There wasn’t a ton of bona fide star power to begin with at this year’s Valero Texas Open and some of the big names were sent packing.
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SAN DIEGO – When Charles Howell III hits the iconic 18th hole at Torrey Pines South the bad memory comes flooding back … every single time. Never mind that he’s 18 of 18 making cuts at the Farmers Insurance Open with eight top 10s and three runner up finishes. Or that his 6-under 66 on Thursday was the equal low on the traditionally much tougher South Course to have him sit tied sixth. For 14 years now the one bad memory – amongst a vast bank of good ones at the venue – takes over. At the 2005 Farmers Insurance Open Howell III had a chance to win at the 18th before disaster struck. In a weather interrupted week he had posted a third round 8-under 64 to move within one of the lead but with no repairing continued into his fourth round well ahead of other contenders. The par-5 finishing hole beckoned with Howell sitting 1 under on his final round looking to post a score for the likes of Tiger Woods, Tom Lehman and Luke Donald to best. Howell III had wedge in hand looking to dial in something close. “It was 93 yards. I mean, give or take an inch. There hasn’t been a time I haven’t thought about it,â€� Howell III recalls of his third shot. The ball sailed straight at the flag and cannoned into the hole on the fly, bouncing back out just as quickly and ricocheted into the billabong guarding the front of the green. Instead of an eagle that would have seen him post 16 under, he settled for bogey and 13 under. It meant a runner up behind Woods. MUST READS: Round 1, Farmers Insurance Open Tiger grinds out 2-under 70 on South Course Rahm riding high again at Torrey Pines, leads by one Spieth needed only 22 putts on North Course “I know I would have lost that event, I get it. He would have done something, I just wanted to see what he would have done,â€� Howell III says now. “But that makes me uncomfortable. That one got me because I think it flew in the hole. “Then the fact that it’s a yellow hazard, yellow penalty area, so I had to go back over it again. I haven’t gotten over that, no, but every time I play that hole I think about it every time.â€� But perhaps the three-time PGA TOUR winner will be able to let it go if he can leverage his opening round into the win he’s come so close to at the venue. His lightning start on the South means he could really forge ahead on a North Course that played over two shots easier on Thursday and yielded a 10-under 62 from leader Jon Rahm. The top five players on the leaderboard all played the North Course. “This is a golf course that you just can’t fall asleep on and you can’t fall asleep on the North now, either,â€� Howell III warned. “There’s not really one hole out there where you can kind of start cruising through it. As the week goes on, scores tend to calm down, 10, 11, 12 under is right there come Sunday afternoon, I like that about it. “It’s hard but it’s fair, there’s no tricks to it, there’s no gimmicks out there.â€� For the record, Howell III birded the 18th on Thursday.
NAPA, Calif. – Notes and observations from Sunday’s wild and windy final round of the Safeway Open at Silverado Resort & Spa. LEADING LIGHTS TWAY GETS 1ST WIN. Kevin Tway warmed up with his hat on backward. “It was blowing about 40,� he said of the blustery conditions facing the final threesome. He hung tough, though, and made five straight birdies, including three in a sudden-death playoff against Ryan Moore and Brandt Snedeker, to pick up his first PGA TOUR win at age 30. Tway and his father, eight-time TOUR winner Bob, become the 10th father-son duo to win on TOUR. Snedeker had a four-shot lead at the turn but shot a back-nine 39 to lead to the playoff. How tough were the conditions? Brandon Harkins shot 83, and 13 players hit wind-aided drives of 400-plus yards. Tway, who spoke of his struggles to stay patient, did exactly that. NOTABLES SNEDEKER STUNNED. Brandt Snedeker said he wanted wind, and he got it, but the leader suddenly came down with a left miss and bogeyed three straight holes to start the back nine. He halted the skid with pars on 13-15, seemed to steady himself with a birdie on 16, but bogeyed from the trees on 17 and failed to birdie 18 to fall into the three-man playoff. “I’m going to look at that one in a few years and know I gave that one away,� said Snedeker, who had a three-shot lead as he made the turn but lost it all. The problem: he kept pulling his irons left. “It’s an old tendency when the pressure seems to get on,� he said. MICKELSON ENTERTAINS. Phil Mickelson never stopped fighting, delivering three closing birdies for a memorable even-par 72 in the difficult conditions. Playing for the eighth time in 10 weeks, a mistake he said he won’t be repeating, Mickelson made five birdies to make up for a triple-bogey 8 at the 5th hole, an adventure that included two penalty shots, and hitting just 5/14 fairways. He finished T17. “Actually, I played pretty good,� he said. “I hit two balls out of bounds on that 5th hole trying to go for the green, and other than that I played pretty well.