Mickelson ready for first start with new caddie

2021 Mayakoba Golf Classic, Round 2 Top 10 win probabilities: 1. Emiliano Grillo (1, -13, 45.1%) 2. Tony Finau (T2, -9, 10.7%) 3. Tom Hoge (T2, -9, 5.9%) 4. Russell Knox (4, -8, 4.6%) 5. Joel Dahmen (T5, -7, 4.1%) 6. Viktor Hovland (T9, -6, 3.9%) 7. Brendon Todd (T9, -6, 3.0%) 8. Kyle Stanley (T5, -7, 2.4%) 9. Joaquin Niemann (T9, -6, 2.1%) 10. Corey Conners (T18, -5, 1.8%) Highest cut probabilities that missed cut: 1. Michael Gligic (started Friday at -4; 92.2% to make cut) 2. Harry Higgs (-3; 91.8%) 3. Ryan Armour (-2; 86.4%) 4. Rickie Fowler (-1; 94.3%) 5. Brooks Koepka (Even; 74.7%) Lowest cut probabilities that made cut: 1. Brice Garnett (started Friday at +3; 24% to make cut) 2. Rafael Campos (+1; 24.5%) 3. Ben Taylor (+1; 25.4%) 4. Max Homa (+2; 32.1%) 5. Sepp Straka (+2; 33.2%) NOTE: These reports are based off the live predictive model run by @DataGolf. The model provides live "Make Cut", "Top 20", "Top 5", and "Win" probabilities every 5 minutes from the opening tee shot to the final putt of every PGA TOUR event. Briefly, the model takes account of the current form of each golfer as well as the difficulty of their remaining holes, and probabilities are calculated from 20K simulations. To follow live finish probabilities throughout the remainder of the Mayakoba Golf Classic presented by UNIFIN, or to see how each golfer's probabilities have evolved from the start of the event to the current time, click here for the model's home page.

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PACIFIC PALISAIDES, Calif. – Tournament host Tiger Woods will have to wait at least one more year for another chance to break his win drought at Riviera Country Club after a tough third round at The Genesis Invitational. After opening the tournament with rounds of 69-73 to sit 10 shots back of Matt Kuchar’s 36-hole lead, Woods left Friday night knowing he could ill afford any mistakes on the weekend if he was to make a charge up the leaderboard. But any thoughts of a vintage charge were thwarted early as he played his first seven holes in five-over par, including a disastrous four-putt for a double bogey on the par-4 13th, his fourth hole of the morning. Woods had a birdie attempt from 18-feet, four-inches but pulled it left. He then missed from two-feet, four-inches for par and three-feet, two-inches for bogey with power lip outs before finally getting it home from three-feet for a double. Related: Leaderboard | TOUR pros: My first time with Tiger | JT admits Tiger carried him at Presidents Cup No other venue has repelled Woods like Riviera – the 82-time PGA TOUR winner is in his 13th try in this tournament with a runner up in 1999 his best return. Riviera is where his PGA TOUR career began as a 16-year-old having grown up in nearby Cypress. Amazingly, it is the second time Woods has four-putted the 13th green at Riviera having also done so in the third round in 2000. It is the only green on record in his career that he has done so twice and comes one start after four-putting during the Farmers Insurance Open on the opening hole of Torrey Pines South. Four of his now 14 career four-putts have come since June 2018. “That was a lot of shots. I hit the ball quite a few times, especially on the greens, and it was a long day,â€� Woods said post round. “I didn’t putt well today at all. I didn’t have a feel for it, I didn’t see my lines, I couldn’t feel my pace and I was just off.â€� Woods finished the round with a 5-over 76 to drop to five over for the tournament and near the back of the pack of those making the cut. When asked of the positives, the 44-year-old could only wryly say, “Well, I’m done.â€� But then added, “It’s a new day tomorrow. That’s the way golf is, put it in the past and try to learn from what I did right and wrong. Obviously there wasn’t a whole lot I did right today, and figure it out for tomorrow. “I just need to… not throw away shots with wedges in my hand, not three-putt, four-putt. All the things that, you clean all that up, next thing you know, you add that up and I’m probably, what, 7, 8, 9 under, and that’s without doing anything great, just not doing any of the dumb things.â€� Woods did not commit to play in next week’s World Golf Championship – Mexico Championship and also is not sure of his next start after tomorrow’s final round. “That’s the fun part of trying to figure this whole comeback — how much do I play, when do I play, do I listen to the body or do I fight through it?â€� he said. “There are some things I can push and some things I can’t. “I feel stiff, but I have weeks like that, especially in the cold mornings like it was the other day. Don’t quite move as well and that’s just kind of how it’s going to go.â€�

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Rory McIlroy defends his title at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, where last year’s back-nine blitz snapped an 18-month victory drought. Tiger Woods, meantime, hopes to get his season heated up at place where he’s won eight previous times. Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, 2016 winner Jason Day, and honorary co-host Justin Rose also top the marquee, as Bay Hill once again becomes the final tuneup for THE PLAYERS Championship. FIELD NOTES: Reigning Open Championship titleholder Francesco Molinari makes his first start on U.S. soil since the Sentry Tournament of Champions, topping an international sector that includes Ryder Cup partner Tommy Fleetwood, Hideki Matsuyama, Ian Poulter and Haotong Li. … Phil Mickelson, the 1997 Bay Hill champion and a recent winner at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, returns to Arnie’s Place for the first time since 2013. … Bay Hill expects to welcome 17 of the FedExCup’s current top 30. … U.S. Amateur champion Viktor Hovland makes his third TOUR start since capturing that crown. The Oklahoma State junior is No. 1 in the collegiate rankings, one spot ahead of teammate Matthew Wolff, who recently made the cut at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. … Hovland isn’t the only collegian in the field. Fourth-ranked Justin Suh also is playing. He recently won the Southwestern Invitational, his seventh win in his past 16 collegiate starts. … Other exemptions went to former NCAA champion Braden Thornberry and Sam Horsfield, born in England but raised in nearby Davenport, Florida. FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 points. STORYLINES: McIlroy, whose win last year was his first since the 2016 TOUR Championship, hopes Bay Hill can get him over the hump again. He arrives off four consecutive top-5 finishes, including a runner-up at the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship… Woods makes his 18th Bay Hill start with momentum from a share of 10th in Mexico, his first top-10 of the season. He tied for fifth last year in his first visit since winning in 2013. In addition to his eight TOUR titles at Bay Hill, he also won the 1991 U.S. Junior Amateur there. It was the first of his six USGA amateur titles. … McIlroy’s victory was the seventh by an international player in the past 13 editions, after going the first 27 years with just one non-American winner. … Rose, already a winner at the Farmers Insurance Open, adds the role of co-host this year, one of three sharing the function Palmer once enjoyed. Former Golf Channel anchor Kelly Tilghman and Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings round out the trio. COURSE: Bay Hill Club & Lodge, 7,419 yards, par 72. Acclaimed by Palmer as the “best course in Florida� after playing a 1965 exhibition on Orlando’s western edge, it turned into a 50-year love affair as Palmer made Bay Hill his winter base and eventually bought the property. Bay Hill first welcomed the TOUR in 1979, when the old Florida Citrus Open moved across town. Built in 1961 by Dick Wilson, Palmer’s constant tinkering over the years left no doubt about whose stamp it bears. Bay Hill’s closing trio of holes often generates a dramatic finish, most notably the 7-iron hole-out at No. 18 by Robert Gamez to stun Greg Norman in 1990. For those visiting Central Florida, must-play courses include ChampionsGate GC (ChampionsGate, Florida), Hawks’ Landing GC (Orlando) and Mission Inn Resort & Club (Howey-in-the-Hills, Florida). Book your reservations via TeeOff.com. 72-HOLE RECORD: 264, Payne Stewart (1987). 18-HOLE RECORD: 62, Andy Bean (2nd round, 1981), Greg Norman (2nd round, 1984), Adam Scott (1st round, 2014). LAST YEAR: McIlroy notched his 14th TOUR victory in a manner Palmer would have been proud of, blitzing Bay Hill’s back nine with five birdies in his final six holes on the way to a three-shot romp. McIlroy began the day two shots behind Henrik Stenson and didn’t make his first birdie until No. 6, then suddenly seemed as though he couldn’t miss. The highlight came with a chip-in at No.1 5, part of a four-birdie run that began at the 13th. McIlroy’s closing 64 was the lowest final round by a Bay Hill winner since Gary Koch in 1984. It was a special win in another way, as McIlroy’s last triumph – the 2016 TOUR Championship – came on the same day Palmer passed away. DeChambeau finished second after a 68, while Woods stayed in the hunt until driving out of bounds at the par-5 16th on the way to a share of fifth. HOW TO FOLLOW TELEVISION: Thursday-Friday, 2-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday-Sunday, 12:30-2:30 p.m. (GC), 2:30-6 p.m. (NBC). PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday, 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m. ET (featured groups). Saturday-Sunday, 9 a.m.-2:30 p.m. (featured groups), 2:30-6 p.m. (featured holes). International subscribers (via GOLFTV): Thursday-Friday, 12:30 to 23:00 GMT. Saturday, 14:00 to 23:00. Sunday, 13:00 to 22:00. RADIO: Thursday-Friday, noon-6 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, 1-6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com).

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