Inside the Field: ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP

ORLANDO, Fla. - Rickie Fowler and Viktor Hovland have been sharing the same longitude and latitude this week, each competing at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard. However, as recent journeys go, they have been on different trains bound for different places. Hovland, 23, is the red-hot wunderkind not far removed from Oklahoma State. He is riding one of those sizzling golf tears where nearly every bounce seems to go right, and he finds himself in contention once again as the API moves into the weekend at Bay Hill Club and Lodge. (At 7-under 137, Hovland trails leader Corey Conners by two shots.) Hovland has been a rocket ship in the Official World Golf Ranking. He was ranked 100th just more than a year ago, and now he is 13th. He smiles a lot, and for good reason. RELATED: Full leaderboard | Day's tee shot gets stuck in tree, takes one-shot penalty Certainly Fowler, now 32 and a five-time winner on the PGA TOUR, can relate to Hovland's success. Fowler is one of a long line of Cowboys standouts paving a path to the PGA TOUR for Oklahoma State players such as Hovland and Matthew Wolff. Fowler has been struggling. Searching. Tinkering. He and swing coach John Tillery have been making changes. Fowler knows exactly where he wants to be - contending in majors (four top-5 finishes in 2014), making U.S. cup teams, winning big titles (such as THE PLAYERS Championship six years ago) … because he has been there. He is working as doggedly at home as he ever has, long hours, sacrificing, waiting and hoping to see results. And still waiting. Hovland and Fowler were in the same group along with Aussie Jason Day the last two days at Arnie's Place. Hovland made seven birdies and shot 4-under 68. Hovland is riding a stretch of six top-6 or better finishes in his last seven starts. Fowler needed a chip-in for birdie at his final hole on Thursday just to shoot 76. Friday's goal to sneak back inside the cutline never was going to be easy. But he'd do what Arnold Palmer would do. His head was down Friday, and he got after it. When Fowler rinsed a tee shot at the dogleg par-4 third hole (his 12th) on Friday, he ballooned to 5 over for the tournament. He appeared destined for another disheartening week in a frustrating stretch of them. Coming in, Fowler had missed three cuts in his last six starts. But he is a fighter, and birdies coming home at Nos. 4 (28 feet), 5 (42 feet) and 6 (2 feet) at least gave him a chance. Fowler, who sports shirts and hats and shoes honoring Palmer when he plays here, had missed the cut only once in nine starts at the API; he made 118 feet of putts in a round of 70. At 2-over 146, he headed to lunch not knowing if he'd be working this weekend. He longed for two more rounds at Bay Hill to find some traction, some momentum. Something positive. "Things are definitely moving the right way," said Fowler, once No. 4 in the world, now ranked 65th. "Just had a couple swings that cost me. But I’m happy with it. It’s getting closer and closer, so we'll see if we get a tee time tomorrow. If we do, we’ll go play like hell this weekend. If not, we’ll go get ready for our tee time next Thursday (at THE PLAYERS)." Peter Malnati had a chance to knock out all the players at plus-2 late Friday, but made double-bogey at 18 and missed the cut himself. Fowler was in on the number. A needed break. More than a year removed from his last top 10 (2020 American Express), Fowler doesn't hide the fact that golf these days is more work than fun. He made five consecutive West Coast starts, something he hadn't done since he was a rookie. When he is home, he stays dedicated to his craft. The days he takes off are only to give his 5 foot 9, 150-pound body a rest. "It’s definitely been a grind," Fowler said. "I think more so it’s just a mental challenge, because playing and competing against the best players in the world for a decent amount of time now, and being up there at one point in the top 10 for quite some time, and being one of the top guys in the world, it’s just hard. You know what you’re capable of, and where you should be - or what you expect out of yourself. "So that’s been more of the struggle, not beating myself up too much, and kind of taking a step back, let everything happen, be patient. But, yeah, it’s been frustrating at times, been a grind. But we’re still grinding it out." Funny how life works sometimes. As he was grinding just to make a cut, Fowler didn't need to look very far to see the level of play to which he wants to return. Hovland isn't "walking" around Bay Hill this week; he is floating across the grounds at Arnie's Place, his game honed and sharp. Sure, he could hit a few more fairways (8 of 14 Friday), but most everything is working. It doesn't matter if you are 23 or 32; Hovland and Fowler know that golf is cyclical, and hot golf can be fleeting. So when you have it going, you make the most of it. Good golf exists on razor-thin margins. Fowler was greenside in a bunker in two shots at the par-5 12th and walked away with bogey; Hovland came up short on the par- 3 seventh and holed his bunker shot from 10 yards. Birdie. "Yeah, it’s been very fun," Hovland said. "Obviously playing very good and I don’t feel like I have that many holes in my game anymore, which is cool, because I missed plenty of greens out there today (seven) and I still shot 68, even made a bunker shot and got some really cool up-and-downs. Walking from the fairway over to the rough wherever I was hitting from, after missing the green, I would have been anxious the whole way … But now it’s like, ‘All right, I’ll be all right. Even if I make a bogey here I can birdie the next.' So it’s just a very relaxed kind of attitude. It’s a lot easier when you’re playing well. You just kind of let it all happen." Therein lies the difference. One guy is just kind of letting it happen right now. The other is trying to make something happen. Fowler has viewed it from both sides. At Bay Hill on Friday, you needed to watch only one grouping to see the contrast. Rickie Fowler is working hard, and said he is starting to see light at the end of the tunnel. No, he isn't there yet. That's the magical journey of golf.

