Sleeper Picks: Fortinet Championship

MAMARONECK, N.Y. — This was the Winged Foot everyone has heard about. This is the U.S. Open everyone expected. Patrick Reed answered the first big test Friday when the wind arrived out of the north, bringing a little chill and a lot of trouble. He never got flustered by bogeys and made enough birdie putts and key saves for an even-par 70. It felt just as rewarding as the 66 he shot in the opening round, and it gave him a one-shot lead over Bryson DeChambeau, who powered and putted his way to a 68. The opening round featured soft greens, a few accessible pins and 21 rounds under par. Friday was the epitome of a major long known as the toughest test in golf. Three players broke par. Nine others shot even par. Everyone else was hanging on for dear life. As the final groups tried to beat darkness in this September U.S. Open, only six players remained in red numbers. “It’s almost like they set it up to ease our way into it, and then showed us what it’s supposed to really be like,” Reed said. Television showed his five birdies. What took him to the 36-hole lead at 4-under 136 was a collection of pars from bunkers and from thick grass just over the greens. He managed them all with grit, a common trait among U.S. Open champions. DeChambeau showed plenty of resiliency, too, bouncing back with birdies after all five of his bogeys and finishing the best round of the day with a pitching wedge on the downwind, 557-yard, par-5 ninth to 6 feet for eagle. Rafa Cabrera-Bello of Spain and Harris English each had a 70 and were at 2-under 138. They were joined by Justin Thomas, who opened with a 65 — the lowest ever at Winged Foot for a U.S. Open — and lost all those shots to par after 10 holes. Thomas then delivered a 5-wood from 228 yards into the wind on the par-3 third hole and made a slick, 15-foot, double-breaking birdie putt to steady himself. He scratched out a 73 and is right in it. Jason Kokrak (71) was the only other player under par at 1-under 139. “This isn’t exactly a place where you go out and try to shoot 6 or 7 under to catch up,” Thomas said. “I’m not going to worry about what everyone else is doing because you could shoot 80 just as easily as you could shoot 68. I just need to stay focused, and most importantly, go home and get some rest. Because I’m pretty tired.” There’s still 36 holes to go, and no indication that Winged Foot is going to get any easier. “The rough is still really thick. I don’t think they’re planning on cutting it,” Matthew Wolff said after salvaging a 74 that left him four shots behind. “The greens are only going to get firmer, and the scores are only going to get higher.” Tiger Woods is among those who won’t be around to experience it. He had a pair of double bogeys at the end of the back nine, and two birdies over his last three holes gave him a 77. He missed the cut by four shots, the eighth time in his last 15 majors he won’t be around for the weekend. “It feels like the way the golf course is changing, is turning, that anybody who makes the cut has the opportunity to win this championship,” Woods said. “I didn’t get myself that opportunity.” Neither did Phil Mickelson, who had his highest 36-hole score in 29 appearances in the one major he hasn’t won. Ditto for Jordan Spieth, whose 81 was his highest score in a major. PGA Championship winner Collin Morikawa missed an 8-foot birdie putt on the final hole that cost him a chance to keep playing. Reed turned in a workman-like performance, making birdies when he had the chance, saving par when needed. This is the kind of golf he loves. It’s a grind. And it’s about feel. He was most pleased with his birdie on No. 1 after he made the turn, going with a chip 8-iron from 147 yards into the wind and riding the slope at the back of the green to tap-in range. “I love when it’s hard, when you have to be creative on all different golf shots,” he said. There were plenty of great rounds on such a demanding course, many of which fell apart at the end. Louis Oosthuizen was 3 under in the morning when he finished bogey-bogey-double bogey for a 74. Xander Schauffele was 3 under until he bogeyed three of his last five holes. “The wind can make a par-3 course difficult, so put that on a U.S. Open setup, it’s going to be even more so,” Schauffele said. “It’ll be a fun afternoon to watch on TV.” Rory McIlroy’s problems started early. He was 5 over through seven holes, including a birdie at the start, and shot 76 to fall seven shots behind. Dustin Johnson was bogey-free through 16 holes until a pair of bad tee shots led to bogey. He had a 76 and was in the group at 3-over 143. All of them still feel as though the U.S. Open is in sight. “I’m confident now, after seeing what was out there this afternoon, over par will win this tournament,” Adam Scott said a 74 left him nine shots back. “The greens finally dried out. If there’s any breeze, over par is winning.” It usually does at Winged Foot.

