HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – Webb Simpson and Bryson DeChambeau trade birdies with very different games. Rory McIlroy ran enough birds to cut. And the biggest step of the day at RBC Heritage was that of a player who made it to the field, but not the tee.
Nick Watney became a footnote in golf history Friday as the first player tested positive for the corona virus.
“I’m a little surprised, honestly,” said Vaughn Taylor, who played with Watney in the opening round and went for testing immediately after his 69. “The heart starts racing, so it’s a little nervous. Hopefully Nick is fine and we can get through it. “
Watney was stated negative when he arrived on Tuesday, experienced symptoms on Friday and underwent another test that returned positive. He now faces isolation for at least 10 days during the tournament.
A busy weekend in Harbor Town illustrates more than just birdies and bogeys.
Simpson got the last word with a 6 foot birdie in his last hole in No. 9 for 6-under 65, gave him one shot after a day of watching DeChambeau and an additional 40 pounds of mass swings out of his shoes for 64. DeChambeau made six birdies on his back nine, losing 5-footers to the last to be bound to lead. Corey Conners is also one of them after 63 free specters.
“It’s very satisfying to know I’m not close for some of these people and I can use my skills in distance control and form shots to pick me back when I’m 40 yards or 30 yards behind these friends,” Simpson said. “I want to hit him further. I started the journey three years ago to get stronger, hit it even further, but do it much slower than Bryson. But he makes it look easy and smooth. “
Simpson is at 12-under 130, and the score remains a lot. A thunderstorm that rolled up the island and stopped the game for two hours only gave players more time to talk about Watney and its consequences. McIlroy and Jordan Spieth, who are on the PGA Tour policy board, said a positive test would definitely occur when the tour returned from closing three months because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The whole plan was determined not if, but when someone tested positive, what the protocol was, and what the next steps were,” said Spieth. “So I feel confident, just by making that phone call, in what the PGA TOUR will do to progress here, and hopefully contacting tracking does not lead to someone else testing positively in the bubble.”
McIlroy, who shot 66 for the cut with one shot left, said he saw Watney on the putting green before the test results were returned. Brooks Koepka, who was three shots behind after 66, said he saw Watney in the parking lot.
“It’s unfortunate Nick got it, but at the same time, hopefully, it stays with him and doesn’t spread,” said Koepka. “Because I think we will have a big problem at hand if it continues to run along the week.”
Webb SimpsonGetty Images
For most of Friday, Simpson took the lead and DeChambeau was in the spotlight, with his extraordinary army making him stand out like a lighthouse behind the 18th green.
He decided at the end of last season to be stronger and bigger so he could swing faster and hit him longer, and this transformation caught everyone’s attention. Even while adding 40 pounds of mass, he hasn’t lost his love for science. That was proven in the last hole.
DeChambeau had the honor and let Simpson go first so he could think of what to do. Simpson poked his hybrid 221 yards into the fairway on the ninth hole 334 yards. DeChambeau chose 3-wood, mainly because he was worried his driver would pass green.
He did two hard training swings, and exhaled like an Olympic weightlifter who was preparing for a clean and jerk. He sent her soaring just to say, “Ah! Too many rounds, hit. “
He found a bunker in front of the green, 309 yards away, and he was much more bothered to miss the birdie putt, even though his 64 left it right in the mix again. He hasn’t finished worse than a tie for the fifth since February – only four tournaments because the pandemic closed golf for three months.
“He can take this body that he has never played before and still play well, if not better,” Simpson said. “So that was very impressive.”
Break time doesn’t seem to hurt, and DeChambeau says time at the gym – and on the buffet line – allows him to go from ball speed around 188 mph to the 190s. That did not always work in Harbor Town, a tight path that snaked through oaks, and DeChambeau regretted that he could not “launch Kraken.”
At least he didn’t hold back at dinner. DeChambeau said his fitness plan was a ratio of carbohydrates and protein 2 to 1 and “I really have it. I eat anything, anytime. “Most of the muscles are muscles, all for more speed. He believes he can get it up to 197 mph in a course that allows more drivers.
“Increasing the distance has helped me hit 9-irons and throw slices into the hole compared to hitting 7-irons and 6-iron,” he said. “It was a big change for me that allowed me to go and attack more flags, be more aggressive, not really have to try and put it in this little place on the fairway here and actually attack those flags.”
Simpson is more worried than DeChambeau. Twenty players were in the lead four shots, a group that included Koepka and Dustin Johnson.
