Tiger Woods stumbles at the Memorial, faces possible missed cut

• COURSE: Quail Hollow Club, 7,600 yards, par 71. Already a player favorite as host of the Wells Fargo Championship, Quail Hollow unveils a new look for its first step into the major spotlight. Tom Fazio’s latest upgrade created three new holes, including a new 524-yard opener made by merging the old first and second holes. Nos. 4 and 5 also are new, made from the previous par-5 fifth hole. There was no need to tinker with the “Green Mile,� already deemed perhaps the toughest closing three holes on the PGA TOUR. George Cobb built the original 1961 layout, with Arnold Palmer and later Fazio tabbed for modifications. Quail Hollow was the Kemper Open’s original venue (1969-79) and later staged the World Seniors Invitational (1980-89), with the Presidents Cup coming in 2021. • FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 600 points. • CHARITY: PGA Reach, formerly the PGA Foundation, has contributed more than $40 million over the past two decades to growth-of-the-game initiatives, ranging from establishment of The First Tee to teaching grants and funding for military veterans, disabled and special-needs golfers. • FIELD WATCH: Jordan Spieth, atop the FedExCup standings and pointing toward a shot at the career Grand Slam, is joined by No.2 Dustin Johnson and defending champion Jimmy Walker to headline one of the year’s deepest fields. … All but two of the top 115 in the world rankings are slated to compete, missing only No.63 Martin Kaymer (shoulder) and No.75 Scott Piercy (unspecified). … Spots remain for the winners of this week’s WGC Bridgestone Invitational and Barracuda Championship, if not already qualified. … The lineup also includes the top 20 finishers from June’s PGA Professional National Championship. • 72-HOLE RECORD: 265, David Toms (2001 at Atlanta AC). • 18-HOLE RECORD: 63, Bruce Crampton (2nd round, 1975 at Firestone CC), Raymond Floyd (1st round, 1982 at Southern Hills), Gary Player (2nd round, 1984 at Shoal Creek), Michael Bradley (1st round, 1993 at Inverness), Vijay Singh (2nd round, 1993 at Inverness), Brad Faxon (4th round, 1995 at Riviera CC), José María Olazábal (3rd round, 2000 at Valhalla), Mark O’Meara (2nd round, 2001 at Atlanta AC), Thomas Bjorn (3rd round, 2005 at Baltusrol), Tiger Woods (2nd round, 2007 at Southern Hills), Steve Stricker (1st round, 2011 at Atlanta AC), Jason Dufner (2nd round, 2013 at Oak Hill), Hiroshi Iwata (2nd round, 2015 at Whistling Straits), Robert Streb (2nd round, 2016 at Baltusrol). • LAST YEAR: Walker stood tall on the PGA Championship’s longest day, enduring a 36-hole finale at Baltusrol to hold off Jason Day’s late charge and complete a wire-to-wire victory for his first major title. Walker shot 68-67 on the final day, playing his final 29 holes without a bogey to stay one stroke clear of Day’s bid for back-to-back Wanamakers. A Day eagle at Baltusrol’s par-5 18th hole made it interesting, though, especially after Walker’s 3-wood from 289 yards came down in greenside rough. The 37-year-old Texan pitched to 30 feet, though, and two-putted from there to emerge triumphant. The win had special meaning for Walker and caddie Andy Sanders, who met at Baltusrol when both were competing in the 2000 U.S. Amateur. Eight years later, Walker turned his bag over to Sanders. • STORYLINES: Spieth, fresh off his adventuresome Open Championship triumph, needs only the PGA Championship to complete the career Grand Slam – and can best Tiger Woods as the youngest to do it if he wins at Quail Hollow. The Texan celebrated his 24th birthday just last week. … Rory McIlroy has been Quail Hollow’s master, using a final-round 62 to win his first PGA TOUR title there in 2010 and shooting 61 on the way to a 2015 victory. He also lost a playoff to Rickie Fowler in 2013. … Johnson, who took three consecutive wins into Augusta back in April, is down to his final chance to win a major in 2017. • SHORT CHIPS: Eight of the past 11 major winners have been first-timers, including Sergio Garcia and Brooks Koepka this year. The exceptions: Spieth (twice) and Zach Johnson at St. Andrews. … Before that, five of the previous six winners already had a major title on their portfolio. … This marks the 60th year in which the PGA Championship has been decided by stroke play, after match play was employed for the first 39 editions. • TELEVISION: Thursday-Friday, 1-7 p.m. ET (TNT). Saturday-Sunday, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. (TNT), 2-7 p.m. (CBS). • PGA TOUR LIVE: None. • RADIO: Thursday-Friday, noon-6 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 1-7 p.m. (SiriusXM).

