The players who matter most (and least) at this Ryder Cup

BLAINE, Minn. – When Tony Finau was a kid, he and his six brothers and sisters often came to Minneapolis to visit relatives. They’d have luaus, and he’d put his Polynesian dancing skills, which sometimes included fire and knives, on display. Finau still performs, even celebrating his 2018 Ryder Cup captain’s pick by tweeting out a dance, but he’d never played golf in Minnesota – until this week at the 3M Open. The 29-year-old made the most of the opportunity on Thursday, too, shooting a 5-under 66 at TPC Twin Cities and left him among the leaders in the inaugural event. “I think I had a few fans out there,â€� grinned Finau, who played with Phil Mickelson and last week’s surprise winner, Nate Lashley before a good crowd on a blustery morning. He would probably have had a few more people in his gallery had he been able to wear the jersey the Minnesota Timberwolves gave him earlier in the week. The 6-foot-4 Finau played center in high school, averaging 11 rebounds as a senior, and actually was recruited to play basketball in college. His love, though, was golf, and Finau turned pro after graduating from high school at the age of 17. The T-Wolves jersey had his name and his high school number – 34 – on the back. “It was awesome,â€� said Finau, whose cousin Jabari Parker most recently played for the Washington Wizards. “I was thinking about doing a funny free agency Tweet or Instagram story saying that I signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves. … Really thankful that they were able to do that. It’s pretty cool. “I’m a huge NBA fan, and even though I’m a Lakers fan, I’ll take a jersey from any team.â€� Finau came to TPC Twin Cities on the heels of three straight missed cuts that followed his best finish of the season, solo second at the Charles Schwab Challenge in May. Prior to Thursday, he hadn’t broken par in his last six rounds, so he summoned his coach Boyd Summerhays for a second set of eyes. “I think when you’re trying to get better, sometimes you complicate the process and you think about too many things, try to change too many things at one time,â€� Finau said. “Just keeping it simple, and that’s a lot easier said than done when you’re trying to get incrementally better in this game. “But I think we’ve done a good job of that in the last couple weeks to say, hey, those swing thoughts that have worked, stick with those, and I was able do that today.â€� Still, Finau, who is seeking the second win of his career and the first since 2016, didn’t feel particularly good as he warmed up on the range in advance of his 7:20 a.m. tee time. He wasn’t hitting the kind of solid shots he wanted to see, but was able to regroup once he got on the course. “Sometimes that’s how it goes,â€� Finau said. “You’ve got to muster up something to play with and I was able to find something out there and play well. I made some key putts I feel like were the biggest things.â€� Finau, who started on the back nine, made the turn in 32. He bogeyed the third hole, though, and drove into the deep rough at the sixth, but managed to save par, which he called a “huge turning point in my round.â€� Birdie putts of 3 and 15 feet followed on the next two holes to cap off the 66. The TPC Twin Cities has been toughened and lengthened to 7,468 yards in the year since the PGA TOUR Champions played its last tournament here. Finau, who averaged 324 off the tee on Thursday, called it a “beastâ€� of a golf course made more difficult by ample water hazards and lakes. “I think it fits a guy with length,â€� Finau said. “It’s a big golf course. I think three or four holes are 500 yards plus into the wind today. I was hitting some 5‑ and 6‑irons into some of those par 4s, which is not something I usually do on par 4s. “But I do like the golf course, but I wouldn’t say I’m extremely comfortable. Obviously, there’s a lot of water to deal with and trying to keep away from that.â€�

Click here to read the full article…

MAMARONECK, N.Y. - The memories are not great. Tiger Woods shot 76-76 and missed the cut by three at the 2006 U.S. Open at Winged Foot, but his head wasn't really in it. "I think it was just - I was not prepared to play and still dealing with the death of my dad," he said Tuesday. At the 120th U.S. Open at Winged Foot this week the questions will be about Woods' body, not his mind. In '06, he was just six weeks removed from the death of his father Earl. RELATED: Tee times for Rds. 1 & 2 | Nine things to know about Winged Foot | Looking back at wild finish in 2006 "Yeah, when I didn’t win the Masters that year, that was really tough to take because that was the last event my dad was ever going to watch me play," Woods said. "He passed not too long after that, and quite frankly, when I got ready for this event, I didn’t really put in the time. I didn’t really put in the practice, and consequently missed the cut pretty easily." Woods went on to win the Open Championship later that summer, sobbing on the shoulder of his caddie, Steve Williams, on the 18th green. But at Winged Foot? A month earlier? No. It wasn't happening. He made six bogeys and a double in the first round, three bogeys and two doubles in the second. He was there but not there. Not really. A lot has changed since, starting with the fact that Woods, 44, made just seven official starts last season due to mobility issues with his surgically fused back. One of those, the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP last October, turned into his 82nd PGA TOUR victory, but there was precious little else for the highlight reel. Woods had only one other top-10 finish last season, a T9 at the Farmers Insurance Open. He did not feel well enough to play in the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, which like Torrey Pines is one of his favorite courses on TOUR. He also missed The Honda Classic, his hometown tournament, and elected to sit out THE PLAYERS Championship (cancelled after one round anyway because of the pandemic). And when he came back along with everyone else in June? Meh. He finished T37 at the PGA Championship, T58 at THE NORTHERN TRUST, and T51 at the BMW Championship. "This year I really haven’t putted as well as I wanted to," Woods said, "and the times I did make a few swing mistakes, I missed it in the wrong spots. Consequently, I just didn’t have the right looks at it. I’ve compounded mistakes here and there that ended up not making me able to make pars or a birdie run, and consequently I haven’t put myself in contention to win events." Now he comes to Winged Foot, a course he also played at the 1997 PGA Championship, making history, of sorts. Woods and Phil Mickelson were paired together for the first time as professionals in the final round. Each shot 75 in the rain, each finished T29. (Davis Love III won.) In terms of difficulty, Woods ranks Winged Foot alongside Oakmont in Pennsylvania and notoriously nasty Open Championship venue Carnoustie. "The winning scores here have never traditionally been very low," Woods said. (Hale Irwin won the 1974 U.S. Open at Winged Foot at 7 over par; Geoff Ogilvy was 5 over in 2006.) "I don’t see that changing this week." The Memorial Tournament and BMW Championship brought especially hard conditions, but the rough at Winged Foot is something else entirely. Most players have said it will be impossible to advance the ball from the long stuff. Gary Woodland said he was practicing his chipping, his caddie tossing him balls, when they lost one and couldn't find it for five minutes. Marshalls, Woodland added, are going to be invaluable. Tuesday brought chilly temperatures, with Patrick Cantlay donning a ski hat and Woods wearing rain paints for warmth. He played nine holes with Presidents Cup partner Justin Thomas (they're also together for the first two rounds, along with PGA Championship winner Collin Morikawa) and 2019 U.S. Amateur runner-up John Augenstein of Kentucky. The weekend forecast is for even cooler weather. "The golf course is going to be hard," said Woods. "It depends on how difficult they want to set up these pins, give us a chance at it. But with the forecast, it’s going to be difficult no matter what."

Click here to read the full article…

Click here to read the full article…