FORT WORTH, Texas – Kevin Na counts Colonial Country Club as one of his top-three favorite courses on the PGA TOUR, along with Riviera (the “otherâ€� Hogan’s Alley) and Hilton Head (the “otherâ€� plaid jacket venue). Colonial, in fact, is one of a handful of courses on which Na – who must rely on shot-making rather than length — feels like he can legitimately contend. “I say seven or eight,â€� Na said. “Some golf courses I feel like I have no chance. I don’t play those unless it’s a major and I got no choice. “I won’t mention any names.â€� So we will. For instance, Bethpage Black, which hosted last week’s PGA Championship? “I’m not going to say anything,â€� Na smiled. “You can look up my record. It’s not good.â€� For the record, Na has played three events at Bethpage Black – the PGA and two FedExCup Playoffs events. He’s missed the cut each time. Unlike Bethpage, Na’s record is pretty good at the Charles Schwab Challenge. In his last 11 starts, he’s made 10 cuts and has four top-10 finishes – his best being a solo fourth last year. Three of his last six rounds at Colonial have been among the most impressive of his PGA TOUR career. It was in the first round a year ago that Na shot 62, tying for the lowest opening score in tournament history. On that Sunday, he tied the tournament record with a 61 – the lowest score of his career. Now this week. After opening with an even-par 70 in difficult afternoon scoring conditions, Na again torched Colonial on Friday – a bogey-free 62 that left him at 8 under, just one shot behind leader Jonas Blixt. Na now has five rounds of 62 or better since 2015, and three of those have been at Colonial. “Last year when I shot 61, I felt like I made everything,â€� Na said. “Kind of almost had that feeling today. With a few holes to go, I felt like I had a chance to challenge my own course record.â€� Na made 164 feet, 1 inch of putts on Friday, but he needed less than 3 feet on his opening hole of the day. Na’s second shot at the par-5 first finished inside 3 feet, leaving him with an easy eagle putt. From there, he relied on the flatstick. A 14-foot birdie putt at the third. A 31-footer at the sixth. A 38-1/2 footer at the ninth. And another 31-footer at the 13th. Na entered this week ranked 129th on TOUR in Strokes Gained: Putting, but you wouldn’t know it this week. His birdie putt  from 36 feet late in Thursday’s opening round was a foreshadow of his Friday performance. “Golf seems a lot more fun and a lot easier when you’re making putts,â€� Na said. It also seems a lot more fun when you’re playing on a course you like. Last year after his low rounds, Na did his interviews while attending to his young daughter Sophia. He kept the tradition going Friday. “She’s my good-luck charm,â€� Na said.

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Jordan Spieth is not known to tinker with his equipment much, but he’s made a few significant changes in the past two weeks. Ahead of the 2019 PGA Championship, Spieth switched out of his Titleist 915F fairway wood, which he’s used for about 4 years, into a new Titleist TS2 fairway wood. Then this week at the 2019 Charles Schwab Challenge, Spieth switched out of the driver shaft that he’d been using in his Titleist TS3 driver throughout 2019, into a new Fujikura Ventus 6X shaft; he’s still using the same Titleist TS3 driver head model, at 10.5 degrees. Related: DJ using a Fujikura Ventus prototype shaft | Bettinardi’s military inspired putters | Equipment Q&A: Ping designer Marty Jertson Coming into the 2019 Charles Schwab Challenge, Jordan Spieth was ranked 204 on the PGA TOUR in driving accuracy off the tee, hitting just 51.94 percent of fairways. The Ventus shaft Spieth changed into, however, is designed to reduce twisting at impact with a multi-material bias core, which Fujikura calls “VeloCore,â€� or “Velocity at its Core.â€� The core of the shaft is made with Pitch 70 Ton carbon fiber material that’s “three times stiffer than your standard mod,â€� according to Fujikura’s Fitting and TOUR representative Marshall Thompson. Back in February, PGATOUR.COM went in-depth with Thompson about the shaft, and Thompson said that “upwards of 80-to-90 percent of people had an easier time hitting the center of the faceâ€� with the Ventus shaft, due its twist reduction qualities through impact. According to Fujikura, Spieth also found the center of the face more often using the Ventus shaft. Ahead of the Charles Schwab Challenge, Fujikura said: “The increased tip stiffness moved his toe impact locations to more center face with Ventus. His ball speed was similar at 170-172 (mph), but the misses were better so he decided to put it in play.â€� Although Spieth shot 65 (5-under) in the first round of the Charles Schwab Challenge on Thursday, he hit just half of his fairways, missing 6-of-his-7 missed fairway to the left.   “I still had some scar tissue on shots today where I’ve had some foul balls to the right this year where that’s been my miss,â€� Spieth told PGATOUR.COM. “… I played away from that shot because of the potential of what’s been there this year.â€� If Spieth can heal the mental scar tissue off the tee and continue hitting the center of the face more often with his new driver setup, his driving accuracy could begin trending up.

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