Kevin and Brittany Kisner receive Augusta University President’s Award

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FORT WORTH, Texas – The problem with playing friendly rounds of golf is the boatload of gimmes that tend to be offered. Especially when you’re a PGA TOUR pro and putting is one of your calling cards. Like Jordan Spieth. RELATED: Leaderboard | ‘Strange’ and ‘odd’ atmosphere for the TOUR’s official return Why bother putting out from 2 or 3 feet when you don’t have to? And for the last three months during the suspension of the TOUR season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Spieth didn’t really practice or putt from short range when playing on his home course or with his friends in the Dallas area. Of course, those gimme days are over now as the TOUR has returned to action with this week’s Charles Schwab Challenge. And on Friday at Colonial, it might have very well cost Spieth two strokes. Having zoomed to the top of the second-round leaderboard going into the Horrible Horseshoe – the rugged three-hole stretch regarded as one of the toughest on TOUR — Spieth had just lagged his birdie putt from inside 30 feet at the par-4 third to gimme range. But he missed the par attempt from 2 feet, 11 inches. Too much speed, with the ball rolling past the hole. Then he missed the bogey attempt from 2 feet, 10 inches, again on the other side of the hole. Finally, he converted his fourth putt from 3 feet, 2 inches for double bogey, giving up the lead and all the momentum he had been riding after starting his round with 6 birdies in his first 11 holes. It’s the first time he’s ever four-putted a hole at Colonial in his 540 holes played in this event. And it’s just the ninth time in his career he’s done it. Shocking at it was, Spieth quickly went to work putting the four-putt into perspective, telling himself that it was simply an issue caused by the unprecedented circumstances of the last three months. “I felt that I gave myself some grace to say, look, I haven’t really been practicing a ton of those kind of short-range putts,â€� Spieth said. “Those are ones where you just have a ton of them when you’re playing in competition but you’re picking them up a lot of times when you’re playing regular rounds of golf at home.â€� We knew rust might impact the field of 148 players at Colonial, and never was it more evident than on the third green for Spieth. His two missed putts inside 3 feet equals his total entering the week, as he had missed just two putts in his first 160 at that distance this season. The carryover effect lasted one hole, as Spieth followed with a bogey at the par-3 fourth when he missed the green and failed to get up-and-down. He called it his “20-minute hiccup.â€� But he did not panic. A 17-foot birdie putt at the fifth – the hardest hole on the course – followed by another birdie at the sixth got him back on track. And for good measure, he saved par at the par-3 eighth with an up-and-down that he called one of the top 5 in his career. “There wasn’t a huge swing of emotions,â€� said Spieth, who won here in 2016. “I stayed calm. I was just trying to hit each shot where it needed to go to make the best score on that hole, and 5 was huge. 5 was really big, to feel like I kind of salvaged the Horrible Horseshoe and came out of it with actually some momentum.â€� If we’re ranking them, Spieth’s bounce-back may have been only the second-best of the day. Consider the way tournament leader Harold Varner III started his round Friday off the 10th tee. His errant tee shot found the bridge going across the gulley in the fairway. Not under the bridge, or over on the bridge. But the actual bridge. Varner was forced to take a penalty shot. He dropped in the rough, then found the greenside bunker, then blasted out over the green to the rough. Triple bogey for Varner, the 18-hole co-leader with Justin Rose after his opening 63. “Obviously not the start I wanted,â€� he said. The round could have easily come unraveled, but this is not the Varner of three years ago, when he missed the cut in his only previous start at Colonial. This is his 78th PGA TOUR since then, and he’s matured – both physically and mentally. And not just inside the ropes. “I’ve grown up a lot off the course, so it makes it easy to make good decisions that prepare you a little bit better for on-the-course stuff,â€� Varner said. “Yeah, I’m a lot better golfer. “I don’t really get rattled as much.â€� He certainly wasn’t rattled Friday. Three birdies in his six-hole stretch regained the momentum, and then he regained the lead with five birdies in his last six holes, leaving him at 11 under through two rounds, one shot ahead of Spieth. “He’s hitting his mid-irons really well,â€� said playing partner Scottie Scheffler. “Just stiffing it.â€� Since 2003 in the ShotLink Era, 691 players have opened their rounds at PGA TOUR events with a triple-bogey. Varner’s 66 is the lowest score ever shot under that circumstance. “Even after a triple, you just can’t live in the past,â€� he said. “… After making the triple I was just fighting for my life. Pretty impressive stuff for the golfer who’s bidding to win for the first time in 129 career starts (and it just so happens that his 129 total through two rounds is his best career 36-hole score). If he breaks through, Varner would be just the second African-American to win a PGA TOUR event since Tiger Woods won the first of his record-tying 82 victories in 1996. Cameron Champ has two wins since 2018. In all, seven African Americans have won on TOUR. Given the developments in the U.S. since George Floyd’s death in late May, a Varner victory would be of increased significance. On Friday, Varner – along with all golfers, caddies and others at Colonial – stood for a moment of silence at 8:46 a.m. in Floyd’s memory. It is a reminder each round this week of the “efforts to end systemic issues of racial and social injustices,â€� according to PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan. “It’s pretty cool that the TOUR is doing that, but when you’re out there, you’re just so in the moment,â€� Varner said. “Well, I was anyway. I don’t know, man, I was just trying to make a birdie.â€� Understandable. When you start with a triple bogey, it’s really the only approach to take.

