Monday qualifiers: Wyndham Championship

The lights simply could not be explained. Billy Horschel was in a car with his mother and his younger brother that evening, driving down U.S. 1 along the Indian River lagoon in central Florida. The arched lights glowed yellow above the water as if to outline a bridge. Only, there was no bridge on the horizon. “I was like that’s weird, the Melbourne Causeway looks so nice and then it hit us that we had passed the Melbourne Causeway and there’s no other bridge for the next 40 or 50 miles,â€� Horschel recalled. “So it was just weird that there were six perfect lights that were hovering over the Indian River in a perfect little arch that looked like a bridge.â€� Horschel, his mom and brother weren’t the only ones who had seen the lights, either. In fact, so many people called the police to inquire about them that Florida Today ran an article the following day. “I can’t remember if they were still there when we passed them and then they disappeared or they disappeared when we were driving by,â€� Horschel said. “But the newspaper ran a story there were like mysterious lights on Melbourne Beach-type of deal. “I can’t remember how they phrased it but a lot of people called in.â€� We’re talking UFOs here, folks. At least that’s what many people thought — and in retrospect, Horschel agrees. “I believed in UFOs before that but that sort of sparked my interest,â€� he explained. “I just think that to think we’re the only people in this universe that are alive or living or anything like that is sort of naive in my opinion.â€� Horschel is in good company. In fact, an article earlier this year noted that Florida ranks second to California in sightings, according to the National UFO Reporting Center in Davenport, Washington. Horschel, who will defend his AT&T Byron Nelson title this week, said he first became interested in the UFO phenomenon when he was a teenager. The 2014 FedExCup champion loves to watch shows about the paranormal on the Discovery Channel and National Geographic. His grandfather and an uncle worked at NASA, too, which might have fanned the flame. “I’m not big on reading books, but I’ll sit there in front of the TV and watch stuff like that all the time, or anything to deal with  history,â€� he said. “So I don’t know why I believe, but obviously watching those shows (made me think more about it).â€� Horschel is also well-acquainted with the conspiracy theories about a potential sighting in Roswell, New Mexico, back in 1947. The United States military first reported it was a weather balloon that crashed, but reversed course in the 1990s and said it was a nuclear test surveillance balloon from Project Mogul. Others aren’t so sure, though, insisting there was a cover-up. The local newspaper ran a story on July 8, 1947, with the headline: RAAF Captures Flying Saucer on Ranch in Roswell Region. The legend continues to this day, and Horschel is intrigued. “I’m sort of into that era, 1951, and all that secretive stuff,â€� Horschel said. “I like knowing stuff, stuff that people don’t know about or people keep hidden-type deal.â€� Horschel also thinks the Bigfoot phenomenon might be more than just folklore. But he acknowledges that of the two — UFOs or Sasquatch — having a giant hairy ape walking upright in the forest might be the least believable. “But when you think about every day new species and new things are being discovered in this world it sort of makes you think is this Bigfoot thing really real,â€� he said. “… So who knows?â€� Horschel said few of his peers know he believes in UFOs and Bigfoot. He’s prepared for the teasing that may follow this article — but at the same time, he knows he’s not alone in his beliefs. “Millions of people have seen UFOs and have video recordings,â€� Horschel said. “And when you think about pilots — these guys are in the skies hours and hours and they know what a plane is and  they know stuff and when they talk about their experiences and what they’ve seen and they can’t justify what they’ve seen, it sort of makes you think a little bit.â€� It does, indeed.

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ORLANDO, Fla. — Corey Conners spent more time grinding out pars than chasing birdies, and that proved to be the right recipe Friday at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard as Bay Hill began to bake under a warm sun. RELATED: Leaderboard | A tale of two Cowboys at Bay Hill Conners surged into the lead with a 25-foot eagle putt on the par-5 16th hole — his second eagle on that hole in two days — for a 3-under 69 and a one-shot advantage over former Bay Hill winner Martin Laird (67). Rory McIlroy was poised to at least join Conners in the afternoon until he hit a couple of loose drives that cost him one shot when he could only pitch back to the fairway, leading to bogeys. He closed with five straight pars for a 71 that he figures could have been worse. “It could have been the round that I could have shot 74 or 75. I got in with 71 and pretty happy with that,” McIlroy said. He was two shots behind, along with Viktor Hovland and Lanto Griffin, who each had a 68. Jordan Spieth remained in the mix going into the weekend, which is becoming a regularity in the last month as he tries to end more than three years without winning. Spieth hit a superb flop shot over the bunker to a fast green that rolled out to a foot to escape with par and a 69. Conners was at 9-under 135, and now everyone braces for the weather. The forecast featured plenty of rain Saturday, which figures to make Bay Hill play longer and tougher, while also keeping the greens from getting as crusty as they were last year when Tyrrell Hatton won with a closing 74. “We’ll just see what happens and be ready for anything,” Conners said. Hatton at least gets a chance on the weekend. He opened with a 77 and was 10 shots better Friday, a 67 that allowed him to make the cut with one shot to spare. Also making the cut were both Ryder Cup captains — Padraig Harrington of Ireland with a 74 to be nine shots behind, Steve Stricker with a 71 that left him one shot better. Conners, whose lone PGA TOUR victory came two years ago at the Valero Texas Open, saved par seven times during his round, the exception coming at the par-3 second hole when he came up short of the green, some 80 feet away, and wound up missing his par putt from 10 feet. Otherwise, the Canadian has been solid. This is only the second time he has held the lead going into the weekend, the other occasion at the Valspar Championship in 2018 when his bid to go wire-to-wire ended with a 77 in the final round. “I haven’t really been in this position a lot, but I have a lot of confidence in my game and feeling really relaxed the last few days, so try and keep that going,” Conners said. “I feel like I have a lot of energy. I had an off week last week and really excited for the weekend.” Laird has recent success winning on a familiar course. In the fall, he ended seven years without a victory by winning in Las Vegas, scene of his first PGA TOUR victory in 2009. He won at Bay Hill in 2011 on a final round so tough a 75 was enough to get the job done. Now there are plenty of others in the mix. U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau overcame consecutive bogeys at the end of his front nine and shot 71. He was three shots behind. Another shot back were Spieth, Justin Rose (68), Sunjae Im (70) and Paul Casey (69). Hatton wasn’t the only player who saw a big improvement. Jazz Janewattananond of Thailand had the low round of the tournament with a 65, which was 10 shots better than his first round. Jason Day looked to be in much better shape than seven shots behind. He played in the morning, had a pair of birdies and came to the 16th, the easiest at Bay Hill. He lost his tee shot to the right and had to use binoculars and the zoom lens of a camera to make sure the ball stuck in the tree was his. That led to a double bogey, and he took another double bogey on the 18th hole by taking four to get down from a bunker. “A little unfortunate that it got stuck. It was literally in a nest,” Day said. “So I think mama birdy is going to come back and find another egg there.”

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Dufner leads, sets 36-hole record at Memorial

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