Fitzpatrick withdrew from the Genesis Invitational pro-am early in the week.
One of the “sleepers” coming into the week at Riviera Country Club was Englishman Matt Fitzpatrick. He’s been in good form to start 2022 with top-10s at both the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and WM Phoenix Open. However, it was announced Thursday morning that the European Ryder Cupper has withdrawn from the Genesis Invitational.
It was reported earlier in the week that Fitzpatrick withdrew from the Wednesday pro-am and wasn’t on property Tuesday due to a non-COVID bug.
Fitzpatrick has seen some success at this tournament in recent seasons, finishing T-30 in 2020 and T-5 last season.
He’ll have to wait another week to pursue his first PGA Tour win.
Max Homa won the Genesis Invitational last year at +7000. Can his buddy Joel Dahmen follow in his footsteps?
It’s almost time for one of the best events on the PGA Tour. The Genesis Invitational delivers every single year, with the biggest stars in the sport annually finding the top of the leaderboard by the weekend.
Although the field consists of each of the top 10 players in the world, there are numerous names further down the odds list that have a chance to hoist the trophy come Sunday.
Last season, California native Max Homa entered the week at +7000 to win and left Riviera Country Club victorious. Will another underdog triumph this week? We’ll have to wait and see.
If you’re looking outside the favorites in L.A., here’s a list of five longshots who may just compete for the title this weekend.
Max Homa hits his tee shot on the 13th hole during the third round of the 2022 WM Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
It’s hard to call the defending champion an underdog, but Homa enters the week at +5000. The L.A. native is coming off a solid performance in the desert, finishing T-14 at the WM Phoenix Open. This golf course means everything to him and has called it his favorite course on the planet.
Outside of his win at Riviera, Homa finished T-5 here in 2020.
Matt Fitzpatrick (+4000)
Matt Fitzpatrick tees off on the 10th hole during the first round of the Butterfield Bermuda Championship at Port Royal Golf Course. (Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)
Again, tough to call a player sitting at +4000 to win an underdog, but remember, Fitzpatrick has yet to win on the PGA Tour.
The Englishman is playing really good golf so far in 2022, racking up a T-6 finish at Pebble Beach a few weeks ago and a T-10 at last week’s WM Phoenix Open. Fitzpatrick finished T-30 at Riviera two years ago and T-5 last season.
Alex Noren (+9000)
Alex Noren watches his drive off the fourth tee during the final round of the 2021 Rocket Mortgage Classic at the Detroit Golf Club. (Photo: Carlos Osorio/Associated Press)
There’s a big number. Noren has finally found some form over the last several months and is back to playing the golf we saw him play a few years ago.
After missing the cut at the American Express to start his 2022, Noren finished inside the top 40 at Torrey Pines and grabbed a T-6 at the WM Phoenix Open. The Swede tied for 12th at Riviera last season and had another top 20 back in 2018.
Adam Hadwin (+10000)
Adam Hadwin hits his tee shot on the seventh hole during round one of the Fortinet Championship at Silverado Resort and Spa on September 16, 2021, in Napa, California. (Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)
The Canadian is coming into the week a bit under the radar. He ended the week in Scottsdale tied for 26th, but he played much better than that shows. He limped home on Sunday shooting 74, but in his previous three rounds, 68 was his worst score.
Despite missing the cut at the Farmers, Hadwin grabbed a T-25 at the American Express and a T-16 at Pebble Beach. In seven starts at Riviera, Hadwin has finished 26th or better in five, which includes a career-best T-6 in 2018.
Joel Dahmen (+20000)
Joel Dahmen and Harry Higgs take their shirts off on the 16th hole during the final round of the 2022 WM Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale. (Photo: Mike Mulholland/Getty Images)
Dahmen has a chance to contend this weekend, but any opportunity to use this photo in a story is just too hard to pass up.
Dahmen has missed the cut at the Genesis in three of his four starts at Riviera, but the one weekend he did make ended with a top five. He was in the mix a few weeks ago at Pebble, eventually tying for 6th.
Not sure we’ll see this move again even if he wins. But hey, ya never know.
Every player in the Official World Golf Ranking top 10 will tee it up in LA.
We got one. We finally got one. After having Russell Henley at the Sony Open (lost in a playoff) and Will Zalatoris at the Farmers Insurance Open (lost in a playoff), we cashed an outright ticket with Scottie Scheffler (+3000) at the WM Phoenix Open. Now it’s time to grab another one at the Genesis Invitational.
