Romo near bottom after 79; 3 tied for 1st in D.R.

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PALM HARBOR, Fla. – Max Homa has put a little more practice into his longer putts, and it’s paid off at the Valspar Championship. Homa holed five putts from outside 25 feet in the first two rounds this week. That matches the mark for the most putts made from outside 25 feet in the first two rounds of an event in the ShotLink era (since 2003). Homa made 202 feet, 3 inches of putts Thursday, making him just the second player in the ShotLink era to hole more than 200 feet of putts in a single round at Innisbrook. Homa, who shot 66-68, was tied for the lead after Friday’s morning wave. The winner of this season’s Genesis Invitational started the week ranked 18th in the FedExCup With a win, he’d join Bryson DeChambeau and Stewart Cink as the only multiple winners this season. RELATED: Full leaderboard He has made five of the eight putts he’s faced from outside 25 feet this week. That’s a make percentage of 62.5%. The TOUR has made 5.4% of such putts this season. “I typically putt it quite well, at least start it on my lines. I haven’t made very much most of the season, really, or most of my career outside of like 10, 12 feet,” Homa said Friday. “My inside 6 feet stats are really good, so you would think I would make more from longer. So we have just been putting a little more attention to that, so maybe that’s kind of where the boost has come in. Speed’s been really good, we’re seeing the lines, I feel like Joe (Greiner, his caddie) has been reading them really well and if you start the ball on line they got to go in eventually.” Homa gained more than 5.6 strokes on the greens in the first two rounds at Innisbrook. It’s the second-most strokes he’s gained on the greens in the opening two rounds of a tournament. The only time he gained more? At the 2019 Wells Fargo Championship, which he won. His 3-wood has been nearly as impressive this week. On Monday, he made the first albatross of his career. He almost added another one Friday. Homa hit his 261-yard second shot on the par-5 14th to 5 feet to set up an easy eagle. Though his impressive shot didn’t match his feat from earlier in the week, it was still an exceptional strike. According to ShotLink, Homa has never hit a second shot of more than 250 yards on a par-5 closer to the hole. The TOUR’s measuring system has captured 531 such shots in Homa’s career. He’s hit the green with 39 of them (7.3%) and this was just the third time he hit one inside 10 feet (0.6%). Homa was the first player since 2018 to eagle the Copperhead Course’s 14th with a putt inside 5 feet. He hit a 3-wood into the hole, the same club he used to hole his second shot on the 11th hole of Greystone Country Club in Birmingham, Alabama, the home course of his instructor, Mark Blackburn. “I’ve always hit my 3-wood quite well. It’s typically one of my favorite clubs,” he said Friday. “I know every caddie that’s ever worked for me has said it’s their favorite club, which means it probably should be my favorite club.” Homa couldn’t see his second shot on 14 but he got a thumbs up from the group ahead, so he figured he must have hit the green. He didn’t think it would be that close, however. Homa gained 1.3 strokes on the field with that stroke alone. Now he is contending at Innisbrook after missing the cut in all three of his previous appearances here. “I think I’m just better at golf now,” he said. It’s showing.

