Rory McIlroy begins fatherhood with a 64 at TOUR Championship

Mark Hensby’s second PGA TOUR event in three and a half years, the Palmetto Championship at Congaree, was going OK through eight holes of Round 1 until he noticed something askew on his golf ball. It was a small dot on his Titleist ProV1 he hadn’t seen before. After rebounding from an early triple bogey with birdies on each of the front nine par-3s, he had just made a par on the eighth hole and was 2 over when he noticed the discrepancy. “I asked my caddie, ‘Hey what’s this dot on the ball? I’ve never noticed this before; did they do something with the new pro V1?’” Hensby told PGATOUR.COM. “And he didn’t know, so I asked my playing partners and they were like, ‘That’s a low spin ball.’ Now I don’t use this ball, so there was a lot of confusion where it came from – none of my others had the dot – but we knew I had played the wrong ball.” The 49-year-old Australian, who before February’s Puerto Rico Open hadn’t played since the 2017 Sanderson Farms Championship, called in Senior Tournament Referee Mike Peterson and was assessed a two-stroke penalty for each hole in which he used the ball under the Model Local Rule G-4 – sometimes known as the One Ball Rule. Hensby had unknowingly dropped the ball into play after hitting his third shot into the water at the fourth hole, meaning his bogey-birdie-par-birdie-par run became a triple bogey-bogey-double bogey-bogey-double bogey annihilation, pushing him to 12 over. Despite being rattled by the news, he shot a respectable 1-over 36 on the back, leaving him with a 13-over 84. While unaware at the time, Hensby would later find out the ball in question belonged to Pat Perez and had been inadvertently switched while the two warmed up on the putting green. “Somehow I picked up one of Pat’s balls and he ended up with one of mine,” he said. “I only found this out because Titleist wanted to get to the bottom of it. I thought they had a wrong ball in the sleeve that I had. “If you look at both balls it’s hard to know the difference,” he continued. “It’s not like one is black and one is red. They’re both black, but one has a small dot on it and one doesn’t. Unfortunately, I didn’t notice that. I’m glad he didn’t use mine.” Prior to rule changes in 2019, this type of infraction carried a maximum penalty of four strokes but now is two-shots per hole. The purpose of the rule is to prevent a player from using balls with different playing characteristics depending on the nature of the hole or shot to be played. Russell Henley unknowingly violated the One Ball Rule in the second round at the Mayakoba Golf Classic in 2019. He realized the infraction while signing autographs after the round, and after adding eight shots to his score went from being in contention to missing the cut. Similarly, Hensby had no chance to play on to the weekend after the violation. “For Mark to call that on himself speaks volumes about him and the integrity of the game,” PGA TOUR Senior Tournament Director Ken Tackett said. The 2004 John Deere Classic winner was a late call up off the alternate list. “I only got into the field on Tuesday,” Hensby said, “and I’d driven a moving truck from Scottsdale to San Antonio 14 hours straight on Sunday so I was a little stiff. I flew in Wednesday night, had to COVID test prior to my tee time, and there was a chance if the results were delayed, I’d be playing as a single at the back of the pack but thankfully those came through. “I was actually playing pretty decent,” he added. “I didn’t get off to the greatest start, but I birdied the par 3’s during that stretch and made some good pars. I was just 2 over at that point and feeling pretty good about my rebound. But after I got the penalty obviously it was tough from that point on, and it was a shame because I knew my tournament was over.” Hensby turns 50 on June 29 and as such has been looking to sharpen his game for PGA TOUR Champions, where he hopes to play alongside fellow Australians of his generation like Rod Pampling, John Senden, Robert Allenby and Stuart Appleby. Hensby has qualified for the Senior U.S. Open at the Omaha Country Club, July 7-11. “I’m working hard to get my game back up there,” he said. “I’m looking forward to the Senior U.S. Open and the Senior British Open and hopefully getting status on PGA TOUR Champions so I can get some more regular playing time again.” Additional reporting by Cameron Morfit at Congaree.

