Walters claims one-shot lead at Dunhill Links

The hot, humid days of May have shifted to the relatively cool, damp days of March in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, as the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass hosts the top 50 players in both the FedExCup standings and the OWGR for the 46th edition. Pete Dye’s masterpiece (Par 72, 7,189) has stood the test of time and was originally designed for play in March. With multiple different doglegs, visual tricks and no two consecutive holes playing the same direction, multiple decisions and multiple shot shapes will be on display. The major differences will be not navigating Bermuda rough and greens that are not crispy from the lack of heat this time of year. Manageable rough and softer conditions this week might make March more palatable, but the winner ($2.25 million; 600 FedExCup points) of the $12.5 million purse will need every club in their bag plus the six inches between their ears to lift the new trophy. Need more Course Info? Check Rob Bolton’s Power Rankings, The First Look and Course Preview. Recent Winners Webb Simpson (2018). Justin Thomas remarked that we would never see TPC Sawgrass play as easy as it did on Sunday (70.014) of last year. Simpson destroyed too many records to list as he led the field in fairways, Strokes-Gained: Putting and Par-4 and Par-5 scoring while winning comfortably (73 on Sunday) by four shots. Notables: Brooks Koepka closed with 63, the lowest final round in history to cash T11; Xander Schauffele continued his role a quick study as he cashed T2 in his first appearance; Simpson was last in driving distance and went co-wire-to-wire as he shared only the first round lead. Si Woo Kim (2017): The youngest winner ever at 21, the South Korean debuted in 2016 (T23) and spent his weekend scrambling for pars (T1) and avoiding bogeys (T1). He posted 10-under, including 69 in Round 4, to win by three in hot, blustery conditions.  There were just seven rounds in the 60’s on Sunday. Notables:  54-hole leaders J.B. Holmes (84) and Kyle Stanley (75) never factored; Kim was bogey-free in the final round as he beat Louis Oosthuizen (T2) heads-up by three; Like Kim, Rafa Cabrera Bello made his second start and cashed T4. Jason Day (2016): Picked up his second win of the season in wire-to-wire fashion (API) to go along with his WGC-Dell Match Play victory. Gamers will remember his victory at Match Play as he injured his back and couldn’t pick the ball out of the hole. Day opened with 63 and never looked back as he won by four. Notables: Thomas fired 65 in the final round (T3) in his second start; Colt Knost posted 63 in Round 2 and shared T3 with Thomas and Ken Duke proving this course can be played by short, straight hitters. Day led the field in scrambling, bogey avoidance and Par-4 scoring while finishing T51 in fairways hit. Key stat leaders Golfers inside the top 25-ish in each statistic on the 2018-19 PGA TOUR are listed only if they are scheduled to compete this week. This is the 20th event of the season. * – Finished inside the top 10 since 2010 Strokes-Gained: Tee to Green  1  *Rory McIlroy  2  *Justin Thomas  3  *Hideki Matsuyama (20 under par in four starts before MC last year)  4  Byeong-Hun An  5  Dustin Johnson  6  Gary Woodland (best T11, 2014)  7  Patrick Cantlay  8  Jason Kokrak (6 trips, 1 weekend)  9  *Tommy Fleetwood (T7 ’18, T41 ’17) 10 Matthew Fitzpatrick 11 Luke List 12 *Paul Casey (first time, 2004, none in 10 other trips) 13 *Xander Schauffele 15 Keith Mitchell (coming in HOT) 16 Lucas Glover (T6 ’17, 3 2010) 18 Sungjae Im (maiden; rookie) 19 Corey Conners (maiden) 20 Talor Gooch (maiden) 21 Jon Rahm (T63, T72) 22 *Webb Simpson 22 *Ian Poulter (T2, 2017) 24 *Matt Kuchar (2012 winner) 25 Bubba Watson (T37 best in 11 trips) Strokes-Gained: Putting  1  Dominic Bozzelli  2  Brian Gay  4  Andrew Putnam  6  *Rafa Cabrera Bello (T4 ’18, T17 ’17)  7  Scott Langley  8  *Rickie Fowler  9  Dustin Johnson 10 Patton Kizzire 11 *Jason Day 12 *Brandt Snedeker 13 *Xander Schauffele 14 Patrick Reed 16 Wyndham Clark (maiden) 17 Charles Howell III (16 events, T17 ’18 is his best) 18 *Adam Scott 19 *Francesco Molinari 20 Billy Horschel 21 Cameron Smith (MC, MC) 22 Denny McCarthy (maiden) 23 Vaughn Taylor 24 *Si Woo Kim 26 Kiradech Aphibarnrat Bogey Avoidance  1  *Lucas Glover  2  Charles Howell III  3  Dustin Johnson  4  Patrick Cantlay  5  *Matt Kuchar (2012 winner)  6  *Webb Simpson  7  *Xander Schauffele  7  Kevin Tway  9  *Jim Furyk 10 *Aaron Baddeley 13 *Marc Leishman (one top 10 in 9 starts) 15 *Harold Varner III 16 *Kevin Kisner (P2 on debut in ’15 is only top 50 result) 17 Talor Gooch 18 *Justin Rose 20 Troy Merritt 21 *Justin Thomas 21 Andrew Putnam 23 Abraham Ancer (maiden) 24 *Rory McIlroy 25 *Jhonattan Vegas Levels of Confidence Premium Veterans Tiger Woods is the only player to win in March (2001) and May (2013) and has only missed once in 18 tries. He’s also the only multiple winner in the field. Rested and raring to go, he’ll look to improve his T11 from last year, his first start since 2015. Another veteran who has played both sides is Sergio Garcia. The 2008 champ was second in 2007, T4 in 2002 and has cashed in 17 of 19 appearances. He’s quietly racked up T9 and T6 in his last two on TOUR. At age 23 in 2004 Adam Scott became the youngest winner after Fred Funk became the oldest winner in 48 the year before. He backed up his win with T8 and added T6 in the first May edition. Since 2012 he’s played the event under-par and has finished outside T19 exactly once. Last week’s winner Francesco Molinari will look to join Woods (2001) as the only players this century to win THE PLAYERS the week after winning on TOUR. Woods also used the Arnold Palmer Invitation as his springboard that season and interestingly enough, Day won his trophy after claiming the API earlier in the year in 2016. Form Over Function    The foot of Rory McIlroy has to be sore from trying to kick open the door to victory this year as his streak of top-10 finishes is now at five. His run of T8, T6, T8 and T12 from 2013-16 cooled with T35 in ’17 and MC last year. It’s shocking that Dustin Johnson has never hit the top 10 here in 10 trips. It’s also not shocking he’s won twice worldwide in 2019 including his last time out at WGC-Mexico Championships. His two best paydays are the last two years (T17 ’18, T12 ’17). With three top-25 cashes, including T3 and T11, I’ll suggest Justin Thomas is comfortable around these parts. I’m trying to think where he’s not comfortable … The last time Brooks Koepka was at TPC Sawgrass he set the Sunday scoring record (63) that included an albatross. His check for T11 was his third-consecutive pay INCREASE at THE PLAYERS. Caution The last time we saw Jason Day he WD after six holes on Thursday at Bay Hill. He claims his injury has been blown out of proportion. His three top-10 paydays in the last eight years will gather eyeballs again this week. Justin Rose has only one top-10 payday from 15 tries but he’s also won this season at a difficult Torrey Pines. After finishing T2 in 2012 and winning in 2015, Rickie Fowler looked like an annual “save” for this event. Since his win he’s left early twice and cashed T60. With only two cuts made in five trips I’m not sure if I’m running Jordan Spieth to the front of the line this week. I don’t believe this is the track or event to get healthy or bust a slump. The mystery that is Phil Mickelson continues to taunt gamers as he’s done nothing since his win at Pebble Beach. He’s MC in six of his last seven here with the best result being T41.

