“The Energy Bus” is a best-selling self-help book by Jon Gordon which purports to teach you “10 rules to fuel your life, work, and team with positive energy”. It also happens to be the most important of the books Wyndham Clark has been reading this year in an attempt to rescue what has been, by his own admission, a disastrous on-course mindset.

“It sounds kind of lame,” Clark said, repeating the title for curious reporters, “but actually it’s a really good book.”

We can say this for certain: There was nothing lame about Clark’s Saturday at the Wells Fargo Championship, where he shot a bogey-free 63 — and nearly went 18-for-18 in greens in regulation — to vault from the second-to-last group into a commanding lead at 16-under. His was the best round of the day, and the second-best belonged to Xander Schauffele, his playing partner, who nearly went toe-to-toe with Clark in shooting a 64, leaving him two shots off the lead. The red-hot pairing, shooting a theoretical best-ball 60, leapfrogged Tyrrell Hatton and Nate Lashley in the last group to put those two and the rest of the field in the rear-view mirror, with Hatton and Adam Scott closest at 11-under. On Kentucky Derby day, Clark and Schauffele may have turned the Wells Fargo into a two-horse race.

When trying to pinpoint what Clark did well on Saturday, you’re forced into a glib answer: everything. He poured in birdie putts of 22, 9, and 11 feet to finish fourth in strokes gained/putting for his round, stayed all over the pin with his irons to finish third in strokes gained/approach, and was also third in strokes gained/off the tee. When he did make an error with his driver, it was to hit the ball almost too well:

Going the distance ?@Wyndham_Clark drove it PAST the green on the drivable par-4 8th @WellsFargoGolf. pic.twitter.com/a5D5WVe6wo

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 6, 2023

For Clark, his torrid play of late can be attributed to a sorely needed attitude adjustment.

“I’d say I wasn’t as good of a player as I am now,” Clark said of his past chances to win on tour. “I also think mentally, I was a lot more impatient and fragile out there. I’m excited to see how I handle the pressure tomorrow. It’s going to be a fun challenge. Obviously it’s going to be tough. I’ve got one of the best players in the world right behind me and a bunch of other good players.”

As Clark explained, the energy bus is about how to frame events in your life in a positive way while flooding yourself and those around you with positive energy, which is essentially the opposite of his previous approach. Even when he was playing well, he’d let frustration overcome him, to the point that those around him, including his caddie John Ellis insisted that he make a serious effort to change.

“This time I kind of went all in,” he explained. “I was very frustrated with playing good golf but not getting the results. I said, all right, this is kind of the last straw for me.”

He’s already notched three top 10s in 2023, and on Sunday he’ll have an opportunity to finish out the best tournament of his life.

Standing in his way, for the second straight day, is Schauffele, who shot the day’s second-best round and needed every bit of it to stay within hollering distance of Clark.

“Monkey see, monkey do is definitely a thing that happens out here,” he said with a smile after his round. “It’s just one of those things out here, I feel like I’ve said it before in interviews, you just see someone doing it. Fortunately, it was the guy next to me that I played all day.”

Schauffele went out in 32, but after a bogey on 12 he had started to fade in the presence of Clark’s supernova. At that point, he caught fire himself, hitting an approach to tap-in distance on 14, burying a 12-footer on 16, and pouring in this eagle on 15:

Making moves ?@XSchauffele is solo second and three shots off the lead after an eagle on No. 15 @WellsFargoGolf. pic.twitter.com/naTEFYwqaj

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 6, 2023

Only a missed 11-footer for birdie on 18 kept him from creeping to within a shot of Clark, and with that closing stretch, he at least made his opponent pay attention.

“I birdied 13 and I was kind of steady Eddie,” Clark said, “I think that kind of got him to where he’s like, all right, I’m now three, four back, I’ve got to put the pedal down. I think that’s kind of what happened, I think he got maybe a little more aggressive. I thought Xander was going to birdie in.”

