LIV Golf adds tourneys in South Korea, Indiana

WILMINGTON, N.C. – Notes and observations from Thursday’s first round of the Wells Fargo Championship at Eagle Point Golf Club, where Italy’s Francesco Molinari chipped in on the 18th hole for a 6-under 66 and a one-shot lead over Sweden’s Alex Noren among the early finishers. DJ PLEASED WITH OPENING ROUND Dustin Johnson hasn’t played much golf lately, but the rust didn’t show as he made four birdies and signed for a 2-under 70. That tied him with 53-year-old playing partner Davis Love III, and gave Johnson a solid start as he tries to play his way back into the winner’s circle for the fourth time in his last four starts.    “I’m happy with the way I played,” Johnson said. “I didn’t score that great, didn’t really hole that many putts, but other than that, yeah, I played really well.” Johnson got right back to his usual game Thursday. He averaged 312.7 yards off the tee, and hit 8 of 14 fairways and 16 of 18 greens. (He leads the TOUR in both driving distance and greens in regulation.) The only thing that hampered his play: He took 32 putts. All in all, he said, it was a good day, especially considering this was his first competitive round since he closed out Jon Rahm to win the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play on March 26. “I thought I drove it nicely,” Johnson said, “Hit a lot of good iron shots. You know, I’m happy with the way I played, for sure.” The long break wasn’t part of the plan, of course. Johnson went to Augusta National for the Masters four weeks ago, but pulled out at the 11th hour with a lower back injury suffered while falling down a short flight of stairs in his rental house. In a way, Johnson said after his opening-round 70 at Eagle Point, it felt like nothing had changed since before the injury. He said he feels 100 percent physically, and the statistics backed him up: His longest measured drive in Round 1 was an impressive 340 yards. Johnson’s win streak goes all the way back to the Genesis Open in Los Angeles in February. Should he prevail at the Wells Fargo for his fourth straight victory it would mark the longest winning streak on TOUR since Tiger Woods won five straight tournaments in 2007-2008. “All in all,” Johnson said, “I’m very pleased with the day.” MOLINARI HEATS UP WITH PUTTER Francesco Molinari was having qualified success this season already, what with a T7 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational Presented by MasterCard, a T33 at the Masters, and a T22 finish at the RBC Heritage. But something was holding him back: putting. That changed in the first round of the Wells Fargo, as Molinari chipped in twice and needed just 25 putts on his way to a 66 for the first-round lead. “Yeah, I had lots of good rounds this year,” said Molinari, who is ranked 69th in strokes gained: putting. “I think I had something like eight top 25s in 11 tournaments, so I’ve been playing really well. Obviously today I made a few more putts than maybe the last couple of months, which is always nice. … I worked on the putting a lot the last couple weeks and it paid off today.” Molinari said he took pleasure in not just seeing the ball go in the hole Thursday, but also in his older brother Edoardo picking up his third European Tour victory last month. “He’s had a pretty tough time the last few seasons,” Francesco said. WILLY WILCOX ‘TRYING TO FIND THE GAME’ Amid the players’ rush to familiarize themselves with Eagle Point, Willy Wilcox was so far down the alternate list to get into the Wells Fargo he didn’t play any practice rounds. He walked the back nine Wednesday, leaving his caddie Kevin Ensor to tour all 18. But that was it. Still, in his first time seeing Eagle Point with a club in his hands, Wilcox shot 3 under on the front nine Thursday morning, briefly sharing the lead. The 30-year-old with the unconventional swing dropped two shots on the back nine and signed for a 1-under 71. “Just trying to find the game,” said Wilcox, who is coming off his best result this season, a T14 with partner Freddie Jacobson at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. “It’s nice to see some good stuff. It was nice to birdie the last. It got a little squirrely on the back so we’ll go to the range and figure it out. We got a great draw with the weather.” Most fans know Wilcox for his ace at THE PLAYERS Championship last year, which was the first at the island 17th hole since 2002. He is not qualified to return to TPC Sawgrass next week, but remains grateful for the moment. He got messages from all around the world, all of which obscured the fact that he didn’t have a great season, missing 11 cuts and finishing 138th in the FedExCup standings. In December, he decided to shake things up. He was kicking back and having a few beers with his agent when he decided to change his name from Will to Willy, since everybody calls him that, anyway. “I wish I was going back,” Wilcox said of THE PLAYERS. “I mean, I guess I still kind of have a chance. It’s amazing how many people know about it. I got emails and Facebook messages, Twitter messages, my family was there. It was as cool as it could possibly get. Everybody back home was really excited. It wasn’t like, ‘Oh, you had a bad year.’ People were like, ‘You had a hole-in-one! Dude, you should just retire now!’” He’s not about to retire, Wilcox added with a laugh. For one thing, the former University of Alabama-Birmingham Blazer — his mom Kim is the women’s golf coach — still has three more rounds to go at the Wells Fargo. His 71 puts him five behind the leader Molinari, which means a return trip to THE PLAYERS, while still a longshot, is still within reach.

