Tag: JJ Spaun

Collin Morikawa’s new coaches, Christmas dinner with the Spieths and the Finau Family Invitational among 5 Things to Know at Sentry TOC

Scores were low on Thursday at Kapalua.

KAPALUA, Hawaii — Collin Morikawa can handle the truth.

The two-time major winner is coming off his first winless season and sought help from his longtime coach Rick Sessinghaus as well as from two specialists: putting coach Stephen Sweeney and former PGA Tour pro turned short-game guru Parker McLachlin.

“I just have answers,” Morikawa said. “Before when I was putting it was like it was guess work.”

On Thursday, Morikawa’s full arsenal was on display as he poured in a personal best six birdies in a row, while shooting a bogey-free 9-under 64 at Kapalua Resort’s Plantation Course to share the first-round lead with Jon Rahm and J.J. Spaun at the Sentry Tournament of Champions.

“It was just to go out and be patient and give yourself opportunities,” Morikawa said. “Beginning of the week the prep felt great. Didn’t really see many putts go in. It was nice to see one go in on 4 from like 30 feet. That just kind of got the round propelled from there.”

Morikawa’s ballstriking has been second to none almost from the moment he turned pro, but last year his Strokes Gained: Approach the Green slipped from first to third.

“Just making things a little more simple,” he said of his work with his swing coach. “For me, it’s always been kind of just feels, where do my hands feel in this right position, try to get it there. You take two weeks off and feels versus reals are a little off.”

It’s been the short stick and short game that kept Morikawa from the winner’s circle last year, and he addressed both by adding coaching help. Morikawa started working with Sweeney in November at the Tour stop in Mexico. Speed control was a focal of his putting work.

“I think today I did a pretty good part on that, just kind of dripping them in, having really good speed,” he said.

He worked last week with McLachlin on the short game in Hawaii.

“Just kind of figuring new things out. The reason why I hit my irons so good is because of that bowed wrist and how I come through impact just makes chipping really tough,” he explained. “It’s good to have someone that knows a lot about short game and you just kind of bounce ideas off.”

How involved McLachlin will be in Morikawa’s future success is still to be determined.

“He’s not someone that’s going to travel on the road, but someone that I can kind of talk to and once again bounce ideas off of. I never had a chipping coach and we’re not here to get too technical it’s just to kind of have feels and, once again, have someone else bounce ideas off of, someone that I trust, see how it goes. So it’s been working, but it’s, yeah, it’s someone that, you know, I throw ideas at and have an answer.”

Tony Finau can do no wrong, records 10th straight round of 68 or better at FedEx St. Jude Championship

Finau has registered victories in his two most recent PGA Tour starts and fired 6-under 64 on Thursday.

It’s a good thing that Tony Finau learned to fire knife dance as a kid.

His golf game has been on a serious heater of late. The 32-year-old Utah native of Tongan descent has registered victories in his two most recent PGA Tour starts. He fired 6-under 64, two strokes off the lead, at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee, on Thursday to continue his blistering run at the FedEx St. Jude Championship.

“It started with a lowlight, duck hooked my first tee shot,” said Finau, who trails Si Woo Kim and J.J. Spaun during the first round. “But I got lucky, had a shot, put it on the front of the green and chipped in. It wasn’t the ideal birdie start, but we’re off and running.”

Finau, who entered the week in seventh place in the FedEx Cup standings, recorded his 10th straight round of 68 or lower, becoming just the eighth player since 1995 to do so, and is four rounds away from matching the longest streak during that time frame held by Tiger Woods.

Finau had gone 143 starts and a span of 1,975 days between victories at the 2016 Puerto Rico Open and the 2021 Northern Trust at Liberty National Golf Club in New Jersey. That event was replaced by the St. Jude as the first of three FedEx Cup Playoff events. Technically, Finau is considered the defending champion this week.

FedEx St. Jude Championship: PGA Tour Live on ESPN+ | Leaderboard

“Quite a different place,” he said Tuesday during his pre-tournament press conference. “It’s definitely strange defending on a golf course that I haven’t won on.”

Finau won the 3M Open and the Rocket Mortgage Classic seven days apart, but credits his win a year ago to kick off the playoffs as his breakthrough.

“Usually the hardest one to win is your first one,” Finau said. “Mine was the Northern Trust because of how much time was in between the two and my own expectations in my mind of what could be and all the close calls I had. So, to overcome that hurdle was huge and I think it’s kind of proven that over this last month.”

Finau skipped last week’s tournament, the Wyndham Championship. He hosted his charity fundraiser and celebrated with his family, including a birthday party for his daughter at a pool, where he was caught on video accidentally dropping his wife’s cell phone in the water while dancing. The phone survived, and it led to Finau rehashing the story of his days as a Polynesian dancer.

“My mom had a luau, a traveling luau, so that’s why I had to learn how to do the fire knife dance,” he explained. “I’m not shy to dance and entertain just because I’ve been doing that since I was young and things.”

