The Forecaddie: New pro-am format makes Tiger Woods happy

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GREENSBORO, N.C. – Justin Rose is a big tennis fan. He particularly likes Roger Federer and what he calls the “grace and elegance” in the way the genial Swede conducts himself and plays the game. Rose feels like he can learn from Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, too, though. The big three of tennis, who have each won a record 20 Grand Slam titles, swing freely and are always focused on their game plan, regardless of what circumstances might arise. “When they’re 15-30 down, they swing for the lines,” Rose said. “They don’t start chipping it back into the middle of the court, they commit to their shots. “Sometimes I find it easier to learn from other sports than I do in my own arena, probably just stubbornness of looking at other players and wanting to learn from them, but definitely when I see tennis players, yeah, they commit 100 percent.” And that’s exactly what Rose has done this week at the Wyndham Championship. He came to Sedgefield Country Club ranked 138th in the FedExCup and in danger of missing the Playoffs for the first time since they were created in 2007. But after rounds on 66 and 65 on the Donald Ross gem, Rose has moved inside the top 125, projected at 117th. Not only is Rose potentially playing his way to Liberty National next week, he’s got a chance to win for the first time since the 2019 Farmers Insurance Open, and 11th overall. He’s tied for fifth with Tyler Duncan and Brian Stuard at 9 under, five strokes off the pace being set by Russell Henley. “So far, so good for sure,” Rose said. “Objective number one is to make it to the Playoffs, but two, if you’re playing well this week, I know I need to finish top-10, but at the same time there’s no point limiting yourself to that kind of thinking at this point. “Winning would go a long way to kind of feel like you can compete in the Playoffs. Listen, that’s all way ahead of me, but tomorrow just kind of keep doing what I’m doing. I think this golf course suits good strategy and good patience, so those are some of the things I’m going to try to continue with over the weekend.” For Rose, who birdied the 72nd hole at the TOUR Championship in 2018 to win the $10 million FedExCup bonus, it’s already been a big week. He found out on Monday that he’d won the Payne Stewart Award, given annually since 2000 to a golfer who exemplifies the late pro’s character, sportsmanship and commitment to charity. He’s happy with the progress he’s seeing on the golf course, too. Rose has kept his mind clear and hit quality shots at the right time. In short, he’s doing what Federer and Djokovic and Federer would do. “Whatever the scenarios are this week, I need to be able to swing freely and commit through coming up the 18th hole with a chance to finish top-10 or a chance to win or whatever it might be,” Rose said. “It’s a great opportunity this week just to continue to kind of practice that kind of hopefully steppingstone back towards playing great.” NOTES: Matthew Wolff may have missed the cut at the Wyndham Championship, but he walked away with $1 million after winning the Aon Risk Reward Challenge. The competition is based on a player’s two best scores each week on a designated hole. He finished with a flourish, too, making birdie on the 15th at Sedgefield on Friday. “Obviously there’s a lot of money to be made out on TOUR, but I’m new out here and every little bit helps,” said the 22-year-old . “And Aon puts on a great contest, year-long contest. Just happy that I got it done. And I knew about it kind of the last couple months, so on the Aon know holes I was a little more nervous than I usually am, but played them pretty well and just came out on top.” … There will be no changes in the final Comcast Business TOUR Top 10 standings after Jason Kokrak, who came to Greensboro ranked No. 12, and Hideki Matsuyama, who was 14th, failed to make the cut. They were the only two who could have moved into the top 10, which is based on FedExCup points, this week. So Collin Morikawa, who won the Open Championship, will get the $2 million bonus. A total of $10 million is donated to the top 10 players with No. 10 earning $500,000. … Three of the six players tied for second after the first round – Scott Piercy, Michael Thompson and Ted Potter Jr. – came to the Wyndham Championship ranked outside the top 125 but were projected inside after the first round. But the hopes of making the Playoffs for Thompson and Potter ended on Friday after they missed the cut. Potter shot 64-77 and Thompson shot 64-74. … Tyler Duncan, who is tied for fifth after shooting 62 on Friday, is currently projected to move into the top 150 at No. 147. He is already exempt for the 2021-22 season by virtue of his win last year at the RSM Classic. … Two players are currently projected to move into the top 200, which would give the access to the Korn Ferry Tour Finals. Kiradech Aphibarnrat moved from No. 204 to 192nd after shooting 68 while David Lingmerth is projected to move from No. 205 to 197th after Friday’s 67. PLAYOFFS BUBBLE WATCH Here are the players who were projected to move in and out of the top 125 at the end of Friday’s second round at Sedgefield Country Club. PROJECTED IN Scott Piercy (126 to projected 80) – Piercy maintained a share of second after shooting 66 on Friday. He is tied with former Wyndham Championship winner Webb Simpson and Olympic silver medalist Rory Sabbatini. Rory Sabbatini (141 to projected 95) – Sabbatini did not make a bogey in his second round of 64. He has made 11 birdies and dropped just one shot to par over the first two rounds. Justin Rose (138 to projected 117) – Rose made his second eagle of the week in shooting 65 on Friday. PROJECTED OUT Ryan Armour (122 to projected 126) – Armour shot 68 on Friday but he missed the cut by one. He still has a chance to make the field for Liberty National but what happens is now out of his control. Patrick Rodgers (123 to projected 127) – Rogers rallied with a 67 but also missed the cut by one. He’s in the same boat as Armour. Bo Hoag (125 to projected 128) – Hoag followed up his 67 with a one-over 71 to miss the cut by a stroke, as well. The bubble boy will have to wait until Sunday night to find out his fate.

