Woods, Thomas to tee off first for U.S. at Presidents Cup

HOUSTON - Jason Day is accustomed to the question. "How's your health?" he was asked after his second round of the Vivint Houston Open. "I feel like I've had that question a lot in my career," Day said Friday. "Yeah, I feel pretty good." He had to like his position on the leaderboard as well. After shooting a second-round 68, Day was just two strokes behind leader Sam Burns after the morning wave. The last time Day was in contention on the PGA TOUR, he withdrew just one hole into the final round of THE CJ CUP @ SHADOW CREEK. He was playing in the second-to-last group but had to walk off because of injury. Day, whose winless drought has lasted more than two years, has been working on swing changes to alleviate the back pain that has hampered him throughout his career. Day split with long-time swing coach Col Swatton in late July. There were some promising signs late in the summer, as Day posted four consecutive top-10s, including a T4 at the PGA Championship, to re-enter the top 50 in the world ranking. He hasn't finished better than T38 in his last six starts, however. "The form's been very inconsistent because I'm trying to change my swing a little bit just to try and help the back out," Day said Friday. "I guess I'm stuck in between patterns right now. What I want to feel, my body just won't handle it and sometimes it just compensates elsewhere. That's why it happened to my neck at CJ." Day's last win came at the 2018 Wells Fargo Championship. It was his second win in seven starts, but he hasn't hoisted a trophy in 53 events since. This is the first time he went back-to-back seasons without a win since he had three straight winless seasons from 2011-13. Day was 2 over par on his opening nine holes this week, but had eight birdies and just one bogey over his next 27 holes. The 30 he shot on his back nine Thursday was his lowest nine-hole score in more than a year. He has hit 14 greens in each of the first two rounds and is 6 for 8 in scrambling. The steep banks of short grass around Memorial Park's greens have challenged players, but Day, who led the TOUR in Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green last season, is known as a master scrambler. "It’s one of these golf courses, you leave yourself on the wrong side ... and you’re just struggling the whole day," Day said. "It’s one of those courses where you’ve just got to be patient and try to get your birdies when you can."

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LAS VEGAS – Bryson DeChambeau says he intends to take advantage of a new rule in golf in 2019 that allows players to leave a flagstick in while on the green and will likely begin his efforts at the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Maui. DeChambeau – who spends countless hours researching all aspects of the game in an effort to improve his performance – believes the advantage will be so distinct that the rule will either be changed back or flagsticks will be made out of different materials. In the past a player incurred a two-stroke penalty if a ball putted from the green hit the flagstick before going in the hole. From January 1, 2019 the rules of golf will allow the flagstick to remain in without penalty. In their notes the United States Golf Association and R&A claim that, “On balance it is expected that there should be no advantage in being able to putt with the unattended flagstick in the hole: In some cases, the ball may strike the flagstick and bounce out of the hole when it might otherwise have been holed, and in other cases, the ball may hit the flagstick and finish in the hole when it might otherwise have missed.� But the four-time PGA TOUR winner says as long as the flags are made out of fiberglass – as it is at most courses on the PGA TOUR – there will certainly be an advantage. Putts hit firmly will benefit if hitting the stick and slippery downhill putts will now have a backstop of sorts. “It depends on the firmness value of the flag. The C.O.R. or coefficient of restitution of the flagstick,� DeChambeau said after his opening round at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. “I won’t do it at U.S. Open because of metal flagsticks but most likely will everywhere else. “All I try to do is use every aspect of the game of golf to my advantage. I try to use the rules to my advantage in the most positive way possible. Not trying to skirt around anything, just use them.� The basis for the new rule is to speed up play as amateur golfers playing without caddies will no longer have to walk to the flagstick to remove it for long putts. DeChambeau believes the rule will certainly quicken play for amateurs but out on the PGA TOUR it could do the opposite. “Inside a certain distance it could become a problem. Most people are going to want the flagstick out and I’m going to want the flagstick in,� DeChambeau said. “There are going to be weird instances where I want it in because I know it is a benefit. If it’s a 20 to 30-footer I’ll just put it in and it might add a little time taking it in and out. “So I don’t know how I am going to deal with that yet (with playing partners) … it is certainly going to be interesting.� Golf has long debated the option of bifurcation of the rules – that is a different set for amateurs and professionals. But an extensive overhaul, which this new rule is part of, is meant to keep the long tradition of the same set of rules for everyone be it a FedExCup champion or 40-handicapper. “It may be what pushes us towards bifurcation,� DeChambeau says. “They could also just make all the flags out of something different and we’d have to adjust. But I think absolutely they will rethink this one.� The Sentry Tournament of Champions is set to be played from January 3-6, 2019 on the Plantation Course at Kapalua – the first PGA TOUR event under the new rules.