This is one of the best weeks of the year. In my opinion, outside of Augusta National, Riviera is the best golf course the PGA Tour plays on an annual basis. It’s a true test of ball-striking and does a fantastic job of separating players who are on their game, and who are not.
The top 10 players in the world are here. Let’s have a week.
Golf course
Riviera Country Club
Par 71 – Genesis Scorecard
7,322 yards Greens: Poa Defending champion: Max Homa
The 10th hole at Riviera Country Club, site of the Genesis Invitational. (Photo: Todd Kelly/Golfweek)
Weather
Day
Temperature
Conditions
Percent chance of rain
Wind & Direction
Tuesday
58
Rainy
46 percent
10 MPH (SSE)
Wednesday
67
Sunny
2 percent
7 MPH (SSE)
Thursday
72
Sunny
2 percent
6 MPH (SW)
Friday
75
Sunny
0 percent
7 MPH (SSW)
Saturday
73
Sunny
0 percent
8 MPH (SSW)
Sunday
66
Partly Cloudy
2 percent
7 MPH (SSE)
Key statistics
SG: Ball-striking: This course is the ultimate test of golf. If the guys don’t have every aspect of their game in top-notch form, they won’t be able to contend. Riviera is a ball-strikers paradise.
Par 4s Gained (450-500): Six of the 11 par 4s at Riv play to yardage in this range. Performing well on these will be critical, and may even act as a separator on the leaderboard.
Data Golf Information
Course Fit (compares golf courses based on the degree to which different golfer attributes — such as driving distance — to predict who performs well at each course – DataGolf): 1. Nine Bridges, 2. Ridgewood CC, 3. Plantation Course at Kapalua
Trending: 1. Patrick Cantlay (Last three starts: 9, T-4, 2), 2. Hideki Matsuyama (1, T-30, T-8), 3. Justin Thomas (T-5, T-20, T-8)
Percent chance to win (based on course history, fit, trending, etc.): 1. Jon Rahm (8.4 percent), 2. Patrick Cantlay (8 percent), 3. Justin Thomas (5.6 percent)
Latest Twilight 9 episode
This week on the show, Andy and I discuss Charley Hoffman’s Instagram post and how it completely backfired on him. We discuss Scheffler’s first PGA Tour win, and preview this week’s Genesis Invitational which includes our favorite picks of the week.
Bubba Watson – Top 20: Cash (+175)
Xander Schauffele – Top 20: Cash (+115)
Scottie Scheffler – Top 20: Cash (+135)
Viktor Hovland – Top 10: Miss
Russell Henley – Top 20: Miss
Corey Conners – Top 20: Miss
Scottie Scheffler – Outright: Cash (+3000)
Viktor Hovland – Outright: Miss
Justin Thomas – Outright: Miss
+1.25 units on position plays (+125), and +28 units on outrights at WM Phoenix Open.
+8.79 units on position plays in 2022. +20.5 units on outright plays in 2022.
Rory McIlroy
Rory McIlroy plays his shot from the 18th tee during the first round of the Open Championship golf tournament. (Photo: Peter van den Berg-USA TODAY Sports)
Surprise, surprise – Rory McIlroy is back playing on the PGA Tour and he’s on my card. Get used to it folks, he’ll be on my card somewhere pretty much every week.
McIlroy missed the cut here last season but recorded top five finishes in 2020 and 2019. His last two starts were on the DP World Tour where he played nicely: T-12 at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, and 3rd at the Dubai Desert Classic.
Adam Scott – Top 20 (+170)
Adam Scott poses with the winners trophy following his victory in the 2020 Genesis Invitational. (Photo: Gary A. Vasquez/USA TODAY Sports)
Scott finished T-38 here last season, won in 2020, and finished inside the top 10 in 2019. So far in 2022, Scott has two top 10 finishes on the DP World Tour, and tied for 38th at the WM Phoenix Open last week. He’s always one of the best ball-strikers on the planet and feels comfortable around this track.
Will Zalatoris – Top 20 (+140)
Will Zalatoris plays his shot from the second tee during the final round of the 2022 Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in San Diego. (Photo: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports)
His last PGA Tour start ended with a playoff loss to Luke List at the Farmers Insurance Open. He finished 15th here last season and is one of the best ball-strikers on Earth. Not much else to say, just feels like a place Zalatoris will eventually win at in his career.