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SANDWICH, England – Adam Scott walked off from a practice round late Tuesday evening at Royal St. George’s with a satisfied grin. “She’s way fairer than she used to be,” the Aussie beamed. She – in this case – was Royal St. George’s. The Open Championship course Scott battled away on in 2003 and 2011 brings a unique challenge. Call them mounds, moguls, humps or bumps – whatever you prefer. But they litter the fairways on this links course and can send a good shot into a not so good place. It is one of the reasons why Scott’s idol Greg Norman’s then-record final round 64 in 1993 was lauded as one of the greatest in major history. Norman was the first Open champion with four rounds in the 60s (four others have since joined him) and his 267 was the lowest winning total in Open history (Henrik Stenson’ 264 and final round 63 from 2016 are now records). Gene Sarazen, who was 91 when he witnessed Norman’s round, called it, “the greatest championship in all my 70 years in golf.” Sarazen is one of five men to complete the career Grand Slam. Trawl through old interviews and you can find a plethora of players referencing the luck needed at Royal St. George’s. It helps one better understand why long-shots Ben Curtis (2003) and Darren Clarke (2011) triumphed here. “This course certainly puts a demand on trying to get the right bounce, that’s for sure. These fairways are very difficult to try and hit, especially with all the mounding in them. And anytime the wind blows it makes it even more difficult,” Tiger Woods said pre-2003. While it has hosted the fourth-most Opens, and most in England, Royal St. George’s has rarely been called anyone’s favorite, most likely because – as Justin Rose put it in 2011 – it’s “almost like playing on the surface of the moon.” Scotland’s Sandy Lyle, winner of the 1985 Open, put Royal St. George’s in a class with Carnoustie and Royal Birkdale as “the beasts” of the Open rota. A combined seven players have finished under par in the past two Opens at St. George’s. “There are no adjoining fairways like a lot of links courses,” Lyle told ESPN. “You get deeper and deeper into the rubbish. You have to be very accurate in places and it’s not a very friendly course if it is breezy.” And Norman himself prior to his domination in 1993 said, “I’d swear the Royal Air Force used a couple of the fairways for bombing runs.” But in 2021, Scott is among many who believe the disproportionate bad luck of the past should be tempered this time around. One such fan is 2014 champion Rory McIlroy who was not a happy chap coming off with a T25 in 2011, but after early reconnaissance work this week he felt differently. “I walked away from the golf course on Saturday and Sunday thinking, this is a much better golf course than I remember it being, and I think that’s just because of the way it’s playing right now,” said McIlroy, a two-time FedExCup champion. “It’s certainly not as penal or unfair as it has been in previous years. 2011, it was a little bit like that, but looking back to ’03, for example, it looked really burnt and crispy then, and it looked like a bit of a pinball machine out there. But that’s not going to be the case this week. It’s a lot more lush. It’s a lot more green. “I think it’s perfect, and as the days go on with a little bit of wind and sunshine, by the weekend it should just be absolutely perfect. It should be playing the way it should play.” Home country hero Lee Westwood believes officials will look to keep the fairways in check to further avoid the bad luck bounce. The veteran faces his 88th major start and should he not win, he will own the longest streak without a victory. “The fairways are softer than they were last time. I spoke to Martin Slumbers on Monday evening, and he said they’re probably going to water some of the fairways to stop that happening, as well,” Westwood revealed. “You can’t have really bouncy fairways carrying it off into rough that’s this high that you’re hacking out of, undulating fairways. “This course was laid down with the fairways like that and undulating, designed to go into the rough where you’d have a shot but it would be a flying lie and you’d have to judge that. It wasn’t designed to land in the fairways and go into rough where you’re hacking out with lob wedge. I think they’re probably trying to get more into that.” Marc Leishman is facing his first Open Championship on the course. He has three top-6 finishes previously in this major and is regarded by some as a links golf specialist. The six-time TOUR winner says it’s not the bad bounces that will matter – it’s your response to them. “That’s the beauty of links golf sometimes,” Leishman said. “You know you’ll get the odd quirky bounce here and there and it might be frustrating but you have to be able to let it go and move on. “I try to see each shot I’m asked to play as an opportunity to use my creativity or golf brain so to speak. When you embrace the different questions links golf asks you and be prepared to accept there might be a few answers that would not normally be the case, then good things can happen.” Good things won’t happen to those players who spray the ball wide off the tee though. The thick luscious rough Westwood referenced awaits – the type where escaping can feel near impossible. Woods lost his first ball in pro golf on his first tee shot in 2003. Jerry Kelly made an 11 on the same hole without losing a ball. So while there may be less carnage, there will still be enough to satisfy those who enjoy watching that sort of thing.

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