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NORTON, Mass. – Those giant LED boards are all over the TPC Boston layout, the bright lights projecting everything from hometowns to the length of the putt a player is about to attempt. But Jonas Blixt doesn’t need to watch the FedExCup projections roll across the screen to know what he must do this week at the Dell Technologies Championship. The affable Swede came into the second Playoffs event ranked 84th with only the top 70 moving on to the BMW Championship in two weeks. So Blixt needs to play well to advance – and that’s exactly what he did in Friday’s first round. Blixt’s 3-under 68 left him in a tie for sixth and just two strokes off the lead held by Dustin Johnson. He likely needs to finish 24th or better to get to the BMW Championship for just the second time in his career. He currently projects to 49th. Solo second on Monday would probably get Blixt safely inside the top 30 so he could make his TOUR Championship debut. What about a win on Labor Day? “Then everything takes care of itself,� Blixt said. “But you’ve got to put yourself in that situation first. Coming down the stretch, you’ve got two things to play for. “You got the championship and (the FedExCup rank) and depending on where you are, you’ll play for one of them. The three-time PGA TOUR champ knows better than to get ahead of himself. “My back’s against the wall a little bit and I’m just trying to play good golf,� Blixt said. “I wouldn’t say push it a little bit but play aggressive and we’ll see what happens. “You never know. Golf is such a hard sport to predict.� Blixt, who teamed with Cameron Smith to win the Zurich Classic of New Orleans earlier this year, had a solid round on Friday that included two birdies, one bogey and a 36-footer for eagle on the 18th hole. The round of 3 under was his lowest in relation to par since the second round of the Travelers Championship in June. Blixt, who has missed five straight cuts since that tournament in Hartford, brought his coach, Richard Lindberg, to Massachusetts this week. They’ve been working together at TPC Boston since last Saturday – it’s their second session in the last month. “We worked on a couple of things, small things, that could potentially help me a little bit,� Blixt said. “You never know. I had a good day today. It could be a worse day tomorrow. “But I’m swinging it well and a lot more confident today than I have been the last couple of weeks.� BUBBLE WATCH Here are the players who are projected to move inside and outside the top 70 that will advance to the third leg of the FedExCup Playoffs, the BMW Championship. QUOTE OF THE DAY I’m not trying to think about it, but yeah, it is there. It’s always nice to make a hole-in-one. They don’t come very often. TOP 5 WATCH The Top 5 players entering the TOUR Championship will control their own destiny at East Lake. Here’s a look at how the current top 5 fared Friday at the Dell Technologies Championship. 1. Dustin Johnson (66). Last week’s winner maintained his hot hand by grabbing the first-round lead. Projected to first. 2. Jordan Spieth (72). It wasn’t a great putting day, as Spieth missed four putts inside 10 feet. Projected to second. 3. Justin Thomas (71). Just one birdie and one bogey on a day that Thomas said he “fought for every stroke.� Projected to fourth. 4. Hideki Matsuyama (72). Had a double bogey early in his round and an eagle from 6 feet to finish it off. Projected to fifth. 5. Jon Rahm (67). Finished with a flourish – four birdies in his last five holes to move within one shot of Johnson. Projected to third. FEDEXCUP NOTES Ryan Moore and Kelly Kraft withdrew on Friday; Moore after his round and Kraft on his back nine after suffering a foot injury. Moore started the tournament ranked 61st and Kraft was 64th, so both are in jeopardy of falling outside the top 70. The projected total needed to make the BMW Championship is 723 points, and both players are below that number. But they will have to wait until the completion of play Monday for their fates to become official. For now, Moore is projected to stay inside the top 70 while Kraft is projected out. … Adam Scott fell outside the top 70 after not playing last week following the birth of his second child. His even-par 71 projects him back inside the top 70 after the first round. … This week’s bubble boy, Grayson Murray, started strong with a 3-under 68. But he’s downplaying the pressure of maintaining his position. “If my season ends right now, I’ve had a great year,� said Murray, who won the Barbasol Championship earlier this season. “I don’t put any pressure on me. But obviously the goal is to get to East Lake.� Murray currently projects to 44th.

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Tiger and his son, Charlie, clearly had a blast at the PNC Championship, a father and son enjoying golf. Maybe the son will end up being the one to help his father’s game.

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