Taking the underdogs at WGC Match Play

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Mackenzie Hughes arrived at the TPC Sawgrass with no scar tissue and played his first round at THE PLAYERS Championship with no bogeys. Pretty simple, eh? The Canadian rookie shook his head and laughed. Even after going bogey-free in his debut Thursday for a 5-under 67 to share the lead with William McGirt, Hughes saw enough of THE PLAYERS Stadium Course to realize that surprises lurk around every corner. “There’s just not really a moment where you can let up,” Hughes said. No need explaining that to Adam Scott, who won THE PLAYERS in 2004 and was off to a strong start on a steamy afternoon when he was 6 under and heading to the infamous par-3 17th with its island green. First, he watched Masters Tournament champion Sergio Garcia hit a gap wedge that took one big hop, land just behind the cup and disappear for a hole-in-one. Scott followed by spinning a shot off the bank and into the water for a double bogey, and he compounded that with another double bogey. “I played some good golf out there and unfortunately not on the last two,” Scott said after settling for a 70. “It happens.” At least he had company. Dustin Johnson’s first wedge of the way hit the pin, caromed off the green and led to bogey. On a day when nothing seemed to go his way, the world’s No. 1 player opened with a 71. Rory McIlroy went to tap in from 2 feet and missed it, and then had to make one twice that long for his double bogey on the 10th hole. He shot 73. Through it all, Hughes was rock solid. Only twice did he have par putts longer than 3 feet, and he made them both. The last piece of stress came on the final hole when trees block his way to the green. To chip out sideways would risk chipping into the water. He found a 4-foot wide window in which he had to keep it under on branch and go over two more. It was a large enough gap and the perfect shot for a 6-iron. “I was close enough to the trees. It paid off,” said Hughes, who already has won (Sea Island) in his rookie season on the PGA TOUR. McGirt played in morning and made a pair of eagles on the back nine to atone in his round of 67. Among those at 68 was Jon Rahm, another first-timer at this lucrative event who had one of four bogey-free rounds on the steamy day in north Florida. Even with a mild wind in the afternoon, just over a third of the field broke par. Fast starts and bad finishes were the norm, and not just for Scott. Defending champion Jason Day ran off two straight birdies after making the turn and was in the lead at 5 under, which for the former world No. 1 was a peculiar position. He hasn’t won since THE PLAYERS last year. Day, however, made three bogeys over his last four holes and had to settle for a 70. He was playing in the same group as Rickie Fowler, the 2015 champion who also got off to a fast start until one bad shot — a really bad shot — on his 15th hole at the par-4 seventh. From the middle of the fairway, Fowler blocked it so badly to the right that it hit a cart path and went deep into the pines. It took him two shots to get out and he made double bogey. Fowler also shot 70. Fowler managed to see the big picture. “No one’s going crazy low or anything like that,” he said. Garcia’s round was different. He made three bogeys and a double bogey in his opening six holes and went out in 40, the first nine holes of competition he has played since winning the Masters a month ago. He felt nerves on the first tee when he was introduced as the Masters champion. “The feeling was great,” he said. “I think I wasn’t quite in the tournament because of everything that’s been going on after the Masters win and media and people congratulating you left, right and center. I felt like I was a little bit up in the clouds, and when I woke up, I was 4 over after six.” Johnson still has only two rounds in the 60s out of 27 attempts at the Stadium Course. He could accept this 71 just because of all that went wrong — the wedge that hit the pin on No. 1, birdie putts that spun around the holes at Nos. 2 and 12. Johnson rallied late with a 25-foot eagle putt on the 16th hole. “It could have been really good today, but ended up just being OK,” Johnson said. McGirt was among 13 players from the morning draw who shot in the 60s, but he was the only player to get as low as 6 under until he missed a short par putt on the final hole. Told that no one had made eagle on both par 5s on the back nine in the opening round, McGirt didn’t have an answer. “Good numbers at a good time, made a good swing at a good time,” McGirt said. “You just kind of see the shot and hit the shot and see the putt and hit the putt.” He made it sound simple, even though THE PLAYERS Stadium Course can be anything but that.

