LEE WESTWOOD
Garcia comes up aces on a frenetic Friday at Match Play
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.
Wise takes three-shot lead at midway point of Honda Classic
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.
Matt Jones ties course record with 61 in Honda Classic
Matt Jones of Australia hits from the 18th tee during the first round of the Honda Classic golf tournament, Thursday, March 18, 2021, in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. Jones tied the course record at PGA National with a 9-under 61. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – Matt Jones’ opening round at the Honda Classic was remarkable. Jones tied the course record Thursday on a typically windy day at PGA National with a bogey-free 9-under 61 giving him a three-shot lead. “I was just managing the golf course and hitting good shots,” Jones said. And Hunter Mahan had a six-hole stretch in which he made, in order, eagle, bogey, bogey, triple bogey, bogey, birdie.
Match Play field set with possibilities that remain for more
Then, Brian Harman shot 69 to tie for third at The Players Championship and went from No. Most curious is the case of Gary Woodland, the former U.S. Open champion and a Match Play finalist in 2015. Under the PGA Tour guidelines, he has to self-isolate for 10 days. THE BOUNCEIt didn’t take Collin Morikawa long to learn how to win on the PGA Tour. A year later, he won a playoff over Justin Thomas at Muirfield Village and a major at the PGA Championship.
Thomas lives on edge and rallies to win Players Championship
Thomas becomes only the fourth player to win a major, The Players Championship, the FedEx Cup and a World Golf Championship, and it couldn't have come at a better time. Thomas began the year with a barely audible anti-gay slur under his breath after missing a short putt. The one time he had a chance to win, he learned his grandfather died before the final round of the Phoenix Open. The 47-year-old Westwood hit his tee shot into the water on the fourth hole and had to make an 8-footer to save bogey. Instead of matching birdies with Thomas, who was in the group ahead, Westwood had to scramble for par to stay one behind.
Westwood leads at Sawgrass, gets another shot at DeChambeau
That's how it was last week at Bay Hill, when DeChambeau came from one shot behind to beat Westwood with a par on the final hole at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Westwood, who turns 48 next month, no longer has to go up a few classes to face DeChambeau, golf's fearsome heavyweight. Also four shots behind was Brian Harman, who began his day by holing a wedge for eagle and shot 69. DeChambeau can't blast away at Sawgrass because of the bending tree-lined fairways and water hazards. He also knows from recent experience — seven days ago — that it might not be easy the way Westwood is playing.
Big finish sends Garcia to big lead at Players Championship
Garcia thought he had plenty of time to get from the range to the 10th tee to start his round. Then he fired off a 7-under 65, capped off by a birdie-birdie-eagle finish for a two-shot lead over Brian Harman. AdWhen darkness brought the first round to a halt — 21 players didn't finish — there already were 13 scores of 80 or higher. “For some reason, it just kind of fits my eye,” said Garcia, who won The Players in 2008 and has twice been runner-up. British Open champion Shane Lowry took bogey on his final hole for a 68 and was tied with Corey Conners and Matt Fitzpatrick.
DeChambeau outlasts Westwood with big drives, big putts
He holed a 40-foot birdie putt on the fourth hole to regain a share of the lead. Westwood tied him with a 30-foot birdie putt on the par-5 12th, only to give it back with a three-putt on the 14th. DeChambeau took the one-shot lead to the 18th and hit his most important drive of the day — in the fairway. DeChambeau's birdie putt slid by some 5 feet and he shook his arms in celebration when the par putt dropped. With a bogey on the final hole, he shot 74 to finish alone in third.
Westwood has career-low at Bay Hill and takes 1-shot lead
He might not be able to contemplate driving a par 5 — that sideshow Saturday at Bay Hill belonged to Bryson DeChambeau. You've got to be top 50 in the world,” Westwood said. He grabbed the lead by holing a 30-foot eagle putt on the 16th hole (DeChambeau made birdie) and a 30-foot birdie putt on the closing hole (DeChambeau made par) to reach 11-under 205. Conners, who started the third round with a one-shot lead, could only manage a 71 on a cool, breezy day at Bay Hill with only a few drops of rain. Sunday was shaping up as another thriller at Bay Hill.
PGA Tour's top 2 rules officials retiring after long careers
White’s father was a stickler for the rules, and White thought he knew them well when he decided to join the PGA Tour. His most memorable ruling was among the more famous on the PGA Tour. Also, Mike Peterson, Pete Lis and Jordan Harris are moving from the Korn Ferry Tour to the PGA Tour as rules officials. The tour said that became the top-performing tweet for the PGA Tour, also surpassing the Masters graphic. Im then finished out his year by flying to Dubai for the DP World Tour Championship on the European Tour.
Morikawa, Reed bid to become America's first European No 1
Collin Morikawa hasn’t hit a golf shot in Europe this year. On Sunday, the American could be crowned as European No. “There’s a lot in between now and Sunday that has to happen,” Morikawa said Wednesday, “but winning the Race to Dubai would mean a lot because I want my game to travel. Such are the many strands and quirks to a European Tour season that has become very global in recent years. Reed leads the Race to Dubai standings with 2,427.7 points heading into the 38th and final event of a European Tour season like no other.
