The 15-time major champion is making his return to golf this week in Orlando.
This week on the show, it’s all about Tiger Woods. The 15-time major champion is back, once again teeing it up with his son, Charlie, at the PNC Championship in Orlando. Joining the Woods’ in the field are Justin and Mike Thomas, the defending champions of the event.
Andy and I discuss our favorite Woods moments, how incredible his recovery has been, and what this week may mean for the Woods family.
Last week on the show, Andy picked Jason Kokrak and Kevin Na to win the QBE Shootout. Bang. This winner pick is the third of the year for Twilight 9 (I think) joining Justin Thomas at the Players, and Max Homa at the Genesis. We recap the Naples event, and what change they should make to create a must-watch product.
Download this week’s episode here: Apple | Spotify
After a tie for third, Jason Day is feeling confident as the new year approaches.
It’s part of the PGA Tour’s “silly season” and the QBE Shootout is also a team event, but his performance there appeared to provide Jason Day with some hope.
His tie for third—alongside Marc Leishman—at Tiburon Golf Club was by far his best finish in four events in the 2021-22 season. It’s his best finish anywhere since he won The Challenge: Japan Skins more than two years ago. His last official Tour victory was at the Wells Fargo Championship in May of 2018.
So it’s been a while.
Last season, Day finished T-44 at the PGA Championship but missed the cut at the Masters and the British Open. He missed the U.S. Open altogether after not qualifying, making it the first major he missed since the 2012 Open.
During the 54-hole QBE Shootout, Day and Leishman led after each of the first two rounds before settling for a tie for third.
“It was nice to be able to come into a week like this and try a few things with my swing,” Day said. “Even though it’s competitive rounds, I can get in there and see how the changes are going. Playing with Leish is always fun. We’ve been good mates for a while now and it was a nice way to end the year.”
Day will also be looking for a nice way to start next year. In the ongoing quest for his 13th career Tour win, Day has battled back issues time and again but he sounds confident he’s close with his health and with his swing.
“It’s still not 100 percent. Obviously every day I come off and I’m just a little bit in pain still because it’s just not quite, it’s hard,” he said on Sunday. “Like, I’m standing out there and I’m trying to get my left hip back and cover it with the ball, I feel like it’s going to go 50 left and then I kind of dump it back underneath, which is the old move and it’s no good for me. There was some really good shots mixed in with some kind of old stuff. It’s making a slow move to the correct stuff, but yeah, I think overall I was very pleased how the week went. Obviously to have the year that I had and then obviously coming in this week with the work that I did last week, I think things are improving.”
Day hasn’t set his tournament schedule for the first part of 2022 yet but has his eye on a few events.
“I’ll probably play some on the west coast, I just don’t really know right now. I’m going to take some time off and then really try and work these swing changes out and hopefully come into the new year, start playing some better golf.
“The only thing that takes care of it is winning, so I’m really trying to focus on trying to get back to getting my game in a spot where I’m confident and then the next step is to go out there and win and win more often. That’s one thing that I’m trying to accomplish this next coming year,” he said. “I feel pretty happy with how things are progressing. I’ve just got to keep working on it and just be patient with it and let things kind of unfold on themselves and hopefully through the patience I get that nice delayed gratification and I start showing some good results here soon.”
The phrase is a one-size-fits-all banality to justify unconscionable money-grubbing.
As a working rule, press conferences by PGA Tour players are seldom fertile ground for philosophical treatises, but even against that beggarly standard Bubba Watson managed to produce a veritable bingo card of bullshit in which no box went unchecked.
Watson was speaking at the QBE Shootout, the title of which is now off-brand since its host, Greg Norman, went to work for a regime that prefers bonesaws to bullets (the “QBE Dismemberment” would be a tough hospitality sell). The two-time Masters champion—Watson, obviously, not Norman—was addressing his intent to compete at February’s Saudi International. More out of credulousness than chicanery, I suspect, Bubba delivered as upbeat and varied an explanation as seems possible from a man abetting the normalization of a merciless regime.
He cited his love of travel (a revelation to those who recall his previously voiced disinterest in France and the British Isles), the Saudi financing for women’s golf, helping tourism in the region, the beautiful beaches, a desire to see God’s (his, not theirs) creation and charity.
“They’re trying to change,” he said earnestly of his hosts. It was, he added, all about “trying to grow the game.”
