By Joel Beall
The PGA Tour reported zero players tested COVID-19 positive at this week’s Memorial.
The announcement marks the second straight week zero players on tour tested positive for the virus. Though the tour has remained in Columbus—thus cutting down on the need for travel and the inherent exposure risks that come with it—a contingent of players did not play in last week’s Workday Charity Open.

“We’re now over 6,000 total tests that we’ve given to our constituents, and if you look at players and caddies on the PGA Tour or Korn Ferry Tour, we’ve had 21 positive tests, six players on both tours, three caddies on the PGA Tour and six caddies on the Korn Ferry Tour,” PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said this week at Muirfield Village. “Now, each one of those 21 — you don’t want to have any, but I think as you look at where we are and the trends for our overall program, and again, the tightening that we’ve done, I think that the results are very good, and we’re certainly encouraged by that. We’re proud of that.

“I think our players deserve a ton of credit for not only what they’re doing here on-site in terms of social distancing and masking and being entirely aware of what we need to do when we’re on property, but also as I’ve gone market to market seeing players in hotels and other places, I think we’re doing—we’re executing a plan that we set out, and we’re confident that if we continue to do that we’re going to be in a really good place as we go forward.”

There are two cautionary COVID-19 groups at the Memorial, with Dylan Fritteli paired with Graeme McDowell and Denny McCarthy with Harris English. Last week, the tour put Fritteli, McCarthy and Nick Watney in the same threesome, as the players continued to test positive for coronavirus but were cleared by CDC guidelines as they were no longer showing symptoms.

It wasn’t a clean slate across the board, however. The tour did announce one caddie tested positive at Muirfield Village, while one player registered a COVID-19 test on the Korn Ferry Tour. The tour declined to release the names of either person.

The post Caddie and Korn Ferry player test positive for COVID-19, but zero cases among PGA Tour players at Memorial appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By E. Michael Johnson
A collegiate standout at Cal, Collin Morikawa turned professional at the 2019 RBC Canadian Open and began his PGA Tour career by making the cut in 22 consecutive events, including a win at the 2019 Barracuda Championship. Since the tour’s re-start, Morikawa has lost in a playoff to Daniel Berger at the Charles Schwab Challenge and won the inaugural Workday Charity Open in overtime against Justin Thomas. A star that continues to rise, Morikawa spoke with Golf Digest equipment editor E. Michael Johnson about the clubs in his bag, the key change he made to his putter at the Workday and the most unusual things he keeps in his bag.

You hit a great shot on the fifth hole Sunday with TaylorMade’s SIM Max rescue to three feet for eagle. I understand you have two versions of the club, one higher, one flatter. Which did you have in the bag this week and what determines which you use on any given week?

I first tried out the hybrid when I was in Phoenix and they built me one with Mitsubishi’s Tensei Blue and Tensei White shaft. The Blue goes a little higher and spins a little more. It’s a good club for coming into par 5s when you need some height and it’s not very windy. I used that a lot and have stayed with the Blue since Phoenix. I hadn’t even brought the one with the White shaft with me to any golf tournament since Waste Management. At Travelers I hit a few shots that seemed to spin too much despite not too much wind, so I brought the White with me last week and decided to give it a try. The SIM Max rescue has been an amazing club, especially when you compare the height to a 2-iron. It’s very straight and I get plenty of height, albeit with a flatter flight.

Although you’ve played TaylorMade for some time, you’ve pretty much overhauled the bag since the Barracuda other than the P730s. The big change, however, is the ball, switching from the Pro V1x to the TP5. What’s your process for ball testing and what attribute about the TP5 helped prompt the switch?

There’s feel. They feel very different. I used the Pro V1x for so long that I was used to a firmer ball. But I noticed at Safeway and Shriners I was hitting some chip shots that were not what I’m used to. I just didn’t feel I was getting enough spin off my wedges. Iron shots I was able to hit these full-out shots, but I wasn’t able to work them in left and right like I wanted to. When I went to the TP5 I told them it was going to take some time to get used to a softer ball and now that I’ve gotten used to it, I think it’s the best ball I’ve ever played. I can work it both ways, have great spin with my wedges and it feels amazing. I actually prefer a soft feel off the putter. It’s knocked off 100 to 200 rpms of spin from the Pro V1x so it’s brought me into a nice spin range, which helps into the wind.