Casey rides the buzz of Masters history to 65 and early lead
Paul Casey matched his lowest score at the Masters with a 7-under 65, giving him a two-shot lead among half the field fortunate to play in perfect scoring conditions. It was the fifth hole, which he bogeyed all four rounds last year when he won the Masters. He was joined by Xander Schauffele, a runner-up to Woods last year, who had seven birdies in his round of 67. The delay was the last thing the Masters needed with limited daylight hours leading to the two-tee start. The loudest cheer — applause, certainly not a roar — came for Nicklaus and Player hitting tee shots so early that they couldn't see where they landed.
The Latest: Paul Casey shoots 65 in major Masters turnaround
The 43-year-old Englishman is leading the Masters after shooting a 7-under 65 in the opening round. In 2019, Casey shot 86 and 82 to badly miss the cut. But he turned things around in his return to Augusta National, which was delayed for seven months by the coronavirus pandemic. He has six top-10 finishes at Augusta National, including a second-place finish in 2010 and a tie for second in 2016. Play has resumed at Augusta National after a delay of nearly three hours because of rain and lightning in the area.
A quiet start to empty week at Augusta National for Masters
Instead of Augusta National members and their guests, the course was filled Monday with Tiger Woods and Justin Thomas, Bubba Watson and Jordan Spieth, all of them playing a practice round on a course that only looked the same. The COVID-19 pandemic that shut down golf for three months forced a reconfigured major championship schedule unlike any other, particularly at the Masters. "The things that will be the same is it still means the same to us all, and maybe even more so because we return to Augusta National every year. This is the Augusta National hardly anyone gets to see. When it means going to Augusta National to get ready for the Masters — April, November, doesn't matter — it takes the sting off.
Tiger Woods might have a new putter for the PGA Championship
Tiger Woods toss a ball down on the 17th hold during a practice round for the PGA Championship golf tournament at TPC Harding Park Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2020, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)SAN FRANCISCO Tiger Woods appears to have something new in store for this PGA Championship: his putter. THE FIELDThis PGA Championship might have set a record for most players who decided not to play. He is the 11th player to withdraw from the PGA Championship since the field was first released six days ago. PACKING FOR A SUMMER MAJOR IN AMERICAThe PGA Championship in August for years meant heat and plenty of sweating.
Harding Park a public course with a history of elite winners
Tiger Woods walks on the 16th hold during a practice round for the PGA Championship golf tournament at TPC Harding Park Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2020, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)SAN FRANCISCO Harding Park is a public golf course with a history of elite champions. The San Francisco Open finally came to Harding Park in 1944. The rough is thick, even more because of the dampness from a marine layer expected to shroud Harding Park all week. All of them would fit the profile of great champions at Harding Park.
David Law takes first-round lead at British Masters
England's Lee Westwood tees off the 5th during day one of the British Masters at Close House Golf Club, near Newcastle, England, Wednesday July 22, 2020. The European Tour resumes in earnest after its pandemic-induced shutdown with the British Masters starting Wednesday. (Mike Egerton/PA via AP)NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE NEWCASTLE-UPON-David Law of Scotland shot a 7-under 64 to take a one-stroke lead over Oliver Fisher, Garrick Porteous and Renato Paratore in the opening round of the British Masters at Close House Golf Course near Newcastle on Wednesday. I did not really know what to expect and its probably (about having) a mindset of acceptance, Law said. The New Zealander had not made a cut on the European Tour since 2013 as he struggled with a foot injury and loss of form.
European Tour resumes in earnest with British Masters
After back-to-back, low-key events in Austria where testing procedures got their dress rehearsal, the European Tour resumes in earnest after its pandemic-induced shutdown with the British Masters starting Wednesday. Swing, a series of six events played in England and Wales over the next six weeks devised primarily for ease of travel for players amid the coronavirus pandemic. Starting this week at Close House Golf Course near Newcastle, the venues are all within a three-hour drive of one another, scrapping the need for air travel to which players have become accustomed on the increasingly global European Tour. Some of the players will be used to this new norm from having competed at the Austrian Open and the Euram Bank Open events counting toward the European Tour and the Challenge Tour over the last two weeks. Swing kicking off the full return of the European Tour, only one player in the worlds top 50 Lee Westwood, at No.
Europe hopes to resume golf by funding 5 new events in UK
Swing" are new tournaments the European Tour will pay for out of its tournament development fund. If the quarantine is not lifted, top European Tour players would have to choose between a major and four European Tour events with minimal prize money. Hotels need to be in operation and the quarantine needs to be lifted to continue with these events, Pelley said. We wouldn't be announcing these events without having had significant dialogue with the UK government, Pelley said. The European Tour said no one will lose status for 2021 and there will not be a Q-school at the end of the year.