The PGA Tour is likely to ban the controversial green-reading books before the start of next season, Golfweek has learned.
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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Steve Stricker is having too much fun at the Waste Management Phoenix Open to stress over a messy finish Friday. RELATED: Leaderboard | Return of fans helping return of Koepka Trying to become the oldest winner in PGA TOUR history, the 53-year-old U.S. Ryder Cup captain shot a 5-under 66 to get within a stroke of leader Xander Schauffele entering the weekend at TPC Scottsdale. Stricker scrambled for par on the eighth, but couldn’t overcome another poor approach on No. 9 in a closing bogey. “Just hit an awful iron into the green on No. 9,” Stricker said. “But overall a good day.” Stricker, who will be 54 on Feb. 23, won the last of his 12 PGA TOUR titles in 2012 at Kapalua. Sam Snead is the oldest winner at 52 years, 10 months, 8 days in the 1965 Greater Greensboro event. Seven players have won in their 50s, the last Davis Love III at 51 in the 2015 Wyndham Championship. “I know it’s a long shot,” Stricker said. “I’ve got to play my very best, just like anybody else does out here. But you know, I’ve been there. I’ve won a few times out on this TOUR and I know what it takes, although it’s been a while. It would be fun to see how I handle it if I do get that opportunity.” The five-time PGA TOUR Champions winner, with wife, Nicki, working as his caddie, birdied four of his first eight holes with hardly anyone watching in the chilly morning conditions. The attendance is capped at about 5,000 a day, a fraction of the usual turnout but the most for a TOUR event since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. “It’s always tough to get going around here in the morning and we started on the back nine with some pretty good holes and some water holes that can come up and get you,” Stricker said. Schauffele, coming off a second-place tie last week at Torrey Pines, played the back nine in 6-under 30 in the afternoon for a 64. He birdied Nos. 12-14, made a 21-footer for eagle on the par-5 15th, and hit a wedge to 4 1/2 feet to set up a final birdie on the par-4 18th. “It was a bit slow at first,” Schauffele said. “Kind of saw everyone’s name flying up the leaderboard.” He was at 12-under 130. Keegan Bradley was tied for second after a 65. He made 10 birdies in a 14-hole stretch from his 12th hole Thursday to the seventh Friday — all on the front nine. “All it was was having some putts go in,” Bradley said. Scottie Scheffler (65), Sam Burns (68) and Kyoung-Hoon Lee (66) were 10 under. Scheffler hit to a foot for birdie in the morning on the 16th. “There was literally nobody there, so I couldn’t tell if it had a chance or not,” Scheffler said. He followed with a 40-foot eagle putt on 17, but gave back the strokes with a four-putt double bogey on the par-4 fifth. Jordan Spieth and Brooks Koepka were 8 under. Spieth is trying regain the form that carried him to 11 PGA TOUR victories — three of them majors — in his first five seasons on the TOUR. Winless since The Open Championship in 2017, he shot his second straight 67, highlighted by an eagle on the par-5 third. “It felt like a 6- or 7-under day, and this is one of the first times I’ve almost been disappointed shooting 4 under in a round in long time, and that’s a good sign,” he said. “(Yesterday) I shot 4 under, but I got away with murder.” Justin Thomas was 7 under after a 65. He opened with a double bogey on the par-4 10th after making a late triple bogey Thursday on 17. “Hit a perfect tee shot down 10 and had a pitching wedge in and made about as easy and bad of a 6 as you possibly could,” Thomas said. He had five birdies in a six-hole stretch from No. 14 to No. 1, bogeyed the par-5 third, and then birdied four of the last five. “I stayed patient and understood that you can make a boatload of birdies,” he said.
