Winner’s Bag: Adam Scott, The Genesis Invitational

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Phil Mickelson was 11 shots worse than his previous round at Quail Hollow. Bryson DeChambeau made an 8 on his 16th hole and headed straight for the exit. RELATED: Leaderboard | Rory McIlroy makes move at Wells Fargo Championship Turns out nothing was as bad as it seemed Friday in the Wells Fargo Championship. Morning gusts gave way to a relentless wind in the afternoon and had just about everyone trying to finish without too much damage. Former U.S. Open champion Gary Woodland had a 2-under 69 in the morning and shared the 36-hole lead with Matt Wallace (67) and Patrick Rodgers (68). No one in the afternoon could catch them at 6-under 136. Rory McIlroy will be playing on the weekend for the first time in two months. He shot a 66, and by the end of the day, that was good for a tie for fifth, two shots out of the lead. As for Mickelson? Never mind that he followed a 64 with a 75, losing a little focus at the end when different swing thoughts entered his head on holes with water, the wrong kind of ripple effect. “I’m excited to be in contention heading into the weekend, and I know I’m playing well,” Mickelson said. DeChambeau had reason to leave. Two balls in the water on the par-5 seventh led to his triple bogey and sent him to a 74. He was just inside the top 100 when he left without speaking. And then the wind arrived, the scores shot up and he made the cut on the number at 2-over 144. “The hardest conditions I’ve played in a while,” Justin Thomas said after a 73 that included a three-putt double bogey on the par-3 13th. His downhill putt from 18 feet caught a gust so strong it stopped 4 feet short. “Even the downwind holes were hard,” said Carlos Ortiz of Mexico, who has lived in Texas the last 12 years where he described typical conditions as “windy or windier.” Being used to it doesn’t make it easy, though Ortiz managed a 68, the best score in the afternoon. That left him in the group at 4-under 138. Mickelson was in the group another shot behind, determined to put an end to a drought so severe that he hasn’t finished among the top 20 in nine months. Everything felt and looked so easy when he opened with a 64. This was more of a challenge, particularly late in the round, and Mickelson felt his focus lapsing again. He hit into the water on the 14th while deciding whether to hit a draw or a cut (he still managed par; his wedge game is still among the best). After a good tee shot on the par-5 16th, Mickelson wasn’t quite sure what to do with his next one. He pulled it well right of the green, and his high flop shot landed too far and went over the edge. He chipped poorly to about 12 feet and turned what looked to be a sure birdie into a bad bogey. Two holes later, he found the water on the par-5 17th for a double bogey. “The back nine, I just wasn’t sharp,” Mickelson said. “I think an example of what I’ve been talking about is on 17, we’re standing over the ball and I’m changing my mind and I’m changing the shot, moving the clubhead a little bit. Instead of backing away and kind of refocusing, I just hit it and I’m not really aware of what I’m doing. So I’ve got to fix that.” In his mind, he threw away two shots on both the 15th and 17th holes, the difference of a score at par. “I just can’t keep doing that,” Mickelson said. “I’m optimistic for the weekend, though. McIlroy started the second round outside the projected cut line. He has not made it to the weekend since Bay Hill two months ago, which is factual and lacking context. That amounts to only three tournaments — missed cuts at THE PLAYERS Championship and Masters, not advancing from his group at WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play. He turned it around quickly, starting with one of his few bad drives. This one on the 14th sailed well to the right of the bunkers, gallery, everything but the mansions just outside the property. He tried to land his wedge anywhere near the green, and just his good fortune, it trundled onto the putting surface and stopped a foot away. That sent him to five birdies over his next eight holes, and right in the mix. “That was probably the catalyst to going on a nice little run,” McIlroy said. Woodland was all smiles. He missed the cut badly last week at Innisbrook, called Butch Harmon and decided to go back to his previous coaches, Harmon and Pete Cowen. It didn’t take long for him to feel better. His hip isn’t bothering him and his swing feels great. Woodland still hasn’t figured out the final stretch, Nos. 16-18, playing them in 3 over through two rounds. But he likes where he’s headed. “I’ve seen some shots this week that I just haven’t seen in a long time,” he said. “The golf swing feels so much better. Confidence has gone way up, which I did not have really in the last year. … It’s exciting right now.” Not so excited was Jon Rahm. He made a late charge until finishing with two bogeys for a 70 to miss the cut for the first time in 11 months.