Beyond their group, it was a low-key, almost sleepy affair at Quail Hollow, with plenty of scores in the 60s on a very approachable day. Beyond Scott and Hatton, three players lurk at 10-under, six shots behind Clark, including Harris English, Tommy Fleetwood and Sungjae Im. Brendon Todd, in the midst of his latest career surge, turned in the third-best round on Saturday, shooting 65 to play himself into contention at nine under, while a large group that includes Max Homa and Lashley are a further shot behind. Lashley, one of the 36-hole co-leaders, will walk away with the most regret after an even-par 71 that simply wasn’t good enough on a true moving day.

It’s a formidable chase pack, but Clark and Schauffele have distanced themselves sufficiently that even a solid round should keep them far away from their pursuers. And as life-changing as a win would be for Clark, it would also put Schauffele back in the conversation when it comes to the game’s elite golfers; a conversation that has somewhat excluded the World No. 5 in a year dominated by Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler.

“I hope we do the same thing tomorrow,” Clark said, surely speaking for both, “because it was a lot of fun. “

As long as they stay on the energy bus, the next stop is a big trophy and an even bigger pay cheque.

The post Two-horse race on Kentucky Derby Day: Wyndham Clark and Xander Schauffele ride the ‘energy bus,’ put up scorching rounds at Wells Fargo appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Both Simpson and United States captain Davis Love III spoke to the media at the Wyndham Championship on Tuesday following Simpson’s appointment. With all four assistant spots taken — Simpson joins Fred Couples, Zach Johnson and Steve Stricker on the American staff — Love was asked if Woods would be involved in any capacity for the upcoming match at Quail Hollow.

“Well, he’s involved,” Love explained. “He called Webb and spilled the beans early, so he’s involved. He’s been a resource since — really since 2015. Well, all the way back to our meetings on where are we going to go with this Ryder Cup thing, who’s going to be the captain for ‘16 and how are we going to restructure the way we run these teams. Tiger’s been a huge influence and a huge resource. He really has opened up and embraced that role.”

Hold on: how did Woods “spill the beans”, precisely? According to Simpson, the 15-time major was a bit premature in his congratulations.

Simpson explained that he was with his family at a hot-dog joint last week, dealing with the chaos that comes with being a father of five. “My kids had already made the owner mad because they continued to open the door, so I’m stressing, it’s my turn to order, my phone rings, I looked down and it’s Tiger.”

Simpson told Woods he had to call him back — it takes a special type of conviction to tell Tiger Woods you have to call him back — to deal with the situation at hand. Once the hot dogs had been secured, Simpson returned the call, with Woods dropping the news on him.

“He just kind of referenced me being from — you know, living in Charlotte, Quail Hollow’s my home, that he thought it would bring a lot to the team,” Simpson said.

However, as Simpson continued, after the phone call he didn’t know if it was official or not. “I don’t know if he meant like he’s rooting for me to be assistant or if I am assistant,” Simpson said.

But Simpson heard from Love two days later, finding out what Woods had already known to be true. “Not that I feared not being a part of it, but there was a part of me that’s like, if I don’t make the team and Davis goes a different direction, that’s fine, but it’s going to be hard to see the Presidents Cup happen there and not be a part of it in some way,” Simpson said. “So I was really, really relieved to get a chance to be a part of it.”

The 2022 Presidents Cup begins September 20 at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte. The Americans are the defending champs.

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The post Tiger Woods accidentally ruined Webb Simpson’s Presidents Cup surprise appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Christopher Powers
At the 2019 Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne, Tiger Woods did double duty as both captain and player for the United States. Not surprisingly, he did both jobs well, with the American team beating the International squad 16-14 and Woods going a perfect 3-0-0 in his matches.

After that impressive performance, the plan was to run it back at Quail Hollow in 2021. Things have drastically changed in the time since, with COVID pushing the event to 2022 and Woods’ car accident putting his future status as both player and captain in doubt. Davis Love III, captain of the 2012 and 2016 U.S. Ryder Cup teams, will oversee the team in Charlotte next September.

“It would have been a great captaincy for Tiger to continue on,” Love said on Tuesday at Sea Island ahead of the RSM Classic, which his foundation hosts. “At the time we were discussing it, he said, ‘No, I’m playing really good, I’m gonna make the team, and I enjoyed Australia being playing captain, but I want to be a player on the team.’”