�   COUPLES STRUGGLES. It was a week in which he turned 59 and made his 500th cut on the PGA TOUR, but sponsor’s exemption Fred Couples struggled in the heavy wind with a final-round 75 to fall down the leaderboard. The bright side: After making bogeys on five of the first six holes, Couples stabilized with three birdies and just one more birdie the rest of the way. He finished T41. “For a while I didn’t think we were going to play,� Couples said of the strong winds. “And then we played and I didn’t really play.� Still, he said the week was so much fun he’s ready to come back again, perhaps as early as next year, if he’s healthy. It was a change of tune for a player who came into the week saying this would be his last non-major TOUR start. OBSERVATIONS MOORE SURPRISED. When he finished his round with a 9-foot birdie some 40 minutes in front of the final threesome, Ryan Moore thought he’d shot a nice final round for a nice top-10 finish. He was surprised to slip into a playoff, though, after third-round leader Brandt Snedeker faltered with a back-nine 39. “I was proud of how I played, hitting good shots in the moment,� said Moore, who birdied the first two playoff holes (both at the par-5 18th) before Tway ended it with a birdie at the third one, at the par-4 10th. “And honestly,� Moore continued, “even the putt on 18 the second go-round, a foot more pace and that was probably going to go in (for eagle).� STEELE FLAT IN ‘3-PEAT’ BID. Brendan Steele was trying to become the first player since Steve Stricker at the John Deere Classic (2009-’11) to win the same TOUR event three years in a row. It seemed possible, given Steele’s obvious affinity for Silverado, but while his week started well with an opening-round 67, he stalled (71-72-75) and never contended after that. BADDELEY MAKES MOST OF START. Aaron Baddeley shot a final-round 69 to get to 13-under and finished a shot out of the playoff, in a five-way tie for fourth place. Not a bad result, considering he wasn’t even in the tournament until he Monday-qualified for it. The top-10 finish will get him an exemption into the Sanderson Farms Championship, Oct. 25-28. “My game’s been feeling good for a while,� said Baddeley, who reunited with caddie Pete Bender for the week in Napa. “I really felt like this was on the way, so I’ve been really working hard.� QUOTABLES I’d love to come back.It was a nice (way) to start or end the year, however you look at it.Got to find a way to win those. SUPERLATIVES Low round: 67 by Luke List and Ryan Moore. Longest drive: 428 yards (Patrick Rodgers/No. 13) Longest putt: 64’ 1� (Adam Svensson/No. 6) Toughest hole: The 150-yard, par-3 15th played to a 3.392 average. Easiest hole: The 564-yard, par-5 16th played to a 4.284 average. CALL OF THE DAY For play-by-play coverage of the PGA TOUR, listen at PGATOUR.COM. SHOT OF THE DAY
KAPALUA, Hawaii – Dustin Johnson gave up his last 54-hole lead but he has no intentions of repeating the story this time around. After producing a sublime 7-under 66 on Saturday – his 20th round in the 60s at the Plantation Course – Johnson surged to 16-under for the week, two clear of Brian Harman (69) and four ahead of Jon Rahm (66). It appears the Sentry Tournament of Champions is his to lose given he’s clearly the most experienced player in the field – making his eighth trip to Kapalua. No one else here has more than four. But wait – we’ve seen this story not so long ago. The world No.1 Johnson took a seemingly insurmountable six-shot lead through three rounds at the World Golf Championships – HSBC Champions in late October only to shoot a 5-over 77 on Sunday to lose by two strokes to Justin Rose. Rickie Fowler, who will be one of the chasers on Sunday from five strokes back, playfully suggested Johnson wouldn’t remember his collapse in China. “I don’t expect him to necessarily do that again. All the times that he’s been in a position to win and having a lead, he’s taken care of that pretty well,â€� Fowler said. “D.J.’s a guy that forgets pretty quickly. I don’t think he remembers China. So that’s one of the reasons why he is the best player in the world right now. He quickly forgets, moves on. “There’s not necessarily a weak part of his game, so I’m going to have to go play well if I want to go chase him down.