Steve

Marino

The Virginia alum’s lap was highlighted by an ace at the 168-yard par-3 seventh (8-iron), his first on TOUR in 707 rounds, which capped a run of birdie-birdie-birdie-ace on holes 4-7. He would add a fifth and sixth birdie at 11 and 16, ending the day 7-for-7 in scrambles, including 5-for-5 in sand saves. The 44-year-old, making his final start on a Major Medical Extension, hit 10 (of 14) fairways and 11 greens in regulation, taking 1.545 putts per GIR with 22 total putts, including just nine putts on his first nine holes. He’ll move over to the Nicklaus Tournament Course for R3.

After an hour fog delay, Marino took to the Stadium Course at PGA WEST to battle with the toughest of the three courses he’ll face this week. His ball striking didn’t impress (10 fairways, 13 GIR) but his short game was sharp. Marino missed a short one from inside four feet but made up for it with three birdie putts converted from outside 12 feet. He also holed out twice, from right around 40 feet both times. Marino is making his final start on a medical extension. While it’s a fun narrative to follow, he will need a podium finish to even secure conditional status. He gained 2.128 strokes around-the-green today and also picked up 2.665 strokes putting.

The 44-year-old is scheduled to make his final start on a Major Medical Extension and needs 260.686 FedExCup points to retain status. That translates into a solo 2nd finish, though a solo 3rd (190 points) would secure conditional status (needs 163.986). The Virginia alum, who hasn’t played a full season on TOUR since playing 24 events in 2016, is 1-for-3 on the season (T29, Mayakoba) and checks in off a missed cut by six at last week’s Sony (74-70). He owns five runner-up finishes in 221 events, most recently a P2 (to Tony Finau) at the 2016 opposite-field Puerto Rico Open.

Marino has been working through the starts on this medical over the last few years. He tallied just 35.54 FEC Points during 2018, in six starts. It would take quite a finish to reach more than 7-times that amount in just two starts. The 38-year-old also went 6-for-8 down on the Web.com Tour last year, with three top 10s to his name. With 23 career top 10s, Marino remains a lively darkhorse but his starts will likely be limited in 2019, making him easy to avoid in season-long formats.

Playing on a medical extension, Marino was 3-for-6 this season. A T26 at the Greenbrier was the highlight of the season. Gamers might have expected better after seeing a trio of top 10s during his rehab starts on the Web.com Tour. We should expect to see Marino in the fall or early next year with four starts remaining to earn 284.518 FedExCup Points (in order to fulfill the terms of his medical).

As expected. Since he’s considering surgery to repair an injury to the meniscus in his right knee and he’s not in danger of losing his PGA TOUR card, his commitment this week raised a flag. As usual, we’ll keep you posted on his progress.

He teed it up in the first three full-field events of the year and isn’t playing this week’s Honda Classic despite its location in his backyard in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. You’ll recall that he was nursing a sore right knee late last year, so it’s possible that the injury has been aggravated and/or he’s sought treatment in lieu of live action. As a result of his disappearance, we’ve added him to our Injury Report. He is not eligible for next week’s WGC-Cadillac Championship and he’s never played the Puerto Rico Open.

As we relayed to you on March 21, he made it clear that he won’t return until he is absolutely ready. Hang in there if you’re invested.

It took five months but we have some answers. “I recovered from [surgery] great,” Marino said. He started his season at the Sony Open. “I went out the first three weeks and [the knee] just wasn’t feeling right. I was getting a lot of inflammation, a lot of swelling and a lot of pain. I came back and saw some doctors and found out that I had a bone contusion.” As a result, other than participating in Els for Autism on March 12, he hasn’t played publicly since the Farmers in late January. “It just takes forever to heal. It’s been tough. I’ve been sitting at home trying to lay off it and kind of let it runs its course and heal. ... The thing about this type of injury, if you come back too soon, you could regress, and that’s the last thing I want to do. ... I’d rather just make sure that it’s a 100-percent healed and come back ready to go knowing that I’m ready and that everything is going to be OK.” He may return as early as next week’s Shell Houston Open.