Only cause for concern: He is coming off COVID-19, so hopefully that hasn’t affected his body too much.
Other players to consider
Bubba Watson: He’s a three-time winner of this event. He was the runner up to HV3 in Saudi, and cashed a top 20 last week in Scottsdale. He has missed the cut here each of the last two seasons, but it’s hard not to like his overall course history and recent form.
Viktor Hovland: Man, he killed me last week. Missed the cut at the WMPO. But, he finished in the top five here last season, is a ball-striking machine and has still won 3 times in his last 6 starts.
Cameron Smith: He has two top six finishes in the last four years at the Genesis. Smith hasn’t made a start on Tour since the Sony Open where he missed the cut, but he won the week before at the TOC. Data Golf actually has Smith with the 4th best percent chance to win this week.
Matt Fitzpatrick: He finished 30th at the Genesis in 2020 and 5th in 2021. In 2022 on Tour, Fitzpatrick has finished T-6 at Pebble and T-10 in Scottsdale. Another guy that seems to play better at tougher golf courses, an absolute grinder.
*Full betting card will be on my Twitter sometime Wednesday, February 16th.
Many pro golfers watched the Formula 1 series finale Sunday and had some thoughts on the wild ending.
Golfers are sports fans, too.
Many were watching the Formula 1 series finale Sunday, which came to a dramatic conclusion in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Max Verstappen made a late pass to win the championship and deny Lewis Hamilton of an eighth title.
A late crash with five laps to go set up the frenzied finish. With one lap to go, Verstappen and Hamilton started side-by-side. This was not without controversy however. A controversial decision from stewards allowed the lapped cars between the two to go ahead of the safety car. As a result, the two rivals raced head-to-head for that last lap, but it left fans furious and questioning if it was fair.
The finish also set Twitter ablaze with reaction and several golfers chimed in.
If Max and Lewis switched cars would the season go differently?
Port Royal Golf Club stirred awake with howling winds and sheets of sideways rain which combined to send scores ballooning.
The scoreboards all say that PGA Tour rookies Austin Eckroat and Greyson Sigg are the clubhouse leaders in the first round of the Butterfield Bermuda Championship, but no one had a morning quite like Mother Nature.
Port Royal Golf Club in Southampton, Bermuda, the shortest course on the PGA Tour at 6,828 yards, turns nasty when the wind blows in from the Atlantic Ocean and the sun gives way to rain. On Thursday morning, Port Royal rolled its shoulders and stirred awake, an unpleasant combination of howling winds, gusting to 35 miles per hour, and sheets of sideways rain, which combined to send scores ballooning.
“It was a day to kind of survive and I’m glad I kind of hung in there,” said Scotland’s Russell Knox, who knows a things or two about playing in inclement weather, and signed for 1-over 72.
Russell Knox of Scotland talks with his caddie, former PGA Tour pro Willy Wilcox, while waiting to tee off on the ninth hole the first round of the Butterfield Bermuda Championship at Port Royal Golf Course on October 28, 2021 in Southampton. (Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)
On Tuesday, England’s Matt Fitzpatrick said he welcomed the wind, but he didn’t have a day like this in mind.
“This is the hardest wind I’ve ever played in. You see winds like this, but normally you don’t play in them,” he said. “People are going to laugh at this because they probably think it’s my normal tee shot, but anyway, I ripped it (on No. 7) and it went 245. I think my season average last year was like 295. Just shows you how strong it is.”
A different type of golf – and temperament – was required to keep the ball flight low and help lessen the effects the trade winds have on ball flight.
“I had like a chip 4-iron to about 35 feet and I was absolutely delighted,” said Fitzpatrick who carded five birdies in a round of even-par 71. “There’s a few shots I hit that were, yeah, I was just happy to get them on the green. That’s kind of what it felt like today anyway.
“We were three, four clubs up every time on a yardage just trying to chip everything in there. There was just a couple that I maybe didn’t quite strike very well and they just ballooned off into no-man’s land.”
Brian Gay of the United States plays a shot from the drop zone on the 16th hole during round one of the Butterfield Bermuda Championship at Port Royal Golf Course on October 28, 2021 in Southampton, Bermuda. (Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)
Getting to the green was only half the battle.
“Five foot for birdie and a foot and a half for par and, yeah, I was scared to death of it,” Fitzpatrick said of his putting adventures at the ninth hole. “I honestly didn’t know what to do, I’ve never had a putt like it.”