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Brian Harman is listed at 5 feet, 7 inches tall. He would like to offer a clarification. “On a good day,â€� he said with a laugh. “With the right set of shoes.â€� True, the defending champion at this week’s Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow Club will never be an NBA lottery pick. Harman is more like former Slam Dunk Contest winner Spud Webb: small but potent. At 163rd on TOUR in driving distance (288.6 yards), the lefty from Georgia gets it done in other ways. He’s 12th in driving accuracy (69.91 percent), sixth in strokes gained: putting (.858), leads the TOUR with seven top-10s this season, and likes his game fine.  It’s just that Harman has become increasingly aware of being surrounded by giants. “There are not a lot of guys that are under six feet tall,â€� he said at Quail Hollow, where he is coming off a T23 finish at the RBC Heritage. “I saw something the other day where the average height on the PGA TOUR had gone up like four inches or something like that. Guys are bigger.â€� If it seems like players are bigger, that’s because they are. PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan, in response to the USGA and R&A’s annual distance report published in March, noted that since 2003, the average age of a TOUR member has gone down, the average height up. Chesson Hadley, who is right behind Harman with six top-10 finishes this season, is 6 feet, 4 inches tall, as are Dustin Johnson and Tony Finau, who have five top-10s. Add Phil Mickelson and Marc Leishman, who also have five top-10s, and who are 6-foot-3 and 6-foot-2, respectively, and you’ve got a formidable looking starting five for intramural basketball.   Or the middle of a baseball lineup. “Guys that would have been piddling around in minor-league baseball are out here hitting it 320 yards now,â€� Harman said. Charles Howell III, who has been on TOUR for nearly 20 years, says the change has been hard to miss. “It’s not just equipment; it’s a different athlete playing the game,â€� he said. At 5 feet, 11 inches tall and 178 pounds, Howell admits he’s no Harman, but adds, “I definitely play against the animals he’s talking about.â€� Golf has always had a place for a wide range of body types. Ben Hogan was 5-foot-9. Jeff Sluman, winner of the 1988 PGA Championship, is 5-foot-7; Ian Woosnam, who won the 1991 Masters, just over 5-foot-4. Height has never told the whole story, and it still doesn’t. Wells Fargo Championship winners Rickie Fowler (2012) and Rory McIlroy (2015, 2010) are both 5-foot-10 but flexible, strong, and fast through the ball. The same could be said for FedExCup leader Justin Thomas, who is 5-foot-9. Then again, Patton Kizzire (6-foot-5) is right behind Thomas in the standings. Jordan Spieth, the 2015 FedExCup champion, is 6-foot-1, and seven-time TOUR winner Matt Kuchar is 6-foot-4. “Everyone’s getting taller,â€� said Jason Day, who is 6 feet tall. “And even if they’re not tall, they’re under six foot, they’re athletic.â€� If Kizzire, Kuchar, Johnson, Finau and Hadley are among the tallest timber on TOUR, the most physically imposing specimens are reigning U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka (6 feet, 186 pounds), Jon Rahm (6-foot-2, 220), Leishman (6-foot-2, 200) and Luke List (6-foot-2, 190). And we haven’t even mentioned Ernie Els (6-foot-3, 210), the 19-time TOUR winner who will captain the International Presidents Cup team at Royal Melbourne in 2019. What does it all mean? Size and strength can help a player withstand the TOUR grind: not just all the range balls but all the travel. Bigger bodies can age better. Mickelson (6-foot-3, 200), who leads all players with eight top-10 finishes at the Wells Fargo Championship, has stayed competitive well into his 40s. Kenny Perry (6-foot-2, 205), Steve Stricker (6 feet, 190) and Vijay Singh (6-foot-2, 208) did the same. Day believes taller players’ “longer leversâ€� are helpful for what every TOUR player needs: speed. “Having a wider body, big shoulders, long arms, is ideal,â€� he said. Kevin Duffy, Day’s trainer, nodded in agreement. “And the wider this part is,â€� Duffy said, pointing to his clavicle, “the better.â€� Guys that would have been piddling around in minor-league baseball are out here hitting it 320 yards now. Dru Love, a sponsor’s exemption at the Wells Fargo, is one of the tallest players in the field at 6-foot-5. His former Alabama teammate Thomas nicknamed him Bigfoot, which stuck—Dru wears a size 14 shoe—but Dru says there’s a point of diminishing returns when it comes to size and golf. “I think there’s a perfect height,â€� he said. “It’s not 5-7, it’s not 6-5; it’s somewhere in the middle. The two best players of all time were built pretty similarly: Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods are both six feet tall and very strong. Jason Day is six feet tall.â€� Is there really a magic number for height? Day says a big body is most effective combined with strength, suppleness, and a technically sound swing. Others aren’t ready to concede the point. Emiliano Grillo, who is listed at 5-foot-9 but says he’s “5-8 on a good day,â€� said he’s “not a big believer in hitting it longerâ€� and focuses instead on splitting fairways and making putts. Denny McCarthy, who said he’s “5-9 on a basketball rosterâ€� but is in fact 5-foot-8, said he’s okay with how far he hits the ball. He’s 117th in driving distance (293 yards), and has the competitive will you might expect from a guy who played four years of high school basketball (guard). “I have a good head on my shoulders,â€� McCarthy said, “and that’s more than half the battle.â€� Harman sounded a similar refrain. His game worked just fine in winning the Wells Fargo Championship at fill-in host Eagle Point Golf Club, which at 7,396 yards (par 72) was no pushover. And while Quail Hollow is one of the brawnier courses on TOUR at 7,554 yards (par-71), he still likes his chances. “You know, they’re not terribly dissimilar,â€� Harman said. “They both require you to drive it pretty well. Big, undulated greens. This course has kind of lent itself to the longer hitter, but creativity and good putting take you a long way here.â€� But what about all those taller players? Doesn’t he want to be big? Nah. That was a Tom Hanks movie, and besides, Harman’s caddie, Scott “Big Countryâ€� Tway, has the size part covered. As for big drives, when asked if he would trade accuracy for distance, Harman declined. “I don’t think so,â€� he said. “I like the way I do it.â€�

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