Henderson hits every green

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Golf fans, good morning as the second day of the Butterfield Bermuda Championship begins.

1. Noren fires blistering 61

ESPN report …”Alex Noren’s wedge game paid off in the Butterfield Bermuda Championship on Thursday with a 10-under-61, giving him two shots over four other players on a quiet day at Port Royal.

• Noren had the game down pat, even with a little breeze. “He set a record for the tournament with 11 birdies and his 61 was two shots better than his previous lowest score on PGA Tour.”

• “Vince Whaley and Dylan Wu. Robert Garrigus, D.J. Trahan was 63.”

2. Els leads Phoenix by two shots

AP report …”Ernie Els started with four birdies on five holes, and never slowed down until he finished the Charles Schwab Cup Championship with an 8-under 63. He took a two shot lead.”

• The 35-man field in Phoenix Country Club is essentially playing for second place on the Schwab Cup point race. Steve Stricker won six times in this year and clinched the Schwab Cup before the postseason began. He then had to withdraw at the PGA Tour Champions final.

• “Stricker stated that his father had been admitted to a hospital in Wisconsin, on Monday afternoon. He felt it best to remain with his family.”

3. Homa spreads quickly in South Africa

ESPN report …”After Max Homa’s longest break from golf, and his time on safari, he felt anxious about his state of play heading into the Nedbank Golf Challenge South Africa.

• He didn’t need to worry.

• “Homa holed an 16-foot putt for a birdie on No. “Homa holed a 16-foot birdie putt on No.

4. Henderson putts for birdie on every hole

AP report …” Brooke Henderson, who was on the LPGA Tour Thursday morning, was concerned by so many low scores. She putted birdie at every hole and opened with an 8-under-62 to take a one shot lead in The Annika.”

• “Henderson, who had a 29 for the front nine, surpassed a group which included Patty Tavatanakit and Jin Young Ko, with a long-range birdie on her last hole, the par-3 9th.”

• Henderson said that she felt like her ball-striking was improving after switching irons.

5. A 31-year old PGA Tour record is broken

Alex Myers, Golf Digest …”It was nearly a full month after Adam Long had missed the shortgrass off the tee before he hit an errant shot on the 15th of the Butterfield Bermuda Championship’s first round. The 36-year old had, by then, already broken a 31-year PGA Tour record, albeit a fairly obscure one.”

• Long arrived in Bermuda having hit 58 fairways in a row. When he hit another fairway on the par-5 2nd hole at Port Royal Golf Course he broke Brian Claar’s 1992 record of 59.

• After his round, Long told reporters that if no one had come up to me and said anything in the past 24 hours, I would not have thought about it so much. “But I was thinking about it, definitely, from the start. The first fairway was easy to hit with a hybrid, but the second is a real challenge. “Luckily, it was a little into the wind and I hit a driver. I hung in the middle and in the fairway. After that I was just coasting.”

6. She’s only playing one week and she has already won $1 million

Kent Paisley, Golf Digest …”The biggest payday on the LPGA Tour is likely to be claimed by someone who won’t be playing in the Annika Driven By Gainbridge event at the end of the 2023 calendar. Angel Yin is the leader of the Aon Risk Reward Challenge for the entire season. She stayed away because she was in a position to win $1 million, which will be awarded to the LPGA golfer who has the lowest average score on a specific hole in tournaments throughout the 2023 year.

• Atthaya Thitikul can only pass Yin, who has a score of -.933 (for the year), if the Annika tournament is the last event that counts toward the prize. Thitikul would have to shoot two eagles on the par-5 14th hole at Pelican Golf Club over the course of the four-day period. The Thai native made only seven eagles this season.

• “I didn’t really think I had a shot, because Aon to me is a lotto,” Yin stated last week, knowing she was almost certain to win the 2023 prize. It’s difficult to keep your performance below par throughout the year without a mistake.

7. Lexi resurgent

Beth Ann Nichols …”This Week, Thompson will tee it up at Pelican in the newly-renamed Annika, driven by Gainbridge, where she was runner-up last two seasons to Nelly Korda. It’s her debut since she made the cut on PGA Tour.”

• Thompson said that Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, Florida is in the best condition she has ever seen. She loves that she can hit the driver harder and more aggressively than in most tour shops. Her familiarity of Bermudagrass is a huge help.”

• “Ruggiero worked with many male touring professionals over the years. Lucas Glover, Rob Shelton and others were former students. Thompson is impressed with his direct approach.”

• She said, “Tony is going to tell you the truth and I’m happy about that.” “That’s what I do.” “We laugh together, and it’s really not that uptight.”

8. Why Vijay Singh’s irons have red numbers on them

“Our Andrew Tursky …”On the Tuesday of the Charles Schwab Cup Championship, at Phoenix Country Club, at I noticed that Singh’s Srixon Irons had large red numbers all over them.”

• After a closer inspection, it was clear that each number was one digit above the “actual” number that is stamped on the soles of the irons.

• What’s going on? Why are the red numbers mismatched?

• As Brian Rhattigan confirmed, Singh does not like the offset look on his irons. If you’re not familiar with the term “offset”, it refers to distance between the leading edges of the face of the iron and the hosel. “If there is a big gap between the hosel of the iron and the leading edge then it’s said that the club has a lot offset.”

• Singh doesn’t like offset. He prefers that the leading edge and hosel match or have “onset,” where the leading edge is in front of hosel.

9. Charles Schwab Cup Champions Tour Photos

• See our pictures from Phoenix!