AARON WISE

Brooks Koepka always seems to bring his best to the toughest tests.

Jordan Spieth and plenty of others are having little trouble with the new home course of the AT&T Byron Nelson.

Jones won the Honda Classic by five shots Sunday, a final round of 2-under 68 good enough to finish the week at 12-under 268 at PGA National. J.B. Holmes was in the final group with Jones, three shots back to start the day, and his chances were gone very quickly. He ended up with a costly final-round 79 for Holmes; second place, where he started the day, paid Hagy $763,000 while the tied-for-46th finish paid Holmes $19,070. AdHe went on to make double bogey there, and when Jones birdied the par-5 third Holmes’ deficit had gone from three to eight shots in about 45 minutes. “You can't get a tougher golf course to win on than this one, in these conditions," Jones said.

“I'm happy to go low with the ball flight and I'm probably a little more conservative when the wind is up," Jones said. That’s when his woes started, and what became a nine-shot turnaround between he and Jones began. Jones grabbed a share of the lead with a birdie at the par-4 14th. And when Wise made bogey at the par-3 15th, Jones was the outright leader again. “Just keep doing what I'm doing," Jones said.

Wise shot his second straight 6-under 64 on Friday to take a three-stroke lead into the weekend at the Honda Classic. The 128 total is the lowest 36-hole score at PGA National since the tournament moved there 15 years ago — and marks the first 36-hole lead of Wise’s PGA Tour career. Wise birdied the last to finish off the 64, the eighth round of 64 or lower surrendered by PGA National this week. He opened with a 69, then shot 62 — the fourth score that low in Honda history at PGA National — Friday. Jones (61), Wise (64) and Russell Henley (64) had the 64s or better Thursday; Hagy, Ryder, Wise, Brice Garnett (64) and Stewart Cink (64) had them Friday.

Schauffele is among 16 players in the Tournament of Champions who didn't win last year. His girlfriend came down with COVID-19 in the middle of December, and a few days later, Schauffele tested positive and eventually had minor symptoms. Schauffele is among 16 players at Kapalua who failed to win an official event, though he did have the lowest 72-hole score at the Tour Championship. The winners-only field is including players who reached the Tour Championship because golf was shut down for three months due to the pandemic. Schauffele already has played four times in the new season, which began in September, and that includes two majors.

Viktor Hovland of Norway plays on the 1st Hole during the final round of the PGA Tour Mayakoba Golf Classic, in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, Sunday, Dec. 6, 2020. It sure didn't look that way at the Mayakoba Golf Classic, where he captured another PGA Tour title with another big putt at the end. It was the first time since the Mayakoba Classic began in 2007 that it was won with a birdie putt on the final hole. Hovland won the Puerto Rico Open in February for his first PGA Tour title by holing a 30-foot birdie putt on the last hole. The former NCAA champion at Oregon also was going for his second PGA Tour win, the first one coming at the AT&T Byron Nelson two years ago.

Carlos Ortiz tees off on the 10th hole during the second round of the Houston Open golf tournament Friday, Nov, 6, 2020, in Houston. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)HOUSTON – Jason Day was back in contention on the eve of the Masters after two eventful days alongside Phil Mickelson. “He kind of left himself in some pretty tough positions and you’re just struggling the whole day,” Day said. The 12-time PGA Tour winner returned the next week at Sherwood to tie for 60th, and took last week off. “I think that was really helpful to learn that.”Carlos Ortiz of Mexico had a 68 to match Day at 5 under.

Cameron Davis, of Australia, watches his drive from the 10th tee during the third round of the Sanderson Farms Championship golf tournament in Jackson, Miss., Saturday, Oct. 3, 2020. They were at 14-under 202 going into a final round in which 10 players were separated by four shots. He was the first to post at 202, and then Garcia and Poston caught up to him. 51 this week and decided to play the Sanderson Farms Championship for the first time. That Masters is the last time Garcia had a share of the 54-hole lead on the PGA Tour.