Joaquín Niemann WDs from Masters due to positive COVID-19 test

ATLANTA — The crowd at East Lake was larger and louder than it has been in five years, which was the last time Tiger Woods was at the TOUR Championship. It was no coincidence. Woods played one of his best rounds of the year in his return to the FedExCup finale and caused the biggest cheer of a sun-baked Thursday afternoon by making an eagle putt from just over 25 feet on the par-5 18th for a 5-under 65 and a share of the lead with Rickie Fowler. It was the second time in as many FedExCup Playoff events that Woods was tied for the 18-hole lead. He shot a 62 at Aronimink in the opening round of the BMW Championship two weeks ago on a rain-soaked course that allowed just about everyone to go low. This felt even better on a dry, tougher East Lake course. “This was by far better than the 62 at Aronimink,” Woods said. “Conditions were soft there. This, it’s hard to get the ball closer. If you drive the ball in the rough, you know you can’t get the ball close. You just can’t control it.” Fowler, who missed two Playoff events recovering from an injury to his right oblique, putted for birdie on all but two holes for his 65 as he tries to avoid ending the season without winning. Justin Rose, in his debut as the No. 1 player in the world, got up-and-down from the bunker for birdie on the 18th for a 66 and was tied with Gary Woodland. Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas and Rory McIlroy, all of whom will be in France next week for the Ryder Cup, were another shot behind. Woods already considers this a successful year just by making into the 30-man field at East Lake for the FedExCup finale, where everyone has a mathematical shot at capturing the $10 million bonus. He started the season in January after a fourth back surgery that limited him to only 16 PGA TOUR events in the previous four seasons. “To be able to play golf again and to earn my way back to this level is something that I was hoping I would do at the beginning of the year, but I didn’t know,” Woods said. “And I’ve done it?” What would winning mean in this comeback? “It would enhance the year,” he said. Woods still has 54 holes remaining. Two weeks ago, he went from a share of the first-round lead to five shots behind on a course where attacking flags on soft greens was the only option for low scoring. This was more about precision, and Woods felt in total control. He opened with a three-putt bogey from 25 feet, and he twice ran birdie attempts farther beyond the hole than he would have liked. But after making birdie putts from 25 feet on No. 5 and from 15 feet on No. 6, he figured out the speed of the greens and was on his way. “I hit so many quality shots all day, whether it was tee-to-green or it was putts,” Woods said. “I didn’t really mishit a single shot today. The only shot I can honestly say that I necked pretty bad was the tee shot at 17. Hit a 3-wood there, and with an iron, I probably would have shanked it. But ended up in the fairway and made par.” Woods will play in the final group Friday with Fowler, who has seen plenty of him at home in Florida in the months before Woods returned to golf. He had finished his round and was doing interviews when he heard the head-turning roar of Woods making eagle. They will be teammates next week at the Ryder Cup. Fowler has other objectives at East Lake. “The biggest win for him is just staying healthy and being out here all year consistently,” Fowler said. “Definitely happy for him. It’s obviously great for our sport. It’s great to have him as part of the team next week. We hope he continues to play well. I just want to play a little bit better and beat him.” Sixteen players in the 30-man field broke par on a hot afternoon with only a light breeze, and Thursday was all about staying in the game, especially as it relates to the chase for the FedExCup. Bryson DeChambeau, the No. 1 seed after the points were reset, had to birdie two of the last three holes for a 71. For someone like Woods or Fowler to win the FedExCup, they would need the top five seeds to falter. Rose and Thomas didn’t go along with that with strong opening rounds. Finau overcame a pair of early bogeys for his 67. The key for Woods could be Friday. Only once this year, at the Valspar Championship at Innisbrook, has he stayed consistently in the thick of it all tournament. He figures to have plenty of support. Houses along the side streets outside East Lake, and even one funeral home, offered parking and their yards were packed. It hasn’t been like that in several years. “I hadn’t played this tournament in five years, and some of the people said they haven’t been out here in five years,” Woods said. “That’s kind of nice that they’re coming out and supporting this event and supporting me, as well.”

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Keith Mitchell straightened out his putter and delivered big tee shots Saturday that carried him to a 6-under 66 and a two-shot lead over Rory McIlroy and Gary Woodland in the Wells Fargo Championship. RELATED: Leaderboard | Bryson DeChambeau makes hasty exit, expensive U-turn The putter issue is not a figure of speech. After closing with an 82 in the Valspar Championship last week, Mitchell discovered his putter was out of alignment. He had it bent back to the right specifications, avoided mistakes that slowed so many others, and now has a chance at a second PGA TOUR victory. “I just feel like everything’s really working,” said Mitchell, who was at 9-under 204. “My driver feels great, and around this place you’ve really got to drive it well. Really just trying to keep the ball in front of me right now and see what we can do tomorrow.” McIlroy will be right there along for the ride. A two-time winner at Quail Hollow, McIlroy raced out to the lead, steadied himself after a double bogey on the 12th hole when his drive hit a cart path, and shot 68. Winless the last 18 months, McIlroy will be in the final group for the first time since Riviera more than a year ago. Woodland had troubles on his own, particularly a drive right of the water hazard on the par-5 seventh that turned birdie into bogey, and a lapse of poor putting down the stretch on the back nine. He still managed a 70 with a chance to win for the first time since his U.S. Open title at Pebble Beach in 2019. With more swirling wind and some pin positions on ridges, Saturday was a day for a little separation. It began with 23 players separated by four shots. Now there are six. Luke List (68) was three shots behind, while Scott Stallings (70) and Satoshi Kodaira (68) were at 5-under 208. It also was about avoiding mistakes, and Mitchell did that as well as anyone. He picked up a birdie on No. 9, the second-toughest hole of the day, and took care of most of the scoring chance. Mostly, though, he avoided the blunders that slowed McIlroy and Woodland, and eliminated so many others. “Some golf courses on the PGA TOUR you can hit bad shots, get away with it and still try to make birdie,” Mitchell said. “You can’t do that here. I think that’s a true test of golf. I don’t think golf would be fun if every course was like this. I just feel more comfortable around a tougher course.” McIlroy was dialed in with the speed of his putts, critical on a day with a hard wind. But on No. 12, his drive to the left hit hard off the path and well onto a hill. Trying to pitch under trees, he couldn’t get back to the fairway, and was blocked by another tree that forced him to punch one up to the front right of the green. The pin was back left, and he three-putted from 85 feet for double bogey. McIlroy saved par with an 8-foot putt on the next hole, as meaningful a putt as he made all day. Woodland recovered from his bogey on the par-5 seventh with a great drive to set up a simple up-and-down for birdie at No. 8, and he was right back in the lead with a birdie on the 10th. But he dropped shots on the 13th and 14th, three-putting the latter. He took three shots to get down from 45 feet off the 15th green and had to settle for par. A birdie on the 17th got him within range. Missing from the action is Phil Mickelson, whose 64 in the opening round now feels like more than two days ago. He took double bogey from the trees on No. 9 and came up short in the water on the 136-yard 17th hole for another double bogey and a 76. He is 9 over the last two rounds and tied for 55th. Still playing is Bryson DeChambeau, but not after an 1,800-mile round trip home to Dallas and back when he thought he missed the cut. He made it back to Quail Hollow with an hour to spare and shot 68, with a double bogey on the last hole, and was eight shots behind. The trick was avoiding mistakes.

