Golf

Nick Watney tests positive for Covid-19 at RBC Heritage as Simpson leads

Shane Lowry and Graeme McDowell both missed the cut despite good second rounds

Webb Simpson of the United States plays a shot during the second round of the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. Photo: Sam Greenwood/Getty Images

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Philip Reid
Fri Jun 19 2020 - 21:40

What a difference a week can make, for some. Webb Simpson isn’t used to missing cuts but that’s what happened at last week’s PGA Tour return at Colonial. Fast forward to Harbour Town Links in Hilton Head, South Carolina, and the 34-year-old American showcased his shot-making and mental fortitude to produce a second round 65 to reach the midpoint of the RBC Heritage on 12-under-par 130, a shot ahead of Bryson DeChambeau.

Off the course, though, the news that Nick Watney – who opened with a 74 but withdrew prior to the second round – had tested positive for Covid-19 brought the reality of the pandemic home in only the second week of the PGA Tour’s reshuffled schedule. On arrival to the venue, Watney had indicated to medical staff he was exhibiting symptoms and the test result proved positive.

In a statement, the PGA Tour said, “for the health and well-being of all associated witith the tournament . . . . the tour has begun implementing its response plan in consultation with medcial experts including working with those who may have had close contact with Nick.” It is believed Watney travelled privately to Hilton Head, rather than taking the plane charted to take players from Texas to South Carolina.

Rory McIlroy, the world number one, was among those in the second wave of play as the wind freshened and distant rolls of thunder could be heard out in the Atlantic. After struggling to an opening round 72 and facing an uphill fight to make the cut, the Northern Irishman responded in fighting form with an outward run of three birdies – on the second, fifth and ninth – to turn in 33 and added more birdies at the 11th, 12th and 15th to get to five-under for the tournament and sign for a round of 65.

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For Simpson, that missed cut in Texas – his first in over 15 months, going back to last year’s Valspar Championship – was consigned to the past as he bounced back to form on a course where, almost chess-like, players are required to plot their way around the Pete Dye-designed layout.

“I feel like it’s a little bit thrown back in time, with the way the golf course is. It’s really a shot maker’s course,” Simpson had remarked in advance of the tour’s delayed visit, for a tournament originally pencilled in for last April.

What was particularly impressive in Simpson’s second round was his ability to immediately bounce back from any adversity. In a round which produced nine birdies and three bogeys, one notable aspect was that the former US Open champion managed to respond to those dropped shots by immediately birdieing the next hole.

Of those bogeys, on the 14th, 16th and seventh holes (having started on the 10th), Simpson put them down as “physical errors, and I’d rather physical errors than mental errors . . . . I followed each bogey with a birdie, it just shows I’m staying present mentally. I’m getting on the next tee and I’m not thinking about the last hole in any way. I did a good job of that,” he said.

Simpson attributed his improvement on the greens to a little tweak to his putting set-up which he found after his opening round on Thursday, where moving the ball forward in his stance helped his aim. “I really view (tournaments) as a marathon. It’s a long way. We’re only halfway there, but I’m in a great position, and I’ll take where I’m at,” said Simpson, whose last win on tour came in the Phoenix Open in February, where he beat Tony Finau in a playoff.

While Simpson responded to last week’s missed cut in the Charles Schwab Challenge by bouncing back in some style, the same could not be said for Shane Lowry or Graeme McDowell who followed up missed cuts in Texas with again failing to make it beyond the 36-holes cut and into the weekend.

In fairness, it wasn’t for the want of trying as Lowry and McDowell made a fight of it with rounds of 67 and 66 respectively to finish on one-under 141, two shots shy of the expected cutline: Lowry got off to a flying start with four birdies in his opening seven holes, the longest from 12 feet, but the birdies dried up on the homeward run which saw nine successive pars. His best birdie chances came on the 15th and 16th from inside 10 feet, but failed to convert.

McDowell too made a fist of making it into the weekend only to come up short, in a round of seven birdies and two bogeys. McDowell, a winner of the Heritage in 2013, finished strongly with four birdies in his closing six holes but it wasn’t enough to ensure survival.

