Trubisky injures left shoulder, Allen suffers concussion

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KAPALUA, Hawaii – Cameron Smith led the field in Strokes Gained: Putting en route to his win at the Sentry Tournament of Champions. Clearly 2022’s new rule surrounding yardage books – and the banning of the old, in-depth greens books – didn’t impact the Australian. The winners-only event at Kapalua’s Plantation Course was the first TOUR event since the implementation of a local rule on TOUR that limits the information in players’ yardage books. From this week forward, only committee-approved yardage books can be used and players can only add handwritten notes from information they’ve seen with their naked eye or on a broadcast. Measuring instruments cannot be used to gather information for notes added to the book. That eliminates the old greens books that used technology to measure the slightest slopes on a putting surface. “I’ve never really been a big fan of the greens books,” Smith said. “I do AimPoint Express and I like to feel a lot of stuff. I like to see stuff and I like to feel stuff, so the greens books, for me, took away a lot of that. I gave them a crack a couple of times but I was never really a fan.” That seemed to be the overwhelming sentiment from the 38 players who teed it up last week. “I haven’t really consulted the green book too much in the past,” said FedExCup champ Patrick Cantlay. “Every once in a while, I used to ask my caddie to consult it. I don’t think it will make too much of a difference for me.” Last year’s Sony Open in Hawaii champion, Kevin Na, said he might’ve entered the history books if not for a reliance on the books a year ago. “I remember last year at the Sony Open I looked at it one time on 17 when I had a chance to shoot 59 and it didn’t work out too well, so that was the last time I saw it,” Na said. “My caddie used to carry one, and he would look at it here and there. But I don’t feel like it’s a huge change for me because we’ve never really looked at it a lot. So, I actually like that it’s gone. I feel like I am a pretty good green reader out there so it’s an advantage for us.” The changes were player-driven through the TOUR’s Player Advisory Council (PAC). A former chairman of that committee, Jordan Spieth, believes he also will find an edge with the new rule despite the fact he’s used the books extensively in the past. “It will be an adjustment, certainly as we get to the West Coast, and places like Riviera, but there’s three things to putting. There’s reading the putt, there’s stroking it on line and there is hitting it at the right speed,” Spieth said. “I think that two of those were skills that you don’t technically need to have with (arm-lock) putting and the greens books. At least one of them right now is back to where it will become a skill to have to read them.” While Spieth’s caddie, Michael Greller, studied AimPoint in the off-season to broaden his knowledge base, Spieth wasn’t planning to do the same anytime soon. He will rely on his natural feels. “We’ve never had the greens books at Augusta,” Spieth added, “and I seem to find myself in a really good space on the greens there, really feeling putts. My Strokes Gained at Augusta has always been really solid so I like looking at that as a reference point. “I think if anything this could potentially help me in the Strokes Gained area. I’m not saying I’m going to make as many putts as I would with them, … but relative to other people, I would say green reading would be a strength of mine and therefore I feel good about the differences.” Other players who used the books heavily in the past were hopeful it would free up their mind and allow some instinct to come in. “I’m excited for it,” said FedExCup leader Talor Gooch. “I use the green reading books, but I think it was to a detriment at times and I play my best when I think less, I calculate less, I kind of try to be reactive and so having no greens books is great for that.” Joel Dahmen added that it could be good for him to get his head out of the book. “I probably bury my head in them too much as it is,” Dahmen said. “I don’t use them at home and I putt OK, so there’s no real reason to have them out here for me. But it’s a little more work for the caddie on Tuesday and Wednesday for them to get the slopes and the grain out there.”

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HONOLULU, Hawaii – Matt Kuchar certainly isn’t looking to create another win drought. The affable veteran waited 1,667 days and 116 starts between winning the 2014 RBC Heritage the Mayakoba Golf Classic earlier this season. If he surges forward from his comfortable 36-hole position this week at the Sony Open in Hawaii it will be his second triumph in three starts on TOUR and come just 64 days apart. Kuchar has posted back-to-back 7-under 63s at Waialae Country Club to move to 14 under, currently four shots clear of Chez Reavie (65) and Stewart Cink (62) after the morning wave. Only Andrew Putnam (11 under total through 12 holes) appears a threat to his lead. “Just two great days. To shoot 7-under back to back is unexpected, but certainly awfully excited,â€� Kuchar said. While the wins went missing for the lengthy stretch, Kuchar’s form did not. At least not at first. He finished inside the top 20 of the FedExCup in 2015, 2016 and 2017. In 2018 however Kuchar dropped to 76th in the season long race, his worst result since being 116th in 2008. The St. Simons Island resident says he may have tried too hard last season and having the early victory this season was certainly keeping him on a high. “I want to say last year I probably ground harder than I’ve done in the past,â€� he admitted. “Close to Ryder Cup I was on the outside of a couple things and felt like I hadn’t been used to being in that situation. “So now being in good shape it’s certainly a nice place to be. Freed up? I’m not sure. I still kind of attack the game the same way.â€� While his record of turning a halfway lead into a victory is far from stellar at two out of 12 the 40-year-old did close the deal from this spot in Mexico recently. He knows players can go low at Waialae but the course can also bite you if you’re not careful. “Love the golf course. It’s a challenging one. If you play well you can make birdies; if you don’t you’re going to make bogeys,â€� Kuchar added. “The golf course gets tough when you’re playing from the rough. Even if you have short clubs in your hand it’s challenging.â€�

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