Tour News
Leading ain’t easy, even on Friday
By Zak Kozuchowski
GolfWRX Managing Editor
After the last putt drops – that’s when professional golfers want to be leading a tournament. Because despite how well golfers are playing or how good they say they’re feeling, leading a golf tournament does something strange to golfers – even the best ones in the world.
Martin Laird and Ian Poulter breezed through Round 1 of The Players Championship with matching 7-under 65s at the difficult TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course. Both players said the right things in their post-round interviews. Laird said he was putting well, and happy with his new caddie. Poulter said he was relaxed, as he was finally able to move his family into his new home that took nearly three years of construction.
But what professional golfers say about their game when they are leading a tournament rarely impacts their play the next day. That’s the thing about pressure. It’s like a snap hook. There’s no talking to it.
Laird, a two-time winner on Tour, had the best chance of keeping the top spot at The Players in Round 2, playing his first 15 holes in 3-under par. That put him at 10-under, three shots ahead of a streaking Zach Johnson at one point, who was playing in the group behind him.
Laird’s day wasn’t perfect through 15 holes, but like most tournament frontrunners, he had found a way to make the most of it. He had given himself short birdie putts on the previous par 5s, Nos. 2, 9 and 11, and converted them all. Two of his bad swings were fairly benign as well. On No. 6, he chose iron off the tee, but caught it thin and off the heel of the club. Had he struck it solidly, the shot would have likely scampered into the rough, but to quote Laird, “Hit it so bad it’s alright.”
On No. 8, he hit another tee ball to the right, this time a high spinner with the driver that didn’t go very far. But it was one of the “good misses” that golfers love to tell their playing partners about. Helping Laird too was the fact that he’d scored an early tee time, which meant the wind was mild and the course was as soft as it would be all day. Also, he played his first 15 holes in relative obscurity – either most fans didn’t know who Martin Laird was, didn’t care to know him, or didn’t have their coffee before the gauntlet of holes Nos. 16-18. But the fans were there on No. 16, and murmuring about Laird’s low score.
“Did you see that,” a husband told his wife. ‘This guys is 10-under. He might win it.”
Laird launched a drive in perfect position on 16, giving him a good yardage with a 4 iron to attack the flag.
“I hit three of four great iron shots in a row right at the flag and kind of got a little greedy there,” Laird said. [I] tried to fade one into the wind to get it working down the green there to the pin.”
But Laird’s ball didn’t get working down the green. His shot never had a chance, splashing well right of the green in The Stadium’s famous lake. After that shot, Laird got working down the leaderboard.
Laird splashed another ball on No. 17 off the tee with a 9 iron. Tiger Woods said in his Tuesday press conference that he didn’t like the island green par 3 because at times good shots can go in the water. Laird’s shot was not one of those. It was thin, it was low and it was well short of the green.
On No. 18, Laird went the conservative route, hitting a 5 wood off the tee. For the first time in two holes, he made a good swing, sending it down the middle of the water-lined fairway. He bailed out to the right on his approach, leaving himself a delicate chip toward the front left pin location that he botched. And when his par putt didn’t fall, he had played his final three holes in four-over par and finished at 6-under.
Johnson, who shot 66 in Round 2, played his final three holes in even par, putting him at 8-under. In the span of three holes, Laird had gone from being in front, to being “in the hunt.”
Poulter took a less roundabout route to disaster. He teed off at 1:39 p.m. on No. 10, when the course had firmed up and the wind had achieved full strength. He promptly double bogeyed two of his first four holes, dropping him to 3-under, five shots out of the lead he once owned. He dropped another shot at No. 15, but unlike Laird, handled the pressure of Nos. 16-18 without fail. He birdied No. 16, parred No. 17, and barely missed his birdie chance on No. 18.
Poulter steadied the ship on the front nine (his finishing nine), but the damage had been done. Poulter only has one Tour win to his resume, the 2010 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, but he’s won 11 times in Europe. However, that’s pressure. It doesn’t care who you are or where you’re from – when golfers are playing well, it’s there. It will be felt by Johnson tomorrow, and by the weekend leaders, especially on Nos. 16-18. That’s why there will be thousands of people in attendance surrounding those holes on Sunday, and countless viewers watching worldwide. Pressure can make anything happen. Sometimes it helps a player, sometimes it hurts a player, but it’s always fun to watch.
Click here for more discussion in the “Tour Talk” forum.
