Silverman goes on birdie blitz for Barracuda lead

Nobody in the day’s marquee group finished under par as TPC Sawgrass got more difficult as the day went.

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JACKSON, Miss. — Defending champion Sebastián Muñoz found happy memories Thursday at the Sanderson Farms Championship. Muñoz nearly holed a wedge on his opening hole as part of his fast start, ran in four straight birdies on the back nine and wound up with an 8-under 64 to share of the lead with Jimmy Walker, Kevin Chappell and Charley Hoffman. RELATED: Full Sanderson Farms leaderboard | How Muñoz evolved after 2019 win | Vets start strong in Mississippi The Country Club of Jackson was soft from recent downpours, though the greens were running fast and true, contributing to the good scoring. Sixteen players were at 67 or better. “I don’t know, the energy of this place, I really like it,” Muñoz said. “I just kind of thrive on it.” The Colombian figured there were good scores to be had when he saw Walker and Hoffman at 64 before he teed off, with plenty of other low scores right behind them. His only bogey came on the ninth hole when his drive landed in a divot and he missed the green to the left. All that did was slow his momentum briefly, and he picked that right back up starting on the 13th with four straight birdies, all of them within 6 feet. Walker wasn’t feeling his best and wasn’t sure what to expect, especially after missing two short birdie putts to start his round. Instead, it was his best start in more than two years. His eighth and final birdie of a bogey-free round was on No. 8, where he had a speck of mud o the right of the ball, the wind out of the right and the pin tucked to the right. “I was like, `We’ll see if I can judge it just right,’ and I ended up hitting it like this,” he said, holding his hands a little more than a foot apart. “Finishing that off was pretty nice.” Hoffman made nine birdies in his round of 64. Chappell feels he’s starting the year over with his Major Medical extension from microdiscetomy surgery continuing this year because of a season cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic. He also added to his family when his wife gave birth to a daughter, which limited his play even more. “I hadn’t done myself any favors coming back — poor scheduling, poor play, maybe came back a little early,” Chappell said. “But I kind of feel like I got my feet under me, getting more comfortable being on the road, being away from my family, and so the focus is just enjoying it and playing good golf, and the results will come.” Walker hasn’t had much go his way since he won the 2016 PGA Championship at Baltusrol. He had Lyme disease the following year that took its toll for more than that season, and he now has gone 88 starts on the PGA TOUR without winning since his major title. More recently, he had tendonitis in his right elbow so bad that it hurt even to remove a club from the bag. Walker got some good work in at home in Texas last week, his physical therapist working with him, and he took it easy during practice leading up to the opening round. “I’ve always had stuff with my left shoulder, but I just picked up some tendonitis at the U.S. Open,” Walker said. “I just had no strength. But I rested a lot last week, played a few nine-hole rounds with some buddies and came in this week and my physio, we’ve been banging away on it. And it’s feeling better.” The putter felt better, too. After two short misses, Walker realized he needed to move the ball up slightly in his stance. Then, he started pouring in a collection of 15-footers, one from 25-feet and a par save from 10 feet. The last time he started a PGA TOUR event with a round this low was a 64 in May 2018 at the AT&T Byron Nelson. Sergio Garcia, out of the top 50 in the world for the first time since 2011, made his tournament debut with a 68. Henrik Stenson, playing in Mississippi for the first time in 10 years had a 70. Stewart Cink opened with a 69 in his first tournament since winning the Safeway Open three weeks ago with his son on the bag, Cink’s first victory since he won the Open at Turnberry in 2009.