Obviously, the chances of Woods competing in the 2022 event appear to be slim. But Love still hopes he’s there in some capacity, and if that’s the case he can play any part he’d like, says Love.

“His role is whatever he wants it to be. If Tiger calls me up and says, ‘Hey, you’re kicked out, I’m taking over,’ that’s Tiger’s role. If he wants to be an assistant, you know …

“I would hope that he comes back and starts playing and can make that a goal, to be on the team. He was a big part of our Ryder Cup [in 2021]. It took us a while to get him to the point where he would engage. Obviously, he had a rough start to the year, but once we got him in the loop, he was a big help and a lot of fun for the Ryder Cup and for the team. Obviously, the guys were going to see him down there in south Florida all summer, but leading up to the Ryder Cup, obviously he had a watch party at his house. He can do whatever, and I know he’ll be a big part of it.”

RELATED: Billy Horschel argues against ‘handouts’ and for a more competitive PGA Tour

Part of the reason Love would appreciate Woods’ presence in Charlotte, other than being the greatest golfer ever, is that Woods is a huge asset even in a non-playing capacity. Love values Woods’ input in everything from captain’s picks to actual pairings for the matches. “He’s a tactician,” Love said. “He watches a lot more golf than I do, so he has a lot of information.”

Woods’ best quality, according to Love, is his alpha personality, which comes in handy for some of the bigger decisions that arise during a team event.

“One of the great things Tiger does is, ‘Would you please make a decision?’ That’s really good for me. Like quit waffling around, you know what you want to do, let’s make a decision and stick with it.”

Clearly, Woods’ role in these team events has dramatically shifted as he’s gotten older, which has been a welcomed development for everyone involved, Love included.

“Tiger went from a guy we didn’t know to now he’s a leader and an inside guy,” Love said. “So he has good information on some of the players that we don’t know.

“He’s a great leader for us on and off the golf course obviously.”

The post Davis Love III reveals the one thing that makes Tiger Woods a great team captain appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Daniel Rapaport
CHARLOTTE — “Hey, Rory—you got a nice butt!”

A well-served woman offered that compliment to Mr. McIlroy, who couldn’t help but flash the pearly whites. He then poured in a 21-footer for birdie, his fourth in eight holes, to get his freckled nose in front. As he parted the sea of fans bordering the walkway to the ninth tee—COVID felt a distant memory on Saturday at Quail Hollow—a chant erupted.

Ro-ry! Ro-ry! Ro-ry!

“I hadn’t heard a noise like that in a while,” he said.

It could’ve been a commercial for the PGA Tour, the type that plays over and over and over on the broadcast: A beautiful spring day, a mint golf course, with Ponte Vedra’s poster boy fist-bumping the kids.

McIlroy does not hold the 54-hole lead here at the Wells Fargo Championship; a buzz-killing double-bogey at 12 is to blame for that. Keith Mitchell has that honour, and we shall not minimize his five-under 66 on a beefy golf course in not-easy conditions.

But Rory was the star of this show. After a 68 that has him in the final group and just two back heading into money-making day, he’s in prime position to win for the first time since October 2019, to re-announce himself two weeks ahead of the PGA Championship at Kiawah, where he won the last time that place held a major. By eight.

Take that, PGL or SGL.

Four days ago, a foreign entity with a limitless chequebook sought to shake the very foundations the tour rests on. The Super Golf League, backed by Saudi Arabian interests, has emerged as a competitor to a previous potential breakaway group, the Premier Golf League. The wannabe king-slayers in the PGL first approached McIlroy in 2014, and he has rebuffed their advances at every turn.

RELATED: Rory McIlroy speaks out against Premier Golf League again, this time in harsher terms

On Wednesday, McIlroy deemed the new Saudi effort a “money grab” and perfectly articulated the tour’s argument against the encroachers. He made it extremely clear that he’s happy where he is.