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BLAINE, Minn. – It’s not exactly a “Hello, worldâ€� moment but it’s close. Granted, Matthew Wolff and Collin Morikawa didn’t turn pro with the same kind of fanfare as Tiger Woods did in 1996 when he opened his press conference at the Greater Milwaukee Open with those words. Shoot, neither of them was even born when Woods made his debut. But surging to the top of a crowded leaderboard at the 3M Open on Saturday just three starts into Wolff’s pro career and four into Morikawa’s certainly made it seem like an introduction of sorts. And the two clearly have the talent and the tools to play at the next level despite their relative youth. Wolff, who most recently made headlines when he won the NCAA individual title in May, is barely a month removed from his sophomore season at Oklahoma State. Morikawa, on the other hand, made it through all four years at Cal-Berkeley, getting his business degree just last month. In the third round of the inaugural TOUR event at TPC Twin Cities, the two twentysomethings – Morikawa is the elder by two years at 22 – were nothing if not fearless. Wolff fired the third 62 of the week while Morikawa shot a 64 to join his friend in the final pairing on the final day. The two are tied for the lead with Bryson DeChambeau at 15 under, one stroke ahead of PGA TOUR rookie Wyndham Clark and Canadian Adam Hadwin. They’re poised, prepared and propelled by the success of friends like Viktor Hovland, another former Cowboy just out of school who closed with a 64 and tied for 13th at last week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic. “Who knows where this is going to take us but we’re just trying to make the most out of the summer,â€� Morikawa said. “I mean, this is awesome to be out here. This is what we’ve always wanted, and to be in this position, it’s going to be exciting tomorrow.â€� “We’ve known each other for such a long time,â€� agreed Wolff, who grew up 30 miles from Morikawa in southern California. “… So, it’s really cool to see their success as well and I think that kind of fired me up to be able to go out and try to catch them.â€� On Sunday, though, Wolff, Morikawa and the 25-year-old DeChambeau, another prodigy who already has five TOUR wins including the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open last fall, will be the hunted. And the ever-analytical DeChambeau thinks that experience might play to his advantage. “All I know is there’s going to be some pressure,â€� he said. “I won a couple of times out here. I know how to get it done. Doesn’t mean I’m going to get it done tomorrow – just means that I know what to do, especially when I’m firing on all cylinders.â€� Wolff was the first to post a number on Saturday, surging into the picture with a string of five straight birdies to finish off a front-nine 29 and a sixth one at the 10th. He said he felt like he’d been too strategic of late and made a conscious effort to just “rip driver,â€� and playing partner Tom Lehman came away impressed. Lehman, who is 40 years older than Wolff and stands 9 under, even went so far as to say the young man with the unique swing – he picks up his left foot on the takeaway and uses the ground for power – reminded him of John Daly. “Different swings, different styles but the same type, the same kind of jaw‑dropping way of playing as John Daly when he first started,â€� Lehman said. “…  He could hit it with the club so far beyond parallel, and combine that with a really beautiful putting stroke, you say, boy, this guy is sensational. “Matthew Wolff is the same kind of player, tremendous speed.  He has a swing that’s unique, but the uniqueness I think of it is such an advantage to him because the fact that he swings in a way where he keeps the face square for so long through impact, almost no face rotation, so you don’t see wild shots from him.â€� Morikawa was steady on Saturday, too, hitting 12 of 14 fairways and all but one green in regulation. He was in the mix at the Travelers Championship, eventually tying for 14th – and nearly won on the Korn Ferry Tour as a 19-year-old amateur, losing to Ollie Schniederjans in a three-way playoff. “Obviously tomorrow, you know, I want to finish it off,â€� Morikawa said. “I’m not here just to enjoy it, make the cut. I’m here to contend and win. Thankfully, through three rounds I’ve put myself in that position. I’ve got to keep doing what I’ve been doing, and tomorrow should be fun.â€� A win on Sunday would give either player a two-year exemption on the PGA TOUR and 500 FedExCup points, fast-tracking him into the FedExCup Playoffs. Short of that, though, special temporary membership could be on the line – Wolff would need to finish runner-up alone while Morikawa could reach it with a solo third or four-way tie for second or better. That would allow either player to accept unlimited sponsor exemptions like the ones that got them into the field at the 3M Open. And if a player garners enough non-member FedExCup points to equal or better No. 125 at the end of the Wyndham Championship, he earns his TOUR card for next season. If the non-member points leave a player between No. 126 and 200, he’d qualify for the Korn Ferry Tour finals, where the top 25 money winners also get their TOUR cards. Wolff and Morikawa are trying not to get ahead of themselves, though. It’s cliched but they are taking it one round at a time and are anxious to see how they fit in when the final putt drops on Sunday. “I just learned that, you know, these guys are obviously really good like all the PGA TOUR commercials and stuff say, but at the end of the day I belong out here and I don’t need to change anything in my game to play with the guys out here,â€� said Wolff, whose best finish in his two pro starts is a tie for 80th. “I think that’s what I struggled with the first couple weeks, I was always trying to look for that little extra something and I feel like this week I’ve really just been myself and it’s worked out.â€� Morikawa agreed. “I mean, it is golf out here,â€� he said. “It’s on a lot bigger stage but our games played well through the spring. We’re going to have to remember who we are, what brought us here.â€� And see how good they can be.

