“SWINGJUICE T-SHIRTS” OFFICIAL SWEEPSTAKES RULES

SILVIS, Ill. – Francesco Molinari is the only Italian to win the Italian Open, lives in London with his wife and two kids, and speaks Spanish to his Basque caddie. One thing, though, was lost in translation. His putter wasn’t listening to him. After a lackluster T25 finish at the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship, Molinari decided he had had enough. He called Englishman Phil Kenyon, putting coach to Justin Rose, Henrik Stenson and others, and asked if Kenyon could take on another client. “I thought the game was good early in the season, but there seemed to be something not quite right,� Molinari said after shooting a second-round 66 to get to 11 under par and in contention yet again at the John Deere Classic at TPC Deere Run on Friday. “Everything is coming together now,� Molinari added. Yeah, you could say that, if being arguably the hottest player in golf is your thing. Molinari shot a final-round 62 to win the Quicken Loans National two weeks ago, by eight shots. It was the first victory by an Italian on the PGA TOUR in over 70 years, and included an eagle, birdie, birdie, birdie, birdie turbo boost that left everyone else far behind. His tee-to-green performance was statistically the best by a winner on TOUR this season, and came on the heels of his big win at the European Tour’s BMW Championship. (He plays both tours.) And yes, he also rolled it well on the greens at 17th in Strokes Gained: Putting. “He’s more scientific,� Molinari said of his new putting coach, Kenyon. “We analyzed video and looked at the machines that measure the face angle, and my stroke wasn’t very good. Little by little be began to change things at Bay Hill, and it’s slowly gotten more consistent.� All of which helps explain why Molinari, 15th in the world and the highest-ranked player at the Deere, has become a force to be reckoned with even on a course he’d never seen before this week. He decided to play the Deere because he needed to add a new event, and wanted to play his way into The Open Championship instead of taking this week off. “Last year I didn’t play before The Open; I went to Birkdale to study the course, and it didn’t work out,� said Molinari, who missed the cut. “I had to play an event I hadn’t played in the previous four years, and thought it would be good to keep it going right until The Open.� Next week he will be back on his home side of the Atlantic, where he lives with his wife, Valentina, and their kids, Tommaso, 7, and Emma, 2. Molinari said they thought of moving last year, maybe establishing a base in the United States, but they’ve been in London nine years. They have friends, and Tommaso goes to school there. It’s home, and you can’t argue with that. Besides, in the midst of the best season of his career, in which he reached “the next level� with his eight-stroke romp at the Quicken Loans, Molinari would be crazy to change anything else. OBSERVATIONS HEARN LOVING TPC DEERE RUN. Canada’s David Hearn is no stranger to success at the John Deere, having advanced to a playoff with Zach Johnson and eventual champion Jordan Spieth in 2013. This week, Hearn is at it again, making 230 feet of putts over the first two rounds (66-64) to get into contention. “I guess I’m putting too well,� he joked after being asked by an official to demonstrate his stroke with the long putter after the round. (He was determined not to be anchoring.) “I just have a good feeling around here,� said Hearn, a member of the University of Wyoming Sports Hall of Fame who came into this week 152nd in the FedExCup. “I read the greens well. I’m just really trying to not think about too many things and try to point and shoot. Right now, they’re going in, so hopefully that continues on the weekend.� NOTABLES DAVIS LOVE III – Never got anything going (73-74) to miss the cut and lose to his son (below). DRU LOVE – Improved with a second-round 68 but was still likely to miss the cut at 1 under. WHEE KIM – Birdied three straight holes to close out the front nine and had it all the way to 11 under before a double bogey at the last gave him a second-round 68 and left him with some work to do on the weekend at 9 under. He’s 89th in the FedExCup. SAM RYDER – Playing three groups behind Kim, Ryder eagled the 10th hole and got to 12 under before also making double on 18. He is coming off a missed cut at A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier and at 148th in the FedExCup needs to make a move. JOHN HUH – Roared back from a double-bogey on his last hole Thursday with an 8-under 63 on Friday. He’s 9 under overall, and 104th in the FedExCup. QUOTABLES I think that’s why I play so well. I’m not thinking about golf. I’m thinking about living. You can die in this heat.

