Scheffler mows down European stalwarts in Match Play
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.
Johnson, Scheffler favorites for tour's top player, rookie
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.
Johnson gets 2-shot lead and another crack at FedEx Cup
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.
Rahm's makes the biggest putt to win a thriller at BMW
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. I was fully confident it was going to come into a playoff and hoping to win it. They were the only five players under par at Olympia Fields. Rahm won for the second time this year on the PGA Tour, and the 11th time in his career worldwide. 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.
Johnson, Matsuyama tied for lead at tough Olympia Fields
Every par at Olympia Fields is hard work, and Johnson played the final 13 holes Saturday with nothing worse than that. It's what carried him to a 1-under 69 and a share of the lead with Hideki Matsuyama, leaving them as the only players under par going into the final round. I feel like it's fairly similar, just obviously these conditions and the greens are a lot more difficult," he said. Rounds like that go a long way at Olympia Fields, the former U.S. Open course playing like one with its thick rough and rock-hard greens and enough wind to make the fairways look tighter than they are. All of them are one round away on a golf course where small mistakes can lead to bogeys or worse on just about every hole.
Matsuyama leads on long birdie to end tough day at Olympia
Leave it to Hideki Matsuyama to make a 65-foot birdie putt on his final hole Thursday to lead the BMW Championship. Tyler Duncan, just outside the top 30 as he tries to earn his first trip to the Tour Championship, made an 8-foot par putt on his last hole for a 68. Mackenzie Hughes, one of only four players who reached 3 under at any point in his round, was another shot behind. I'm not sure really what I had going today, but that last putt, the long putt that went in, very happy with that one, Matsuyama said. He was told that even three straight rounds of 60 would not be enough to reach 30 under at Olympia Fields.
Rahm's wild day ends with Memorial win and No. 1 ranking
Jon Rahm, of Spain, celebrates after the 18th hole to win the Memorial golf tournament, Sunday, July 19, 2020, in Dublin, Ohio. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)DUBLIN, Ohio Jon Rahm won the Memorial to join Seve Ballesteros as the only Spaniards to reach No. Replay of Rahm's chip appeared to show the ball moved ever so slightly when he placed his lob wedge behind it. The chip was similar but from a different angle to Tiger Woods chipping in from behind the 16th green when he won the Memorial for the fifth time in 2012. Norlander and Hughes tied at 3-under 285, but the spot went to Hughes because he had the better world ranking.
Johnson wins Travelers to extend career-long season streak
Dustin Johnson reacts after sinking his putt on the 15th green during the final round of the Travelers Championship golf tournament at TPC River Highlands, Sunday, June 28, 2020, in Cromwell, Conn. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)CROMWELL, Conn. Dustin Johnson won the Travelers Championship on Sunday to end a long drought and extend his career-long season victory streak to 13. Johnson closed with a 3-under 67 for a one-stroke victory over Kevin Streelman at fan-free TPC River Highlands. Im definitely proud of myself for continuing the streak and I want to keep it going, Johnson said. Johnson failed to win in 2014, but is given credit for winning in the 2013-14 season from his victory in the fall of 2013 in Shanghai. Johnson came out of the delay and hit his tee shot on 16 into a greenside bunker.
Todd matches Johnson's 61 to take the lead at Travelers
Both golfers shot bogey-free rounds, with Todd making five birdies on the front nine and Johnson five on the back. Todd said the round became a game of whatever you can do, I can do just as well. Its hard to miss the leader boards obviously, so (Johnson's) name was up there from a pretty early point, Todd said. Mackenzie Hughes, who led after a 60 on Thursday, shot his second straight 68 for sole possession of fourth place. Nick Watney withdrew just before the second round of last weeks RBC Heritage Championship.
Positive COVID test leads to more withdrawals from Travelers
McCarthy became the third PGA Tour player to test positive for the virus since its restart and the second this week, joining Cameron Champ who withdrew on Tuesday. Gordon, a 23-year-old Vanderbilt graduate playing his fourth PGA Tour event on a sponsor's exemption, is 12-under 128 after 36 holes. The Travelers field continued to shrink after Denny McCarthy tested positive for the coronavirus. McCarthy, who shot an opening-round 67, said he began began feeling sick Thursday night and tested positive for the virus on Friday morning. McDowell and Brooks Koepkas caddies both tested positive.
Mackenzie Hughes shoots 60 to take early lead at Travelers
Jim Furyk shot a 12-under 58 on the same par-70 TPC River Highlands course four years ago, the lowest score in a tour event. I kind of joked walking off there that 59 wasn't even the record because of Jim's 58, Hughes said. Phil Mickelson, paired with McIlroy in his first competitive round since turning 50, was one of five players to shoot 64. Patrick Cantlay also shot 60 at TPC River Highlands as an amateur in 2011. The Travelers is the third event on the tour calendar since golf resumed.