#AskESPNCaddie: On dropping a putter, purse sizes and more#AskESPNCaddie: On dropping a putter, purse sizes and more
#AskESPNCaddie: On dropping a putter, purse sizes and more
Category: Golf Betting
Johnson 4 shots out of lead at Wells FargoJohnson 4 shots out of lead at Wells Fargo
Johnson 4 shots out of lead at Wells Fargo
The Upshot: D. Johnson solid in returnThe Upshot: D. Johnson solid in return
WILMINGTON, N.C. – Notes and observations from Thursday’s first round of the Wells Fargo Championship at Eagle Point Golf Club, where Italy’s Francesco Molinari chipped in on the 18th hole for a 6-under 66 and a one-shot lead over Sweden’s Alex Noren among the early finishers. DJ PLEASED WITH OPENING ROUND Dustin Johnson hasn’t played much golf lately, but the rust didn’t show as he made four birdies and signed for a 2-under 70. That tied him with 53-year-old playing partner Davis Love III, and gave Johnson a solid start as he tries to play his way back into the winner’s circle for the fourth time in his last four starts. “I’m happy with the way I played,” Johnson said. “I didn’t score that great, didn’t really hole that many putts, but other than that, yeah, I played really well.” Johnson got right back to his usual game Thursday. He averaged 312.7 yards off the tee, and hit 8 of 14 fairways and 16 of 18 greens. (He leads the TOUR in both driving distance and greens in regulation.) The only thing that hampered his play: He took 32 putts. All in all, he said, it was a good day, especially considering this was his first competitive round since he closed out Jon Rahm to win the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play on March 26. “I thought I drove it nicely,” Johnson said, “Hit a lot of good iron shots. You know, I’m happy with the way I played, for sure.” The long break wasn’t part of the plan, of course. Johnson went to Augusta National for the Masters four weeks ago, but pulled out at the 11th hour with a lower back injury suffered while falling down a short flight of stairs in his rental house. In a way, Johnson said after his opening-round 70 at Eagle Point, it felt like nothing had changed since before the injury. He said he feels 100 percent physically, and the statistics backed him up: His longest measured drive in Round 1 was an impressive 340 yards. Johnson’s win streak goes all the way back to the Genesis Open in Los Angeles in February. Should he prevail at the Wells Fargo for his fourth straight victory it would mark the longest winning streak on TOUR since Tiger Woods won five straight tournaments in 2007-2008. “All in all,” Johnson said, “I’m very pleased with the day.” MOLINARI HEATS UP WITH PUTTER Francesco Molinari was having qualified success this season already, what with a T7 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational Presented by MasterCard, a T33 at the Masters, and a T22 finish at the RBC Heritage. But something was holding him back: putting. That changed in the first round of the Wells Fargo, as Molinari chipped in twice and needed just 25 putts on his way to a 66 for the first-round lead. “Yeah, I had lots of good rounds this year,” said Molinari, who is ranked 69th in strokes gained: putting. “I think I had something like eight top 25s in 11 tournaments, so I’ve been playing really well. Obviously today I made a few more putts than maybe the last couple of months, which is always nice. … I worked on the putting a lot the last couple weeks and it paid off today.” Molinari said he took pleasure in not just seeing the ball go in the hole Thursday, but also in his older brother Edoardo picking up his third European Tour victory last month. “He’s had a pretty tough time the last few seasons,” Francesco said. WILLY WILCOX ‘TRYING TO FIND THE GAME’ Amid the players’ rush to familiarize themselves with Eagle Point, Willy Wilcox was so far down the alternate list to get into the Wells Fargo he didn’t play any practice rounds. He walked the back nine Wednesday, leaving his caddie Kevin Ensor to tour all 18. But that was it. Still, in his first time seeing Eagle Point with a club in his hands, Wilcox shot 3 under on the front nine Thursday morning, briefly sharing the lead. The 30-year-old with the unconventional swing dropped two shots on the back nine and signed for a 1-under 71. “Just trying to find the game,” said Wilcox, who is coming off his best result this season, a T14 with partner Freddie Jacobson at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. “It’s nice to see some good stuff. It was nice to birdie the last. It got a little squirrely on the back so we’ll go to the range and figure it out. We got a great draw with the weather.” Most fans know Wilcox for his ace at THE PLAYERS Championship last year, which was the first at the island 17th hole since 2002. He is not qualified to return to TPC Sawgrass next week, but remains grateful for the moment. He got messages from all around the world, all of which obscured the fact that he didn’t have a great season, missing 11 cuts and finishing 138th in the FedExCup standings. In December, he decided to shake things up. He was kicking back and having a few beers with his agent when he decided to change his name from Will to Willy, since everybody calls him that, anyway. “I wish I was going back,” Wilcox said of THE PLAYERS. “I mean, I guess I still kind of have a chance. It’s amazing how many people know about it. I got emails and Facebook messages, Twitter messages, my family was there. It was as cool as it could possibly get. Everybody back home was really excited. It wasn’t like, ‘Oh, you had a bad year.’ People were like, ‘You had a hole-in-one! Dude, you should just retire now!’” He’s not about to retire, Wilcox added with a laugh. For one thing, the former University of Alabama-Birmingham Blazer — his mom Kim is the women’s golf coach — still has three more rounds to go at the Wells Fargo. His 71 puts him five behind the leader Molinari, which means a return trip to THE PLAYERS, while still a longshot, is still within reach.