I notice the weight in your SIM driver is ever so slightly heel ward. Do you try out different combinations with the adjustable weight and hosel or do you tend to find something and leave it alone?

I normally tend to find something and leave it alone, but I actually moved it around a little during the break. I was just messing around to see what changes might happen. But I felt good hitting the driver before the quarantine break, so I think we’ll leave it where it’s at. I don’t think I’ll be touching it again for a while.

You use a split set of irons with the TaylorMade P730 and P750s. Where do you determine where that break comes in the set?

It’s a combination of distance gap and trajectory. It’s pretty much where I’ve made the break since going to a split set. The first time I used the P730s was the World Amateur Team Championship in Ireland in 2018 and I used a full set of blades. But when I hit the 4- and 5-iron I realized I wasn’t able to get them up in the air easily or flying as far as I wanted, so I made the decision to use something a little easier to hit higher.

Did you do any work or make any changes to your equipment during the break?

The biggest change I’ve made recently was on Monday of the Workday. We actually flattened my putter 1.5 degrees. I have a long-neck putter in the TP Juno and it was weird because they flattened the putter but it got my hands more vertical and into the position I wanted them to be in. The putter was sitting just slightly upright and I looked at some footage from Colonial and I noticed the toe was sitting up. We figured out a way to flatten it out and it just worked wonders. This is the same putter I’ve had for quite a while now. It’s just something I’m comfortable looking at. It’s got a sightline on top and sits nicely in my hands.

You have one non-TaylorMade club in the bag with the Titleist Vokey SM8 56-degree wedge. It has 14 degrees bounce. What about the high bounce works for you?

I’ve used a lot of bounce for a while and it just works for me. That club I’ve actually bent to 55 degrees. I really haven’t tried anything else. But I did make a change with my other wedges. The 60-degree TaylorMade MG2 we found the right bounce [slightly less] and that’s been amazing off of tight lies. I used to use a stock 8-degree bounce and I noticed my chipping wasn’t great in the grainy, tight lies of the Florida swing and TaylorMade ground this wedge for me and it’s one of the best wedges I’ve had in a while. Added heel relief and some on the back so when I open it up it sits flush to the ground.

Most unusual or personal thing in your bag?

I have a bunch of money clips from a lot of amateur events that I’ve played well in. I have no clue why I keep them in there. But I do and make my caddie carry them. I also have about 50 pencils from various golf courses that are all very dull. I also have a picture of me and my girlfriend that I keep in there.

What’s the most frequent mistake amateurs make with their equipment?

They’re different levels of abilities with amateurs, but you see a lot of them playing smaller heads or less forgiving heads than they should be or need. They also need more loft and weaker shafts for the most part. Sometimes I also think they just need to get new grips. That would help. I used to never switch grips until I got a new set of clubs, but I think many times new grips can change how the club feels in your hands.

What’s the last club you bought with your own money?

Oh man. I can’t answer that. I don’t think I’ve bought a club with my own money. It’s always been my parent’s money. If I have, it’s been over 10 years.

The post Collin Morikawa on the key equipment change that led to victory at Muirfield Village appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Daniel Rapaport
DUBLIN, Ohio—Golf is perhaps the ultimate game of inches. Centimetres, really. Had Collin Morikawa’s two-foot putt on the 18th green at Muirfield Village hit the rim of the cup just a fraction farther left, it would have spun out, and Justin Thomas would be holding the trophy, and the stories would all be about Morikawa’s inability to make putts when it matters.

And if Justin Thomas’ tee shot on the third playoff hole had rested a few inches right or left of where it did behind a tree, he would have had a clear shot to the green, and those two might still be playing.

Alas, Morikawa’s ball lipped in, and Thomas’ ball was stymied, and Morikawa is your Workday Charity Open champion.

“The hole was very kind to me,” Morikawa said. Perhaps it owed him one after Colonial, where he lipped out a three-footer on the first playoff hole to lose the Charles Schwab Challenge just four weeks ago.

“It was a long, long 21 holes. I’d explain that. But it was a grind. I knew from the start nothing was going to be given today.”

Sam Greenwood
Collin Morikawa reacts after nearly making a hole-in-one on the fourth hole during the final round of the Workday Charity Open.

