Monday qualifiers: Rocket Mortgage Classic

DUBLIN, Ohio – Early pace-setters Collin Morikawa and Xander Schauffele both found form in the opening round of the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide after changing putters pre-tournament. Morikawa’s 6-under 66 was the best of a weather interrupted opening round with Schauffele not far behind following a 68. They needed just 27 and 28 putts respectively with their new weapons. It was a story of back to the future for Morikawa. Despite winning the 2020 Workday Charity Open (a one-off event at Muirfield Village the week before the Memorial Tournament held due to the pandemic) with a blade style putter, the 24-year-old had since switched to a mallet style FCG TaylorMade putter. The mallet, combined with a saw grip, helped him claim the World Golf Championships – Workday Championship at The Concession earlier this season. But Morikawa wanted a more comfortable mindset and switched back. “The mallet, once in a while I just have a hard time setting it up and setting it down. And the best putters they’re never fidgeting with their putter, they just put it down and they know where they’re aiming, they know what it’s doing,” Morikawa explained. “So it’s a new putter, but it’s the same blade I used actually last year at this tournament, I used it a lot coming out of college. It’s just got a SuperStroke grip on, (and) a little different loft. “Overall, it’s a putter that I’ve used before, I feel comfortable with, I just wanted to go back to a blade because I’ve putted with a blade my entire life and why not just go back and figure out the things that I’ve been working on and forget about the stroke, forget about the putter, just try and make the putt.” While Morikawa is known to tinker with his putting the change was a little more surprising coming from Schauffele who ranked ninth on TOUR in Strokes Gained: Putting leading into the tournament. But Schauffele made a switch none-the-less, employing an arm-lock version of his regular putter as he looks to get even more advantage on the greens. Interestingly enough the four-time TOUR winner believes the putters should be banned. “My putting coach, my whole team honestly, we’re very against change and I had to see what the craze was about. I do feel funny, obviously being a top-10 putter on TOUR, switching putters or the style of putting. (But) it’s a distinct advantage,” Schauffele said. “I am for banning the armlock putters, but if everyone else is going to use it and I feel like they have a bigger advantage, I may as well do the same.” Schauffele said he’s got his sights on being the best putter on TOUR, this season that spot is currently held by South African Louis Oosthuizen. Leading into this week Oosthuizen gained +0.996 strokes a round putting while Schauffele sat at +0.737. “I know how good it can be and I think you still have to read putts and get the speed down correctly, but I’m in a very similar setup compared to my old putter and I know I can putt with a shorter putter, so I figured if I can get an advantage on the greens and maybe get to first in putting, that would be something special. So I’m giving it a go,” he added. “It’s better, it’s easier. It’s more consistent. My coach and I work a lot in San Diego on start lines and making sure the ball’s doing what we think it’s doing. And the fact that it’s anchored to your arm, you can flinch in your hands, but you can’t flinch your entire left arm, so that’s the process behind that.” The rules of golf outlawed anchoring to the body in 2016 but Schauffele thinks the armlock style should be included in that ban. “Because it takes the stress of putting out of the game. Obviously hitting shots and chipping and all kinds of stuff are difficult, but your putts are what give you the score on the card,” he said. “And so it’s ruined people’s careers and it’s helped people’s careers. I think putting is an art in our game and when you can lock it into your arm or anchor it to your body, it kind of gets rid of that.”

Click here to read the full article…

A stout field is at RBC Heritage this week as Round 3 gets under way Saturday. Patrick Cantlay birdied final four holes to take two-shot lead at RBC Heritage 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, 4 p.m.-7 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday, 1 p.m.-3:30 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3:30 p.m.-6 p.m. (NBC). Sunday, 1 p.m.-2 p.m. (Golf Channel), 2 p.m.-6 p.m. (NBC). Radio: Thursday-Friday, 1 p.m.–7 p.m. ET. Saturday, 3 p.m.–6 p.m. Sunday, 1 p.m.–6 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 Saturday Marquee Group Stewart Cink, Webb Simpson Featured Groups Cam Davis, Henrik Stenson Justin Thomas, Tyler Duncan Featured Holes: No. 4 (par 3), No. 7 (par 3), No. 14 (par 3), No. 17 (par 3) MUST READS Patrick Cantlay birdies final four holes to take two-shot lead at RBC Heritage Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas tackle twists and turns at RBC Heritage Mission accomplished for Morgan Hoffmann at RBC Heritage History, mystique distinguish RBC Heritage Cut prediction: RBC Heritage TOUR Insider: A closer look at the Straka brothers

