2019 Desert Classic, End of Round 2: Round 2 course scoring averages: LaQuinta CC (LQ): -3.58 strokes per round Nicklaus Tournament Course (NT): -3.44 Stadium Course (SC): -1.73 Current cutline: 71 players at -6 or better (T59th position) Top 3 most likely projected cutlines (3 round cut): 9 under par: 28.8% 10 under par: 22.5% 8 under par: 21.9% Top 5 win probabilities: (Saturday’s course for each player is listed) Phil Mickelson (1, -16, SC) : 19.3% Patrick Cantlay (T8, -11, LQ) : 15.1% Adam Hadwin (T3, -13, NT) : 13.8% Jon Rahm (T5, -12, SC) : 13.2% Steve Marino (T3, -13, NT) : 4.2% NOTE: These reports are based off the live predictive model run by @DataGolf. The model provides live “Make Cut�, “Top 20�, “Top 5�, and “Win� probabilities every 5 minutes from the opening tee shot to the final putt of every PGA TOUR event. Briefly, the model takes account of the current form of each golfer as well as the difficulty of their remaining holes, and probabilities are calculated from 10K simulations. To follow live finish probabilities throughout the remainder of the Desert Classic, or to see how each golfer’s probabilities have evolved from the start of the event to the current time, click here for the model’s home page.

Click here to read the full article…

LA QUINTA, Calif. — Phil Mickelson birdied four of his last five holes Friday in the Desert Classic to take a two-stroke lead into the weekend in his first event of the year. A day after matching his career-low score with 12-under 60 at La Quinta Country Club, the 48-year-old Mickelson had a 68 on PGA West’s Nicklaus Tournament Course to reach 16 under. “I struck the ball every bit as well, I just didn’t putt anywhere close to as well as I did yesterday,” said Mickelson, the tournament winner in 2002 and 2004. Lefty will play the final two rounds on PGA West’s Stadium Course. “I’m starting to drive the ball a lot longer and straighter than I have in a while and so that sets up nicely for that course,” Mickelson said. “I feel like I can play aggressively with the way I’m hitting it off the tee.” Curtis Luck was second after a 66 on the Nicklaus layout. The 22-year-old Australian rebounded from a bogey on the par-3 eighth with a closing birdie on the par-4 ninth. “Just like yesterday, very solid, lot of greens, a lot of fairways,” said Luck, the 2016 U.S. Amateur champion. “Just missed a couple of short ones today, unfortunately. But putting’s been great.” Adam Hadwin and Steve Marino were 13 under, and defending champion Jon Rahm was another stroke back with Wyndham Clark and Joey Garber. MUST READS: Round 2, Desert Classic Mickelson finishes strong to maintain lead Hadwin back in contention Luck two shots back going into weekend Mickelson birdied the par-4 fifth and sixth holes, the par-5 seventh and closed with another on No. 9 . On his opening nine, he birdied the par-5 11th and par-3 12th , then gave back the strokes with a double bogey after hitting into the water on the par-4 18th. “It really wasn’t as hard a shot as I made it look,” Mickelson said about his approach on 18. “I had a decent lie after dropping off the cart path, but I had the ball a little bit below my feet and a slight uphill lie, which the tendency on those shots is to pull it and I just didn’t adjust for that very well and I pulled it right in the water.” Mickelson is making his first TOUR start since early October and first competitive appearance since beating Tiger Woods in Las Vegas in November in a one-day, made-for-TV event. He won the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship last year for his 43rd PGA TOUR title and first since the 2013 British Open. “There’s two areas that guys tend to decline when they hit about mid 40s or so forth,” Mickelson said. “One is speed and one is putting. The last two years I’ve done a good job of improving my putting. I’ve actually putted better the last few years than I ever have in my career. The last thing is speed, because if I have speed with the driver then I can worry more about accuracy.” Hadwin had a 66 at La Quinta, the course where the Canadian shot 59 two years ago. “I’m playing some extremely good golf again here in the desert and just got to keep moving forward,” Hadwin said. Marino had a hole-in-one on the seventh hole at La Quinta in a 65. “There was like probably 15 people behind the green, but it was weird, they didn’t really go bananas,” Marino said. “So we thought it was in, but it wasn’t like a hundred percent sure and luckily we went up there and it was in the hole.” Rahm had a 66 on the Nicklaus Course. He also will play the final two days on the Stadium Course. “It’s still a very, very difficult golf course and you have to hit it good,” Rahm said. “Hopefully, I just keep the mojo that I had last year going.” Clark shot 67 on the Nicklaus layout, and Garber had a 64 at La Quinta. Defending FedExCup champion Justin Rose was tied for 28th at 8 under after a 68 on the Nicklaus layout.

