Keith Mitchell finishes with three birdies to advance to BMW Championship

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PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. – Adam Scott has dealt with rain at Riviera Country Club before, so he knew it was all about fresh socks on a marathon Genesis Open Friday. The 2005 winner of the event – which is deemed unofficial as it came after just 36 rain affected holes and a playoff with Chad Campbell – joined former FedExCup champion Justin Thomas on top of the leaderboard midway through the second round. Having not started their assault on Riviera Country Club until Friday morning thanks to heavy rains on Thursday the pair shot 5-under 66s in the morning before facing a quick turnaround for the second round. Both players were five deep again in their second trip around to move to 10 under, with Thomas through 12 and Scott through 11 holes. J.B. Holmes sits third at nine under through nine holes of his second round. Holmes’ 8-under 63 was the best score of the opening round. Luke List (15 holes) and Jordan Spieth (yet to start round two) are the next best at seven under. With less than 30 minutes between rounds on Friday, Scott was quick to point to a small veteran move as to how he dealt with the continuing wet conditions. Fresh socks. “You always feel better with fresh feet,â€� Scott grinned while holding up the wet pair from earlier in the day at his locker. “It’s a good veteran move, and it helped me carry over the momentum from the morning.â€� Despite his lone bogey over 29 holes coming from the three-putt, Scott continued a trend of putting well at Riviera Country Club. “I just like the greens. Like I think I’m a good putter from above the hole and a crappy putter from under the hole, and I seem to hit it just above the hole and I drip them in nicely,â€� he added. But while the Australian was putting well, Thomas was putting better. His efforts certainly caught the eye of playing partner and tournament host Tiger Woods who incidentally struggled on the greens to sit one under. “It was just amazing how well and how good JT putted today, he made everything,â€� Woods said of Thomas. “He made tough conditions look easy.â€� Thomas led the field in Strokes Gained: Putting over the completed first round and sat second in the field midway through his second round. If he hadn’t of lost a ball in a tree during the afternoon, he’d likely lead the tournament outright. “I’m striking it well. I putted really well today, which is nice, and I just, when I hit it in the rough or I hit it in trouble, I’m just kind of getting it around the green or getting it on the green,â€� Thomas said. MUST READS Putter haunts Tiger Woods opening round at Riviera Bridgestone’s new e12 Soft and e12 Speed golf balls designed for feel and distance Tiger, Phil keep pushing each other Cameron Champ’s grandfather helped pave the way 50 years later, Sifford’s cigar-less victory still resonates in L.A. “I just managed my emotions really well today and tried not to let the weather get to me.â€� It is an attitude he hopes to continue when he returns for the 7:00 a.m. local restart. “It’s hard playing 30 holes, but it’s really hard when it’s raining and it’s soft. My legs are tired, so I just need to go home and rest and get some food and try to go to sleep as early as I can because tomorrow’s the potential to be another long day,â€� Thomas said. Scott said he has a few more veteran moves up his sleeve heading to what shapes as a very long weekend… not that he will reveal all of them just yet. “The challenge is keeping the momentum. It’s a whole new day, starting fresh. You warm up and see what side of the bed you wake up on kind of deal,â€� Scott said. “The key again, just like when I changed rounds today or in between rounds, is to go out and keep that momentum going and not lose it, so I think that will be the goal for the rest of the weekend. “If I can finish off this nine holes really good tomorrow and turn it around for the afternoon and play some more good golf, I’ll be right there for Sunday.â€� Only if he changes his socks of course.

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It’s a safe assumption that every club in the bag is working when you shoot 34 under and break an all-time scoring record on the PGA TOUR, as Cam Smith did at last week’s Sentry Tournament of Champions. That said, in addition to the new Vokey SM9 wedges Smith put in play for his 65-64-64-65 romp at Kapalua, his putter may be the most interesting portion of the bag. Smith putts with a Scotty Cameron 009M prototype. Generally, the 009M is a traditional Anser-style putter most similar to the retail Newport line. The “009” is a reference to San Diego’s zip code, where Cameron’s studio is located, while the ‘M’ stands for ‘masterful.’ Smith said he put the slant-neck Scotty in play at last year’s Sony Open in Hawaii, pointing out that the club is celebrating its birthday this week at Waialae Country Club. He’ll certainly want to buy it a gift. The Australian was 10th in Strokes Gained: Putting last season and is fourth in the young 2021-22 campaign. He led the field in that statistic last week at Kapalua, as well. Smith said he prefers a slant neck and, when considering a new putter last year, told Cameron and company he wanted the neck design in whatever club he would test. “There’s lots of cool stamps in the back there as well,” Smith said. “I’ve always loved the dot on top. I’ve never been a line guy. I feel like I can just feel the putter a little bit better. I don’t get so obsessed with the line. I feel like I’m able to just hit a good putt, and a good putt out of the middle means more chances of going in.” You can see the stamps and the sight dot below. And while there are elements of the design Smith can point to that suit his preferences, there’s a certain je ne sais quoi quality as well. “I just really like this one. I don’t know why,” Smith said. “It just feels great in the hands. I feel like I’m able to hit really good lag putts with it, which is a big thing out here. We leave ourselves some pretty nasty putts sometimes. I feel like I’m able to get the ball rolling real good. And like I said, the biggest thing for me is the strike. So I just feel like I hit lots of good putts with it out of the middle, and it feels so good.” Scotty Cameron TOUR rep Drew Page said Smith had been in a mallet-style Teryllium T22 Fastback model. The pair collaborated on a blade design after Smith, a self-identified “blade guy” said he wanted a similar slant neck on a blade-style putter. “He liked the neck. We put it on a 009 head. We gave it to him here, (at the) 2021 Sony Open, and he has put it in play and used it ever since,” Page said. “It gave him the look and offset that he wanted and gave him back the feel that he wanted with the blade. I think he just wanted to go back to his roots and have a little bit more playability within his stroke with a blade.” If putting is a game of comfort and confidence, clearly Smith has both. We can also add “cool” to that list, as Cam’s Cameron is one of the coolest looking on TOUR.

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