Click here to read the full article…

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina – Phil Mickelson has been using a Project X HZRDUS T1100 shaft for years, and in multiple different Callaway driver heads, but he showed up to the 2019 Wells Fargo Championship with an Aldila Rogue Black 130 MSI 60TX shaft in his Callaway Epic Flash Sub Zero driver. Mickelson, at 48 years old, has been gushing publicly about his newly-found clubhead speed with the driver, and he’s currently averaging 120.31 mph in 2019, placing him 19th on the PGA TOUR. By coupling his trusty Project X T1100 shaft with the Callaway Epic Flash Sub Zero driver head, however, he found his tee ball was hanging out to the left rather than turning over, according to Callaway TOUR rep Johnny Thompson. “He’s been playing that T1100 for a long time and it’s been a really good partner with some of the driver heads we’ve had in the past,� Thompson told PGATOUR.COM. “But with [the Epic Flash, he’s] kind of having more of a hanging miss. It wasn’t a slice; it just hung out there. It wouldn’t release.� While Mickelson is currently averaging 304 yards off the tee (T27) on measured drives in 2019, according to PGATOUR.COM stats, he’s ranked 204th on the PGA TOUR in driving accuracy percentage, and he’s ranked 213th – last on TOUR – in left-rough miss percentage, hitting it in the left rough off the tee 21.19% of the time. After a testing session last week at the Ely Callaway Performance Center in Carlsbad, California, Mickelson found that he was hitting the Aldila Rogue Black shaft on the center of the face more often, and “it was helping him square the clubface a little bit easier,� Thompson told PGATOUR.COM. The Aldila Rogue Black has a slightly softer profile than the Project X HZRDUS T1100 shaft he had been playing. “He’s really excited about some of the club head speed that he’s picked up,� Thompson told PGATOUR.COM. “High-launch, low-spin draws are kind of his thing right now, and that shaft definitely helps him square of the face and he’s definitely hammering it. He’s hitting it very hard.� By hitting more of a draw with the Aldila Rogue Black driver shaft, and hitting the center of the face more often, look for Mickelson to increase his fairways-hit percentage, and reduce his left-rough tendency off the tee. That is, if he does decide to put it in play come competition time on Thursday.

Click here to read the full article…

SAN DIEGO — The putter was working just fine, thank you very much. Jordan Spieth used another strong putting round to shoot 65 on Torrey Pines’ North Course on Thursday in Southern California. He is alone in fifth place, and his 22 putts were one short of his career-low, according to the Golf Channel’s Justin Ray. He hit just five fairways in the Farmers Insurance Open’s first round, though. “I scored tremendously well because I made a lot of putts,â€� he said. “It’s good to have to scramble and to make a lot of putts to keep rounds going. That was a great round considering some of the spots I was in.â€� Spieth has shot 11-under 131 (66-65) over his last two rounds on the PGA TOUR. This is the first time since last April that he shot consecutive rounds of 66 or lower. His putting struggles have received plenty of attention, but he has seen improvement since the opening round of his last tournament, the Sony Open in Hawaii. He missed the cut there, but shot 66 in the second round. “I’ve just been riding with it since,â€� he said. “It’s really nice to see them go in from anywhere.â€� This is Spieth’s first appearance in the Farmers Insurance Open since 2015. He’s missed the cut in two of his three appearances. Thursday’s 65 was just his second sub-70 round at this tournament. He shot 63 on the North Course in the second round five years ago. He is 9 over par in five career rounds on Torrey Pines’ South Course, which he will play Friday. He’s shot 75 in each of his last three rounds there and has never shot lower than 71.

Click here to read the full article…