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ATLANTA – Notes and observations from Thursday’s first round of the TOUR Championship, where Kyle Stanley holds the lead after shooting 64. For more coverage from East Lake Golf Club, click here for the Daily Wrap-up. STANLEY COMES BACK STRONG Last year, Kyle Stanley had to worry about keeping his PGA TOUR card. Now he has a chance to claim the FedExCup. Stanley shot 64 on Thursday in his first competitive round at East Lake Golf Club, making seven birdies against a single bogey. Stanley, 29, is making his TOUR Championship debut in his seventh season. “When we played our practice rounds I thought it was … a pretty difficult test. It was nice to get off to a pretty fast start, making four birdies in a row,â€� said Stanley, who started his day with two pars before making birdie on Nos. 3-6. He is projected to finish second in the FedExCup with a victory. All 30 players at the TOUR Championship are capable of claiming the Cup, though. Stanley finished 34th and 31st in the FedExCup in 2011 and 2012, his first two PGA TOUR seasons. He soon struggled, though, and fell outside the top 150 in both 2014 and 2015 before narrowly sneaking into last season’s playoffs. He had to finish T14 at last year’s Wyndham Championship, the final event of the PGA TOUR’s regular season, just crack the top 125 in the FedExCup. He returned to the winner’s circle at the Quicken Loans National in July and added four other top-10s this season. Stanley ranks in the top 10 in both Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee (7th) and Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green (10th). Stanley and Dustin Johnson are the only other players to rank in the top 10 in both categories. Stanley missed just three fairways and four greens Thursday. SPIETH DOING SPIETH THINGS Jordan Spieth’s TOUR Championship, and his quest for a second FedExCup, got off to an inauspicious start. He snap-hooked his opening drive and struggled to hit the ball straight on the first five holes. “I felt like it was really a grind out there and it’s just because the first four, five holes of the round I was all over the place tee-to-green,â€� Spieth said. “And then my whole back nine I had a chance to birdie all but one of the holes and only made one of them.â€� It added up to a 67 that has Spieth in sixth place. More importantly, he’s projected to retain the top spot in the FedExCup, 150 points ahead of Stanley and 200 points ahead of Justin Thomas, who played alongside Spieth on Thursday and also fired 67. The TOUR Championship’s 30-man field is re-paired after each round, but Spieth and Thomas will play together again Friday. It will be a tight race for the FedExCup as four of the top five players in the standings broke par Thursday. Any player in the top 5 can clinch the FedExCup with a win at East Lake, regardless of how his closest competition fares. Johnson was one shot behind Spieth and Thomas. He’s trying to make amends for last year’s TOUR Championship, where he held the 54-hole lead before a final-round 73 cost him both the TOUR Championship and the FedExCup. Johnson is third in the standings after winning four times this season, including the opening event of the postseason, THE NORTHERN TRUST. Jon Rahm, No. 5 in the FedExCup, also fired 67. He is trying to become the first player to win the FedExCup in his first Playoffs appearance. Marc Leishman was the only member of the top 5 to shoot over par on Thursday, firing a 1-over 71. Leishman is No. 4 in the FedExCup after finishing third at the Dell Technologies Championship and winning the BMW Championship. CALL OF THE DAY SIMPSON GETTING IN THE GROOVE Webb Simpson is thankful to be back at East Lake Golf Club after missing the past two TOUR Championships. He could be happy with the start of his first TOUR Championship since 2014 after firing 4-under 66 on Thursday. He is in second place, two shots behind Stanley. Simpson made just one bogey Thursday. He made three birdies and an eagle at the par-5 sixth, where he hit his 231-yard second shot to 6 feet. “I told somebody yesterday that I’m definitely way more thankful to be here than I was the four years in a row I came here, and it’s because of what you said. It’s hard to get here,â€� he said. “I’ve been putting a lot better, and second, I think I’ve been thinking a lot better. … I haven’t hit it great this year but I’ve hit it good enough, and the ball striking’s coming. I think the reason I haven’t won is because I haven’t been able to put together four days of good ball striking. But I have seen improvements the last couple months and hopefully I can get a tournament here soon where I do have four rounds in a row.â€� Simpson also credited an improved short game after nearly two years of work with short-game coach Pat Goss, who also developed the world-class short game of Luke Donald. Simpson started working with Goss in November 2015. The TOUR Championship field is re-paired after each round, so Simpson will play in Friday’s final group with Stanley. ODDS AND ENDS Former Florida State teammates Daniel Berger and Brooks Koepka will play together in Friday’s second-to-last group after each fired 66 on Thursday. Next week they’ll be Presidents Cup teammates, as well, as both will make their debut in the biennial. Berger finished Thursday’s round by making the day’s only eagle at the 18th hole, where he hit his 234-yard second shot to 11 feet and made the putt. Paul Casey continued his strong play at East Lake with a first-round 66. He has finished in the top five in all three of his appearances at East Lake (2010, ’15, ’16). It continues a trend of strong performances in the FedExCup Playoffs. He has finished in the top five in six of his past eight starts in the FedExCup Playoffs. SHOT OF THE DAY BEST OF SOCIAL MEDIA

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Tiger Woods, who fell out of contention at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational with a 73, would say only that he “played like crap” when asked if something was amiss.

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