Most-picked players: Wells FargoMost-picked players: Wells Fargo
PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO Gosh, it feels good to back after it, doesn’t it? We took just one week off due to the team format of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, but it seems a lot longer ago that we were sizing up the field at the Valero Texas Open. If you can in any way translate that break to the schedule maintained by a touring professional, no matter how much fun we have, you can begin to understand why golfers can’t play every week. Then toss on travel, family and so many other obligations, it’s any wonder that they can zero in once they return to competition given the perception of imbalance. I know it lifts my respect for them and I suppose it does for you, too. Segment 3 of PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO takes us through the Travelers Championship in the third week of June. Results aside, we shouldn’t have any problem coasting along with little fear of running dry on starts on anyone. FedExCup points leader Dustin Johnson sat out the Masters with an 11th-hour back injury. While unfortunate for him, it opened opportunities for us to be aggressive. This is realized immediately at the Wells Fargo Championship where he garnered 69.6 percent of the faith. More impressive is that Jon Rahm was selected for 72.0 percent to lead the field. Head-to-head, the difference and DJ’s spot in second could be connected to residual concern over his health even though it’s been four weeks since his tumble. The rest of the top 10 aligns appropriately as it concerns cachet, form, and local knowledge, and then Daniel Berger sneaks in at 10th with 17.3 percent. If you ever wondered how much influence I have – or don’t – consider I omitted Berger entirely from my preview material. James Hahn is the defending champion. Even though he’s on Eagle Point Golf Club and not Quail Hollow Club this year, he still slots a respectable 18th at 7.5 percent. Other notables not featured below include Pat Perez (12th, 14.0 percent), Lucas Glover (14th, 11.6%), Patrick Reed (16th, 11.4%) and Alex Noren (32nd, 2.0 percent). NOTE: Rob’s Rating refers to where our Fantasy Insider slotted a golfer in his Power Rankings. Golfers in the Power Rankings and outside the top 10 in most owned PGA TOUR Fantasy One & Done presented by SERVPRO Familiar strategies return with individual competition. The Wells Fargo Championship slides us back to square. However, the unknown of Eagle Point Golf Club threw a 7-iron into the usual process of identifying our guy. Form upon arrival is enhanced as a variable in the absence of course history, and few are feeling it as well as Kevin Kisner right now, so it’s not surprising that he had your attention. What is surprising is that he’s an easy No. 1 at 17.8 percent. It would have made more sense if Eagle Point member Webb Simpson sat atop the chart with the same split, but he’s not far behind, positioned in third with 12.7 percent. Jon Rahm was who I expected to occupy the perch, and he’s second at 13.6 percent, but gamers have spoken loudly and proudly for the Palmetto State native and resident. Kisner’s playoff loss at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans was the latest in a litany of leaderboard appearances in 2017. Regardless of what happens at the WFC, he’ll again be a talent of interest at next week’s PLAYERS. Defending champion James Hahn populates 0.3 percent of the rosters, good for 26th overall. Other notables outside the top 10 include Francesco Molinari (11th, 1.9 percent), Patrick Reed (15th, 1.0 percent), Lucas Glover (16th, 1.0 percent), Alex Noren (21st, 0.4 percent) and Eagle Point’s course record-holder Carl Pettersson (T32, 0.1 percent).
