BILLY HORSCHEL

The chances of an American golfer being crowned as European No. 1 for the first time were already strong heading into the Race to Dubai finale this week.

Billy Horschel became the second American after Arnold Palmer to win the BMW PGA Championship following a dramatic final round.

The leaderboard was mostly static in the third round of the PGA Championship, even though the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island played easier.

Phil Mickelson held on to his lead at the PGA Championship despite struggling on the back nine.

Cameron Smith and Marc Leishman outlasted Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel to win the Zurich Classic in a playoff that capped a tight and tense final round Sunday.

Two-time champion Stewart Cink has set the 36-hole tournament scoring record at the RBC Heritage.

Cameron Smith birdied the difficult 17th and 18th holes at Harbour Town to shoot a 9-under 62 and take a one-stroke lead over Stewart Cink at the RBC Heritage.

Jon Rahm had a great week before even getting to the Masters.

Hideki Matsuyama has made history as the first male golfer from Japan to win a major championship.

The third round of the Masters is over, and Hideki Matsuyama has a four-shot lead over Xander Schauffele, Marc Leishman, Justin Rose and Will Zalatoris.

Jordan Spieth suddenly feels a lot younger than 27 going into the Masters.

More than hosting the first major of the year, Augusta National has become a 10-day celebration at the home of the Masters.

Reed, who won in 2018, says he doesn't keep a lot of golf photos in his office or around the house in Houston. Kuchar rolled his putt up to 3 feet, Scheffler hit wedge to 40 feet for his fourth shot and Kuchar won the hole. Kuchar won his consolation match. Long won the British Amateur last summer and will play in the Masters next week. The Austrian Golf Open returns to the European Tour schedule and will be played the week after the Masters.

AUSTIN, Texas – Billy Horschel didn’t find much to admire about his golf Sunday except that he was the last man standing in the Dell Technologies Match Play. His only birdie was a chip-in from 40 feet below the fifth green, yet Horschel didn’t lose another hole. His only birdie in the final match was a 35-footer that Horschel conceded after driving into the ravine on the second hole. So many times this week, Scheffler was able to make all the big putts at all the right moments. “I think I did that pretty much every time this week until the last match,” Scheffler said.

Scottie Scheffler misses his birdie putt attempt on the 18th green during a semifinal round match against Matt Kuchar at the Dell Technologies Match Play Championship golf tournament Sunday, March 28, 2021, in Austin, Texas. Scheffler and Kuchar tied the hole, giving Scheffler the win in the match. The result was a third straight All-American final in the Dell Technologies Match Play on Sunday. Horschel had never made it to the weekend in his four previous appearances in Match Play. Two holes later — after Kuchar missed a 10-foot birdie putt on the 10th that would have squared the match — Scheffler made an 18-foot birdie putt to go 2 up.

Jon Rahm, of Spain, right, congratulates Scottie Scheffler on the 17th green after Scheffler won their round of eight match at the Dell Technologies Match Play Championship golf tournament Saturday, March 27, 2021, in Austin, Texas. I just have memories of me and my dad sitting on the couch and watching this guy make putt after putt. AdHe won the Match Play in 2013 and lost in the championship match last time to Kevin Kisner. He scrambled for par, and Spieth missed a 6-foot birdie putt. Spieth went 30 feet long, Kuchar was 6 feet short, and Kuchar won with a birdie.

Already the most fickle event in golf, the Dell Technologies Match Play on Friday was an endless frenzy. “You just never know what can happen out there," Billy Horschel said after beating Max Homa on the third playoff hole. 64 seed in Match Play history to make it to the weekend. 60 seed, while Erik van Rooyen (62) advanced by beating Daniel Berger with a par on the second playoff hole. The eight playoffs to decide group winners broke the previous mark of five in 2017 since group play began six yeas ago.

That was the longest such streak since Woods began his career making 25 in a row. Morikawa became a youthful footnote in history at Torrey Pines last year when he was in the same group with Woods. Most notable about his three-shot victory at The Concession against another stacked field was the 24-year-old Morikawa joined Woods as the only players to win a major and a World Golf Championship before turning 25. Rory McIlroy was 25 years and three months when he had two majors and a World Golf Championship, and then he won a third major the following week. He won the PGA Championship at Harding Park by changing his plan as the situation warranted, hitting driver on the reachable par-4 16th to 7 feet for eagle.

BRADENTON, Fla. – PGA champion Collin Morikawa shook off an early mistake and played a steady hand on a Concession golf course known for calamity, closing with a 3-under 69 for a three-shot victory in the Workday Championship. And there was a tribute to Tiger Woods, his golf idol growing up. “We don't say ‘Thank you’ enough,” Morikawa said, referring to how much Woods has raised the profile and prize money in golf. He finished at 18-under 270 and became the 24th player to win a major and a World Golf Championship title since this series began in 1999. “If there was no Tiger Woods, I just the think the tour and the game of golf in general would be in a worse place.