With the victory, Morikawa now has more PGA Tour wins [two] than missed cuts [one], joining that Tiger Woods fellow as the only two to secure win No. 2 before missed cut No. 2. His first and only missed cut came in his last start, at the Travelers Championship, which broke a streak of 23 straight to start his career. He also moves into the top 20 of the world rankings, though you’d do well to find a handful of golfers better than the easy-going Californian right now.

It was a show. Nothing less. The only shame is there were no fans here to see it, to freak out over the putts, to give the whole thing the buzz it deserved. Thomas canned a 50-footer—fifty—for birdie on the first playoff hole, yelled “come on!” at the top of his lungs, and his scream was greeted by modest applause from 20-or-so people. Morikawa answered him with a 24-footer of his own. The moment begged for roars; there were none.

The whole day had a heavyweight-title-fight feel, albeit one featuring rather young fighters. Thomas was the geriatric of the final threesome at 27 years old. At 17 under, he began the day with a two-shot lead over Viktor Hovland, 22, and the 23-year-old Morikawa began a shot farther back. Thomas hadn’t made a bogey all week until he made two in row on Nos. 2 and 3. That, coupled with hot starts by both whippersnappers, saw Thomas’ advantage morph into a three-shot deficit as he stood on the eighth tee.

He stayed patient—with age comes experience!—and caught fire, playing his next eight holes in seven-under. That included making a 23-footer for eagle on 15, his 10th straight one-putt green, to put him ahead of Morikawa by three, while Hovland’s chances were torpedoed by a water-ball bogey at the drivable par-4 14th.

“Once [Thomas] made that eagle, I knew I had to make my par putt,” Morikawa said of his effort at 15. Spoiler alert: He made it.

“If I didn’t make that par putt, I might not be sitting here right now because a three-shot cushion with three to go is a lot different than four with three to go,” Morikawa observed.

Stan Badz
Justin Thomas reacts to making his putt on the 18th green during playoff at the Workday Charity Open.

Thomas let him back in it by playing the final three holes in two over, including a bogey at 18 after his second put him in a virtually impossible position short of the green. Morikawa managed a gutsy birdie at 17 before lipping in that par effort at the last to secure extras.

“It’s completely unacceptable to give up a three-shot lead with three to go,” said Thomas, who squandered an opportunity to become the third- youngest player since 1960 to get to 13 Tour wins. Woods and Jack Nicklaus beat him to it, naturally.

“I’m upset,” Thomas said. “I’m disappointed in myself. But at the end of the day it’s over with now, and I just need to take some time … to build on it and figure out what I can do better.”

The two traded blows on the first playoff hole, so they headed back to the 18th tee to do it all again. Both hit the fairway, though Thomas laid back with a fairway wood while Morikawa hit driver, so JT played first. He came up with a laser that never left the flag, leaving himself a slippery eight-footer for birdie. Morikawa’s birdie effort fell one roll short—leaving, mercifully, a tap-in rather than a knee-knocker—meaning Thomas’s putt was for the win.

It slid by on the low side, and the two 20-somethings headed to the 10th tee.

“I just knew I had to keep putting on the pressure,” Morikawa said. “I couldn’t give away any shots. If I just hit quality shots and you slowly wear him down, slowly give yourself a chance to make birdie, and at one point hopefully they’ll drop, and if not, I got a fortunate break with Justin having to chip out there.”

Sam Greenwood
Collin Morikawa is congratulated by Justin Thomas after Morikawa won a playoff in the Workday Charity Open.

Both pulled 3-wood. Thomas played first. His arms got a bit stuck behind his body, and he tried to save it with his hands, but he couldn’t prevent the block. Morikawa’s ball took its time, but eventually did fall right and catch the left side of the fairway. Thomas’ ProV1 finished directly behind a narrow tree, forcing him to punch out and try to make par the hard way. Morikawa then summoned yet another good one, producing his 10thapproach of the day inside eight feet. Thomas hit a meh wedge and his par putt wouldn’t fall. Morikawa two-putted from eight feet for victory number two.

“You know, I’m not surprised,” Morikawa said of his remarkable early career success. “But I didn’t expect myself to do all this.”

