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KAPALUA, Maui – Every so often it all falls into place. So it’s gone for Collin Morikawa, the only player in the field without a bogey and the 54-hole leader by six after shooting a third-round 65 at the Sentry Tournament of Champions. “Yeah, it’s been pretty simple today,” said Morikawa, who will be playing for his sixth PGA TOUR title (two of which came at majors) on Sunday. “Kind of over the past three days, is where I’ve been looking is kind of where the ball’s been going. I kind of know what is doing right and when I hit a bad shot, kind of what the mistake was. That’s the biggest thing.” Scottie Scheffler, who would go back to world No. 1 with a two-way tie for third or better, shot 69 to tie Matt Fitzpatrick (66) and J.J. Spaun (69) at 18 under, a half dozen shots behind. It will be hard to catch the leader, for reasons both obvious (a comfortable lead) and not. The obvious reason is Morikawa is not only crushing Kapalua from tee to green (he often does, no matter the course), but he’s also putting lights-out. His 15-foot birdie putt on 18 Saturday, his fourth birdie in the last five holes, was emblematic of his week. The key stat for the leader so far: Morikawa, who ranked 131st in Strokes Gained: Putting last season, is No. 1 for the week at the Sentry. He gives much of the credit to new putting coach Stephen Sweeney, an Irishman who is based in Florida. “He’s putting really good,” Spaun said of Morikawa. “He doesn’t miss a shot. It’s a hard combo to beat.” Morikawa has ranked inside the top 10 in SG: Putting in four tournaments, and won two of them. He’s also first in scrambling (6-for-6), which bodes well for his new relationship with short game specialist and TOUR winner Parker McLachlin. The other factor working in Morikawa’s favor is good Maui vibes. His paternal grandparents were born here and owned a restaurant in Lahaina. When the Maui News wrote about it, a reader found an old matchbook from that restaurant on eBay, bought it for $7.50, and sent it to Morikawa via an assist from NBC’s Mark Rolfing, the PGA TOUR, and Morikawa’s agent. It says: “Morikawa restaurant Delicious meals Beer-wine and sake M. Morikawa prop.” “It’s amazing,” said Morikawa, who is with his wife, brother, and parents this week. “I mean, to think what Front Street means to the island of Maui and to the city of Lahaina. Every time we walk by, my dad, I know he just kind of goes back to being a kid.” The abundance of positive mojo at Kapalua comes in the first week of a new year that couldn’t get here fast enough for Morikawa, who fought his game (his signature fade went missing); tried a new putter (changing to a mallet at the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday, where he missed the cut); did not win; and generally gnashed his teeth. For a dynamic young player who had become the first to win the PGA Championship and Open Championship in his first cracks at both, the season was an unhappy grind. “That middle of the season really from PLAYERS all the way through playoffs just felt like it never ended,” he said. “It was just like I play a tournament, you get back home, you play another tournament, play two more. You’re always searching.” He rediscovered his fade, and in November started working with Sweeney – the first putting coach of his career. Feeling more at ease on the greens, Morikawa finished T15 at the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba, his best result of the fall. It was 13 months ago that Morikawa took a five-shot lead into the final round of the unofficial Hero World Challenge – and lost. In retrospect, it seems to have been an omen for a forgettable 2022. But as he picks apart the Plantation Course, with his tee-to-green game in peak form and his putting better than ever, Morikawa is making all that a distant memory.