Second round scores in the USPGA Tour RBC Heritage (USA unless stated, par 71). Play was suspended for the day due to inclement weather with 33 players still to finish their second round:

130 Webb Simpson 65 65

131 Bryson DeChambeau 67 64, Corey Conners (Can) 68 63

132 Ryan Palmer 65 67

133 Brooks Koepka 67 66, Abraham Ancer (Mex) 69 64, Matthew NeSmith 66 67, Ian Poulter (Eng) 64 69, Jhonattan Vegas (Ven) 70 63

134 Dustin Johnson 68 66, Wyndham Clark 68 66, Sam Ryder 69 65, Sebastian Munoz (Col) 65 69, Mackenzie Hughes (Can) 66 68, Tyler Duncan 71 63, Dylan Frittelli (Rsa) 65 69

135 Danny Lee (Nzl) 68 67, Alex Noren (Swe) 69 66, Jason Dufner 69 66, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 70 65, Andrew Landry 68 67

136 Vaughn Taylor 67 69, Chesson Hadley 68 68, Matt Kuchar 70 66, Joel Dahmen 68 68, Daniel Berger 67 69, Max Homa 67 69, Cheng-Tsung Pan (Tai) 68 68, Christiaan Bezuidenhout (Rsa) 67 69, Brice Garnett 65 71, Jordan Spieth 66 70

137 Rory Sabbatini (Svk) 70 67, Chris Stroud 68 69, Lucas Glover 69 68, Gary Woodland 69 68, Bubba Watson 69 68, Adam Hadwin (Can) 72 65, Harris English 67 70, Rory McIlroy (Irl) 72 65, Bill Haas 71 66, Justin Rose (Eng) 70 67, Harry Higgs 69 68, Ryan Armour 69 68, Jim Herman 68 69

138 Brian Stuard 68 70, Peter Malnati 71 67, Scott Stallings 70 68, Matt Jones (Aus) 69 69, Sepp Straka (Aut) 67 71, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 71 67, Branden Grace (Rsa) 69 69, Chez Reavie 68 70, Doc Redman 72 66, Maverick McNealy 72 66, Justin Thomas 72 66, Jon Rahm (Spa) 71 67, Troy Merritt 70 68

139 Pat Perez 73 66, Kyle Stanley 69 70, Nate Lashley 72 67, Charles Howell III 73 66, Tom Hoge 70 69, Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 71 68, Patton Kizzire 70 69, Patrick Rodgers 67 72, Billy Horschel 69 70, JJ Spaun 72 67, Kevin Kisner 68 71, Rickie Fowler 67 72, Spencer Ralston 69 70

140 Jason Day (Aus) 71 69, Russell Henley 70 70, Brendon Todd 68 72, Russell Knox (Sco) 73 67, Kevin Streelman 73 67

141 Bud Cauley 71 70, Matthew Wolff 72 69

Harold Varner III 70 71, Graeme McDowell (Irl) 75 66, Davis Love III 72 69, Emiliano Grillo (Arg) 70 71, Cameron Smith (Aus) 69 72, Shane Lowry (Irl) 74 67, Michael Kim 72 69

142 Luke List 69 73, Andrew Putnam 74 68, Jason Kokrak 69 73, Michael Gligic (Can) 72 70, Si Woo Kim (Kor) 72 70, Sam Burns 71 71, Keith Mitchell 72 70, Kevin Tway 71 71, Ryan Moore 73 69, Patrick Reed 70 72, 143 Scott Brown 73 70, Zach Johnson 69 74, Jimmy Walker 74 69, Luke Donald (Eng) 71 72, Rafael Cabrera-Bello (Spa) 73 70, Andy Ogletree 73 70, Sungjae Im (Kor) 73 70, Lanto Griffin 76 67

144 Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn) 74 70, Brian Gay 71 73, David Hearn (Can) 75 69, Glen Day 76 68, Brandt Snedeker 74 70

146 Bol Van Pelt 71 75, Matt Every 74 72, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 73 73

147 Austin Cook 76 71, Victor Perez (Fra) 76 71, Scott Piercy 76 71, Kyung Ju Choi (Kor) 73 74

148 Sung Kang (Kor) 72 76, Byeong-Hun An (Kor) 74 74

151 Martin Trainer 80 71