The shot had no equal. And it still doesn't. This week's Waste Management Phoenix Open marks the 20-year anniversary of the only hole-in-one on a par 4 in PGA TOUR history. It happened in the first round in 2001 and was just how Andrew Magee drew it up, his tee ball at the 332-yard 17th trundling onto the green, bonking off of Tom Byrum's putter in the group ahead, and diving into the hole. Confusion ensued. On the tee they couldn't be sure what had happened, on the green they didn't know who had hit the ball. And what would the Rules of Golf say? Even the joke that went around later, that it was the only thing Byrum had made all day, was somewhat murky. Steve Pate attributed the quip to Byrum; Magee to Byrum's caddie. Magee, who was born in Paris, where his father worked in the oil business, was by then a Scottsdale resident and playing in a group that also included Jonathan Kaye and Jerry Smith. Up ahead of them was the threesome of Byrum, Pate and Gary Nicklaus. There is video of the shot - sort of. It shows only a ball zooming by and Pate flinching. Here's how it all went down, straight from those who were there. Magee had double-bogeyed the par-5 15th hole, but after making a long birdie putt at the 16th, he had the honor on 17, where TOUR pros have little difficulty driving the green. Andrew Magee: I’m standing there 332 yards away on the 17th tee, having played there quite often at the TPC of Scottsdale. I knew I couldn’t really get it up on to the green all the way, maybe the front of the green from 332 yards, and I was talking to Jonathan Kaye. He said, ‘You’d better wait a little bit. We’re a little downwind here.' I said, ‘You know what, I don’t really hit it up on that green. I’ve played here a lot. I’d maybe drive it up to the front.' Jerry Smith: Andrew and Jonathan, they’re both very quick players and they’re antsy, and we’re just sitting there waiting for the group ahead. Andrew is just like, he’s just ready to hit. Magee: I was still mad about the 15th hole. I said, I’m just going to go ahead and hit it. It’s not going to roll up to them. It’s going to go to the front edge. Magee reared back and gave it everything he had as he came through the hitting area. Few would remember that Mark Calcavecchia won the tournament by eight shots over Rocco Mediate, or that Magee would finish T44. They would only remember what happened next. Magee: A little puff of wind came up as I took it back, and I just killed this driver. I just killed it. It flew the middle bunker, down the middle of the fairway about 30 yards short of the green and it ricocheted really hard off the back of that bunker and it bounced up on to the green and all I knew was - I was on the tee, I really couldn’t see what was going on. Steve Pate: It was playing short. I think the only reason Andrew - he’d made a double the hole before or a couple holes before and was just not very patient. I was walking across the front of the green reading my putt and a ball came zipping by me. I thought I jumped out of the way, but when I saw the video later, the ball was well past me by the time I jumped. It all happened quickly. Byrum was sizing up a putt from 8 feet when someone else's ball rolled onto the green, struck his putter head, hit the flagstick, and disappeared. Magee: From the tee, the middle bunker kind of hides the front of the green, so I couldn’t see the ball, but my dad was up there to the right of the green, and he was raising his arms. Pate: The ball went past me. Tom Byrum was kneeling down reading a putt and the putter head was resting on the ground, and it deflected off of that and it went in. Smith: We all kind looked at one another like, Did that do what we think it did? Magee: My father was jumping up and down, raising his arms, but I was still numb to the fact that my ball had gone in the hole. I thought maybe I had hit somebody on the green. Pate: I got startled. Walking across the front of the green, I’m not expecting a ball to come whizzing by my feet with some speed. It took a few seconds to process what had happened. Smith: Then the Rules official came up. Magee: I really didn’t know until I got 100 yards from the green. The crowd is still cheering and clapping and my dad is raising his arms and the TOUR official is driving the cart kind of alongside with me, and he goes, ‘Yep, it counts.' I said, ‘Even if I hit somebody? It's not a penalty?' He goes, ‘No, if you hit your own equipment it is, but this is a 1. It’s recorded.' Pate: I’m thinking, S—, he just made a 1. Not something you see every day. Magee: They left my ball in the hole for me to pick it out, and I raised it to the crowd, my dad cheering, just going crazy. Only later in the clubhouse, after I finished my round, did I learn that it’s the only hole-in-one on a par 4 in the history of the TOUR. Given its