Leaderboard: Phil in the hunt at Safeway Open

The World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play is back. Thursday’s second round is the second of three days of group play. After Friday, the player with the best record in each of the 16 four-man pools will advance to knockout play (ties will be broken via sudden-death playoff). Two rounds apiece will be played Saturday and Sunday to crown a champion. This is the only PGA TOUR event where players go mano-a-mano, and Austin Country Club is a perfect site for this format thanks to its offering of risk-reward holes. There will be 32 matches conducted on Thursday, and this file will be updated live at the conclusion of each match to keep you apprised of the action from the TOUR’s only match-play event. Return here often to learn about the latest upsets, comebacks and nail-biting finishes. THURSDAY RECAPS (Click here for live scores) GROUP 10 COREY CONNERS (2-0-0) def. LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN (0-2-0), 2 and 1 When people talk about the vagaries of match play, Oosthuizen should be presented as Exhibit A this week. He has made 11 birdies in the last two days and is winless. Oosthuizen hit a silky approach to 10 feet on the second hole to make birdie and take the lead, then matched birdies with Conners on the fifth hole. But Conners won the sixth, eighth and ninth holes to turn at 2 up and although Oosthuizen tied the match again on 13, an untimely tee shot on 16 coupled with a birdie from 8 feet by Conners on the par-3 17th hole closed the match quickly. “It was a hard-fought battle,” Conners said. “I felt like I played really well on the front nine. Got myself into the lead making the turn, kind of struggled in the first few holes on the back nine and was able to escape not losing too many holes and then won a couple at the end.” Oosthuizen is scheduled to play Paul Casey on Friday, although Casey has conceded both of his previous two matches. Conners will play Noren. Both are 2-0, with one win coming against Oosthuizen and the other via concession from Casey, meaning the winner of the match will advance to the Round of 16. ALEX NOREN (2-0-0) def. PAUL CASEY (0-2-0), concession Casey conceded his match for the second consecutive day, this time against Noren. Again, Casey said that his back was continuing to spasm, just as it was on Wednesday when he stopped his match on the second hole against Corey Conners. Casey told reporters that he has not decided if he will play in his Friday match against Louis Oosthuizen, but at 0-2 with two concessions, he has no chance to advance into Saturday’s Sweet 16. Meanwhile, Noren has the day off and is 2-0. He outlasted Oosthuizen, 1 up, on Wednesday in a match where Oosthuizen made seven birdies and never led at any point.

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SAN DIEGO - Rory McIlroy dialed back from his usual aggressive mindset to ensure an impressive start to his 2021 PGA TOUR campaign at the Farmers Insurance Open. McIlroy posted a clinical 4-under 68 on the South Course at Torrey Pines - hitting 17 of 18 greens in regulation on the way - on a day where the 2021 U.S. Open venue averaged 73.167. It left the two-time FedExCup champion four shots behind leaders Patrick Reed and Alex Noren, however their 8-under 64s came on the North Course which averaged a much easier 69.449. McIlroy is one of just four players inside the top 31 on the leaderboard to have played the South Course on the opening day. It was the 14th time in his TOUR career that McIlroy hit all but one green in regulation but the first time at Torrey Pines South. Incredibly, from 2010-2020, only 0.6% of players hit 17 or more greens on the South Course (21 of 3,414) - proof why the venue hosted the 2008 U.S. Open and why it will again this June. "It’s sort of weird to say, but I almost have better performances with greens in reg when they’re smaller greens because you can just be very comfortable hitting to the middles of greens all the time and not feeling like you’re having to take on pins," McIlroy explained. "It stops me from being my aggressive self a little bit, which is sometimes a good thing." It was a particularly impressive show of patience considering McIlroy is coming off a third-place finish on the European Tour where he failed to close out a 54-hole lead. With birdies up for grabs in Abu Dhabi, McIlroy could only manage to shoot even par and fell five shots behind eventual winner Tyrrell Hatton. It is now over 15 months since his last victory but rather than respond with aggression, he showed poise. The Northern Irishman has never hit all 18 greens in one round on the PGA TOUR with a greenside chip shot coming up short on the par-5 13th his only blemish on Thursday stopping him from the feat. "That's a goal for tomorrow," he smiled after being told. "I got off to a great start, 4 under through nine. A little disappointed I didn’t pick up a couple more on the way in, especially with the two par 5s ... but anytime you shoot 68 on the South Course here you’ve got to be pretty happy. "I’m really happy with how I drove the ball today, hit some good iron shots, and I think going from Bermuda greens last week in Abu Dhabi straight to poa here, it’s a bit of an adjustment. So, to get on those bent greens on the North tomorrow, I may find that a little easier."

