In “Hot & Cold,” we’ll be focusing each week on what specific areas of the game players excelled and disappointed in throughout the previous tournament. Last week saw Francesco Molinari emerge out of the pack and claim the title at Bay Hill, and here’s a look at where some of the most notable players gained and lost strokes over the four days of action.

Hot

What a week it was for Francesco Molinari who was making his debut as a Callaway staffer. The Italian’s long game has never been an issue, and at the API Molinari excelled in this department, leading the field along with Rory McIlroy, for strokes gained off the tee with his Callaway Epic Flash Sub Zero driver.

Throughout his career, Molinari’s nemesis has been the flat-stick, but equipped with his Odyssey Toulon Madison Stroke Lab, the 36-year-old shined. Molinari gained strokes over the field on the greens each day at Bay Hill, gaining almost seven strokes in total with his Odyssey putter – the most strokes he has gained on the greens in his career.

It’s been a lean stretch for Henrik Stenson, but after struggling in round one at the API, the Swede clicked into gear, particularly with his irons. Stenson gained 6.7 strokes over the field for strokes gained approaching the green last week, and the 42-year-old has only once bettered that number since 2016. Check out Stenson’s 2019 WITB here on our forums.

Bubba Watson produced a poor display with his irons at the WGC-Mexico, losing over four strokes to the field for his approach play, but it was an entirely different story at last week’s API. Watson gained 6.4 strokes over the field for his approaches at Bay Hill with his Ping Blueprints. That number represents Watson’s best performance with his irons at an event in over three years.

Cold

Hideki Matsuyama’s putting is what has arguably kept the Japanese star from claiming a major title so far in his career, and at last week’s API, Matsuyama suffered a miserable four days on the greens which could leave some mental scarring as we head towards major season. Matsuyama was the worst performer on the greens last week, dropping a frightening 8.3 strokes to the field with his flat-stick. Only on one other occasion has Matsuyama putt worse in his career. It’s a testament to his ball striking that the 27-year-old fashioned a T33 finish.

Bryson DeChambeau had a very quiet week at Arnie’s event, and on closer inspection, the 25-year-old failed to fire with his approach play. For just the second time in his last 11 tournaments, DeChambeau lost strokes in this department, and most worrying for the American is how much ground he gave way with his irons. DeChambeau lost 4.3 strokes to the field for his approach play at Bay Hill, which is his second-worst total in this area in his young career.

Justin Rose stumbled severely over the weekend at Bay Hill, shooting rounds of 77 and 75 to slide down the leaderboard. The Englishman lost strokes tee to green at the tournament for just the second time in over a year on Tour, but it’s his dismal display with his long game over the weekend that is most surprising. Despite being one of the best ball strikers in the game, Rose lost almost six strokes to the field tee to green on Saturday and Sunday at the API.