The post In duel for the [young] ages, Morikawa beats Thomas in scintillating playoff appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Mike Stachura
Collin Morikawa might have appeared to be out of the tournament when he fell behind by three shots with three holes to play, or when Justin Thomas holed a 50-footer for birdie on the first playoff hole, but precise ball striking and clutch putting, gave him the title in the first playing of the Workday Charity Open, his second win on the PGA Tour. It was the completion of a final round that included a closing 66, his third round of six-under or better for the week.

For the week, Morikawa ranked third in both strokes gained approach and strokes gained tee to green, picking up 9.2 strokes on the field on his approach to green stat (including 5.9 strokes on Sunday). Morikawa put the final dagger in on the third playoff hole with his 8-iron to nine feet from 173 yards.

He gets the approach work done with a split set of TaylorMade irons. The 4- and 5-iron are the P750, a forged cavity back, while the meat of the set is the pure muscleback P730.

Not to be overlooked, though, was his 230-yard approach to 3-feet for an eagle on the 5th hole, part of a front-nine 32. (Morikawa played the hole in six-under for the week.) His club of choice there was a 19-degree TaylorMade SIM Max Rescue. Morikawa has two different versions of the club, according to TaylorMade’s Ryan Ressa, who has worked with Morikawa since he was 12 years old.

“He loves his Rescues and swaps them around based on the flight he needs,” Ressa said. “He’s got one that goes 245 carry that comes in slightly flatter and one that goes 245 and high.”

Exactly the flight of the shot at the fifth hole, one of seven approaches in the final round and playoff that finished within 10 feet of the hole.

What Collin Morikawa had in the bag at the Workday Charity Open:

Ball: TaylorMade TP5
Driver: TaylorMade SIM (Mitsubishi Tensei White 70TX), 8 degrees
3-wood: TaylorMade SIM, 14 degrees
Hybrid: TaylorMade SIM Max Rescue, 19 degrees
Irons (4-5): TaylorMade P750; (6-PW): TaylorMade P730
Wedges: TaylorMade Milled Grind 2 (52, 60 degrees); Titleist Vokey SM8 (56 degrees)
Putter: TaylorMade TP Juno

The post The clubs Collin Morikawa used to win the 2020 Workday Charity Open appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Christopher Powers
It wasn’t all that easy to find the final-round coverage of the Workday Charity Open, but those who did were treated to an epic Sunday of live golf at one of the premier courses on the PGA Tour. And it all wrapped up just in time to head out and get a few holes in yourself this afternoon. You really can’t ask for much more than that.

While it wasn’t quite the exciting ending many had hoped for, it was still a wild finish that provided multiple edge-of-your-couch moments. We tried to sum up all of them in our five takeaways from Sunday at Muirfield Village Golf Club.

So that was awesome
I had about four paragraphs originally written about how great of a closer Justin Thomas is, how his experience served him well, how clutch he was on the back nine, etc. Next thing you know, his three-shot lead vanished as he bogeyed 16 and 18, which forced a playoff with Collin Morikawa, which he lost with a bogey on the third hole. If golf has shown us anything in these last five weeks, it’s that **** can hit the fan quickly. Declaring a tournament “over” at any point before it’s actually over is FOOLISH.

As if the chaotic final few holes weren’t entertaining enough, the playoff was also off the chain. Thomas and Morikawa each recovered nicely from wayward drives on the first sudden-death hole (the 18th), finding the green with their second shots and setting up long birdie looks. Thomas’ was from 50 feet, and it was his best putt of the day, which is saying a lot considering he had 10 consecutive one-putts at one point, including a 23-footer for eagle at the par-5 16th.