â€� When Johnson was asked if he had indeed forgotten – he claimed he had – until reminded of it by media as he finished his round. “It was a long time ago. It’s a completely different golf course. It was, what, two months ago or something,â€� Johnson said. “I’m going to try not to think about it tomorrow, hopefully I won’t. But I just need to go out and play my game and just see what happens.â€� For the record this is Johnson’s 14th lead/co-lead through 54 holes on the PGA TOUR. He has converted seven to victory, most recently at the Genesis Open in 2017. CALL OF THE DAY OBSERVATIONS BULLDOG HARMAN READY FOR FIGHT: Brian Harman has beaten Dustin Johnson before on Sunday – but he was the man in front. This time he will have to hunt the world No.1 down from behind. At the 2017 Wells Fargo Championship Harman overtook Patrick Reed, Alex Noren and Jon Rahm on Sunday for his second PGA TOUR win but it was a fast finishing Johnson, who had won his previous three starts, who was catching his attention. Johnson had started two back of Harman but had posted a nine-under total in the clubhouse. Harman knew he would prefer not to be in a playoff with the big bomber and had birdied the 17th to tie. He then nailed a 30-footer on the 18th for victory. “I’m just going to keep doing the same thing I’ve been doing and I’m going to try to put as much pressure on the golf course as I can,â€� Harman said Saturday. “I’m going to try to do the best I can on every shot. I can’t control what Dustin does, he’s a fabulous player, he’s going to be really hard to beat tomorrow, but trying to do something I’m not capable of is not the way to do it.â€� RAHM WANTS REVERSE RESULT: Jon Rahm remembers his battles with Dustin Johnson well. And they’re not all fond memories. Rahm had chances to win the World Golf Championships – Mexico Championship and THE NORTHERN TRUST last season only to be bested by Johnson. There was also their battle in the final round of the World Golf Championships – Dell Match Play that went the way of the American. He has another chance to best him in Maui, albeit a tough ask starting four shots back. “I do enjoy (going head-to-head with Johnson), but the outcome hasn’t been great for me,â€� Rahm said. “Hopefully I can play good down the stretch like I’ve been doing. Just start a little better on the front nine. If I can make a birdie before I get to the 5th I’ll be happy.â€� BONES RETURNS: FedExCup champion and defending Sentry Tournament of Champions winner Justin Thomas shot another disappointing 2-over 75 on Saturday to be 2-over and in 30th place. He tackled the Plantation Course without regular caddie Jimmy Johnson who succumbed to plantar fasciitis and has returned home for treatment. Thomas’ father Mike took over bag duties at Kapalua and will do the same on Sunday. Word is however that Jim “Bonesâ€� Mackay will make a cameo for Thomas when he defends the Sony Open next week. Mackay hasn’t caddied on the PGA TOUR since parting ways with Phil Mickelson. NOTABLES Jordan Spieth – A 3-under 70 on Saturday leaves Spieth sitting in a tie for ninth at 8-under, a distant eight shots back of the lead. Marc Leishman – The first and second round leader had a round to forget, posting a 3-over 76 to drop to 7-under and a tie for 12th. Hideki Matsuyama – The world No.5 and runner up last year could only muster a 72 on Saturday to sit 7-under and tied 12th. Patton Kizzire – Rounds of 72-72-69 have the current FedExCup leader at 6-under and tied 17th. QUOTABLES Seventh place doesn’t really do a whole lot for me at the end of the day, so the idea is to fire at flags and just putt aggressively. It’s one thing to say it, it’s another to be out there and then all of a sudden you just feel so uncomfortable trying to hit that hard and I struggled with that this week. So, I’ve just got to be really aggressive on the greensI don’t think there’s two guys that speak to the ball more than we do. It’s true. It’s fun because we both react similarly when we hit a shot. It’s great.It was tough. The putter was cold and if I putted half decent I’d be right up there.Coming off of getting that win a few weeks back (at the Hero World Challenge) I think we were seven shots back and we’re not that far back going into tomorrow. But it won’t be easy. No.1, someone’s going to have to earn it tomorrow, whether it’s DJ or anyone coming from behind. SUPERLATIVES Low round: 7-under 66 – Dustin Johnson and Jon Rahm positioned themselves nicely. Longest drive: 430 yards – Hudson Swafford on the par-4 7th. He then overshot the green and got up and down for par. Longest putt: 68 feet, 8 inches – Wesley Bryan drained a massive effort for par on the par-4 4th. Easiest hole: Par-5 5th – The reachable hole played at 4.235 with three eagles, 23 birdies, six pars, one bogey and one double bogey. Hardest holes: Par-4 10th – Uphill and into the wind it played at 4.412 with not a single birdie. There were eight bogeys and three double bogeys.
