Rory McIlroy, Viktor Hovland and more: Reasons why each can and can’t win on Sunday at The Open

NORTON, Mass. - He was hot under the collar, but it had nothing to do with his golf, nor his decision to put his favorite putter back into play. Nope. The problem early in Tiger Woods' opening round of THE NORTHERN TRUST was more than the bogey he made on his fourth hole, the par-4 13th. It was the hot oil he uses to loosen up his cranky back. "I decided to put some up on my neck," Woods explained, "and it's not as tolerant as my lower back so it gets awfully hot." That situation remedied with a bottle of ice water, Woods watched the heat transfer to his golf game at TPC Boston. He played a nine-hole stretch - the par-5 18th to the par-3 eighth - in 5 under. RELATED: Full leaderboard Solid stuff that would have ignited roars had there been spectators, this time the hot stuff was halted not by a water bottle, but a wide-right drive at the par-4 ninth. Woods made bogey after he couldn't muscle the 207-yard shot out of the rough and missed the green. Still, for the most part Woods appeared content with his 3-under 68 that left him four off Harris English's clubhouse lead after the morning wave. Playing just his ninth competitive round since the PGA TOUR returned in mid-June after a three-month break, Woods was accompanied by the putter that has been in his hands for nearly everything that made him an icon. He had used the Scott Cameron Newport 2 GSS in 14 of his 15 major championships, so when he put it on the bench for the PGA Championship two weeks ago, it was considered big news. Woods explained that he liked the longer shaft and heavier feel to the Scotty Cameron Newport 2 Timeless, but he conceded that the results at TPC Harding Park were less than what he envisioned. "Had one good day, the first day (he shot 68), and then after that I didn't really putt well," he said. This week, at a place where Woods has won and played consistently well, the old standby is in play. And? "I had a good feel today. I had nice pace and I like the speed of these greens. They're fast," said Woods. "Even though they're soft, they're still quick. I just felt comfortable." The numbers supported him, even if they weren't off the charts. He needed just 29 putts, and at the completion of his round his Strokes Gained: Putting (+1.15) was ranked 18th. True, his longest putt was just 16 feet (at the par-3 third) and he made a made a modest 66 feet, 5 inches of putts, but never did he appear stressed out on the putting surfaces. Like he said, comfortable. "That's one of the weird things about golf," he said. "It's just the way it is sometimes." Of course, here's another aspect of golf that is hard to ignore: It's the tee shot that puts everything in motion and this is where the numbers were not so kind to Woods in Thursday's opening round. He did hit five of the first seven fairways, but moving to TPC Boston's front nine, Woods hit the first fairway, then missed each of the next six. OK, a disclaimer is needed, however, as the 298-yard par-4 fourth is a hole that players try to drive, and Woods was not unhappy with finding the bunker; he made birdie. Coming on top of the 16-footer he had made at the par-3 third, Woods was officially on the move. He continued nicely by converting a 6-footer for birdie at the par-5 seventh, then hit arguably his best iron shot of the day to birdie from 7 feet at the 225-yard, par-3 eighth. If the closing bogey unsettled him, Woods didn't let on. There have been questions about a busy stretch of golf, possibly four starts in five weeks beginning here at THE NORTHERN TRUST. But the 44-year-old Woods, the guy who began his day with hot oil to warm up, just shrugged. "I've got to get to Atlanta (and the TOUR Championship for the top 30 in the FedExCup standings) first," he said. "I'm not in." Not currently, as he sits 49th in the standings. But an opening 68 was surely a step in the right direction.

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With play suspended Friday evening due to darkness, Round 2 resumes Saturday morning with 48 golfers still on the course, including Tiger Woods, Jon Rahm, Hideki Matsuyama and Patrick Reed. Round 3 of the Masters will get underway with the low 50 players and ties at Augusta. Here’s everything you need to know to follow the action. Leaderboard Full tee times HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Saturday, 7:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m., (ESPN) 1 p.m.-5 p.m. (CBS); Sunday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. (CBS) Live stream: Click here for the Masters.com streaming schedule. Click here for the live steam. Radio: Thursday-Friday, 1 p.m.-6 p.m. ET; Saturday, 12 p.m.-5 p.m.; Sunday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. (Sirius 208 and XM 92) Note: Augusta National, who owns and operates the Masters Tournament, controls all digital streaming and broadcast rights to this event. PGA TOUR LIVE coverage will resume next week at The RSM Classic. MUST READS Johnson, Thomas take share of Masters lead McIlroy bounces back with second-round 66 International Team looms large at Augusta DeChambeau in danger of missing cut Like ‘old' times at Augusta for Tiger Win probabilities: Masters Tournament Remembering Tiger’s win at the 2019 Masters Elder to be Honarary Starter in 2021 Nine things about Augusta National

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JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Sergio Garcia delivered two key shots on the back nine, the last one an 8-iron to 30 inches on the final hole for birdie and a one-shot victory in the Sanderson Farms Championship. RELATED: What’s in Garcia’s bag? Garcia closed with a 5-under 67 and won for the 10th consecutive year worldwide, and the first time on the PGA TOUR since the 2017 Masters. Peter Malnati, whose lone PGA TOUR victory came at this tournament five years ago, closed with a career-best 63 and waited nearly two hours to see if it would hold up. It almost did. Garcia was two shots behind when he hit 5-wood on the par-5 14th that narrowly cleared a bunker, hitting in the top collar, onto the fringe and rolling out to just inside 4 feet for eagle to tie for the lead. He had to save par from a bunker with a 5-foot putt on the 15th after a poor tee shot, and then he delivered the winner with a big tee shot on the 18th and an 8-iron from 171 yards. Garcia immediately began walking after the shot, and it dropped down next to the hole and settled right behind it. Closing his eyes right before the stroke, a habit he returned to this week, he made it and clenched his fist with a grin not seen on the 40-year-old Spaniard lately. One week after falling out of the top 50 in the world for the first time since 2011, Garcia won for the 11th time on the PGA TOUR and the 31st time worldwide. The former winner of THE PLAYERS Championship finished at 19-under 269 and he moved to No. 4 in the FedExCup standings. J.T. Poston, who started the final round in at three-way tie with Garcia and Cameron Davis of Australia, was one shot behind when he missed the 16th fairway to the right, went into a bunker and failed to save par. He finished with two pars for a 70 to finish alone in third. Davis had three bogeys on the front nine and was never a factor, closing with a 72.

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