once-in-a-lifetime improbability, the albatross has had a lasting impact. A plaque memorializing Magee's miracle sits on 17, and he is asked about it routinely. Pate: He shouldn’t have hit because the hole was playing really short, but what happened was so unusual, it was kind of cool to be a part of. Magee: I saw Steve and Gary Nicklaus after the round, and they congratulated me. They weren’t hurt at all. Maybe they felt like they might have been part of the history, too, since their names are also associated with the only hole‑in‑one on a par 4. Jason Kokrak aced the 409-yard, par-4 fifth hole at the Seaside Course during the 2013 RSM Classic pro-am, but it didn't count for history since it wasn't an official round. Pate: I am surprised there hasn't been another one, especially with the trend in the last few years to make more par-4 holes drivable. And guys are already hitting it farther. Smith: To think that that’s the only hole‑in‑one on a par 4 on TOUR is pretty remarkable; even the majors and stuff, they love setting up par 4s that the guys can drive. Magee: Robert Garrigus almost made a one on the same hole I did, but it hit the pin and bounced out. Dustin Johnson came up inches short at Kapalua. Every time there’s a close one I get texts from my friends saying I survived another day. If you Google me, it’s the first thing that comes up. It doesn’t say I won four times on TOUR and played 600 tournaments. I talk about it all the time; people ask me how it went down. I go out to TPC, and all my friends that play out there, they take a picture of the plaque and send it to me. I’m delighted by all of it. I am astonished it’s lasted 20 years; hopefully we can last 20 more.
Wine country. Three post-round concerts (including Billy Idol, whose real name, by the way, is William Michael Albert Broad). Fresh faces and a fresh start – and a familiar defending champ — for a new PGA TOUR season. It’s Safeway Open week. Here’s a look at what you need to know as we enter the fall portion of the 2018-19 campaign. THE FLYOVER Few closing holes on the PGA TOUR are easier than the par-5 18th on the North Course at Silverado. The 575-yard hole played to a stroke average of 4.690 last season, making it the seventh easiest closing hole. Four eagles were made on the hole, with 46 percent of all second shots attempting to reach the green (just over 10 percent were successful). LANDING ZONE What do the 360-yard 8th hole at Silverado and the famed 315-yard 10th hole at Riviera have in common? Each played to a stroke average of 4.055 last season. Only one par-4 hole shorter than Silverado’s 8th was more difficult last season – the 354-yard 10th at the Plantation Course at Kapalua. More players do not go anywhere near the green, opting to find the wider portion of the fairway for a short iron into the green. Here’s a look at where all tee shots landed in 2017. WEATHER CHECK From PGA TOUR meteorologist Wade Stettner: “There is a slight chance of showers Thursday morning with clearing skies by Thursday afternoon. Sunny skies are forecast from Friday through Sunday with cool morning temperatures and pleasant afternoon highs. High winds are possible on Sunday as a front drops through the central valley of California.â€� For the latest weather news from Napa, California, check out PGATOUR.COM’s Weather Hub. SOUND CHECK I do love the fresh start here, being back to zero. BY THE NUMBERS 50.3 – Percentage of fairways hit by the Safeway Open field last season. That was the second lowest percentage of any course recorded by ShotLink. The toughest was Firestone South (50 percent). 50 under – Brendan Steele’s cumulative total under par at the Safeway Open since 2014. That’s the best score to par by any player in that stretch. 21 – Number of rookies on the PGA TOUR this season. SCATTERSHOTS This week offers players the first opportunity to earn FedExCup points this season. Ending the fall portion of the schedule has proven to be an important barometer. In each of the last five seasons, the FedExCup leader after the end of the fall events has reached the 30-man TOUR Championship. Former Oakland A’s all-star pitcher Mark Mulder in the field thanks to a sponsor exemption. Mulder has won the American Century Celebrity Golf Championship three times and was also the runner-up at the event this summer. Cameron Champ led the Web.com Tour in driving distance last season (343.1-yard average) en route to earning his TOUR card. He also ranked a respectable 48th in driving accuracy. Said Champ: “I kind of created a shot I like to hit, just kind of my ‘get in the fairway” I call it. It’s kind of a lower shot that I’m very comfortable with if I’m under pressure or if I’m having a bad day. If I can’t really find a fairway, I’ll usually go to that so I think that’s really helped me with the driving aspect.â€�
