Marina Alex shoots 10-under 62 to take LPGA Tour lead

Twelve-time PGA TOUR winner Jason Day has signed with Bridgestone Golf to use its golf ball. Day, whose victories include the 2016 PLAYERS and 2015 PGA Championship, first became interested in Bridgestone’s TOUR B XS after seeing Tiger Woods use the ball to hit some high-spinning short game shots. Though he had no relationship with Bridgestone Golf at the time, Day began experimenting with Woods’ ball and was impressed enough to start playing it on TOUR. “We were doing some short-game work with Tiger’s ball, the XS, and it caught my attention right away,” said Day. “I initially played the XS and liked it but after working with Bridgestone’s R&D team and really learning about the ball fitting process, it was obvious that the TOUR B X was the best fit for my game.” Day will be playing the 2022 TOUR B X for the foreseeable future. Day, who has been an equipment free agent over the past couple years, is 86th in this season’s FedExCup after finishing third at the Farmers Insurance Open. He is 90th in the Official World Golf Ranking after reaching the No. 1 position earlier in his career. “Every day I look at what I can do to get better and the choice to play Bridgestone feeds right into that,” said Day. “Personally, I feel kind of like I am cheating playing this ball. Of course, I’m not but it’s that good. The performance of the TOUR B affords me opportunities to be aggressive; off the tee, the ball speed is there but it’s still super spinny around the green, which is a nice combination. “I found a lot more consistency in not only the drives but consistency around the greens, as well. Consistency is huge for me.” Day joins Tiger Woods, Fred Couples, Matt Kuchar, Bryson DeChambeau and Lexi Thompson in representing Bridgestone.

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Round 1 of the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard takes place from Bay Hill on Thursday. A field full of the game’s biggest names include two-time FedExCup champion and past Arnold Palmer Invitational winner Rory McIlroy and world No. 1 Jon Rahm. Defending champion Bryson DeChambeau withdrew from the event due to injury. Tyrrell Hatton, Marc Leishman, and FedExCup leader Hideki Matsuyama return to action, as does Scottie Scheffler. Here’s everything you need to know to follow the action, including Featured Groups for PGA TOUR LIVE and newly expanded and extended coverage on ESPN+. Click here for more details. Leaderboard Full tee times HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Thursday-Friday, 2 p.m.-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday-Sunday, 12:30 p.m.-2:30 p.m. (Golf Channel), 2:30 p.m.-6 p.m. (NBC). Radio: Thursday-Friday, 12–6 p.m. ET. Saturday, 1–6 p.m. Sunday, 1-6:30 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio) For outside of the U.S., click here for GOLFTV powered by the PGA TOUR PGA TOUR LIVE PGA TOUR Live is available exclusively on ESPN+ • Main Feed: primary tournament-coverage featuring the best action from across the course • Marquee Group: new “marquee group” showcasing every shot from each player in the group • Featured Groups: traditional PGA TOUR LIVE coverage of two concurrent featured groups • Featured Holes: a combination of par-3s and iconic or pivotal holes FEATURED GROUPS Thursday Marquee Group Rory McIlroy, Adam Scott, Sepp Straka Featured Groups Hideki Matsuyama, Luke List, Max Homa Scottie Scheffler, Sungjae Im, Will Zalatoris Friday Marquee Group Jon Rahm, Sergio Garcia, Sam Burns Featured Groups Viktor Hovland, Billy Horschel, Tom Hoge Jason Day, Marc Leishman, Tyrrell Hatton MUST READS The First Look Power Rankings Expert Picks Five Things to Know: Bay Hill Byrson, Arnie linked by love of the long ball

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HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – Paul Casey shot an opening-round 74 at the RBC Heritage presented by Boeing, but his work on the greens was hardly the problem. While he hit his tee shot out of bounds and triple-bogeyed the par-4 eighth hole, Casey gained nearly a full stroke on the field with a cross-handed putting stroke he’s been using for less than a week. The change goes back to the Masters, where, fed up after rounds of 73-74-73, Casey and longtime caddie John McLaren decided to make a dramatic change for round four. “It was a text conversation last Saturday night,” said Casey, who took just 26 putts at Harbour Town on Thursday. “Johnny suggested the claw. I’ve never done the claw, so I nixed that idea.” They decided he should try cross-handed, a style Casey had practiced with because it fixes the various alignment and biomechanical flaws in his regular stroke. There was only one sticking point: He didn’t have much time to practice the new stroke before his tee time Sunday. Enter his final-round playing partner Billy Horschel. “On the putting green before we got to the first tee, I was still asking Billy how to grip the thing, because he’s left-hand low,” Casey said with a laugh. “I’m like, ‘How do you grip it?’ Because my index finger on my right hand, I wasn’t comfortable with it on the outside, so I just left it where it was and just wrapped the left over it so it’s kind of hidden underneath.” Despite the hasty change, it worked: Casey birdied his first two holes and shot 69 (T26). “I made a really nice eight-footer on the first, made another one on the second,” he said. “I putted well. I felt comfortable right from the get-go with it. I think there’s a Nicklaus quote where he said if he could have done one thing different, he would have gone left-hand low. “I’d dabbled with it a little bit,” Casey continued. “I think I tried it once at a tournament in Dubai or something like that. It didn’t go very well. But I’ve practiced a lot with it, and it solves a lot of my flaws that I normally have when I’m putting regular-style.” On the agenda for Friday will be to keep rolling it well on the greens while hitting more fairways (8/14 in the first round) and more greens in regulation (9/18).

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