Why wouldn’t he be? He is, absent Tiger and maybe Phil and double-maybe Jordan, the most popular guy out here—the rare superstar who’s as popular with his peers as he is with the fans. He chairs the Player Advisory Council and has Commissioner Jay Monahan’s ear whenever he wants it. He is adored by young and old, traditionalists and new-schoolers, left and right. The guy you want to bring home to your mom, and the guy your dad can’t wait to play golf with.

And yet, coming into this week, he’d missed three straight cuts and dropped to No. 15 in the world. It’s hard to fathom if you’ve been so lucky to see him swing a golf club. Rory will tell you that golf is important to him but not that important, especially since he became Dad last summer. He has … drumroll please … perspective.

But Rory McIlroy is a golfer through and through, a man who feels most alive when he’s walking through a crowd that’s chanting his name. He sulked as he left TPC Sawgrass and Augusta National on those Friday afternoons, the slightest hint of sadness in his eyes.

You had to look hard to see it, but it was there. On Saturday, he bounced around Quail Hollow all day, almost childlike. He relished every single second of it. The fans love him, and he loves them right back.

“I’ve missed it,” he said. “I didn’t think I would miss it as much as I did, but I really have.

“I felt that I’d actually enjoy the quietness, but I sort of realized that it’s hard for me to bring the best out of myself without that atmosphere that we had today.”

He could very well win on Sunday. It’d be his third victory at Quail Hollow, where he won his first PGA Tour event back in 2010 and added another in 2015. This being one of the handful of tour events that has not been jerked around the schedule merry-go-round, he celebrates his birthday in Charlotte year after year. (No. 32 fell on Tuesday.) He has a membership here, though it’s not quite clear whether he asked for it or they gave it to him.

“People can draw those conclusions that I’ve came here to Quail, one of my favorite places on tour, that I’ve had a birthday, everything feels good,” he said. “I’m sure there’s partly something to do with that, but I would say there’s still quite a bit of coincidence.

“If we were at Colonial this week instead of Quail, I still think I’ve been playing good enough golf to get myself in contention. I’m happy that it is here because it’s a golf course that I am comfortable on, and going into a final round tomorrow with a chance to win, I feel like I need everything I can get to try to get over the line. For me to be in contention for the first time in a while and for it to be here is probably beneficial.”

He could also very well lose. Read between the lines of the statement above, and it’s clear he knows this. The game remains a work in progress. He brought in a new coach less than two months ago, and his goal at the beginning of the week was as modest as it gets: make the cut.

He’s done a bit better. Rory used the word “coincidence” to describe the timing of this sudden resurgence. He was talking about the venue, but he just as well could’ve been talking about the PGL business. Of course, McIlroy is not playing well because some Saudi-backed suit reportedly offered Dustin Johnson $30 million dollars. There is no extra motivation. It is indeed a coincidence. But coincidences lend themselves to irony, and there is an unmistakable irony in all this: Days after the tour confronts an existential crisis, its frontman—the embodiment of all that is right with the current order—awakens from his slumber.

“I’m excited to be in the position I’m in,” he said. So are the fans, and the TV executives, and the PGA Tour.

RELATED: Bryson flies home to Dallas, flies back to Quail Hollow, shoots 68

The post PGA Tour frontman Rory McIlroy awakes from slumber—and the timing couldn’t be better appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Thanks to the PGA Tour and Dustin Johnson, a soon-to-be father and mother at this week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic have a video to post on social media that’ll make their entire network of people jealous. In fact, they don’t even have to post the video themselves, because now the PGA Tour’s social media channels, with millions of followers each on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, everyone will see the video posted of them on Wednesday.

Dustin Johnson, the heavy favourite at this week’s tour stop in Detroit, made this couple’s video as unique as could be. Here it is:

A gender reveal … from @DJohnsonPGA. ?

DJ gave this expecting couple the surprise of a lifetime @RocketClassic.#LiveUnderPar pic.twitter.com/YRaNPRF9ju

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 26, 2019

It’s not the first time this season a PGA Tour pro has helped a group of fans with a huge life event. At the Wells Fargo this year, Justin Thomas helped a golf fan propose to his fiancée at Quail Hollow.

