U.S. youngsters leave mark ahead of Ryder Cup

ORLANDO, Fla. — Viktor Hovland had the lowest round of the day with a 6-under 66 and is off to another great start at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard. This time, he has a good idea what to expect on the weekend at Bay Hill. RELATED: Full leaderboard | Inside the Field: THE PLAYERS Championship Rory McIlroy got a sneak preview. Hovland played Friday morning and set the target on a warm day with increasing wind, making seven birdies and a few key pars saves late in the second round. He posted a 9-under 135. McIlroy played in the afternoon and was poised to catch him until his putter let him down on greens that were getting crisp and slippery. Tied for the lead, McIlroy missed a 4-foot par putt, putts from 8 feet on the next two holes for birdie and par, and he finished off his 72 by missing a good birdie chance from 15 feet. He was two behind along with past Bay Hill winner Tyrrell Hatton (68) and Talor Gooch (68), who won his first PGA TOUR title in the final official event last year. Hovland was two shots out of the lead going into the weekend last year when he closed with rounds of 77-78 and wound up 15 shots behind. “I kind of try to forget the weekend here last year,” he said. “I played really well the first few days, very similar to how I played so far this year. The course just gets harder and harder every single day, and it started blowing. A few too many bad swings and I ended up in bad spots and just didn’t really take my medicine.” McIlroy opened with a 65 in slightly softer conditions Thursday morning and it didn’t take long for him to realize how much the course had changed. He bogeyed the opening hole and did well to battle back with three birdies. And then it was a diet of pars until those dried up. He was seven shots worse, and said it didn’t feel that way. “Those are the sort of greens you expect to see late on a Sunday, not late on a Friday,” McIlroy said. “It’s going to be interesting to see where they go from here, but it’s going to be a good test over the weekend. I’m glad I got 18 holes in those conditions because the course definitely changed a lot from when I played it yesterday morning to this afternoon. “I’ll be a little more prepared for it tomorrow.” As for Hatton, he wasn’t sure what to think except that he putted well. That much was evident from his 22 putts. He won here two years ago — the last PGA TOUR event before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down golf for three months — and does have a good feel for the greens. That’s about the only part of his game that felt right. “I’m not particularly happy with how I hit the golf ball the last few days,” Hatton said. “I think the score is pretty flattering. I’ve putted really good, which is why I’ve got the score that I have, but I know that I can’t keep hitting it that badly certainly with how it’s going to be playing much tougher this weekend. “Hopefully, I can find a golf swing, and hopefully the putt stays up this weekend.” Gooch didn’t drop a shot until his final hole. Still, it was a stout performance considering he played in the afternoon. His round included a 40-foot eagle putt down the slope on the par-5 16th, and he was rarely out of position until going from thick rough right of the ninth fairway to the front bunker, leaving himself nearly 40 yards from the back pin. Bay Hill was such a test that Jon Rahm still couldn’t find his groove with the putter and was one shot outside the top 10. He had a 70 and was among those seven behind. The cut was at 3-over 147, the sixth straight year it was over par. Patrick Reed missed it by one shot, his third straight tournament missing the cut. That hasn’t happened to Reed since 2017. Seven players shot 80 or higher. Hovland had no such concerns, and he was particularly good on the back nine when he ran in a 25-foot birdie putt on the 15th, two-putted for birdie on the 16th and then smashed a 5-iron from 230 yards to 10 feet on the par-3 17th for a third straight birdie. McIlroy, who had 30 putts, was told that Hovland needed only 23 putts and Hatton only 22. He had the same response to both questions, knowing all of them would be playing late. “See how he does tomorrow.”

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KAPALUA, Hawaii - Bryson DeChambeau spent his holiday break trying to push himself to the point of passing out as his search for incredible swing and ball speed continues. The U.S. Open champion responded to a poor effort at the Masters last November by getting back to work as he looks to take his already prodigious distance to even higher levels in 2021. And after a solid 4-under 69 to open the Sentry Tournament of Champions - a score that left him just four off the pace - the 27-year-old explained his off-season with long drive champion Kyle Berkshire was already beginning to show fruit. RELATED: Full leaderboard | Thomas, English share lead at Sentry Tournament of Champions "I spent my off-season swinging my butt off as hard as I can. There were times where everything hurt in my body and it was breaking down my whole nervous system and rebuilding it back up," DeChambeau said from Kapalua. "There were numerous times where I was seeing a tunnel and I had to stop. I did not blackout, but I came very close, just like (Kyle) did." Berkshire - who recently revealed he is trying to make the transition from long drive champion to PGA TOUR player - was able to lift his swing speed from 119 miles per hour in college to 150 mph by the time he was the longest man on the planet. DeChambeau has formed a partnership of sorts with the 24-year-old as they look to help each other hone their craft. The seven-time PGA TOUR winner tried to explain some of the techniques the pair worked on that saw them on the brink of collapse. "I’m not going to give away what he told me to the utmost (but) he gave me some nice little secrets," DeChambeau said. "I implemented some of his techniques. A lot of it has to do with pushing the limits of your body and going for long hours of swinging your golf club with a golf ball and trying to help up the ball speed. "There are points where, I don’t know if you’ve ever experienced a runner’s high or something like that, where you get these extra endorphins and that’s kind of what breaks your neurological CNS (central nervous system) ... which is a great thing. And over time as you keep building it and you keep pushing it and pushing it just keeps going up and up." DeChambeau estimates he has perhaps added 20-yards of distance with his recent speed gains over the break - and says he now hits an 8-iron 205 yards. In Thursday's opening round in Maui, DeChambeau ranked second in Strokes Gained: Off-the Tee, just fractionally behind Carlos Ortiz and was also second in driving distance with his 317.7-yard average beaten by Cameron Champ (322.4). His longest drive of the day was a 405-yard rocket at the 12th. The former U.S. Amateur champion's swing speed on the one radar measured hole (par-4 3rd) sat at 135 mph with a ball speed of 196.29 mph. It is these numbers DeChambeau is determined to lift. He expects to get to his ultimate goal over the next 18 months. "I’m going to keep getting speed until I try and get around 205 to 210 (ball speed). Once I achieve those speeds and I’m comfortable with that, not trying to swing my butt off, it just happens naturally, that’s when I’ll probably stop and go down the chipping rabbit hole and try and understand my chipping and wedging a lot bit better," DeChambeau revealed. "I still feel like there’s some low hanging fruit with the driver, the speed I can gain. It’s fun. I hit 7-iron into 18 today... I hit pitching wedge into five, albeit I parred it. Putting still matters. But these distances are allowing me to do things that I never thought were possible, which is cool." There was one new issue for the big hitter though. "The only problem is walking these hills. You add 30 more pounds it’s a hike," he said. "It’s different. I have to create some endurance for that. I don’t just need strength; I need endurance with these muscles."