This putt will leave you speechless. @JustinThomas34 from 50 FEET out ?pic.twitter.com/AOhwoW4cdh

— GOLFonCBS (@GOLFonCBS) July 12, 2020

That appeared to be the second “VinceCarterIt’sOver.GIF” moment for Thomas on the day, but Morikawa answered with a long one himself:

.@collin_morikawa DELIVERED to extend the playoff ?pic.twitter.com/ZBBXwyAlgF

— GOLFonCBS (@GOLFonCBS) July 12, 2020

Heart-stopping stuff. Unfortunately, after they each parred 18 the second time around, it ended on the third playoff hole with Thomas making a mess of the par-4 10th. A brutal ending for Thomas, who should have won going away. Also a brutal ending for viewers, who were enjoying an electric few hours of coverage only to watch it end on a bogey. Speaking of …

It’d be cool if people could have watched it
Look, we have to talk about the broadcast just … not being on TV. That seems like such an impossible thing to believe, but it’s not. With bad weather looming in the afternoon, the PGA Tour made the right move in moving up tee times, but it screwed up the whole broadcast schedule. Rather than just putting it on CBS or CBS Sports Network, which was airing one of America’s favourite pastimes (Bullriding. It was airing Bullriding) on Sunday afternoon, you could only find it on the CBS Sports App. From there, you could mirror it to your TV. Most hardcore golf fans who understand how to use technology likely had no problem with this.

But for the fringe/casual viewers? It’s a lot of hoops to jump through if you were just looking to throw on the golf this afternoon. For a sport desperate for the casual fan and a younger audience, why is it so hard for them to watch golf? In a time when it’s the only act in town, golf should be capitalizing. Instead, I had three separate friends-all fringe fans who only watched golf when Tiger Woods was playing prior to the pandemic-text me “What’s going on with the golf?” And that was when the leaders were already on the back nine. Seems problematic, no?

Yes, we all understand there are TV contracts and a bunch of other important-people-who-wear-suits crap that’s used as an excuse for this. But, as prominent golf voice Brendan Porath pointed out perfectly/hilariously in this thread, would this ever happen for a NFL game?

imagine: Chiefs-Broncos has been delayed due to lightning storms in the Denver area. When it resumes, you can watch the 4th quarter on streaming. You can watch “The NEW Sun Joe XTREAM Pressure Washer” paid program on TV.

— Brendan Porath (@BrendanPorath) July 12, 2020

The answer is no. “Two and a Half Men” would have to wait for Chiefs-Broncos. Sorry for going out on that limb. As for golf, hey, it’s the TV contract man. Nothing you can do about it.

Stan Badz

How’s this for a stat

.@collin_morikawa now has 2 wins and just 1 missed cut on the PGA Tour since turning pro.

He’s the first player since @TigerWoods in 1996 to win twice on Tour before missing 2 cuts as a professional.

Tiger won 43 times before his 2nd missed cut as a pro.

— Justin Ray (@JustinRayGolf) July 12, 2020

A literal L(augh)O(ut)L(oud) upon reading this one. “Hey Collin, really impressive stat here, you’ve now won twice before your second missed cut as a pro. That gets you mentioned with Tiger Woods, who also won twice before his second missed cut as a pro, and then did it 41 more times. Pretty cool, right?”

Jokes aside, it’s still wildly impressive from Morikawa, who needed a lot to go his way near the end to finish this one off. But so did Daniel Berger when he won at Colonial, where Morikawa bricked a short putt in the playoff to lose. Everybody needs a little bit of luck to raise a trophy after 72 holes. Morikawa certainly had his fair share, but he also was arguably the best player in the field this week. Third in strokes-gained: tee-to-green, third in sg: approach, sixth in sg: off-the-tee and 16th in sg: putting. He had it all working and was well-deserving of his second win. These young guys are (scary) good already.

Sam Greenwood

Viktor Hovland let that one slip away, but he’s still on quite a run
After five holes, Hovland was at three-under on the day, sprinting past Thomas, who had dropped two shots early. Morikawa got off to a hot start too, but it did feel like Hovland’s tournament early on, and he pretty much imploded. A water ball at the sixth from 158 yards out, a par on the par-5 7th after having just 248 left to the hole in the fairway, a lipped-out seven-footer at the ninth, a poor approach at 10 that led to a bogey, a water ball and a bogey at the drivable 14th. Need I continue? The man missed a ton of opportunities on Sunday. If you couldn’t tell, I bet on him, just like I bet on every guy that comes up just short every week. Sigh.

Even without the win, though, Hovland should take some positives out of this week. He’s been on a tear post-lockdown, making every single cut, shooting under par in all 20 rounds (wait, what?!?!), and posting finishes of T23-T21-T11-T12-3. If you go by Bryson DeChambeau logic, Hovland is ready to bust down the door and win this week. We’ll see if he can keep it rolling or if this stretch of a ton of golf in a short period of time catches up with him.