The post Dustin Johnson helps a couple with their gender reveal in heartwarming fashion at a PGA Tour event appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Joel Beall
Welcome to the Dew Sweeper, your one-stop shop to catch up on the weekend action from the golf world. From the professional tours, trending news, social media headlines and upcoming events, here’s every golf-related thing you need to know for the morning of May 7.

Day wins Wells Fargo with a fiery finish

The Green Mile is supposed to be one of the toughest stretches on tour. Jason Day made it look as difficult as your local putt-putt.

Tied with rookie Aaron Wise with just three holes remaining, Day birdied the 16th and 17th at Quail Hollow before making a conservative par at the last to win the Wells Fargo Championship by two shots. A clutch performance highlighted by a near ace at the par-3 17th, a hole that surrendered just three birdies on the round:

Not your typical 7-iron from 230 yards …

It hits the flag! Miraculous.@JDayGolf now leads by 2. #LiveUnderPar pic.twitter.com/s4C5snlJZP

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 6, 2018

It was far from a flawless effort, as the Aussie hit just six fairways on the afternoon and made four bogeys, including an ugly snap hook at the 14th into the water. Still, when a push from the 21-year-old Wise made it interesting, Day answered with moxie.

Day already bounced back from his nightmarish 2017 with a victory at Torrey Pines and a runner-up finish at Pebble Beach, and to claim he’s angling to reclaim the No. 1 world ranking is an affront Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas, Jon Rahm and the like. Conversely, with the Players on the docket and the U.S. and British Opens looming, the 2015 PGA Champ has recaptured his formidable form, a notion that should send head-shakes throughout the sport.

Sam Greenwood

Tiger stumbles in Sawgrass warm-up

There were signs of promise. His driving, poor in his previous six starts, was strong, finishing 16th in strokes gained/off-the-tee. His approach game was similarly solid. But Tiger Woods had his worst finish since the missing the cut at Riviera, shooting a final-round three-over 74 to finish T-55 at the Wells Fargo Championship.

“I didn’t putt well again,” said Woods, who needed 31 strokes on the greens Sunday. “I felt like I drove it pretty decent today, but I made nothing. The chances I did have, I missed them all. It was just a bad week, and the good news is wiped your hands clean and go on to the next one.”

Short-game woes were a recurring theme for Woods at Quail Hollow. The 42-year-old finished the week last in sg/putting for those that made the cut. He also failed to record a red number on Sunday, just the sixth non-major round in his career without a birdie.

“I got shutout,” Woods said.

Not the ideal reps before travelling to TPC Sawgrass, which ranked as the second-hardest track on tour last season. Of course, Si Woo Kim missed four of his previous five cuts before his Players triumph last spring, so perhaps Woods is right where he needs to be. Speaking of which…

Andrew Redington

Golf’s biggest stars paired for Players

Knock the “fifth major” motif all you want, but the Players Championship certainly knows how to set the stage when it comes to marquee pairings.

The event announced its two featured groups on Sunday, with Woods and Phil Mickelson serving as headliners. The two Hall of Famers famously played a practice round together at this year’s Masters, although have not been paired together in tournament play since the 2014 PGA Championship. Both have won at TPC Sawgrass in their storied careers and will be joined by Rickie Fowler, the 2015 Players Champ.

They’re not the only group flaunting firepower. Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas and Rory McIlroy, the past three FedEx Cup champions, will also be teeing it up together on Thursday and Friday. Two more featured groups will be announced early this week, but good luck topping these trios for attention.

Darren Carroll/Getty Images

A peculiar rules snafu

Stop if you’ve heard this sentence before: there was a run-in with the rules of golf this weekend. Denmark’s Nicole Broch Larsen was its latest victim.

On Saturday at the Volunteers of America LPGA Texas Classic, Broch Larsen called over an official because she thought she saw her ball move. However, the official ruled that Broch Larsen hadn’t caused its relocation, saved from a possible penalty.

Except for another official, assigned to watch the broadcast, contacted the on-site Rules Committee with “added information” from seeing video footage. The Rules Committee, upon further review, assessed Broch Larsen a one-stroke penalty under Rule 18-2.