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Patrick Reed, thanks to his breakthrough major win at the Masters, is a Best of April finalist for the Team USA Awards presented by Dow. The awards recognize the outstanding achievements of Team USA athletes from last month. Reed is one of four PGA TOUR golfers who represented Team USA at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Fans can vote for their favorite athletes and teams through midnight Monday, May 7. Click here to vote. A total of 10 sports – including curling, equestrian, fencing, golf, gymnastics, Para swimming, Para track and field, shooting, tennis, and track and field – are represented among the 13 finalists across men’s, women’s and team categories. Reed won his first major at Augusta National, collecting the sixth victory of his TOUR career. He’s currently ranked fifth in the FedExCup standings and 10th in the Official World Golf Ranking. At the 2016 Olympics, Reed finished T-11. Matt Kuchar was the top American performer, collecting the bronze medal behind England’s Justin Rose (gold) and Sweden’s Henrik Stenson (silver). Golf will again be part of the Olympics at the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo. Here’s a complete list of the April finalists: Male Athlete of the Month Patrick Reed (Spring, Texas), Golf  — Secured his first major golf title at the Masters, finishing 15-under at 273 after firing a final-round 71 to edge fellow Team USA Olympian Rickie Fowler by one stroke. Jeremy Campbell (Perryton, Texas), Para Track and Field — Opened the season by defeating the reigning Paralympic champion with a world-record mark of 65.47 meters to win the men’s F64 discus at the Pomona-Pitzer Invitational. Eli Dershwitz (Sherborn, Massachusetts), Fencing — Improved to a career-high No. 3 world ranking after earning the bronze medal in saber at the grand prix in Seoul, South Korea. Robert Griswold (Freehold, New Jersey), Para Swimming — Won two gold medals in the 400-meter freestyle and 100 backstroke and set American and Pan American records in the 100 butterfly at the World Para Swimming World Series. Vincent Hancock (Eatonton, Georgia), Shooting — Captured his second consecutive gold medal by tying his own world record in the skeet final, topping the reigning Olympic champion at the world cup in Changwon, South Korea. Female Athlete of the Month Desiree Linden (San Diego, California), Track and Field — Became the first American woman to win the Boston Marathon in 33 years, overcoming brutal weather conditions to clock 2:39:54 – more than five minutes ahead of the field. Beezie Madden (Cazenovia, New York), Equestrian — At age 54, became the oldest world cup jumping champion, and only the second American to win the Longines FEI World Cup Jumping Final twice and only the sixth U.S. woman to accomplish the feat. Tatyana McFadden (Clarksville, Maryland), Para Track and Field — Won her fifth Boston Marathon and finished second in the London Marathon six days later, improving her record to 22 world major marathon series victories. Kim Rhode (El Monte, California), Shooting — Bested her own world cord, hitting 58-60 targets en route to her second consecutive gold medal in women’s skeet at the world cup in Changwon, South Korea.   Leanne Smith (Beverly, Massachusetts), Para Swimming — Set four American records and three Pan American records in the 50-, 100- and 200-meter freestyle and 50 butterfly at the World Para Swimming World Series. Team of the Month Jamie Sinclair Rink, Curling — Made U.S. history by becoming the first American team to win a Grand Slam of Curling event at the Players’ Championship in Ontario, defeating the reigning world champion and improving to a No. 6 world ranking. U.S. Women’s Artistic Gymnastics Team — Clinched its tenth consecutive Pacific Rim Championship title with a 15-point margin of victory, with Grace McCallum and Morgan Hurd finishing 1-2 in the all-around competition. U.S. Davis Cup Team, Tennis — The team of John Isner, Sam Querrey, Jack Sock, Steve Johnson and Ryan Harrison advanced to the Davis Cup semifinal for the first time since 2012 after defeating Belgium, 3-0.

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