There must have been a time—back when motives were pure and goals were ambitious—that the phrase “grow the game” communicated sincerity and credibility. Perhaps there are instances where that’s still the case, but they are scarce. “Grow the game” has become a one-size-fits-all banality that is destitute of genuine meaning, used instead to promote product and, increasingly, to justify unconscionable money-grubbing.
Consider just a few of the causes in service of which “grow the game” has been marshaled: sports gambling, technology, the Olympics, equipment advances, shorter courses, longer drives, quirkier formats, snazzier apparel, made-for-TV tedium, social-media sniping, diversity and inclusion. From the First Tee to Topgolf to Top Tracer, it is the exhausted slogan of first resort.
When people says “grow the game,” they usually mean grow revenue, and they always mean their own revenue. That context is important. It guarantees that anyone who dismisses “grow the game” as marketing guff will be tut-tutted for negativity, and it persuades others to dish the same dung in case one day it’s their revenue that demands this gossamer-thin veil of nobility.
What has been a steady stream of insincerity about growing golf will surge into a tsunami when Watson and his peers pitch up in King Abdullah Economic City for the Saudi International, pending permission from the PGA Tour. It promises to be a week when professional golfers eagerly slobber about “growing the game” but prevaricate when asked about the human rights abuses of their benefactors. Ever the pioneer, Norman has been busy forging a path for those who will follow.
[vertical-gallery id=778173813]
After recently equating the historical legacy of racism in America with the atrocities currently being committed by his employer, the Great White Pilot Fish tackled gender issues in comments to Golf Digest.
“Women’s rights issues—the women there now, I’ve been so impressed,” he said. “You walk into a restaurant and there are women. They’re not wearing burkas.”
Norman went on to reject criticism of the Saudi government by anyone who has not been there to see things for themselves, an evidentiary requirement that one presumes would have silenced contemporary critics of Nazi genocide because they hadn’t personally inspected Auschwitz. He added that he himself has been going to Saudi Arabia on truth-finding missions for three years, since right around the time the regime hired him to design a golf course.
The extent to which Norman has been willing to abase himself is disappointing, but it’s unsurprising that his every utterance in defense of his disgrace is littered with the painfully familiar platitude. “I always wanted to grow the game of golf on a global basis. Always, always,” he said.
This association alone ought to be sufficient for self-respecting people to forswear its usage. If an aspirational catch-all is required, try “Better the game,” a more individual and granular goal, one not yet compromised by gasbags and geopolitics. One way to start bettering this game: don’t enlist it in an odious campaign to rehabilitate the reputation of an oppressive government.
If the Saudi International is to contribute one welcome change in service of golf, let it be the week when the wretched cliché about “growing the game” finally dies, albeit of shame.
On Lexi and Bubba and more from the final round in Naples.
NAPLES, Fla. — LPGA star Lexi Thompson and two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson finished ninth out of 12 teams in the QBE Shootout on Sunday.
But their 23-under total was Thompson’s best in her five appearances in Greg Norman’s PGA Tour event. Thompson had tied for fourth while playing with Tony Finau in 2017, but they had shot 21 under.
Thompson and Watson shot a 4-under 68 in the final round, which uses a better-ball format. That meant Thompson had to play her own ball from the same tee as all 23 male players, roughly 900 yards further than the Tiburón Gold Course layout she played in the LPGA’s Tour CME Group Tour Championship a few weeks ago.
“The experience was great,” Watson said. “Today I just didn’t have it. This is the first time, I guess counting the pro-am, playing five days in a row in 3 1/2 months. She played unbelievable. I couldn’t ask for a better partner. She putted phenomenal. She hit a lot of amazing shots, even playing those tees. Even today, playing her own ball, she hit so many great shots.
[vertical-gallery id=778185800]
“I couldn’t ask for a better partner, but she could — I didn’t make that many birdies today.”
Thompson had played with Bryson DeChambeau in 2016, and Finau in 2017 and 2018, and Sean O’Hair two years ago. She wasn’t able to play in last year’s Shootout after the U.S. Women’s Open was moved back due to the coronavirus pandemic and ended up being the same week.
Thompson and DeChambeau tied for 11th in 2016, and Finau and Thompson were seventh in 2018 following up their fourth-place finish the year before. O’Hair and Thompson were last in 2019.
