Tiger Woods announces first two starts of 2019

On Thursday, a large gallery followed Phil Mickelson. They cheered him and jeered. They were not there, though, to see him play the game well.

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POTOMAC, Maryland – Marc Leishman hit a candidate for shank of the year in the first round of the Wells Fargo Championship at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm on Thursday. He laughed about it after signing for a 2-under 68, three off the early lead. “I was actually thinking about holing it,” Leishman said of his gaffe on the 17th hole, which scattered playing partner Corey Conners and Conners’ caddie, Danny Sahl, and tumbled into the pond, leading to a triple-bogey 6. “I opened the face right up and tried to slip the club under the ball. It scared the hell out of me; I certainly wasn’t thinking about the water hazard. “It had some speed on it, too,” Leishman continued. “It scared Corey. You’re good (due) for one every few years and hopefully that’s my shank out of the way.” The group had to call for a Rules official before Leishman resumed play next to the yellow-staked hazard. Understandably rattled, he wound up having to get up and down to save triple bogey. Conners (69) allowed that he couldn’t remember the last time he’d moved so quickly. “Marc’s got a pretty nice short game so I wasn’t really expecting to be in danger there,” he said. “Right after, I thought I wish I didn’t move because the ball would’ve nailed me in the middle of the leg, and he would have a putt from the middle of the green instead of being in the water.” Sahl thought the soft-spoken Canadian pro had indeed been hit, but the sound was the player’s feet clicking together as he jumped. “He’s pretty quick,” Sahl said. “Good agility.” Leishman had just made four straight birdies when calamity struck on 17. He then birdied 18, too. For some reason, he said, he’s been too relaxed this week to be annoyed by one awful shot. Also, it wasn’t even his best-ever shank. “No, I’ve had some good ones,” he said. “I had a good one playing with Tiger, actually. He was right next to me. It wasn’t close to him, but it shot straight over the crowd. “It was at Ridgewood Country Club during THE NORTHERN TRUST in 2018,” Leishman continued, as if recalling the perfect rainbow. “We both laughed. Everyone has a shank, but you hope it’s not at a TOUR event.”

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DUBLIN, Ohio — Patrick Cantlay finished his long day with some of his best golf, running off three straight birdies to close out a 5-under 67 and the lead Friday in a rain-delayed the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide. RELATED: Leaderboard | How Collin Morikawa found the putter that helped him lead the Memorial He arrived at Muirfield Village before dawn. He finished when it was time for dinner. And except for a few inevitable mistakes, he was solid in the 33 holes he faced. “We’re out there for such a long time today that you could fall asleep at the wheel a little bit,” said Cantlay, who won the Memorial two years ago. “So being cognizant of that and checking in with yourself — are you as focused as you can be? — I think is the key.” Cantlay was at 8-under 136 on the refurbished Muirfield Village, where the rough is thicker and denser than usual and the rain that washed out nearly half of the opening round didn’t help. Scottie Scheffler recovered from three bogeys in his opening four holes to scratch out a 71 and was at 6-under 130 among those who completed the second round. They all had long days, having to finish most of the first round in the morning and 18 holes in the afternoon, with only about 30 minutes in between. Collin Morikawa and Jon Rahm, both winners at Muirfield Village last year in different tournaments held in consecutive weeks, were among those who had to return Saturday morning. Rahm was tied for the lead at 8 under through 13 holes, making a 2-foot birdie putt before darkness halted play. Morikawa was right there with him until a triple bogey on the 12th hole. The tournament should be back on track in time for the final round Sunday. Jordan Spieth had reason to wonder if his long day would lead to a short week. He had a hard time keeping his tee shots in play, meaning hacking out and trying to save par with his wedges. He was 5 over for his opening round when he fired an 8-iron into 8 feet for birdie and a 76. He followed that with a 67 to reach 1-under 143. That was more than enough to make the cut and to at least still be in the mix. “I needed something to stop the bleeding this morning,” Spieth said. Spieth played with Cantlay and Bryson DeChambeau, and it didn’t lack for excitement. Cantlay was playing great. DeChambeau also was at 143 with three double bogeys on his card. One of them came in his second round on No. 1, when it took him four shots to get down from 80 feet off the front of the green. He also hit his second shot to 4 feet for eagle on the par-5 fifth hole. “All in all, it’s not my best,” DeChambeau said. “But certainly worked hard to get it in and here for the weekend.” Despite the disjointed nature of the tournament, one constant as been the course. Several of the holes were redone — some obvious, such as the par-5 fifth and 15th hole, some more subtle with greens being shifted — and the rough has been brutal as ever. The biggest change has been the par 5s. Some of it is because of the soft conditions, but players are not going for them in two as much as they once did. Rory McIlroy went for the green on No. 5, landed just over the back into a bunker and did well to blast out to 20 feet. “You would rather be 90 yards away hitting a nice wedge shot in there. You can get it way closer,” McIlroy said after a pair of 72s. “So I think people are just realizing you’re probably more likely to make birdie just by laying up, which is a shame, because it’s sort of exciting to get to go for par 5s. And it’s sort of taken that a little bit out of play.” If Cantlay’s lead were to hold, it would be the highest score to lead after 36 holes at the Memorial since 2012, unusual only because rain leads to softer greens, and the best in the world thrive in those conditions. Cantlay wonders if the difficulty of the par 5s hasn’t changed the dynamics of scoring. “But that’s just the way it is now and I’m sure if the fairways firm out a little bit you will be able to hit the ball a little further and maybe get to some of the par 5s,” he said. For now, he’s happy with his score. Cantlay hasn’t had a top 10 since a tie for third at Pebble Beach, a stretch of seven tournaments. That’s his longest streak without a top 10 since he returned from a severe back injury in 2017. “Just fundamentals and getting my swing back to a place that I can start the ball where I’m looking all the time,” Cantlay said. “I wasn’t too far off, just a little off. So golf’s like that sometimes.”

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