Gregory Shamus

Have a week, Chase Seiffert
Coming into Workday, Seiffert, a PGA Tour rookie, had missed his last two cuts on tour and had yet to post a top 10 finish this season. That put him at 160th in the FedEx Cup standings. With so few starts because of the pandemic, Seiffert essentially has to start playing a lot better if he wants to have any chance of making the playoffs.

Well, he answered that bell in a big way on Sunday, shooting a final-round 67 that earned him a solo fourth finish (and a nice $303,800 check). More importantly, it vaulted him 51 spots in the FedEx Cup standings to 109th, safely inside the top 125 for the time being. Could very well prove to be a monumental moment for the 28-year-old Florida native’s career.

RELATED: Chase Seiffert had an incredible 15 minutes of golf you have to see

The post A brutal ending for Justin Thomas and four other takeaways from Day 4 at the Workday Charity Open appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Tod Leonard
Chase Seiffert had a 15-minute stretch of shots on Sunday that shouldn’t get buried in the hoopla around the studs in the final group.

A 28-year-old PGA Tour rookie who played his college golf at Florida State with Brooks Koepka and Daniel Berger, Seiffert was on the cusp of contention midway through the final round of the Workday Charity Open at Muirfield Village.

Then it appeared that the pressure got too much for him when on a layup shot at the par-5 11th —a layup!—he found the creek on the right side of the fairway. Seiffert was left with 128 yards to the flagstick, and his fourth shot checked up 10 feety right of the flag, spun sideways and dropped in for a remarkable birdie.

Worst swing to best swing, as one of the CBS commentators, noted.

The greatest part is that Seiffert wasn’t done. Just as CBS anchor Jim Nantz was noting live that Seiffert’s two-lifetime aces had come on his birthday, Aug. 12, Seiffert fired his tee shot at the par-3 12th and his ball rolled up to just a couple feet. Another birdie, and this one got Seifert to 15 under, just two shots off the lead.

Next hole … nearly another hole-out.@ChaseSeiffert almost makes an ace. pic.twitter.com/UZzIoPRf7K

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 12, 2020

Whether he wins or not, Seiffert was a highlight machine. He also made a birdie with a 42-foot putt that hammered the flagstick or it might have gone 15 feet past.

The best way to stop the ball? Simple. Make it.

That’s what @ChaseSeiffert did from 42 feet.#QuickHits pic.twitter.com/OZw1cDFkl0

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 12, 2020

The post Tour rookie Chase Seiffert had an incredible 15 minutes of golf you have to see appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Ryan Herrington
No one really knew what was going to happen next at the Workday Charity Open. Justin Thomas started the final round at Muirfield Village on top at 16 under, having not made a bogey in his first 54 holes. He then proceeded to bogey two of his first three holes, proving that golf is a game that no one will ever truly figure out.

By contrast, Collin Morikawa could do no wrong during the first two rounds (65-66), taking a three-stroke lead. He then shot an even-par 72 on Saturday to find himself trailing by three at 13 under. But a birdie on the second hole on Sunday morning, where the tee times were moved up to try to avoid forecasted thunderstorms in the afternoon, had Morikawa thinking positive again. And if it didn’t, then this tee shot on the 202-yard par-3 fourth hole sure did:

SO CLOSE to a hole-in-one. ?@Collin_Morikawa nearly makes a 1.#QuickHits pic.twitter.com/BOdJ5VO7mf

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 12, 2020

When he sees a replay of this after the round, Morikawa is going to say he was robbed of the hole in one. But he gladly took the tap in at this point.

Got to love these extra clips from the PGA Tour:

That close. pic.twitter.com/ZOIb0UllVK

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 12, 2020

The crazy part? After making the birdie to get to 15 under, he was still trailing by one stroke. Viktor Hovland, one back to start the day, had made two birdies in his first four holes to get to 16 under and grab the lead.

We’re telling you, no one will ever truly figure this game out.

The post Watch Collin Morikawa get absolutely robbed of a hole-in-one at Muirfield Village appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Tod Leonard
We needed this post, if only to have it archived for posterity. Because there may not have been two better putts in a PGA Tour playoff than those dropped by Justin Thomas and Collin Morikawa on Sunday of the Workday Charity Open.

