Tommy Fleetwood, Keegan Bradley tied for lead after Round 1 at THE PLAYERS Championship

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Ollie Schniederjans was still a little raw, and a little hurt. Two hours earlier, with the eyes of the world watching intently, he had worked his way into a tie at the top at THE PLAYERS Championship. Two hiccups on the back nine, though, including a triple-bogey 6 at the most famous hole in American golf, had given him an even-par 72 and a T16 finish. “I cost myself a lot of money on 17,â€� he said, “so that’s hard to deal with right now.â€� Now, though, he looks ahead to this week’s Valspar Championship, and, big-picture, he likes what he sees. Because Ollie Schniederjans 2.0 is finally achieving liftoff. He has a new swing coach (Butch Harmon), a new trainer (Brendan McLaughlin, who also works with Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson), and a new caddie (Damon Green, formerly with Zach Johnson). At TPC Sawgrass, Schniederjans, who stands out for his conspicuous lack of headwear and his feathery brown bangs, was even sporting a new mustache. “Just since today,â€� he said after the wild final round. “Yesterday I had a goatee.â€� Not long ago, it appeared Schniederjans didn’t need to change anything. He was a member of golf’s heralded Class of 2011—Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas were co-valedictorians—and marked for greatness as he mowed through the amateur ranks and was an All-American at Georgia Tech. But his early professional career fizzled. While Spieth and Thomas were racking up a combined 20 PGA TOUR titles, Schniederjans was running in place. He was 60th in the FedExCup in 2017, when he had his best chance to win before finishing runner-up at the Wyndham Championship, and 98th last season. If anything, he felt himself getting worse. “I wasn’t hitting it good enough,â€� he said at THE PLAYERS. “I couldn’t work it both ways. I couldn’t get it in the air real well. I lost a lot of speed last year.â€� What’s more, he added, he was stubbornly clinging to his old ways. “A lot of time was wasted,â€� he said, “and energy was wasted just trying to figure things out on my own.â€� He went to see Harmon for the first time in December, traveling to the renowned teacher’s home base in Las Vegas. He began working with Green at the Sony Open in Hawaii, in January, and made a second pilgrimage to Vegas for another full-day visit with swing coach Harmon. All the while, McLaughlin was overseeing his new program to strengthen his body for golf. That’s a lot of changes all at once, and the results were slow to come. Schniederjans came into last week languishing at 193rd in the FedExCup and 239th in the Official World Golf Ranking. He kept at it, though, not content to be mediocre and unwilling to quit before the changes had had a chance to take hold. They did so at THE PLAYERS, where Schniederjans, who took up golf at the relatively advanced age of 12, seemed to play better as he got closer to the lead. “That was the one thing Zach was good at, too,â€� caddie Green said. “We’ve talked about it a lot, how you have to be the guy who wants the ball and wants to take the shot at the end of the game. He really does, and you could see it. I’ve been telling him for the last month, ‘You’re going to peak at TPC, I can just feel it.’ Just tryin’ to get in his head and give him a little confidence.â€� Schniederjans has certainly never lacked drive; he burns to be one of the best in the world and is constantly having Green film his swing. Green calls him “an old soul for a 25-year-old,â€� such is his low-key, studied approach to improvement. His physical tools are also impressive. It’s one thing to reach the par 5s in two shots at TPC Sawgrass, but quite another to reach with a 9-iron, like Schniederjans. (He’s 11th on TOUR in driving distance, averaging 309.5 yards.) “He’s got around 125 mph ball speed, which is sick,â€� Green said. “If he can hit a few more fairways and improve on his putting, which let us down a little at TPC, he’s gonna do damage.â€� Schniederjans’ big weekend at THE PLAYERS was the long-awaited affirmation that he’s on the right path. With the leaders faltering early, he birdied three of the first six holes to tie for the lead, rising to the occasion like old times. This was exactly what was predicted for him. Alas, he double-bogeyed the 10th, rallied with three birdies, then rinsed his tee shot on 17, the resulting 6 a buzz-kill at the end of an otherwise electric weekend run. Still, these are early days, and the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook, which has given us first-time winners like Adam Hadwin, Kevin Streelman and Gary Woodland, awaits. Schniederjans calls caddie Green a huge help, and says the same for Harmon and McLaughlin. He’s got the right support team, and his decision to change everything is finally paying off. “I played extremely well – I had two terrible holes that cost me the tournament,â€� he said. “I know when I get in the mix, I can get the job done. I’ve just got to keep putting myself in this position.â€�

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SAN DIEGO –  This year, the Rules of Golf, not his surgically-repaired back, are the biggest source of uncertainty for Tiger Woods. That shows how far he’s come in the past 12 months. When he arrived at last year’s Farmers Insurance Open, he didn’t know if he’d make it to the Florida Swing. He wasn’t accustomed to hitting out of the thick rough found at PGA TOUR tournaments. Woods isn’t one for moral victories, but he was proud of his 23rd-place finish here last year. Yes, it was four months ago, but Woods is coming off a win in his previous official start. “I know what I can do, I know what I’m feeling, so now it’s about finishing a little bit better and winning some events this year,â€� he said. Woods described the new knee-high drops as “really weird.â€� He hopes, of course, that he won’t have to make many of them. And, like most players, he will leave the flagstick in the hole in select situations. “It might be more advantageous when we get on faster greens, a little bit more slope, i.e., Augusta, (to) have that sense of security on a 3-, 4-footer down the hill. You can just take a cut at it,â€� Woods said. “But here the greens are going to be a little bit bouncy, a little bit bumpy, so who knows.â€� Not that he’s had any problem with the poa annua greens on the California coast. Torrey Pines has played an outsized role in his career. Ten percent of his 80 PGA TOUR wins have come at the course. He was undefeated here over a four-year span from 2005-08, winning this tournament four times, as well as the U.S. Open. He’s 170 under par in 17 starts at the Farmers Insurance Open. He’s won trophies at Torrey Pines since his junior days and attended his first PGA TOUR event here. Woods will tackle the South Course first, teeing off at 10:40 a.m. off No. 1. He’s paired with FedExCup leader Xander Schauffele and Tony Finau. It’s the first time Woods has played with either player. They know what to expect, though. “It’s going to be a little bit bigger of a zoo than I’m used to, but I … just sort of block it all out,â€� Schauffele said. “I’ve already prepped with my caddie when Tiger taps in, people will be running around just to get as close to him on the next tee shot.â€� A win here would pull Woods within one of Sam Snead on the all-time wins list. “It’s cool to see him back,â€� said defending champion Jason Day. “It’s just interesting to see how he’ll go this year because obviously last year you’re just trying to build and build and build. … Is he going to come back out and start saying that he’s competing and playing and, ‘I’m going to win every week,’ because that’s kind of the old Tiger that I knew.â€� As expected, Woods used the offseason to get stronger. He was worn out at the end of last season, after his success caused his schedule to quickly fill up with big events. “My legs are where they need to be, which they weren’t at the end of the season,â€� he said. He also reflected on his win at the TOUR Championship. He said the replay “gives me chills almost every time I see it.â€� Because it came at the end of the season, Woods was able to reflect on this victory more than any other in his professional career. “I got a chance to be around my friends and my family, to hear some of the stories of how nervous they were and how emotional they were,â€� he said. “That was touching to me because I didn’t really expect that because I’m inside the ropes. I know what it took for me, but I didn’t know it would have affected anyone else like that.â€� His pursuit of another PGA TOUR title resumes this week on familiar territory.

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