Live leaderboard: Round 2 of Desert Classic

CROMWELL, Conn. – A few ticks of the clock may have cost Zach Johnson a share of the second-round lead at the Travelers Championship. With his 18-foot birdie attempt at the 424-yard par-4 third sitting on the edge of the cup Friday, Johnson walked up to the ball, counted off the 10 seconds he could legally wait under the rules, and then was about to tap in. But then the ball started to wobble, so he held up. It eventually dropped into the cup – but by then, at least six more seconds had elapsed. So instead of a birdie, Johnson had to settle for a par en route to a 68 that left him at 9 under and in a three-way tie for second, one shot behind 36-hole leader Brian Harman. “You can call it unfortunate. You can just call it the rules of golf,� Johnson said. “I really don’t know. I’m not going to lose one second of sleep. I don’t want to say it’s irrelevant. It’s just the way it goes.� While still on the third green, Johnson consulted PGA TOUR rules official John Mutch. He also met with Mutch and Vice President of Rules Mark Russell in the scoring trailer after his round. Johnson wondered what would have happened had he marked his ball. Would he get another 10 seconds? Does a wobbling ball reset the 10-second clock to zero? “Even if the ball is moving, it’s deemed to be at rest because it’s on the lip,� Johnson said after the discussions. “Don’t ask me why, but that’s just the way it is. So even if I would have hit a moving ball there, it would not have mattered. Technically, I wouldn’t have to tap it in either, I guess, because it’s a one-shot penalty. Once the ball’s in the hole, the ball’s in the hole.� Rule 16-2 addresses a ball overhanging a hole, stating: “When any part of the ball overhangs the lip of the hole, the player is allowed enough time to reach the hole without unreasonable delay and an addition 10 seconds to determine whether the ball is at rest. If by then the ballhas  not fallen into the hole, it is deemed to be at rest. If the ball subsequently falls into the hole, the player is deemed to have holed out with his last stroke and must add a penalty stroke to his score for the hole; otherwise, there is no penalty under this rule.� Russell was asked how long the entire process lasted once the 10-second countdown began. “About 16 to 18 seconds, something like that. Well over 10 seconds.� Russell added, “If that would have happened with eight seconds once he had reached the hole, he would’ve made a 3.� Russell said the 10-second countdown only begins “once you reach the hole and you’re in a position where you can tap it in.� Theoretically, then, Johnson could have taken his time reaching the hole, buying a few more seconds in hopes the ball would legally drop for birdie. “I could have walked really slow to the ball, yeah,� said Johnson, noting that the 10-second rule was there to address pace of play issues. “But I’m not so sure I would have felt good about that.� While the rules may have cost Johnson a stroke at the third hole, he did use the rule book to his advantage at the par-4 17th. After his tee shot found the water, Johnson utilized one of the five options under a lateral water hazard rule to drop near the 16th tee box, some 232 yards from the hole. He said it was a better option than dropping in the rough, where he’d just wedge out and play for a bogey. “It was kind of hard to determine where the ball crossed, but I think my playing partners and I were fairly conservative,� Johnson said. “I don’t like to push it on that. “So we took the mark and I used the rule to my advantage and went lateral, which was towards 16 tee box. There was kind of a brown area there that was within two club lengths, so I dropped it there and I thought, you know what? If I get a decent lie, I can maybe give it a whirl because there’s really not a whole lot there between me and the hole, and maybe I can get it around the green and make a 5. If I don’t get a good lie, I’ll just wedge it out on the fairway and try to get up-and-down for 5.� Instead, he opened up a 4-hybrid, started his shot over the grandstands, and heard the gallery reaction as the ball finished inside 8 feet. He then made the par putt. “If felt good to get away with that 4,� Johnson said. “That’s as good of an up-and-down as I’ve witnessed or performed.� As for the other 16 holes Johnson played Friday? Fairly benign. A couple of birdies on a bogey-free round. “A lot of good out there,� Johnson said. “There was a lot of boring fairway, green, missed putt golf. But there were a couple of incidents that were highlights and/or asterisks. I don’t know how you’d label it.�

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Jordan Spieth will make his first start of 2019, and first start as a married man, at the Sony Open in Hawaii this week.  The 2015 FedExCup winner and former world No. 1, who is trying to rebound from his worst season as a pro, wed longtime girlfriend Annie Verret last November and admitted Wednesday he expects to see some rust in his game at Waialae Country Club this week.  “This tournament was up in in the air, given I wasn’t in Maui this year,â€� said Spieth, who finished 31st in the FedExCup last season and missed the TOUR Championship for the first time in his six-year career. “I decided that I really wanted to come down here. I like the golf course a lot, the hospitality is fantastic, and the weather is perfect. “Really could come down and try out the very little work I was able to put in, but at least knock some rust off and gather some information about where I am at and hopefully make some adjustments going forward into the season.â€� Spieth slipped to 123rd in Strokes Gained: Putting in 2018, from 39th the year before and 2nd in 2016. He also struggled with his swing and said he wasted time working on the wrong thing. The result: His five top-10s in 23 starts were the fewest of his career. “I was certainly frustrated with last season results-wise compared to previous seasons,â€� he said. “It was also something I kind of embraced as an inevitable at some point in the career. “I almost took ignorance as bliss in a lot of parts of my game,â€� he added, alluding to the torrid start of his career, when he won 11 times, including three majors, all before turning 25. “I did things well, but I didn’t know why. I just did them. Then they got off, and so I had to figure out why I did them well and how to train it back.â€� Spieth said he’s now working on the right thing, but finding the time to get it grooved has been another matter. The off-season saw him spend less time on his game than on his wedding in Dallas and honeymoon in the Caribbean. As a result, he said, he’s not sure what to expect at the Sony. He was 3rd in 2017 and T18 a year ago, but returns to Waialae after “limited work.â€� “I think that was good for me,â€� he said. “I needed some time away from the game after being off and having to play through it at the end the season, and then in the fall kind of the same thing.â€� In a departure from his usual scheduling, Spieth finished T55 at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in Las Vegas, and missed the cut at the Mayakoba Golf Classic in the fall. He comes into this week at 191st in the FedExCup and 17th in the Official World Golf Ranking. “I’m a little bit behind,â€� he said, “which I can play catch up, I think, pretty easily.â€� One adjustment: What to do about that new wedding ring when gripping the club? “I’m fine with playing with it,â€� Spieth said. “It’s just my putting; when I’m cross-handed kind of jams into my grip.â€�  As a result, he said, he probably will take it off when he’s inside the ropes. “Unfortunately,â€� he said, “that means I’ll probably lose some rings, but I don’t think — as of now I don’t think I’m going to start playing with it on. Just it was putting that was the reason. Kind of odd.â€�

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GREENSBORO, N.C. – As the leaders warmed up before the third round of the Wyndham Championship at the steamy Sedgefield Country Club, Mike Weir worked on his game with a green stretchy band around his torso and left arm. He’d shot a third-round 68 to get to 6 under, which was well back but most likely will make the 54-hole cut. Weir, 49 and awaiting his 50th birthday and PGA TOUR Champions eligibility next May, has been working hard on his game, but not getting much out of it. This season has seen him splitting time between the Korn Ferry Tour and the PGA TOUR, where he missed the cut by one at the Masters Tournament, RBC Canadian Open, and Rocket Mortgage Classic. “I’ve missed the cut by one like eight times this year,� said Weir, who is 249th in the FedExCup. He laughed. “It’s the silliest thing. I’m playing fine. I’ve been feeling really good about my game since I started working with Mark Blackburn about a year ago.� Blackburn is an Englishman who has been recognized by Golf Magazine, Golf Digest and others as one of the top instructors in America. His Blackburn Golf Academy is located in Birmingham, Alabama, and in addition to Weir he has coached several other TOUR pros. Just as importantly, Weir is finally pain-free. “I got a new trainer,� he said, “and that’s really helped me gain my mobility again. I had so many back issues and neck issues for so long, I was just immobile, really. I wasn’t able to turn.� Weir has made 330 feet of putts over the first three rounds at the Wyndham, propelling him to his first made cut since he finished T58 at the Charles Schwab Challenge in May. When he was healthy, Weir was one of the game’s most potent point-to-point players. His accuracy and wedge game, plus a nerveless putting stroke, earned him eight TOUR wins, biggest among them the 2003 Masters Tournament. He beat Tiger Woods in an epic singles match at the 2007 Presidents Cup in Montreal, and won the Fry’s Electronics Open less than a month later. Injuries, though, wreaked havoc, and he hasn’t won since. Now, a dozen years later, he’s looking at a new lease on life on PGA TOUR Champions. “I think I’ll be competitive,� Weir said. “I feel good and I still have good enough length for out there. I’m excited. It’s invigorated me this last year to get ready for that. Every guy I’ve talked to, they’re like, ‘Mike, you’ve got to keep playing. If you take time off and go out there, you’re going to get lapped. You’ve got to stay sharp.’ So, that’s what I’ve tried to do.�

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