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NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. – It’s easy to blame the belly putter. Keegan Bradley used that club to win three times in his first two seasons, including a major and World Golf Championship. Then his promising career took a downturn, just as the debate about anchoring was beginning to heat up. He was finally barred from using his beloved belly putter on Jan. 1, 2016. The ban became official in the midst of his worst season. By that summer, he was worried about missing the FedExCup Playoffs for the first time. The putter wasn’t the only problem, though. His full swing was in disarray, as well. Ball-striking, especially long and straight tee shots, had always been his strength. It allowed him to conquer tough tracks like Firestone and Atlanta Athletic Club. So, when his swing left him, doubt crept in. “I had missed over 10 cuts. I was in jeopardy of not making the Playoffs. I was really struggling,â€� he said. He finished outside the top 100 in the FedExCup for the first time in 2016. “I wasn’t really aware of how far off I was. I had to really get serious and put a lot of work in.â€� Bradley’s strong will allowed him to make the PGA TOUR despite growing up in the cold weather of Vermont and playing college golf at a school, St. John’s, located in the midst of New York City. He used that same determination to fight out of this lengthy slump. His victory at the BMW Championship on Monday, where he beat Justin Rose in a playoff, was his first in more than six years. He jumped to sixth in the FedExCup standings to qualify for the TOUR Championship for the first time since 2013. “A lot has happened to me over these six years,â€� he said. “The belly putter was a tougher transition than I thought, and I kind of fell off the radar there for a little while. It’s tough to go from being on Ryder Cup teams, being on Presidents Cup teams to outside the top 100 in the world. That was difficult. I had to really sit down with my coach Darren May, and we put a schedule together.â€� Bradley figured out his full swing about eight months ago. That allowed him to focus on the putter. He finally settled on the arm-lock method used by Matt Kuchar and another player impacted by the anchoring ban, Webb Simpson. Watching Simpson hole puts from across TPC Sawgrass at this year’s THE PLAYERS Championship strengthened Bradley’s belief in his new putting method. Like Bradley, Simpson had won a major with the belly putter but struggled after that club was made illegal. THE PLAYERS was Simpson’s first win in more than four years. “When I used the belly, I just putted,â€� Bradley said. “There was no thought process. And I had to really sit down and focus in on my putting stroke, which was something I had never done.â€� Bradley is still near the bottom of the TOUR in Strokes Gained: Putting but has enough good weeks on the greens to contend. His runner-up finish in his second event of this season, the CIMB Classic, was his best since 2014. In July, he finished fourth at the RBC Canadian Open with the sixth-best Strokes Gained: Putting performance of his career. His strong long game – he’s second in Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green and sixth in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green – takes pressure off his putting. He can still have a solid week with mediocre putting and contend when he gets hot on the greens. That’s what happened at Aronimink. Bradley finished sixth in Strokes Gained: Putting this week. It was the third-best Strokes Gained: Putting week of his career. He holed 11 putts outside 10 feet this week, one short of his career-high. Bradley almost didn’t have the opportunity to win this event. Constant rain forced the final round to be pushed back a day. But, with one eye on the FedExCup standings, Bradley sank 7-footers for par on Saturday’s final two holes to grab the 30th spot in the projected standings. Those crucial makes increased his confidence entering the final round. On Monday, he sank five putts outside 10 feet, including birdie putts of 17 feet and 10 feet on the back nine’s two par-3s. “It’s scary when I look back because I didn’t know I needed this much improvement,â€� Bradley said. “But to put it all together, especially with the putter the way it was this week and the way it’s becoming, is so gratifying, because for a little while, I didn’t know if I was going to be able to get back to this spot, and today I did it.â€�

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