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Tour Photo Galleries
Photos from the 2024 RBC Heritage
GolfWRX is on site this week at Harbour Town Golf Links on Hilton Head Island for the RBC Heritage. Plenty of golfers who competed in the Masters last week will be making the quick turnaround in the Lowcountry of South Carolina as the Heritage is again one of the Tour’s Signature Events.
We have general albums for you to check out, as well as plenty of WITBs — including Justin Thomas and Justin Rose.
We’ll continue to update as more photos flow in from SC.
Check out links to all our photos, below.
General Albums
- 2024 RBC Heritage – Monday #1
- 2024 RBC Heritage – Monday #2
- 2024 RBC Heritage – Tuesday #1
- 2024 RBC Heritage – Tuesday #2
WITB Albums
- Justin Thomas – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Justin Rose – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Chandler Phillips – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Nick Dunlap – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Thomas Detry – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Austin Eckroat – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Xander Schauffele – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Jason Day – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Will Zalatoris – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Patrick Cantlay – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Ludvig Aberg – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Collin Morikawa – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Sam Burns – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Stephen Jaeger – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
Pullout Albums
- Wyndham Clark’s Odyssey putter – 2024 RBC Heritage
- JT’s new Cameron putter – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Justin Thomas testing new Titleist 2 wood – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Cameron putters – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Odyssey putter with triple track alignment aid – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Scotty Cameron The Blk Box putting alignment aid/training aid – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Cameron putter – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Odyssey Ai One Eleven T putters – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Christian Bezuidenhout – testing new Callaway Ti 340 mini driver – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Rory McIlroy testing the new TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver Copper – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Xander Schauffele testing the Callaway Ti 340 mini driver & the DUW – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Byeong Hun An, two new L.A.B. Golf putter builds with “T” alignment – 2024 RBC Heritage
See what GolfWRXers are saying and join the discussion in the forums.
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Tour Photo Galleries
Photos from the 2024 Valero Texas Open
GolfWRX is on site this week at the Valero Texas Open.
The event has been around since 1922, making it one of the oldest on the PGA Tour calendar. Over the years, it’s been held at a variety of courses across the Lone Star State, but it’s found its home at TPC San Antonio in recent years. Some of the biggest names in golf have taken home the title here, including Arnold Palmer, Ben Hogan, Lee Trevino, and Ben Crenshaw.
GolfWRX has its usual assortment of general galleries, WITBs and special pull-out albums. As always, we’ll continue to update the links below as more photos come in from TPC San Antonio.
General Albums
WITB Albums
- Ben Taylor – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Paul Barjon – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Joe Sullivan – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Wilson Furr – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Ben Willman – SoTex PGA Section Champ – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Jimmy Stanger – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Rickie Fowler – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Harrison Endycott – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Vince Whaley – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Kevin Chappell – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Christian Bezuidenhout – WITB (mini) – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Scott Gutschewski – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
Pullout Albums
- Cameron putter – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Ben Taylor with new Titleist TRS 2 wood – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Swag cover – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Greyson Sigg’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Davis Riley’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Josh Teater’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Hzrdus T1100 is back – – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Mark Hubbard testing ported Titleist irons – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Tyson Alexander testing new Titleist TRS 2 wood – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Hideki Matsuyama’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Cobra putters – 2024 Valero Texas Open
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Tour Photo Galleries
Photos from the 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
GolfWRX is on site in the Lone Star State this week for the Texas Children’s Houston Open.
General galleries from the putting green and range, WITBs — including Thorbjorn Olesen and Zac Blair — and several pull-out albums await.
As always, we’ll continue to update as more photos flow in. Check out links to all our photos from Houston below.
General Albums
- 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open – Monday #1
- 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open – Monday #2
- 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open – Tuesday #1
- 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open – Tuesday #2
- 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open – Tuesday #3
WITB Albums
- Thorbjorn Olesen – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Ben Silverman – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Jesse Droemer – SoTX PGA Section POY – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- David Lipsky – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Martin Trainer – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Zac Blair – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Jacob Bridgeman – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Trace Crowe – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Daniel Berger – WITB(very mini) – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Chesson Hadley – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Callum McNeill – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Rhein Gibson – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Patrick Fishburn – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Peter Malnati – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Raul Pereda – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Gary Woodland WITB (New driver, iron shafts) – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Padraig Harrington WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
Pullout Albums
- Tom Hoge’s custom Cameron – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Cameron putter – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Piretti putters – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Ping putter – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Kevin Dougherty’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Bettinardi putter – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Cameron putter – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Erik Barnes testing an all-black Axis1 putter – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Tony Finau’s new driver shaft – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
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