Presidents Cup partners Si Woo Kim and Tom Kim ganged up on Max Homa in a group that brought back memories and stories from Quail Hollow two weeks ago. Si Woo Kim had a 64 and was tied for second with Maverick McNealy, while Tom Kim had a 65 and Homa didn’t fare too badly with a 67. Homa went 4-0 in his Presidents Cup debut, beating Tom Kim in singles. But it was Tom Kim who delivered the best moment when he made a 10-foot birdie putt on the final hole, slamming his cap to the ground to celebrate a win with Si Woo Kim as his partner. “We still talk about the Presidents Cup, like some holes,” Si Woo Kim said. “Then I finish the hole, and Tom came over on 18 and I said, ‘If you make that one, I got to ask you to go throw the hat like the last hole Saturday.’” McNealy now lives in Las Vegas and had more support than usual for a Thursday morning, a gallery he figures will grow on the weekend if he keeps this up. Defending champion Sungjae Im joined Tom Kim in the large group at 65, particularly impressive because he played in the afternoon when low scores were harder to find. Patrick Cantlay, who has a win and two runner-up finishes in his four appearances at TPC Summerlin, had a steady diet of birdie chances from the 15- to 20-foot range and had to settle for a 67. The low round for Hoge was unexpected because he had been fishing off the coast of Mexico the last two weeks, wanting to put the golf clubs away after a long season. He was in the mix for a Presidents Cup pick, though the oversight was not a surprise because he hadn’t played well enough since his inaugural PGA TOUR victory at Pebble Beach in early February. “I didn’t know where things would stand coming out today,” Hoge said. He holed a 25-foot birdie putt on No. 6, then hit a gap wedge from 110 yards on No. 7 that hit the middle of the pin and crashed into the left side of the cup for eagle. He followed with three more birdies over the next four holes, and then picked up a bonus with fast eagle putt on the 16th. “It was an interesting day,” Hoge said. “I feel like I missed some very makeable birdie putts, but I holed some real nice, long ones for eagle on 16 and some other long ones. Certainly happy with the score, but I’ve got to make a lot of birdies the next few days.”

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The Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook installed former Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo as a 10,000-to-1 long shot to win this week’s AT&T Byron Nelson in Dallas.

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Corey Conners, currently 35th in the FedExCup standings and ranked No. 31 in the Official World Golf Rankings, comes into the RBC Canadian Open as the highest-ranked Canadian in the world. From Listowel, Ontario, the 30-year-old will look to become the first Canadian to win his national open since 1954. Conners’ game is well suited for St. George’s Golf and Country Club, which is a relatively short and tight layout with thick, 6-inch rough and small greens, demanding precise ballstriking. Conners currently ranks 27th in driving accuracy on the PGA TOUR (65.9%), eighth in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee, fourth in greens in regulation (70.2%), and 21st in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green. Helping establish his consistency as a ball striker, Conners isn’t one to tinker and change much with his equipment. The only changes he’s made to his setup this year are his putter and wedges; he switched from a Ping PLD Prime Tyne H putter into a new Ping PLD Oslo H prototype at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard in March and he added two new Ping Glide 4.0 wedges (50, 56 degrees) to replace his previous models. Although Conners continues to use a Ping G400 LST driver that was launched to retail in 2017, he’s upgraded to Ping’s newest G425 models for his 3-wood (G425 LST) and hybrid. The G425 series launched early last year. Additionally, Conners switched into Ping’s new three-piece i59 irons (5-PW) ahead of last year’s Valspar Championship. The clubs are designed as players’ irons with 1025 carbon bodies, forged 17-4 stainless steel faces, an aerospace grade aluminum insert in the cores, and tungsten weights in the heel and toe sections to raise forgiveness. At the top-end of his iron set, Conners uses a Ping i210 4-iron; the i210 model was released in 2018. Check out Conners’ entire setup and specifications below. Driver: Ping G400 LST (8.5 degrees, with 9 degrees of actual loft) Shaft: UST Mamiya Elements Gold 6F5 (45.25 inches, tipped 1 inch) 3-wood: Ping G425 LST (14.5 degrees, with 15.75 degrees of actual loft) Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Black 76 grams, 6.5-flex (43 inches, tipped 1 inch) Hybrid: Ping G425 (19 degrees, with 20 degrees of actual loft) Shaft: UST Mamiya VTS Red Hybrid 85X Irons: Ping i210 (4 iron), Ping i59 (5-PW) Shafts: Project X 6.0 Wedges: Ping Glide 4.0 (50 and 56 degrees), Titleist Vokey SM8 (60 degrees) Shafts: Project X 6.0 Putter: Ping PLD Oslo H prototype Golf Ball: Titleist Pro V1 Grips: Golf Pride Multi Compound Black/Blue (60R +1 Wrap)

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