If only there had been the roars at Muirfield Village to go with them.

With 50 feet, nine inches—according to ShotLink—for a birdie putt on the first playoff hole, at 18, after he’d been in a tough spot with a sidehill lie on the second shot, Thomas stroked a curving putt that found the heart of the hole. In the silence of a setting without fans because of the coronavirus, Thomas’s guteral scream of ‘C’mon!” reverberated on the grounds.

5️⃣0️⃣ FEET!@JustinThomas34 with an UNBELIEVABLE birdie on the first playoff hole.#QuickHits pic.twitter.com/T6iuNZrcxH

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 12, 2020

So it was up to the tour rookie, Morikawa, who had 24 feet above the hole after a solid second shot from the right fairway bunker.

Morikawa’s roll drifted nearly too far to the left before topping into the side of the cup for a birdie, a halve, and more extra play.

WOW.@Collin_Morikawa with a MUST-MAKE putt to extend the playoff.#QuickHits pic.twitter.com/RSYdWRI1sA

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 12, 2020

Seventy-four feet, nine inches—the total distance of the two putts made. Even as sophisticated as the stats are now, we may never know if those are the two longest combined putts in a playoff, but the trivia doesn’t matter. It was tremendous—if eerily quiet—theater.

Unfortunately, the tournament ended rather anticlimactically, when Morikawa needed only a par on the third extra hole after Thomas drove behind a tree.

The post These are possibly the two greatest combined putts you’ll ever see in a PGA Tour playoff appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Daniel Rapaport
DUBLIN, Ohio — Justin Thomas turned 27 just three months ago. He cannot be considered old by any sensible person on this planet. He will, however, play the role of grizzled veteran in Sunday’s tantalizing final group of the Workday Charity Open, where he’ll be joined by 22-year-old Viktor Hovland and 23-year-old Collin Morikawa.

And if Thomas keeps refusing to make bogeys, he’s going to be extremely hard to beat.

Thomas’ 66 on Saturday was his third straight bogey-free round at a relatively benign Muirfield Village—it should flash more fire next week for The Memorial—and he sits at 16 under heading into Sunday. He has a chance to join J.T. Poston [2019 Wyndham Championship] and Lee Trevino [1974 New Orleans Open] as the only players ever to win a 72-hole PGA Tour event without making a bogey. He can also become the youngest player since Tiger Woods to reach 13 tour victories.

Trying to make Thomas’ march as difficult as possible will be two of the game’s brightest young stars, both already tour winners themselves: Hovland, who shot 66 and will enter Sunday just two back; and Morikawa, who led by three at the halfway point but never looked comfortable in shooting 72. He trails Thomas by three. Sam Burns, another barely legal drinker at 23, is two shots farther back after a 70.

This comes one week after Matthew Wolff—along with his former Oklahoma State teammate Hovland and Morikawa, the third member of the “Class of 2019” that all made their pro debuts at last year’s Travelers—held the 54-hole lead and finished solo second at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. The kids are here, and they’re more than alright.

Because of a crummy weather forecast, players will be sent out in threesomes, off both tees, early on Sunday morning. The final group will tee off at 9 a.m. local time. That’s a bummer for those planning to sleep in on Sunday. On the flip side, Thomas, Hovland and Morikawa will comprise one of the better final groups in recent memory. If only there were fans here to see it.

“I’ve been around Collin a good bit, but I haven’t spent much time around Viktor,” Thomas said. “I’ve obviously seen him and know he’s an unbelievable player, so it’ll be fun to play with those two guys tomorrow because I’m sure it’s the first of many pairings I’ll have with them.

“But a guy like Collin, I could be playing and having him as a teammate in Ryder Cups, Presidents Cups, whatever it is. It’ll be fun to hang with those guys tomorrow, but at the end of the day I’m worried about myself and trying to win a golf tournament and have a good round.”

Gregory Shamus
Justin Thomas lines up a putt in the third round of the Workday Charity Open.