If you’re wondering, “Hey, I thought this review nonsense was over with,” GD’s Ryan Herrington explains: “Video was permitted to help overturn the original ruling in this instance despite last year’s decision, “The Lexi Rule,” which says that a player’s reasonable judgment will be accepted even if video shows it to be inaccurate. That was because “The Lexi Rule” was meant to apply when the issue involved in determining a point of relief or the replacement of a lifted ball, or in instances where it reveals things that could not reasonably be seen with the naked eye.”

Though the penalty dropped her from the lead at the time of the penalty, the stroke ultimately did not decide the fate of the tournament, as Broch Larsen finished six shots behind Sung-Hyun Park. Nevertheless, the recurrence of such matters—specifically, the perceived lack of common sense in which they’re handled in—is getting old. It would be refreshing if those who monitor golf start applying that “game of integrity” maxim to themselves.

Bill Murray, still the man

For the record, gender parties are narcissistic and highly unnecessary. No one cares that you’re having a baby, let alone if it’s a boy or girl. But, if you’re going to ruin everyone’s weekend with this stupid party, might as well bring Bill Murray along for the ride.

Playing in the Murray Bros. Caddyshack Golf Tournament, Michael Davis (no, not that Mike Davis) and his wife wanted to do their reveal a la Dustin Johnson via an exploding golf ball. However, the couple ran into the owner of the Chive, who was able to get Murray to do the honours instead:

Jacquie and Mike Davis asked our co-founder John Resig to do their gender reveal today in St. Augustine. John had a little surprise in store for them, Bill Murray showed up to tee off instead. It’s a boy! @WMurrayGolf pic.twitter.com/DcnfoOiF7I

— theCHIVE (@theCHIVE) April 27, 2018

Props to Murray for playing along, and our apologies to all expecting parents. Because after this video, the old “Alright, let’s take a bite of our cupcakes and see what colour’s inside!” stunt ain’t going to cut it.

The post Weekend recap: Day prevails, Tiger and Phil together at Players, Bill Murray doing Bill Murray things and another rules snafu appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Christopher Powers
Despite earning nearly $3 million, a winless 2017 felt like a lost year for Jason Day. But he got back in the win column this season at Torrey Pines, and looks to take 2018 to another level on Sunday at the Wells Fargo Championship, where he holds a two-stroke lead after shooting a second straight four-under 67 on Saturday at Quail Hollow.

Day’s front nine was a bit quiet, with just one bogey and one birdie for an even-par 35, but he turned it on the back nine, starting with a birdie at the par-5 10th. That led to a stretch of three birdies on his next five holes, and he finished with three straight pars to cap off second straight 67 and third straight sub-70 round.

“Today was a bit of a struggle through eight holes,” said Day. “Usually you try and catch one up on seven and eight, didn’t quite get the ball in position through those first eight holes. But then a nice shot into the ninth hole there for a tap-in birdie and a good drive down 10 kind of really getting things in the right direction.

[divider] [/divider]

[divider] [/divider]

“I knew it wasn’t going to be like this forever. I knew things were going to turn around. I just had to keep focused and when I was out of position save myself for par, birdies will come just be patient.”

Day heads into the final round with the seventh 54-hole lead of his career, and he’s converted on five of his first six. It’s a position he feels very comfortable with.

“If I can hit a lot more greens and just get the proximity closer, with my putting I feel like I can run – not run away with it but have a really deep score in there somewhere. Tomorrow is going to be challenging. There’s a lot of good players that are trying to win for the first time this season or the second time this season, and I think they’re able to get out there with a little bit less pressure, post a score.

“So I’ve got all the pressure on my shoulders, but I’d much rather be in this position than chasing.”

If Day closes it out, it’ll make him the fourth multiple winner on tour this season, and it would give him his 12th career victory on the PGA Tour.

Alone in second is Nick Watney, who shot a five-under 66 to get to eight-under 205 for the tournament. The five-time tour winner has just one top-25 finish this season, coming a few weeks ago at the Valero Texas Open. He’ll play in the final group on Sunday alongside Day, and a win would be his first since the 2012 Barclays at Bethpage Black.

