Michael Thompson

Thompson has five top 40s in 15 starts this season but was entering on the heels of back-to-back missed cuts (Zurich Classic, Wells Fargo Championship). That puts him at 146th in the FedExCup race with plenty of events still to play. There is no word on whether this WD was injury-related or just a change of schedule. With just one top 25 on the season, gamers can easily play it safe and wait to see his results in the next event he enters before reconsidering an investment. 

Thompson made it look easy today with 14 GIR, gaining 2.2 strokes on approach along the way. "These greens don't really fit my eye because there's so many little undulations and you can have a 20-footer that breaks three different ways and it's hard to read sometimes." Thompson found a workaround for that discomfort and the solution was to stuff it close. Six of his seven birdies were converted from inside of seven feet. The lone exception was a 48'4" birdie bomb at the 11th while he also saved par from 10 feet at the 6th. Thompson arrived with two missed cuts and a solo 64th in three previous tries at Detroit Golf Club. He's off to a much better start this week, with 54 holes remaining. 

Thompson swallowed three bogeys and three doubles in round two but flipped the script entirely today. He striped 11-of-14 fairways and landed 14 GIR. He converted that into nine birdies without dropping a single shot along the way. It was a 13-shot improvement, round-over-round. Thompson will likely need a repeat performance tomorrow if he wants to take home a trophy as he sits 11 points off the pace set by Chez Reavie. Every shot counts for Thompson, though, as he entered the week just 129th in the FedExCup race. 

Thompson split 12-of-14 fairways and landed 15 greens in regulation today while taking on the easier of the two courses at Torrey Pines. "It's shorter, I think the rough is a little bit lighter on the North, and you just know you're going to have to take advantage because the South course can beat you up. I was really quite surprised with how I played today because my practice leading up into today wasn't that great. I didn't play great last week, but something clicked and I made a bunch of putts and I was hitting my lines, so nothing to complain about." He was arriving off a missed cut at The American Express where he lost 5.4 strokes tee-to-green in his one measured round. There are a few golfers threatening this 8-under score but if it holds it would be Thompson's sixth time posting a first-round lead or co-lead on the PGA TOUR and first time since the 2016 Honda Classic.