Good Friday morning, golf fans, as day two of the RSM Classic and LPGA season finale gets underway.

1. Ko leads at LPGA season finale

AP report…”Lydia Ko began her quest for the largest prize in women’s golf history by hitting a tree and making bogey on a par 5. The rest of Thursday in the CME Group Tour Championship couldn’t have gone better.”

• “Ko responded with eight birdies, including four in a row late in the round at Tiburon Golf Club, that sent her to a 7-under 65 and a one-shot lead in the LPGA Tour season finale.”

2. Hammer ahead at RSM after career low

AP report…”Cole Hammer would have been happy with pars in the cold and wind on Sea Island. He wound up with more birdies than he imagined Thursday for an 8-under 64 and the low score to par after one round of The RSM Classic.”

• “…Hammer, who graduated from Texas in May, shared the low score with another Longhorn alum, Beau Hossler, whose 6-under 64 came at the host Seaside course, which played about two shots more difficult to par.”

3. Fitzpatrick in front at DPW

Cameron Jourdan for Golfweek…”Matt Fitzpatrick couldn’t have started any better than he did Thursday at the 2022 DP World Tour Championship.”

• “How about five straight birdies to begin the day? That’s what Fitzpatrick, the 2022 U.S. Open champion, did at Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai during the first round. He added another on the eighth hole, going out in 6-under 30. on the back nine, he added another birdie and didn’t have any bogeys.”

• “Fitzpatrick carded a 7-under 65 in the first round and is tied with Tyrrell Hatton following the opening 18 holes.”

4. Neither stomach bug nor water ball…

Kevin Prise for PGATour.com…”Ben Griffin had such a scenario earlier this week at The RSM Classic. As he prepared to take a shower at home Tuesday morning, the adopted St. Simons Island resident learned his roommate had accidentally left the most recent water bill unpaid, and the water was shut off. (That roommate, Bryson Nimmer, had just Monday qualified with a 63). This inconvenience was compounded by a stomach bug that has limited Griffin’s food intake this week – “the last three days have been full of electrolytes.””

• “It meant for on-the-fly logistical arrangements, but Griffin has thrived under such circumstances in the past year. Thursday was no different. The TOUR rookie opened The RSM Classic in 7-under 65 at Sea Island GC (Plantation), one off the early pace of recent PGA TOUR University graduate Cole Hammer.”

• “My WHOOP said I was 1% recovery, so that’s never good,” Griffin said Thursday afternoon at Sea Island GC. “I think it was a stomach virus or food poisoning. I didn’t eat at all today. Monday night, I didn’t sleep at all, so I was kind of up all night in the bathroom throwing up. It wasn’t great. Then tried to sleep most of the day Tuesday, but only got two hours.”

• “I haven’t had a lot of fuel from a food standpoint in my system the last few days, but it’s always exciting teeing it up on the PGA TOUR, and I had energy right out of the gate. So it was all good.”

5. Honda ending title sponsorship

Golfweek’s Adam Schupak…”Golfweek has learned that Honda will end the longest-running uninterrupted title sponsorship deal on the PGA Tour.”

• “Multiple sources have confirmed that the Japanese automaker won’t renew when its current deal expires after the 2023 Honda Classic in late February.”

6. Simpson gets custom Titleist iron treatment

Our Andrew Tursky writing for PGATour.com…”On Tuesday, Simpson revealed an all-new set of ‘682.WS’ irons that combine everything he likes about his previous 680 Forged, 620 MB and T100 iron models. They’re built exactly to his preferences using special Titleist machines.”

• “Simpson told GolfWRX.com that he likely won’t play the irons just yet, however, since it’s his first week receiving them, and windy conditions are expected in Sea Island.”

• “I wanted the blade look and setup, but I wanted the new grooves,” Simpson told GolfWRX. “They kind of have the T100 grooves. I had a lot of success out of the rough with the T100’s, but I still wanted the blade look and feel, and they kind of converge into one iron. It looks just like the (680 Forged irons). It was all JJ’s idea. He thought of it and he wanted to get going on this special project for me. It’s very exciting. They’ll be in play next tournament for sure. They’re beautiful, they’re awesome.”

• “Only two players have received the same custom treatment previously: Justin Thomas with his 621.JT models, and Adam Scott with his former 681.AS irons.”

• “Now, Simpson has his initials on set of 682.WS irons.”

7. Webb “starting to have confidence again”

Golfweek’s Adam Schupak…”Simpson, who has plummeted to No. 111 in the world and hasn’t recorded a top-10 finish since last year’s RSM Classic, recently parted ways with instructor Butch Harmon and started working with Cameron McCormick, who is best known for his work with Jordan Spieth. Of moving on from Harmon, who helped Simpson reach new heights in 2020, Simpson said, “It was so hard to get to him, you know, for just one lesson and make it back to Charlotte.”

• …”Simpson added: “I’m finally on the right track. I’m healthy, I feel like what I’m working on is simple for me and I’m starting to have confidence again. You know, I didn’t have that much confidence last year. It’s hard to create confidence out of nothing. I’d work on my game and I just wasn’t quite getting over the hump, but I feel like the last five, six weeks since I’ve been home, my practice sessions are different and they’re reminding me of what it used to feel like and the shots I’m hitting, the way I’m striking the golf ball. So I’m optimistic. I feel like, I’m 37, I still have a number of years of good golf in me.”

8. LIV rebels still subject to discovery

Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard….”Phil Mickelson, Hudson Swafford and Talor Gooch withdrew from the antitrust lawsuit that was filed against the PGA Tour in August, but a U.S. District Court judge ruled Thursday that their agents are still subject to discovery, including any non-privileged electronic information related to their clients and LIV Golf.

• Judge Susan van Keulen ruled in favor of continued discovery citing a standard that “applies no matter whether the responding person is a party to the litigation or a third-party subject.”

• Attorneys for Mickelson, Swafford and Gooch had argued that the Tour’s discovery requests could impact LIV Golf-related communications of other clients and the court agreed, stipulating in the order that the search is “designed to limit the scope of the results to materials related to their agent’s representation of the players and not other potential principals.”

9. Photos from Sea Island

• Check out all of our galleries from this week’s Tour stop!