Three back at seven-under 206 is Peter Uihlein, who went out Saturday morning and flirted with the course record, carding a nine-under 62, one shot shy of Rory McIlroy’s 61 in the third round of the 2015 Wells Fargo. After making five straight birdies to close out a front-nine 30, Uihlein eagled the par-5 10th and added two more birdies at the 14th and 15th holes to shoot his career low. The remarkable round comes after he posted back-to-back 72s on Thursday and Friday.

“The course set up a little easier than it did the first two days, for sure,” said Uihlein. “The greens seemed to be a bit softer, I don’t know if that was coming from the overcast or they just didn’t run the sub-air. The first two days definitely felt more like a U.S. Open and today it was definitely more benign and you were able to get after it.”

A victory on Sunday would be Uihlein’s first on the PGA Tour, and it would come after a streak of three missed cuts at the Houston Open, Valero Texas Open and Zurich Classic.

Bryson DeChambeau also is at seven under thanks to a five-under 66 that featured six birdies and just one bogey. Since he opened with a four-over 75 on Thursday, he’s played his next 36 holes in 11 under.

“It’s just been a little bit of the driver getting better today,” said DeChambeau. “And my irons have gotten substantially better over the course of time, and then I’ve been making a lot of putts, so that’s nice.”

The 2017 John Deere Classic winner can notch his second win on tour if he’s able to catch Day on Sunday, and if he continues to putt well (2nd in the field in strokes-gained/putting), he knows he’s got a chance.

PGA Tour rookie Aaron Wise was cruising along on Saturday at three under on his round and nine under for the tournament through 15 holes. He had some trouble, though, with the Green Mile, as the closing three holes are called , starting with a bogey at the par-4 16th and a wayward approach shot into the par-4 18th that nearly led to disaster. But Wise came up clutch, chipping in for bogey from off the back of the green to remain in contention at seven under along with Uihlein, DeChambeau and England’s Paul Casey.

“It depends on what the other guys do obviously. Hopefully they’re within reach. You’re just going to have to go after it tomorrow and hit a lot of greens and make some putts and see where you are coming around 15 and if you have to go for it, try to make eagle and just go for it. And then the Green Mile’s not easy, so, just strap on, that’s for sure.”

Phil Mickelson gave Uihlein a run for round of the day, firing a seven-under 64 that has him at five-under 208. The five-time major champion has never won at Quail Hollow, but did have a runner-up finish in 2010, finishing four strokes back of two-time winner McIlroy, who shot a five-under 66 on Saturday and is at three-under 210.

Tiger Woods shot a three-under 68 and finds himself nine shots back at one-under 212.

The post Jason Day shoots four-under 67, takes two-shot lead into Sunday at the Wells Fargo Championship appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Christopher Powers
It would have taken something crazy low on Saturday for Tiger Woods to give himself a chance heading into the final round of the Wells Fargo Championship, and for a few moments during his third round, it looked like a distinct possibility. Yet even with a much-improved putting stroke, Woods walked off disappointed with his three-under 68 knowing he left quite a few out there.

“I changed my stroke a little bit today,” said Woods. “But I was so close to shooting about seven under on that back nine. It was one of those rounds I could have easily shot seven or eight under par without really doing much. Ended up at three (under), which is a good number but also disappointing too.”

While it ended up being his low round of the week, and his lowest round at Quail Hollow since a Saturday 70 in 2009, it didn’t look that way early on, with Woods at one over through four holes and once again failing to get any putts to fall. That changed at the par-4 fifth hole, where he hit his 134-yard approach shot to 13 feet and rolled in the putt for just his fifth birdie all week.

Two holes later, Woods’ drive was left for the third straight day at the par-5 seventh, this time left of the bunker, forcing him to lay up again. But he tactically made birdie like he did on Thursday, and then made another at the par-4 eighth before giving it back at the ninth and turning in one-under 34. After three straight pars to open his back nine, Woods made three consecutive birdies to get to four under on the round.

Woods gave himself three more decent looks at birdie on his final holes and nearly made all three, including at the par-4 18th, where his birdie effort rolled a few feet past and he missed the ensuing par putt. It was a tough way to end a strong round, one that included 15 of 18 greens in regulation.