“It was overall amazing,” Thompson said. “I was so happy to be able to team up with (Bubba) this week. This week is so much fun, growing up with older brothers, just playing with the guys and playing from all the way back. But to be alongside Bubba, always rooting me on, helping me out, and just feeding off each other as a team is an honor to be out there, and we had a lot of fun doing it.”
Lexi Thompson of the United States plays his shot from the 18th tee during the final round of the QBE Shootout at Tiburon Golf Club on December 12, 2021 in Naples, Florida. (Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)
Leaders go cold
Marc Leishman and Jason Day had a three-shot lead going into the final round of the QBE Shootout on Sunday. Then they extended it to four early at Tiburón Golf Club at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort.
And then they went cold.
The two Aussies made one birdie in an eight-hole stretch on the middle of the front nine and early on the back. By the time they made back-to-back birdies on Nos. 13 and 14, they were chasing eventual winners Jason Kokrak and Kevin Na.
“I mean, just a little bit off, I think,” Leishman said. “Just cold putters. But Kevin and Jason, they played some unbelievable golf. I don’t even know what we shot. We just left too many shots out there and just couldn’t get it going. In four-ball you have to see those putts drop in and we weren’t able to do that.”
“We just didn’t get the putter rolling today, so kind of started from the get-go with me three-whacking off the front edge there,” Day said. “Just didn’t get any sort of momentum kind of rolling unfortunately.”
Day is still working on some swing changes to keep his back, on which he had noninvasive surgery, from bothering him.
“It’s still not 100%,” Day said. “Obviously every day I come off and I’m just a little bit in pain still because it’s just not quite — it’s hard. Like I’m standing out there and I’m trying to get my left hip back and cover it with the ball, I feel like it’s going to go 50 left and then I kind of dump it back underneath, which is the old move and it’s no good for me.”
Burns, Horschel bogey again
Sam Burns and Billy Horschel bogeyed in the modified alternate shot format Saturday, and joked they’d be OK making another bogey in the final round if it meant a victory.
That nearly was the case.
The pair bogeyed the par-3 No. 5, but birded 10 of the last 11 holes to finish second at 32-under.
“Once again got off to a slow start like we did in the scramble format and once again we made another bogey as two professionals playing a best ball format, so that’s really solid,” Horschel said sarcastically. “But other than that, we got hot.”
Burns hit it tight on the 18th hole, but Horschel holed out for birdie from near the water hazard.
“Billy stealing my thunder on 18,” Burns joked.
Horschel missed a birdie putt on No. 15 for the only par on the back nine.
“I missed a putt I think I’ve had five straight years and I missed it the same way every time,” Horschel said.
“We’ve got it in the book this time,” Burns interjected.
“We marked it in the book this time for next year,” Horschel followed up.
Defending champions just short
Harris English and Matt Kuchar said neither played all that well Sunday. Still, they tied for third, two strokes behind winners Jason Kokrak and Kevin Na.
So in seven appearances, English and Kuchar have won three times, finished second two times, third one time, and somehow in 2017 tied for 10th.
English had made an eagle on No. 17 to get them to 31 under, one back of Kokrak and Na at the time, but Kokrak birdied No. 18.
“It was a good run all things considered,” Kuchar said. “I don’t think either one of us were on our best form and I think we partnered up fairly well. There were a couple holes Harris was out that I was able to kind of hold on, recover, even make some birdies, which was fun. And then Harris just kind of owns this back nine and put it on on the back nine. Really, really kind of got us back in at least with a chance on the last hole.”
“We didn’t have our A-game today, I certainly didn’t, but he kept me in it,” English said. “We had a chance down the stretch.”
Live Fest was just as lively as it was two years ago. Even livelier for PGA Tour player Brandt Snedeker.
NAPLES, Fla. — Live Fest was just as lively as it was two years ago. Even livelier for PGA Tour player Brandt Snedeker.
The Nashville native knows quite a few in the country music world, including Saturday night’s headliner, Thomas Rhett. So Snedeker went to chat with Rhett before the concert.
Little did he know what present Rhett was going to bestow upon him.
“I’ve gotten to know Thomas a little bit, being a Nashville guy,” Snedeker said Sunday. “Kind of met up before the show just to say hello to him. He kind of spurred it on me that he was going to bring me out on stage and sing ‘Friends in Low Places’ (the Garth Brooks classic) with him. I vehemently denied it, said I didn’t want to do it, that I can’t sing, it’s going to be awful.