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Presidents Cup combatants Xander Schauffele and Marc Leishman have seen immediate dividends from the new Callaway Mavrik driver as the company launches its new metalwoods and irons line. We first saw four-time PGA TOUR winner Schauffele with the new driver at the Presidents Cup in December and then again at the Sentry Tournament of Champions to kick off 2020. Schauffele garnered three points for the U.S. Team (3-2) at Royal Melbourne, including a very important Singles take down of International team veteran and on course leader Adam Scott. He then produced an impressive week in Maui, almost defending his title before falling in a playoff to Justin Thomas. “Equipment-wise, I’d say I’ve made the right decisions. I had a lead going into Sunday, which is what my team and I always work on, and the new equipment seems to be sliding in the bag perfectly,â€� Schauffele said in Kapalua. Leishman was part of 11 players in the field at the Sony Open in Hawaii to adopt the new driver that has taken the companies work with artificial intelligence or machine learning to a whole new level. The result was his best Strokes Gained: Off the Tee result over a tournament since June 2017. Leishman gained 1.1 strokes a round off the tee at Waialae Country Club (+4.394 for the week) to rank second in the field. He hit 73percent of his fairways, his highest driving accuracy percentage in a year. “This was the easiest driver fit I’ve ever had,â€� four-time TOUR winning Leishman said of suiting up to go to the Mavrik. “I think the new Mavrik driver will suit me a little better than the Epic Flash and I’m definitely feeling very confident with it. Obviously time will tell if I can keep up the improvement in my stats but the early signs are very good, especially on a tough driving course like Waialae.â€� Having debuted their supercomputer efforts last year with the Epic Flash driver, Callaway has beefed up the capabilities of their machine friend and create a specific face architecture for all three new driver heads in their lineup. The Mavrik, Mavrik Max and Mavrik Sub Zero. The new Flash Face SS20 design is thinner and features a more robust face structure that maximizes peak ball speed out of the center but minimizes the variation of ball speed around the face as well. For the first time Callaway is using FS2S titanium in a club face, an exotic material they say is remarkably strong and a full six grams lighter than traditional materials. The Jailbreak and a T2C Triaxial Carbon Crown technology return. Jailbreak features two internal bars behind the face that connect the sole and crown to promote faster ball speed and the T2C triaxial carbon crown is significantly lighter than a titanium crown, allowing engineers to redistribute additional weight to raise MOI and forgiveness. A.I. was used to optimize the internal structure and position of numerous ribs to create a more satisfying sound and feel. The Mavrik has the new Cyclone Aero shape to promote faster head speed. It is shallower from front to back, with a flatter crown, and a sole design that sweeps upward dramatically in the rear to create a markedly higher trailing edge. This helps decrease drag for increased clubhead speed. The head’s internal and external weighting includes a single, fixed 5g weight positioned at the sole’s back-center, to promote mid-level spin and a moderate draw bias. It has a 460cc head available in 9, 10.5 and 12 degrees. The Mavrik Sub Zero is a slightly smaller 450cc head that brings a combination of low spin and high MOI. The head features two interchangeable screws in the front and back, 14g and 2g, to promote changes to launch angle and spin-rate. It has a neutral ball flight bias and the lie angle is slightly flatter compared to the Standard and Max models. It is available in 9 and 10.5 degrees. The Mavrik Max is a more forgiving face with two interchangeable weights, 14g and 2g, to help change launch and spin. Off center hits can still bring distance while a distinct draw-bias weighting is implemented to help decrease a slice. It is available in 9, 10.5 and 12 degrees. Callaway’s Mavrik drivers retail for $449 and will be available Jan. 23. The new fairway woods also come in Mavrik, Mavrik Sub Zero and Mavrik Max. Callaway incorporated their A.I. designed Flash Face to work specifically with the size, shape and CG location of each head, promoting optimum speed and spin. Using C300 maraging steel the company has achieved high ball speeds that extend well across the face. A.I. also contributed to an enhanced Face Cup, which is engineered to provide speed across the face and Jailbreak Technology promotes more distance at every impact location by utilizing two internal bars that connect the crown and the sole. The standard Mavrik has a large and expansive hitting area for a high launch and a flat trajectory. The Sub Zero model has a tighter leading edge engineered to create more workability. The Max head has a lowered leading edge for better performance on shots that are hit lower on the face. All models feature interchangeable weighting to fine tune shot shape. The weighting system provides golfers with options to optimize launch angles, spin rates, and bias settings. And every club features high performance shaft options from UST, Project X and Aldila, along with premium Golf Pride grips. Callaway’s Mavrik Fairway Woods retail for $299 and will be available Jan. 23. Lastly the new Mavrik hybrids and irons have also been developed with the help of machine learning for the first time. Callaway say they’ve set a new standard for distance and performance with supercomputer help in these areas also. The hybrids come with Face Cup and Jailbreak technology and as with the fairway woods use A.I. to develop a different face design for every loft, promoting an optimal combination of speed, launch angle, and spin rate in each one. The result is easy launch, high flight, long carry and soft landing. The irons also feature a new Flash Face Cup and A.I. inspired separate face architecture for every loft. The differing faces bring a boost in ball speed and increased spin robustness off of every club in the set. Ball speed is further enhanced by the 360 Face Cup that flexes and releases at impact on center and off-center hits. A Tungsten Energy Core (precisely positioned custom tungsten weights in each iron to optimize launch and trajectory) allows Callaway to strengthen the lofts while still maintaining player preferred trajectories, spin rates, and land angles. Over one million urethane microspheres are strategically placed into each clubhead to absorb unwanted vibration while maximizing COR. The long iron faces are designed for launch and speed, while the mid-iron faces are engineered for speed and spin consistency. The short iron faces are optimized for spin and precision to promote pinpoint shot-making. Callaway’s Mavrik Hybrids retail for $249 while the 7-piece Standard and Max irons retail at $799 for steel and $899 for graphite and the 7-piece Pro irons are $899 in steel. All will be available Feb. 6.

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