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The PGA TOUR heads to Texas for one last event before the Masters with the Vivint Houston Open at Memorial Park Golf Course. The course will play as a par 72, measuring 7,432 yards, and it will be played on bermuda greens again this week. Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $350K Resurgence [$100K to 1st] STRATEGY Dustin Johnson ($11,500) and Adam Scott ($9,200), who were both out recently due to COVID-19, will be in the field looking to dust off the rust and get some last-minute work before heading to Augusta National next week. Other golfers such as Tony Finau ($10,900), Scottie Scheffler ($9,600) and Sungjae Im ($9,300) will embark on the recently renovated Memorial Park Golf Course, which hasn't hosted a PGA TOUR event since 1963 (Houston Open). The Vivint Houston Open will be the first PGA TOUR event designed by Tom Doak, and we should expect a course that's different than what we're used to in Texas and one that may have some similarities to next week. A 2019 Golf Advisor article alludes to a faint resemblance to Augusta National in that "much of the golf course will be opened up, especially the back nine, which Doak compared to Augusta National in the sense that spectators should be able to see several holes at once." The fairways will slope toward hazard areas, and the green complexes will be challenging; golfers will need to be steadfast in their plan to navigate the course tee-to-green. Like Pete Dye and Donald Ross, Doak uses sightlines off-the-tee to entice aggressive golfers to take risks for the potential reward. With that said, the margin for error if you miss is more penal than playing conservatively. Hole No. 13, a driveable par 4, is a prime example of one risk/reward opportunity golfers will face. The hole seems relatively benign with no hazards, but the green is very narrow and steeps severely on both sides to challenging up-and-down collection areas, bringing in the potential of big numbers. The 2019 renovations also included adding a par 5 this week (five total), which will be a big factor in scoring this week. There will be 19 sand traps and two water hazards that come into play on four holes. Doak routinely mentions golfers will need to ‘think' their way through this course and that it's not just a long track the players can overpower. Lineup stacking with golfers who have similar styles should be a good strategy this week, especially on a new course with no previous knowledge of how it will play. Pairing Brooks Koepka ($10,600), who consulted during the renovations, with other long-hitters like Sam Burns ($7,500), could be viable. Rostering shorter-hitters shouldn't be overlooked as well. Brian Harman ($8,500), Russell Henley ($9,400) and Denny McCarthy ($7,900) all rank outside the top 100 in Driving Distance but inside the top 13 in Strokes Gained: Total over the previous three months. Viktor Hovland ($9,800) Hovland looks like he's returning to his game from earlier this summer, gaining an average of 5.6 strokes tee-to-green over his previous three starts. Hovland is one of the best drivers of the ball, ranking 20th in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee, and should take advantage of the five par 5s, ranking eighth in par-5 efficiency over his previous three months. Sungjae Im ($9,300) Sungjae's streak of seven made cuts is due primarily to six straight events of positive Approach and Off-the-Tee splits dating back to the TOUR Championship. Sungjae is also much better putting on bermuda, gaining in seven of his last 10 rounds. Since the restart, Im is fourth Off-the-Tee, 24th with his irons and inside the top 25 in par-5 efficiency. Cameron Davis ($8,100) Davis has been one of the best bermuda putters over the previous three months, ranking third in the field. Mix his putting prowess with his ability Off-the-Tee and we should have a solid play in this range to pair with some of the top-priced studs like Brooks Koepka ($10,600) or Viktor Hovland ($9,800). Like Sungjae, Davis has been great on the par 5s, ranking fifth in par-5 efficiency since late July. Davis may also be able to pick up a few strokes on the short par 4s, ranking 14th in eagle rate and seventh in par 4s measuring 350 to 400 yards over the last three months. Wyndham Clark ($7,700) Last week was tough to watch if you backed Wyndham Clark. He played fantastic throughout the week and hit 17 of 18 greens on Sunday. Brian Gay ($6,600) just caught a heater in the final round was marvelous with his putter on Sunday. Hopefully, this keeps people off Clark this week, who should fit this course nicely with how well he plays par 5s, ranking 14th since the restart. Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $350K Resurgence [$100K to 1st] Put your knowledge to the test. 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