JT: Jealousy of Spieth’s Open win fueled PGA triumph

SAN DIEGO — The U.S. Open prides itself on being the most open of all majors with some 9,000 players from all walks of golf having a chance to compete. Open, indeed. RELATED: Leaderboard | Richard Bland: Five things to know The weekend at Torrey Pines features major champions and major contenders, players who are unknown or unheralded, all of them still within reach of that U.S. Open trophy. Nine shots separated first from last. It starts with Richard Bland, a 48-year-old from England who finally won on the European Tour last month in his 478th try. Bland had a 4-under 67 and walked off Torrey Pines with his name atop the leaderboard in only his fourth major. His first one was 23 years ago. Russell Henley had a chance to build a two-shot lead Friday afternoon when he stood over an 18-foot birdie putt on the par-5 ninth. He missed, and then watched his 2-foot par putt spin out of the cup. That gave him a 70 to join Bland 5-under 137. They will be in the final group Saturday, with plenty of heavy hitters behind them and getting far more attention. Former Open Championhip winner Louis Oosthuizen (71) and Matthew Wolff (68), the U.S. Open runner-up last year at Winged Foot, were one shot behind. Another shot back were two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson (67) and Jon Rahm (70), a past winner at Torrey Pines and former world No. 1. Defending champion Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka were at even par, only five shots behind. They were on the same score. They will not be in the same group. Also at even-par 142 was Justin Thomas, who had a 68. “Most times if I’m five back going into a Saturday, I need to probably make 12, 15-plus birdies on the weekend to hang in there,” Thomas said. “But this is a U.S. Open. It’s a little bit different.” Henley doesn’t know much about Bland except that he pays a little attention to golf worldwide and recalled hearing about his British Masters win to end his long quest for a victory. “I’m sure he knows nothing about me, too,” said Henley, a three-time winner on the PGA TOUR who has played 26 majors without a top 10. Bland’s victory in the British Masters made him the oldest first-time winner in European Tour history. That also was the start of a three-tournament series for the leading 10 players to get into the U.S. Open. Travel restrictions from the COVID-19 pandemic eliminated the 36-hole qualifier in England. This is only his fourth major — twice at Royal Birkdale in 1998 and 2017, once at Bethpage Black for the U.S. Open in 2009 — and he came in on a high note. “A lot of guys have a lot more on the CV than I do,” Bland said. “But I’m here to compete and give it everything I’ve got.” Oosthuizen, coming off a runner-up finish in the PGA Championship, finished with two pars in the morning to cap off a 67 to share the first-round lead with Henley. He didn’t get any lower in the second round and shot 71, but was right in the mix. So was Wolff, a surprise only because he lost all joy playing golf after such a hot start out of Oklahoma State that he walked away from the game for two months, even missing a major at the PGA Championship. He returned to the toughest test in golf and shot 70-68, two-putting for birdie on the last hole. “It’s awesome that I came out here and played well, but I think more importantly, I’m just getting closer to being more comfortable and being happy and enjoying it,” Wolff said. “I feel like I’ve done a very good job of enjoying it, but I’ve still got a long way to go to keep a level head. Like I said, I’ll probably be working on the same thing that I’m working on now for the rest of my career.” Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy were headed the wrong direction. Johnson, who missed the cut in the Masters and PGA Championship, dropped to 4 over until a late rally gave him a 73 and a spot in the weekend. He was seven behind. McIlroy had to birdie two holes down the stretch for a 73. He was six behind. The 36-hole lead at Torrey Pines in the 2008 U.S. Open was 3-under 139. The course is strong as ever with enough wind, though a marine layer has kept sunshine from baking out some of the greens. Then again, the weekend awaits. The weekend will include Phil Mickelson, whose deft scrambling kept him inside the cut line and he finished with a birdie for a 69. He was seven shots behind in his quest to complete the career Grand Slam. Bland will be a big part of the weekend, and that’s the charm of the U.S. Open. “I love that about the game,” defending champion Bryson DeChambeau said after a 69 left him five shots behind. “Anybody, any age group, can play this great game and compete and contend. If you’re got the skill set to get the ball in the hole in the least amount of shots, you can be up there with the young guns.” Bland is the classic journeyman, happy to be making a living at golf for more than two decades, disappointed to have not won until he broke through last month, not nearly surprised as most everyone else that he was tied for the U.S. Open.

