• Steve DiMeglio for Golfweek frames McIlroy’s 5-under start this way…”As a 20-year-old with unruly hair, Rory McIlroy made the cut on the number and then shot 62 in the final round at Quail Hollow to win the 2010 Wells Fargo Championship and claim his first PGA Tour title.”

• “Five years later, with his hair trimmed down and four major championships under his belt, he shot 61 in the third round of the Wells Fargo Championship and cruised to a 7-shot victory, becoming the only player to win twice at Quail Hollow.”

• “Now, four years later, a trimmed-down, muscled-up McIlroy put himself in position to become the first to win three times at Quail Hollow. With a 5-under-par 66 on Thursday, his familiar name was at the top of the leaderboard after the first round of the Wells Fargo Championship.”

• “Mr. Woods, 43, won the Masters last month, his 15th major win, but his first in a decade.”

• “At the time, Mr. Trump tweeted that he would present Mr. Woods with the award “because of his incredible Success & Comeback in Sports (Golf) and, more importantly, LIFE.” Mr. Trump had also provided encouragement and updates about Mr. Woods’s Masters performance during the event.”

• Golf Digest’s Joel Beall…”Somewhat curiously, Pelley said he was “perplexed” at his sport was being singled out for holding an event in the country.”

• “After the incident [murder], many blue-chip businesses and many governments continued to do business in Saudi, [and the] entertainment business is still flourishing,” Pelley said. “There was Italian Super Cup with AC Milan and Juventus [in January], and Ronaldo scored the winning goal and celebrated, and we tried to find any kind of criticism for Ronaldo, yet our players were criticized. Why was golf singled out? I was perplexed why we were.

• “I went over there first and listened to his Excellency (Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman) at a sports conference, talk about how … the country wanted to change, needed to change, wanted to use sports as a catalyst, was committed to golf.”

“The home favourite won his maiden European Tour title at this event in 2015 and has gone on to triumph twice more, making him the most prolific Chinese winner in European Tour history.”

• “Victory number four may have looked a long way off as he secured just one top 40 finish in his first eight events on the 2019 Race To Dubai but he moved to 13 under on day two at Genzon Golf Club to lead the way from Finn Tapio Pulkkanen.”

Full piece.

• Kent Paisley for LPGA.com...”She’s appeared in six LPGA events this year, with her best performance coming in Carlsbad at the Kia Classic. The longest driver on the LPGA posted weekend rounds of 69/68 to card a T28 finish.”

• “She now finds herself in contention, tied for the lead at (-5) through 18 for the first time in her LPGA career. The Netherlands native came into the season with tempered expectations for her maiden year.”

• “I learned that from my first year in Europe, for me it takes me a bit of time to get used to the rhythm and everything around it. I’ve learned a lot in the first few events. As long as I keep doing that, I think it’s going to be a good year.”

• “Maguire, 24, held a two-shot overnight lead after a course record 64 but fell four shots behind the leaders during a disappointing second round.”

• “Esther Henseleit of Germany carded a 66 to join Spaniard Nuria Iturrios in a tie for the lead on nine under par.”

• “Olivia Cowan is one shot off the pace at the first professional day-night tournament.”

• “Megan Furtney and Erica Shepherd atoned for a semifinal loss a year ago by winning the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball on Wednesday with a strong start and a steady finish at Timuquana Country Club.”

• “Furtney and Shepherd, high school seniors who plan to play for Duke next year, made their fourth birdie on the par-5 seventh hole to build a 3-up lead, and lost only one hole the rest of the way for a 2-and-1 victory over Jillian Bourdage and Casey Weidenfeld.”

• Golf Digest’s Brian Wacker…”By the following morning, a bizarre story out of North Carolina had emerged in which the U.S. Ryder Cup captain had been promised as the host of a charity golf outing taking place on Thursday in Winston-Salem. Except there was one very big problem: Stricker was back home in Wisconsin, and neither he nor his agent knew anything about it.”

• “According to a flyer (an image of which was posted on Twitter by Maple Chase Golf and Country Club head pro Sean Branagan), $7,500 would get participants breakfast with Stricker, 18 holes at a private course with him, autographed Ryder Cup merchandise, and a photo. The donation was “for a great cause and a once in a lifetime experience!” and would benefit the Winston-Salem Rescue Mission, a non-denominational ministry that provides services for those in need.”