Nick Watney, who managed three birdies in his round of 70, said Nos. 7, 8, 9, the most exposed corridor of the course, played toughest.
“It was gusting too, I mean I’m not good at that, but it felt like at least 40 miles an hour. There were a few shots that I was just like, I just want to hit this ball and I want to be able to see it when it stops. If I do that, then it’s a successful shot,” he said. “We could see the sheets of rain coming (at No. 9), so it was like I wanted to hit it as fast as I could without trying to rush it. Luckily, it stopped about a foot away and I felt like I had to pay attention on that one-footer.”
Knox grew up playing in a wee bit of wind and rain in Scotland, but even he conceded that the conditions in Bermuda were trying at times.
“Every shot was extremely difficult,” he said. “I think I hit a 7-iron from 120, I hit 4-irons from 150 at times. Chipping, I barely hit a full shot all day.”
Knox typically thrives in windy conditions, noting it brings out his creativity and “kind of activates something in my brain which I think makes me a better player.” But the conditions in Bermuda became so extreme for a stretch that the course was unplayable.
“No. 9, we were on the front edge of the green there and I’ve never experienced wind that strong, I think, on a golf course. I mean, we were down on the ground holding an umbrella. My fingers were like cramping I’m holding on so tight,” Knox said. “It wasn’t a question of they needed to blow the horn, there was no like physical way that you could play. We were like, well, we’re just going to wait until we can stand up. It was a good five minutes. That’s as hard as it’s rained plus wind that I’ve ever seen on a golf course.”
Competitors in the afternoon fared better as the rain halted and sunshine burst through the clouds. Scores improved ever-so slightly. Still Knox, who played alongside friends Austin Cook and Ryan Armour, was able to find the brighter side on a gloomy day.
“It was a nice day to experience the wildness with those guys,” Knox said. “Honestly, it was a day that anyone out there will never forget.”
The 31-year-old Canter is leading by three shots at Valderrama.
With his birdie on the final hole at Real Club Valderrama in Sotogrande, Spain – one of precious few made by the whole field on Saturday – Laurie Canter positioned himself firmly atop the leaderboard with one round to go at the Andalucia Masters.
Canter, of England, posted a round of 4-under 67 to reach 7 under for the tournament. That put him three shots ahead of Matthew Fitzpatrick in second and four ahead of David Lipsky.
Breezy conditions made for a difficult day for the field, but Canter mixed eight birdies, including two at the starting two holes, with four bogeys.
The 31-year-old Canter is looking for his first European Tour win but he has three second place finishes in the last two seasons, including at the 2021 BMW PGA Championship. He has won in Spain before, too, having claimed the 2011 Spanish International Amateur.
“The golf course doesn’t give you loads,” he said. “Although, as we all know, there’s opportunities to drop shots here. I think what it means is I can go out tomorrow and play how I have these last couple of days. The score I end up on will be competitive, I think. That gives me a lot of confidence going in.
“The course is asking a lot of different challenges and you can’t dwell when it goes against you. I’m trying to stay as level as I can and I’m doing a good job.”
Valderrama is a former Ryder Cup venue, having hosted the 1997 matches. Fittingly, Fitzpatrick is competing there for the first time this week since the Europeans lost the Cup last month.
He is seeking seventh win in as many seasons on the European Tour.
“I’m excited to be in the final group,” Fitzpatrick said. “The aim at the start of the week is to be up there. It doesn’t get better than having a chance to win on Sunday. I’ll go out there and enjoy it.
“Valderrama was a real test today. I’m really pleased with the way I grinded it out and I’m happy with the one under.”
Golfweek’s JuliaKate E. Culpepper recaps the top golf stories of the week including Martin Laird winning the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, Sei Young Kim becomes a major champion, and Matt Fitzpatrick criticizes Bryson DeChambeau’s golf game.
Golfweek’s JuliaKate E. Culpepper recaps the top golf stories of the week including Martin Laird winning the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, Sei Young Kim becomes a major champion, and Matt Fitzpatrick criticizes Bryson DeChambeau’s golf game.
Matthew Fitzpatrick is not alone in believing the current statutes have proven woefully deficient in protecting the sport.
It may be the most impressive example yet of Bryson DeChambeau’s command of distance that he can dominate a golf tournament being contested more than 5,000 miles away from the event he’s actually competing in.