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Torrey Pines specialist Jason Day is in danger of missing the U.S. Open at the iconic coastal venue and could leave next week’s PGA Championship, or this week’s AT&T Byron Nelson, at any stage for the birth of his fourth child. The Australian has always put family first and said wife Ellie is due in early June but hits full term on her pregnancy this Friday, leaving him on call for an early departure as he looks to recapture past success in Texas. The last time he missed a major – the 2012 Open Championship – was for the birth of Dash, the couple’s first child. “If I’m playing golf, whatever, it doesn’t matter. I just want to make sure that I see the birth of our fourth child … I could get a call this week or next week. Ellie’s two to three centimeters dilated and 15% effaced, and her belly has already dropped. In the next four weeks it can come,” Day said. “If it happens to be on Sunday at a major championship where I’m in contention, it happens. You got to do it. I’m not going to miss it because I’m in contention. It would be nice to win, but family is forever.” The former Dallas resident claimed the first of his 12 PGA TOUR wins at the 2010 AT&T Byron Nelson and has four top-10s from his five tournament appearances – the sort of success he desperately needs if he’s to find his way into the field for June’s U.S. Open. While the PGA Championship comes sooner, Day circled the 2021 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines on the calendar as soon as it was announced in 2014 – a year before he would win the first of his two Farmers Insurance Open’s at the San Diego venue. He had finished runner-up at Torrey just a few months earlier and having won a Junior World title there as a kid the former world No. 1 had always loved the venue. His passion grew over time, particularly as he watched Tiger Woods win time and time again on the edge of the Pacific Ocean, including his epic triumph at the 2008 U.S. Open. But despite finishing inside the top five in half of his 10 U.S. Open appearances, the 33-year-old is yet to be exempt for the tournament and at 62nd in the world rankings sits on the outside looking in as key qualifying dates approach. Day must find a way inside the world top 60 on either May 24 (after the PGA Championship) or June 7 (after the Memorial Tournament Presented by Nationwide) to qualify as he’s already stated he does not intend to join sectional qualifying in his hometown Columbus because of a sponsor conflict. “I haven’t even thought about missing a major championship in a very long time. I’m obviously on the border of missing (Torrey). I’ve got to play well in the next two weeks,” Day said. “Obviously I would love to play the Torrey Pines U.S. Open because I’ve had a lot of success around that golf course.” His 2021 has been far from stellar thus far and he suits up in Texas off two straight missed cuts and with just one top-10 (T7, AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am). Day admits his confidence has taken a hit as distractions puncture his game and his once dominant putting prowess has waned. The 33-year-old has returned to work with former mental coach Jason Goldsmith, who was with him during his near year-long stint as world No. 1 in 2015-16, as he looks to rediscover some old swagger. First step is getting through the moments of doubt and finding love in the grind again. “I’m just trying to build that confidence. I feel like my game is starting to come around nicely and I’m starting to feel good about it,” Day said. “I know I’ve got to keep persisting. If I don’t do it, it’s not going to be enjoyable for me. If it’s not enjoyable for me, I may as well retire. I can’t play the way that I’m going and beat my head against a wall, essentially. “But, then on the other hand I’m like, ‘No, you can’t quit. You got to keep pushing, stay persistent, stay positive, patient, keep moving forward,’ and it’ll come back. Right now I’m trying to do that.”

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A month after undergoing an arthroscopic procedure on his left knee, Tiger Woods has been cleared to start full practice. During an interview with Good Morning America’s Michael Strahan earlier this week, Woods said he “got the clearance last week to start full practiceâ€� and “played nine holes the other day.â€� RELATED: Tiger chases Snead’s 82 PGA TOUR wins Woods underwent the latest procedure on his knee last month, the fifth knee surgery of his career. Dr. Vern Cooley, who performed the surgery, said at the time he expected Woods to make a full recovery. Woods said the knee is “soreâ€� after his recent practice round but looks forward to getting back into playing shape. “Now I can start lifting and getting my muscle back and getting my weight up and doing all that stuff again,â€� Woods said in the interview. Woods’ next start on the PGA TOUR is expected to be The ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP in Chiba, Japan, Oct. 24-27. He’s also the U.S. captain for The Presidents Cup in December and has not ruled out the possibility of being a playing captain. Woods will make his four captain’s picks in early November after the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions. Although his back has been the focus of concern for much of the last six-plus years, this marks the fifth time that Woods, 43, has had his left knee operated on.  Woods’ first left-knee operation was to remove a benign tumor in 1994. The second and third were arthroscopic procedures in 2002 and in April of 2008. He was told of two stress fractures in his tibia in May of 2008, won the U.S. Open in June, and eight days later had a fourth surgery, on his ACL. He missed the remainder of the 2008 season. For a player who missed significant time from 2014-17, when he had successful back-fusion surgery, Woods has been relatively healthy the last two seasons.     At the 2018 TOUR Championship at East Lake, he notched his long-awaited 80th victory, the exclamation point on a terrific comeback season for a player whose career once seemed to be over. His 2019 season was highlighted by his Masters win, his 15th major title. With 81 PGA TOUR wins, he’s now one behind Sam Snead’s record. That was mostly it, though, for his 2018-19 season as Woods admitted to being worn out by the heroic victory at Augusta National. He missed the cut at the PGA Championship at Bethpage Black and was T21 at the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, despite having won on both courses. He missed the cut at The Open Championship and withdrew from THE NORTHERN TRUST with a mild oblique strain. Although he won the 1999 and 2006 PGA Championships at Medinah, Woods never contended there, either, with a T37 at the BMW Championship. At 42nd in the FedExCup, his season was over.

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