PGA primer: Five storylines to follow

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - Rory McIlroy had a forgettable finish at the Farmers Insurance Open, his final-round 73 dropping him into a tie for 16th place. Still, he was having trouble moving on after a Rules incident from the 18th hole in Saturday's third round. McIlroy's ball veered into the right rough, and when he got to it, he saw that the ball was embedded. He took relief, but when he later watched videotape of the shot, it was clear that it had bounced once, so it hadn't embedded in its own pitch mark. So how, then, had it embedded? “I was sort of questioning myself on Sunday,” McIlroy said Wednesday from TPC Scottsdale, where he will be making his first career start at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. “Did I do the right thing? Did I play by the Rules? Did I see something that wasn’t there? "It was a bit of a rough Sunday night," he continued. "I just started to doubt myself a little bit, which is not like me.” As it turned out, McIlroy said, the PGA TOUR got an email Monday that explained it: A volunteer confessed to having stepped on the ball. "The TOUR got an email on Monday from a volunteer saying that he didn’t tell me at the time and he should have, but he stepped on the ball to find it," McIlroy said. "... I guess at the end of the day I almost took the wrong relief because I should have taken relief for a stepped-on ball, which means you can place it instead of drop it. At the time I didn’t have that information." The incident received additional scrutiny because eventual winner Patrick Reed also had taken embedded-ball relief earlier in the round at the par-4 10th hole. Rules officials stressed that both McIlroy and Reed took proper relief. "I at least felt better about my actions knowing I did the right thing, that I did take relief for a ball that was embedded or stepped on," McIlroy said. "So it sort was nice that that came to light, because I was questioning myself on Sunday a little bit. It’s funny how these things all work out at the end."

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Golf’s governing bodies were already scrambling trying to figure out where to put tournaments — plus four majors — when sports ultimately resume. A one-year delay opens up the schedule to some new possibilities.

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Based on the results for Jordan Spieth this season – he’s yet to produce a top-20 finish in 13 starts – it’s doubtful many people expect him to complete the career Grand Slam this week at the PGA Championship. Even Spieth recognizes he’ll be “flying in under the radarâ€� at Bethpage Black.  “But I don’t mind that,â€� he said. Spieth’s last career victory was the 2017 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale. That gave him the third leg of the career Slam, leaving him only the PGA to become the sixth player to join that exclusive club. A month later at Quail Hollow, he finished T-28 as longtime friend Justin Thomas won his first major. At last year’s PGA Championship at Bellerive, he finished T-12 behind Brooks Koepka. Koepka now has as many major victories (3) as Spieth and will be one of the favorites this week as he seeks another successful defense of a major, having backed up his 2017 U.S. Open win with a second straight U.S. Open title last season. Spieth will not be one of the favorites. But even though he was not competitive at his hometown AT&T Byron Nelson, finishing T-29 at a Trinity Forest course in which he’s a member, he will take some positives from a week in which he shot three rounds in the 60s for the first time this season. “I don’t take the disappointment. I take more confidence than disappointment,â€� Spieth said. “The actual result doesn’t show really how well I played. We kind of had a tough draw the first two days and then still be — what was it 11 under for the week? — is solid playing on any golf course.â€� Spieth has struggled with his driver this season – he ranks 202nd out of 214 players in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee – but felt he made some progress on Trinity Forest’s generously wide fairways. He blamed some of his poor holes, including his two double bogeys, on mental errors. The only time he’s played competitively at Bethpage Black was in 2016 at the tournament now known as THE NORTHERN TRUST, the first leg of the FedExCup Playoffs. Spieth finished T-10 that week to Patrick Reed. How much of an indicator that might be in predicting how Spieth will play this week is difficult to assess. Obviously, his game is in a different form. Plus, that tournament was held in late August. “Probably different conditioned golf course than what we’ll see this time especially with the rain they’re getting,â€� Spieth said. “Probably just be a little bit longer. It’s a great track. I real like playing it. It’s a fun course to play and you really have to be on.â€� The PGA Championship’s move to May does give Spieth a chance to complete the career Slam before Phil Mickelson gets his next opportunity at the U.S. Open. Mickelson, Spieth and Rory McIlroy (no Masters win) are the only three active players having completed three legs of the Slam. Mickelson will go into next month’s U.S. Open at Pebble Beach have already won at that course earlier this season at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. “It would be pretty cool bragging rights to try to complete the Slam before Phil,â€� Spieth said. “Not many people get bragging rights on Phil Mickelson. It would be pretty awesome to do.â€� And if Spieth does do it? Well, he’ll no longer be flying under the radar.

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