“He won out. I had an hour and a half of nervousness waiting to be called on stage, and was able to kind of fake my way through it. But it was something cool, something I’ll always remember. It was super nice of him to do it.”
Snedeker will never forget it, but he will also remember it when it comes to Rhett.
Thomas Rhett performs at Live Fest during the QBE Shootout at the Tiburón Golf Club in Naples, Florida, on Saturday, Dec. 11, 2021. Photo by Chris Tilley/Naples Daily News
“I’m going to try to turn the tables on him at some point in my career and get him out on the golf course make him feel the way I did,” Snedeker said with a laugh.
Snedeker said he hadn’t heard any critiques from his fellow pros yet.
“I think they thought I did OK, knowing I was terrible at it,” he said.
“If he ever decides not to play golf, I think he has a great career in singing and acting,” offered Charles Howell III.
A year off due to the coronavirus pandemic had little effect on the concert.
Darius Rucker and Lady A had headlined the inaugural show in 2019 with more than 8,000 people on the Tiburón Golf Club driving range. Organizers planned for 9,000 this year, with Rhett and Swindell the main acts, and reached that number.
“It was another magical night in Naples,” tournament director Rob Hartman said. “The energy, the atmosphere last night was just incredible. A sold-out show, over 9,000 people. It was an amazing night.”
Local act Ben Allen Band, with their namesake singer coming off an appearance on NBC’s “The Voice” in the interim between Live Fests, kicked off the show once again, just after 5 p.m. Female trio Runaway June performed as a duo, with Natalie Stovall and Jennifer Wayne taking turns filling in for lead singer Naomi Cooke, who posted she was out for medical reasons on her social media.
The anticipation only grew bigger in time for the final two acts, Swindell and Rhett, with event creator Steve Hagenbuckle thanking the crowd for another successful show.
“He did a great job last night,” Hartman said. “This is his baby and his vision. For him it’s very rewarding to be up there on stage and see what he created come to fruition, and it is for all of us.”
Gates opened at 3:30 p.m., but the stream of cowboy hats and boots—not the typical golf attire—started crossing near the Tiburon putting green around 3 p.m., many with lawn chairs at the ready.
“We knew what to expect this year, but we still had that feeling of they won’t stop coming in,” Hartman said. “There’s a flow of traffic. We open our gates at 3:30, so 3:30 to 7 p.m., it was a constant flow of people.
Runaway June performs at Live Fest during the QBE Shootout at the Tiburón Golf Club in Naples, Florida, on Saturday, Dec. 11, 2021. Photo by Chris Tilley/Naples Daily News
“One of the coolest things for us is we had a tremendous number of our golf fans who stayed for the concert. We also had thousands and thousands of people who came before the concert, and then were exposed to golf as well. So you talk about the blending of music and golf, it’s all coming together.”
Hartman said over half of the 24-player field of tour pros took in the show, with one highlight in particular, with Snedeker getting called up.
“It was incredible,” Hartman said.
Hartman credited all of the artists, but Swindell and Rhett in particular. Swindell played both days of the pro-am, and also performed at the pro-am gala Thursday night.
“I can’t say enough good things about Cole Swindell and Thomas Rhett,” he said.
Hartman and Team Wasserman, the tournament and the event’s management company, pulled out all of the stops to pull off the concert.
“To put on an event of this magnitude, it takes an army, and the effort that was put in by the Wasserman team. … we’re firing on all cylinders,” he said.
Hartman said improvements geared toward general admission such as increases in concession stands and restrooms, as well as a video board, were hits. He said concession sales were 30 percent higher than in 2019. A center walkway also was added for the acts coming out in front of the stage.
“We had the environment that we wanted around the stage, which was a full pit, lots of energy,” Hartman said. “The acts feed off that.”
Hartman said he doesn’t anticipate increasing the capacity for next year.
“I think we’ve found our sweet spot,” he said. “We’ve got a great model. We will continue to tweak that model because you learn more things every year. We’ll continue to improve the experience, make investments in the right areas.”
Hartman also was happy that the property was cleared less than an hour after Rhett finished around 10 p.m.
And after some deep breaths, work toward 2022 will start.
“Year-round planning goes into five hours of music,” he said.
It pays to play well, even during silly season events.
It pays to play well, even during professional golf’s silly season. Just ask teammates Kevin Na and Jason Kokrak.