On Thursday, DeChambeau made his first start since winning the U.S. Open by six strokes, and promptly shot 62 to grab the first-round lead at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in Las Vegas. By Friday, he was scarcely less a factor at the BMW PGA Championship, the flagship event on the flagging European Tour. That’s when the man leading at Wentworth—England’s Matt Fitzpatrick—remarked that the world No. 6 was making “a bit of a mockery of the game” with the prodigious distance he now commands.
“It’s not a skill to hit the ball a long way in my opinion,” Fitzpatrick said. “I could put on 40 pounds. I could go and see a bio-mechanist and I could gain 40 yards; that’s actually a fact. I could put another two inches on my driver. I could gain that, but the skill in my opinion is to hit the ball straight. That’s the skill, he’s just taking the skill out of it in my opinion. I’m sure lots will disagree. It’s just daft.”
Fitzpatrick, a man so slender of build that he might have to jog around the shower to get wet, is spotting 85 pounds to DeChambeau, whose bulk might soon demand he shower in a car wash. Fitzpatrick averages just shy of 295 yards off the tee, a respectable number but still typically a Walmart or so behind the hulk.
Eamon Lynch
Responding to those comments, DeChambeau exhibited more restraint than is his custom when addressing small white things.
“I would say it actually takes more skill to do what I’m doing,” he said. “I still believe I’m hitting it straighter than what I was last year with the distances that I was hitting back then. So I actually appreciate those comments.”
It’s easy to dismiss Fitzpatrick’s comments as sour grapes. Every generation sees players get left behind, condemned by their physique to keep faith with a style of golf that other elite competitors have moved beyond. He’s Corey Pavin with an accent. But even if that’s true, Fitzpatrick is correct in his assessment that professional golf is increasingly one-dimensional and lacking nuance, dominated by what my old high school woodworking teacher used to refer to as “BF and I” — brute force and ignorance.
Matthew Fitzpatrick shakes hands with Bryson DeChambeau during the 2020 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship at Abu Dhabi Golf Club in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Andrew Redington/Getty Images)
Blame for that doesn’t rest at DeChambeau’s door. He’s doing everything permitted within the parameters governing the sport to gain a competitive edge. It just happens that those parameters as constituted are diminishing the value of golf course architecture, reducing the concept of course management to a simple matter of player preference on the day rather than a considered response to what is being asked of them. Professional golf is becoming less a battle of strategy — player versus course — and more a tussle over governance, man against regulations. Fitzpatrick is not alone in believing the current statutes have proven woefully deficient in protecting the sport.
It was only last February — a lifetime ago in 2020 terms — that the USGA and R&A published their Distance Insights Report, which nudged the governing bodies from the dithering phase to the deliberating one. The COVID-19 pandemic has delayed subsequent action until March 2021. In the meantime we are left in the midst of a tiresome tweeting standoff between those who think there is no problem and those who think there are no other problems.
DeChambeau added more kindling to the conflagration in his second round at TPC Summerlin by pummeling a 373-yard drive onto the green at the par-4 7th hole and making eagle (he drove the green on Thursday too). Impressive, to be sure, but the only thing PGA Tour players receive on Fridays is a ride back to their hotel. By Sunday morning, DeChambeau was in a tie for 31st, seven shots back. This week, like most weeks, he won’t win. He may be dominating headlines, but DeChambeau has a ways to go before he’s dominating the game.
Bryson DeChambeau during the final round of the U.S. Open at Winged Foot Golf Club. (Danielle Parhizkaran-USA TODAY Sports)
This is not a week that ought to be entered in the book of evidence on the distance debate. On the day DeChambeau shot his effortless 62, four other men shot 63 and another five logged 64s. On Saturday, Matthew Wolff added a 61 to previous rounds of 68 and 66, and he’s still not leading! PGA Tour setups in Vegas are easier pickings than the rubes chasing a busted straight down on the Strip. But we should hope that what happened in Vegas does not stay in Vegas.
The next real evidentiary phase commences in 32 days with the Masters Tournament, at which DeChambeau is mulling using a 48-inch driver in the quest to put even more distance between himself and Fitzpatrick. Gimmicks and showmanship are a popular play in Las Vegas, but might get a markedly cooler reception at Augusta National.
