Ten years in the books, Rory at a crossroads

HILTON HEAD, S.C. – With its narrow fairways lined by all those gnarled live oaks and stately pines, Harbour Town has never been particularly kind to the big hitters on the PGA TOUR. The one notable exception would be five-time RBC Heritage champion Davis Love III, who ranked second on TOUR in driving distance when he won his first plaid jacket in 1987 and 17th or better for the other four. RELATED: Full leaderboard Since Love won his fifth title in 2003, though, no winner at Harbour Town has averaged over 300 yards or been ranked inside the top 34 in driving distance at the end of the season. In fact, nine of the last 11 champions have ranked 118th or higher with Brian Gay clocking in at 268.5 yards and 183rd in 2005. Dustin Johnson tried to buck the trend a year ago, taking the lead into the final round before unraveling with a 41 on the back nine Sunday, shooting 77 and falling back into a tie for 28th. He’s back in the hunt at 8 under through two rounds this year. The most intriguing name on the leaderboard, though, belongs to Bryson DeChambeau, who spent the last six months working out, inhaling power shakes and adding about 40 pounds of mostly muscle to his frame. His swing speed has increased accordingly and sometimes clocks out over 190. He’s tied for second at 11 under, a shot behind Webb Simpson. As luck would have it, Love played with DeChambeau in the first two rounds and he came away impressed. Take the 16th hole Thursday where he drove it 282 yards and the man they call the Mad Scientist – a nickname that begs for a change given his dramatic transformation – was 54 yards past. “Well, now I know how I made some guys feel, I guess,” Love said. “He got me really good at 16. That’s when I realized holy moly, because I hit a good drive at 16 and he just flew it over into the corner. … “What’s impressive is how straight it’s going. He not only got longer, but he got straighter, and it looks like it’s under control, and it actually looks like it could go farther if he didn’t try to make sure it went straight. “ DeChambeau came to Hilton Head with considerable momentum after a tie for third at the Charles Schwab Challenge where he had a putt on the 18th hole to join the playoff won by Daniel Berger. In five of the six events he’s played in 2020, the SMU product has not finished out of the top 5. DeChambeau admits he’s been harnessed by Harbour Town this week. On Thursday he said he couldn’t “unleash the Kraken,” and he didn’t use the driver at all in the second round. The 3-wood with a slight draw was trusty, though, and he roared home Friday with six birdies on the front and a 64. “I can’t,” he explained when asked about hitting the driver. “It’s just this golf course, it’s so difficult to try to fit into these tight areas where, if you miss it offline, like I did last week a couple times on a couple holes, there I’ll be, where last week they were just in the rough and I was still able to get to the green.” Even when the Kraken is in the bag, though, DeChambeau’s distance gains are evident in other ways. Where he once was hitting 6- and 7-irons, he’s now reaching for a wedge or a 9-iron. “That’s a huge change for me that’s allowed me to go and attack flags a lot more, be more aggressive, not really have to try and fit it into this little spot down on the fairway out here and really attack those flags,” he said. “So I feel like for me my game after quarantine, the distance has really just made that strokes gained advantage, it’s just put it to a whole new level for me.” While Simpson has worked hard over the last three years to gain distance and speed, he remains the antithesis to DeChambeau. He’s gained about 20 pounds on his still slender frame and his ball speed has gone up about four or five mph but still isn’t in the upper 170s where he’d like to top out. Instead of power like DeChambeau, Simpson, who won the Waste Management Phoenix Open earlier this year, relies on distance control and precise iron play. His putter has been particularly strong this week, too and he ranks first in Strokes Gained – Putting at 6.402. “It’s very satisfying knowing like I’m not near as long as some of these guys and I’m able to kind of use my skills of distance control and shot shape to kind of pick me back up when I’m 40 yards or 30 yards behind these guys,” Simpson said. “I would like to hit it further. I set out on a journey three years ago to get stronger, hit it further, but do it a lot slower than Bryson, but he’s made it look easy and seamless.” Simpson isn’t surprised at DeChambeau’s physical transformation as much as he is the way his Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup teammate has adjusted to the new body so quickly. “I’ve been amazed and impressed with how he’s been able to swing it so well,” Simpson said. “Last week he lost by a shot. This week he’s right there. “I think that’s the most impressive thing is he’s been able to take this body that he’s never played with before and still play just as good, if not better.”

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SAN ANTONIO — Cameron Tringale made a move for his first PGA TOUR victory with a 3-under 69 Friday and a two-shot lead after two rounds of the Valero Texas Open. RELATED: Leaderboard Tringale, a 12-year veteran, was at 9-under after a round that included five-straight birdies and leads Jordan Spieth and Englishman Matt Wallace. Spieth continued his comeback from a three-year winless slump and was at 7-under after a 70. Wallace shot 68. Kyle Stanley also shot 68 and was at 5-under with Brandt Snedeker (67), Kevin Stadler (70) and Erik van Rooyen (68). First-round leader Camilo Villegas shot a 76 to fall five shots back in a group that includes Matt Kuchar, who shot his second 70. Tringale led by as many as five strokes after he closed out his front nine with consecutive birdies on his fourth through eighth holes and then birdied his 11th. Three of those featured approach shots that left him with putts of less than 5 feet. "I just hit a lot of really good iron shots to those holes," Tringale said. "I think my furthest putt was 4 feet, so just good approaches to the green. Still gotta roll those in, but was able to do it. I took advantage most of the time." His birdie run marked a quick turnaround from his start when he opened with bogeys on his first two holes. "I was really just trying to get back into the round and get into the red numbers again," he said. "I kept it in play and just had a lot of looks and a few went in." A win would give Tringale, 33, his first official TOUR win. He won a team event at the Franklin Templeton Shootout with partner Jason Day in 2015. This year he was tied for seventh at Pebble Beach. Spieth continues to look like he's getting past a slump that has seen him drop from No. 1 in the world in 2016 to No. 92 in January. Now 53rd, he's in good position for his fifth top-10 finish in the past two months after a four-birdie round. He hasn't won since 2017. "I'm really pleased with where things are at, but they're not where I want them to be at," Spieth said. "I'm trying to kind of take it slowly and patiently and reward myself, be excited about the good ones and not get too down about the bad ones." He opened with birdies on his first two holes but fell back to even for his round with bogeys at 11 and 13. "I thought the start was key for me, and I got off to a great start," he said. "I put some really good swings on the ball after kind of being a little sloppy at the end of yesterday's round." Spieth birdied the par-5 14th by getting up and down from a greenside bunker. He had an easy 3-footer for birdie on the next hole and almost chipped in for another at the 17th. Wallace is also looking for a first PGA TOUR trophy, but he's won four times on the European Tour since 2017. He had a bogey-free round. Only one of his scoring putts — a 20-footer on his 11th — came from more than 5 feet away. "Whenever you go bogey free, whatever golf course it is, it's nice, but especially here," Wallace said. "I've been feeling comfortable about my game for a while now, just trying to hole a few more putts and keep the scoring going and making the right putts at the right time." Snedeker, four strokes out of the lead, opened his round with three-straight birdies and added another two holes later. He pitched in for an eagle at his par-4 8th hole but played even par the rest of the way. Phil Mickelson recovered from a first-round that saw him take a 10 on the 18th hole. He shot 3-under 69 on Friday. He'll head to Augusta next week after missing the Valero Texas Open cut at 4-over.

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