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Christiaan Bezuidenhout (+300 for a Top 20) … Pick your pleasure or jump on both. Of the dozen from his homeland in the field, only Louis Oosthuizen is presented at shorter odds, but you’d win an argument that Bezuidenhout is the hottest of ‘em all. In fact, of all golfers from the entire continent of Africa, he’s totaled the most Official World Golf Ranking points (47.02) in 2022. Oosthuizen has managed only 16.82. In the last two months, Bezuidenhout has connected for a co-runner-up (John Deere) among four top 20s. He’s T5 on the PGA TOUR in proximity to the hole, T29 in Strokes Gained: Putting, fifth in scrambling and first in proximity from the sand, the last of which rarely within our focus but it doesn’t hurt in case he finds any of the 112 bunkers on the Old Course. The 28-year-old also is no stranger to big stages. He’s a combined 7-for-10 in majors, including a payday (T53) at Royal St. George’s last year. Haotong Li (+400 for a Top 20) … After an extended tailspin, he’s back on the rise, and quickly at that. It was at the Royal Birkdale in 2017 when he closed with 63 to finish third in what was his Open debut. That would have tied the all-time record for lowest score in a major if Branden Grace hadn’t broken it by one the day before. The result vaulted Li into the top 100 of the Official World Golf Ranking (to 63rd) for the first time. Six months later, he rose to a career-best 32nd with a win in Dubai, his second career DP World Tour title. Then, two years ago this week, he slipped outside the top 100 and hasn’t cracked it again. The low point came last December when he sat 542nd. A runner-up finish at the Volvo China Open (the tournament where he connected for his first DPWT win in 2016) ensued, as have five more top 20s, including an emotional third career victory at the BMW International Open just three weeks ago. Currently 139th in the OWGR and with powerful momentum in tow. Chris Kirk (+550 for a Top 20) … Granted, St. Andrews is in a league of its own, but the 37-year-old has recorded six top 20s in the last five months. The set includes challenging venues like PGA National (T7), Bay Hill (T5) and Southern Hills (T5). He finished 71st at The Renaissance Club on Sunday, but he’s acclimated with four warm rounds after a three-week break. Among the best tee to green, so the objective is to simplify and plug that skill set into this equation that demands avoiding trouble. Sebastián Muñoz (+450 for a Top 20) … This is a respectful value for a guy who’s 0-for-2 at The Open. No doubt that it reflects house protection given his series of exceptional performances on all kind of tests, including a T14 at the U.S. Open just four weeks ago. The Colombian cut his teeth in the winds presented at the University of North Texas, and now with several PGA TOUR seasons under his belt, he’s fine-tuning his game to pop at a moment’s notice. That includes a pair of opening 60s en route to third-place finishes in the last eight months. That score isn’t out there at St. Andrews, but it will reward the kind of confidence and balance that he’s carried throughout. Keita Nakajima (+1400 for a Top 20) … The twice-qualified phenom from Japan still hasn’t turned pro – perhaps this fall – so he arrived for his Open debut as the long-standing world’s top-ranked amateur. Yet, he’s played primarily professional events over the last two years, and even won one on the Japan Golf Tour last September. He was a Sleeper for the Masters (at +750 for a Top 20) and missed the cut, but there’s three times the argument that the better play is now, anyway. First, the kickback for a Top 20 at St. Andrews is almost double what it was at Augusta National. Second, while amateurs tend not to make much noise at The Open, the last time one finished inside the top 20 was, you guessed it, at St. Andrews in 2015, when, count ‘em, three recorded top 15s – Jordan Niebrugge (T6), Ashley Chesters (T12), Ollie Schniederjans (T12) – and that doesn’t even include Paul Dunne (T30), who shared the 54-hole lead. And third, while modest, the 22-year-old Nakajima is another three months experienced. Odds were sourced on Tuesday, July 12, 2022. For live odds, visit BetMGM.

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The PGA Tour stays in Hawaii but moves to Honolulu for the Sony Open. Our experts offer their best bets for the event.

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