The timeline of Tiger Woods’ year since his Feb. 23, 2021, car crash

Here are nine tidbits from the second round of the World Golf Championship-Mexico Championship at the Club de Golf Chapultepec outside Mexico City that gamers can use tomorrow, this weekend or down the road. Be looking for the Emergency 9 shortly after the close of play of each round of the tournament. Pain or Gain These were the top-five picked golfers in the PGA TOUR Fantasy One & Done presented by SERVPRO: Without a cut this week, gamers can cross their fingers, rub their lucky rabbit feet and pray that the 72nd hole will matter for their selection. We haven’t seen a low one this week as the Poa annua greens are difficult to read and errant ball striking is causing bother. People’s Choice Tommy Fleetwood sits No. 1 on this list just as he does in the PGA TOUR Fantasy Game presented by SERVPRO. After two rounds, he’s 12 shots off the pace as both his iron game and short game continues to struggle. Normally he’d be an afterthought and a trunk slam but since there is no cut gamers can dream a bit. I’m subbing him out to hedge my bets, so I’m hoping this will trigger 63 or lower! Leader Raise your hand if you had Shubhankar Sharma leading after 36 holes. Now keep it up if you were lying! The 21-year-old playing in his first PGA TOUR event leads by two. His performance has been spectacular as the moment, field or course has not gotten to him, yet. He’s obviously feeling the pressure as he’s eagled No. 1 on both days by driving the green! He came home in 31 (-5) and is the only player in double-figures at 11-under through 36. Spanish Armada Most gamers would think Jon Rahm would be included in this section but his even-par round of 71 saw him drop 13 spots to T20. His countrymen Rafael Cabrera Bello and Sergio Garcia (#NappyFactor) are sitting two shots behind surprise leader Sharma. Garcia shared the low round of the day with Kyle Stanley, as they both posted bogey-free rounds of 65. Cabrera Bello, who signed for 67 after his bogey-free 66 to open, has finally gotten his putter to cooperate and leads the field in Strokes Gained: putting. X-Man If you’re not on board with Xander Schauffele, fine, my job is not to convince you. As a rookie he won twice, including becoming the first to win The TOUR Championship. With that on his resume, I doubt he’s too worried about those around him. The proof is he’s the only player bogey-free after 36 holes. He’s trending properly as well with T5 at WMPO after three rounds and hit the top 10 at Riviera in his last start. 3 up Stanley, as mentioned above, was on fire thanks to his short game (6-6 scrambling) and putter (2nd, strokes-gained). His bogey-free 65 moved him up 20 spots to T12 but those putting numbers are the exception, not the rule. Caution. … Charley Hoffman also was bogey-free with 66 as he moved up 11 spots to match Stanley at T12. Gamers who loaded up on the San Diegan on the West Coast Swing were left scratching their heads, as his best result was only T26 at WMPO. He’s squared just one bogey and one other this week. … Jordan Spieth is quietly going about his business and signed for a bogey-free 67 (T14). He committed to the Valspar Championship today as he looks to find form before heading to Augusta. The putter continues to be the issue, as he missed a couple of short ones that kept him from getting REALLY low. 3 down                               With only one player in double-digits under-par, I would have thought a round of 70 (-1) would have been a decent outing today. Wrongo. Just ask Rickie Fowler and Tony Finau, as they backed up opening 68s with 70s and each fell 12 spots to T20. Finau backers were licking their chops when he was eight-under and one shot out of the lead. A double and a bogey in his last four holes halted the momentum. Fowler’s short game abandoned him Friday, and I doubt that’s going to continue…. Chris Paisley raised just as many eyebrows yesterday as Sharma did when he fired 65 to trail by one. He started on No. 10 today and turned at seven-under, stalking the lead. He bogeyed the first five holes on the front and carded 40 for 75. He dropped 27 spots to T29. Time to Panic?!? After back-to-back 74’s, Matt Kuchar investors need to blindly hang on or move a stronger player into the lineup. I’m not his biggest fan on Poa annua. … Chez Reavie’s excellent recent run ran out of gas at Riviera (T78). The week off last week didn’t help, yet, as he’s opened 72-73 and is T49. … Patrick Cantlay posted 70 followed by a 75 in Round 2. I love the way he grinds so we’ll see how committed he is after hitting only five fairways and six greens Friday. Study Hall Tiger Woods announced earlier on Friday that he will be playing the Valspar Championship at Innisbrook next week followed by the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill. He’s never played Innisbrook and is an eight-time champion at Bay Hill. … Hideki Matsuyama will not play at Valspar but will try and return at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill. … Martin Kaymer updates his injury via Twitter.