The pair added the 2021 QBE Shootout, an unofficial money event hosted annually by Greg Norman at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Florida, to their list of accomplishments on Sunday after a barrage of birdies. Na and Kokrak combined for a 12-under 60 to win by one shot at 33 under thanks to a Kokrak birdie on the 18th hole.
For their efforts the players will split the top prize of $895,000.
Check out how much money each PGA Tour and LPGA player earned this week at the 2021 QBE Shootout.
We occasionally recommend interesting products, services, and gaming opportunities. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. Golfweek operates independently, though, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.
Na and Kokrak rode a hot putter all the way to the QBE title.
The QBE Shootout has been a mainstay as part of professional golf’s silly season, and Kevin Na’s performance in the final round was just plain silly, indeed.
The five-time winner on the PGA Tour made seven consecutive birdies himself to help he and teammate Jason Kokrak shoot up the leaderboard Sunday at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Florida, and ultimately claim the title at 33 under. Na walked in putt after putt as the team made birdie on Nos. 6-14 and then again from Nos. 16-18 en route to an impressive 12-under 60.
Na claimed the Sony Open in Hawaii back in January while Kokrak picked up two wins on Tour in 2021, first at the Charles Schwab Challenge in May and most recently at the Hewlett Packard Enterprise Houston Open in November.
[vertical-gallery id=778185800]
Recent QBE Shootout champions include Harris English and Matt Kuchar (2020), Rory Sabbatini and Kevin Tway (2019) and Brian Harman and Patton Kizzire (2018).
NAPLES, Fla. — Lexi Thompson and Bubba Watson were just kind of going along in the modified alternate shot format in the QBE Shootout on Saturday.
But suddenly the two went birdie-eagle-birdie on Nos. 12-14, Thompson made a nice birdie putt on No. 17, and a nicer one to save par on No. 18 to get the pair to 19-under, and in sixth place. They’re two strokes behind three teams that are tied for second.
“There’s a lot of putts, the one on 17 and the one on the other hole, the other hole. Pretty much every hole,” Watson said of Thompson’s putting. “It was huge. … For her to step up and make those putts all day, just the last one, they’re huge momentum. Obviously the last hole, dinner’s going to taste a little better when you make those putts.”
“The first nine I felt like I just hit a bunch of tap-ins and then I had a few about 25-, 30-footers on the back nine and just got a good feel for the greens,” Thompson said.
This is Thompson’s fifth appearance in six years in the Shootout, and first time playing with Watson. Her best finish is a tie for fourth with Tony Finau in 2017 at 21 under, so they’re only two off Lexi’s best scoring total.
The two will play their own ball in the better ball for Sunday’s final round, so the team aspect changes a bit.
“I just hit driver on every hole, try to make my pars on the more difficult holes and take advantage of the few shorter holes for me I guess, and get birdies when I can,” Thompson said. “Hopefully just make the pars, that way he can play aggressively and go after some more birdies.”
“I liked it better when we could pick our best ball,” Watson quipped. “I hope we go scramble and everybody else plays their own ball out. Can we switch that for Christmas?”
Bubba Watson of the United States and Lexi Thompson of the United States celebrate their birdie on the 14th green during the second round of the QBE Shootout at Tiburon Golf Club on December 11, 2021 in Naples, Florida. (Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)
Horschel, Burns coming back from scramble bogey
Billy Horschel and Sam Burns came in as one of the favorites, and started that way, with an eagle on their first hole in the scramble format Friday.
Then they, um, bogeyed the next hole for the only one in the scramble by the 12 teams.
“You start off with eagle and then you bogey the next hole and it’s like ‘What just happened?'” Burns said after the pair fired a 10-under 62 Saturday to move into a tie for second. “I think honestly the format today is probably better for us than the scramble.”
Anything is better than a bogey in a team event where both players have a chance. But Burns and Horschel are looking at the bright side.
“Nobody else did it yesterday,” Burns said.
“I mean, that’s special,” Horschel said.
They may even look to make another bogey on Sunday, as long as a win comes with it.
“Yeah, I’ll take it,” Horschel said. “I’ll take two bogeys.”
“I’ll take another bogey to win,” Burns said.
[vertical-gallery id=778185800]
Na walks it in — sort of
Kevin Na is known for “walking in” his putts, especially when he’s on a roll. So when teammate Jason Kokrak drained a birdie putt on No. 18 to get the team to 21 under, in a tie for second, Na glanced at Kokrak, then raced up and grabbed the ball out of the hole.
