Phil Mickelson shaky but takes one-shot lead at PGA Championship

PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico – When you’re hot you’re hot. After a victory last week at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship, Seamus Power kept his fine play going this week at the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba, firing an 8-under 63 in the third round to move into the top five on the leaderboard. “Confidence is a huge thing in golf, and especially in wind and a course like this, sometimes you’re lining up down like a hazard line or something like that and you’ve got to hit it with some confidence. I think after the win last week, one, you’re playing a little freer I think and two, your confidence is high, feeling good about your game,” said Power. The round was highlighted by an ace on the par-3 8th, an eagle just three holes later on the par-4 11th, and then a hole-out birdie from a greenside bunker on the par-4 14th. He knocked a gap wedge in for the hole-in-one from 138 yards and a lob wedge in for the eagle. With a bashful laugh, Power said it was his 14th ace, his last on TOUR in 2019 at THE PLAYERS Championship. Funnily enough, Power didn’t feel like he was putting it that well on Saturday. No matter. “It was one of those days, I was burning the edges all over the place with putts so it’s kind of weird a couple of wedge shots went in,” said Power with a smile. “That’s golf sometimes and hopefully I can get some of the putts to drop tomorrow.” Power attributes his solid run to the five-week break he took after the TOUR Championship. It was time, he said, for a mental and physical re-set. “It’s just a lot of tournaments. Last season I feel I played a lot of tournaments,” said Power. “At the start of the year like the Match Play I wouldn’t have been in, or any of the four majors. So, for me adding those to the schedule as it was going along was a little tricky because, you know, there’s a lot of other courses you like and all that. “So, I feel like I probably overplayed a little bit, so that five weeks was huge just to… get the fun back into the game, just to get the energy level back up and that desire to be just out there like on the golf course. So, I was able to do that and, as I said, I feel great right now.” With a fine start to the PGA TOUR season, Power said he’s got eyes on some big-picture goals, including being part of the Ryder Cup team next year in Italy. “I mean, that’s going to be huge,” said Power. “Obviously that’s a long ways away, but… that’s going to hopefully be the reward at the end of a lot of good golf.” Power wasn’t the only one to make an ace on Saturday. Greyson Sigg, fresh off his colorful Friday effort, had a hole-in-one of his own on No. 10. Joel Dahmen, meanwhile, nearly jarred his tee ball with a driver on the par-4 17th. He finished birdie-eagle-birdie to shoot a 5-under 66, after his tee shot on the penultimate hole – measured at 300 yards in the third round – landed just two feet away. He finished birdie-eagle-birdie to shoot a 5-under 66 after his tee shot from 300 yards on the penultimate hole landed just two feet away.

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TULSA, Okla. – Justin Thomas was in crisis mode earlier this week. His shots weren’t finding the sweet spot, he didn’t feel comfortable over the ball and he was unsure of the solution. Even his father, Mike, wasn’t exempt from his frustration. RELATED: The fabulous dad life of Mike Thomas | Tracing JT’s golfing roots “I have to remind him sometimes, you’re not my dad out here, you’re my swing coach, and I need you to tell me if something is wrong,” Justin said. “I don’t need my ego boosted. I’m here to try to win a golf tournament and play well.” Mike prefers to keep things simple and focus on the fundamentals. A couple days before the year’s second major wasn’t a time to break out the camera or experiment with theories. It was time to go back to the basics. Mike turned his son’s focus away from positions and told Justin to focus on one of his favorite parts of the game, his ability to shape the ball. In an analytical age, Mike wanted his son to engage his right brain. “He was like, well, let’s just start trying to hit some shots,” Justin said. Hitting it high and low, curving it both ways, through what Tiger Woods refers to as the nine windows (think every combination of height and shot shape). That did the trick. Shots started flying off the center of the clubface and Justin’s confidence returned. The high winds blowing across Southern Hills’ wide fairways gave him the opportunity to take his shot-shaping acumen from the range to the course. It showed on Thomas’ final hole Friday, a satisfying birdie that started with a low, slicing drive into the uphill fairway, followed by a wedge shot nestled below the hole on the severely-tilted green. His other birdie on his back nine came after a 6-iron from 217 yards that Thomas hit to 20 feet despite a strong crosswind. “Just being as windy as it was, it was a lot of manipulating and different shots,” said Thomas, who hit 16 greens Friday en route to his second consecutive 67. He’s made just one bogey in his last 27 holes and only three all week. He was by far the best performer among the half of the field that teed off late Thursday and early Friday, facing the day’s highest winds both days. He was three shots better than the next-best performer from that side of the draw, Matt Fitzpatrick. Only three other players broke par from that half of the field: Talor Gooch, Joaquin Niemann and Bernd Wiesberger, and they all were 1 under. Seeking his first major in five years, Thomas took a slightly different approach this week. He teed it up the week prior, playing the AT&T Byron Nelson in Dallas. That allowed him to make a quick scouting trip up to Southern Hills. “I loved it as soon as I saw it,” he said. Southern Hills’ renovation, which has drastically altered the appearance of this Perry Maxwell classic, has been one of the big storylines this week. The wide fairways give players room to work the ball, a skill that’s even more important in the conditions players have faced this week. The strong wind blows across most of the holes, requiring some sort of curvature to keep the ball from being blown off-target. Thomas is seeking his first win since another victory where his ballstriking skill was on display, last year’s PLAYERS Championship. He played low, hooking tee shots and towering long-irons during a weekend where he had full command of his swing. He hasn’t won since, but still ranks 15th in the FedExCup thanks to seven top-10s in 12 starts this season. That includes a fifth-place finish last week and a top-10 at the Masters after a disastrous first round where his inability to focus cost him an opportunity to command. He followed that 76 by playing the next three rounds in 5 under par, however. This time, Thomas kept fighting in the first round and didn’t let his chances at victory end before they began. Thomas already owns one PGA Championship, having won five years ago at Quail Hollow, but his major record since has been rather paltry. He only has four top-10s in majors since that win, and none better than a fourth-place finish at the 2020 Masters. “It’s golf, so it’s pretty hard sometimes,” he said Friday. “We’re halfway through so it’s still a long way from home, but I’m very, very pleased with where everything is at and the frame of mind and state of mind that I’m in.” He’s come a long way since the start of the week.

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