Click here to read the full article…

Aiming to stylishly cap a rookie season that Hurricane Maria almost denied her, Maria Torres shared the first-round lead on 6-under at the final women’s golf major Thursday.

Click here to read the full article…

LIUZHOU, CHINA — This one was never in doubt. Amateur Cheng Jin shot a tournament-low 5-under 67 to secure a (you-read-that-correctly) 17-stroke, wire-to-wire win at the PGA TOUR Series-China Mainland China Qualifying Tournament. It wasn’t easy, but Jin made it look that way. Jin, 19, eagled the par-5 18th Friday to post his fourth successive sub-par round at Wolong Lake Golf Club and finish with a 12-under total of 276. Fellow teenage amateur Zihong Zhang (75) and Cilin Zhou (73) tied for second, at 5-over, a shot ahead of Basiteng Fang (71) and Bin Yan (71). Zehao Liu, 17, shot a 69 to join Zhi Xing (73) and Dihao Piao (73) in a three-way tie for 13th, securing the last full cards reserved for the top 15. Another 15 players secured conditional status, which was awarded to the next 14 and ties. Many leading Chinese players already have status on this year’s PGA TOUR Series-China through the 2016 Order of Merit or their China Golf Association ranking. The top-five players on this year’s Order of Merit will earn status on the Web.com Tour, the path to the PGA TOUR. Jin was the star from day one, leading by two, three and nine shots, respectively, after the first three rounds before saving his best for Friday. After setting off with birdies on Nos. 1, 4, 5 and 9, he dropped shots on 11 and 17, but birdied 16 and closed out a memorable week with an eagle. “I played great today. I started really well and finished really well,� said Jin, a University of Southern California sophomore. “I made four birdies on the front nine, hung in during the middle of the round and fortunately was able to finish in a great way.� Jin remains the youngest champion and only amateur to win on the PGA TOUR Series-China after the-then 16-year-old won the 2014 Nine Dragons Open in Zhejiang province, one of five top-10 finishes he recorded in the first two years of the Series. In 2015, he won the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship in Hong Kong to earn a spot in the Masters Tournament the following year, his PGA TOUR debut. He won the 2016 Players Amateur in South Carolina to earn an invitation to the PGA TOUR’s RBC Heritage last April in Hilton Head. Although Jin has not confirmed if or when he will turn pro, he said he’s looking forward to returning to the PGA TOUR Series-China, which resumes this month after a one-year hiatus. “It’s a great tour. PGA TOUR and the China Golf Association put such a great effort into this Tour and getting players to the next big stage. I played this Tour in 2014 and 2015, and had a lot of great memories out here, so I’m looking forward to a great new season,� said Jin, whose compatriots Haotong Li and current PGA TOUR players Zecheng Dou and Xinjun Zhang all progressed from the Series to the Web.com Tour. “We are friends and I know them pretty well. I haven’t had a chance to talk to them recently, but I do see them on TV and on the Internet. They are great role models for me and I’m just trying to catch up to them.� Looking ahead, Jin has stated that he’s likely to finish his second season with the Trojans and is targeting the NCAA Championships in Oklahoma in late May. USC was the No. 1-ranked team for most of 2017, making it to the quarterfinals of team match play before losing to Illinois. USC is currently 14th in the 2018 rankings. “Our main goal this year is to win a national championship, and we also have a couple of regular tournaments coming up. We’re hosting a big conference tournament and there’s a lot coming up,� Jin said of the Pac-12 Conference championship at Rolling Hills Country Club. “So I’m excited and going it give it my best. “There are also some midterms coming up so good luck to me!� added Jin, who will return to California just in time for exam week. The 6-foot-6 Zhang was happy to finish second and earn his full card, but the 18-year-old believes his game still needs work if he wants to build a career at the pro level. “Actually, every part of my technique needs to improve, but I think my putting was pretty good. I finished 17 shots behind, so there’s still a long way to go,� said Zhang, who made his first PGA TOUR Series-China cut at last year’s Clearwater Bay Open in Hong Kong. Zhang said he has even considered turning pro before this month’s Chengdu Championship but admits he still needs to get approval from his family before any big decisions are made. “I will really consider it and will talk to my parents and we will see.�

Click here to read the full article…