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On arguably the toughest non-major course on the PGA TOUR, Keith Mitchell birdies four of the last seven holes, including a clutch putt from 15 1/2 feet at the last, to break through for his first win at The Honda Classic. Welcome to the Monday Finish, where Mitchell dominated from tee to green, held his nerve, and shot up 85 spots to 17th in the FedExCup. FIVE OBSERVATIONS 1. Mitchell used ‘no-name’ quip as fuel. Not many people had Mitchell winning The Honda Classic before the tournament began, and for good reason. His last top-10 finish before Sunday: a T7 at the John Deere Classic last July. Heck, people couldn’t even get his name right. Baseball fans who recall a certain former San Francisco Giants third baseman sometimes call him Kevin Mitchell. Undaunted, the golfer used the confusion to his advantage. “I feel like I play better when I try to come from behind or when people don’t expect you to win,â€� Mitchell said, “and a friend of mine sent me a newspaper article and it says ‘No-name is leading Honda after Friday.’ And I don’t expect to have any great stuff to be written about me because I’ve only been out here for a year, so I’m not saying that in a negative light. “I just used that as a little kind of emotion,â€� he added, “that everyone gets their start somewhere, everyone gets their first win somewhere, and I wanted this to be mine, and I was able to do it.” 2. Clutch shots abounded. First came Ryan Palmer, who went out some two hours ahead of the leaders but shot up the leaderboard with his closing 63, including a 29 on the front, to get to 7-under for the tournament. Then came Lucas Glover, who drained a must-make birdie on 18 for a 66 to tie Palmer at 7-under. Mr. Clutch Brooks Koepka made yet another crucial birdie on 18 to get to 8-under. Rickie Fowler rolled in a ridiculous, nearly 45-foot birdie putt on 17 and got up and down from the back bunker to birdie 18, as well, joining Koepka at 8-under. Clutch. Clutch. And clutch. Then came Mitchell’s heroics at the last, where he refused to be sidetracked by his wayward tee shot. He played the hole against type, which is to say he took three shots to make his way to the green before making the deciding, left-to-right birdie putt. “Thankfully, I knew what it was doing before I even got there,â€� Mitchell said of his final stroke. “I mean, all the grain on the green goes left to right, the slope on the green goes left to right, and it was a little uphill. So, I didn’t really have that much questioning in terms of my read and my speed.â€� 3. Fowler had the low-key reaction of the week. Rickie Fowler admitted he did not have his best day with the driver, but it was hard to be too critical after he birdied three of the last four holes, including that crazy, almost 45-foot birdie putt on 17, only to notch his 14th runner-up finish on TOUR. “It’s hard to separate yourself here on such a tough golf course, especially in the conditions,â€� Fowler said after making a nerveless up-and-down birdie out of the back-left bunker on 18, only to watch Mitchell clip him by one. “You can’t really run away. It’s tough to do that. … I’m happy with the way I finished, and at least I gave myself a chance.â€� Fowler had the longest made putt of the third round, from 56 ½ feet at the par-4 6th. In the fourth round, he connected from 44 feet, 10 inches at the par-3 17th hole, keeping himself in the tournament, then gave barely a wave–easily the low-key reaction of the week. 4. Water/wind combination took a toll. On a course with as much water and wind as PGA National, disaster avoidance is key. Mitchell did not make anything worse than a bogey, but Rickie Fowler triple-bogeyed the par-4 sixth hole Thursday (and still shot 67), while Brooks Koepka double-bogeyed the par-3 15th hole on Thursday, the