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There are multiple levels of pressure to deal with on the PGA TOUR. Last week, Brooks Koepka had to face his heroes in a showdown on the back nine on Sunday at the PGA Championship before collecting his third major championship in his last six majors. This week some of the pros will be playing for their jobs as they try and retain PGA TOUR status in the final Regular Season event at the Wyndham Championship. For the 11th season running, Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, North Carolina, will play host as the TOUR determines the order of its top 125 players. Those inside of the top 125 at the end of play this week will also begin the FedExCup Playoffs next week at Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, New Jersey. Henrik Stenson (No. 9) became the highest-ranked player in the OWGR to win since Hal Sutton (No. 4) in 2000. Stenson set the tournament record as he posted 22-under-par 258. He’s back to defend his title this week but I’ll point out in the last 11 events at Sedgefield there have been 11 different winners. The field of 156 will be looking to rack up $1.080 million and 500 FedExCup points before the prize pools greatly expand next week in the Playoffs. TALES OF THE TAPE The one element that jumps off the page is the spectrum of winners this event has produced since returning to Sedgefield in 2008. Yes, that was 51-year-old Davis Love III picking up the check in 2015. He became the third-oldest winner on TOUR as he came back from four shots down after 54 holes to win by one. He never had problems keeping up off the tee with the younger generation but it was his putting stroke that proved to be the difference. With perfect summer weather, the cut checked in at 3-under-par, reinforcing the point that average rounds don’t hold up when jobs are on the line. This event isn’t for the grinder either as the top 30 were 10-under or lower and there were exactly three rounds from this group that were worse than par. The pendulum swung the opposite direction the following year as 21-year-old Si Woo Kim replaced the 51-year-old Love as the champ. Not only did he become the youngest winner of the event but he did it in regal fashion. He set the new course record (60) in Round 2 while tying the tournament record of 21-under-par 259 as he led alone after 36, 54 and 72 holes. The icing on the cake was a whopping five-shot victory final round that didn’t even cause him to break a sweat. Not bad for TOUR win No. 1! The top 32 players were 10-under or better and the cut was 3-under again. Rafa Cabrera Bello was the co-first round leader after posting 63 and is in the field again this week. Last year the veteran Swede was pushed to the finish line by Ollie Schniederjans. Stenson was up for the challenge as he made birdies on four of his last six holes to win by one. Schniederjans, the former Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket, refused to go quietly and was the only player bogey-free in the final round. Knowing that he needed to dunk his final shot on the last to have any chance of a playoff, he missed by just 21 inches. Matt Every opened the proceedings with 61 but Stenson’s 62 didn’t force him to play catch-up all week. He sat one off the lead at the halfway point behind Ryan Armour, who signed for 61 in Round 2, and Webb Simpson before securing the 54-hole lead by a shot. For the third year running the cut was 3-under so there’s no room for slow starts! 2008: Inaugural edition, 21-under is the winning score; history before at the Forest Oaks Club is irrelevant. 2009: Ryan Moore makes up a four-shot deficit to force a playoff and win. 2010: Monday Qualifier Arjun Atwal shoots 20-under to win by one. 2011: Webb Simpson named one of his daughters after the event. 2012: Monday finish for Sergio Garcia. 2013: Patrick Reed beat Jordan Spieth in a playoff after switching to Champion Bermuda greens. 