Leaderboard: Fowler, McIlroy back on course

A fast start by Danny Willett and a sublime finish by Jon Rahm helped them into a share of the clubhouse lead in the second round at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth on Friday.

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Earlier this month, Gilberto Morales’ phone buzzed around 4 a.m. The message contained the latest reminder of his improbable victory almost three decades ago. A friend sent Morales a screenshot of a tweet that came out shortly after Tiger Woods announced his intention to play this year’s Farmers Insurance Open. The post mentioned Morales as the author of the aberration on Woods’ impeccable resume at Torrey Pines. Woods has won eight times at the South Course, tying his own record for PGA TOUR wins at a single site. That includes that memorable U.S. Open playoff in 2008. RELATED: Tiger chasing No. 83 at Torrey Pines When healthy, Woods is seemingly unbeatable on the South Course. And he’s proven to be the greatest closer in the game’s history. As a professional, Woods is undefeated with a 54-hole lead of three or more strokes. He’s 25 for 25 in that situation. That makes the idea of Tiger Woods losing a five-shot lead at Torrey Pines seem unfathomable. But it happened at the 1992 Junior World Championship. Morales said he still hears about the win at least once a year. “My kids think they have a famous dad,â€� Morales joked Tuesday. He now has three children (his oldest is 10) and is an entrepreneur living in Spain. Morales was one of the top junior players on the planet in 1992. Each summer, he’d fly from his home in Venezuela to play tournaments in the United States. The Junior World was one of the biggest events on the calendar. Woods had already won the tournament an unprecedented six times in various age brackets. So when he took a five-shot lead into the final round, a seventh title seemed like a certainty. Except in golf, nothing is guaranteed. Even for Woods. Even at Torrey Pines. Woods shot 75 that day, including a triple-bogey at the seventh hole, and Morales won by three with a final-round 67. It was the best round of the tournament. Morales was 15 years old. “He had a couple bad holes and I had a good start,â€� Morales said Tuesday. “After that, he wasn’t able to recover from the mistakes and I was having a very good day.â€� With Woods chasing history at Torrey Pines this week – a victory would give him the PGA TOUR’s all-time wins record – I was curious to see what happened to Morales. Details of his career are sparse. He played in the 1999 Open Championship, shooting 80-76 during that infamous week when Carnoustie was impossible. He competed on the Asian, European and Challenge tours. Morales wanted to travel the world, not play mini-tours, after his college career at UNLV, where his teammates included PGA TOUR winners Charley Hoffman, Chad Campbell, Chris Riley and Bill Lunde. The Official World Golf Ranking’s site shows Morales made 50 starts between 1999 and 2005. His best finish was third in 2000 Indian Open. He tied Trevor Immelman, who’d win the Masters eight years later, that week. That was Morales’ only top-10. There’s also a brief mention of Morales in a story about Woods’ first start after his emotional win in the 2006 Open Championship. After trying to Monday qualify for a nearby Korn Ferry Tour event, Morales headed to the Buick Open to see his old friend. Woods hugged Morales and spent 15 minutes reminiscing with him between shots in his practice round. That was toward the end of Morales’ pro career. He retired after failing to have the success his junior results may have portended. “I don’t know what happened,â€� Morales said Tuesday. “It was a lot of travel. I got very tired of the travel. I was 29 or 30 and I wanted to have a family and didn’t want time to go by. I wasn’t disappointed at all. I just took a different route. I still have all the best memories from all my years playing golf.â€� The 1992 Junior World wasn’t the only time Woods and Morales went head-to-head. Later that year, they shared the 54-hole lead of the Junior Orange Bowl with Zimbabwe’s Lewis Chitengwa. Chitengwa, who died at age 26 of meningitis, won after Woods and Morales shot over par in the final round. Woods and Morales were in contention again at the following year’s Junior World. They entered the final round tied for third place, three shots behind leader Chad Wright. Morales shot 70 to finish second, while Woods fired another final-round 75 to fall to fourth place. The winner? Future PGA TOUR winner Pat Perez. Morales relishes the time he spent with Woods. “He was No. 1 and I was right there in the top three (as a junior),â€� Morales said Tuesday. “We had a lot of fun. We practiced together, played practice rounds. He was so different than the other kids. He had a different focus and different mindset than everybody else. He wasn’t playing. It was amazing to see someone who had that discipline at that age.â€� So how did Morales prevail on that day in 1992? The trouble started at the seventh hole, where Woods made triple-bogey after hitting a shot out-of-bounds. Woods downplayed the significance of the miscue, though. “It was really no problem,â€� he said at the time. “I still had a two-stroke lead.â€� Morales birdied the next hole to pull within a stroke. Woods bogeyed the par-5 ninth, and bent the shaft of his 7-iron after striking a tree on his follow-through, to fall into a tie with Morales. “I said, ‘Break the 7-iron, hurt my wrist or whatever; I’m just going to play the shot,’â€� Woods told reporters. “(After that), I tried not to hit a shot where I would need a 7-iron. And I didn’t need to. I was very lucky.â€� Morales took the lead for good with a birdie two holes later. Woods had his chances to catch Morales. Woods lipped out a 17-foot birdie putt on 14 that would have tied him for the lead. Woods suffered another lip-out on the next hole, the ball spinning almost 360 degrees around the cup. “Come on,â€� he yelled in disgust. Woods’ 25-foot birdie putt on 16 stopped 2 inches short. Morales’ 12-foot birdie putt nearly stopped in front of the cup before trickling in. Woods trailed by two on the final hole. He had just 185 yards remaining for his second shot to the same par-5 where he holed his famous bouncing birdie putt on the 72nd hole of the U.S. Open. There would be no magic this day, though. Woods’  6-iron flew the green and bounded by the first tee, some 30 yards over the green. “I guess the golfing gods weren’t with me,â€� Woods told reporters. He’s had plenty of success at Torrey Pines since.

