Stock Watch: Big week for the grinders

BLAINE, Minn. – Richy Werenski made a short birdie putt on the par-5 18th for an 8-under 63 to take the first-round lead Thursday in the 3M Open. The 24-year-old Werenski is winless on the PGA TOUR. He broke a tie with Michael Thompson with his ninth and last birdie on the warm, windy afternoon at the TPC Twin Cities. Defending champion Matthew Wolff, Tony Finau, Nick Watney, Ryan Moore, Xinjun Zhang and Max Homa were tied for third at 65. RELATED: Full leaderboard | Finau parts ways with caddie, shoots first-round 65 | Dustin Johnson withdraws citing back injury Dustin Johnson withdrew because of a back injury after a 78. His victory at the Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Connecticut, last month did not spark a post-shutdown surge. After posting back-to-back 80s last week at the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide for the highest 36-hole score of his pro career, Johnson’s first appearance at the 3M Open north of Minneapolis lasted just one round. At the end of his first nine, Johnson started the 599-yard, dog-leg 18th hole with a solid drive off the tee. With 209 yards to get to the flag, he used his 6-iron for a shot — “perfect,” he said — that was swallowed up in the pond just short of the rough. “Hit it right at it and never once did I think it was going to go in the water,” said Johnson, who did mention his back during a brief post-round interview. His next two tries met the same fate. Three penalty strokes later, Johnson finally landed his ball on the green for a tap-in putt and a quadruple-bogey nine on the scorecard. “Kind of the same last week. I just struggled with my iron play, and that makes it difficult,” he said. Watney, who was the first PGA TOUR player to test positive for the coronavirus, at the RBC Heritage on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, failed to make the cut two weeks ago at the Workday Charity Open in Dublin, Ohio, after a two-round score of 150. The 39-year-old Watney, who has five career PGA TOUR victories, went back to the basics in practice last week — aim, balance, posture — while most of his peers played the Memorial. “I’m trying to put that to bed, get past it and hopefully play some nice golf after coming down with that,” Watney said. “It’s great to be up here after playing a good round as opposed to just other things.”

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It’s a historic week on the PGA TOUR. Japan has a long and celebrated history in the game, but this is the first time that an official TOUR event will be held in this country. This new event also marks the season debut for the reigning FedExCup champion, Rory McIlroy, as well as Tiger Woods, who’s making his first start since arthroscopic knee surgery and his final start before making his four captain’s picks for the Presidents Cup. There’s a lot on the line for the 78-man field in Japan, which features 20 players who competed in the 2019 TOUR Championship. RELATED: Tee times | How to Watch |  Power Rankings THE FLYOVER All 18 holes at this week’s venue have two greens, a common practice in Japan. The long, par-4 fourth will be the only hole that uses both greens this week, though. A water hazard runs down the left side of the fairway. The left “Aâ€� green adds an additional 20 yards to the hole and has out-of-bounds long. The right “Bâ€� green is heavily guarded by water and two bunkers. The greens will never be simultaneously in play, but will be used in alternating rounds. WEATHER CHECK Clouds will be on the increase Thursday, but it should remain dry before Typhoon Bualoi combines with a low–pressure system moving across Japan to produce heavy rainfall and gusty winds on Friday. Up to 4 inches of rain is possible. Drier weather will return Saturday before another system brings the chance for showers on Sunday. SOUND CHECK They’re very enthusiastic. The people here seem so excited to have a PGA TOUR event here. BY THE NUMBERS 10.1 – The winning percentage of FedExCup champion Rory McIlroy. It’s the second-highest on TOUR since 1983, trailing only Tiger Woods (22.4%). 2 – Number of wins Woods has in Japan, the 2004 and 2005 Dunlop Phoenix Tournaments. 9 – Number of Japanese players in the field: Matsuyama, Imahira, Ryo Ishikawa, Satoshi Kodaira, Yosuke Asaji, Mikumu Horikawa, Rikuya Hoshino, Jinichiro Kozuma and Tomoharu Otsuki. SCATTERSHOTS Long and short: This week’s course offers a variety of holes that will test every aspect of players’ games. Ball-striking will be especially important on the tight, tree-lined course. “There’s quite a few wedges into par 4s but then there’s a couple holes today that I hit a 4- and a 5‑iron into them,â€� said McIlroy. “There’s a stretch on the back nine which is pretty tough as well.  But it’s a great course. It’s in great condition, the greens are so pure, and it sort of reminds me a little bit of the course we play in Mexico, Chapultepec. Reminds me a little bit of that, just sort of the tree lined and sort of the doglegs and having to sort of cut off corners and stuff. I like it.â€� Always improving: Justin Thomas has won twice in his last four starts, but he said Wednesday there’s still room for improvement. “I just think I can always improve and I think that’s what’s so fun about this game,â€� he said. “I’m not searching to become perfect because I know that that’s not possible, but I am a perfectionist, so it kind of contradicts itself. I just feel like if I can just improve everything just a little bit, you know. I’m always working to get a little bit better on my putting. I know that my chipping and my pitching can get a lot better. My iron play is really good, but I feel like I can kind of hone that in and get, you know, some little things fixed up. And driving and 3‑wood.  It’s always just trying to get it a little bit better to where those bad days are just even better because I think that’s what separates the best players in the world.â€�

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