Mickelson in 4-way tie at Pebble after wild finish

ORLANDO, Fla. – Birdies and eagles ignite the roars, but running off a stretch of bogey-free holes should be considered with more respect than a bowl of vanilla ice cream. They surely make PGA TOUR guys smile, which is why Tiger Woods was left in a sour mood early on his back nine in what would wind up being a 4-under 68 in Thursday’s first round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard. So crisp in hitting seven greens and turning at 3-under, Woods was near flawless for his first 11 holes, extending his stretch of bogey-free holes to 25, dating back to the final round of last week’s Valspar Championship. Then, an unexpected wild pitch. His tee shot at the difficult, dogleg left par-4 third drifted wide right and came to rest against netting. Unfortunately, while the netting seemed to offer Woods a break, it did not.  “If you looked at the poles, I was out,� Woods said. Meaning out-of-bounds, meaning a long, expletive-filled trip back to the tee. He made his first double-bogey since the 15th hole in the final round of the Honda Classic. But if double-bogeys can dampen the spirits, what is a sure-fire remedy is a pair of ensuing par-5s — which Woods took advantage of. Two shots got him to the back of the 567-yard fourth, two putts from 40 feet got him to 2 under, then at the 531-yard sixth that wraps around Lake Bay Hill — or whatever they call that massive body of water that once swallowed a few sleeve of John Daly golf balls — Woods took a gamble with a 35-yard wedge shot. “It was a hard shot,� he said of what was left of a lay-up that was pushed right and mandated a shot to a hole cut tight to a bunker. There was little green to work with.  “I took a chance to play a spinner and I pulled it off,� Woods said.  Then at the par-3 seventh — the hole got in the way of what was meant to be a 71-foot lag putt — just like that, the two shots squandered at the third were a distant memory. As satisfying as those birdies were, what cemented the smile on Woods’ face was the 11-foot par-save at the par-4 ninth, “because I don’t think anybody wants to end with a bogey.� The fact is, bogeys have not been part of Woods’ repertoire of late. If you are searching for ways to measure the improvements Woods has made in this latest comeback, consider this: He recorded eight bogeys in a second-round 76 last month at Riviera, but he has made eight bogeys in his last five rounds combined — and four came on demanding par-3s at the Innisbrook Resort last week.  For sure, Woods has found an impressive rhythm; he’s been par or better in seven consecutive rounds and since that choppy 76 at Riviera, he is 13 under for nine rounds on three watery and penal Florida golf courses — PGA National, Innisbrook and the Bay Hill Club & Lodge — and the swagger has returned. “I think it’s just playing tournament golf,� Woods said, who has played 15 PGA TOUR rounds in 2018 after having competed in just two last season. “I’ve been away from it for so long that when I first came back it was just a matter of getting my feel for tournament golf again.  “I think I have (found it). I feel like I’m not really thinking as much around the golf course. I can just see and feel it and go and that’s just because I’ve got my ‘feels’ back again.� If there was a key to his round, it wasn’t the three birdies in four holes after the sloppy double-bogey. Likely, it was back on his opening nine.  At the par-4 13th, Woods had to apologize to caddie Joe LaCava for pushing his approach 15 yards to the right of his intended line. Flirting with water, the ball stayed up. While it was a missed-green, the 17-foot putt from the fringe was center cut to get him to 2 under. He got one shot deeper into red numbers with a most fortunate break at the par-5 16th. “Where did that hit?� Woods asked, needing an explanation for a drive that will go into the books as a 348-yarder. It shouldn’t, of course, because the ball rattled through the trees right of the fairway, hit hard dirt, then rolled down a cart path till he had but a 156-yard shot in. “(It was) nice to see, just a great break.� Woods getting a break is just what the competition wants to hear. He is, of course, seemingly picking up where he left off at Bay Hill. Woods was 13-under in 2012 and again in 2013 when he won for the seventh and eighth times here, so despite missing each of the last four editions of this tournament he’s been under par in nine consecutive rounds here. No, Woods wasn’t in the lead on Thursday. Not with Jimmy Walker posting a 67, thanks to a hole-out eagle at the demanding 18th, but nobody was going to dispute that it felt like old times.

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HILTON HEAD, S.C. – The yellow shirt Webb Simpson wore on Sunday at the RBC Heritage wasn’t a casual fashion choice. He didn’t take it out of his closet because it would look good with that red tartan jacket that goes to the winner of the tournament, either. Of course, turns out that it did. RELATED: Final leaderboard | The clubs Simpson used to win No, Simpson wears yellow on Sundays because it was his late father Sam’s favorite color. And in an unusual quirk of scheduling due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the RBC Heritage, once canceled and later postponed, was concluding on Father’s Day. “This morning I thought about him, and when I was on the golf course, I thought about him,” Simpson would later say. “… So still feeling my dad all around me from memories. He loved golf. “He would have loved watching today.” Indeed. Sam’s son took control of the RBC Heritage on the back nine, making birdies on five of his last seven holes for a 64 to earn the seventh victory of his PGA TOUR career. With the win, Simpson climbed to the top of the FedExCup standings as well as to No. 5 in the world. Of course, the U.S. Open, which was postponed until September, usually is the tournament that ends on Father’s Day. So, this actually marks the second time Simpson has celebrated victory on that holiday – and Sam was still alive when his boy won the 2012 U.S. Open at the Olympic Club. “I’ll never forget calling my dad after on the way to the press conference, and when he picked up the phone, he just was laughing,” Simpson said. “That’s kind of what he did when he was happy, he would just laugh. So, I’m going to miss that laugh today for sure.” For Simpson, who lost his dad jn 2017, the ascent is part and parcel of the hard work he’s put in over the last three years after finding himself on the outside looking in when everyone else was playing in the TOUR Championship and making Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup teams like he used to do. “I really have a desire to be in that top 10 or 15 guys in the world ranking all the time and have chances to win, not just twice a year, but as many times as I can,” Simpson said. “So that led me to just look at every part of my game, whether it’s working out or the mental approach, and see if I can get better. “That was three years ago probably. So, yeah … it feels great to see the hard work pay off and see that the process I’ve put in place is working. But we’re nuts. We always think we can get better, and I think there’s room to grow.” Sunday’s final round was a roller coaster of emotions that featured as many as seven players tied for the lead. Turning up the heat, too, on this steamy afternoon was a different kind of race – this one to finish before darkness after a weather delay of two hours and 35 minutes. Simpson, who also won THE PLAYERS Championship in 2018 on Mother’s Day, had held at least a share of the second- and third-round leads. But he had to come from behind over the final nine holes, chasing Tyrrell Hatton, Abraham Ancer and Joaquin Neimann, among others to seal the win. “Honestly, the last kind of 10 holes were a blur because guys are making birdies, we’re trying to finish before night comes,” Simpson said. “And so, to finish with five birdies like that was really special, especially after going kind of yesterday and the first 10 holes, 11 holes today not making putts. “To see the putts go in when I needed them, that was really fun to see the ball going in the hole.” The feverish competition worked in Simpson’s favor, too. As he saw birdies being posted, he knew he had to be a little more aggressive after giving up ground on the front nine. He played the final nine holes with authority and confidence, and was rewarded at the end. “It’s typically not a golf course where you can force it, but today after the storm, it softened things out, not much wind, we could go attacking,” Simpson said. “Guys kept making birdies. I was blown away with the scores, but there I hit my run, 12 through 17, and ultimately that’s what made the difference.” And Simpson, who has five kids of his own, now has a new celebration for Father’s Day.

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From Fowler to Xander Schauffele, Jason Sobel identifies which professional golfers are poised to jump to another level this year.

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