Finau also made sure he kept his game sharp by playing at home every day.

“I know how big these three weeks are,” he said.

Kim, who shot 28 on the back nine, the lowest nine-hole score of his career, and Spaun, who won the Valero Texas Open in April, shot matching 62s to share the lead.

2022 FedEx St. Jude Championship
J.J. Spaun and his caddie line up a putt during the first round of the 2022 FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis, Tennessee. (Photo: David Yeazell-USA TODAY Sports)

Scoring was low due to heavy rain earlier this week that saturated the course, which led to a decision to play preferred lies in the fairways during the opening round. Thirteen players shot 65 or better in the morning wave, but one notable player who struggled was World No. 1 and FedEx Cup leader Scottie Scheffler. He was 4 over after five holes on his way to shooting 1-over 71.

One of the more pleasant surprises of the opening round was the play of Rickie Fowler, who snuck into the playoffs as the last man in the field of 125.

Despite ending his partnership with longtime caddie Joe Skovron this week, Fowler made an eagle and five birdies and shot 65 with a new putter in the bag too. Fowler’s lost touch on the green has been the biggest contributor to his slump and remains a mystery. He ranked first in Strokes Gained: putting during the 2016-17 season, but has plummeted to No. 179 this season, the worst performance of his career. On Tuesday, one of his former college teammates at Oklahoma State who works as an equipment rep for puttermaker Scotty Cameron, showed off a new Newport 2 Plus model on the practice-putting green.

“Hit a couple putts with it, everything looked good, felt good. Messed with it a little bit more yesterday and decided to give it a shot,” Fowler said. “There was a lot of good out there today.”

Fowler will need a lot more where that came from the next three days to simply advance to the next playoff event, which admits the top 70 in the FedEx Cup point standings after this week, and to keep up with Finau, the Tour’s resident dancing fool.

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Wyndham Championship: Who’s got the weekend off and whose FedEx Cup bubble burst

These notable players missed the cut and some saw their FedEx Cup bubbles burst.

For the “Bubble Boys,” those trying to secure a berth in the 125-man field for next week’s first of three FedEx Cup playoff events, making the cut is job No. 1.

Consider it mission accomplished for the likes of Max McGreevey, No. 126 in the points standings heading into the Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, North Carolina. McGreevey shot 67 in the second round of the regular season finale and has improved to a projected 122nd.

After finishing second at the Puerto Rico Open in March, McGreevy had made the cut in only four of his 19 starts before this week, and had missed the cut in six of his last seven events.

“I just had a lot of fun this week,” he said. “It’s been easier than it has been the last couple of weeks somehow, but just felt good, felt relaxed and feels good to finally get four rounds for a week.”

Chesson Hadley, who started the week at No. 121, made three birdies in a row en route to shooting 67, and last’s year Bubble Boy put himself in position where he might not need an ace or a final-round 62 to sneak into the FedEx Cup playoffs. He’s projected at No. 113.

Nick Taylor (71, -2) survived the cut but has slipped from No. 120 at the start of the week to a projected 125th.

Congrats to Brian Stuard, who ended a streak of 11 straight missed cuts. It couldn’t have come at a better time. He entered the week at No. 137 in the FedEx Cup point standings. He’s projected at No. 124.

Austin Smotherman, who started the week at No. 125, wasn’t so fortunate. He shot 76 in the second round to miss the cut and is projected to drop to No. 129.

Martin Trainer shot a second straight 67 and is currently projected 126th, otherwise known as the first guy out. But he still has two more rounds to improve his position and a positive attitude going into the weekend.

“I know what’s at stake, it’s no different than any other week. I mean, I think ultimately I know that I just need to do well,” he said. “Every time I play a Tour event I’m trying my best anyway, so I’ll just look at it as a curiosity, but ultimately it’s out of my control, so to speak. I’m just trying my best.”

U.S. Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson also still has work to do over the weekend – projected at No. 136 – but has a chance after shooting 5-under 135.

“I’ve got a lot of work to do. Put myself in a position so I can at least make a run on the weekend,” Johnson said. “My focus is to win a golf tournament and the rest of it will take care of itself, but I’m in a position where I can do that.”

Play was suspended on Friday due to darkness with seven golfers still needing to complete the second round. Thanks to Chris Gotterup, who made bogey at 18, another 21 players will earn a paycheck this week. In all, 87 golfers from the field of 156 made the cut. It marks the most players to make the cut on Tour since the cut rule changed to low 65 and ties to start the 2019-20 season. It took a score of 1-under 139 to play the weekend, but Smotherman, who was at 1 under and faced a 12-foot birdie putt at No. 8 when play resumed on Saturday morning, isn’t one of them. He missed the putt and made double-bogey at nine, bursting his playoff bubble in the process.

Here’s a look at some of the notable players who were on the wrong side of the cutline.