Is Stenson’s 63 among the greatest rounds ever?

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KAPALUA, Hawaii – Cameron Smith led the field in Strokes Gained: Putting en route to his win at the Sentry Tournament of Champions. Clearly 2022’s new rule surrounding yardage books – and the banning of the old, in-depth greens books – didn’t impact the Australian. The winners-only event at Kapalua’s Plantation Course was the first TOUR event since the implementation of a local rule on TOUR that limits the information in players’ yardage books. From this week forward, only committee-approved yardage books can be used and players can only add handwritten notes from information they’ve seen with their naked eye or on a broadcast. Measuring instruments cannot be used to gather information for notes added to the book. That eliminates the old greens books that used technology to measure the slightest slopes on a putting surface. “I’ve never really been a big fan of the greens books,” Smith said. “I do AimPoint Express and I like to feel a lot of stuff. I like to see stuff and I like to feel stuff, so the greens books, for me, took away a lot of that. I gave them a crack a couple of times but I was never really a fan.” That seemed to be the overwhelming sentiment from the 38 players who teed it up last week. “I haven’t really consulted the green book too much in the past,” said FedExCup champ Patrick Cantlay. “Every once in a while, I used to ask my caddie to consult it. I don’t think it will make too much of a difference for me.” Last year’s Sony Open in Hawaii champion, Kevin Na, said he might’ve entered the history books if not for a reliance on the books a year ago. “I remember last year at the Sony Open I looked at it one time on 17 when I had a chance to shoot 59 and it didn’t work out too well, so that was the last time I saw it,” Na said. “My caddie used to carry one, and he would look at it here and there. But I don’t feel like it’s a huge change for me because we’ve never really looked at it a lot. So, I actually like that it’s gone. I feel like I am a pretty good green reader out there so it’s an advantage for us.” The changes were player-driven through the TOUR’s Player Advisory Council (PAC). A former chairman of that committee, Jordan Spieth, believes he also will find an edge with the new rule despite the fact he’s used the books extensively in the past. “It will be an adjustment, certainly as we get to the West Coast, and places like Riviera, but there’s three things to putting. There’s reading the putt, there’s stroking it on line and there is hitting it at the right speed,” Spieth said. “I think that two of those were skills that you don’t technically need to have with (arm-lock) putting and the greens books. At least one of them right now is back to where it will become a skill to have to read them.” While Spieth’s caddie, Michael Greller, studied AimPoint in the off-season to broaden his knowledge base, Spieth wasn’t planning to do the same anytime soon. He will rely on his natural feels. “We’ve never had the greens books at Augusta,” Spieth added, “and I seem to find myself in a really good space on the greens there, really feeling putts. My Strokes Gained at Augusta has always been really solid so I like looking at that as a reference point. “I think if anything this could potentially help me in the Strokes Gained area. I’m not saying I’m going to make as many putts as I would with them, … but relative to other people, I would say green reading would be a strength of mine and therefore I feel good about the differences.” Other players who used the books heavily in the past were hopeful it would free up their mind and allow some instinct to come in. “I’m excited for it,” said FedExCup leader Talor Gooch. “I use the green reading books, but I think it was to a detriment at times and I play my best when I think less, I calculate less, I kind of try to be reactive and so having no greens books is great for that.” Joel Dahmen added that it could be good for him to get his head out of the book. “I probably bury my head in them too much as it is,” Dahmen said. “I don’t use them at home and I putt OK, so there’s no real reason to have them out here for me. But it’s a little more work for the caddie on Tuesday and Wednesday for them to get the slopes and the grain out there.”

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MCKINNEY, Texas — Before his round Sunday, Jordan Spieth wanted to be 25 under par on the 72nd tee. He missed by one. One was the difference. A birdie on the last hole of the AT&T Byron Nelson gave him second place alone and a sting he said he’d feel for a while. Spieth shot 5-under 67 to finish 25-under total, one stroke back of K.H. Lee, who became the first back-to-back winner of the tournament since Tom Watson achieved the Texas two-step in 1979 and 1980. While disappointing to lose a meaningful tournament in his hometown, the one that gave him a sponsor exemption when he was in high school, Spieth said his performance through four rounds at TPC Craig Ranch gave him confidence, purpose and a sense of calm as he starts to focus on next week’s PGA Championship at Southern Hills. “Good momentum going into next week,” said Spieth, who lacks only the PGA in a quest for the career Grand Slam. Spieth started the fourth round in the final group, one stroke off the lead held by fellow Dallas resident Sebastian Munoz. He shared the lead at times on a topsy-turvy afternoon. He showed glimpses of the Jordan Spieth of old, the one who putted boldly and delivered one quality iron shot after another. He also made three bogeys through 10 holes. But the mistakes were past him at that point. “I played the holes from there exactly how they were supposed to be played,” Spieth said. “Grabbed three more birdies and it just wasn’t quite good enough.” The drama built throughout the round and reached its apex at the tee of No. 14. Spieth was two shots behind Lee when he reached the short par 4. The group ahead, which included the defending champion, allowed the final group to play in. Spieth drove the green. He marked his ball. Then he watched Lee three-putt. The par by the leader kept Spieth in the chase. He two-putted for birdie, reaching 24 under, a shot behind Lee. It was that way until the end. Spieth saw Lee make a 6-footer for par on the long 16th and a gritty 12-footer for par on the short 17th. He watched from 245 yards away in the par-5 18th fairway as Lee lined up his putt for eagle. Lee two-putted for birdie, granting Spieth one more chance. Spieth cut a 3-metal. It stalled in the crosswind. His ball landed just short of the green, near a seam in the grass, 30 feet from the hole. He chipped it close but not in. “I would love to win it someday,” Spieth said. “I had a good chance here.” He goes to Tulsa, Oklahoma, with a recent win (the RBC Heritage in April) and a pair of runners-up, including the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February. He appears well clear of the winless streak of 83 starts that ended at the 2021 Valero Texas Open, his 12th PGA TOUR title. He is making putts he used to miss. “I thought I made some really nice 5-foot sliders down the stretch,” Spieth said. “Those are ones that I just put good fluid strokes, more judging line than speed. I was more outwardly focused than stroke focused. So that’s really important under pressure as I look into a major.” Spieth said last spring that he was seeking the swing of his youth. He said Sunday he felt much closer to that goal. “I feel like I’ve got every shot,” he said. He made an eagle and 29 birdies at the AT&T Byron Nelson. TPC Craig Ranch and Southern Hills Country Club are two different courses, but Spieth said he trusts his game to travel intact to Oklahoma. “I don’t feel like I have to go change much,” he said. “I just feel like I’m doing the right things.”

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