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PGATOUR.COM fantasy columnist Rob Bolton lists his five against-the-grain fantasy options for this week’s event at TPC Deere Run. Scott Brown … The week before Brooks Koepka won the U.S. Open, he sat No. 1 in the Power Rankings for the FedEx St. Jude Classic. He finished T37 in Memphis, thus prompting my remark in the Fantasy Insider for the major that he had all the makings of getting my stronger endorsement a week early. This is where Brown comes in. He occupied a spot in this space for The Greenbrier Classic, meaning that this might be the first time in Sleepers history that a golfer has appeared in consecutive weeks. He missed the cut at The Old White TPC, so consider that the omen that he’s an even better fit at TPC Deere Run. Since his debut in 2012, he’s logged two top 10s and another two top 25s. His scoring average in 18 competitive rounds here is 67.67. Trey Mullinax … Every rookie should be inspired by Xander Schauffele’s victory at The Greenbrier Classic, but Mullinax has a unique connection to the first-time winner in that both were in the conversation on the weekend at the U.S. Open where they posted top 10s to earn exemptions into the 2018 edition. Mullinax’s path began the week prior when he finished T18 at the FedEx St. Jude Classic, but his arc since includes a measurable improvement with his approach game. Thanks to ranking T16 in greens in regulation at TPC Southwind, second at Erin Hills and T14 at The Old White TPC, the University of Alabama product has climbed 55 spots to T85 on TOUR in the stat. Combined with his spot at 28th in converting those chances into par breakers, it might be his turn to hoist some hardware. Scott Stallings … We’re still a few weeks from determining who qualifies for the FedExCup Playoffs and secures fully exempt status next season, but every week that passes without locking it up adds to the pressure. It’s a familiar position for the 32-year-old. After arriving at last year’s John Deere Classic slotted 132nd in points, he rose to the challenge and finished T16 in what was his penultimate start before the Playoffs. For the week, he ranked 10th in strokes gained: tee-to-green, T8 in greens in regulation and T4 in par-3 scoring. The timely result bumped him to 126th in points, but he missed the cut at the Wyndham Championship and was relegated to regaining his card at the Web.com Tour Finals. The JDC is back in its customary slot in early July, and it’s as much déjà vu and is it time for redemption. That’s because he’s currently 132nd in the FedExCup standings. Rory Sabbatini … He’s only 41 years old, but he’s been around long enough to have competed in the final edition of the John Deere Classic at Oakwood Country Club as a PGA TOUR rookie in 1999. The South African may have wondered why he didn’t back to the Quad Cities sooner than 2012. He’s 3-for-4 at TPC Deere Run and even co-led after opening the 2014 edition with a 63. The event lands at a great time given that he ended an 0-for-7 slide with a T14 at last week’s Greenbrier Classic. He led the field in proximity to the hole and ranked fourth in strokes gained: tee-to-green and ninth in birdie-or-better percentage. Also co-led in par-5 scoring. Chesson Hadley … Only once in history has a golfer captured victory on the Web.com Tour and PGA TOUR in consecutive weeks. Paul Stankowski recorded that remarkable achievement in late March and early April of 1996. Hadley can join him at the John Deere Classic where he gained entry as an alternate via Past Champion status. With his path back to the big leagues secure after prevailing at the LECOM Health Challenge on Sunday (to rise to fourth in Web.com earnings), the PGA TOUR’s 2013-14 Rookie of the Year was able to accept the spot in the field at TPC Deere Run. He missed the cut in both of his previous appearances, but it’s likely that he’s in as good a place mentally than ever before, not to mention that he’s third on the Web.com Tour in the all-around ranking. Incidentally, Jason Gore is the only other golfer to win on both circuits in the same season. He turned the trick in 2005. So, if you’re keen to believe that Stankowski and Gore have established a once-in-a-decade trend, snap to attention for Hadley’s first try at joining the club.

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You’re standing on the 12th tee at Garzón Tajamares Golf. It’s a 10,000-acre piece of property on the Uruguayan coast, not far from the village of Garzón and the beach town of Jose Ignacio. To get there, it took a 175-kilometer drive from Montevideo, and scene is phenomenal. Surrounding you are groves of olive, almond and chestnut trees, lush green grass in front of you. The course is also home to seven tajamares, Spanish, essentially, for lakes—specifically low, topographical areas that collect and store water from rain runoff. They are blue, and crystal clear. You encounter the first tajamar on the tee shot that must travel over this body of water, and the second shot has to carry another lake, as well—whether you’re going for the green in two or not. If you decide to play it safe, your third-shot approach to the green, has to—you guessed it—go over another lake, this tajamar described as “massive,� which does adequately describe a 35-acre water expanse. Tucked in the middle of the lake is the green—an island green—that both excites and tantalizes you. You’ve never seen anything like this hole, and that’s the idea. Whether you bogey, birdied or did something else, it hardly matters since the scenery is simply breathtaking. That hasn’t changed since the course opened. How it’s presented to golfers has. In 2008, a decision was made to transform the 18 holes into a championship golf course. For this task, the club decided to hire Latin American golf legend Angel Cabrera, a three-time PGA TOUR winner who at the time was one of the world’s best players, with wins at the Masters and the U.S. Open on his resume. As a designer, Cabrera toured the property and decided he didn’t want to change the look of the course, but he did want it to more subtly fit the style of play he preferred. That meant changing some tee boxes, moving bunkers so they added challenge to the course and lengthening a hole, changing a par-3 and turning it into a drivable par-4. After the club and Cabrera finished re-designing it into a championship golf course, the other big change came when Garzón Tajamares Golf secured an affiliation with the PGA TOUR. “The main idea of the golf course and its relationship with the PGA TOUR is that we offer unique experiences to our members and their guests,� Nicolas Kovalenko, Golf and Hospitality Director of The Garzón Club added. One of those “unique� amenities is the food and wine available at the course, 500 acres of vineyards and a restaurant overseen by not only one of the most famous chefs in Latin America but in the world. Francis Mallmann, world-famous chef and restaurateur, who began his career working as a cook on a boat on Lake Nahuel Huapi in his native Argentina, is the head chef of Bodega Garzón’s restaurant, with a menu based on regional products and fish from the Atlantic Ocean offers in its main dining room a few of the town’s main square. Its wine cellars offers selections from a wide variety of grapes grown on the property. “We offer what you can’t buy anywhere else in the world,� Kovalenko continued. “With our food and wine, from Mr. Mallmann, to our golf course. This is a special place. Uruguay is a small country, but it now has a world-class golf course. I believe we have the best greens anywhere. I’ve never played better greens than these, especially when we can roll and cut them as we like. They are perfect. The course is perfect.� From the most emblematic winery of modern winemaking in Uruguay, to a world-class golf course and an extraordinary culinary experience, The Garzón Club has it all. Golf is a fundamental part of this project, and alongside the PGA TOUR and PGA TOUR Latinoamérica, The Garzón Club and Garzón Tajamares Golf continue to offer one-of-a-kind experiences to their members and guests.

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