Phil Mickelson returning to Torrey Pines in pursuit of the Career Grand Slam—and gamblers have made Lefty the most-bet-on golfer of the week.
Two competitors who figure to have a say in that: Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau, who have grabbed most of the headlines over the past month.
Like fellow surprise story Richard Bland, Buckley also picked up his first pro win in 2021, though his came on the KFT at the LECOM Suncoast Classic and it came in his 17th KFT start.
7:18 p.m.: Developing story this evening – England’s Richard Bland, the 48-year-old who finally got his first European Tour victory at the British Masters this past May in what was his 478th career start.
6:53 p.m.: While we were away, Spain’s Rafa Cabrera Bello posted three-under 68, putting him one off the lead.
Willy Z, Scottie Scheffler, Dustin Johnson and the Patricks Cantlay and Reed are plugging along at even.
Of course, he won at Winged Foot last year missing the majority of fairways, so this isn’t the end of the world for him.
The power group of Koepka, Thomas and Morikawa didn’t exactly live up to the hype today.
Both finish at one-under and are very much in the mix, but have to feel like they left shots on the course today.
4:40 p.m.: Any moisture left on the course from the marine layer that rolled through La Jolla this morning has evaporated, as greens and fairways are starting to firm up and turn a nice U.S.
The best score of the day is a one-under 70 from Edoardo Molinari.
He, Koepka and Wolff are tied at three under, though Wolff is knocking the ball all over the seventh hole, his 16th, and may be lucky to drop only one shot.
There are seven players just one off the lead at two under, including hometown hero Xander Schauffele.
Just as we typed that, Matthew Wolff made another birdie to get back to three under after dropping four shots earlier in his round.
His tee shot went into the penalty area and he eventually made a gutsy six-footer to only drop to three under.
2:57 p.m.: The Cali group of Max Homa, Mickelson and Schauffele all got to the green in two at the 18th, but only Homa and Schauffele were able to capitalize with a birdie.
After jumping out to an early lead at three under, he gave all three shots back plus one more, dropping to one over.
2:41 p.m.: Finally some good vibes for Phil Mickelson, who damn near jarred one for eagle at 17 and then tapped in the birdie to get back to two over.
Koepka just stuffed one to literal kick-in range at 18 to get to three under, which will give him a share of the lead at three under with Russell Henley.
We kid, but man, when Brooks Koepka’s name moves to the top of the leader board at a major it just feels different.
Full disclosure, there might be a couple people writing this blog who put a few bucks on him.
2:04 p.m.: Xander Schauffele joins the gang at two under with a birdie on 14 then pipes a 348-yard drive down the middle at No.
1:50 p.m.: Matthew Wolff has suddenly cooled off after gonig bogey-double bogey on 15 and 16, where he missed a two-foot putt.
His only chance of keeping it near the hole was to hit the stick—unfortunately, it hit so hard it ricocheted all the way back into the rough.
Mickelson lipped out for par on 10, lipped in for par on 11 and made a more conventional par on 12 to start one over thru three.
12:47 p.m.: Beware the just-married golfer? OK, so that’s not really a thing, but we’ve got two of them in the field this week and one of those guys, Tyrrell Hatton, has birdies his opening two holes at Torrey Pines.
12:35 p.m.: Remember Matthew Wolff? That guy who looked like he might run away with this title in September at Winged Foot? Well, after a disastrous start to 2021, he’s off to a fantastic start at Torrey Pines with birdies on two of his first three holes.
Oh man, Tyrrell Hatton joins the growing group at 1-under with a birdie at the first hole—and he really deserved it.
12:13 p.m.: One of the featured tee times of the morning is now on the course—Brooks Koepka, Collin Morikawa and Justin Thomas—have began their rounds at the 10th holes.
We told you that Edoardo Molinari birdied the first hole before—now his brother, Francesco, just did the same! There are actually two sets of brothers in the field this week: Carlos and Alvaro Ortiz, too.
We last saw Wolff at the Masters where he was DQ after a scorecard penalty .
11:29 a.m.: We’ve been used to seeing “Molinari” at the top of major leader boards over the past couple of years.
11:25 a.m.: Our biggest takeaway after watching the approach shots at the first and 10th holes: These greens are not as firm as they might’ve been earlier this week.
Sahith Theegala, the former standout at Pepperdine University and a California native, hits the first tee shot of the 121st U.S.
The Peacock coverage is showing the group on the 10th hole—Pope, Kennedy and Aiken—who are now awkwardly lingering out by the 10th tee.
We love Southern California, but this fog means we have to hear the Golf Channel crew extend their pre-tournament preview content.
9:45 a.m.: Well, the first groups were supposed to be teeing off at Torrey Pines’ first and 10th holes right now.
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