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SAN ANTONIO — Zach Johnson won his first two PGA TOUR starts in the Valero Texas Open. Then in 2010, they changed the course on him, moving the tournament venue from La Cantera — where he owned a share of the course-record 60 — to TPC San Antonio 20 miles east. Understandably, Johnson had his reservations. His first round at the new AT&T Oaks course was an 8-over 80. He missed the cut the next day. Then the tournament changed its schedule, moving from May to April. It was all too much, so Johnson skipped the next three years. “I wasn’t particularly fond of the place,â€� he said. Then he started hearing about the tweaks being made on the Greg Norman-designed course. “Softening and changes and massaging,â€� he said. He was intrigued. So he returned in 2014, shot four rounds at par or better, and tied for sixth. He’s been back ever since. Friday was his 18th career round at TPC San Antonio. It was also his most productive — a 7-under 65 that included six birdies and an eagle from the greenside bunker at the par-4 fifth. At 9-under through two rounds, he owns a share of the lead with Ryan Moore, three shots clear of the field. Asked if there are any similarities between La Cantera and TPC San Antonio, Johnson smiled. “The only similarity is that they’re probably within 30 miles,â€� he said. “Well, that’s not a similarity, that’s just a fact. … It’s certainly not the test this is. This is a much difficult test.â€� Jonathan Byrd, who not only is Johnson’s good friend but his partner in next week’s team format at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, isn’t surprised that Johnson has come to embrace TPC San Antonio. “This is a great golf course for him,â€� Byrd said. “He drives the ball so well. It’s a first-shot golf course. If you drive it well and put it in position, it really sets up the golf course – and he’s been hitting it well. It’s a course you can be really aggressive if you’re on.â€� Johnson was certainly aggressive at the drivable fifth, playing at 325 yards Friday. He went straight at the pin, knowing that even if he found the bunker, he’d have an uphill lie into the wind. He figured he could blast out to inside 3 feet. Instead, the ball ran into the cup for eagle. That’s his second eagle of the week. In fact, in his last 22 holes played, he’s 12-under. That’s great momentum entering the weekend as he chases his third Valero Texas Open … but his first on this course. NOTABLES Ryan Moore missed just two fairways and three greens in shooting a 5-under 67 that left him tied for the lead. In fact, he’s missed just three fairways all week — pretty good under windy conditions. “My distance control has been green and really my ball-striking’s been really nice the last few weeks,â€� Moore said. “The putter just kind of hasn’t been cooperating.â€� It did on the sixth and 17th holes Friday when he rolled in birdie putts from outside 14 feet. David Hearn has made nearly 190 feet of putts in the first two rounds. His longest was a 37-footer for birdie at the par-4 17th, the first of two consecutive birdies to wrap up his 68. “Went back to my old long putter, cut an inch-and-a-half off it, and it seems to be working right now,â€� Hearn said. “We’ll see what we can do on the weekend.â€� Martin Laird reeled off five consecutive birdies after the turn Friday. His 30 coming in — he played the front nine after starting his round off the 10th tee — gives him a share of the nine-hole record at TPC San Antonio. By the way, he already owns a share of the course record 63, which he shot in 2013 while winning the Valero Texas Open. QUOTABLES “The confidence is there, and when you can step on the tee with this kind of wind, you trust your clubs and trust your ball, that’s pretty important.â€�“This course produces great ballstriker champions. You look at Kevin Chappell, Kevin Tway played great here last year, he’s a great ballstriker, Charley Hoffman. These guys are great ballstrikers because it’s very penal outside the fairway and the greens tend to shed the ball away.â€� Note: This file will be updated after play ends in Friday’s second round, so please check back.

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