Click here to read the full article…

Editor’s note: Stewart Cink is this year’s recipient of the Payne Stewart Award presented by the Southern Company. The annual award goes to a PGA TOUR golfer who excels in charity, character and sportsmanship – values displayed by the late Payne Stewart. Cink will be honored the week of the TOUR Championship.  It was nearly 30 years ago when Stewart and Lisa Cink met when they were in high school in Florence, Alabama. They had a class together, and he sat in the desk behind her. At the time, Stewart was dating one of the girls on Lisa’s softball team. In fact, he dated several of her friends. “I would try to set him up,â€� Lisa says. “I liked him. I thought he was fun and nice and all that. And it was all great until he dated one of my best friends our senior year.  “All of a sudden, I’m like, umm, I’m not sure how I feel about that.â€� But, Lisa adds, “It worked out the way it should have.â€� There were flirtations, to be sure, some dates and even the occasional kiss. But Lisa had a boyfriend and Stewart was usually attached, too. So, the friendship deepened even if romance was on the back burner. “We would study together and hang out,â€� Lisa recalls. “It was just easy because we were friends. There was no pressure.â€� Things evolved, though, when Lisa enrolled at Auburn and Stewart went to play golf at Georgia Tech. The two-hour drive between the two universities was hardly prohibitive, and by their sophomore year, the two had become serious. Lisa was attracted to Stewart’s sense of humor, calling him “sneaking funny. He comes off kind of shy and quiet, but he is hilarious.â€� She says he’s one of the smartest and most humble people she knows, too. “It doesn’t matter what stage of life he is or what stage of golf he is in, if he’s just won a major or missed the cut or lost his card or whatever, he’s the same,â€� Lisa explains. “He treats other people the same. I really like that.â€� And Lisa remembers exactly when she knew Stewart was the one. “I dated a guy at Auburn that on paper was like should have been perfect, like he was smart, really good‑looking and we got along well,â€� Lisa says. “He was fun. He liked me. I went home and told my mom, like, I found this guy who is amazing.  “But I remember being on a date with him and thinking, wow, I wish Stewart was here. That is kind of my epiphany. That was my moment.â€� During their sophomore year, the couple learned they were expecting a child. They decided to get married that summer, and Stewart took Lisa to one of their favorite spots near the river to propose. He was afraid he would drop the ring into the water, though, so he lost his nerve. “We ended going back to my parents’ house and he did it there,â€� she says. “A little less romantic but I guess a lot safer.â€� Safe, maybe, but this marriage was a sure thing. Their next anniversary will be the Cinks’ 25th. Not that life has always been easy. Finishing their degrees at Georgia Tech – Lisa had transferred from Auburn — while caring for Connor was a challenge but also the “biggest blessing that could have happened to us,â€� Lisa says. Friends stepped in to help, offering hand-me-down strollers and baby clothes, but the couple had a lot to figure out on their own. “Neither of us had any experience with babies,â€� she explains. “There were many, many, many nights where we were up all night with the baby and had a test the next day. I’m in tears and stressed.  “But through it all, I knew that this wasn’t something that happened to us.  It was something that came about because of our choices and that made a huge difference.  I felt like it was my responsibility and I needed to figure it out.  “But it also helped knowing there was a light at the end of the tunnel.  We were going to graduate.  This would not have kept us from graduating. That was something that was nonnegotiable.â€� Several years later, the Cinks had a second son, Reagan. Connor graduated from Clemson and is now working in Charlotte, while Reagan is a junior at his parents’ alma mater. Stewart and Lisa are empty-nesters now and she’s a regular in the 2009 Open champion’s gallery. “I miss my kids terribly and I’m lost without having that mom role day to day,â€� Lisa says. “But getting to travel and actually be with him, we’ve never been able to do that full time. It’s a lot of fun. It’s an adventure kind of getting to know things out here again.â€� Getting to travel the country with her husband became even more of a blessing last year when Lisa was diagnosed with breast cancer. She says Stewart has been her safety net, her strength and her shoulder to cry on. The six-time TOUR winner has been actively involved in her battle from day one, doing research on her treatment and giving her the results “in a calm, kind of small dose kind of way to help me get my mind around what it is that I’m facing.  “But he’s also made a great balance, because he hasn’t let me completely focus on my diagnosis or treatment or whatever because of his chance to play out here,â€� Lisa says. “It’s been an amazing diversion. I’m not having to sit around and think about what ifs and what ares and that sort of thing.  Just him doing what he’s doing has also been great and normalizing things for me. “He is an emotional person but not a dramatic person. So, having the kind of stability has kept me very in the moment, very grateful and very focused on what’s ahead instead of what’s behind.â€� And of course, no one knows a TOUR player better than his wife. So now that you know a little more about this special courple, Lisa gives us 18 things you might not know about this year’s Payne Stewart Award winner. 1. He’s obsessed with all things BBQ and has a competition team with his swing coach Mike Lipnick and lifelong friend Chad Parker, who is the general manager at East Lake Golf Club. The team name? Que School 2. He has a tattoo. 3. He loves chick flicks and musicals. (His favorite Broadway show is Les Miserables and he has the soundtrack on his Spotify.) 4. He loves hiking, especially in Glacier National Park, Montana. 5. He geeks out for snow skiing. He makes an annual tradition of squeezing a day on the mountain in between the Sony Open in Hawaii and Career Builder Challenge in California. (The overnight flight from Honolulu-to-Salt Lake City lands at 7:10 a.m. and he’s on the chairlift by 9:30!) 6. He is pretty skilled at wake boarding and wake surfing. He has been known to clear the wake on his wakeboard 7. I surprised him with a Porsche for his 30th birthday, which he kept for the three-year lease. Since then he’s driven a pickup. 8. If this golf thing doesn’t work out, he will become a meteorologist. 9. He serves on the board of the Pregnancy Resource Center of Gwinnett. 10. He keeps the Claret Jug front and center by the kitchen instead of hidden away in the golf room or trophy case (Yes, we have a golf room complete with a putting green in our basement.) 11. He knows the lyrics to pretty much every song from The Sound of Music. 12. His favorite beer is Guinness and he swears it totally tastes better in Ireland. 13. He hates massages, pedicures and all things spa.  14. He just went through a four-year bluegrass/folk phase, which landed us at concerts such as Old Crow Medicine Show and Avett Brothers. 15. He wears a bite guard at night to keep from snoring, which has completely saved our marriage. 16. He was an avid skateboarder back in the day, hitting the half pipe on his Christian Hosoi board. 17. He is a dark chocolate addict, and is never found without 3 or 4 bars on him with varying flavors and nuts — but never below 60 percent cacao.  18. He goes on an annual “BBQ Tour” with fellow BBQ aficionado Davis Love III during the FedEx St. Jude Classic in Memphis, where they have visited up to four BBQ joints in a single night.

Click here to read the full article…