2014: Camilo Villegas shot 63 in the final round to come from four shots off the lead to win. Go ahead and tell me what’s going to happen this week! The only thing I am positive about this week is that plenty of par-breakers will need to be on the winning scorecard! NOTE: Golfers inside the top 25-ish in each statistic on the 2017-18 PGA TOUR are listed only if they are scheduled to compete this week. * – Finished inside the top 10 since 2013 or is a past champion. Birdie-or-Better Percentage Rank  Golfer  2  Joaquin Niemann 11 Chesson Hadley 14 Keith Mitchell 15 Ryan Palmer 16 Brandon Harkins 19 Grayson Murray 20 Ricky Barnes 22 *Martin Laird 23 Sam Saunders 26 Tom Lovelady 29 *Ollie Schniederjans Proximity Rank  Golfer  1  David Hearn  2  Joaquin Niemann  4  Steve Stricker  7  Chris Kirk  9  Conrad Shindler 10 Tom Hoge 12 *Jim Furyk 12 Cameron Percy 15 *Henrik Stenson 17 Brian Stuard 21 Blayne Barber 21 Chesson Hadley 25 *J.J. Henry 27 *Ryan Armour Rounds in the 60’s Rank  Golfer  4  Jason Kokrak  7  Chesson Hadley  8  Keith Mitchell 10 Brian Gay 14 Corey Conners 14 Chris Kirk 18 Tyler Duncan 18 *Webb Simpson 18 J.T. Poston 25 Patrick Rodgers 25 Brandon Harkins 30 *Rory Sabbatini 30 *John Huh 30 *Ryan Armour Par-4 Scoring Rank  Golfer  5  Joaquin Niemann  9  *Henrik Stenson  9  Hunter Mahan  9  *Ryan Moore 15 Chris Kirk 15 *Webb Simpson 21 J.T. Poston 21 *Johnson Wagner Sedgefield Country Club was originally designed by Donald Ross and then was redesigned by Kris Spence before resuming hosting duties in 2008. Stretching only to 7,127 yards the Par-70 has been under attack since Day 1. All three of the last winners were in the top 10 in fairways but birdies aren’t made from the tee box. With greens averaging almost 6,500 square feet, I’m more interested in the players who hit the most of them. The more chances at birdie will keep the pressure off as everyone knows they will need to go low this week. Running at 12 feet on the Stimpmeter, I’ll remind you this is the first time on Bermuda for these guys on TOUR since TPC Southwind, the week before the U.S. Open. What a way to end it! Just like the big gunfight seen in the movies! Everyone who is teetering knows they have to go low this week and watching guys who do or don’t handle the moment is fascinating. Newer gamers will tell me that guys will play well this week because they have to. I’ll point out most have had over 20 chances to secure their card by now. I don’t think the pressure or knowing that only low scores will be the way to go is going to “help” this week. As shown above, there’s not much degree of difficulty to this track as it simply sits right in front of the players. There’s not much of a learning curve necessary as shown by the winners above. The pressure this week is on the pros sitting firmly on the FedExCup bubble. The top 125 advance to the Playoffs and will keep full playing privileges for next season. In seven of the last eight years, No. 125 entering this week has secured his card for next year. The Bubble Other notables  QUICK FACTS: • Of the 10 winners at Sedgefield, six have been internationals. • In the last five years only 10 players have inserted themselves into the top 125. • Matt Jones has fallen out of the 125 THREE TIMES at this event. He begins the week No. 144 so maybe he can turn the tables! • There has never been a repeat champion at this event since Sam Snead in 1956. • Gamers please remember any player who won last year is exempt in 2018-19 regardless of their final position this year. It does NOT make them eligible for the Playoffs. • Green complexes were changed from Bentgrass to Champions Bermuda after the 2012 edition. Rob Bolton’s Power Rankings will give you more juice for the week so make sure you stop by. It’s also who I trust with the weather each week so pay attention!  NOTE: The groups below are comprehensive to assist in data mining. Inclusion doesn’t imply automatic endorsement in every fantasy game as all decisions are specific to your situation.  

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