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If you’re wondering if crowds are “back” on TOUR, this week should answer that question LOUDLY! RELATED: The top 5 aces at TPC Scottsdale’s 16th | The First Look TPC Scottsdale will host the 86th WM Phoenix Open as it has since 1987 with eager fans set to create an atmosphere like no other. The famous 16th hole will be rocking as always with what are historically some of the largest crowds of the year. Tom Weiskopf’s 2014 redesign stretches to just 7,261 yards (Par-71) and has been dinged between 19-under and 17-under the last five editions. There have only been five winners in the seven events since the redesign as Hideki Matsuyama and Brooks Koepka have both won twice. Defending champion Koepka returns to lead the field of 132. Phil Mickelson (not entered) is the last player to post 60 (2013) and shares the course record. He also shares the tournament record of 256. Statistically we need eyes on precision players given six of the last seven winners ranked sixth or better in Ball-Striking and five of the last six were first or second in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green. Let’s find some horses for courses! Horses for Courses Odds sourced on Tuesday, February 8 at 1 p.m. ET. For live odds visit betmgm. Recent Event Winner Stats Extra Credit (players entered this week only) 2021 Winner Brooks Koepka trailed by six after 54 holes before a 65 on Sunday claimed his second WMPO title. … Koepka played the final six holes 15-under for the week. … KH Lee (T2) T4 GIR and only five bogeys. … Xander Schauffele (T2) shared the 54-hole lead after 64-65 in Rounds 2 and 3. … Carlos Ortiz (T4) closed with the low round of the day (64) and led field in birdies (24). … Jordan Spieth (T4) posted the low round of the week (61) and led field in SG: Approach the Green. … Matthew NeSmith (T7) led after 18 holes with 63 and closed with 66 on debut. … Andrew Putnam (T7) was bogey-free for the week! … Scottie Scheffler (T7) holed almost 400 feet of putts (T2). … James Hahn (10th) picked up his third T25 or better in his last four here. … Louis Oosthuizen (T11) backed up his solo 3rd from 2017 after posting 63 in Round 3. … Defending champ Webb Simpson (T42) opened with 73. 2020 Winner Webb Simpson birdied the final three holes, including the first playoff hole, to win for the 6th time on TOUR. … Simpson played the final 54 holes 17-under (63-64-69). … Tony Finau (P2) made just two bogeys all week and posted 62 on Saturday to lead after 54 holes. … Nate Lashley (T3) followed with a T17 in 2021 and has posted all eight rounds in the red (67.75). … Justin Thomas (T3) closed with 65 and has never cashed worse than T17 in five weekends here. … Bubba Watson (T3) picked up his third podium and sixth top 10. … Max Homa (T6) signed for his best finish in three trips. … Scott Piercy (T6) sat three off the 54-hole lead. … Adam Long (8th) MC the year before and the year after. … Daniel Berger (T9) sat T1 Putting but MC the year before and the year after. … Branden Grace (T9) backed up solo second in 2019 in just his second appearance. … Billy Horschel (T9) is on a current streak of seven straight with this the best of the bunch. … Jon Rahm (T9) has never MC in six tries but his best finish is T5 as a student at Arizona State in 2015. … Hudson Swafford (T9) sat just two back after 54 holes before closing with 74. … Defending champion Rickie Fowler cashed T37. 2019 Winner Rickie Fowler sat 20-under after 54 holes and closed for his fifth win on TOUR. … First winner since 1983 to have a triple and double on the card in the final round. … Lost a playoff in 2016 and finished second in 2010. … Branden Grace (2nd) was one of just three players to post all four rounds in the 60s and did so on debut. … Justin Thomas (3rd) was second in Proximity. … Chez Reavie (T4) backed up his playoff loss in 2018 with another top five. … Bubba Watson (T4) ranked T7 Fairways and T4 GIR. … Matt Kuchar (T4) was 16-under after 54 holes and trailed by four! … Defending champion Gary Woodland (T7) has MC-T40 the last two years. … Russell Knox (T10) only squared five bogeys for the week. … Jon Rahm (T10) to this day has 23 of 24 rounds in the red for a 68.17 scoring average. … Xander Schauffele (T10) has never MC and his worst finish is T17. … Harold Varner III (T10) shared the 18-hole lead with Fowler and Thomas after a 64. Notes • Two winners have defended since 1970 (Johnny Miller, Hideki Matsuyama). • Mickelson is the only wire-to-wire winner this century (no ties, sorry Rickie). • Only two 54-hole leaders have won since 2013. • Just three international winners since 2000, including ZERO Europeans. • JB Holmes (not entered), Kyle Stanley (2012) and Brooks Koepka (2015) are the only three first-time winners on TOUR since 2000. • Kenny Perry (48) is the oldest winner and Matsuyama and Holmes (both 23) are the youngest. • Wyndham Clark opened with 61 in 2020 to tie Spieth for the post renovation low round. • Matthew Wolff made his professional debut here in 2019. • Charles Howell III will make his 600th start this week and cashed 13 of 15 here. His last visit was T24 2016. • Matt Kuchar has cashed nine straight with four top 10s. • Brian Harman has cashed six straight, but none inside the top 20. Key stat leaders Top golfers in each statistic on the 2020-2021 PGA TOUR are listed only if they are scheduled to compete this week • Of the last seven winners, six are 6th or better Ball-Striking. • Of the last six winners, five finished 1st or 2nd Strokes-Gained: Tee to Green. • The last six winners were 1st, 2nd or 3rd Par-Breakers. • Rickie Fowler is the only winner since 2015 to be in the top 10 Strokes-Gained: Putting.

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