Still, purists should cheer DeChambeau on in the hope that he pulverizes Alistair Mackenzie’s masterpiece, that he blasts tee shots over the Tiger-proofing trees planted two decades ago, that he reduces to a flip wedge the par 5s that once required career-defining long iron shots from legends. That might be the final indignity necessary to galvanize the powers-that-be from dithering to deliberation to, at last, decisive action.
Matthew Fitzpatrick said Bryson DeChambeau is making a mockery of golf. DeChambeau took the high road in his response during the Shriners.
LAS VEGAS – Bryson DeChambeau was disappointed with a few shots he hit during Friday’s second round of the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.
He appreciated, however, a shot from the other side of the pond fired his way by colleague Matt Fitzpatrick.
After grabbing a share of the lead in the BMW Championship in England, the flagship event of the European Tour, Fitzpatrick had a few choice words for what DeChambeau is doing to the game with his eye-popping power.
Fitzpatrick called on golf’s governing bodies to clamp down on the distance gains DeChambeau has achieved since he transformed his swing and body after adding nearly 50 pounds of mass. Fitzpatrick said DeChambeau is making a “mockery” of the game, that the only thing he can compete with DeChambeau is putting, and “that’s just ridiculous.”
“It’s not a skill to hit the ball a long way in my opinion,” Fitzpatrick told reporters. “I could put on 40 pounds. I could go and see a bio-mechanist and I could gain 40 yards; that’s actually a fact.
“I could put another two inches on my driver. I could gain that, but the skill in my opinion is to hit the ball straight. That’s the skill, he’s just taking the skill out of it in my opinion. I’m sure lots will disagree. It’s just daft.”
After DeChambeau added a 4-under-par 67 on Friday at TPC Summerlin to his opening-round 62 to stand one shot out of the lead through 36 holes, he took the high road as he addressed Fitzpatrick’s comments.
“It’s a compliment to me honestly,” DeChambeau said after Fitzpatrick’s words were read to him. “A year ago I wasn’t hitting in anywhere near as far as I am today. It took a lot of work, a lot of hours to work through the night to figure out a lot of this stuff.
“I would say it actually takes more skill to do what I’m doing. I still believe I’m hitting it straighter than what I was last year with the distances that I was hitting back then. So I actually appreciate those comments.”
DeChambeau said he thinks Fitzpatrick is looking out for a certain set of players, but DeChambeau isn’t going to change his ways. In fact, he’s working to get longer and could add a 48-inch shafted driver to his bag for the Masters.
“My whole goal is to play the best golf I possibly can, and this game has given me the opportunity to showcase something pretty special,” he said. “I feel like I’ve started to go down a path that’s allowed me to have an advantage over everyone, and I think that is a skillset when you look at it.
“For me out there today, I was still able to hit a lot of fairways at 360 yards. That’s tough to do with drivers. If anything, it’s more difficult to hit more fairways the way I’m doing it with the rules the way it is today. It’s more built for players like Matthew Fitzpatrick and his distances and players like that.
“So from my perspective, I think it takes a little bit more skill to do what I’m doing, and that’s why there are only a few people doing it out here.”
And DeChambeau has other skills to call upon, too – he’s putting very well and he has improved his short-iron play. And DeChambeau is more than ready to lend a helping hand should Fitzpatrick seek it.
[vertical-gallery id=778069536]
“I would love to have a conversation with him about it and say, ‘Hey, man, I would love to help out. Why couldn’t you do it, too?’ You see Rory (McIlroy) and DJ (Dustin Johnson) doing the same thing, too. They’re seeing that distinct advantage, and I feel like it’s great for the game of golf.”
As for his own golf at the Shriners, DeChambeau got off to a dull start but was banging the ball again, sending 10 tee shots past the 300-yard mark, including seven of at least 350 yards.
In the first round, he became the first player to drive the green at the par-4 seventh when he hit his tee shot 361 yards to 14 feet and made the putt for eagle. In the second round, he drove the green again, this time hitting his tee shot 373 yards to 26 and making the putt for eagle.
His was impressive on the par-5 16th, too, as he hit a drive 367 yards and then a wedge from 152 yards to 10 feet and then made the putt for eagle.
He’s one shot back of Patrick Cantlay (65), Martin Laird (63), Brian Harman (63), Peter Malnati (62) and Austin Cook (65).
“I definitely left some shots out there and I made a few great shots,” he said. “So can’t be too displeased with that and look forward to hitting a couple more shots better and making a few putts that I need to that I didn’t middle of the round. Clean that up tomorrow and hopefully I can keep going low.”