For a player of Thomas’ pedigree—he of 12 PGA Tour wins, a major and a former world No. 1 title—a virtuoso showing like this is never truly a surprise. But you’re forgiven if you didn’t exactly see this coming from Thomas’ showing in his last start. In missing the cut by six at the Travelers Championship two weeks ago, Thomas ranked 138th in strokes gained—approach and 153rd in strokes gained—putting. He then flew back to South Florida for a week of practice at the Bear’s Club with his father and coach, Mike, and something quite clearly clicked. Thomas has not missed a putt inside eight feet all week, and he’s gotten up and down each of the 12 times he’s missed a green.

“Really worked on my speed hard,” Thomas said. “Because when I miss putts, that’s usually the biggest reason.”

Hovland has been terrific since the tour restarted after the three-month COVID-19 hiatus, flashing a much-improved short game and finishing T-23 or better in each of his four starts since, including a T-12 at last week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic. That streak seemed doomed after 10 holes this week, when he found himself three-over par before birdieing six of his last eight to post a 69 that set himself up for another profitable week.

“It’s really cool to be in this position after that bad start because the past couple weeks I’ve had good first rounds and been up by the lead early on, but I’ve been kind of falling off,” Hovland said. “I’m really proud of kind of how I was able to turn it around and just kind of play better and better every single day.

The Norwegian has crept up to world No. 42 and looks increasingly like a lock to make his Ryder Cup debut for Team Europe next year.

Morikawa, who had a streak of 23 straight made cuts to start his PGA Tour career broken at the Travelers Championship, led by as many as six on Friday after polishing off a 66 to get to 13 under. He was a different player on Saturday, fighting a pesky block and missing in the wrong spots multiple times. Despite hitting 10 fairways, he hit just 11 greens—a shockingly low number for a player who ranks third on tour in strokes gained—approach for the season—and needed a curling 16-footer for birdie at 18 to salvage an even-par round.

“It was really up and down,” Morikawa said of his round. “I put myself in spots you couldn’t put yourself in. Twelve, I was over the bunker left like 10 yards, so just iron distances weren’t working. Couldn’t really figure out wind directions, how much to adjust. But whole new day tomorrow and kind of glad I fought it out through even par and got myself three back. So that can change really quickly tomorrow.”

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By Tod Leonard
Rickie Fowler looked sharp in the TaylorMade Driving Relief exhibition in May at Seminole Golf Club in Jupiter, Fla., but hasn’t appeared to have a handle on his game since returning to authentic money-for-duffing competition with the PGA Tour’s restart.

On Saturday at Muirfield Village Golf Club, Fowler fired a six-under-par 66 amid sunny but breezy conditions and credited the effort, in part, to a sense of relief for making the cut for the second straight week after a few starts in which he was dismissed early.

He talked about feeling “freed up” after making it to the weekend in the Workday Charity Open. Which probably underscores the depths to which he has been struggling these last five weeks. Relief? For making a cut?

“I do feel like I am trending a bit now,” Fowler said after shooting his lowest score since the tour restart.

Trending beats treading water, which no one ever wants to do on a Saturday, and Fowler’s 66 tied for the second-lowest round of the day with Gary Woodland, Viktor Hovland, Xander Schauffele, Sam Ryder and leader Justin Thomas. Fowler moved into the top-10 at 9-under 207 with a round included five birdies and an eagle at the par-5 seventh hole from 22 feet against one bogey.

With a pair of runner-up finishes in the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village, Fowler didn’t hesitate to make accommodations to his schedule for the two-week stay in Dublin, Ohio. “Once I saw this come up, I was all for it,” he said. “I changed my schedule around a little bit because I was originally going to start out playing four in a row. But being that the success and how much I do like Muirfield, I wanted to be here for two weeks.”

And now he appears to be taking advantage of the opportunity.

Last fall, Fowler, 31, left Butch Harmon because the famed swing coach was cutting back on his work and joined forces with John Tillery. His swing changes haven’t quite congealed, which undoubtedly has led to some inconsistency and his fall to 31st in the world rankings. Fowler is undaunted, however, and days like Saturday, when winds made Muirfield Village trickier, offer promise.

“It’s been a work in progress,” he said, “and for me early on there was stuff that was tough because I feel like my sequencing was a bit off, and it was almost some old tendencies I needed to get back from how my lower body used to work better earlier in my career, and so almost like reprogramming. Yeah, we’re heading in the right direction, starting to see things pay off, but still got a ways to go.”

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