Morikawa walked off the 12th hole with his seventh birdie in eight holes, stretching his lead to five shots with two par 5s still to play. He made bogey on both, shot a 5-under 67 and suddenly had four-time major champion Brooks Koepka and Billy Horschel on his tail. “I didn’t play great the last six, but a lot to learn from heading into tomorrow,” Morikawa said. Horschel also had a late rally with an eagle on the par-5 17th hole and shot 69. “I just kept rolling in birdie after birdie.

No one has ever gone more than a year without winning and ended the drought at the Sentry Tournament of Champions. Winning is the only way to get to Maui at the start of the year, so Schauffele and 15 other players ordinarily wouldn't be here. “I got an asterisk for winning the Tour Championship that counted in certain things and not in others,” Schauffele said. Horschel said the tour has crunched numbers and in a normal year, it would add eight to 10 players to Kapalua. The tour has contemplated an expanded field over the years, such as giving a two-year exemption to Kapalua for winning a tournament.

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.

Dustin Johnson holds up the FedEx Cup trophy after winning the Tour Championship golf tournament on Monday, Sept. 7, 2020 at Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

For the PGA Tour player of the year, the candidates were Johnson, Thomas, PGA champion Collin Morikawa (two wins), Webb Simpson (two wins) and Jon Rahm (two wins). Johnson won the Travelers Championship and The Northern Trust to go along with his FedEx Cup title he won at the Tour Championship. He also was runner-up to Morikawa at the PGA Championship. More interesting will be the vote for PGA Tour rookie of the year. ... Country singer Colt Ford, who once played professionally, is making his PGA Tour Champions debut on a sponsor exemption.

Dustin Johnson selects a club from his bag on the practice range during practice for the Tour Championship golf tournament at East Lake Golf Club Thursday, Sept. 3, 2020, in Atlanta. It's not like I've got a two-shot lead going into the final round, Johnson said, who speaks from experience of once losing a six-shot lead in the final round of a World Golf Championship. 1 seed a year ago, opened with a 70 and was in a three-way tie for the lead after one day. Imagine if he gets it going at East Lake while staked to a two-shot lead. Ten shots is surmountable over four days if somebody gets really hot.Horschel and Hughes at least have that chance.

Jon Rahm reacts after making his putt on the first playoff hole during the final round of the BMW Championship golf tournament at the Olympia Fields Country Club in Olympia Fields, Ill., Sunday, Aug. 30, 2020. There was his 30-foot birdie putt on the par-3 16th for a two-shot lead that Johnson erased with two birdies of his own, none bigger than the last one. His first win came at Torrey Pines when he made a 60-foot eagle putt and wound up winning by three. They were the only five players under par at Olympia Fields. He now gets two weeks off before the U.S. Open at Winged Foot, and Olympia Fields proved to be a good test for that.

Known for his friendship with President Donald Trump, Herman overcame a four-stroke deficit in the final round at Sedgefield Country Club. He had a final chance to tie on the 72nd hole, but his 8-foot birdie putt slid left of the cup. Herman got into the playoffs, jumping from 192nd to 54th in the race for the 125 spots. Herman had two birdies and an eagle from 59 feet on his first five holes to catch up to Kim. It was quite a week for Herman, who had three birdies over his final four holes Friday simply to make the cut.

Kim has broken 70 in nine of his last 10 rounds, including all four at TPC Harding Park to finish tied for 13th at the PGA Championship. He has continued that stellar play at Sedgefield Country Club, where he won his first PGA Tour event in 2016. Redman had a 63, while Oppenheim set a career low on tour with a 62 in second at 16-under. Redman, 22, is also seeking his first PGA Tour win. The PGA Tour moved up tee times, grouped competitors in threesomes and sent them off on the first and 10th tees to beat the bad weather expected later Saturday.

Tom Hoge watches his drive on the ninth hole during the second round of the Wyndham Championship golf tournament at Sedgefield Country Club on Friday, Aug. 14, 2020, in Greensboro, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Hoge, tied for the first-round lead with Harold Varner III and Roger Sloan, kept in front with a steady 2-under 68 to get to 10-under par. Hoge, whose best-ever tour finish was a second at The Greenbrier this season, was asked what it would take for his first PGA Tour win. Like Kim, Gooch shot 65 to get into the foursome on top. He had six birdies, including two of his final three holes, to move up. Kokrak was in a group of seven one shot further back along with past Wyndham champ Webb Simpson, who shot his second straight 66.