Phil Mickelson struggles to second-round 75 at Wells Fargo Championship

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Tommy Fleetwood kept a clean card in the March wind, kept his patience and was rewarded at the end with three straight birdies for a 7-under 65 to set the early pace Thursday in THE PLAYERS Championship. The move from May to its traditional spot on the calendar brought green, softer conditions and more wind than usual. Even so, Fleetwood was among several early starters who managed to take aim on the TPC Sawgrass. Fleetwood had only one birdie on the slightly easier back nine, and finished with birdie putts from 15 feet, 30 feet and 18 feet. “If you’re in the fairway all the time, the course feels very, very different,” Fleetwood said. “And it’s a massive key around here. And then I just started picking a few shots up, and then you get on a run like 7, 8, 9, and it feels great after that. Just one of them would feel like a great round, so three of them … I’ll take it.” Byeong Hun An and Brian Harman were at 66, while Rory McIlroy also played bogey-free for a 67. Tiger Woods was among the late starters on the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass. Of those playing in the afternoon, Keegan Bradley and Ryan Moore were the only serious threats to catch Fleetwood. Moore had a hole-in-one on the island-green 17th. Starting on the back nine, Bradley played No. 15 – 18 in 4 under to go out in 5 under. He kept a clean card on the front but couldn’t pull ahead of Fleetwood and will begin Round 2 tied with the Englishman at 7 under. Harris English had an albatross — the third straight year for one at THE PLAYERS — on the par-5 11th hole. The scoring wasn’t unusual, nor was the tight leaderboard. It was simply the way the golf course was playing — longer off the tee because the fairways aren’t quite as fast with rye overseed, softer around the greens. Charles Howell III holed out for an eagle from a fairway bunker on the fourth hole. Harold Varner holed out from the rough on No. 1. “Holing out from a fairway bunker on that hole, no, that will never happen again,” Howell said. “I used that up, so that’s done.” In May or in March, there’s generally no lack of excitement at Sawgrass. McIlroy was among those who approved of the calendar change. This was only the third time in 10 starts at THE PLAYERS he broke 70 in the first round. “I think the course over the last 10 years … it hasn’t lent itself to aggressive play,” McIlroy said. “It’s sort of position and irons off the tee and really trying to plot your way around the golf course. I hit drivers on holes today that I would never have hit driver the last few years. “I don’t know if the course is easier or not,” he said. “We’ll see what the stroke average is at the end of the day. But because I think it’s playing longer, it’ll play longer for most of the guys, and I think it should all even out. But I definitely like the golf course the way it is in March.” Whatever the month, the island green is still there. Moore used a 54-degree wedge for the first ace on the 17th hole since Sergio Garcia two years ago. It was the ninth hole-in-one on the most infamous hole at Sawgrass during THE PLAYERS. Paul Casey put two in the water on the 17th and made a quadruple bogey. English’s shot barely cleared the bunker and rolled softly into the cup for his 2 on the 11th hole, the first albatross on that hole since Hunter Mahan in 2007. It was the fifth in tournament history. Fleetwood, the 36-hole leader last week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard until a bad patch on Saturday took him out of the mix, kept motoring along. He putted for birdie on all but two holes, getting up-and-down from 127 yards on the 14th hole and from just off the green at No. 4. “If you like golf, you should like this golf course, really,” Fleetwood said. “It’s just about as fair as you’re going to get a test. If you hit it well like I did today, you’re going to have chances and you can shoot a score, and people are shooting scores. But you can also get it the other way, as soon as you start struggling and start going the other way, it can easily go against you. It’s an amazing course for that.”

