LA QUINTA, Calif. – Two-time American Express winner Bill Haas rallied for a 4-under 68 on the Nicklaus Course at PGA West on Friday, but it is easy to understand how Haas had other things on his mind.
Haas is the grand-nephew of former Masters champion Bob Goalby, who died Thursday at the age of 92. Haas said he learned of the passing of “Uncle Bob” on Thursday in a text message for family and friends.
“He had a cool life. My dad (past American Express winner Jay Haas) and I texted. He’s upset. Uncle Bob was the man, someone I really looked up to.”
Haas said he wasn’t directly a student of his great uncle, but that everything Goalby taught his nephew Jay Haas eventually filtered down to the younger Haas.
Goalby was a part-time desert resident, but Haas said his great uncle hasn’t spent much time in the desert in the last two years. Before that, Goalby would make trips to The American Express to watch the younger Haas play.
Mickelson still well back
Tournament host Phil Mickelson needed a low score Friday at the Nicklaus Tournament Course to give himself a chance at the 54-hole cut after Saturday. But that round never materialized for the two-time desert winner.
Mickelson had three bogeys and a double bogey in a round of 73, leaving him at 7-over 151 for 36 holes and with no legitimate chance to make the cut after Saturday’s round. The week appears to be Mickelson’s third consecutive missed cut in a tournament he won twice in 2002 and 2004 and where he was second in 2019.
Desert convert
Graeme McDowell joked that he and his caddie looked at each other and wondered why it has taken McDowell so long to play in the American Express.
“Obviously, the weather is perfect and these golf courses are so well presented, and it’s the place to play early in the season because you feel like you get the conditions to go out there and make some birdies and see exactly where your game is,” the former U.S. Open champion said.
McDowell said the decision to play The American Express this year was a 50/50 proposition with the Farmers Insurance Open in San Diego next week.
“Guys were telling me I would like this place better from a setup point of view moreso than Torrey Pines, with it being such a long, tough golf course,” McDowell said. “So Saudi is my next event (in February) and I just figured San Diego to Saudi was going to be quite a trip as well. And figured, on the way home from Hawaii, I guess missing the cut in Hawaii gave me some extra prep time for this event as well.
“I was worried about not having seen the three courses and having to come and prepare well for this week, so when I missed the cut there last week it helped, it helped to get my prep ready for this week,” he said.
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Feeling young
Zach Johnson is 45 years old, an age when any golfers start looking to the PGA Tour Champions. But the two-time major championship winner, who has a strong history at The American Express, says staying ready to play on the PGA Tour is not an issue.
“Motivation’s not difficult. I really never struggled in that realm,” said Johnson, who is tied for eighth after two rounds of The American Express this week that included a 66 on Friday. “I’ve had days or stretches where I, the body hurts and that’s all the time, but I mean it really hurts and I don’t want to go practice and things of that nature.”
Johnson, who was third in The American Express in 2014, is not known as one of the longest hitters on the tour and famously didn’t go for a single par-5 in two shots when he won the Masters in 2007. But he still works to stay in shape.
“When it comes to working, grinding, trying to get better at my craft, I don’t struggle, never really have in that department, fortunately,” Johnson said. “The problem is that’s probably the barometer. If and when that does happen I might have to consider what I’m doing or the approach in which I’m doing it.”
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