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Happy New Year! Welcome to 2020 and the earliest start we can remember for the PGA TOUR in terms of coming back after the holiday period. Of course, the 2019-20 FedExCup has been in full swing since September, but we start the new calendar year in Maui at the winners-only Sentry Tournament of Champions in Kapalua. As you wind down from festivities and try to keep your resolutions at front of mind, most of you get prime-time golf on TV… with the odd whale thrown in! RELATED: Tee times | Power Rankings THREE PLAYERS TO PONDER THE FLYOVER The 203-yard par-3 8th hole is a visual splendor as players have to carry a ravine from an elevated tee with the wondrous ocean and island of Molokai as a backdrop. But it can be feast or famine for the players. Last season, it was the toughest hole all week playing to a 3.136 stroke average. And this despite the fact Patton Kizzire made an ace on the hole. There were just 13 birdies to go with eagle over four rounds with 20 bogeys, five double bogeys and one triple bogey. LANDING ZONE The par-5 18th is listed at 663 yards on the scorecard, but played between 653 and 681 yards last season. It’s the longest hole on the PGA TOUR, but that doesn’t mean it is hard. It drops severely in elevation from tee to green and with the right tee shot that finds the speed slots, we can see the ball travel over 400 yards… although last year 399 was the max out (The 400 yard barrier was beaten on the 17th hole). The 18th played at 4.598 last season with two eagles and 57 birdies. Players shot par or better on the hole all but seven times over four rounds. Here’s a look at where all tee shots landed last year. WEATHER CHECK From PGA TOUR meteorologist Wade Stettner: Partly cloudy skies are forecast on Wednesday and Thursday with lighter winds and just a slight chance of isolated showers. A frontal boundary will push through Maui by Thursday evening and the trade winds will increase behind this front. Windy conditions are forecast on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday with peak wind gusts to 35mph. Shower chances will also increase this weekend as the gusty trade winds push them over the West Maui Mountains. For the latest weather news from Kapalua, Hawaii, check out PGATOUR.COM’s Weather Hub. SOUND CHECK This is always the best place to start the year. It means you won the previous year but also it’s a small field and it’s a fun, relaxed week on a great golf course. BY THE NUMBERS 3 – Number of top-6 finishes for Rickie Fowler at the Sentry Tournament of Champions, tied with Hideki Matsuyama for the most without a victory since 2013. 5 – The final-round deficit Xander Schauffele came back from last year. It was the largest final round come-from-behind victory at the Plantation Course at Kapalua since 1999 (previous was four strokes). His 61 included two eagles, eight birdies and one bogey. 15 – Number of first-time winners in the 2019 calendar year are in the field this week at the 2020 Sentry Tournament of Champions. They are Adam Long, Martin Trainer, Keith Mitchell, Corey Conners, Max Homa, Sung Kang, Nate Lashley, Matthew Wolff, Dylan Frittelli, Collin Morikawa, J.T. Poston, Joaquin Niemann, Sebastián Muñoz, Lanto Griffin and Tyler Duncan.   196 – Number of holes Adam Long has played without a three-putt, tied with Russell Knox for the current longest streak on the PGA TOUR. 575 – Number of drives 400 yards or longer on PGA TOUR in the ShotLink era (since 2003). More than half of those (55.5%) have come on the Plantation Course at Kapalua (319 of 575). Dustin Johnson leads all players with 29 of them. 1,561 – The number of FedExCup points earned by Dustin Johnson at the Sentry Tournament Of Champions. The most of any player since 2009. SCATTERSHOTS What a difference a year makes. A year ago, Brendon Todd was considering buying into a pizza franchise after missing 39 cuts in 45 starts, he now leads the FedExCup; Matthew Wolff and Collin Morikawa were knee-deep in textbooks and collegiate golf; Corey Conners had conditional TOUR status after finishing 130th in the 2018 FedExCup standings; and Lanto Griffin was set to embark on his second stint on the Korn Ferry Tour.   Plantation Course refined for 2020: The Plantation Course at Kapalua underwent a nine-month refinement project. The work was done by original Plantation Course architects Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw along with Troon’s design, development and agronomy team. During the refinement project, all 107 acres of fairways, tees and roughs were replanted with Celebration Bermuda grass and all greens were rebuilt and grassed with TifEagle Bermuda grass. Dustin Johnson returns. After taking time off to rehab a knee issue, Johnson returned to help the U.S. win the recent Presidents Cup in Australia. But this marks his first start in the 2019-20 PGA TOUR season. The winner at Kapalua in 2013 and 2018 has seven consecutive top-10s at the event.

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Seeking to regain his PGA Tour card, Vijay Singh is on the entry list for the Korn Ferry Challenge and that’s drawn the disdain of Brady Schnell, who called Singh “selfish” in a series of tweets.

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