Click here to read the full article…

How they qualified for the Farmers Insurance Open as of 1/18/2019. Winner – PGA/U.S. Open Championship Jason Day Rory McIlroy Jordan Spieth Jimmy Walker Winner – THE PLAYERS Championship Rickie Fowler Si Woo Kim Winner – The Masters Tournament Patrick Reed Danny Willett Winner – TOUR Championship Xander Schauffele Tiger Woods Winner – World Golf Championships Event Russell Knox Hideki Matsuyama Justin Rose Adam Scott Winners of the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard & the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide (Last 3 Years) Marc Leishman Winner – FedExCup – Last Five Seasons Billy Horschel Tournament Winner in Past Two Seasons Daniel Berger Jonas Blixt Keegan Bradley Patrick Cantlay Cameron Champ Brice Garnett Cody Gribble Brian Harman Charles Howell III Mackenzie Hughes Michael Kim Satoshi Kodaira Grayson Murray Rod Pampling Pat Perez D.A. Points Jon Rahm Cameron Smith Brandt Snedeker Kyle Stanley Brendan Steele Chris Stroud Hudson Swafford Kevin Tway Jhonattan Vegas Aaron Wise Gary Woodland Sponsors Exemptions – Members not otherwise exempt Ben Crane Bill Haas Sponsors Exemptions – Unrestricted Doug Ghim Nick Hardy Viktor Hovland Braden Thornberry PGA Section Champion\Player of the Year Kenny Pigman Past Champion of Respective Event Scott Stallings Top 125 on Prior Season’s FedExCup Points List Tony Finau Emiliano Grillo Cheng Tsung Pan Alex Noren Chesson Hadley Luke List Beau Hossler Jason Kokrak Abraham Ancer J.J. Spaun Ryan Palmer Peter Uihlein Chris Kirk Keith Mitchell Ryan Moore Whee Kim Stewart Cink Nick Watney Kevin Streelman Bronson Burgoon Charley Hoffman Joel Dahmen J.B. Holmes James Hahn Jamie Lovemark Branden Grace Kelly Kraft Tom Hoge Danny Lee Ollie Schniederjans Sam Ryder Trey Mullinax Brandon Harkins Patrick Rodgers Charl Schwartzel Sean O’Hair Harold Varner III Alex Cejka Rory Sabbatini Richy Werenski Sung Kang John Huh Tyler Duncan Seamus Power Martin Laird J.T. Poston Sam Saunders Ryan Blaum Scott Brown Nick Taylor Bud Cauley Harris English Top 125 (Prior Season Nonmember) Joaquin Niemann Kiradech Aphibarnrat Major Medical Extension. John Senden Sangmoon Bae Morgan Hoffmann Jim Herman Brandon Hagy Steve Marino Leading Money Winner from Web.com Tour & Web.com Tour Finals Sungjae Im Denny McCarthy Top Finishers from Web.com Tour Prior Season (reordered) Robert Streb Chase Wright Anders Albertson Adam Schenk Sam Burns Carlos Ortiz Hunter Mahan Roberto Castro Stephan Jaeger Peter Malnati Cameron Davis Seth Reeves Jim Knous Kramer Hickok Scott Langley Julián Etulain Michael Thompson Shawn Stefani Kyoung-Hoon Lee Kyle Jones Dylan Frittelli Alex Prugh Wyndham Clark Hank Lebioda Adam Svensson Fabián Gómez Sebastián Muñoz Ben Silverman José de Jesús Rodríguez Wes Roach Nicholas Lindheim Cameron Tringale Josh Teater Sepp Straka Roger Sloan Matt Jones John Chin

Click here to read the full article…

LA QUINTA, Calif. – Curtis Luck could dramatically change his season with a good weekend at the Desert Classic. The 22-year-old Australian will start Saturday in second place after missing four of his first five cuts this season. He sits at 14-under 130 (64-66), two shots behind fellow U.S. Amateur champion Phil Mickelson. Mickelson is the 36-hole leader following Thursday’s 60 with a 4-under 68. Luck and Mickelson both have 16 birdies this week, the most in the field (Mickelson also has an eagle), but now they have two rounds remaining on PGA West’s Stadium Course, the toughest of the three courses in use this week. Luck made eight birdies in each of his first two rounds, but also had two bogeys Friday. MUST READS: Round 2, Desert Classic “Just like yesterday. Very solid, lot of greens, a lot of fairways. Just missed a couple of short ones today, unfortunately, on the greens,� he said. He’s needed just 23 putts in each of the first two rounds. He is T79 in greens hit (25 of 36) but first in putts per green in regulation (1.44). Luck, the 2016 U.S. Amateur champion, is playing his first season as a PGA TOUR member after earning his card via the Web.com Tour Finals.  He didn’t qualify for the Finals until the last week of the Web.com Tour’s Regular Season, finishing sixth at the WinCo Foods Portland Open to jump inside the top 75 on the money list and qualify for the four-event series that is the only source of PGA TOUR cards. Luck posted two top-10s in the four Finals events to become a TOUR member. Now he’s trying to turn around his season after a tough start. A 50th-place finish at the Sanderson Farms Championship is his best showing this season.

Click here to read the full article…

A day after firing a career low-tying 60, Phil Mickelson birdied four of his last five holes to shoot a 68 on Friday and take a two-stroke lead into the weekend at the Desert Classic.

Click here to read the full article…

Click here to read the full article…

LA QUINTA, Calif. – Adam Hadwin’s Desert Classic success continued Friday with a 66 at La Quinta Country Club. At 13-under 133, Hadwin is three shots behind leader Phil Mickelson. And Hadwin has yet to play the easiest of the three courses in use this week, PGA West’s Nicklaus Tournament Course. He’ll play there on Saturday. This is the fourth consecutive year that Hadwin is contending in the California desert. He finished sixth in the 2016 Desert Classic, runner-up the next year (after shooting a third-round 59 at La Quinta) and third last year. “I’m playing some extremely good golf again here in the desert and just got to keep moving forward,â€� he said. He is 72 under par over the last 14 rounds at this event, 14 shots lower than anyone else. Bud Cauley is second at 58 under par, Charles Howell III is third at 53 under, followed by Mickelson at 52 under. Hadwin hit 13 greens on Friday after hitting all 18 in his first round at PGA West’s Stadium Course, which will host Sunday’s final round. The Canadian can count on support at this event from his countrymen who live in La Quinta during the winter, and the courses here remind him of the ones he plays in his adopted hometown of Phoenix. “I play on this grass, this overseeded grass all the time,â€� he said. “There’s definitely a comfort level with the courses and the type of grass and the greens and so it probably helps reading putts, seeing break.â€� He has just two bogeys this week.

Click here to read the full article…