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How the field qualified for the Travelers Championship as of 6/14/19: Winner – PGA/U.S. Open Championship Jason Day Brooks Koepka Jordan Spieth Justin Thomas Winner – THE PLAYERS Championship Si Woo Kim Winner – The Masters Patrick Reed Bubba Watson Winner – British Open Francesco Molinari Winner – World Golf Championship Event Kevin Kisner Russell Knox Phil Mickelson Winners of the Arnold Palmer Inv. & the Memorial (Last 3 Years) Patrick Cantlay Bryson DeChambeau Marc Leishman Tournament Winner in Past Two Seasons Ryan Armour Daniel Berger Jonas Blixt Keegan Bradley Paul Casey Cameron Champ Austin Cook Brice Garnett Cody Gribble Adam Hadwin Brian Harman Russell Henley J.B. Holmes Max Homa Mackenzie Hughes Sung Kang Michael Kim Patton Kizzire Satoshi Kodaira Andrew Landry Adam Long Troy Merritt Rod Pampling Cheng Tsung Pan Andrew Putnam Cameron Smith Brandt Snedeker Kyle Stanley Brendan Steele Chris Stroud Hudson Swafford Martin Trainer Kevin Tway Career Money Exemption Padraig Harrington Sponsors Exemptions – Members not otherwise exempt Aaron Baddeley Boo Weekley Sponsors Exemptions – Unrestricted Viktor Hovland Collin Morikawa Justin Suh Matthew Wolff PGA Section Champion/Player of the Year Chris Tallman Past Champion of Respective Event Kevin Streelman Top 125 on Prior Season’s FedEx Cup Points List Tony Finau Tommy Fleetwood Emiliano Grillo Chez Reavie Byeong Hun An Chesson Hadley Beau Hossler Jason Kokrak Brian Gay Abraham Ancer J.J. Spaun Peter Uihlein Louis Oosthuizen Ryan Moore Whee Kim Nick Watney Bronson Burgoon Charley Hoffman Joel Dahmen Brian Stuard Kelly Kraft Tom Hoge Scott Stallings Danny Lee Ollie Schniederjans Anirban Lahiri Sam Ryder Trey Mullinax Brandon Harkins Harold Varner III Alex Cejka Richy Werenski Tyler Duncan Seamus Power Martin Laird J.T. Poston Vaughn Taylor Sam Saunders Ryan Blaum Scott Brown Nick Taylor Bud Cauley Harris English Top 125 (Prior Season Nonmember) Joaquin Niemann Kiradech Aphibarnrat Major Medical Extension Lucas Glover Freddie Jacobson Morgan Hoffmann Jim Herman Brandon Hagy Colt Knost Leading Money Winner from Web.com Tour & Web.com Tour Finals Sungjae Im Denny McCarthy Top Finishers from Web.com Tour Prior Season (reordered) Sam Burns Adam Schenk Kyoung-Hoon Lee Matt Jones Carlos Ortiz Peter Malnati Wyndham Clark Roger Sloan Scott Langley Shawn Stefani Jim Knous Sebastián Muñoz Kramer Hickok Cameron Tringale Hank Lebioda Robert Streb Dylan Frittelli Julián Etulain Curtis Luck Chase Wright Stephan Jaeger Cameron Davis Anders Albertson Sepp Straka Hunter Mahan Roberto Díaz Alex Prugh Adam Svensson Seth Reeves Brady Schnell José de Jesús Rodríguez Ben Silverman Josh Teater Nicholas Lindheim Fabián Gómez J.J. Henry Joey Garber Kyle Jones John Chin Wes Roach Sangmoon Bae Zack Sucher Chris Thompson Chad Collins Kris Blanks Will Claxton Will MacKenzie 126 – 150 Prior Season’s FEC Points List (Reordered) Talor Gooch Dominic Bozzelli Nate Lashley Johnson Wagner David Hearn Ben Crane Tom Lovelady Martin Piller Derek Fathauer Tyrone Van Aswegen Robert Garrigus David Lingmerth Chad Campbell Reorder Category – Cat. 34 thru 38 Matt Every Jonathan Byrd D.J. Trahan Brendon Todd Billy Hurley III George McNeill Andres Romero John Senden Daniel Chopra Parker McLachlin Tim Herron Brian Davis Chris Couch Charlie Beljan John Rollins Robert Allenby Derek Ernst John Merrick Ricky Barnes Ken Duke Brendon de Jonge Arjun Atwal Jason Bohn Charlie Wi Jonathan Kaye Omar Uresti Beyond 150th on Prior Season’s FEC Points List Eric Axley Dicky Pride Tommy Gainey Troy Matteson Heath Slocum Ã�ngel Cabrera Cameron Beckman Jay Don Blake Neal Lancaster Chris Smith Frank Lickliter II Past Champion Member Robert Gamez Len Mattiace Keith Clearwater Glen Day Ted Purdy Brett Wetterich Tom Byrum Richard S Johnson Spike McRoy Marc Turnesa Mike Heinen Guy Boros Veteran Member Craig Barlow