“I tend to do that sometimes when I’m having some fun with the boys at home,” Na said. “It wasn’t a full walk-in, but I didn’t even have my putter with me. I figured he was going to make it on 18.”
“We’re still 18 holes away from lifting the trophy, so got to stay on top of it.”
NAPLES, Fla. — Marc Leishman just hit repeat, and Leishman and Jason Day repeated holding on to the lead.
Leishman made his third hole-out eagle in two days, and fifth hole-out in two years in the QBE Shootout, and the two Australians built a three-stroke lead after the modified alternate shot in the second round at Tiburón Golf Club at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort on Saturday.
“I was between lob wedge and sand wedge,” said Leishman, who was 96 yards out. “Just ripped a lob wedge a bit lower and felt like I could land it a bit past it and maybe zip it back and give Jase a chance, because he hadn’t really putted up until then except on the first hole.
“It’s funny, the ones you hole are the ones you don’t expect to go in. I wasn’t expecting it to go in and then all of a sudden it disappears. It’s nice. Something about this place that I’ve made a few shots the last couple years and hopefully we can keep that trend going.”
Jason Day tees off on the 9th hole during the QBE Shootout at the Tiburón Golf Club in Naples, Saturday, Dec.11, 2021. (Photo/Chris Tilley)
Defending champions Harris English and Matt Kuchar, who have won three times in six appearances in the Shootout, had taken the lead, but the eagle put Leishman and Day back in front and they never stopped after that, shooting an 8-under 64 that included birdies on three of the last four holes.
[lawrence-related id=778187628,778187254]
“‘Leish’ once again holing out on 7, amazing,” Day said. “In that kind of format it’s nice to have eagles, it moves the needle a long way, especially when you’re playing that way.”
English and Kuchar, Sam Burns and Billy Horschel, and Jason Kokrak and Kevin Na are all tied for second at 21 under, three behind. Graeme McDowell and Corey Conners got an eagle from Conners on the 17th to move into fifth, another stroke back.
Matt Kuchar of the United States plays his shot from the fourth tee during the second round of the QBE Shootout at Tiburon Golf Club on December 11, 2021 in Naples, Florida. (Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)
English and Kuchar had a six-hole stretch of pars on the front before English ended that, and then were making a move on the back nine when English ran a long eagle putt on No. 17 a few feet by, and Kuchar stepped up and missed it. They also parred the reachable par-4 13th.
“I think a little just — what would you call it? — nonchalant’d it, just kind of didn’t focus like normal,” Kuchar said. “It was just a three-footer uphill and that was odd. I’ve been so pleased with my putting and part of golf, happens to everybody.”
“Alternate shot’s always tough,” English said. “‘Kuch’ missed a couple holes not putting and you give him a six- or seven-footer, it’s tough. Having a round with no bogeys is always good. We played some solid golf, it’s just one of those days we didn’t get a whole lot of putts to fall, but it happens.”
[vertical-gallery id=778185800]
LPGA Tour star Lexi Thompson and two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson are in sixth at 19 under.
The 12 two-person teams play better ball Sunday in the final of the three formats. Golf Channel has coverage from noon to 2 p.m. ET, followed by NBC from 2 to 4 p.m. ET.
The three-stroke lead is a nice cushion, but Leishman and Day expect to have plenty of work to do in the final round.
“I think there’s a good chance that before we even tee off we won’t be leading,” said Leishman, who played with fellow Australian Cameron Smith last year and finished eighth. “I think when you saw some of the scores today, Billy and Sam shot 10 under? That’s unbelievable in foursomes, or modified foursomes given that. I think we’re going to have to play good, make putts.”
“We’ve just got to focus,” said Day who won the Shootout in his last appearance, with Cameron Tringale in 2014 by a stroke over Kuchar and English. “We’re still 18 holes away from lifting the trophy, so got to stay on top of it.”
Leishman couldn’t help but give a little good-natured challenge to his partner for Sunday.
“We’ve just got to both have chances and then hope we can make some putts, and maybe Jase can make a wedge shot tomorrow, we’ll see,” Leishman said.
“That would be nice, but I’m counting on him,” Day said.
Greg Hardwig is a sports reporter for the Naples Daily News and The News-Press. Follow him on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter: @NDN_Ghardwig, email him at ghardwig@naplesnews.com. Support local journalism with this special subscription offer at https://cm.naplesnews.com/specialoffer/