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Tiger Woods will make his 2019 calendar debut at next week’s Farmers Insurance Open, an event he’s won seven times. The tournament made the official announcement Wednesday. Woods also committed to playing in the Genesis Open at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles on February 14-17 where he doubles as the tournament host. Woods’ last PGA TOUR appearance was the memorable TOUR Championship in September when he walked up the 18th fairway en route to victory through a crowd of fans. That win was the 80th of his TOUR career, putting him just two shy of Sam Snead’s all-time record. The last time Woods played competitively was the week after Thanksgiving at his Hero World Challenge, a non-TOUR event in the Bahamas. Woods did not fare well that week, finishing 17th in the 18-man field. Still, the thought of a healthy Woods for a full season will be a huge storyline this season. A year ago when Woods played at Torrey Pines, he was still unsure how much he could play after enduring four back surgeries. After being limited to just two tournaments in the span of more than two full calendar years, Woods made his comeback in 2018, starting at Torrey Pines. He played 18 tournaments, securing 12 top-25 finishes and seven top-10s – including a pair of runner-up placings and his TOUR Championship win, his first victory in more than five years. He finished T6 or better in The Open Championship and the PGA Championship and earned more than $5 million for just the second time in nine seasons. Woods won the Farmers in 1999, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2013, and earned his most recent major championship victory in a 19-hole playoff at the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines in 2008. In addition to his seven victories, Woods has finished in the top 10 six other times in 16 appearances. He is the tournament’s all-time leading money winner, with $6,915,700. “We couldn’t be happier to have Tiger back in our field,â€� said Century Club of San Diego CEO Peter Ripa. “He really launched his fairytale comeback season right here last January, and he has enjoyed incredible success at Torrey Pines Golf Course and in our tournament over the years. It will be exciting to see him alongside many of the game’s other top players Jan. 24-27.â€� Until last year, Woods hadn’t played four complete rounds in the Farmers since his last victory here in 2013. After missing the cut during an abbreviated comeback in 2017, he advanced to the weekend last year by making birdie on his 18th hole Friday to make the cut on the number. Rounds of 70 and 72 Saturday and Sunday left him tied for 23rd. He would go on to secure top-10 finishes in the Valspar Championship, the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the Quicken Loans National, The Open Championship, the PGA Championship and the BMW Championship before his season-ending victory at East Lake. “This year as a whole was probably the most rewarding, because there was a point where I just didn’t know if I would ever do this again,â€� Woods said before the Hero World Challenge. “The expectations are much different this upcoming year. Now I know that I can do it, now it’s just about managing and making sure I’m fresh for events, because I know I can win tournaments again.â€� Twenty years ago, Woods captured his first title at the Farmers Insurance Open. It was his eighth victory on the PGA TOUR but carried extra significance because of the golf course on which he did it. Woods joins a strong list of early commitments that includes defending champion Jason Day; defending FedExCup champion Justin Rose; San Diego native Xander Schauffele; 2017 Farmers Insurance Open winner Jon Rahm; along with world top-30 players Rory McIlroy, Tony Finau, Rickie Fowler, Patrick Reed, Marc Leishman, Jordan Spieth, Patrick Cantlay, Alex Noren, Gary Woodland and Hideki Matsuyama. Joining Fowler and Schauffele among San Diego products committed to the Farmers Insurance Open are Torrey Pines High School graduates Pat Perez and Jamie Lovemark, Poway product Charley Hoffman and San Diego State University alum J.J. Spaun. Joining Woods and Rahm as past tournament champions who have committed are Day (2018, 2015), Brandt Snedeker (2016, 2012), Scott Stallings (2014), Ben Crane (2010) and Nick Watney (2009). Young up-and-coming players to watch who have committed include PGA TOUR rookie and long-bomber Cameron Champ and 19-year-old Chilean sensation Joaquin Niemann. Woods will look to better last year’s performance at Riviera in February. In his first appearance at the event since 2006 Woods missed the cut, just one of two (U.S. Open) missed weekends all season. Prior to that he had eight top-20 finishes at Riviera, including runner up finishes in 1998 and 1999. The Riviera Country Club was the site of Woods’ first PGA TOUR event in 1992, competing on a sponsor’s exemption as an amateur. Woods’ TGR Live manages the Genesis Open and proceeds from the tournament benefit his TGR Foundation. “I’m looking forward to being back in Los Angeles for the Genesis Open,â€� Woods said. “It’s always great to be able to play at Riviera and I am very proud of the impact the Genesis Open has been able to make on education through my foundation.â€�

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