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SYDNEY — Jason Day and Jordan Spieth went in opposite directions Friday at the Australian Open. Day had four consecutive birdies on the back nine, including a 30-footer, for a 3-under 68 that left him a stroke out of the second-round lead. Australian Lucas Herbert, who shot 66, is in front with a 9-under total of 133 on The Australian course. First-round leader Cameron Davis, who shot 72 Friday, is another stroke behind in third. Defending champion Spieth earlier failed to take advantage of ideal morning scoring conditions and had a 71 to fall further behind the leaders — eight strokes behind Herbert and tied for 19th place with 10 others. Spieth, who hasn’t played since the Presidents Cup in late September, has won the Australian Open two out of the last three years and finished second the other time. Day, who had seven birdies and four bogeys, is aiming to win his first Australian Open title in his first competitive appearance on home soil since 2013. “It was quite tough out there today with the winds,” Day said. “But I played very well and gave myself a lot of opportunities for birdies.” The 21-year-old Herbert led the Australian Open into the final round last year — when he finished seven shots off the pace in a tie for 20th — and is coming off a second-place finish in last week’s New South Wales Open. “I think I warmed up this morning and it felt really good, and I was like, `I hope this sticks around’,” Herbert said. At least Spieth’s morning start Saturday means he will avoid the windy conditions that the leading groups will have to contend with in the afternoon. And that left him optimistic of a comeback. In 2014, he shot a then course-record 63 at The Australian to win his first Australian title by six shots. “I feel like you can make up more ground and come from behind here over I think any tournament I’ve played this entire year,” Spieth said. “The golf course will start to bake out and you get really calm conditions in the morning that leave the windier conditions for the afternoon, so I’ll have a pretty gettable golf course. If I can post something like 5, 6-under, then I’m very much in this tournament.” Day agreed that Spieth is far from out of it. “It’s Jordan Spieth,” Day said. “If he gets something going on the weekend he can hole a lot of putts and make a lot of birdies and make a charge, and usually he does make a charge on the weekend. “Sometimes there’s not a lot of pressure on your shoulders. You just go out there and kind of free-will it and that’s how you make a ton of birdies and move up the leaderboard pretty quick.” Spieth said the seven-week layoff was the longest he’s had since his college days and that he felt rusty and nervous at times during his first round which featured five bogeys in windy conditions. The wind began to pick up late in Spieth’s round Friday, as did his frustration level at times. On the par-4 sixth — his 15th of the day — his drive traveled well over 300 meters, so far that it reached a spectator crossing area that officials obviously felt was far enough from the tee. Spieth took a drop from it, but his approach to the green failed to spin back, leaving him a putt of at least 20 feet. He missed his birdie attempt. “It’s just been the short game rust that’s kind of hurt me a bit the last couple of days that prevents me from being 5 or so under,” Spieth said. At least he birdied the ninth — his last hole Friday. Finishing on even-par would have left him just one stroke away from the projected cut, which could have changed based on afternoon scoring. “That was only my second one-putt of the day,” Spieth said. “The other was for par.” NOTES: Canadian Mike Weir, the 2003 Masters champion, missed the cut, shooting 77-69. He’s set to play in next week’s Australian PGA at Royal Pines on Queensland state’s Gold Coast, where Masters champion Sergio Garcia, Adam Scott and Marc Leishman are also entered.

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