par-3 fifth on Friday, and the par-4 second hole Saturday. Fowler and Koepka putted well, but couldn’t completely overcome their blow-up holes. “I know I don’t need my “A” game to be in contention,â€� said Koepka, who reported being fractionally off from tee to green. “I feel like as long as I do one thing really well, whether it’s iron play, putting like this week, I’m going to be in contention. I’m going to give myself a chance at a win come Sunday with nine holes to go, and that’s all you want to do. “I felt like I hit it kind of OK,â€� he added. “Iron play was definitely not up to par, but I drove it OK, too. I hit some shots. I mean, it’s so difficult with this wind, too, to really find a rhythm, and especially if you’re not quite striking it as well.â€�     5. Singh was a surprise and an inspiration. Sam Snead remains the oldest to win on TOUR. He was 52 when he captured the 1965 Wyndham Championship. Vijay Singh, 56, had that record in his sights before he bogeyed the 17th hole and failed to birdie the par-5 18th. He finished solo sixth, his first top-10 since he was runner-up at the 2016 Quicken Loans National. “It’s so amazing what that guy can do at his age,â€� said Mitchell. “I’m standing there holding the trophy and my back is already kind of hurting a little bit. That guy is 30 years older than me and he’s out there hitting more balls than I am. “That guy is a true testament to fitness,â€� Mitchell continued, “to health, to just (being) a true competitor because there’s days that I wake up and kind of not feeling right, and I don’t really want to hit balls, et cetera, and he’s out there grinding and competing at — is it 56? At 56. If I’m anywhere near a golf course at 56, I’m going to be excited.â€� FIVE INSIGHTS 1. Mitchell led the field for the week in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green (+11.917), and ranked T2 in Scrambling (21 of 27). He joined Michael Thompson (2013), Y.E. Yang (2009), Mark Wilson (2007), Padraig Harrington (2005), Todd Hamilton (2004) and Matt Kuchar (2002) as players to earn their first TOUR win at The Honda Classic since 2000. 2. Just one of many reasons to be bullish on this year’s winner: Each of the last three winners of The Honda Classic before Mitchell went on to finish in the top seven of the FedExCup: Justin Thomas (2018/7th), Fowler (2017/7th), and Adam Scott (2016/4th). 3. Defending champion Thomas finished T30 in his attempt to become the only other player besides Jack Nicklaus (1977, ’78) to successfully defend his title at The Honda Classic. Brooks Koepka (66, T2) was trying to keep the trophy in Jupiter after fellow residents Fowler Thomas won it in ’17 and ’18, respectively. 4. Mitchell joined the following University of Georgia winners on TOUR: Bubba Watson (12), Chris Kirk (4), Chip Beck (4), Tim Simpson (4), Billy Kratzert (4), Russell Henley (3), Brian Harman (2), Harris English (2), Kevin Kisner (2), Hudson Swafford (1), Brendon Todd (1), Ryuji Imada (1). 5. Jim Furyk (T9) focused largely on his Ryder Cup captaincy last season, but he recorded a top-10 finish for the fifth time in 10 starts at The Honda Classic. The 17-time TOUR winner and 2010 FedExCup champion, 48, moved up 33 spots to 64th in the current FedExCup standings. WYNDHAM REWARDS The Wyndham Rewards Top 10 is in its first season and adds another layer of excitement to the FedExCup Regular Season. The top 10 players at the end of the FedExCup Regular Season will earn bonus payouts from the Wyndham Rewards Top 10. There were no changes at the top after The Honda Classic, with the top four players holding their positions. In finishing T2 at PGA National, reigning PGA TOUR Player of the Year Brooks Koepka was the biggest mover among the Wyndham Rewards Top 10, going from 17th to 8th.

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