“My ball striking’s been fine, I just haven’t made anything,” he said. “If I would have made a few more putts, or just putt normal, I would have been up there next to the lead. Just go out there and do the same thing I’ve been doing this week and hit the ball well and make a few putts, which I was able to do (today).”

Winning appears to be way out of the question for the 2007 Wells Fargo winner, but crazier things have happened. If he’s able to strike the ball like he has all week (10th in strokes-gained/approach-the-green, T-4 in greens in regulation), he’ll give himself plenty of looks, but will need them all to drop. As it stands, Woods is at one under for the week, well back of the leaders, who will likely reach 10 under or better on Saturday at Quail Hollow.

The post Tiger Woods shows improvement with the putter but walks away disappointed with three-under 68 at Quail Hollow appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

With the cameras rolling, it appeared like Thomas was just signing a glove and ball for a couple of fans, but then it quickly turned into a life-changing moment for this couple:

SHE SAID YES.@JustinThomas34 helped a couple at @WellsFargoGolf create a memory that will last a lifetime. #LiveUnderPar pic.twitter.com/QvdCdRtmC7

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 2, 2018

Who says JT doesn’t love the fans? He even initiated the group hug:

Justin Thomas helped a fan @ the Wells Fargo Championship propose, making every other proposal everywhere look lame. pic.twitter.com/B6KkT58t9h

— Rex Hoggard (@RexHoggardGC) May 2, 2018

Great stuff from Thomas, who continues to dominate life. Oh yeah, and congrats to the couple too.

The post Justin Thomas helps fan propose, continues to come up clutch at Quail Hollow appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Joel Beall
Following his Sunday stumble at Augusta National, Rory McIlroy was relatively upbeat. He said all the right things, how the week had been positive, congratulated Patrick Reed, kept things in perspective. However, it’s been a month since his green-jacket miss, and by his own admission on Wednesday at Quail Hollow, the gravity of the moment has fully set in.

“It was just the quiet moments when you’re staring off into the distance and thinking about a certain shot or a certain putt. So it got to the point where I needed to see a bit of daylight and start to do my normal things,” McIlroy said in Charlotte ahead of this week’s Wells Fargo Championship. “Probably took me a week to get over it. I went back home and decompressed, binge-watched a couple of shows, read a couple of books, drank a few bottles of wine.

“I was trying to immerse myself in anything but golf at that moment. It got to point where Erica had to drag me out of the house and say: ‘We are going to do something.’ “

Making his first post-Masters appearance after his latest attempt at trying to complete the career Grand Slam, the 28-year-old’s remarks had an air of melancholy. With reason: to McIlroy, the Masters is the only tournament that matters.

“The Masters has now become the biggest golf tournament in the world, and I’m comfortable saying that,” McIlroy said. “I don’t care about the U.S. Open or the Open Championship, it is the biggest golf tournament in the world, the most amount of eyeballs, the most amount of hype, everything is at Augusta.

“For me, it’s the most special tournament that we play, and it’s the one everyone desperately wants to win, but even if I was going for my first major, it’s still tough to win.”

McIlroy was also disappointed that he failed to put pressure on the eventual champ. He began his day three shots back of Reed, brought the deficit down to one heading to the third tee. But McIlroy bogeyed two of the next three holes and never got back into the mix, finishing a distant T-5.

“I just didn’t give a good account of myself on that final day. I was sort of holding my game together, and on Sunday, under the pressure of chasing Patrick, it just never clicked for me,” McIlroy said. Especially discouraging, as McIlroy noted, the crowds were behind him. “I got on to the first tee and the Augusta members were saying, ‘We’d love to have dinner with you tonight.’ And I said, ‘Don’t be ordering me anything just yet.’ “

If the Northern Irishman needs to get right between the ears, he’s at the perfect place. In eight tournament starts at Quail Hollow, McIlroy has six top-10s, highlighted by two wins and a second-place finish at the Wells Fargo. The four-time major winner was a non-factor at last year’s PGA, although he admitted injuries hampered him throughout the week.

McIlroy tees off on Thursday at 7:30 a.m. with Paul Casey and James Hahn.

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