O'Neal, Manley share first-round lead at APGA Orlando

The longest-running PGA Tour event still being played at its original site has been renamed the Fort Worth Invitational for this year’s event.

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Struggling with his iron play earlier this year, Rory McIlroy went back to a set of blades he had had much success with. Going back to his TaylorMade Rors Proto blades paid off with another win at the Wells Fargo Championship, his first TOUR title since 2019. At this week’s Olympic golf competition outside Tokyo, McIlroy is applying the same logic to another portion of his golf bag. McIlroy, who is representing Ireland alongside Shane Lowry, is doing his work on the greens of Kasumagaseki Country Club with a Scotty Cameron 009M putter, which is similar to the flatstick he used to win his first two majors. “I think I sort of want to get back to being as athletic and instinctive as possible and I feel like that style of putter, that blade, it sort of helps me do that,” he said Friday after shooting 66. “It makes me become very target oriented, at the hole and having my focus be out there, instead of in here (looking down).” When asked if the 009M reminds McIlroy of the younger, free-wheeling version of himself, he replied, “Yeah, it does.” Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis reported that Scotty Cameron himself placed the 009M in McIlroy’s locker at the 2016 PGA Championship. McIlroy said he “messed around” with the putter during the COVID lockdown but this is its competitive debut. McIlroy has putted primarily with the mallet-style TaylorMade Spider X model for the past three years. He used a Spider X Hydroblast in his T46 finish in The Open Championship. McIlroy is 86th in Strokes Gained: Putting. He was a career-high 24th in that statistic in his FedExCup-winning season of 2019 before dropping to 122nd last season.

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SCHEFFLER’S SECOND WIN IN THREE STARTS; BREHM REMARKABLE IN PUERTO RICO It was a historically demanding weekend at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, with firm, windy conditions testing an elite field at Bay Hill Club & Lodge, just as Arnold Palmer envisioned. Scottie Scheffler held tough down the stretch to secure a one-stroke win at 5-under total, two-putting from 69 feet for par at the closing hole and watching Florida native Billy Horschel narrowly miss a 29-footer to tie in the final group. On a day where the scoring average approached 76, it was fitting that Scheffler’s defining moment came via a par-save, getting up and down from 67 yards at the par-5 16th to maintain mojo into the water-logged closing stretch. Scheffler has now won twice in his last three PGA TOUR starts (WM Phoenix Open) to complement two Korn Ferry Tour titles in a 2019 Player of the Year-winning season, and he’ll proceed across Florida to THE PLAYERS Championship holding the No. 1 spot on the season-long FedExCup standings, 550 points accrued for his victory in Orlando. After going winless in his first 70 TOUR events, the University of Texas alum might just be scratching the surface. Scheffler has recorded seven top-25s in 10 starts this season, and he joins Hideki Matsuyama as the first two-time winners of the 2021-22 TOUR campaign. Ryan Brehm, 35, arrived at the Puerto Rico Open yet to record a top-10 finish on the PGA TOUR, but he began the week with a concrete scenario. Playing on the final start of a minor medical extension, the former Michigan State men’s golf coach needed a win to earn full TOUR status, or a solo second to maintain conditional status. Otherwise, he was headed back to the Korn Ferry Tour, on which he had previously made four starts in early 2022. In a story that embodies the beauty of sports, Brehm’s game coalesced when he needed it most at Grand Reserve GC, carding a four-round total of 20-under to finish six strokes clear of Max McGreevy. After slating the Puerto Rico Open into his schedule due to a three-week Korn Ferry Tour hiatus, Brehm now re-routes his travel plans to include THE PLAYERS Championship. Making the victory even sweeter: Brehm’s wife Chelsey was on the bag, marking the first husband/wife, player/caddie duo to win on TOUR since Patrick and Justine Reed at the 2013 Wyndham Championship. Brehm earns 300 FedExCup points, moving to No. 55 in the season-long standings, and provides further proof that in golf and life, there’s always a chance. STAY GOLD TPC Sawgrass, and its iconic island green, welcomes the strongest field in golf to Northeast Florida for THE PLAYERS Championship. Justin Thomas will need to hold off a who’s who of top pros if he wants to become the first player to go back-to-back at the Stadium Course. The entire top 30 in the FedExCup standings (including JT) is set to tee it up with world No. 1 Jon Rahm, 2019 PLAYERS champion Rory McIlroy, Viktor Hovland and Collin Morikawa highlighting a stellar field with representation from 25 countries. Reigning FedExCup champion Patrick Cantlay is surely keen to add the Goldman to his trophy case and comes in red hot with four top-10s in five starts this season. Whoever takes the title and the 600 FedExCup points will not only be up against their peers, but also one of golf’s toughest tests in Pete Dye’s Stadium Course. Built in 1980, the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass first hosted THE PLAYERS two years later when it was punctuated with one of the best celebrations you’ll ever see. VIDEO OF THE WEEK Max Homa holed his first career ace on TOUR with an incredible shot on the par-3 14th at Bay Hill MIC CHECK “Our goal coming into this week was just to improve every day, every shot, every round, every hole … It was great having Chels up there with me caddying. It was a special week. I don’t know, there was just something special about it from the moment we landed.” – Ryan Brehm on winning with his wife Chelsey on the bag in Puerto Rico BY THE NUMBERS 4 – Four of the biggest names in golf history will be enshrined in the World Golf Hall of Fame this week. Tiger Woods highlights the class that also features Tim Finchem, Susie Maxwell-Berning and Marion Hollins. 8 – Retief Goosen carded the best round of the day at the Hoag Classic with an 8-under 63. He won by four to claim his second PGA TOUR Champions title. 2/22/22 – Fred Couples married longtime girlfriend Suzanne Hannemann on February 22, 2022 before breaking the news at the Hoag Classic this past week. 2023 – Zach Johnson was announced as the United States captain for the 2023 Ryder Cup to be held at Marco Simone G&CC in Rome, Italy. COMCAST BUSINESS TOUR TOP 10 The Comcast Business TOUR TOP 10 highlights and rewards the extraordinary level of play required to earn a spot in the TOP 10 at the conclusion of the FedExCup Regular Season as determined by the FedExCup standings. The competition recognizes and awards the most elite in golf.

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