Pepper suspends Twitter account after on-air flubPepper suspends Twitter account after on-air flub
CBS golf analyst Dottie Pepper recently shuttered her Twitter account after receiving online criticism for a mistake she made during an on-air interview at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. Pepper was interviewing Scott Brown and Kevin Kisner during a lengthy rain delay that interrupted the final round. She began with a question to Brown, with the pair clinging to a one-shot lead at the time. “You’ve never really been in this position before,” Pepper said. “Your partner Kevin has been in position to win golf tournaments and has gotten it done. You have not yet on the PGA Tour. Where’s the anxiety level?” Brown tied for second at the Genesis Open earlier this year and alerted Pepper to the fact
Wells Fargo Championship 2017 live stream: Tee times, TV schedule, and how to watch Thursday onlineWells Fargo Championship 2017 live stream: Tee times, TV schedule, and how to watch Thursday online
DJ makes his return after a month away following his fall in Augusta. Photo by Matt Hazlett/Getty Images The Wells Fargo Championship is one of the premier stops on the PGA Tour and this year we’ll get a look at a new venue. May
Caddie Confidential: Dripping with details — and classic talesCaddie Confidential: Dripping with details — and classic tales
Caddie Confidential: Dripping with details — and classic tales
Retired Romo to try to qualify for U.S. OpenRetired Romo to try to qualify for U.S. Open
Retired Romo to try to qualify for U.S. Open
The Flyover: Wells Fargo ChampionshipThe Flyover: Wells Fargo Championship
THE OVERVIEW WILMINGTON, N.C. — Last we saw Dustin Johnson, he was warming up on the Augusta National driving range and trying to figure out if his injured back felt well enough to play in the Masters. (For those just back from a long space mission, it did not.) That was four weeks ago. Johnson was back on the range at the Wells Fargo Championship at Eagle Point on Wednesday, striping his driver and happily chatting up his caddie/brother Austin and range-neighbor Pat Perez. All seemed right again with the world No. 1. “Feeling good,” said Johnson, who is making his first start in the Wells Fargo since 2011. “Healthy, so can’t complain. Obviously, I haven’t played much or done a whole lot of practicing, but body’s all good. Glad to be back out playing again.” Eagle Point is serving as a one-year stand-in for Quail Hollow while the latter preps to host the PGA Championship in August, and golf-starved fans stood behind Johnson on the range and marveled as he worked on his swing. He is going for his fourth win in his last four starts, so they could be witnessing history. If Johnson wins the Wells Fargo, it would be the longest win streak on the PGA TOUR since Tiger Woods won five in a row nearly a decade ago. Johnson’s lower-back injury, incurred when he slipped down a small flight of stairs at his rental house in Augusta the night before the start of the Masters, appears to have healed. He played five holes at Eagle Point on Tuesday, and the full 18 during the Wednesday pro-am. “It took probably three weeks,” he said. “… Maybe last Friday probably was the first day I hit balls and didn’t feel it. No, it was just bruised badly. I went and had an MRI. It was clear, no issues, but bruised — bruised it really bad.” Whether or not he is 100 percent will be one of the overriding questions this week. Davis Love III was among those who picked Johnson to win this week despite his long break. Johnson himself didn’t necessarily disagree, saying that while he hasn’t practiced much, he has practiced enough to compete. What’s more, he added, he wanted to play this week to knock the rust off. “Last couple years, I would have four weeks off going into THE PLAYERS Championship,” Johnson said. “So I figure, well, especially since I didn’t play Houston and then, obviously, I didn’t play Augusta, I needed to — I wanted to get some reps in before THE PLAYERS. And I hadn’t played here in a while, so it was kind of close to home for me, so it was pretty easy. I’m glad I came down. This golf course is great.” As for the freak accident at Augusta, he says he has put it behind him, so to speak. “No, I mean, it just happens,” he said. “Crazy things happen. The only time it was maybe tough was just watching the tournament, but after watching it or after Sunday, it’s been fine.” LAST CALL FOR THE PLAYERS Steve Wheatcroft has only conditional status on the PGA TOUR this season, so he wasn’t sure he was even going to get into this week’s Wells Fargo Championship at Eagle Point. The 39-year-old from Jacksonville Beach, Florida, was the sixth alternate when the field was finalized last Friday. Then he moved up to third over the weekend. Then Zurich Classic of New Orleans winners Jonas Blixt and Cameron Smith withdrew from the Wells Fargo, and Wheatcroft was in. Now he’s got another impossible dream: cracking the field for THE PLAYERS Championship at the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass next week. “I love it down there,” said Wheatcroft, who got into THE PLAYERS for the first time last year and made the cut before shooting 74-79 on the weekend. “It was definitely fun. I’ve lived there long enough and I’ve taken friends of mine out there to watch the tournament on the weekend. It was nice to be on the other side of the ropes for once. We don’t get to see it play like that year-round, especially not the way it played on Saturday. That was like no golf course I’ve ever seen, and I worked at Oakmont for three years back in ’99, 2000, 2001.” Wheatcroft has a special affinity for THE PLAYERS in part because he practices at TPC Sawgrass. He moved to the area about 10 years ago, and he and his wife and their two young children moved into a new house just last week. But like 78 others players in the field at the Wells Fargo at Eagle Point, Wheatcroft didn’t finish in the top 125 in the FedExCup last season. Nor did he work his way into the top 10 on the 2016-17 FedExCup points list or play his way into the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking by the Monday after the Zurich. As a result, it comes down to this for Wheatcroft and 78 others: Win and they’re in. They’ve got to win the Wells Fargo at Eagle Point in order to crack THE PLAYERS field. “I’ll just try to win and see what happens,” Wheatcroft said. “It would be huge. I had a big crew out there last year and they had their shirts on, these bright blue shirts with a green golfer on the front and Team Wheatie on the back. I had my neighbors and friends out there. It’s a longshot, and I have no plans to play, but if it happens it would be phenomenal.” THREE PLAYERS TO PONDER He’s back … but did the month away from the TOUR cause him to lose the momentum of three straight wins? Will he ever win in North Carolina? He’s made 19 previous TOUR starts in the state, with second place his best finish. Arguably, no one in the field knows Eagle Point better than this member, but how much of an advantage will that be? Wells Fargo Championship THE FLYOVER A closer look at Eagle Point’s finishing hole, the 580-yard par-5 18th. The hole generally plays into the wind, but the hole should be reachable in two for the longer hitters. THE LANDING ZONE The shortest par 4 at Eagle Point is the 353-yard seventh hole. Some players will try to drive the green, although a large collection of deep bunkers guarding the right side of the green provide adequate defense. The putting surface slopes back to front. Here’s a look at the hole from the tee box. WEATHER CHECK According to PGA TOUR meteorologist Stewart Williams, there may be an isolated shower on thunderstorm on Thursday afternoon thanks to a humidity increase. The rain and thunderstorms will be more likely as a strong cold front pushes through the state. TEMPS: Pleasant, with the temperatures in the low 60s for the latter part of the week. RAIN: Rain expected on Friday thanks to that cold front, but should be clear on the weekend. WINDS: Brisk winds in the first two rounds, with speeds above 20 mph. Should be less on the weekend. For the latest weather news from Wilmington, North Carolina, check out PGATOUR.COM’s Weather Hub. SOUND CHECK I’ve had this happen at Quail Hollow where I kind of relax mentally and end up making a couple dumb mistakes that I wouldn’t normally make. So I’ve got to use that comfort to my advantage and not to my disadvantage. ODDS AND ENDS 1. PHIL SEEKS BREAKTHROUGH. Phil Mickelson has made 13 starts at Wells Fargo and has never missed a cut. Better yet, he has nine top-10 finishes. That’s the second most of any tournament he’s entered without a win. Only in the U.S. Open does Mickelson have more top-10s (10) without a win. 2. WESLEY FROM INSIDE 150. This season, Wesley Bryan – who’s making his Wells Fargo debut this week — leads the TOUR in approaches from 50-125 yards. His average of 14 feet, 4 inches is nearly 5 feet closer than the TOUR average of 19 feet, 2 inches. In addition, on approach shots from 75-100 yards, he’s hitting it, on average, 5 feet, 8 inches closer than the TOUR average. 3. LONG RANGE DJ. Dustin Johnson’s long-range conversion rate has improved this season. From outside 25 feet, DJ has rolled in six putts – that ranks him seventh on TOUR in that category. A year ago, he made just 10 putts from longer than 25 feet. 4. WILMINGTON VIEWPOINT. This will be the first TOUR event in Wilmington in 60 years. “Wilmington, you know, it’s hard to know if it’s a golf town or not because there’s never been a TOUR event here,” Webb Simpson said, “but I know all the fans are excited.” WATCH THE PREVIEW