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Here are nine tidbits from the final round of the Valspar Championship that gamers can use tomorrow, this weekend or down the road. Casey on Point Paul Casey fired a final-round 65 to post 10-under-par 274 to win the Valspar Championship at the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club in Palm Harbor, Florida. The Englishman picks up his first TOUR win since the 2009 Shell Houston Open and his first win worldwide since the 2014 KLM Open (European Tour). Casey joined the European Tour this season to improve his chances of making the Ryder Cup team. This won’t hurt! What a difference a day makes, as Casey played in the final group on Saturday with Corey Conners. The rookie beat him by three shots and Casey dropped to T11, five shots off the lead. Casey’s final round included six birdies and one bogey to tie the low round of the day (65). The key to his victory was his excellent short game. He navigated three difficult up-and-downs in The Snake Pit to close his round and post THE number. His card for the week was spectacular, as he finished in the top 10 in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green (6th), Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green (7th), Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green (3rd) and was 15th in Strokes Gained: Putting. His previous best finish at this event was T37 in four tries. Gamers have always rated Casey, minus the lack of wins, because when he makes the cut, he cashes very nice checks. He’s made 168 cuts on TOUR and 104 have cashed in the top 25. Of those 104 top-25 finishes, 51, nearly half, have painted the top 10. Of his seven starts this year, six have cashed for T19 or better. His last MC on TOUR was the 2017 Sony Open. Gamers’ Choices — PGA TOUR Fantasy Game presented by SERVPRO This group was the definition of all or nothing! If you’re not playing the chalk, you’re dead. If you’re not picking the correct chalk, you’re dying. Fantasy golf is hard! Gamers’ Choices — PGA TOUR One & Done presented by SERVPRO This one is going to sting for the Justin Rose supporters, while the #NappyFactor army will be much happier at the end of today than they were yesterday. Next week, we’ll see if Tiger Woods breaks the Dustin Johnson record for usage in this format. Close Encounters There’s no point to rehash all 1,239,398 stats revealed about Tiger Woods this week. I learned that he is not the finished article, but I was more than encouraged by his performance on a track that he’s unfamiliar with playing. He struggled on the greens to find the proper speed and line and was obviously fooled a few times. Sunday’s red shirt didn’t bring the magic with his iron game either, as he didn’t have too many makeable birdie putts. I would assume this all changes next week at Bay Hill where he’s won eight times. The momentum is real and so is the “back” in comeback. Next stop is the winner’s circle. Reed-ing Between the Lines The “other” red shirt on Sunday needed just two shots on the final green to force a playoff with Casey. Patrick Reed took three instead, including the first two from essentially the same spot, and did not force extra holes. Shot No. 1 climbed most of the hill before returning to his feet. Shot No. 2 was what he had in mind for his first attempt. Gamers in all formats exhaled regardless since this was his first top 10 since September and third at Valspar. Play Them All It’s hard to be patient, but those of you who did with #NappyFactor Sergio Garcia were rewarded. The first-time father-to-be posted 69-65 on the weekend to cash for solo fourth. His wife is due next Sunday, so he’s out at Bay Hill. His next event will be WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play in her native Austin. … Reigning champion Adam Hadwin ended up being low Canadian for the week, posting T12. His final round 68 continued his excellent play at Innisbrook and on TOUR, as he’s inside the top 12 for his third event running. The confluence of course form with recent form was an easy one for gamers this week. No Country for Old Men The 40-year-old Paul Casey wasn’t the only “old dude” who played great this week. Rory Sabbatini, who will turn 42 in April, fired 67-69 for his first top 10 since the Wyndham last summer. … Ryder Cup Captain Jim Furyk, 47, continues his legend as a course horse at Innisbrook. This was his third top-10 finish since his win in 2010. It is also his first top-10 finish in 18 events dating back to November of 2016. …  Presidents Cup Captain Steve Stricker, 51, continued his hot form, as he rode the momentum from his PGA Champions victory in Tucson to T12 this week. In three TOUR events this yea,r he’s cashed for T31 or better. … Zach Johnson, 42, has now hit the top 25 in six of seven events this season after T16. Sunday Silence Corey Conners couldn’t handle the leaderboard on Sunday and who can blame him? Those were some big boys breathing down his neck. This experience will be worth more than the T16 paycheck, his best ever, moving forward. … Sadly for gamers Justin Rose had a front-row seat in the final group to Conners’ 77. This was a disappointment for gamers, as Rose (and Conners) has had plenty of winning experience and didn’t have to worry about the circus playing with Woods. Rose will be second choice next week at Bay Hill. … Sam Burns made a bogey on the final hole that knocked him out of the top 10 (T12). He doesn’t have status on TOUR, so he loses an event moving forward. He’s in the field at Bay Hill next week and Memorial in June. There’s no doubt about his talent, as he led the field in Strokes Gained: Putting, but there is no guarantee about his schedule. Study Hall Garcia and Reed led the field in birdies with 18. … Casey only made four bogeys and a double on the week, while Hadwin had only five bogeys to lead the avoidance department. … Alex Cejka returned to action this week after WD at The Honda Classic and led the field in Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green. … Matt Wallace defeated Andrew Johnston in the Hero Indian Open. Emiliano Grillo continued his excellent play, finishing sixth. He’s in the field with jet lag at Bay Hill next week. Tweet of the day:

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