Players now allowed to wear shorts in practice, pro-am rounds

BETHESDA, Md. – Tiger Woods had everyone dreaming of PGA TOUR win number 80 early in the third round of the Quicken Loans National but the roars turned to whimpers as an epic charge stalled on the back nine. Starting the third round just four-shots back Woods had the crowd in a state of hysteria after four-straight birdies moved him to within one shot of the lead after just seven holes. But while the heat index at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm continued to rise, Woods’ putter started to cool off and a host of missed chances peppered his last nine holes. In the final wash up Woods shot a 2-under 68 to move to 7 under for the tournament, a distant six shots off the pace set by Francesco Molinari (65) and Abraham Ancer (62) at 13 under. “I played better than what my score indicates,â€� Woods said. “It was frustrating because I thought that 10 under would have been a good score for me to end up at for the day and I could have easily gotten that today on the back nine.â€� A win for Woods is certainly not completely out of the question as he sits in a tie for 10th place but the two-time FedExCup champion will need a special Sunday. With temperatures expected to squeak towards 100 degrees on Sunday Woods will base his strategy on how the golf course is set up but clearly intends to try to go low and post a number in the clubhouse. “I’m curious to see what they do with the golf course, if they keep letting it dry out or are they going to protect it against this heat,â€� Woods said. “If they let it dry out, then the scores won’t be as low tomorrow, but if they protect it, then everybody’s been making birdies everywhere here. “Either way I’m going to have to shoot a low round to try to give myself a chance, but I would hope that it would be drier because it gives me a little better chance.â€� Woods opened his round with a bogey and then played the next two holes loosely also, failing to birdie the par-5 2nd and then needing to make a 12-foot par save on the third. It was a critical putt as it kick-started a blistering run of four-straight birdies with Woods stepping up his approach game and connecting putts from six, seven, 12 and eight feet. A bogey on eight may have started the slide except Woods rebounded immediately on the par-3 9th with a 25-foot birdie. But it would be a long wait for more joy despite huge crowds willing his every move. Woods missed makeable birdie putts from eight and nine feet on the next two holes and had to settle for par on the 12th also when his 21-foot effort barely missed. A poor iron off the 13th tee would result in a sloppy bogey and then Woods missed another birdie from seven feet on the drivable par-4 14th. A 20-foot try on the 15th wouldn’t drop but a sublime approach to five feet on 16 finally resulted in his only birdie of the back side. His 23-footer on 17 wouldn’t drop and then the gloss was taken off the round when he went wayward off the 18th tee into a tough lie, hacked out into a bunker and failed to get up and down. With his new mallet style putter Woods now ranks 27th in the field through three rounds in Strokes Gained: Putting. It was his best friend on the front – where he made 78 feet, five inches of putts – but almost an enemy on the back as he made just 17 feet, five inches. “Every putt I missed on the back nine except for 18 were all high side, I just blew it through the high side three putts in a row,â€� he said. “Frustrating.â€� For those hoping to see history it certainly was.

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SAN ANTONIO — For the fifth straight year, Jimmy Walker, the unofficial Valero Texas Open ambassador, hosted 30-40 players and Titleist-FootJoy staff at his home for a barbecue Tuesday night. Walker cooked a 20-pound brisket, four big Tomahawk steaks as well as some strips, while wife, Erin, made the sides. “I mean it was all gone,” Walker said. Among those who partook in the feast was Rickie Fowler, who piled his plate high with brisket and steak. “Jimmy’s a good cook,” Fowler said. “He knows what he’s doing. He can hold his own on the grill.” Fowler, 30, is hoping to hold his own at TPC San Antonio’s Oaks Course, where he’s making his PGA TOUR debut. “It’s my 10th year on TOUR and it’s not often it’s your first time being somewhere else,” Fowler said. Walker said Fowler had visited him at his home prior to the WGC Dell Matchplay a few years ago to hang out and practice, but he didn’t need to make any sales pitch to attract Fowler to add his home game to his schedule. “It was pretty much a no-brainer when they got this date (pre-Masters rather than post-Masters) that he would be here,” Walker said. “It’s good. I think I saw a lot of little kids running around in orange yesterday, and that’s huge. There’s a new part of the country that gets to see Rickie play in person and that’s great.” Fowler is here for one obvious reason. Count him among the players firmly in the camp of preferring to play the week before a major championship. Fowler had played in the Shell Houston Open in each of the previous five years when it was the final stop before the Masters. “It just makes me feel more comfortable and more confident,” Fowler explained. “It’s a great week to check some boxes or figure out what boxes need to be checked early next week.” With a victory at the Waste Management Phoenix Open and two other top-4 finishes, Fowler is looking to build on his momentum and would like nothing more than another multiple-win season like he had in 2015. The momentum from a T-2 at the Honda Classic was temporarily slowed at THE PLAYERS, his fourth tournament in a four-week stretch, when Fowler got sick on the eve of the tournament. “If I had to play Thursday morning, I don’t think I would have made my tee time,” said Fowler, refreshed from a two-week break. “I was happy just making it to the weekend.” That won’t be the case at TPC San Antonio, where Fowler expects to gain a lot from the competitive reps.  “If you play well, get in content and win, it’s just a bonus,” he said.

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