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Round 3 of The American Express takes place today from La Quinta, California. Here’s everything you need to know to follow the action. Round 3 leaderboard Round 3 tee times HOW TO FOLLOW (ALL TIMES ET) TELEVISION: Thursday-Saturday, 3 p.m.-7 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Sunday, 6 p.m.-10 p.m. ET(Golf Channel) PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday, 11:30 a.m.- 7 p.m. ET (Featured Groups) TWITTER: Thursday-Friday, 11:30 a.m. – approximately 12:30 p.m. ET RADIO: Thursday-Saturday, 1 p.m.-7 p.m. ET. Sunday, 2 p.m.- 7 p.m. ET (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio). NOTABLE TEE TIMES (ALL TIMES ET) Kevin Na, Russell Knox Saturday, 11:50 a.m. ET (No. 1 tee, La Quinta Country Club) Brendon Todd, Zach Johnson Saturday, 12:20 p.m. ET (No. 1 tee, La Quinta Country Club) Scottie Scheffler, Robby Shelton Saturday, 12:30 p.m. ET (No. 1 tee, Stadium Course) Phil Mickelson, Tony Finau Saturday, 12:50 p.m. ET (No. 1 tee, Stadium Course) Rickie Fowler, Francesco Molinari Saturday, 1:20 p.m. ET (No. 1 tee, Stadium Course) MUST READS Fowler, Scheffler share 36-hole lead at La Quinta How Mickelson became a social media star TOUR announces pace-of-play policy enhancements Return to Olympic Games a “priority’ for Rio medalists Sign-up and play Fantasy Golf CALL OF THE DAY

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ORLANDO, Fla. — Tyrrell Hatton made a 30-foot birdie putt on the final hole for a 1-over 73 to end the most brutal day at Bay Hill in 37 years and build a two-shot lead going into the final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard. Related: Leaderboard | Morikawa takes over top spot for consecutive cuts Sunday might not be much of a reprieve. More wind and no rain are in the forecast. Greens have progressed from firm to brick-hard. It has created a test that feels more like a U.S. Open in June than the Florida swing in March. Rory McIlroy was happy with his run of 13 straight pars, delighted to make his first birdie on the par-5 16th and not terribly bothered by a bogey on the final hole for a 73. His goal was to survive, and he managed that. McIlroy joined another past champion, Marc Leishman (72) just two shots behind. Hatton had a wild ride at the end as temperatures felt like the mid-50s with the wind. He had one par over his final five holes — birdie-bogey-bogey-birdie — before thrusting his fist in the air when the final putt fell. Hatton was at 6-under 210, the highest 54-hole score to lead at Bay Hill since Ben Crenshaw in 1993. Max Homa played early — no advantage on this day with wind and cold air that felt more like the West Coast — and made double bogey on the 18th hole that ruined a tremendous round. He had to settle for 70. By the end of the day, it was the only score under par. The average score was 75.91, the highest for any round at Bay Hill since it was 76.29 in the second round in 1983. It was the highest round at Bay Hill after the cut since it was 78.84 in the final round of 1980. That also was the last time no one broke 70. Palmer loved a hard test and surely would have given this day a thumbs-up. As for the players? That depends on who was asked, and particularly what they shot. Brooks Koepka played his final four holes in even par for an 81, his highest score on the PGA TOUR, surpassing the 80 he shot in the second round at Muirfield in the 2013 Open Championship. Patrick Reed, who started the day three shots out of the lead, was still in the mix until two shots in the hazard on the 11th hole for a triple bogey. He three-putted for a double bogey on the 15th. And then it got ugly on the par-5 16th when his second shot from a bunker rifled through a tree and into the water. There was carnage everywhere. Sung Kang was the only player to reach 8 under for the day. He started out in a tie with Hatton and was holding his own until hitting his tee shot and his approach into the water for a triple bogey. He went out-of-bounds with his final tee shot and closed with another triple bogey for a 78. He still was only five shots behind. Only eight players remained under par. Leishman has rarely been more thrilled with a round at even par — two bogeys, two birdies, 14 pars. He had to make sure that’s what he scored. “I actually added my score up and kind of did a double-take,” Leishman said. “It added up to 72 and it felt like I shot 65. So yeah, it was really tough. The greens were firm, fast. It was exactly how you wanted the golf course to play, really. Par was a great score, and hopefully I can play like that again tomorrow.” McIlroy got off to a rough start — or so he thought — with a bogey on No. 2 and having to make an 18-footer from the fringe for par on the next hole. He didn’t birdie two par 5s with an iron in his hand for his second shot. But he kept grinding, aiming away from flags when a miss in the wrong spot could lead to a big number. He was tied for the lead when his drive into the cold wind on the 18th took once last roll into ankle-deep rough. He tried to chase it up the gap onto the green, but it came out a little right and into the rocks. “I saw some of the scores this morning and saw it was tough, but I guess I thought I could still go out there and shoot something sub-70,” McIlroy said. “And then once I got out there I was like, `Oh, maybe not.'” Christiaan Bezuidenhout of South Africa scratched out a 73 and was three shots behind, along with Sungjae Im, who made a 55-foot birdie putt on the last hole for a 74, and Danny Lee, who double bogeyed the last hole for a 75.

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